Chapter Text
"Mom" Andrew called, pulling the sleeve of Betsy's red coat.
"Yes, honey." Betsy said, putting Aaron's favorite cookies in the cart. Now she only needed the almond milk and then the shopping list would be finished.
"Can we take this home?" Andrew asked in his sweet voice of I Want That So Much Mom, that usually comes paired up with a cute pout and wide honey eyes.
(Aaron was different, he prefers the old technique of throwing himself on the floor and crying.)
"This what?" She asked, turning around to see her son holding -- another boy?
"Him" Andrew answered, using the hold he had on the boy's arm to push him in Betsy's direction.
"I'm glad you made a new friend, Andrew, but-" She tried to say - which was true, Andrew had a hard time making friends - but her son interrupted her.
"I'm going to take him home" Andrew grinned, then pointed at the boy's curls "His hair is red!"
The other boy nodded, making his auburn curls dance around his face, and blinked his big blue eyes innocently, Betsy almost cooed at him.
"NEIL!" Someone yelled somewhere inside the grocery store.
"Andrew, my dear, we have to give him back to his family" She explained calmly.
"Why?" Andrew crossed his arm "I wanna keep him"
"I'm sure you two can be friends bu-"
"I wanna keep him"
"NEIL!" Another voice yelled, this time deeper and closer.
Betsy turned around to see a large man wearing jeans and a sleeveless ribbed undershirt that showed his arms covered with tribal flame tattoos. His brown eyes were full of concern - he must be responsible for the boy Andrew was trying to kidnap.
"Goddammit, Neil!" He said with no heat, looking down at Andrew's new friend "Didn't you hear us calling?"
Neil giggled "I did"
"I'm so, so sorry" She said to the man "My son found him and-"
"We're take him home" Andrew interrupted another time "Finders keepers"
"Don't need to apologize" The man told her, tousling Neil's curls with one hand. Neil grinned at him, looking like an angel "He does that all the time. I told his siblings to keep an eye on him but, you know, kids."
"Andrew doesn't usually goes around kidnapping people but there's a first time for everything, I guess" She laughed and offered her hand "I'm Betsy Dobson"
"David Wymack" He shook her hand "Honestly, I'm just glad your kid liked mine, usually Neil makes boys around his age cry"
Neil gasped "Not true"
"I believe you" Andrew told his friend and then turned to David to ask, with a very serious expression "Does that mean I got to keep Neil, sir?"
Betsy put her hand in her heart, feeling that it was about to burst - metaphorically. Andrew was so adorable, all tiny and serious, he had a small crease between his blond eyebrows while he waited patiently for David's answer.
"Sorry, boy" David told him "That's not how things work"
"Why not?" Neil asked, pouting. Andrew patted him on the back - in the way that Betsy knew that meant 'It'll be alright, don't worry'.
"NEIL!" Another voice yelled and two older kids, a girl and a boy, appeared running across the hall "DAD I FOUND HIM!"
"Dad found him first, you dumbass" The girl said, hitting the boy's arm lightly.
"Where were you?!" The boy asked, lowering himself so he was face to face with Neil.
Their father shook his head "Dan and Kevin, you two got here too late, Neil is going away now"
Betsy snorted and tried to disguise it with a cough.
"No, he isn't" Kevin jumped, green eyes going wide.
"I'm taking him home" Andrew chanted, smiling excitedly.
Betsy had to cover her mouth to hide the laugh threatening to get out. That might just be the cutest Andrew has ever been.
"But you can't!" Dan complained, trying to grab Neil's hand but Andrew pulled the boy closer, out of her reach "He's our brother"
"Finders keepers" David repeated, making Andrew's smile even more "So you two better learn to not leave your brother alone, he gets lost easily"
Andrew spined around "See, mom, I told you"
"No, no, honey" Betsy crouched down and cupped Andrew's face gently, squishing his big cheeks softly "Neil is not ours"
"Of course not," Andrew nodded. Bee was glad to hear that, she didn't know how to explain that people weren't possession. Now, she was sure that Andrew just meant that he wanted to be friends with Neil. "He's mine! I found him!"
Dang it.
"You can't steal our brother." Kevin argued, eyes still wide.
"Finders keepers" Andrew said slowly, turning his head to glare at Neil's siblings "losers weepers"
Kevin and Dan gasped almost in sync.
"And 'drew found me" Neil informed like it was a very known fact, beaming at his siblings.
"Dad, do something!" Dan pleaded.
