He was jealous. Not because the twins got more attention. He understood that they needed more attention, being younger then he was.

It was that he felt like they didn't include him, which only made him feel worse. What 9 year old got upset because a pair of 4 year olds lived in their own little world.

It shouldn't bother him, but when his friends all went home and the twins were his only option of someone to play with he'd feel like an outsider, making him feel ridiculous because again, they were 4.

He sat at the table in the kitchen, scuffing his foot against the floor when the two suddenly appeared at his side.

"Henry come with us?" Ruth asked, wanting to take his hand but was forced to hold onto his arm because she couldn't reach.

"Henry's doing homework." He replied, and wondered vaguely why he took on speaking in third person.

"Then you come with us?" Jesse stood on his toes in an attempt to see the table top and paper. When that didn't work he pushed one of the chairs back and climbed up. Soon Henry had an audience when all he wanted to do was finish his math homework. The two giggled and chattered between themselves as they waited for him to finally be ready. They apparently were only willing to wait so long, though, and were off and running again before he was finished.

He'd glared at the paper and continued in silence. Once he was finally finished, he left it out to be checked and hopped down from the chair.

He wondered sometimes how they did it, because before he even made it out of the kitchen, the twins had grabbed his hands and were dragging him down the hallway.

"Henry come with us now."

"We made a fort-"

"Shhh!"

"But he's gunna know anyway..."

They dragged him to their currently shared room, it was closest to their parent's room and made it easier to hear at night. There was a sheet draped between the beds, held with some books, and their pillows had been thrown on the floor beneath it.

Jesse spoke so fast, Henry could barely keep up. "This is your castle, 'cause you're King Henry and we're the-"

"It's a fort, Jesse, not a castle." Ruth cut him off.

Jesse paused and Henry could see the argument before it even started. "It's a castle."

"No we said it's a fort!"

"It's a castle!"

"Ok, woah, woah, woah-" Henry cut them off and waved a hand. "How about its a castle fort..."

The twins continued to pout at one another until Jesse remembered where he'd left off. "You're King Henry and we're your guards."

"So you have to sit in the fort."

"Castle."

"King Henry demands you stop fighting over what this is called..." He huffed and crawled in, smirking when they planted themselves on the floor just outside.

"If I'm the king, doesn't that make you a prince and princess?"

"Does it?"

"If I'm royalty then you're royalty. Royalty shouldn't be put on guard duty."

"Yeah but there's only us three."

Henry burst out laughing, somehow Jesse was always so pragmatic and he wasn't even old enough to go to school.

He rolled his eyes and sat cross legged. "I don't think I need guarded."

"Yeah." Ruth argued matter of factly. "Because we love you."

He blinked in surprise as two pair of blue eyes regarded him seriously, innocent and honest.

"Well...I love you both..." He motioned them in to the castle fort. "How about we guard each other."

The twins seemed to consider it before shuffling in to sit beside him, before long the three were sprawled over their own respective pillows and weren't found until much later when Sarah had gone to check on them, sleeping in the middle of the floor.