Thad was sitting on his bed upstairs, reading the new book his mom got him. It was a pretty hard book, with more letters than pictures, but he could handle it. He was a big kid now, since he already went to school and he knew how to read. He loved reading, the stories always made him happy. First he always had to read easy books, with fun but childish stories, but this one had fairytales in it, not the silly adventures of hungry caterpillars and bears losing their hats. Those were for little kids. He could read long stories about Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella now.
Downstairs he could hear his mom and dad arguing. They did that more often, voices raised slightly, but whenever he went to look they were always smiling and playfully shoving each other like the kids on the playground sometimes did. Fancy words being used with playful grins, one or both of them sometimes in the fancy clothing they wore for their work. Thad didn't really know what they did for work, and when he asked once his mom said they were lawyers. He went along to one of his mom's 'cases' once, but he didn't really understand what was happening or why they would call the game after bags. It was just grown-ups using fancy words and a guy in a dress with a wig slamming a hammer on a table at the end. He didn't really get the point, but apparently it was important to his mommy that she won the game.
Not being able to concentrate on his book anymore, while concentration was very important if he wanted to read the long words, Thad went downstairs. He was hungry anyway, and dinner would probably be ready soon. It always was around the time his daddy got home. He walked down the stairs carefully, book tucked under his arm. Once down the stairs he walked through the big hall to the kitchen, smiling at his parents.
His dad just finished his sentence, full of big fancy words like 'emancipated', making his mom laugh softly. "You mock me, sir." She said, poking his chest lightly. Thad walked into the kitchen, standing on his tippy toes as he put the book on the dining table. "Mommy, what is mock?" He asked walking up to his parents, who's playful argument had died down once they noticed him. "It means your daddy is making fun of me, but it's okay. I don't mind." She said, picking him up and sitting him down on the counter. Thad frowned. "Can mock be bad too, then?" He asked, making his parents nod. "Sometimes when someone is mocking you, they're trying to frustrate or humiliate you. And that's not okay." His dad explained as his mommy got back to making dinner. "So be careful when you mock someone, okay? Don't say anything too mean." The man added, kissing Thad's forehead softly. Thad nodded, face serious as he thought it over. He liked the word mocking. He liked learning new words in general, but this one was very nice.
"Now, how about you read us a story from your book while we make dinner?" His dad said, distracting the little boy from the newly learned word as he handed him his book.