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do" David shrugged "If you had paid attention to your little brother, we wouldn't be in this situation"
"Losers" Neil nodded very seriously, making Betsy break into a fit of laughter. She understood why Andrew wanted to be his friend.
"See, mom, he's funny!" Andrew turned to face her "Can we keep him?"
Betsy laughed again and kissed the top of Andrew's head. "You two can be friends, but we can't keep him away from his family. Do you think you can share him?"
There, Betsy was sure this was going to work. Andrew was great at sharing, even though people called him a troublemaker in the foster agency, Bee never had big problems with him. It was just a matter of listening and explaining.
Andrew was extremely easy to have around, he always tried to be helpful, offering himself to go grocery shopping for example. He also liked to talk about all the cool things he learned at school that day. He had no problem understanding that, sometimes, Betsy will need to give most of her attention to Aaron and Andrew would wait patiently for his own turn. He shared all of his toys with Aaron and the kids in his classe. He doesn't get jealous of Aaron's friends anymore. Overall, Andrew was a very good and caring kid.
Andrew smiled sweetly "No."
"But he's our brother!" Kevin repeated, eyes filled with tears.
"You ugly when you cry" Neil pointed out, brutally honest. Betsy snorted.
"Alright, little devil, that's enough" Wymack said offering a hand to Neil, who ignored it completely "Let's go, Abby is waiting for us"
Dan let out a relief breath and Kevin blinked his tears away.
Neil let out another innocent smile "Bye, dad! Bye, Kev! Bye, Dan!"
David shook his head "No, Neil, you're coming with us"
"Hummm" Neil made a thinking face and crossed his little arms "I don't know"
"He's not" Andrew stepped between Neil and his family.
"Andrew, you will see your friend again but now he has to go with his family, okay?" Betsy told her son, who watched her warily "Look, I'm going to give Neil's dad my business card and if Neil wants, his parents will call me so you two can play"
Andrew kept watching as Betsy took out her business card from her black purse and handed it to Wymack. Now David was the one under Andrew's gaze, the man nodded with a small smile and put the card inside his wallet.
"Don't worry, 'drew" Neil said, waving his fingers in front of Andrew's face to have his attention "I will call!"
Andrew frowned, looking down at his own feet "Okay"
"Can we go now?" Kevin whined.
"Bye, 'drew!" Neil said, opening his arms to offer a hug.
Shyly, Andrew looked up. He stared at his friend for a few seconds and then stepped into the hug "Bye, Neil"
"That 's cute." Dan said with a soft smile.
"He wants to steal our brother, Danielle!"
"Shhh, Kevin!"
Betsy was actually surprised, Andrew wasn't the biggest fan of touches. He seemed comfortable with Neil's skinny arms wrapped loosely around his neck though, and he still looked comfortable when Neil leaned in closer to whisper something in his ear, something that made Andrew's hazel eyes go wide before he nodded.
David huffed and walked around the boys, which meant he was ready when Neil suddenly took off running.
"I caught you" Wymack said, lifting Neil to carry him belly down on his right shoulder, like one would do with a potato bag, so Neil was upside down and laughing while his father held his legs ``Let's go home, little gremlin. Bye, Betsy and Andrew."
Wymack nodded politely at both of them, to which Betsy replied with a smile and Andrew with a frown. Dan and Kevin waved their good-bye.
"Byeeeee!" Neil chanted, trying to pull himself up so he could see Andrew "WAIT, DADDY, WAIT!"
David groaned but stopped "What now?"
"Do you wanna be my best friend?" Neil asked, staring down at Andrew.
"Yes!" Andrew answered immediately, eyes wide in surprise and pink coloring his cheeks "Do you want to be mine?"
"Duh" Neil raised his hand "Hi five"
Andrew stared at Neil's hand, probably noticing that it was too high for him, since Neil was above David's shoulder. However, Andrew didn't give up, he took a few steps back and then ran in Neil's direction, jumping the highest he could to, finally, hit Neil's waiting hand. Both boys celebrated with little yells.
"Bye bye" Neil waved at Betsy and Andrew, blowing them kisses.
Andrew watched as Wymack took Neil away with Kevin and Dan following closely behind. It was adorable, Andrew didn't stop waving his tiny hand until they all disappeared around the corner.
Betsy, still smiling from the cute interaction, stared at her cart, checking everything she already got and trying to remember what was missing.
"Mom" Andrew called, pulling the hem of Betsy's coat "Can you look if Neil already called?"