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"Boys, don't pull your brother so hard," his mother says, "he's little!"
"'M not that little," Dennis says, Jed and Isaiah dragging him towards the bumper cars.
"Let's do this one! I wanna do this one!" Jed says.
"Bumper cars sounds kind of scary," Dennis says.
"It's not scary!" Isaiah tells him. "They're supposed to bump into each other."
"They have double cars, Denny," Luke says, "you can ride in my car."
"I want my own car," Jed says to their father.
"You're all going to get your own car," he explains, sighing, "Christ, Laura, why did I let you talk me into bringing them here?"
She looks at him adoringly, "You never do anything with us anymore."
"I try to take you out when I get a chance."
"You know you don't have to do that, you could just cook a meal or two at home and I'll still be happy. And I meant all of us. You me and the kids."
"I know, it's nice even when it is a little exhausting. I try to take them hunting when I can but it's still not all of us."
"And this is something we all like to do. You know Denny doesn't really like hunting, the guns scare him."
"He'll get used to it. All my sons will learn how to hunt properly. Survival skill are important."
She hums at that and he puts an arm around her shoulders.
"I want the blue one!" Jed says.
"I get the red one," Isaiah says. "Curtis, they have yellow!"
"Let's take that green one," Luke says.
"No, let your brother have his own car," their fathers says.
"He doesn't want his own car," Luke explains.
"Dennis, pick a car," the man tells him.
"Jeff, just let him go with Luke," she sighs.
"He needs to do stuff on his own, he relies on Luke too much. Pick a car, Dennis."
He walks around, picking the pink one and sitting down, buckling in.
"Dennis, that's the girl car, pick a different one."
"But I want this one."
"Get in that little red one over there," he points.
"Boys, buckle up, the ride's about to start."
"Dennis, red car."
He gets out and sits in the red one, buckling in. They circle around, hitting each other with cars. While they mostly all seem to like it, Dennis flinches every time the cars bump into him. Laura frowns, "I don't think Denny likes it."
"The twins are having fun," he says.
"The doctor said we shouldn't call them the twins. Remember, he says not calling them that gives them a sense of individuality, lets them be their own instead of feeling like a set."
"Right, yes, I remember him saying that. But they are having fun." He points to the eldest son and nods to the yellow car. "And Luke and Curtis are having fun."
"Maybe we should get him off the ride."
"Leave him," he says, "he's fine. These rides are safe for kids. If he doesn't like it after then we wont make him ride again."
When the ride is over Dennis goes to his mom's side. She puts an arm around him, "Was that fun?"
"Yeah," he lies.
She pats his head, "What do you wanna ride next?"
He points to the teacups and smiles, "That one, they have bears on them."
"That's for little kids, " Jeff says, "let's pick a bigger one. How about the roller coaster?"
He turns his head, staring at the roller coaster with the giant drop and listens to the sound of people screaming as it rushes by up and down. He shakes his head, clinging to his mother, "I don't wanna ride that one, Dad."
His mother pats his head, "Luke, your brother wants to ride the teacups, will you take him?"
He nods, "Yeah."
"I wanna go!" Curtis says.
"Me too!" Isaiah says.
"Me too, me too!" Jed beams.
Luke and Dennis get into one and the other three cram into one. The ride starts and Luke is careful not to spin too quickly as they begin moving. Dennis smiles, "I like this ride!"
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!"
They look over seeing the other three spinning wildly. It goes faster and faster and Luke and Dennis look to their mom who's got her face in her hand, shaking her head, "Jed is going to throw up. He just ate four hotdogs."
"He's fine," their father smiles. "They're having fun."
"I think I'm gonna be sick!" Jed shouts.
"Hahaha! Curtis, let's spin it faster!" Isaiah says.
"WOOOOOOHOOOOOO!" Curtis yells as they turn faster.
"Boys! Your brother is going to throw up, slow down!" She looks over at Dennis and Lucas calmly spinning.
"I don't think I wanna go that fast," Dennis shakes his head.
"I'm not gonna spin us that fast," Luke assures him, "you wanna spin us?"
He smiles nodding, "Yeah!"
"Isaiah! Your brother is turning white! Stop spinning him."
"They're fine, Laura," he pats her back.
"Look at him, does that boy look fine?"
He squints before nodding, "Yeah, he--oh. Shit, okay, yeah, he's gonna hurl. Boys! Boys!"
---
"I cannot believe you three broke the teacup ride," Laura says, shaking her head at the three boys sitting on the bench.
"I can't believe you threw up," Isaiah laughs, "you're such a baby."
"I need water," Jed says, wrapping his arms around Curtis's, holding onto him and laying his head on his shoulder to stabilize himself. "I think I'm dying."
"You're not dying," Jeff assures him, patting his head.
"That was awesome, Isaiah, we need to do that again!"
"Hell yeah," Isaiah smiles.
"Isaiah!" She says.
"Sorry."
"I don't wanna ride teacups anymore, Mom," Jed says, shaking his head and closing his eyes.
Jeff gives her money and she pays for the cold water, handing it to him, "You don't have to, sweetheart. Here, drink your water."
