[A/N: by the way if there is a certain scene/idea you would like to see played out, just let me know and I will see what I can do]
When the boys were ten years old I went to back to school night in their classroom. We were at Mark's desk and Mark was showing us one of his drawings when their teacher came up to me. "Hi! Mrs. Sloan, I'm Mrs. Johnson, it's nice to meet you can we talk for a minute?"
"Well, I'm Mrs. Shepherd, Derek's mom actually, but we can talk, Mark has become a part of my family and his parents couldn't be here today." She took me up to her desk and told me that Mark has a hard time staying awake through the whole day and around ten in the morning he gets tired, sometimes he even falls asleep, and some days he comes without lunch. I decided to bring it up to hiim when we were eating dessert at dairy queen that night.
"Your teacher says you fall asleep or get tired during the day Mark," Mrs. Shepherd said.
"Yeah, sometimes." Mark looked down.
"Do you stay up late and watch t.v?" I smiled. Something told me this boy never had been confronted by a parent before.
"No."
"Then why are you tired?"
"I just. I can't sleep."
"And why not?"
"It's scary." He said feeling really ashamed to be a ten year old boy that was afraid of something. He trusted that Derek wouldn't make fun of him though.
"What makes it scary?" I asked. I was starting to get concerned about what his parents were doing to him.
"Just being alone."
"You stay alone?"
"On certain nights, because they work late shifts."
"Is that why sometimes you don't bring lunch. Your teacher told me."
"Yes. They are too tired and I don't bother to wake them up in the morning so I just leave." I could not imagine Derek, or Amelia or any of my other children leaving the hosue without kissing me goodbye, I know the time will come some day, but not at his age.