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The morning light shone through the window, and slanted across the Dunderberry kitchen table, catching the neat rows of Peter's toast triangles and the single, precisely centered dollop of jam. He folded his napkin into a crisp square, placed it beside his plate, and took a careful sip of tea. Across from him, Henry lounged with his chair tipped back, humming the opening riff of his new Rockin' Riff album under his breath while crumbs dusted his shirt like fallen confetti. It seemed like even now, despite all the changes, Henry and Peter STILL couldn't be any more different from each other.
Peter set his cup down with a soft clink. "I'm just saying, Henry: Your new friends are probably just being polite, you know. You've always been so... how do I say this? ...rebarbative around others."
Henry scoffed around a mouthful of toast, unbothered. "Someone's been looking through the thesaurus again." He shrugged, swallowing before speaking, "And besides, things change; Bluey says I'm FUN to play with!" He then leaned over, looking at Peter with a smug look, "Are you chickening out NOW, after you agreed to come over to their house with me today?"
Peter's cheeks pinked slightly. "I-- I'm not 'chickening out', I'm just... cautious, is all. Someone has to make sure things don't descend into chaos."
From the stove, their dad, Simon, turned with a plate of scrambled eggs he'd cooked; still a work in progress, a touch lopsided, but miles better than his old burnt offerings. It was definitely a sign that times were changing in the Dunderberry family, Peter assumed. "Peter, it might do you some good to see how they play over there," Simon said. "Could be fun, I bet!"
Their mum, Andrea, wiped her hands on a tea towel, glanced between her sons with a small, knowing smile before adjusting her glasses. "And keep an eye on your brother, will you, Peter?", she said, "Just make sure they don't play TOO rough."
Henry rolled his eyes, "We won't, mum. I promise."
Andrea chuckled, "It never hurts to make sure."
Peter nodded quickly, pleased despite himself. Responsible. Reliable. Perfectly proper in every way. That's what his parents always counted on him for, right?
Henry pushed back from the table, already bouncing on his toes. "Come on, Pete; I wanna hurry before they start the good games without us!"
Peter stood up, excusing himself, before rushing away and trying to catch up to Henry, "Henry! You didn't excuse yourself before leaving! Henryyyy!"
Andrea and Simon watched from afar, chuckling to themselves. "Ah, that's our boys, Andrea," Simon said gladly, "Different they may be, they're still perfectly OURS."
Andrea nodded, "Too right, Simon! I hope they have a good time at the Heelers'. Ooh, which reminds me," she suddenly gasped as she put the tea towel back in its rightful place, "I've got to get over to the Heelers' house myself; I'm fixing to have a chat with their mum!"
Peter, still trailing Henry across the Heelers' lawn, couldn't hear the last part. He was too busy adjusting his clothes to make sure they were perfectly straight, even while running. On the other side of the fence, the Heeler backyard was already humming with energy.
Henry cheered, stepping through the fence gate with fervor, "Hello, Bluey! Hello, Bingo!" He gestured over to his brother, "Have you two met my brother yet?"
Peter waved, chuckling, "Hello, Bluey and Bingo. My name's Peter. It's nice to meet you two!"
Bluey skidded to a stop mid-dash, tail wagging furiously, a big red balloon bobbing just above her head. Bingo bounced on her toes beside her, eyes wide with excitement.
"Hi Peter!" Bluey beamed. "Henry talks about you all the time! Ooh! Wanna play Keepy Uppy? We just blew up a new balloon; it's super bouncy!"
Bingo nodded vigorously. "Yeah! You gotta keep it off the grass!"
Peter questioned, "Hm? 'Keepy Uppy', you say? I've never played that one. Mum doesn't really allow me to play sports around the house; she says it's really dangerous."
Henry snorted a laugh, but it was fond rather than mocking. "It's not really a sport, Pete. It's just tapping a balloon over and over so it doesn't touch the ground. I read about it in the school library; there's no running into walls or anything."
Peter raised an eyebrow, "Promise?"
