Page 140 of When We Were Young

“Hey, baby brothers,” Henry teases.

He knows it annoys me when he calls me his ‘baby’ brother.

“Hey, old man,” I shoot back. Henry hates to be called old.

Hayden grins at me, and we both stand and head over to the table where we’ll eat.

“Wow, Hayd, you even set the table.”

“Yeah. I was here pretty early,” he says.

Henry and Harrison place the food on the table, and I grab the glasses of whiskey and set them in the appropriate places.

Once we’ve served ourselves, I notice Harrison glance over at Hayden, but he says nothing about the fact that he’s only drinking ginger ale.

“So, Holden,” Henry says, “Layla was telling Tillie and me after school today that she’s pretty sure her ‘work’ with you is almost done.”

I don’t even know what to say to that. How do you respond when a six-year-old actually helps your relationship?

“Yeah? Well, that’s good news. I guess she did achieve her goal. Things are going great between Lizette and me.”

“You’re happier than I’ve seen you in a very long time,” Harrison comments. “I think I forgot what it was like to see you this happy.”

“I agree,” Henry mumbles with a mouth full of noodles.

“I’m genuinely happy. I could dwell on the past and the years we lost, but I’m not going to do that. I’m going to focus on building our future.”

“You’re great with Simon,” Hayden comments.

“He’s great, an amazing kid. So damn smart and kindhearted.” I know I’m smiling. I can feel it.

“And so damn polite. I’ve never met a kid who is so polite. Lizzie has done a phenomenal job with him,” Henry says.

“He’s really opened up since he moved here, too.” It’s been spectacular watching him come out of his shell around my friends and family.

Harrison lifts his mouth to his glass and takes a sip. “I think about the shy little boy studying bugs with Layla in the town square and compare him to the outgoing kid playing with Layla and Frankie at Henry's the other day. The transformation is wild.”

“I never knew chickens could keep kids so entertained,” Hayden chimes in.

“That was hilarious,” Henry says.

“I’m glad I got that video,” Hayden adds.

“Don’t show the video to anyone.” My cheeks heat. “It’s not my fault I’m afraid of chickens. It’s Henry's.”

“How is it my fault?” Henry balks.

“You used to make me watch all those videos of chickens chasing people.”

A boisterous laugh roars out of Harrison, uncharacteristic for him. “Remember when we went to Fulton’s farm, and you actually got chased by one? That is probably the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Uh, yeah, hysterical. I live with terror inside me that it’ll happen again. I’ll always wonder what they’ll do if they actually catch me.”

“Yeah, well, we’re gonna have to work on that, because you can’t keep freaking out and running away when one of the kids approaches you carrying a chicken. Though it did make for great video footage.” Henry says with a grin.

“Jerk,” I say halfheartedly.

“I think Simon and Frankie were naturals.” Hayden takes a sip of his ginger ale. “They’re both talking about wishing they had chickens.”