Throughout the next few weeks, life assumed a comfortable, predictable pattern. At a six forty-five, Nora would get up, take a shower and get ready for work. At seven ten, she�d wake Taylor up and the two of them would sneak out of the bedroom where Isaac and Zac were still sleeping. Taylor would get dressed and brush his teeth, and the two of them would have breakfast before Nora dropped Taylor off at school and headed for the emergency room.
Zac usually woke up when Nora woke Taylor up, but he didn�t get out of bed until he heard them leave. When the car pulled out of the driveway, he knew it was time for Sesame Street. Zac watched Sesame Street every morning, and sometimes in the afternoon, too. Sometimes he�d wake Isaac up, and coerce him into going downstairs and watching it, too. Sometimes, Zac would wake Dan up instead. Sometimes he�d wake up both of them. Every day, though, both of them would be up before Sesame Street was over. And then they�d have breakfast. And then Mr. Rogers was on.
While Mr. Rogers was on, Isaac�s teacher would come. Isaac�s teacher was Mr. Lincoln. Every day, he�d say the same thing to Zac: �Good morning, young man.�
And every morning Zac would say the same thing back: �Good morning, old man.�
Ike told him he shouldn�t say it, but what did Ike know? Mr. Lincoln laughed every time.
And then Ike would have to work and Dan would have to work, so Zac would play by himself. After Mr. Rogers was over, he�d go upstairs and play with his animals, or he�d draw with Dan, or he�d do something else.
Zac had lots of animals. Not real ones. . . they were plastic. They could get wet. But not Bear. Bear had fur, and stuffing inside that wasn�t allowed to get wet, or he would have to go in the drier. Dan had to put Bear in the drier once, when Taylor had thrown him into the bathtub. Zac had cried. He didn�t think Bear would ever come out, even though he could see him through the circular window of the drier, spinning around and around. But then Bear had been all dry. Zac didn�t want him to go back in the drier, though.
Zac would build a zoo out of blocks, and his animals would live in it. And sometimes he�d knock the whole thing over, if he decided he didn�t like it anymore. And sometimes he�d take Mr. Lincoln upstairs to look at it before he left. Mr. Lincoln always liked it. And Dan always liked it. And Ike always liked it, and Zac always liked it, but once Taylor had knocked Zac�s buildings over when he got home from school. But first Zac had scribbled all over Taylor�s drawing. It was a bad drawing, though. It had a giant in it, stepping on Zac. That�s why Zac had scribbled on it.
And then after Mr. Lincoln left, it would be lunchtime. And then Dan had to work some more, sometimes, so Ike would play with Zac. Sometimes, if Isaac was tired, he wouldn�t mind playing animals, but usually they�d do other things. Like explorers. Or they�d make a tent and pretend to be camping. They spent a long time fishing out the window one afternoon, with a yardstick and some string. Then Dan had made them stop. He said they�d catch colds and die. But they didn�t.
Dan wouldn�t let them do it again, though, so the next day they sat, fully clothed, in the empty bathtub and pretended they were escaping from a sinking ship. The day after that, they had run down the hall and jumped onto a throw rug, sliding across the floor on it as they pretended it was a flying carpet. Dan had told them not to do that, either, because Ike wasn�t supposed to run around. When Dan went out to get the mail, though, they did it two more times.
Ike had a pirate ship. Nora had gotten it for him when he was in the hospital. There were lots of pirates on it, with swords and treasure chests and even a little parrot. And you could take the pirates� hair off and snap it onto the heads of other pirates. Which Zac thought was a lot of fun, but Ike didn�t always like to do. Sometimes he�d want them all to look the way they had looked when he had gotten them.
Once, though, Isaac had taken the hair off of the girl pirate and put it on the pirate captain�s head. The pirate captain had a beard, a peg-leg, and a parrot on his shoulder. They pretended he was a girl, and he got married to another pirate. The parrot and the ship�s monkey were the kids. And then the pirate captain got mad at his husband and he pushed him over the edge of the boat.
That was on a day when Ike didn�t feel very good. Zac could tell, because his brother didn�t get up or run around, and he didn�t get mad when Zac took all the pirates� hair off and started switching it around. And even when they were playing, Ike just told Zac what the pirates were doing, letting Zac move them from place to place. Usually they played with the pirate ship when Isaac was too tired to do anything else.
