John & Alan + Stargazing
John rearranged his pillows and checked his dad's old telescope, again, to make sure it was in the correct position. His dad was on the other side of the picnic blanket, fussing over Alan who was sat between them.
John tried not to frown as he was reminded of their extra guest. He had been hoping that this would be his time alone with his dad to bond. Since Alan had been born, John hadn't been able to spend any time with just his dad and no one else.
However, like usual in their house, things were chaotic that weekend. Their mom was away with some friends for a few days, her first time away from them since well before Alan was born. John knew she needed some time to relax, at least that's what his dad had explained to him, but it was annoying that it just so happened to be at the same time as the meteor shower that his dad promised the two of them would watch together.
And on top of that, Alan was teething. Which meant he wasn't sleeping. Which meant he had to join them outside because their mom wasn't around to watch him whilst John and their dad had some father-son time.
He really was trying to not be upset about it.
John knew that they had to step up when it was needed. He was old enough to understand that their dad was looking after all five of them this weekend, so it was up to them, especially the oldest of the brothers, to be as little trouble to him as possible. His mom had reminded him of that before she left.
He could still be a little upset about it, though.
"How long until the meteor shower, daddy?"
John did want to know the answer as he was starting to get giddy with excitement, but maybe the question was also to draw the attention away from his littlest brother and onto him for just a small moment. He didn't want his dad to forget he was there, after all.
His dad stopped from where he had been tucking a blanket around Alan to look at his watch.
"About thirty minutes," he replied quickly, but then his eyes widened as that answer really dawned on him. "Is that really the time? I need to go and make sure Gordon's in bed."
He stood up abruptly and made for the house.
"Are you alright to look after your brother for a few minutes?" He asked before he left, and he indicated to the baby curled up next to John.
John looked hesitantly at Alan and then back up to his dad. He hadn't had to look after any of his brothers on his own before. He had been too young when Gordon was born, and fortunately, with two older brothers, the opportunity hadn't come up yet since Alan's birth. Not until now.
But what his mom had said to him before she'd left came to mind, and he was reminded of the fact that it was up to him to help his dad out here. He couldn't just call on Scott or Virgil to come watch Alan instead, and his dad was busy.
Hesitantly, he gave his dad a small nod.
Pleased, his dad shot him a smile and then hurried inside the house.
The backyard was quiet with just him and Alan, who was busy chewing on his teething ring. John looked back up at the sky, but there was no meteor shower yet. Not that he had been expecting anything, as his dad had said there was still a bit of time before it was meant to start, but he just had nothing else to do.
He instead tried to fill the time whilst he waited by trying to identify as many constellations as he could. It was a clear night, and out here in rural Kansas, he had a pretty decent look at the sky.
John was snapped out of his staring when something hit him in the back of the head.
"Alan!" John yelled in frustration as he turned around to find Alan's teething ring sitting next to him and a cheeky smile on his brother's face.
He rubbed the back of his head with a frown, and John wasn't sure if it was something he did, but then Alan began to cry.
Panicked, John looked back at the house, but there was no sign of his dad. He couldn't go and get him, because that meant leaving Alan out here by himself, so he had to try and fix this himself.
The only thing he could think of was to give the teething ring back to Alan. Alan snatched it from his hand and wrapped his gums around it immediately, and his tears were muffled by the rubber until soon there were no tears at all.
John relaxed, and felt a little proud of himself at solving that problem and managed to make Alan feel better. Maybe this looking after thing wasn't so hard.
Alan kicked his feet as he attempted to bite down on the toy, and one leg poked out from beneath the blanket.
"No, Alan. You need this to stay warm," John reprimanded, even though Alan had no idea what he was saying.
John grabbed the edge of the blanket and tucked it back around Alan, just like he had seen his dad do. It was a fairly warm late summer night, but Alan was small and still vulnerable to the world, so it wouldn't do him any good to be cold. He was sitting in his baby bouncer so he was comfortable and didn't have to lay on the hard ground.
John watched his baby brother for a long moment, making sure that no other limbs were trying to make an escape, but Alan appeared to settle now that he had his toy back.
As he watched Alan, John then noticed his little brother's eyes had drifted up towards the night sky. John looked up at where his brother's gaze had landed, and then a grin slowly stretched across his face.
"You like that?"
Alan didn't answer, not that he knew what John said, but he did smile around the ring, which was answer enough for John.
"You want me to tell you what they all are?"
This time Alan answered with a giggle, and John's smile grew even wider.
He settled himself against the pillows, next to his brother, so that he could look up at the stars just like him.
"Okay, so, that one right there is Ursa Major," John pointed to the collection of stars, the first ones he had learnt to identify. "And that over there is Ursa Minor. Also known as the Great Bear and the Little Bear."
John looked over to see if Alan was paying attention. The words were probably going straight over his head, but he was at least still looking up at the sky.
"Mom sometimes calls Virgil her Little Bear, but I don't know who would be his Great Bear." John thought about that for a moment. "Maybe Scott, 'cause they're always together and he's the biggest brother of us, so that makes him great."
John then turned back to the sky.
"You see that bright star over there?" John didn't wait for an answer before he continued. "That's the North Star, also known as Pol-pola... uh." John tried to remember the name, and then it struck him. "Oh, Polaris. I think that's it. It's a special star 'cause it helps you find your way home. And then there's-"
John looked out across the sky to try and find something else he could identify, but then movement caught his eye. He looked over to Alan, and found that one of his tiny, chubby hands had let go of his teething ring and was instead reaching up towards the sky. He was grasping the air, like he was trying to grab hold of one of the stars and pull it down to chew on instead.
"You can't touch them, silly." John chuckled, but then decided to add, "not yet, anyway."
He didn't know what made him say it, maybe he was just projecting his own dreams onto his brother, but either way it made Alan giggle again.
The small noise caused John to smile again, and so he turned back to the night sky and thought about what else he could share with his brother.
He didn't know how long had passed, but then he was brought out of his explanations when his dad's voice drifted back outside.
"Sorry I took so long!" Their dad was hurrying out of the backdoor and across the grass to them. John sat back up once he saw him. "Thanks to your brothers, Gordon was already washed and ready for bed, but I just couldn't get him to settle. I hope Alan didn't give you any trouble whilst I was away."
John glanced down at Alan, who at some point without him even realising had fallen asleep. His mouth was still wrapped around his teething ring, but the edges of his mouth were curved up as if in a tiny smile.
"No." John looked back up at his dad. "He was no problem."
"Good," his dad nodded with a grin of his own. "Now, are you ready to watch a meteor shower? It's almost time."
"Yes!" John had almost forgotten why he was out there in the first place. He quickly grabbed the telescope again to ensure it was pointed in the direction he wanted it.
He was a little sad that Alan was asleep and would miss it, but that just gave John something to look forward to. By the time the next meteor shower rolled around, Alan would be older and would be able to appreciate it more. Maybe by then, John would have learnt more constellations to teach his brother about as well.