They say she's going to take me home.

That she's going to be my new mommy and that her husband is going to be my new daddy.

They say I'm going to have a big brother, too, his name is Elliot. She's nice. The woman. She cleaned me and fed me and didn't touch the bad places on my chest. She laughs all the time and I like how white her teeth are. My real mommy's teeth were yellow. They say that she is my adoptive mommy. I don't know what that means but they say that tonight, I'll be going to her house to sleep and that I'll stay there.

They say I'm a very lucky boy.

They say that I have speech difficulties. They think that I can't understand them when they use their grown-up words and speak in whispers. But I can. My real mommy always said I was too clever for my own good and my not real daddy always said I was a freakish little bastard. I don't know what bastard means but I know it's a bad word. But my real mommy always laughed when he said it so I laughed too.

But then he hit me and I didn't laugh anymore.

They say the nice lady is back and she's with a man. He looks at me and then back to my new mommy and I can tell he is surprised. They don't think that I know things like that, but I do. I know people. There used to be another boy on my block, he was four too, his name was Dean. And he didn't know anything about people. He thought everyone was nice and caring and would never hurt him.

Dean was silly.

I don't think Dean is going to make it.

The man, she says his name is Carrick, is leaning over my bed and talking to me. I stare up at him and he says something to my new mommy about how unusual my eyes are. She nods and smiles and I know that she wants the man to like me and I know she wants me to like the man. I like my new mommy so I don't scream when the man puts his hand on my head and rubs my hair.

I think new mommy told him where he can't put his hands.

No-one can put their hands on the bad place on my chest. Except not real daddy and real mommy. They don't care how loud I scream or how much I cry, they touch the bad place on my chest. But new mommy and Carrick don't. I like that. New mommy hands out a toy to me and I don't know what to do. I've seen toys before. Dean had so many toys. But I've never had one and I don't know what you're supposed to do with one.

I think she wants me to take it.

So I do.

That makes her smile and that's good. When real mommy smiled she wasn't in the bad place and that sometimes meant she would be able to make food. Sometimes, she was in the bad place for so long that my tummy would be so sore that I couldn't move until not real daddy came back from the place that makes him angry. Then I would move real fast before he could make the bad place on my chest worse.

The door opens and a boy comes in.

He's a bigger boy than me and he's not happy to see me.

I can tell.

Because I know people.

They tell me that this is my new brother, Elliot. I think Elliot doesn't want a brother. When new mommy and Carrick aren't looking he stares at me with this real bad look on his face. I think he doesn't want me to go home with them. But they say I am going home with them. They say I'm a very lucky boy. After a while, they stop trying to get me to talk. I won't say words. Even though I can.

Words were bad.

Words made not real daddy so mad he made the bad place on my chest even worse. But they keep smiling at me and telling me about the big room I'm going to have at their house and all the things we're going to do together. I don't know what new mommy wants me for. Not real daddy said that I was the worst thing that ever happened to real mommy. He said that I ruined real mommy's life and that's why he had to make the bad place on my chest so bad. I think that's why real mommy is dead now. Because I ruined her life.

They say it's time to go.

I won't let them hold my hand.

I'm not Dean.

I know people are not caring and kind.

But new mommy has the nicest eyes and she keeps telling me over and over how good things are going to be now. How one day, I'm going to have a little sister and all about the fun we're going to have. Elliot doesn't say words either and I wonder does new mommy's husband not like words too. He sure says a lot of them if he doesn't like them and his teeth are white when he laughs.

He laughs a lot.

The car smells funny. I want to cry. But I know not to. I stopped crying when I was three. Crying was for babies and I knew I had to be a big boy to help real mommy when she was in the bad place. I hope she's in the good place now. She always said there was a really good place in the sky and I hope she made it there. The radio was on when the policemen took me away and it said there was traffic delays. I hope real mommy wasn't delayed in getting to the good place in the sky.

I hope not real daddy doesn't go with her.

And when I walk into new mommy's house, I let her hold my hand for the first time and I change my mind and hope that Dean was right.

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A/N: Random one-shot. Pretty advanced thinking for a four-year-old I know, but Christian is super intelligent and advanced so! Inks x

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