Henry nodded, "Promise."
Bluey tilted her head curiously. "It's super safe! We play it all the time. Even Dad joins in sometimes." She glanced over at her dad, Bandit, who raised his coffee mug in confirmation from the verandah steps.
"She's right, mate," Bandit called over casually. "Worst that happens is a bit of grass on your knees. No one's ever been seriously injured; not on MY watch."
Peter glanced back toward the fence, as if he could still see his mum watching from the kitchen window. Then he looked at the balloon; it was bright red, perfectly round, floating gently in the morning breeze. It didn't seem to be much trouble. Not yet, anyway.
"Well..." Peter adjusted his collar again, a small habit when he was thinking hard. "I suppose if it's just tapping, and there are no hard objects involved... I could give it a try."
Bluey clapped her paws together. "Yay! Okay, everyone in a circle!" The four kids huddled up into a circle, as Bluey explained the rules... or rather, the rule: "The rule is: no holding the balloon, just tap it up with your hands, head, nose, whatever! If it touches the ground, we start over and count how many taps we got that time. Ready?"
Henry nodded, fists pumped in excitement, "Ready!"
Peter stammered, tugging on his sleeve, "I-I'm still unsure, how exactly are we supposed to--?"
But Peter didn't get a chance to finish his sentence.
Bluey gave the balloon a cheerful upward tap, sending it sailing straight toward Henry.
Henry grinned and smacked it higher with an open palm. "One!"
The balloon drifted lazily toward Bingo, who giggled and headed it gently with her forehead. "Two!"
It floated across the circle toward Peter; it was slow, almost polite, as if giving him time to prepare. If he could, Peter would thank the balloon for being so nice. He extended both hands, palms flat and fingers perfectly aligned, and then gave the balloon the most careful, measured tap imaginable. Barely more than a nudge. Peter yelped, "T-Three!"
The balloon wobbled... then veered sharply sideways, caught by a sudden puff of breeze, and looped back toward Bluey at an awkward angle. Bingo dove sideways with a delighted "Whoa!" and bopped it back into the center with her nose. "Four! Nice try, Peter; you almost got it super straight!"
Peter blinked rapidly. "I-- But I DID get it super straight. The wind must have--"
Before he could finish analyzing, the balloon was already coming back his way again, slightly faster this time after Bingo's enthusiastic tap.
Peter squared his shoulders, determined to correct his previous "error." He waited, calculated the arc, and this time gave it a firmer tap. "Five!"
The balloon soared upward... perfectly vertical for half a second... then caught another breeze and spiraled wildly, before bonking Peter square on the forehead with surprising force, bouncing off afterwards toward the grass.
"Oof!" Peter yelped as he fell backwards onto the lawn, one hand flying to his head. His feet flew up so fast, they ended up kicking the balloon as well, sending it soaring. His hair, previously combed to perfection, now had a small tuft sticking up like a startled hedgehog. "...Ow... w-was that six, or s-seven...?"
For a split second the circle went quiet, with everyone staring at Peter sprawled on his back, legs splayed, the red balloon rolling to a gentle stop a few feet away. Then Bluey burst out laughing, not mean, just pure delighted surprise. "You used your head AND your foot! That's advanced Keepy Uppy!"
Henry doubled over, laughing so hard he had to brace his hands on his knees. "P-Pete, you might've just invented a new move there! Call it 'Peter's Perfect Pratfall'!"
Peter lay there for another heartbeat or two, staring up at the blue sky and the drifting clouds, cheeks burning hotter than the morning sun. Grass prickled the back of his neck and the backs of his arms, dirt and soil already creeping onto the back of his clothes. Back then, his mum would've had a fit if she saw him like this. His perfect clothes. His perfect hair. His perfect... everything. All ruined.
And yet...
No one was scolding him. No one was sighing in disappointment. They were laughing with him, eyes bright, waiting for him to get up and keep going.