He sips it and Dennis walks over, patting his head, "Do you feel better?"
He hums, as he relaxes against Curtis, giving a nod.
"Maybe we should go home early," she says.
"No," Jed whines. "Don't wanna go yet."
"Okay, well, let's take a break," she says, "you guys wanna try winning one of the teddy bears?"
"Yeah!" Isaiah says.
"I wanna win one! I wanna win the giant panda we saw earlier," Jed tells her.
"Let's go try to get it," she nods.
Jed holds onto his mom's arm, laying his head on it as they walk over to the booth. Their father puts money on the counter for them to try to knock down the bottles with the baseballs. Isaiah goes first only knocking down one full stack and leaving three remaining bottles. He's given a small car and Curtis goes next. He manages to knock two full stacks leaving two left on the last one. He's given a small bear and smiles, "Didn't win but I beat Isaiah."
"Shut up!" Isaiah narrows his eyes.
"Denny, do you wanna try?" Luke asks.
"Okay."
He misses the first ball and throws hard on the second one, knocking one bottle down. He throws at the second one knocking all three down and Luke smiles, "Good job."
"But I didn't win."
"You won a car," the man says, holding the bucket. He picks a blue one and goes over to Jed, handing it to him.
"Here you go, Jed."
"Thanks, Denny."
His mom pats his head and their father speaks up, "You're up next, show them how it's done."
Denny watches in awe as Lucas knocks each one down effortlessly. They all cheer and Jeff goes over, ruffling his hair, smiling proudly, "Good job, Lucas!"
He turns, "Which one do you want, Denny?"
"It's your prize," he says.
"Come on, help me pick, which one do you want?"
The man running the stand lifts his hand, pointing to the top row. "You can get the Tweety, the cow, the smurf or one of the bears. We have brown, black, blue, red and pink."
"I want the blue bear," Jed says.
"I want the red one," Isaiah says.
"I want Tweety," Curtis says.
"Luke wants the brown bear," Dennis nods, "brown bears are your favorite."
"Which one do you want, Denny?"
He looks at the pink bear but shakes his head, "It's your prize, Luke, I didn't win."
"Can I have the pink bear?"
"The pink one?" His father asks.
"Yeah, I want that one."
The man shoots his father a glance but shrugs and gives him the pink one. He smiles, "Think this one will look good in our room?"
Dennis smiles and Luke holds him out. His arms wrap around it and Luke smiles, "It's as big as you, Denny."
"Can he sleep in my bed?" He asks, eyes wide as his smile nearly reaches them
"Course he can, he's yours. What do you wanna name him?"
"Starr," he says. "Like Edwin Starr."
"Maybe we pick another name," his dad says, "I'm sure you can think of a better one."
"Can I name him Bowie," he asks with a smile.
"Like the knife?" His dad asks. "Sure!"
"No, like David Bowie."
"Oh," he says, "yeah... sure. Let's go ride the Ferris wheel."
He smiles holding him above his head as he runs, "Ferris wheel! Ferris wheel! Ferris whee-"
He trips over the stake holding the tent he walks past up and lands sideways on the bear.
"Denny!" His mother shouts.
The pain is a lot and his eyes water.
"Are you okay?"
"I think I broke my ankle," he says, letting out a small sob.
"Okay, I've got you," his father scoops him up carefully.
He holds onto him, sniffling and laying his head on him, "I broke it."
They walk over to the bench, "I don't know if you broke it. Let me look at you."
He sets him down and takes his sock and shoe off. His ankle is tender and he wipes his eyes, "It hurts!"
"It's okay, buddy, you're okay," he says, trying to figure out what to do.
"Uh, hi, my friend and I are doctors, we saw what happened and we just wanted to make sure he was okay."
They turn seeing the two handsome men and Dennis wipes his eyes, looking up. His eyes widen and he's fixated on the dark haired doctor.
"He thinks he might have broken it," she says, "I don't know what a broken ankle looks like."
"Would you mind if I took a look at it?"
"Please," she nods.
He lowers himself in front of the kid and smiles, "Hi, I'm Dr. Robinavitch, but everyone calls me Dr. Robby. This is my friend Dr. Abbot. What's your name?"
"Denny."
"Denny," he smiles, "that is a very good name."
"Thank you."
"My friend and I are doctors. Do you mind if we take a look at your ankle to make sure you're okay?"
He holds his leg out to him.
"Can you move just your foot up and down for me?"
He does as he asks and the man smiles, "Good job. Can I stand you up and ask you to put some weight on it?"
He stands with his help and hisses when he stands on it. He nods, "Okay, you can sit back down."
He carefully squeezes his ankle gently, Dennis wincing slightly and Robby smiles, "Does it hurt a lot or a little when I touch here?"
"A little."
"Sprain," Abbot smiles.
"Definitely," he nods. "Got anything to wrap this? Limit his movement at least."
"Of course."
"Don't worry, Denny," he smiles at him, "I am gonna fix you right up and you can get back to having fun."
