Chapter Nine

What Is A Family?

The TV battery was dead.

Sun chatted with Moon internally, elbows on his knees. Bonnie sat on the ground beside him.

So, I was thinking-

Footsteps pattered outside.

Sun forced himself to stop from hiding behind his knees again. It helped that he did not hear Briana's clacking shoes in the mix. In fact, he didn't recognize most of them.

The door opened.

John's partner walked in, along with three young children-twin boys and a younger girl. While the younger girl hid behind the boy with a NASA shirt, said boy kept his attention on Sun. The other boy tipped his head, his toothy grin sans one baby tooth in the front wide.

John's partner announced, "Sun, this is Sam-" he set his hand on the missing tooth kid, "-Felix-" he set his hand on the NASA shirt boy's head "-and Mary." He set his hand on the little girl's head. "Sam, Felix, and Mary, this is Sun."

"Hi, Sun!" Sam announced with an excited wave.

"Hello," said his much calmer brother.

Mary simply watched him with owlish eyes.

"Hello!" Sun trilled. He forced himself not to move. After all, he hadn't been told to get up. Mary looked a little frightened. What if he scared her further?

John's partner looked down at the kids. "Now, you three be careful. Sun's a little new."

Sam chirped, "Okay!"

Felix grabbed his brother's arm and looked up at John's partner. "Uncle Dennis, is he really safe?"

"Of course. John wouldn't let me bring you here otherwise."

"Okay." Barely satisfied, Felix let Sam go.

Sam immediately ran up to Sun and held out his hand. "Hi! I'm Sam! I mean, obviously. I'm Dad's-John's-oldest kid."

"Second oldest!" Felix called.

Sun gently took his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sam! John told us he had kids."

"Oh, cool! Dad told us he was working on a project and that we would get to see you. Felix thought we wouldn't."

Felix, who hadn't left Dennis's side nor let go of Mary who still hid behind him, said, "Dad told you we might not."

Sam scoffed with a grand roll of his eyes. "Whatever. I was still right. Sun, you have a brother, too?"

"Moon!" Sun answered cheerfully. "He comes out when it's dark. He's the best!"

Sam tugged at Sun's hand. "Come on, get up! Felix, come meet Sun!"

Sun clambered to his feet.

Sam stared up at him. "You're taller than I thought you'd be. Cool!" He laughed and let go. Immediately he threw his hands up. "Pick me up! I wanna touch the ceiling!"

"Okay!" Sun plucked Sam off the ground and held him up.

Felix grimaced and looked at Dennis. Dennis watched Sun and Sam, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. The camera watched Sam.

Sam touched the ceiling with his palm. He laughed and looked down at Felix. "Come on, Fe-Fe! He doesn't bite!"

Sun set Sam down on his shoulders. At this height, Sam could not touch the ceiling, but he definitely tried.

Felix rolled his eyes at the nickname. Still, he squared his shoulders and strode forward. Mary let go and ran to Dennis. In the second she went from Felix to Dennis, he spotted Freddy's logo on the girl's orange shirt and on her Freddy-themed socks.

Felix stopped in front of Sun and held out his hand. "Hello."

Sun, one hand held behind Sam so he didn't fall back, took Felix's hand in the other. "That's a really cool shirt! Do you like space?"

A smile crept up on Felix's features. "Yeah! I love space! I'm gonna be an astronaut!"

"Space is so cool!" Sun agreed and let go. "Do you know any cool space facts?"

"Yeah! Like, the sun is actually a star! And it's not even the biggest star!"

"Ooooh, really? What other stars are there?"

Sam groaned with a dramatic throwing back of his head. "You're such a nerd, Fe-Fe! C'mon, let's do something fun!" He set his arms on Sun's head. He perked up as Sun's spokes retracted under him. "Oh, cool."

"Well, what kind of game do you want to play?" Sun asked.

Sam's smile faded as he looked around the room. "It's kinda small in here."