Peter pushed himself up on his elbows, blinking grass out of his eyelashes. "I... I didn't MEAN to fall. I don't know what happened."
Bluey trotted over, still giggling, and extended a paw. "That's what's so fun about it!" She helped Peter stand up, wagging her tail as Peter brushed the stains off the best he could. "Come on, up you get! We’re not counting that one against us; that was awesome!"
Bingo bounced closer, clapping. "Yeah! You got EXTRA points for style!"
Henry straightened up, wiping a tear of laughter from his eye, but his grin was warm. He placed a hand on Peter's shoulder, "Ah, hilarious... but seriously, Pete, that was great. You okay? Feel alright?"
Peter stood there a moment, still brushing at the grass stains on his sleeves, then tentatively patted his tufted hair back down... only for it to spring right back up. He sighed, but it wasn’t a frustrated sigh. It was... smaller. Almost amused.
"I guess I'm alright," Peter said, "But there's GOT to be a rule against having balloons attack a player."
Henry rolled his eyes in amusement, "Oh, always with you and your rules..."
From the verandah, Bandit watched with a quiet, satisfied nod, coffee mug halfway to his lips. The kids didn't notice. They were too busy counting taps that didn't quite add up, laughing at near-misses, and - slowly, almost without realizing it - Peter was laughing too.
Maybe he could learn to stop trying to be so perfect all the time.
...Maybe.
Across the yard, the faint sound of footsteps on the driveway carried over. Andrea stepped over to the front porch of the Heeler residence, giving a polite wave to Chilli, who was already waiting on the porch with a welcoming smile and two steaming mugs.
"Andrea! Right on time," Chilli said warmly, handing over one of the mugs. "Coffee; extra cream and sugar, just how you like it. I may have asked Simon for intel."
Andrea accepted the mug with a grateful smile, wrapping both hands around it. "Oh, you're a lifesaver! Thank you, Chilli. And thank you for having the boys over. I hope they're not causing TOO much of a ruckus."
Chilli laughed softly, nodding toward the backyard where the red balloon was currently sailing high after a particularly enthusiastic tap. "A ruckus? Nah, they're just kids being kids. Come on in!"
They stepped through the front door into the bright, lived-in kitchen, the faint smell of various breakfast foods still lingering despite everything having been cleaned. Chilli pulled out two chairs at the island bench and they both sat, mugs in hand.
Andrea took a sip, then let out a small breath. "I have to admit... I wasn't entirely sure about this playdate. After all, Peter's not used to... all THIS." She gestured vaguely toward the window. "Mess. Noise. Playful roughhousing. You name it."
Chilli's eyes crinkled with understanding. "Bluey once made us play 'statues' in the grocery store and froze the entire family in the cereal aisle." She leaned her chin on her paw. "But she also once spent half an afternoon making a card for Bingo, and cried when the glitter fell off." She continued, "Sometimes things don't go according to plan, but they usually come out the other side happy."
Andrea chuckled despite herself. "While we were out, Henry once 'redecorated' the whole house with felt-tip pens. Everywhere you looked, you could see purple stripes for miles. I nearly thought Simon was about to EXPLODE!" She paused and let out another chuckle, gaze drifted to the window again. "But lately... Simon's been different. A lot calmer, I reckon. He says ever since he had a talk with Bandit by the pond, it had him thinking. And what he said about that talk... it got ME thinking as well."
Chilli nodded slowly, cradling her mug. "Bandit mentioned it to me that evening; said Simon was wound up tighter than a spring, but once he let a bit of air out, things started loosening up for everyone." She took a sip, thoughtful. "We don't always notice how much we carry around until someone points it out. Bandit's good at that part."
Andrea stared into her coffee. "So was Simon, after that talk," she said, "D'you know? When I came home that night, he said we needed to talk about how we've been treating our children."
Chilli tilted her head. "And what did he say?"
Andrea continued, taking another sip, "We've been going too hard on poor Henry, and we've been going too SOFT on poor Peter. Said we've been showing 'too much favoritism'. And you know what? After thinking about it for a bit, I agreed."
