INDIGO

PART TEN

"Okay, I've got the bed set up for you, oh and there's a spare toothbrush under the bathroom sink... do you want extra pillows?" My mom was frantically setting up the guest room as Romeo stood by the door. "That's alright, ma'am! I could really make do on the couch if you need to use this room. I'm real sorry I couldn't get a hotel..." he scratched his neck, leaning his weight on his intact leg. "You're still a boy, hun! I wouldn't make you stay in one anyways," she hummed as she set up the comforter. "What's that accent you have?" She smiled at him.

"Ah, accent? Damn, I must be picking it up from my roommates," he snickered. He glanced back at Indie and I who were standing behind him, waiting to talk to him. "Don't you need a haircut?" Romeo fixated on Indigo. "M- Maybe-" Indigo immediately blushed, swiping his hair back. Was he already looking up to this guy so much that he'd take a comment like that to heart? "I thought you wanted it long," I teased. "Well, I, uhm- it'd be easier to brush, East!" He retaliated. "Hey, I think it looks awesome long," Romeo leaned over and nudged Indigo with his hand. Stars formed in Indigo's eyes as he nodded furiously.

"Leave big brother Romeo alone, you two, he's probably tired from the drive," my mom called out, finally exiting the room and letting him in. "Good night!" She nodded politely at him, before holding our shoulders and leading us towards the stairs. My mom was an elementary school teacher back then, as a result of her love for kids and nurturing personality. I bet she could adopt just about any kid, and I found it funny how ready she was to take in Romeo, a legal adult, too. Indigo tried to pull away and go back, but my mom pushed ahead anyway. Once we reached the stairs, she said good night and gave a kiss on the head to both of us, before sending us up.

"You can have the wall side this time," Indigo exclaimed, heading into the bathroom. "What's gotten into you?" I laughed, following. "Whaddya mean?" He said, putting toothpaste on his toothbrush. "You never willingly brush your teeth, and you always fight for that side!" I did the same. "Mm... I'm older now," he huffed, starting to brush. Once we were done and going into my room, I finished my speculation. "Really, why are you being so good, hm?" I sat down on my promised side, crossing my arms in my interrogation. "I... well, okay, I'll be honest," he sighed, sitting down next to me.

"I want your mom to think I'm strong enough to go with my big brother," he looked up at the ceiling in thought. "Oh... do you... not like it here?" I frowned. He immediately snapped out of his thinking and shook his head at me, "No, no, no! I just..." he hesitated for a second, but likely remembered that he already said he'd be honest, and continued, "Not in a bad way, but... I don't wanna be your brother," he made a serious expression at me. "Me neither," I responded, my face flushing just slightly as I tried to suppress my earlier thoughts.

"Why?" Indigo asked the tough question, but I countered with, "You said it first, so you answer that!" "Uh, well- you don't feel like my brother," he grabbed his brush from the table by my bed and started working his hair. "No way, that's what I was thinking!" "But I'm kind of weird," he said, ignoring my agreement. I didn't say anything, waiting for him to explain.

"I really wanna stay with you, but, for some reason," he sighed, "It'd feel strange. You're not like Romeo, like my brother, you're Easton," his face was getting tight, "You're... you're..." he couldn't finish. Suddenly he got up and picked up my tablet which was charging on my desk. He walked back over, typing away at it, before sitting back down and pushing it next to me. I was confused, but I picked it up and looked down to see a picture of a bunch of characters from a show we'd been watching together.

"I don't get what you-" I started, but again he ignored it, interrupting, "You know this one?" He pointed at one of the guys. I nodded slowly. "That's me," his finger moved slightly, to point at the girl next to him, presumably his love interest, and said, "And... and, that one's you." I didn't know how to react. I guess my first thought was, 'does he know what he's saying?'. "Why aren't I this one?" I pointed to a character that was a little off to the side, who, in the show, was the guy's best friend. "Because those two aren't together as much. And he smiles a lot more with the girl. Oh, and they hug more too," he looked up at me almost innocently.

"Okay," I replied, "Then I'll be the girl." I decided that was enough for me, the little boy who hardly understood the concept of love himself. I handed Indigo the tablet again, before bundling under the comforter and shutting my eyes, though not falling asleep. I'm sure I smiled the rest of the night, even as I drifted off.

A couple days passed before Romeo was called in by social services to talk about everything and left back to where he lived. I didn't know much, but apparently they still needed to check through DNA that they were family. That would take forever though, so nothing really changed... until my parents finally got the license they'd been obsessing over for so long. "So~ we got the forms back!" My mom slid a fresh sheet of paper in front of me, I didn't read it though, it was too many words. Indigo tried to glance at it, but he could hardly read at all, "D... dee— deahhh," I giggled at his attempt at sounding out words on the paper.

"Are you guys ready?" She smiled at us. "Actually, mom, we-," I felt that nervous tingling in my head again, just like a few months ago when I made the first confession, "we, er... we don't wanna go through with it." Indigo nodded in agreement. "Hm? Go through with what?" She asked, as if the statement was out of context. "Well, the foster thingy!" Indigo replied for me, "We talked about it, and we both don't wanna be brothers." "Oh, boys, quit your fighting," my mom nagged. "No, no, we aren't fighting! We just-," Indigo didn't know how to explain.

"We wanna stay friends," I joined in, I wasn't ready to tell my mom I liked him; I was way too embarrassed. "Are... are you sure? I thought you two were excited about it??" My mom was listening, but understandably a bit off-put, "Do you want to go with your big brother, Indie?" He nodded again. She sighed, looking down at the table and considering. "I wish you guys would have talked to me before we went through all that training for the license... How long have you been thinking about this?" She spoke low, prevalently disappointed.

"For me, I've thought about it since... well since we started having sleepovers, I think," I admitted. "Really?" Indigo turned to me, "I only just decided, like, when I found out I had a real brother!" My mom smiled sympathetically at us, sliding the paper back to herself and gazing at it. "East... how would you feel if... we fostered another kid?" My mom looked up at me with a hopeful expression. "You mean, you wanna take care of someone else?" I was a bit surprised, but I already knew my mom was totally the kind of person to want to have a lot of kids, I had even wondered before why she didn't.

"Not to replace you, of course! It's just, after the whole process your father and I went through, we got really excited to have another kid," she started, before making solid eye contact with me, "We met this... little girl during some of the training, and, she was so sweet," she smiled, "We weren't planning on it, because of Indie, but if we won't be taking him in... how would you feel about having a little sister, East?" I stuttered a bit, "I, I- That'd be cool," I wasn't sure how else to reply to a big proposal like that!

My mom called my dad down and he was as disappointed as she was, but revived when it was decided they'd be trying to foster the girl. When I thought about it, it made a lot of sense that mom wanted a daughter, too. She was always trying to do Indigo's hair, and always dragging us out shopping with her... I was happy too, I'd get to be a big brother that'll be looked up to, just like Romeo.