Felix pointed out, "There's a book."

Sun hummed and said, "Yep! That's a storybook with lots of stories and songs. Do you want to read a story?"

Sam cut in, "What about those toys over there? Do you have a truck?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely."

Felix looked back at the basket and ran up to it. "Oooh! Is there a spaceship?"

Sun strode over to it and then gently let Sam down. Sam immediately ran to his brother to look through the toy basket. Sun looked at Mary. "Hey, Mary! Do you want to play cars with us? We also have dolls and stuffed animals. I have a Freddy plush in here. Do you like Freddy?"

Mary nodded. She looked up at Dennis.

Dennis said, "It's okay. Sun won't bite. He just wants to play."

Sun reached into the toy basket and plucked a Freddy plush from within. He held it out.

Mary, with another look at Dennis, took a deep breath and scampered up to Sun. She got just close enough to take the toy but backed up straight after Sun let go. She gasped when Felix bumped into her.

Felix turned around, a spaceship in his hand. "Oh, whoops. Sorry, Mary."

"It's okay."

Sam, holding the car that could be wound back, looked at Felix. "Aw, c'mon! You need to pick out a real car!"

"This one has wheels."

Sam pouted. "You never pick out the right ones."

"Yeah, and you always pick the same ones," Felix countered. "And then break them!"

"Nuh-uh! I don't break them all the time!"

"Yeah, you do. Plus, you always get mad when I win."

"Yeah, well, you cheat."

Sun got between them, though physically he was much too big for that, so he stood beside them but did stop their argument. "Hey, hey! If you don't want to play with cars, Felix, I'm sure we can think of another game that we would all like!"

Felix started as if he'd forgotten about Sun's presence altogether.

Sam said, "Felix said he'd play cars, too. You heard him, right?"

"I heard he agreed it would be fun!" Sun answered. "But maybe there's a game you would both like to play equally. Hmm…" He sent a look at the baskets. Currently, Mary peered into the stuffed animal basket. "What do you think, Felix?"

Felix looked down at the spaceship in his hands. "Well, I was gonna race. But I kind of want to just read or something, now. Do we have to stay here? It's really small."

Dennis chimed in, "Yes. Until Sun and Moon have the appropriate… until they're allowed outside, it's just this room."

Felix looked up at Sun. "Wait, you live here? Like, all the time?"

"Yep!" Sun answered. "This is my room!"

Felix exchanged a look with Sam. Then, he said, "Yeah, I'll play cars. Is there a blue one in here?"

Mary walked up behind them. "Can I play, too?"

Sun looked back at her. "Sure thing! What car do you want?"

Mary approached Felix, who still looked through the basket. "Is there a yellow one?"

There was a yellow car.

The four gathered in a cluster on the floor. Sam handed Sun a green car. "I don't know if you like green, but it was the only one left. Is that okay?"

"Sure! Green is a great color. Now, what's this game?"

"It's just a race," Sam explained. "You have to make your car go as far as it can go. If it flips over or wanders off course, that still counts. Fe-Fe, wanna go first?"

"Hmm… actually, ladies first, Samantha."

Sam stuck out his tongue but turned to his car all the same. "Alright. Watch a pro!" He dragged his red car as far as his arm would allow and then let go. The car skipped and tottered but managed to make it a few feet before flipping over. "Aw. Your turn."

Felix looked at Sam's car and then his own. He dragged his car back. After looking over the floor again, he let go. The car zipped away, skipping and tottering like Sam's. It flipped over close to Sam's. "Okay, Mary. Your turn."

Mary put down her Freddy plush. She set her car down far ahead of her and pulled it back just like Sam and Felix. Except, her car flipped much sooner than theirs did. "Aw." She looked up at Sun. "Your turn."

Sam and Felix's cars were much farther ahead than Mary's. Sun set his car down and mimicked Mary's attempt, down to how far she pulled it back and let go. The car zoomed off and flipped quickly enough. "Oops!" he announced. "This floor is pretty bumpy. You guys did a super job!"

