Parents.. with different treatment

The sticker book showdown

Xander was sitting quietly in the corner of the living room, carefully peeling off a shiny red sticker from his favorite sticker book. It was his prized possession, given to him by Uncle Sam on his last visit, and he cherished it. The book was filled with all kinds of stickers—dinosaurs, cars, and animals—and Xander loved sticking them on different pages, creating little worlds for himself.

Xavier, however, had been eyeing the sticker book all afternoon. "Can I have some stickers, Xander?" he asked, inching closer.

Xander shook his head, clutching the book to his chest. "No, it's mine. Uncle Sam gave it to me."

"But I want the dinosaur one!" Xavier insisted, reaching for the book.

"No! I said it's mine!" Xander raised his voice, pulling the book away from Xavier's grasp.

Frustration bubbled up in Xavier, and without thinking, he grabbed the corner of the book. "Give it to me! I just want to look!"

"No!" Xander yanked it back, but Xavier was determined. Before either of them realized what was happening, the book ripped slightly down the middle, some of the stickers tearing off in the process.

Xander gasped, staring at the damage in horror. His heart pounded as tears welled up in his eyes. "You ruined it! It was mine!" he cried, pushing Xavier away.

At that moment, Colby stormed into the room, having heard the commotion from the other side of the house. His face was hard with anger as he looked down at the two boys. "What's going on in here?" he demanded.

"Xavier ripped my book! It's mine! Uncle Sam gave it to me!" Xander sobbed, holding up the torn pages as evidence.

Xavier, sensing that he might be in trouble, shrank back. "I just wanted to see the stickers," he mumbled, looking down at his feet.

But Colby's anger was already focused on Xander. "Why are you always fighting? You know better than to get into it with your brother like this!"

"But—" Xander tried to explain, his voice shaking, but Colby wasn't having it.

"No 'buts,' Xander. You need to learn how to share. You can't always cause problems like this," Colby snapped, his frustration boiling over. "You should have just let him look at the book. Now look what happened because you couldn't be patient."

Xander felt his throat tighten as his dad's harsh words cut through him. His chest heaved, but no more words came. It didn't matter that the book was his, or that he had said no from the start. All that mattered was that, once again, he was the one getting into trouble.

Valerie walked in, holding baby Victoria. She glanced at the scene but didn't intervene, her attention pulled back to calming the baby's soft whimpering.

Xavier stood quietly beside Colby, his eyes wide and filled with guilt, but also relief that he wasn't the one being scolded. Xander, on the other hand, felt like his world was crashing down. His favorite book was ruined, and once again, his dad was angry at him.

Tears slipped down Xander's cheeks as he clutched the ripped pages. All he had wanted was to keep something special for himself—something that Uncle Sam had given just to him. But now, even that was gone.

"Go to your room, Xander," Colby ordered, his tone final. "And no more sticker books if you can't behave."

Xander didn't argue. He turned and walked slowly to his room, his small shoulders slumped with the weight of the unfairness. As he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, the familiar feeling of being the forgotten child crept in again. No matter how hard he tried, it seemed like he could never do anything right.

Colby's anger still echoed in his head, and all Xander could think was that he wished someone would notice how hard it was to be him.