Brothers and Trials

Kowalski Kewl-Andrews

It had been nearly three years since Skipper Andrews had been born and adopted by the Andrews. He had been able to help the patients keep calm by smiling and playing out what he called the "Cute and Cuddly" act. He was an adorable little boy with a military buzz cut and a camouflage t-shirt over his pull-ups. He had surprised everyone when he had started talking at a year and a half old. His first word was "Evasive!" when he had gotten into trouble for knocking over a picture. His father had been so stunned that he had forgotten about the broken picture frame and his mother just laughed. She had been sure to get a picture of her husband's face that day, as it was certainly a rarity to stun him.

Then they heard it. The fire alarm. Not the one for their house in particular, but the one for the town. One of their little neighborhood houses was on fire. Being the closest clinic, and feeling responsible for their friends and neighbors, the Andrews got into their ambulance and raced down the block. Within ten minutes of disregarding the speed limits and barely dodging the people running to help out, the Andrews made it to the house in question.

"Oh no! It's the Kewls' house!" Peter said as he parked the ambulance. Skipper ran out to help keep the kids back, as he sensed that the large hot orange light was bad. The older people, along with Peter and Mariam started putting out the fire. "Kurtis, Shayla! Are you there! Answer me!" Peter called out, along with some of the others to the couple that lived in the currently burning place.

"MOMMY! DADDY!" The voice was young, scared, and hoarse from calling out to his parents that barely anyone heard it. Skipper glared. He knew that the adults were all too busy to hear it over the roaring sound that came with the bad light.

He glanced to his parents and noticed his mother had heard the voice as well. She noticed his determination and for a second couldn't tell if he was really a toddler, or a soldier. He ran. Before his mother could call out to him, Skipper was already in the fiery inferno that had once been the home to two scientists and their toddler, who wasn't much younger than Skipper. Skipper had never met them, but he knew that he had this unnatural urge to help them, or at least try to.

He ran through the falling rubble and fire filled maze and found a boy who was slightly taller than him trying to drag a dead body through the blaze. His electric blue eyes were filled with tears. "Daddy, come on! Don't leave me!" He cried out as he struggled to drag his father's body, or at least wake him up.

Skipper looked at the boy and then at his father. He knew that he couldn't save the adult, but he was certain he could still save the little boy. "Hey, come on, we need to get out of here!"

"But..." The boy looked back to his dad and checked his pulse, surprising Skipper. He gasped and cried. "No... dad..."

"Come on, we need to get you out of here. He wouldn't want you to die with him if you could live! We need to get you out of here before this place crumbles!"

He started to drag the boy who started to run right beside them. As they got closer to the door, they started crawling on the ground to avoid the smoke. Skipper looked at the tears in the toddler's eyes along with the anger in his expression, as though something was out of place. Skipper could tell, this kid wasn't normal.

As the two ran out of the fiery house and into the arms of Mariam Andrews, the taller was crying and looking back to his home. "My parents... my home..." Mariam placed the two boys down and looked into the flames while Skipper kept his eyes on the other boy. "I'm all alone now..."

Skipper glared at the fire and then at the crying little boy as he crumpled to his knees. He walked up to the little boy and slapped him upside the head. The boy looked at him in shock. Skipper then put a hand on his shoulder. "You aren't alone. Look around you. All these people came to try and help. We may not have made it in time to stop the fire and save your parents, but at least we tried to help. At least you're safe."

"Thanks..." The little boy then stood up and glared at the flames. "What do I do now though?"

At this Skipper grimaced. He didn't really know. "I guess we need to look at our options... and figure something out..."

"Heh, I always have options... I just don't know how to get them to work on my own..."

Skipper smiled. "I'm Skipper Andrews... and I know how to work with options..."

The other boy glanced at him and smiled back. "Heh, I'm Kowalski Kewl... thanks for pulling me out of the fire, Skipper."

"Someone had to do it." Skipper smiled as he gave a noogie to the taller boy. This caused Kowalski to laugh as he tried to break out of it. "Can't have a smart kid like you get fried while you could still change the world. Kid like you could save the world one day. Who knows?"

At this, Mariam and Peter came up to the boys, now that the fire was under control. Mariam and Peter looked at the boys and then at eachother. They had already known that Skipper was more mature than he should be, and that he didn't act like a normal toddler. Now this other boy had just been orphaned, and he was also acting differently. Mariam looked at Peter with those desperate pleading eyes. Peter just sighed and nodded.

"Kowalski?" The two boys stopped and looked at Mariam. "How would you like to stay with us?"

"Really?"

"Really." Mariam smiled as she picked up the little boy.

Kowalski then looked to Skipper and asked a question that reminded everyone that he was still a child, a toddler even. "Can he be my brother?"

Skipper looked to his parents with pleading eyes, along with his new friend. He wouldn't mind having a brother who was smart, possibly smarter than him.

"I don't see why not." Peter smiled as he picked up Skipper.

Kowalski then took another minute to think about this. "Are you going to be my new mommy and daddy?"

The two adults looked to each other and smiled. Mariam hugged Kowalski tighter. "If you're okay with that, I think that would be alright."

Kowalski smiled as he fell asleep. He had lost his parents, but had gained a new family. He hoped that he could someday repay his new brother for his help. 'I'll do my best to be the best brother ever...' Kowalski never forgot his real parents and family, but his little brother also made sure that he never forgot that he wasn't alone. With Skipper by his side, he'd never be alone ever again.