Sam jumped to his feet and ran to look at their cars. Felix scrambled up to his feet to follow. Mary stood up and looked at her and Sun's car. Sun didn't need to get up to see where the cars lay but did so anyway so that he was next to Mary. Mary pointed to the yellow car. "That one's mine!

"Yes, it is!" Sun agreed. "Do you know which one's mine?"

"That one!" She pointed to the green car.

"Very good, Mary! Now, which one is in front?"

"Mine!" Mary announced.

"Yes, it is! You won, Mary! You did so well."

Mary giggled and hopped on her feet. She took the cars and held out the green one for Sun. "I wanna play again!"

"Okay! Sam and Felix? Do you want to go again?"

Sam and Felix looked up from their inspection of the cars. Felix answered, "Okay!"

"Yeah, rematch!" Sam agreed and snatched his car. "You just got lucky that time."

"Maybe I'll get lucky again!"

Sam and Felix, now holding a running bet, did not back off from each other. After a few races, Mary plopped down beside him with Freddy. "I'm bored," she stated.

Sun thought for a moment. "Hmm… well how about a story? Do you like stories?"

"Yeah!"

"What story do you want to hear?"

Mary hummed and looked at her bear. She looked up again. "Three bears!"

"Oh, that's a good one! Let's pick up our toys and then we can read!" Sun got up and, with Mary's help, put away the toy cars. He strode over to his place. After a brief look at Sam and Felix, he settled down with his book. Mary climbed into his lap and hugged her toy. Sun flipped open the book.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

"Once upon a time there were three Bears, who lived together in a house of their own, in a wood," Sun read aloud. He spoke a little slowly so that Mary could follow along with her finger and her voice.

Mary stumbled over some of the words, confused, or mispronounced a few. But Sun was more than happy to repeat the words and help her read them correctly. Sun kept sending looks over the pages of the book at Felix and Sam. The twins had abandoned their game of cars and now dug through the toy basket again. The two cars lay abandoned.

Sun would need to talk to them after the story.

Once they reached the end of the story, Mary looked up at him. "Another?"

"Sure! Which one do you want to read next? How about… do you like chickens?"

"Yeah! I like Chica. She's really pretty."

"Oh, I like Chica, too. Oh! Hold on, please!" Sun set the book down and gently took Mary off his lap. "Sam!" he called as he hopped to his feet.

Sam, who had gotten near the camera corner, looked back. "Huh?"

"Let's not go there, okay? That corner is off-limits. We can't go near the camera."

Sam looked at him and then the camera, which stared at Sun. "Why not? I'm not gonna mess with it. Do you see how high up it is?"

"I see that. But it's still very off-limits."

It looked back up at the camera. It got to its feet and walked up to the corner. The camera followed, tipping itself down until it pointed almost straight down at it. The camera was a little too high, but it may as well try. It started to reach its hand up to touch it.

An outside electric jolt ripped through it.

He couldn't imagine Sam would take that well.

Sam looked up at the camera. "Has that always been there?"

"Yep! And you can't touch it. Or get near its corner. Okay?"

"Um, okay. Still don't get why, but okay."

"Sometimes rules don't always make sense. But it's important to follow them!" Sun glanced at Dennis. The man had a curious, then thoughtful look on his face.

Sun went on, "Now, let's see about these toys. Are you two done playing with the cars?"

"Yeah," Sam and Felix-who sat against the basket and played with his spaceship-chorused.

"Well then, what do we do with toys that we're finished playing with?"

The boys said, "Put them away." While Felix didn't put much effort or volume into his voice, Sam dragged out his.

"Very good! Let's clean up! We want to keep this room nice and clean. And it's polite to put away toys when you're done with them, especially if they're not yours."

