A series of young Leto brother events

The monster in the closet

// ages 4 & 6 //

Pale linen curtains blew gently in the wind thanks to the evening breeze that was seeping in through the open window.
It was 8:20pm, twenty minutes past bedtime in the Leto house, and Constance was struggling to get her youngest ready for bed.

"Jared come on sweetie, its already 20 minutes past your bedtime." Constance tried, seeing if a nice tone would tempt the young boy to start putting on his pajamas.

"Momma I don't want too." Jared frowned staring at the pajamas that had been lovingly laid out on the bed for him.

"Shannon's all ready for bed, look Jay." Constance pointed to her eldest son whom was adorned in white pajamas with red stripes patterned onto them.
The stubborn four year old just shook his head with a pout, this prompted Constance Leto to use a harsher tone.

"Jared Joseph stop being silly and get dressed for bed now, you have from the count of 10. 1..." Constance's shift in tone alarmed the little boy and as soon as she started to count he started taking off his day clothes and putting on his pajamas.

"9...10." When Constance had finished counting she found her 4 year old son struggling to button up his shirt, she helped him get the buttons right before lifting Jared and putting him in bed.

After tucking in both her boys and giving them both kisses on the forehead, she switched off the light and left the boys alone to sleep.

Jared had just been getting to sleep when he swore that he heard something growl. He nervously lifted up the covers to hide part of his face, his eyes glancing over to his older brother's bed in an attempt to get some form of comfort. Shannon was already fast asleep however, knowing that fact made little Jared's heart beat hard against his chest. Jared heard a second growl and he slowly sat up to see what had caused it. It was then that Jared saw a long black tentacle poking out of the closet door.

The frightened four year old sat perfectly still, staring at the closet in pure fear. That was when he saw the eyes, two big red lights for eyes. Jared let out a whimper and started to cry.

"Sh...Shan-Shan." he whispered trying to wake up his brother.

Jared's hiccuping and whimpering were what brought Shannon out of dreamland. At first the 6 year old had no idea what those noises were but in a few seconds he was up out of bed and at his younger brother's side.

"What's wrong baby Jay?" he asked wiping the four year old's tears as best he could.

"There's a monster Shanny, it's gonna eat me." Jared cried holding open his arms for his brother to hug him.

Shannon did just that, hugging his scared little brother close to him.

"Where does the monster live Jay?" Shannon asked.

Jared pointed shakily towards the closet and Shannon nodded, unhooking his little brother's arms from him. The light switch was just a bit too high up for Shannon to reach but he wanted to help Jared sleep so he quickly thought of a plan.

"You monster's go away and leave my brother alone, or I will beat all of you up." The six year old threatened into the closet. He then shoved the arm of a black sweater back into the closet and hid the red sneakers behind the door.

"They left Shanny they're scared of you." Jared sniffed wiping his eyes on his pajama sleeve.

"Have they been bothering you every night?" Shannon asked to which Jared nodded a response.

"Well you don't have to worry about them ever coming back." Shannon spoke as he got back into his own bed.

Jared laid back down under the covers, about to fall asleep but quietly mumbling.

"Goodnight Shan-Shan you're the bestest brother ever."

Shannon grinned widely looking up at the ceiling.

"Goodnight baby Jay." Shannon whispered back.

Jared fell asleep feeling safe and Shannon fell asleep with a smile on his face.