Chapter 1: The Beginning of Us

The house was never quiet

If it wasn’t laughter, it was running. If it wasn’t running, it was shouting. And if it wasn’t shouting… it was definitely trouble.

“Nick! Give it back!”

“I found it first!”

“You took it from my room!”

Jay sighed as he stood by the doorway, watching his two younger brothers argue over a small toy car. Rowand was pulling one side, Nick the other, both determined not to let go.

“It’s mine!” Nick insisted.

“You’re lying!” Rowand shot back.

Jay shook his head and walked over. “Both of you, stop before you break it.”

They froze for a second—but only for a second.

“It’s his fault!” Rowand said, pointing at Nick.

“No, it’s his!” Nick fired back instantly.

Jay crossed his arms. “So neither of you is at fault?”

They looked at each other.

“…No,” they said at the same time.

Jay couldn’t help but laugh. “You two are impossible.”

Before the argument could start again, the toy car slipped from their hands and hit the floor, a wheel snapping off as it landed.

All three boys went silent.

Nick’s eyes widened. Rowand slowly looked down at the broken wheel.

“You broke it,” Nick whispered.

“You broke it!” Rowand snapped back.

Jay stepped in quickly. “Enough.”

They both turned to him.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Then Jay picked up the broken car, examining it carefully. “It’s not ruined,” he said calmly. “We can fix it.”

“How?” Nick asked.

Jay smiled slightly. “Together.”

A few minutes later, the three of them sat on the floor, pieces of the toy spread out between them. Jay handled the main body, carefully trying to fit the wheel back in place. Rowand held it steady, his hands unusually still. Nick watched closely, passing small pieces whenever Jay asked.

“Hold it tighter,” Jay said.

“I am holding it,” Rowand replied.

“Not like that—you’ll make it worse.”

Nick leaned closer. “Can I try?”

“No,” Jay and Rowand said at the same time.

Nick frowned. “Why not?”

“Because you’ll somehow break it more,” Rowand said.

“I will not!”

Jay chuckled. “Relax. Everyone gets a turn.”

Slowly, carefully, the wheel clicked back into place.

The three of them stared at it.

“Did it work?” Nick asked.

Jay placed the car on the ground and gave it a gentle push.

It rolled forward.

Smooth.

Perfect.

Nick’s face lit up. “It works!”

Rowand grinned. “We fixed it!”

Jay leaned back, satisfied. “Told you.”

For a moment, they just sat there, smiling at something so small—but somehow so important.

Later that evening, as the sun dipped low and the house finally grew quiet, the three brothers lay side by side on the floor.

Nick spoke first. “Jay?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we always going to be together?”

Jay didn’t answer immediately.

Rowand turned his head. “Of course we are,” he said. “We’re brothers.”

Nick looked at Jay, waiting.

Jay smiled and placed an arm around both of them.

“No matter what,” he said. “We stay together.”

Nick smiled.

Rowand nodded.

And in that moment, it felt like nothing in the world could ever break that promise.

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