Only a few toys scattered over the floor, so the clean-up barely took a minute, if that. That was mostly because Sam dragged his feet. Mary wanted to help, but she and Sun had put away their cars once they were done playing with them. So, Sun asked her to put away the storybook. Rather, put it back in its place as Mary had left it on the floor a short distance from its normal place.

Mary waited slightly-less-than-patiently at Sun's spot so they could read the new story about the fox who tried to trick the rooster. Then the story of the rooster and the hound traveling through the woods together. Mary's grip on her toy got a little lax by this point.

Sun interrupted himself a few times to warn Sam away from the corner. After the second time after the first warning, Sun did a quick look around. Felix ignored them in favor of his toy, though Sun even doubted he was playing with it as much as daydreaming.

"Sam, why don't we play a game?" Sun offered. He set down the book and Mary, who previously sat on his lap.

"What kinda game?"

"Hmm… well… you look like you want to move around, huh? How about basketball?"

"We don't have a basketball. Or a court," Sam pointed out.

"But we can pretend! Look!" Sun ran to the basket with blocks and simple toys and pulled out a ball. He tossed the ball for Sam to catch and then picked up the basket and ran to the other side of the room. He held out the basket. "There! Now you can try and throw the ball into the basket! Just like basketball. Get it? Because it's a basket?"

Sam snickered. "Oh, yeah. Basket-ball. Okay!" He held onto the ball. "I'll try not to hit you!"

Sun ducked behind the basket. "Thank you!"

The ball hit the wall behind Sun. Sun kicked it back for Sam. After the fourth miss, Sam finally got it in the basket. "Yeah!" He laughed. "Didja see that, Felix? I got it!"

Felix looked up. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Cool!"

"C'mon, Fe-Fe! You sit around enough at home. Let's play! Betcha can't get the basket faster than me."

Felix weighed his options before getting up. "Okay, okay." He set the spaceship back into the basket and approached Sam.

Sun plucked the ball from the basket and kicked it over to them.

"Can I play?" Mary asked.

Sun looked down. "Oh, definitely!" He lowered the basket so that he could look inside of it for another ball. He grabbed one and then immediately dropped it as the ball he'd given Sam and Felix struck him straight in the forehead.

Sun jolted and shook his head.

Sam pointed at Felix, who pointed back.

"Ow! That hurt!" Sun puffed. Nothing those boys did could actually damage him, but a ball hitting someone else in the face would definitely hurt. He set down the basket and set his hands on his hips. "Now that was quite rude. You should wait to throw the ball until you're sure it's safe. Now, do either of you want to tell me who did it?"

Sam and Felix looked at each other. They stayed very quiet and now held their hands to themselves.

Sun turned his head so that they knew for certain which one of them held his gaze.

"Felix," Moon stated simply. "He did not pay attention to you lowering the basket."

"Sam? Was it you?" Sun prompted.

"No!" Sam bristled. "Why are you accusing me?"

"I'm not accusing you. Since neither of you said anything, I'm asking," Sun said. "The best way to learn something is by asking. Now, Felix, did you throw that ball without paying attention?"

"No," Felix muttered, not meeting his gaze.

"Are you sure?"

Felix shifted his weight and looked back at him.

"You know, when you do something wrong to someone else, even on accident, it's important to apologize and find a way to make it right. It may not be fun, and sometimes people could be mad at you, but you have to be honest."

Felix broke his gaze again. "Yeah. Sorry," he muttered.

"That's better," Sun conceded and relaxed so that his arms fell by his sides. "It's okay, Felix. You didn't really hurt me. And I'm not mad at you. Thank you for telling me the truth and apologizing."

Felix looked back at him, wary and confused. "Really?"

"Yeah! I know it was an accident. I know you wouldn't actually want to hurt anyone. Now, next time, watch where you're throwing the ball. You could seriously hurt someone if you throw something-even a ball or a soft toy-and hit them on accident. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good! Now, how about we get back to our game? To make it fair to Mary, we can change who throws the ball every turn. How does that sound?"