Never Too Late

Chapter Nineteen

The evening sun bathed the curtains of the living room windows in an orange hue, as the cool spring breeze waltzed its way into the house. Johan, sitting on the couch, typed his assignment on his laptop as he rubbed his feet against the lush, thick, navy-deep blue carpet. Absentmindedly, he traced the gold patterns on it with his heels and wondered how something this nice was even made but it was far from the only work of art in his parents' home. He was still getting comfortable with the luxury of his surroundings, so now and again he found himself caught off guard by how nice his family lived.

The room he was in, for one, had thick dark wood cabinets with gold inlays and crystal handles. The couch he was sitting on was made from thick, sturdy leather, and the walls were decorated with fine artwork that was accentuated by thick, gold frames. One of the vases on the side table near him looked like it cost more than the yearly budget for his whole foster family alone! Never in a million years had he thought while growing up he would be surrounded by things like these, and although he considered them insignificant, he admired his parents' taste.

Closing his laptop, he yawned and wondered what his foster siblings might be doing at the moment. He hadn't been able to shake the feeling of guilt he felt leaving those boys but he had no other choice. He had been through three different Foster homes in the past six years and each one was no better than the other. He remembered when his foster siblings would leave, and there would be no one to shield him, so he was abused over and over again. Gritting his teeth, he wondered how his Foster mother, Mrs Clementine, was treating them but exhaled and shook his head because focusing on negativity would not help him.

Looking up as he heard the front door unlocking, his mother walked in and smiled warmly at him.

"Johan, how was school?" She asked as she put her grocery bag next to the couch.

"It was decent," Johan said as he focused his attention on her.

"Oh, that's good," she smiled again and nodded to him. "Do they still mix you and your brother up?"

"Sometimes, although my hair helps to prevent it most of the time," Johan said grasping a tendril of his shoulder-length hair between his fingers.

"You know, Luke always wanted to grow his hair out, but we never let him since it was against his previous school's dress code, but I see now it would've fit him well." His mother admitted.

"It seems that Luke and I are not that different," Johan said thinking about the subtle similarities that he and his brother shared.

"Of course not you're both twins!" She reminded him and he sighed.

He was well aware that he and his brother shared similar features and sounded the same, but to him, Luke was a completely different person. He liked being alone and studying while Luke was extroverted and loved sports. If it wasn't for their shared blood he would think they were strangers.

"I know, Mom." He told her and her face lit up.

"I'm sorry, I'm just happy to hear you call me that." She said looking down at her hands and then back at him. "I'm glad you're feeling more comfortable now."

Johan was caught off guard by her words because he didn't realize she had noticed how hard it was for him to adjust to being a part of the family. Calling his parents 'Dad' and 'Mom' felt strange so he avoided doing so as much as possible without hurting their feelings. Initially they were like strangers to him, so he didn't know how to feel, but gradually, the words became natural to him, and he called his parents Mom and Dad without much thought.

The rest of the evening, Johan helped his mother get dinner ready and set the table while all the time answering her questions about school and things he liked and wanted to do. Not long after, Luke arrived home and found himself on the couch, but not before inquiring about what they'd been up to.

"We've just been chatting, you know, Luke; there's a lot of things Johan and you have in common." His mother told him but Luke sighed.

"Yeah, like a square and a triangle." He laughed and Johan looked over at him from the kitchen before turning back to the stove. "For one I hate cooking, and I don't like spending my entire evening studying." He said, hoping to pick a nerve with Johan, but he remained stoic.

"Oh well, maybe you should follow your brother's example. He's doing really well at school now and your grades have been falling." On hearing this, Luke crossed his arms in protest, but he didn't argue with his mother because he knew she was right.

"Dinner's ready," Johan called as he turned off the stove and stepped away from the kitchen.

"Thanks for the help Johan, but can you come here one minute?" Listening to his mother, he came over right away and sat beside her. She called Luke over too and made him sit on her other side, and once he was there, she hugged both of her boys. Johan was caught off guard but he didn't mind it. Luke, on the other hand, protested initially before giving in and allowing his mother to embrace him and his brother. "It's been so long since I've held you both like this."

Johan felt inexplicably warm, and he couldn't understand, but it felt like a part of him that was grieved and hurt for so long was being soothed. He never knew he could feel this happy.