Chapter 4: Three Instead Of Two
1068 Words
By the end of Owen’s first week at the Parker house, Riley had decided he was no longer a stranger.
Ethan wasn’t convinced.
“He still doesn’t know how we do things,” he complained one afternoon.
Owen looked up from the floor. “What things?”
Ethan pointed toward the television.
“That’s my spot.”
Owen glanced at the empty space beside him.
“There are three seats.”
“That’s still my spot.”
Riley walked past them carrying a bowl of popcorn.
“You weren’t even sitting there.”
“I was going to.”
“You’ve been saying that for ten minutes.”
Ethan looked at Owen.
“You see what I deal with?”
Owen smiled.
Riley stopped.
“You’re laughing at me?”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
Ethan started laughing.
Riley narrowed her eyes at both of them.
“Fine. I’ll sit somewhere else.”
She turned around dramatically.
Owen reached for the bowl.
“Can I have some?”
Riley immediately turned back.
“No.”
“You said you were leaving.”
“I changed my mind.”
Ethan laughed harder.
It had become like this every day.
Small arguments.
Stolen snacks.
Arguments over television channels.
Riley complaining that the boys made too much noise.
Ethan complaining that Riley touched everything.
And Owen quietly learning how things worked in the Parker household.
He learned that Mr. Parker liked his coffee strong.
That Mrs. Parker hated shoes being left in the hallway.
That Ethan would never admit when he was tired.
And that Riley could talk for an entire afternoon without running out of things to say.
He also learned something else.
The Parkers kept their promises.
Mrs. Parker had told him he was family.
She behaved like it.
There was no special treatment.
No awkwardness.
If Riley and Ethan were punished, Owen was punished too when he was involved.
If they were rewarded, he was included.
When Mrs. Parker bought new clothes for the twins, there was something for him.
When their father brought gifts home from his trips, Owen received one too.
Nobody made him ask.
Nobody made him feel grateful for every little thing.
Still, Owen wasn’t used to it.
Sometimes he’d stand quietly in the doorway while Riley and Ethan argued, watching them with an expression neither of them understood.
“You’re staring,” Riley told him one evening.
Owen blinked.
“I wasn’t.”
“You were.”
“At what?”
“Us.”
Ethan looked over.
“Maybe he thinks we’re weird.”
“We are not weird.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
“You screamed yesterday because a spider was on your shoe.”
Riley’s face changed.
“I did not scream.”
“You did.”
“I shouted.”
“You screamed.”
Owen laughed.
Riley grabbed a cushion and threw it at Ethan.
It missed.
It hit Owen.
Everyone went silent.
Owen looked at the cushion in his lap.
Then at Riley.
She froze.
“Sorry.”
Owen picked up the cushion.
Riley took one step backward.
“Don’t.”
He threw it.
She squealed and ran.
Ethan immediately joined in.
Within seconds, the living room was chaos.
Mrs. Parker appeared at the doorway.
“What is happening?”
Nobody answered.
She looked at the cushions scattered across the floor.
Then at her three children.
Her children.
The thought came naturally now.
She smiled.
“Clean this up before dinner.”
Three voices answered at once.
“Yes, Mom.”
Owen stopped.
He hadn’t meant to say it.
The word had simply come out.
Mrs. Parker looked at him.
She didn’t make a big deal about it.
She only smiled.
“Good.”
Then she walked away.
Owen lowered his eyes.
Riley came closer.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“You look weird.”
“I don’t.”
She sat beside him.
“You called her Mom.”
Owen shrugged.
“I know.”
“That’s okay.”
“I know.”
Riley smiled.
“Good.”
Then she stood.
“Come on.”
“Where?”
“Swimming.”
Owen frowned.
“I don’t have swimming clothes.”
Mrs. Parker called from the hallway.
“I bought you some.”
Riley grinned.
“See?”
Owen looked toward the hallway.
A small bag was waiting on the chair.
His name was written on the tag.
He picked it up.
For a moment, he didn’t say anything.
Ethan walked past him.
“You coming?”
Owen nodded.
“Yeah.”
The three of them headed upstairs.
Later that afternoon, Owen stood beside the swimming pool wearing his new clothes.
Riley was already in the water.
“Come on!”
“I don’t know how.”
Ethan pushed his goggles onto his forehead.
“Neither did we at first.”
Riley splashed water toward them.
“You’re taking too long!”
Owen laughed.
He stepped into the pool.
The water reached his waist.
He held the edge tightly.
Riley swam toward him.
“Let go.”
“No.”
“You won’t drown.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m here.”
Owen looked at her.
Riley rolled her eyes.
“Just let go.”
He did.
For a second, he panicked.
Then Ethan grabbed his arm.
“I’ve got you.”
Owen looked at him.
Ethan grinned.
“See?”
Riley swam around them.
“Now do it again.”
Owen tried.
This time, he didn’t hold the edge.
He moved awkwardly through the water while Riley and Ethan shouted instructions from opposite sides.
When he finally reached the other end, Riley cheered.
“You did it!”
Owen pushed wet hair away from his face.
Ethan slapped his shoulder.
“Not bad.”
Owen smiled.
It wasn’t the same smile he’d given them at the birthday table.
This one stayed.
And somewhere between the school lunches, the arguments, the swimming lessons and the ridiculous pillow fight, something had quietly changed.
There were no longer two Parker children and a boy their parents had taken in.
There were three children.
Three plates at dinner.
Three school bags by the door.
Three voices calling for their mother.
Three children growing up under the same roof.
And nobody needed to say it anymore.
Owen belonged.
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