Andrea shook her head, "I just want the best for those two, you know? But it really isn't fair if one kid gets punished more often than another. Nor if one kid gets all the attention. I realize that now."
Chilli set her mug down gently, eyes soft. "That's a hard thing to see when you're caught in the middle of it; especially when one child's the 'easy' one, and the other's the 'challenge'. But admitting it out loud? That's the first real step toward evening things out."
Andrea gave a small, rueful smile as she glanced towards the window again. "Simon said something similar. We've been so focused on trying to 'fix' Henry, we never stopped to consider how that'd affect him, and especially his brother. Peter's been carrying that weight; even after this, he'll probably STILL think the best way to act is to never make a mess, and never step wrong."
Chilli followed her gaze and chuckled. "I wouldn't go as far as to say THAT..."
A fresh burst of laughter floated in from the window, and a chorus of voices saying various things. "Mr. Heeler, the balloon's stuck!" "Trampoline rescue!" "Look at 'im, covered in dirt and grass, and he's STILL smiling!"
Andrea's smile widened slightly, before she looked down, swirling her coffee. "Y'know, I don't know how you guys do it. I've never heard Peter so happy to get all dirty before."
Chilli shrugged. "Kids simply have a way of showing us we should stop telling them what they SHOULD be. Bluey once spent a whole afternoon trying to make the 'perfect' drawing for her father; all because I called Bingo's drawing 'perfect' one time, and stuck it up on the fridge over Bluey's; and THAT was because there was simply not enough room at the time."
Andrea couldn't help but chuckle at that, covering her mouth in an attempt to stifle it. "Oh, sorry. Poor Bluey, though; I bet she was super heartbroken when she saw."
Chilli shuddered. "Don't remind me. When I asked her why she didn't feel her drawing was perfect enough, she looked up at me with these big sad eyes and said, 'Mum, why wasn't mine perfect too?' I felt like the worst parent in the world. Thankfully, we had some extra space for both their drawings this time. But I had to tell her: drawing might be tough, but it's a good thing SHE'S tough as well."
Andrea's smile softened as she looked out the window again, taking another sip. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of with Peter. That if he lets go of that 'perfect' label, he'll think he's lost something truly important. But hearing him out there - smiling and laughing, even after all that - it makes me wonder if he's already starting to figure it out on his own."
Chilli leaned forward slightly. "He might be. Kids are smarter than we give them credit for when it comes to feelings. They know when the rules change, even if we haven't said it out loud yet. Just give him time; he'll surprise you, I'm sure of it. And Henry too; he's already surprised you himself, hasn't he?"
Andrea nodded, looking away from the window and towards the dining area. "Oh, yes he has. I just... worry about them sometimes. It IS part of a mum's duty to worry..." She then looked to Chilli, "Thank you for this, by the way. For listening to me rattle on. I didn't realize how much I needed to say it all out loud until now."
Chilli smiled, warm and easy. "Anytime, really. Life's hard enough already without having to deal with this 'parenting' business; having someone who gets it helps more than you know."
Just then, more cheers came from the window: "Easy now, don't pop it!" "I've got it this time, watch!" "Oh, look out!"
Andrea chuckled. "It's like magic, hearing those kids have such fun..." She set her mug down carefully. "After the boys went to bed that night, we decided right then and there: no more 'perfect' or 'horrid' as nicknames, not even in jest. They're just... Peter and Henry Dunderberry. Two brothers, yes? And for us, that's enough."
Chilli nodded, eyes bright. "That's a good start. Once we change how we talk about kids, they'll start believing it themselves."
Andrea exhaled, picking the mug back up. "I think I'll tell him tonight; I'll say 'I heard you out there, love. You were having such fun! I'm proud of you.' What do you think? Think it needs some work?"
Chilli tilted her head, considering for a second before answering with a gentle grin. "It's sweet as is. That's plenty."
