"If they like them burned, then I can," Wyatt said and grinned at the boys.
They both shook their heads to let him know how they felt about burned eggs.
In no time, they had walked all over the outskirts of Peach Tree, and it was evening. When they got back to the house, Aunt Deb insisted that Wyatt help her in the kitchen and learn something.
Wyatt didn't tell her that he was impervious to all culinary instruction. Not that he had ever tried very hard. A few half hearted attempts told him it wasn't worth the trouble.
In his early days traipsing all over Europe, he was lucky if he had a hotplate to heat up a can of something. Later on, he could afford to eat much better food than he could ever hope to make.
It was only now with two growing boys to feed that he saw his lack of cooking skills as a potential problem. He hoped there were some good places to eat around there so the kids wouldn't forget what food was supposed to taste like.
He knew for sure that the boys would miss Aunt Debbie and her cooking. Wyatt would miss her too. He couldn't believe she was leaving the next morning. After that the boys would be his sole responsibility.
To get him started, at the boys' bedtime, Aunt Deb had an assignment for him. "You put them to bed. It will be good practice."
"So make sure they brush their teeth and tuck them in, that kind of thing?" Wyatt said.
"That's it," Aunt Deb confirmed, and Wyatt went off to supervise the boys' bedtime routine.
He was doing it for the first time ever. The only kid he ever put to bed was himself, and that was with Lloyd right there by his side, making sure he didn't eat toothpaste or sneak off to see what Dad was watching on TV, or not watching.
Their dad always came home late, dead tired from laying wood floors, and collapsed in front of the TV, ate his dinner there and sometimes slept there all night. Lloyd made sure Wyatt didn't bother him so he wouldn't yell.
But looking back, Wyatt couldn't remember their dad ever being the one who put him to bed, not even after their mom left. It was always Lloyd, acting too grown-up for his age, dragging Wyatt kicking and screaming to go to bed already.
When it came to putting the boys to bed, Wyatt didn't have to do it alone. Barney was right there. When they were in their pajamas and ready to climb into bed, Barney followed them to their room and settled himself right in front of the desk that separated their beds.
"I guess he thinks it's his bedtime too," Wyatt said seeing how Barney curled himself up on their colorful, striped rug.
"Can he sleep with us?" DJ asked even though Barney was already doing as he liked.
"Sure he can," Wyatt said.
The boys were happier to get into bed now that Barney was joining them.
"He can sleep with me," Riley said and tried to coax Barney to climb on his bed.
"No, me. I'm older," DJ said, pulling rank like every big brother. He didn't have a few years on Riley like Lloyd had on Wyatt, but he still wanted to be the boss.
To settle the argument, Wyatt told them. "Actually, Barney has his own bed. I'll go and get it." He was back with it right away. "I'll put the dog bed between your beds. That's fair. Right on this spot that Barney already picked out for himself. See, he's happy there," Wyatt said as they all watched Barney turn around before lying back down.
Worried that Barney might follow him if he left, Wyatt stayed in the boys' room and waited for them to fall asleep. The two chairs in there didn't look comfortable so he just sat cross-legged on the rug and listened to their chatter. Instead of a bedtime story for the boys, the boys were telling Barney about all the cool places they were going to show him.
"I might want to see some of those places too. Are they just for kids and dogs, or can uncles join in too?" Wyatt asked.
"Uncles are allowed," DJ told him.
Then Riley seconded that. "You're allowed, Uncle Wyatt."
"Thanks, guys. Sounds like fun," Wyatt told them. "Now that Barney has so much to look forward to, he'll have sweet, doggy dreams, and you two have sweet dreams too."
Once the boys were asleep, Wyatt got up on stiff legs. Leaving Barney to watch over them, he crept quietly out of the boys' room. He stretched in the hallway and found himself staring at a family photo that hung in the hall. Lloyd and his wife were sitting in the grass. DJ was sitting between them awkwardly holding on to Riley, who apparently had just learned to walk and could not be contained.
Wyatt found that he couldn't let himself gaze at that photo too long. Being with the boys made him miss Lloyd so much, and the boys must miss him and their mother even more.
But what had stood between him and Lloyd was still there. His older brother sided with their father and said his sexuality was a selfish choice. After that, Wyatt had no reason to keep in touch with either of them.
He didn't even know about his brother's marriage or his family until Lloyd was gone. Now that both his brother and his father were gone, his aunt was all that was left to remind Wyatt of the family they once were.
