"We can all help," Wyatt told them. "We'll get what we need from the kitchen and then we'll get stuff from the car."
The boys were eager to help him and soon they had Barney eating and drinking. They all grabbed some drinks too. Aunt Deb got busy in the kitchen and promised that lunch would be ready soon.
Now Wyatt found himself sitting on the front steps with a nephew on either side of him. Barney was at his feet trying to climb up on his knee. Wyatt was surrounded.
"So which one of you boys is going to be in first grade next year?" Wyatt turned to Riley. "Is it you, Riley?"
"No. It's DJ," Riley told him and pointed across Wyatt to his big brother. "I'm gonna be in kindergarten."
"So you're a big kid too," Wyatt said.
Riley nodded in agreement, but DJ denied it with a shake of his head. "He's still little," DJ told him and craned his neck to stare down his brother, who only stuck out his tongue at him.
"You're both bigger than Barney. That has to count for something," Wyatt told both of them.
"Is he gonna stay with us?" DJ asked and he sounded really worried that Wyatt would say no and send him away somewhere.
"Me and Barney are both staying here. We're moving in to live here," Wyatt told him since Aunt Deb said it was important for them to know that.
"That's good because Aunt Debbie is going away," DJ said and he looked very sad.
"She has to go back to hang out with Uncle Tom. He's lonely without her. And you guys have me," Wyatt said and he put his arms around both boys. DJ and Riley were so tiny. It broke his heart to think how scared they must be. "You guys have to show me all the best places around here. And we have to climb on the hill with all the trees. I bet we can take some nice pictures up there."
DJ nodded, but then he said, "But Aunt Debbie said you're gonna be working and not to bother you."
"You won't bother me. A working guy has to take a break sometimes. That's when we'll have fun," Wyatt assured him.
"And Barney," Riley said. The dog had gone over to him and put his fuzzy head in his lap.
"Lunchtime, boys," Aunt Deb called out from inside and the boys jumped up.
"You meant me too, right?" Wyatt joked as he went into the kitchen.
"Yes. You too. I bet you're starving," she said. "Here. Take these rolls."
She handed him a basket of homemade rolls that smelled buttery, looked fluffy and felt as light as air. "I can't promise that these will make it to the table," Wyatt warned her. "You better take them, DJ. You look like you can be trusted to get them all to the table in one piece."
DJ took the basket and proudly delivered the rolls to the kitchen table unharmed. Riley got to carry the napkins and mustard.
They had a great lunch of roasted green beans and strips of fried Canadian bacon that fit nicely inside the rolls, plus the tomato salad. Wyatt was in heaven. He felt like he hadn't eaten for years.
He had no proper meal since he heard about Lloyd. Now eating Aunt Debbie's food at his brother's kitchen table with his two little nephews made him want to cry.
Aunt Deb must have noticed that he was a little overwrought because she told him. "You go and lie down for a while, rest up."
"You gonna take a nap?" Riley asked him. Then his big, brown eyes turned very serious. "I don't like naps. I don't like them."
"I guess I better hang out with you guys so I don't have to go take a nap," Wyatt said. It would do him more good than any nap. Plus he wasn't looking forward to taking over the boys' parents' bedroom. Maybe once he was tired enough, it wouldn't bother him so much.
After lunch, Aunt Deb wanted to visit a few of the neighbors to say goodbye to them in person before leaving. Wyatt, the boys and Barney went with her. The houses around there were far apart, but everyone that Wyatt got introduced to was friendly.
Already the neighbors seemed fond of Aunt Deb and sad to see her go. She had been exchanging fresh tomatoes from their garden for other vegetables and even eggs that the neighbors had.
"You can keep doing that too," Aunt Deb told him.
"And then do what with them? I can't cook," Wyatt informed her.
"All that time in Europe with all that amazing food they have over there, if my TV is to be believed, and you didn't learn a thing?" she said and shook her head at him. "Well, you can at least fry up an egg."
