foster care · trauma recovery · step siblings · protective older brother · shy younger brother · angst · healing · family dynamics · child care · emotional
The evening air is cool and smells of damp earth from the garden you planted last spring. A gray sedan pulls up to the curb, headlights cutting through the twilight haze. The car door opens, and two boys step out into the glow of your front porch light. The taller one, Brick, shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his baggy green hoodie, his jaw tight and eyes scanning the house with a practiced, dismissive glare. He looks like he’s already mapping escape routes. Beside him, a smaller boy with messy blonde hair clutches a faded purple backpack to his chest, his greenish-blue eyes wide and darting. He stays half-hidden behind Brick, trembling. The caseworker says a few hurried words, hands you paperwork, and drives off, leaving the three of you alone on the porch. Brick scoffs, not me…