The boy's face flushes and Robby takes the wrap, handing Abbot a five and nodding towards the ice cream stand. He takes the hint and walks off.
"Alright, I'm gonna wrap this, you tell me if it hurts, okay?"
"Okay," he nods.
Luke watches the man and his brother, hoping the man can make him feel better. His eyes go between the hands currently wrapping his ankle and the man's focused face. He looks to his brothers who are focused on the injury, staring at it and waiting for him to be okay. His mom is holding the cross around her neck as she watches him wrap his ankle. His father has a look on his face that he normally gave Dennis a lot when he did something he didn't like. But Dennis isn't worried about the injury at all. His eyes are locked onto the man treating him, looking at his face as if he's trying to memorize it. Luke isn't sure what that means but he thinks it's important.
The bandage is fixed and he slides the sock on and the shoe for him, looking up to meet his eyes, "All better."
"Thank you, Dr. Robby!" Dennis beams.
Abbot makes his way over with a vanilla cone in his hand, Robby smiling. "Thank you, Jack. Now I don't have any lollipops on me so hopefully this'll work instead."
He takes the cone and offers it to Dennis whose eyes go wide and his smile spread far. He nods, "Thank you, Dr. Rabbit!"
They both chuckle at that and the red haired man smiles, "Dr. Jack Rabbit. I like that."
He takes the cone and Curtis frowns, "I want ice cream!"
"Then break your leg," Isaiah says.
"Do not break your leg," Jed tells him.
"I wasn't gonna!"
"Are you okay, Denny?" Isaiah. "We can help you walk!"
"Can I have a lick of your ice cream?"
"No, Curtis, it's his, he's hurt!" Jed tells him.
"Please, Denny?"
He offers it to Curtis who smiles and Dennis keeps his eyes on Robby. "Thank you. Mom, can he always be my doctor?"
"Oh, I don't know, sweetie."
Jack chuckles and Robby clears his throat, "Probably not, Denny. Jack and I aren't from here. We're just visiting from Pittsburgh."
"Pittsburgh? Where's that?" He cocks his head.
"Pennsylvania," Jack tells him. "We're doctors there. Soon we'll be running our own hospitals and teaching plenty of new doctors."
"I wanna be a doctor," Dennis smiles, "will you teach me one day, Dr. Robby?"
He smiles, "Sure thing, kid. Study hard, pay attention in school and make sure you watch where you're going from now on, okay?"
"Okay!"
He ruffles his hair, "See you when you're a big doctor someday."
"See you then, Dr. Robby!"
"Thank you, Dr. Robby," Laura nods.
He nods, "Of course."
"We really appreciate it," Jeff shakes his hand.
He nods, "Happy to help."
He turns with Jack, giving a final wave to Dennis. Dennis waves back and Luke nudges his brother, "So, you wanna be a doctor?"
He nods, "Yeah, definitely."
"Then I think your first order of business is saving that ice cream cone from Curtis."
He turns, seeing that he's eaten most of the top off and Dennis frowns, "Hey! Give it!"
He gives it back, "Thanks, Denny, it's really good."
"You almost ate all of it. Dr. Robby gave it to me!"
"Sorry," he says. "I'll help you walk for the rest of the time. I'll carry you piggyback."
"Promise?"
"Yeah," he nods, "come on."
"Curtis don't drop your brother," Laura says. "He's got a sprain."
"He's not even heavy," he assures her.
Jeff picks him up, "No, here, you carry his bear. I'll carry him."
He climbs onto his Dad's back and smiles, "Thank you, Dad."
"Thank me by sharing some of that ice cream," he tells him.
"Jeff," Laura says, "it's his."
"Dad gets a bite every time," he smiles at her, "isn't that right, boys?"
They groan and she grins, rolling her eyes.
"Want a bite, Mom?" Dennis asks.
"No thank you, Denny. I appreciate the offer but it's your ice cream."
"How come you didn't ask me or Jed if we wanted a bite?" Isaiah asks.
"Boys please don't start," Laura sighs. "Go to the Ferris wheel. And no running! Please walk."
"What if we get stuck at the top, Jed, you might puke again," Isaiah says.
"I'm gonna shake the seats when we get stuck," Curtis whispers to Jed.
"I'm not riding with Isaiah or Curtis," Jed says.
Isaiah and Curtis laugh, locking their arms around Jed's so he can't leave.
"Come on, Jed, middle seat," Curtis smiles.
"Right between us," Isaiah grins.
"Mom!"
"Boys, please stop torturing your brother."
"Can I ride with you, Dad?" Dennis asks.
He smiles, kissing the back of his hand, "Of course you can."
"Jed, come ride with me. Luke, do you want to ride with the boys, me or your father?"
He looks to his father and Dennis before smiling, "I'll ride with you, Mom."
Jed clings to Luke, "Thank God."
Dennis offers his father another bite of his cone and the man smile as he maneuvers him around to his hip, "Which color seat do you want?"
"Can we sit in the pink one if it's not taken?"
He hesitates but nods, "Yeah, of course we can."
He hugs him tight, "Thank you, Dad!"
He hugs him back, "Anything for you, kid."