𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄¹, billy batson

Freddy

[Credits to Let Me Explain for the image 👏🏻
tbh he does kinda look like the Princess Bride kid 🤣]

I grab my backpack and get out of the car and pull the reluctant Billy along, catching up with Victor and Rosa. A shadow in the shape of a boy presses up against one of the second-floor windows. It looks like he's looking down at us. The figure scurries back inside before I could make out any distinct features.

We step inside the house and I start to look around. The walls are an emerald green and the floors are made out of hard wood. The windows are large and the rooms are spacious. There's a staircase leading to a second floor above.

"That's what happens when you suck!" a young Asian boy shouts. He's wearing a gaming headset, playing a video game on his computer.

"Yeah, that thing growing out of the couch would be Eugene," Rosa tells Billy and I.

"Is this them?" a little African-American girl with pom-poms as pigtails asks as she came into the room. "Oh my gosh! Billy! Y/n!"

"Woah. Slow down! Slow down!" Victor says.

The little girl doesn't listen and runs towards us and wraps her arms around us.

"And that's Darla; she's a hugger," Rosa says.

"I noticed," Billy mutters.

"Die. Die! Die!" Eugene yells at his game.

"He doesn't mean that. It's a game," Darla explains like Billy and I don't know what's going on.

Victor walks into the room where Eugene was playing his game. He pops the headset off his head.

"Hey, no sodas after dark, remember?" Victor says to the gamer.

Confused, Eugene looked around at the windows. "Woah. When did it get dark?" I could help but let a small laugh escape.

"Yes, exactly why your math department is uniquely suited for me," an older brunette girl says into her phone. She sees us and covers the phone. "Sorry. Mary. Hi. College interview," she explains quickly.

"Billy," he says.

"Y/n," I introduce.

"What am I most excited for? Oh, great question I was hoping you'd ask," Mary says in a exaggerated excited voice. Mary's smile dropped as soon as she took the phone away from her ear. "What am I most excited for?" she mouths.

"Mention you're a foster kid," Victor suggests. "Colleges eat that up."

"What I'm most excited for is the campus experience. As a foster child, I'm a big believer in finding friends and family in the most unlikely places," Mary says into the phone.

An alarm similar the one at the pawn shop blares throughout the house.

"Oh no! The tofurkey!" Darla shrieks, running to the kitchen.

"We may have to eat real turkey!" Victor says as he runs after Darla.

"It's a bit of a mad house, I know. But it's fun," Rosa says as we walk up the stairs showing us our rooms. Rosa calls out to a kid walking down the stairs. He nods in greeting. "Don't take it personally. He's like that with everyone. Y/n, you'll be sharing a room with Mary. But first, I'd like you to meet the last member of the family. He's the one who you'll be sharing a room with, Billy," Rosa explains.

We nod and she leads us up to a room where a teenage boy with dark curly hair sits at his desk, working on something. A crutch leans against the table.

"Freddy, this is Billy Batson and Y/n L/n. Make sure you make them feel at home, okay? Maybe don't say anything to weird."

"Oh, one weird thing is, you know the Romans used to brush their teeth with urine?" Freddy tells us. "Yeah, apparently it works."

So. Close.

"Oh, Billy, Y/n. Welcome to the family," Rosa says before leaving.

Billy was already making his escape plan from thr window. I walked over to him and pull the curtains and determine how far the jump was.

"Oh, its a long way down. Trust me, I speak from experience," Freddy says, leaning up against a crutch. "Victor pushed me."

"What?" I ask.

He nods and looks down then back up.

"They seem nice. But don't buy it. It gets real Game of Thrones around here."

He stares Billy straight in the eye. We panic and look each other in the eyes then back at the Freddy.

He stifles out a laugh. "Dudes, I'm just messing with you." He hits our arms in a friendly manner. "It's, um...it's terminal cancer. I, uh, I have three months."

Our eyes go wide again.

"Kidding! You look at me and you're like, 'Why so dark? You're a disabled foster kid, you've got it all.' And what's the deal here? Is she like your girlfriend, or something?"

"What? No!" I say.

Billy rolls his eyes then walks away. Only just then I notice a piece of metal shaped like a bat.

"Oh, yeah. That's, uh, the old batarang. Its a replica. Feel how sharp it is. I could probably kill you in your sleep with that thing," Freddy says.

He just turned dark quick. I'm glad Billy's sharing a room with this boy and not me.

"Come see this," Freddy says, walking over to his dresser.

"Behold, the holy grail. One nine millimeter round that shot Superman himself. Probably worth I sit know, five—six hundred? Maybe more." His eyes shift the Billy's backpack. "What's in the bag?"

"Hey!" Billy snaps as he moves Freddy's hand away from his backpack

"Hey, its good to maintain boundaries. This place is great. You're gonna love it."

"We don't have to love it," I murmur.

Freddy looks almost shocked that I said that.

ϟ

"All hands on deck!" Victor says. Everyone but Billy and I put their hand in the center of the table.

"Thank you for this family, thank you for this day. Thank you for this meal, even if it's not steak filet."

They pull their hands back and sit down. Maybe I could get used to this home after all.