Arthur and Damien Radley, twins. Date of birth: November 18, 1890. Sex: Male
Sarah Radley smiled drowsily into her husband's eyes. This twin boys were snuggled cozily into each arm of their mother, sleeping. Alexander, not one to usually show emotion, merely brushed the hair out of her eyes. The pregnancy, for him, was unexpected, and he was most decidedly not thrilled by the idea of raising children. Sarah's eyelids dropped down of their own accord, her body exhausted from the night's work. She had expected little response, but her heart broke, just a little, by Alex's indifference. Alex stood up and turned to Miss Maudie with his thanks.
"Anything to help a neighbor. You have two mighty nice boys," she said with her soft southern accent.
He led her out to the front porch and watched her walk across the street to her own house. He turned back inside, also weary from the all-night vigilant. He felt around groggily for his pipe on the mantelpiece above the fire. Outside, with the morning sun just barely on the horizon, he stretched, smoking contentedly. Work would begin soon and he had to get ready for the day.
The boys grew and grew, each day becoming a little less wobbly on their stout legs, a little more confident in their babble, and a lot more loveable. Arthur from the very start was a reserved thinker. Damien was the first of the twins to try anything new, while Arthur clung to his brother's shadow. Sarah stayed home caring for her two boys, enjoying every minute. Until her husband came home from work. She had lost the hope of any loving interaction between her boys and her husband long ago. He often would grumble that they were underfoot or too noisy and command Sarah to fix the situation. Some days she would retort back, but would crumble under his demeaning gaze. Most days she would take the boys outside in the garden and weed her feelings out.
Damien, however, would not be left unseen. By age five he would follow his father around and ask incessant questions, regardless of the possibility of any answer. Each question was more ridiculous than the last, but more often than not, a smile would tug at Alex's mouth. Arthur, too shy and unaccustomed to anyone but his mother, clung to Sarah's skirts. Finally, Alex would let Damien sit in his lap, while he read the newspaper after dinner. Damien, achieving his goal, settled in comfortable silence in his father's lap. Arthur, envious on the inside, did little to forge that same relationship. Oftentimes during the daily ritual, Arthur would sit across the room gazing longingly at the pair. Alex would always ignore his intense gaze and only rarely would look over his paper to give a condescending look to his son. Sarah once caught that look, which said so obviously "No son of mine can show weakness. He must earn my respect."