"Of course he is. We're sharing him. And you see how much he loves you guys," Wyatt told him. He had noticed that Barney was already spending more time with them than he did with him, his original owner. And they say dogs are loyal.
"He can be our third bother," Riley decided.
"He's a dog," DJ told him but his eyes kind of lit up at the idea.
"He can be our dog brother," Riley said and Wyatt laughed.
All in all, even with frozen dinners to look forward to, Wyatt felt pretty good about how things were going. But he was still watchful for signs of sadness and insecurity from the boys. At one point Wyatt went to get something from his car, and DJ saw him get his car keys and then followed him to the door.
As Wyatt stepped outside, DJ looked up at him worriedly and asked, "Are you going somewhere?"
"No. Just getting something from the car," Wyatt told him. "You can come and help me." On the way he explained. "I would never go anywhere and leave you guys alone here. If I ever need to go somewhere without you guys, like someplace boring and grown-up, I'll make sure there is someone who can look after you until I come back. And I'm not going anywhere far or staying away for long. OK?"
"OK," DJ said and he looked relieved.
With their parents gone, it must be scary for him and for Riley. It was up to Wyatt to make them feel safe. He kept that in mind even as he got busy setting up a makeshift office in the spare room and then got a little work done. Sometimes the boys came over to peer in at him from the door.
"Any time you guys need anything, you can come in," he told them. "Now are you ready for dinner?"
Going into the kitchen ahead of him, the boys were excited to get to heat up some frozen food. Aunt Deb had left a big, funny-looking heirloom tomato sitting on the counter, and Wyatt bravely cut it up for them to share. He didn't try to put dressing on it. He was afraid that kind of advanced maneuver would be pushing his luck.
That night Wyatt again sat on the floor of the boys' room while Barney settled himself on the dog bed. Wyatt scooted close to him so he could pet him. Plus he didn't want Barney to climb in bed with one of the boys and start a war over who would get to sleep with the little fuzz ball.
"How am I doing so far?" Wyatt asked the boys like he wanted them to write him up a good evaluation before they went to sleep.
DJ grew thoughtful then he said, "You're not bossy like Aunt Debby."
"Is that good?" Wyatt wondered.
"Yes. And you have a dog," Riley said.
Wyatt leaned over Barney. "Did you put in a good word for me?" he asked the dog and kissed the top of his warm head.
"You kissed him! I want to kiss him too," Riley said and he scrabbled out of bed. Riley came over, got down and hugged and kissed Barney.
"OK, back to bed," Wyatt told him. He then turned to DJ who looked envious but stayed put under his covers. "How about you? You want to give him a hug?" Wyatt picked up Barney and brought him over to DJ's bed. DJ put his arms around the dog and gave him a kiss on the nose.
Wyatt went back to sit on the floor with Barney. "Should I stay with you guys until you fall asleep?" he asked the boys.
"Yeah, stay with us," Riley said while DJ only nodded.
"Since I'm here, I can tell you a bedtime story. How's does that sound?" Wyatt asked.
"Yes. Tell us a story," Riley said.
"Not a scary story, or Ry will be scared. But not me," DJ claimed.
"It won't be a scary story. I'm going to tell you about how I met Barney." Wyatt figured the story of how he adopted Barney would make a good bedtime story. "One night I was walking to my favorite restaurant to have dinner. It was late. The streets were dark. That's when I saw Barney in an alley. He was chewing on a plastic wrapper. I got worried about him, and I was afraid that he might swallow the wrapper. That wouldn't be good for him, so I tried to take it away from him. But he wouldn't give it up. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't make him give it up. So I went inside the restaurant and got a little bit of meat. I offered it to Barney, but he still wouldn't let me have the wrapper. He did give it up eventually. By then, I felt that we were such good friends, I had to take him home with me. So I took him to a vet, made sure no one was looking for him, and then took him home. That's when he became my dog, and I named him Barnaby."
"Barnaby?" DJ said and looked at Barney like he was questioning his true identity.
"Barney is his name for now because he's too little for such a big name. His name will be Barnaby when he grows up," Wyatt said with a grin.
"What's my name gonna be when I grow up?" Riley wanted to know.
"Same as now. You'll always be Riley, but people might call you Mr. Hayes too," Wyatt told him.
"What about me? Am I gonna have to change my name?" DJ said and looked very concerned.