Andrea's shoulders relaxed a friction. "Oh, good. Yes. That feels right." She gave a small, almost shy laugh. "I've spent so long telling those boys what to do, or how to do it, that I forgot how powerful it is to just say I'm proud of who they already are."
Chilli nodded in understanding, then stood slowly, carrying her mug. "I think I'd like to see the end of this game up close. Maybe watch from the sidelines. Bandit's been outnumbered for the last few minutes."
Andrea rose with her, her smile widening once more, "Y'know what? I feel the very same."
They stepped onto the verandah together, the morning sun warm on their faces. Below them, the backyard was a whirlwind, with the kids running to and fro. They seemed to have completely forgotten about their game of Keepy Uppy by this point, and had now moved onto another game altogether. It looked like a cross between tag and a treasure hunt; Bluey and Bingo darting around with foam noodle "swords," Henry pretending to be a dramatic pirate captain yelling orders, and Peter caught in the middle, laughing as he tried (and failed) to dodge their "attacks".
Andrea watched this unfold, with her heart swelling. She wiped a tear from her eyes, trying not to fog up her glasses. "That's my boys."
Chilli bumped her shoulder lightly. "Go on. Tell them now. Or wait till tonight."
Andrea chuckled. "I think we'll see what shakes out, won't we?"
The game paused when Bandit "revived" and scooped Bingo up onto his shoulders for a victory lap. Henry jogged over to Peter, slinging an arm around his brother's shoulders in a quick, brotherly squeeze. Peter stiffened for a heartbeat, then relaxed and squeezed back, grinning.
Bluey bounded up last, holding out a bracelet she'd clearly just made from scraps she had from what looked like many other craft projects. "Congratulations, Peter: You're officially part of the not-so-perfect friend club!"
Peter gasped with glee and took it, turning the slightly crooked bracelet over in his hands. He slipped it on his wrist. "Thank you," he said quietly, then louder, "Thank you! Thank you Bluey, and Bingo, and Henry!" He then glanced up at the verandah, spotting Andrea and Chilli. "And... and mum, and... Mrs. Heeler."
Andrea set her mug on the railing and walked down the steps, Chilli following a step behind.
Peter met her halfway across the grass, pushing his heel across the ground nervously. "S-Sorry for the mess, mum."
Andrea crouched to his level, brushing a blade of grass from his shoulder. "I heard you out here, love," she said softly. "You were having such fun! I'm proud of you."
Peter blinked up at her, eyes wide. Then he smiled. "Really?"
Andrea pulled him into a hug, not minding the grass or the dirt transferring to her blouse. "Really." Peter hugged back, fierce and quick, then stepped away, still beaming.
Henry jogged over, grinning. "Told you it'd be alright, Pete."
The group dissolved into laughter again.
Just then, Simon appeared, popping up from behind the fence. He waved, opening the gate and stepping in, "Hi, gang! Heard the commotion over here; figured I'd drop in and see what the hubbub was all about!"
Peter's eyes lit up. "Dad!"
Simon crossed the grass in a few easy strides, ruffling Peter's already-tufted hair (which only made it worse) and giving Henry a quick one-armed squeeze. "Look at you two; looks like you've had a fun playdate today!"
Bandit straightened from his mock-defeat pose, brushing dirt off his knees with a grin. "Simon! Perfect timing, mate. We could use another pirate for the next round; or at least someone to hold the balloon steady while these terrors launch it into orbit."
Simon laughed; it was the kind of relaxed, energetic laugh that Andrea hadn't heard in what seemed like years. "Sorry, but I think I'll pass on the pirate business for the time-being. I do wanna watch along, though." He walked over to Andrea, eyes softening. "You alright, love?"
Andrea put an arm around her lover, clasping one of Simon's hands with the free hand she had left. "Better than alright, dear." She looked around at the circle: Bluey and Bingo still bouncing with energy, Henry arm-in-arm with Peter, comparing each other's bracelets, Bandit and Chilli exchanging a knowing glance with each other.
She then looked back at Simon, "Much better."