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Delphia never quite felt like she belonged. Things that should make sense often did. It was as if she’d been born in the wrong time. None of her family had the same struggle. When that was all that made her feel out of place it was fine. Of course it had to change.
One day she started to know things. Things that were impossible for her to know. It made no sense, but she wanted to use her knowledge. Delphia told others what she knew. It was just to help them. Instead, it scared them or made them angry. It would have been easier to stay silent, but she couldn’t. Not when she knew someone might get hurt. It caused problems at school, with friends, almost everywhere. The only place she was accepted was at home, with her family. The only place in the world she belonged.
It made the idea of a new foster brother terrifying. The foster siblings before had all been when she was normal. It helped that her parents promised it was her choice to tell him about what she could do. That promise couldn’t fix everything that made her nervous.. She knew another person would make everyone feel farther away. She’d feel more alien.
The day Rhys arrived she realized she’d been wrong. She saw it in his eyes. The same feeling. He was different too. Able to do something that others didn’t like. At first she tried to ask him. She thought he might be the same, but he wasn’t. Rhys had so much more fear than Delphia ever had. It had to be something more than knowing things.
That made her watch him. He had definitely been different longer. If they talked, maybe he could help her feel like a person. There was a fear about him all the time. One that only seemed to get worse the longer he stayed. There were times he disappeared, each one made her curious.
One day she saw him sneak out of the house. It was early in the morning, long before anyone else would be awake. Delphia followed him. He ran from the house towards the nearby woods. She thought for sure she’d lose him, but he’d left a clear path. One that didn’t add up, it was huge.
Delphia crept along the path. Branches were snapped high above her head. The trees were bent as if something heavy pressed against them. She slowed down to survey the damage. It didn’t make sense. All the placement was wrong for it to be an animal. All of it too high.
A loud thump made her jump. She grew worried about Rhys. The thing that caused all this damage could show up again. She ran down the path until she caught sight of a clearing. Something sat in it, something huge. Delphia bit her lip as she crept closer and closer. While she was still hidden from it, the thing moved.
She recognized what she saw then. The cloth of the pants Rhys had been wearing when she followed him. Delphia snuck forward until she could see more of the giant boy in the woods. It really was him. His head was in his hands, he shook it back and forth.
“Nice going, Rhys,” he said to himself. Delphia tilted her head. “That would have been a great way for them to find out. Sorry about your house, by the way I can become a giant.”
She covered her mouth as he moved. One of his hands landed right in front of her. The heat from his skin felt kind of nice this early in the morning. Rhys groaned high above her. She couldn’t bring herself to tell him she was there.
Delphia could only imagine how painful it was for Rhys. She felt alien for knowing things. He literally outgrew the house. If it was her and she didn’t have her family from the start… It made her shudder. They gave her the only place she could belong. Rhys needed one.
“Maybe I should just run away already,” he sighed. “It’s early enough they might not care.”
He fell back. The impact knocked her off her feet and made her squeak. As fast as she could she crawled out of the path and into the trees. It was just in time. Rhys’s eye appeared right next to where she’d been. It blinked a few times. She saw the leaves fall from the movement.
Delphia kept her hands over her mouth. He couldn’t find her right now. A part of her was afraid of him grabbing her, but there was more to it. If he already thought about leaving, her presence could be the last push over the edge. He needed a family like hers. One that would understand him. She knew her brothers would be nervous, but treat him kindly. Her parents would find ways to help him be comfortable.
Her family could give Rhys a place where it felt like he belonged in the world. Just like they did for her. Make him feel less alien in a world that he didn’t quite match up with.
“I guess I scared some animal again,” he whispered. Delphia put her hands down as he moved back. There wasn’t a thump this time. “I hope I can change back soon, I don’t wanna be gone all day again. They looked upset the last time…”
Delphia turned away from Rhys. Picked her way carefully through the denser bits of the woods. All the way back home where she sat on the couch. She wanted to wait up for him, to make it something they shared. That plan failed as hours passed and the world slowly woke up.
Eventually the other parts of the house began to move. Her parents were first, hushed whispers as they came down the stairs. They knew he was gone. Felix was next, he wasn’t a morning person. He barely noticed her. Ryder followed not long after, full of energy already. He bumped into Felix, just like every morning, and started a small argument.
“Ryder, Felix,” she said. The two paused their argument to look at her. Curious, worried, kind. Her family would understand Rhys. He could belong. “I’ve been thinking, Rhys might be like me.”
“Why do you-” Felix yawned in the middle- “say that?”
“Just a feeling.”
“When he tells us we’ll just have to be ready with one of our games, won’t we?” Ryder smiled. Delphia laughed at the memory. Her brothers called a lot of things games, none of them really fit the word.
“I think that might be a good idea.”