Brother Love

We've been sick around here for nearly two weeks.  Hawkins and Houston got it first and they have since recovered.  Hayes, however, is struggling.  Today was the third day that he stayed home and Houston went to school.  Bless his heart, he has been bored to death without his best friend.  Hayes adores his big brother.  (He adores his little brothers, too.)  But when Houston is around, he does the entertaining and Hayes just follows suit.

"When's Houston gonna be home?"  Hayes would constantly ask me between coughs and naps.  He has not felt well enough to even play with him.  However, he still desires Houston's companionship.

As 3:15 rolled around today, I asked Hayes and Hawkins if they would like to head outside to look for the bus and wait on Houston.  No sooner had I spoken the words, were they flinging open the front door with huge grins.  They had left the front door open (it was an unusually warm day for February) and I was a couple minutes behind them heading out.

Hawkins and I wait on the bus nearly every day.  He plays in the yard, runs around the tree, walks the landscape rocks like a balance beam, anything to keep from being still while waiting to greet his brothers. When I started out the door, I was expecting to find them playing, especially since Hawkins is used to this routine.

However, this is what I saw:

They were both sitting down, chatting up a storm, surveying the streets, and waiting anxiously for their long, lost brother to come home.