“I mean,” Sef begins quietly, looking at him like a kicked puppy, “I know you always think that you’ve never been able to spoil us like most kids, and you were normally busy taking care of us or the house, but you have spoiled us.”

“I like you staying at home,” Darim mutters. “I don’t want you to get a job. I like knowing you’re waiting at home for us.”

“I want to stay here, because you’ll stay at home.”

“And I don’t you fall in love again because I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I liked how you always cooked for us and spent time with us whenever you could.”

“I liked how Mom was always away because your undivided attention was with us.”

“I know you loved her a lot, and I liked watching you love her.”

“But I liked how you always tried to bring us together as a family.”

“And we don’t want anyone else. Once she started staying out longer, we started having you more.”

“We like it being just the three of us. We like how she was never around, so we got more of your attention.”

“And Sibrand will change that.”

Altair blinks, surprised. Darim is sitting with his arms crossed, his face down, and Sef is standing beside him, looking at Darim’s feet. He’s never heard his boys say that before.

“We never really liked Mom once we were old enough to understand.”

“She was always a bitch to you.”

“You’ve always been the one we liked more.”

“You’ve always given us everything you had.”

“You’ve always loved us, regardless, and pushed us hard to do better than you have.”

“And we’re starting to see that you’ve raised us as best you could.”

“We admire that. We want to show you you’ve raised us well.”

“Now’s our chance, ‘cause you’re hurting.”

“We just… have to figure out how. We have to get over our selfishness.”

“Because we are spoiled. It’s no longer just about us.”

“It’s also about you, and we want you to be happy, too.”

“But we don’t want to lose you.”

“And that’s what we’re afraid of.”

His boys fall silent, and he’s having trouble digesting everything that’s been said.
He had thought that he had always fallen just a bit short. He likes staying at home because he can spend time with his boys, and Maria did pull them closer while she was gone. He always felt as if he were one of the annoying parents, always standing a bit too close, always being a bit too “touchy.”

“We could’ve stayed out with friends if we really wanted to.”

“We liked coming home.”

He frowns, looking at his boys. Darim looks as if he’s pouting, looking up at him even though he’s hunched forward. Sef has his arms crossed, standing with his back to his father, and right next to his brother. He shakes his head. He’s seen this a million times before.

“You always do this.”

They both look at him, the expression of shock almost making him want to laugh.

“Always. Even when you two were little.”

“What?” Sef asks.

“You always teamed up on me. Every single time. And Darim would always end with his pouting, and Sef would always end with his back turned and his arms crossed.”

They both still look shocked. Altair shakes his head again.

“I could never stand against you two when you teamed together.”

There’s a smile crawling at Sef’s lips, and Darim looks amused. Altair sighs and turns back to the fridge.

“I’ll watch my ass if you two clean up your act. No more accusing our hosts, no more throwing punches at our host’s guests.”

He can hear Darim grin. “So… if I meet them on the streets…”

“As long as I don’t find out, you can beat them to a pulp.”

Darim laughs, and so does Sef, and the tense atmosphere dissolves.

“Now go do your homework.”

“What are you making for dinner?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Make that casserole you made before?”

He shrugs. “I’ll see if I have the ingredients.”

“Awesome. We can go to the grocery store if you don’t.”

“We’ll see.”