Avid Adopter

12 - Play

Dust is my favorite little bean of them all, and I have the tendency to center on him. I'm going to try to make sure the others get their spotlight when they're supposed to, but I apologize if I get sidetracked while doing so.

I just can't frisking resist the bean-

~~~~~

It had been a month since Error had been brought into our family, and things were moving smoothly. I had decided that I would hold off his Destroyer training until he reached the age of eight, giving him roughly three years to enjoy his childhood; I wished it could have been more. Error had gotten more used to speaking, and he could now form sentences, but he prefered to call almost everyone by nicknames. Killer was "Kills," Dust was "Dusty," and Cross was "Crossy." He couldn't think of a nickname for Horror, and I was just called "Dad"; on occasion, Error would call Flapjack "Flappy." Cross had taken it upon himself to help with Error's schooling and other things, living up to his role as "big brother" rather well; actually, if he hadn't helped, Error probably still would have been unable to form most words. Out of everyone, Error spent the most time with Cross, and he spent the least time with Dust; it wasn't his fault that Dust had trust issues, but they were starting to get along a bit better. At the moment, my boys were playing in the backyard, and they were having the time of their lives - that might have been an overstatement, but they were having fun, nonetheless.

"Crossy!" Error threw a ball in the air, and Cross caught it.

"You're getting better at this, Error!" Cross had finally understood the value of having fun after Error showed an interest, and he had been happier as a result; that didn't mean that he studied any less intently, however.

"Really?" 

"Yep! Here it comes!" Cross threw the ball back at Error, slow enough for the younger to catch it.

"Yay! I catched it!"

"You caught it!"

"I caught it!" Error returned the ball, Cross catching it.

"You're doing so well!" Cross threw the ball back.

"Oof!" Error tripped, dropping the ball.

"Are you okay, Error?"

"I'm okay!" Error lifted himself off the ground and chased after the ball.

"I can swing without moving my legs!" Killer announced, swinging on the swing set without using his legs.

"I wanna try!" Horror hopped onto the swing next to Killer, trying to copy his motions.

"Dust, why don't you join them?" I looked to my middle child, who was sitting alone in the grass.

Dust didn't respond, simply picking a piece of grass out of the ground and staring at it. I decided to sit next to him.

"Is something wrong?" I knew that my boys were prone to feeling out of it every once in a while; Dust probably felt that way the most. 

He dropped the piece of grass.

"I can't help unless you tell me what's wrong." I didn't like it when one of my boys went silent. 

"..They.." Dust muttered too quietly to hear the rest.

"What was that?"

"They..came back.." 

"They?"

"N-nightmares.."

I sighed. "I see..do you want me to make them go away?"