“No thanks,” Rock answered as he and River sat down on the couch. Sawyer, or maybe it was Hunter, sat beside them, and the other brother stood leaning against the wall, leaving the final chair for Angela and Todd.
“I’ll go in the kitchen and get another chair,” Angela said when she figured out there wasn’t enough space.
“That’s fine. I don’t mind standing,” the man leaning against the wall, either Sawyer or Hunter, said.
Angela took the remaining seat, holding one of the puppies while Todd sat with her holding the other one.
River looked at Angela and Todd and stood. Then he walked over and got to one knee beside Todd. “How about you tell what happened and I’ll fill in the hard parts? Can you do that, buddy?”
Todd nodded vigorously and started talking. “Well, you told me I could walk both dogs.”
“Right.” Angela nodded. “Go on.”
“So I had both leashes and we were running really fast,” Todd said as quickly as he could.
“I bet that was fun,” Angela commented. She’d remind him later that she had told him not to run. She didn’t want to reprimand him in front of his new friends.
“Yeah, it was until Spot got away. Tag and I chased and chased him. Then he ran behind this big trash thing. What’s it called?” Todd looked at Angela.
“Big trash thing?” Angela looked to River for help.
“Dumpster. The dog apparently ran down an alley and behind a dumpster and got stuck,” River answered and looked at Todd so he could continue.
“Yeah, there was this pretty lady, and she tried to help, but she couldn’t move the…the…” Todd fumbled again for the word.
“Dumpster,” they all said at once.
“There was a woman there that was trying to help your young man. When she couldn’t move the dumpster she called her boyfriends, who also work at the firehouse, and then they called us, since we were closest,” Hunter or Sawyer explained. Angie really needed to pay attention and figure out who was who.
“Yeah, she was really nice and really pretty,” Todd said. “She really tried to get Spot out. Then she took me to her car and we waited until these guys came.”
“Why didn’t you come get me, honey?” Angela asked Todd and set the puppy she was holding down on the floor. She made a mental note to talk to Todd about getting into cars with strangers later. Something bad could have happened to him. Thankfully the woman was just a nice person and not anything else.
“I was scared you’d be mad and I’d be in trouble and I’d have to find a new home again,” he answered in a very soft voice.
Angie shifted in the seat so she could pull Todd into her lap. “Oh, sweetie, I might get upset sometimes, but I’ll get over it soon. I would never be that mad at you.”
“I don’t want you to go away like everyone else did. I’m happy and I want to stay here.” Todd started crying, and Angie held him tighter.
“Oh, sweetie, we’re a family now. You can stay here forever. No one is going to make you go away.” They sat quietly for a while until Todd had calmed down. “Why don’t you take the puppies into your bedroom and play with them? I’ll come back there in a while and see how you’re doing.”
“Okay. Come on, Spot, Tag, let’s go.” The little boy gave Angela one more hug and ran off, the dogs following him.
“I’m really sorry about that. Todd’s had a hard time in life. He’s still not sure how things work all the time.” Angie turned and watched until Todd was in his room, then she stood and went to close his door.
“He’s a good kid and I couldn’t be happy if he wasn’t here, but he’s had a bad deal. This is the first permanent home he’s had. He’s still not sure someone won’t come and take him away again,” Angie said and looked back to Todd’s door.
“Why would someone take him away?” the man, stepped away from the wall and walked toward Angela. He walked over to stand by her side and took her hand. “I’m Hunter. I know River introduced us all, but I wasn’t sure you caught who was who.”
Angie took a good look at Hunter and Sawyer, noticing that Hunter’s hair was just a little darker than Sawyer’s. All four men were very similar looking, but as she studied them she noticed subtle differences in hair and eye color. And the shapes of their faces were somewhat different.
Even the twins, Rock and River, were just a little different, not a huge difference, but enough for Angie to be able to tell them apart.
“It’s a long story, and I’m sure you have better things to do. Thank you so much for bringing Todd home. It’s getting late, and I need to get him in the bath and ready for bed.” Angie walked over to the door and stood beside it.
“Maybe you can tell us more another time. Thank you for inviting us in.” Rock stood and the others followed him.
“Thank you for helping Todd and bringing him home.” Angela opened the door and followed the men out on to the porch.