Rain

"There's something happening outside," Lenny announced.

As usual, he had not knocked on the twins' bedroom door before coming inside. On more than one occasion in the two weeks since the Hamiltons had relocated and Lenny had been allowed at last to come out of his box to join them in the outside world, this had resulted in his witnessing somewhat graphic exchanges between them before they could pull the blankets more fully over themselves, but so far Lenny did not seem deterred or embarrassed by these occurrences enough to remember to knock before entering, and the twins themselves had not yet grown concerned enough to remember to lock the door.

This time around, they were not engaged in a particular sexual encounter; instead they were simply sitting up in bed, curled against each other, with Darlene's head on Wendell's shoulder, his hand idly twining through her hair as they spoke together in low tones, chuckling often over their private conversation. They looked up with lazy disinterest when Lenny came to stand in the doorway, though Darlene frowned when she saw the worry puckering his brow, the faint frown turning downward his lips.

"What do you mean?" she asked, and Lenny shrugged, seeming to find difficulty describing what he had seen.

"There's something coming down from the sky."

The twins exchanged glances, mystified. Raising an eyebrow, Wendell pulled away from Darlene just enough to face Lenny more fully, stretching his arms in front of him and exhaling before questioning him again.

"What's "something," Len?"

"I don't know," Lenny replied, and for the first time a hint of frustration came into his voice. He crossed his arms over his chest, leaning more fully against the door frame, and Darlene smirked, her eyes shifting to Wendell again. When Lenny stood like that, he was clearly unconsciously miming her twin's frequent stance. "It's making a lot of noise."

"Did you tell David or Francis?" Darlene asked, stretching her arms as well and shoving back the blankets from her and Wendell's lap, revealing the slinky red negligee she was wearing beneath. "How come I can't hear David blustering around freaking out over it?"

"I didn't tell them. I was gonna ask you first," Lenny shrugged again. "You guys know about stuff like that anyway."

Both twins chuckled, exchanging smirks, before getting out of bed, Wendell extending a hand to Darlene to pull her to her feet and holding it until they reached the doorway. Reaching out to ruffle Lenny's already tousled hair, he said amiably, "You got that right, little man. Let's check this out, then…lead the way."

They followed Lenny through the hallway and kitchen, winding around the table and chairs that was, as the twins often pointed out, entirely unneeded, as none of them ever used it to eat or prepare food on. As Lenny opened the front door with some trepidation, then quickly stepped back, taking refuge behind the twins, he gestured towards the ajar doorway, his voice becoming hushed.

"See…THAT. What is it?"

The twins craned their necks forward, straining to see something more than the obvious both of what they were observing and what Lenny had just described. It was drawing near to evening, the clouds darkened overhead, but there was still enough light to be able to clearly see the expanse of their front yard, and there was nothing out of ordinary on the lawn. Lenny wriggled with impatience behind them, tugging on both their arms at once as he repeated himself.

"What is that? Coming out the sky. It looks like water…who's doing that?"

Both Darlene and Wendell realized in the same moment what he must have been referring to, and as they turned to each other, grinning, Wendell giving a soft chuckle of amusement, Lenny huffed, pulling even harder at their arms.

"WHAT? What's so funny?"

"That is water, Lenny," Wendell informed him, still smiling, but the expression was not mocking, as it would have been with either of his other brothers in a similar circumstance, but rather genuine. "It's called rain."

"Come here, baby," Darlene held out a hand to him, her own smile softer as she met his eyes. "It's nothing to be afraid of. Come out here with me and you'll see."

Taking Lenny's hand, she pulled him forward onto the covered porch outside the doorway. From the doorway Wendell watched as she slowly guided a somewhat apprehensive Lenny down the porch steps and out onto the front yard, still holding his hand. When the cool rain first hit his skin, Lenny flinched, letting out a short cry of surprise, but as Darlene laughed, holding his hand up high and shouting for him to put back his head and let it more thoroughly wash over his face, he tentatively obeyed. Gradually at first, then more fully, a smile spread over the young boy's face, and then he laughed aloud, opening his mouth and eyes and spitting out, sputtering, the water that filled them both. With sudden friskiness he dropped Darlene's hand, beginning to run circles around her as he shouted for her to catch him, and Darlene obliged him, hair slicked over her face so she could hardly see, her pale skin in her flimsy clothing streaming rivlets of water down her limbs as she ran barefoot, laughing as much as the young child she pursued.

Observing them, Wendell's heart filled with an unusual tenderness for them, and his lips too curved into a smile. In a few moments he would join them, but he first let a minute pass where he simply watched, enjoying his siblings' enjoyment before making it his own as well.