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The enormous mansion never really ceases to amaze me. I myself have in no terms a small house, but it pales in comparison to Brian’s place. I know it has been a dream of his to have such a beautiful home, but when you consider it’s essentially for just three people, it’s pretty unbelievable. I remember the huge amounts of time, work and money - especially money- my cousin has shoved into this place and I can’t help but staring in wonder as I make my way through the spacious lobby.

For some odd reason, Baylee is always the first one I encounter whenever I drop by to visit. I suspect he has a sixth sense when it comes to detecting visitors, but I cannot prove it. From the look on his face before he sees me, I can easily derive that he is not in a very good mood, but he manages to plaster on a bright smile when we make eye-contact. The dog in his arms starts to squirm when it notices me and is eventually freed from its restrains when Baylee lets it jump to the ground.

Immediately, the small Maltese sets off to a run, jumping up and down around me, but only barely able to reach my shins.

“Kevin!” Baylee welcomes me with a grin, not paying attention to the wild monster drifting in mad circles around me. He used to call me Uncle Kevin, but ever since he figured out his Dad and I are actually cousins, and I’m technically not his uncle, he resigned in just calling me by my first name. He seems a bit surprised to see me. I know I haven’t visited in quite a while, not since Brian first got home from the hospital, actually. “What are you doing here?”

I smile back at him, trying to ignore the small dog taking a hold on my pants leg. “I was coming to see your Dad, actually.”

“Oh, okay.” Baylee looks away briefly and mutters something under his breath that I can only decipher as ‘Good luck’.

“What was that?”

“What? Nothing,” Baylee replies innocently, looking around, “Did Mason come?”

“No. Sorry buddy,” I apologize. I purposely did not tell my son where I was going, knowing he’d insist on going with me. I did not feel like taking an eight year old along all the way to Atlanta this early in the morning. Don’t get me wrong, I am very glad that Baylee and Mason get along so well, but my trip has been stressful enough without having to deal with a boy that gets bored every ten minutes. Kristin knows where I am, she’ll tell him. I’ll deal with his wrath when I get home.

Baylee shrugs, deftly scooping his dog from the ground in one fluid motion. “They’re in the gymnasium. I think he just finished therapy,” he mutters as he points down the hall. “Brace yourself,” he whispers conspiringly with a grin.

“What?”

Baylee raises his eyebrows, ignoring my question completely, “I’m supposed to go upstairs. But I’m not going to,” he informs me, then leaves for the kitchen, his dog yapping a happy kind of goodbye at me.

I blink in confusion a few times and then shake my head, “Weird kid,” I mutter to myself and start to walk into the direction Baylee indicated. Before I even set three steps, I see a figure leaving opening the door and storming out. Harold doesn’t notice me at first, but then looks at me with wide eyes, the same surprise on his face as on Baylee’s a few minutes earlier. “Kev! How are you?”

“I’m great! I was c-”

“-crapload of money!” Brian’s voice comes through the still open door. It isn’t hard to figure out he is angry and I give Harold a surprised look.

Harold looks at me intently, then resolutely shuts the door.

“Whatever you do, don’t go in there, for your own sake, Kevin,” he states seriously, while I try to find any source of humor in his expression.

“What is going on here?” I ask incredulously. The mood has certainly changed since the last time I came over.

The house is darker, more silent too. Harold rolls his eyes and moves away from the door.

“My brother thinks he doesn’t need anyone’s help,” Harold grumbles while he walks towards the kitchen. I have to speed up to keep up with him, “Well, if that’s what he thinks, then fine!”

“Wait, you just left him in there?” I ask, not able to keep the disapproving tone out of my voice.

Harold scoffs, opening the door to the kitchen and letting me in, “Trust me, if you knew how he was acting, you would do the same thing. Want a drink?”

“He can’t walk, Harry!” I counter incredulously.

“Oh, I know,” Harold answers, weaving himself through the kitchen before opening a cupboard and retrieving two fancy-looking glasses. “Everyone knows that really well, except Brian. He doesn’t accept anyone’s help when it’s offered, so I say, let him stew for a while. He’ll figure it out.”

I sigh, finally sitting down and accepting the drink from Harold’s hand. It sounds like my cousins are driving each other crazy.

“You left him sitting alone in the gym?” Baylee pops up beside me, nearly causing me a heart attack. “Cool! He’s gonna kill you!”

“Nobody’s gonna kill anyone,” Harold states calmly, looking at his nephew thoughtfully, “I thought you were upstairs.”

Baylee looks at him strangely, “You’re not the boss of me,” he comments solemnly before turning around and making his way upstairs.

Harold watches him leave, his eyebrows raised, then sighs and slumps down in his chair, “So much stubbornness in one family. How do you deal with that?”

I sit back, sipping my drink thoughtfully, “You just gotta roll with it, I guess. I must say, it is quiet around this place.”

“I suppose Brian’s mood keeps everything nice and pleasant at a distance, I mean, he already fired two maids and a nurse,” Harold mumbles. It sure must be bad, cause I don’t remember ever seeing my cousin this subdued and annoyed. He truly seems completely fed up with his younger brother’s behavior and I start to fear for my own mood as well if I stay too long. “Lately, his default mood seems to be a four year old that can’t get what he wants.”

“Ah yes,” I nod, finally recognizing something in the description, “that’s not just lately.”

Harold scoffs, a small smile playing with his mouth, “He’s just so angry and frustrated all the time. It makes sense, I guess. But I wish he could just get over it a little and let people help him.”

“Well, it has only been four months,” I try to reason. “I know that if anything like what happened to Brian happened to me, I would not be over it yet.”

“Yeah, me neither,” Harry sighs again and props his head up on his hand, staring down at the table, “Did you know he send another leg back?”

“What? Again?”

“That’s right. That’s five legs in two months. He’s spending money like it’s water. I know Leighanne’s already pissed at him for sending the previous one back.”

“Why’s he do it?” I ask in confusion.

“He insists they don’t fit. Which is crap, because they are custom made and measured in all sorts of ways.”

“It’s probably a psychological thing,” I theorize, “If he accepts the leg, he has to accept reality. Maybe he isn’t ready for that yet.”

Harold heaves another sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly, “Yeah well, I’ll let his therapist figure that one out. What am I gonna do with him?”

I shoot upright, suddenly remembering what I came for, “Oh! There’s a meeting tomorrow! I was gonna tell him that. You know, maybe he just needs something to look forward to.”

“I guess,” Harold looks at me, confused, “Couldn’t you have told him that over the phone though? I mean, it’s quite a way from Los Angeles to Atlanta, you know?”

“Can I not just randomly visit my cousin anymore?” I ask. Of course I could have just called and told him about the meeting. I also know that he would have refused, like he refused to participate in the last three meetings we’ve had. Something tells me that it may be harder for him to decline when I tell him face to face. That, and I wanted to see how he was really doing, without him lying to me about it over the phone.

“Sure. Well, go ahead. I suppose he’s happy to see you.”

I felt a little bad for Harold as I left him there, sulking in the kitchen. He was doing his best, I know that. I also know that both brothers can be incredibly stubborn when it comes to accepting help from the outside.