When it was time to go pick Taylor up, Isaac and Zac would have to stop playing and follow Dan out to the car. In the car, Dan would put on music, and they would drive to the school. Sometimes Isaac crouched all the way down into the seat, so that nobody he knew would see him, but other times he didn�t care. And then Taylor would come, and he�d get in the car, and they�d all drive home. Every once in a while, they�d stop and get candy or something first, and every Friday they were allowed to rent a movie. And Dan would get a movie for him and Nora.
After Taylor got home, he would play with Isaac and Zac, or maybe just Zac. Sometimes Ike would fall asleep. And sometimes he wouldn�t fall asleep, but he wouldn�t play either, just lie on his stomach with his chin resting on his arm, watching. Which would make Dan worried.
�You feel all right, buddy?� he�d ask Isaac, too many times. And Isaac would just nod.
So, sometimes Taylor and Zac had to play quiet games, when Dan was worried. But mostly Ike would play with them.
Zac thought it was better to play with both of his brothers than just one of them. They did lots of stuff, like sitting in a cardboard box in the living room and pretending it was a spaceship, until Taylor got bored and wanted to make it a restaurant instead. Then, Isaac was upset because he was mission control, and there was no such thing as mission control for a restaurant. Isaac was pretty tired that day, and all mission control did was lie on the couch and talk into a wire wisk and write things down on a clipboard, while Taylor and Zac pretended to fly around in the box, answering their brother through a wooden meat tenderizer.
Zac didn�t want a restaurant or a spaceship. He wanted a hideout. He wanted a cave with a big TV screen in it and lots of buttons, like a superhero had.
�But I want to have a drive up window,� Taylor told Isaac. �I want to wear a hat and say �have a nice day.��
�You don�t have to have a restaurant to wear a hat and tell people to have a nice day,� Isaac scoffed.
�Yes I do!� Taylor�s voice rose desparately. �I do too!�
�I�m not involved in this,� Dan assured himself, walking through the room. �I am minding my own business.�
�But who ever heard of a restaurant having mission control?� Isaac appealed.
�A restaurant having what?� Dan asked.
�Mission control,� Isaac explained. �What spaceships have.�
�It�s a restaurant!� Taylor exclaimed. �It�s called. . .� quickly, he made up a name. ��Taylor is the King.��
�You mean Burger King,� Isaac corrected.
�No!� Taylor shook his head. �Taylor is the King. I get to wear a crown, and you don�t.� He stuck his tongue out at his older brother.
�The king of what?� Isaac demanded. �And why would I want to wear a crown?�
�The king of. . .� Taylor thought for a moment. �Burger King. Taylor is the King of Burger King.� Dan, who had been following this exchange with the back-and-forth absorption of a spectator at a tennis match, snorted loudly and started coughing.
�You are not,� Isaac rolled his eyes.
�I am so!� Taylor insisted. He looked up at Dan, a tear trickling down his face. �Send him back to the hospital! I wish he never came back!�
�Fine.� Isaac shrugged, sitting up. �I�m leaving. You�ll never see me again.�
�No!� Zac, who had been busy setting up a Batcave inside the cardboard box, flew across the room and pushed Isaac back down onto the couch. �You can�t!�
�Taylor, you don�t mean that,� Dan told Taylor. �Ike, stay where you are, okay? And Zac, nobody�s going anywhere.�
�Except me,� Isaac piped. �I�m going back to the hospital. He said he wanted me to. . .� Wrestling Zac off of his lap, he moved to stand up.
�No!� Taylor shrieked, even before Zac could. �I didn�t mean it! I�m sorry! If you leave, I�ll be sad! I�ll miss you!�
�Me, too!� Zac seconded, and Isaac couldn�t have moved if he wanted to.
�Stop sitting on me,� he said, pinned to the couch. �I can�t breathe!�
�Stop sitting on him, Zac,� Taylor told his younger brother. �He can�t breathe.�
�You stop sitting on him first,� Zac suggested.
�No, you,� Taylor insisted.
�You!� exclaimed Zac.
�Help!� Isaac managed.
�If you suffocate him, it won�t really matter that he�s decided not to go back to the hospital, will it?� Dan pointed out, mildly.
Taylor slid off of Isaac and onto the floor. �Oh. . . right.�
�Right,� Dan agreed. �I�m always right,� he added.
Zac shook his head. �No you aren�t,� he said. �You said you would be off the phone in two seconds, and you were on it for days and days. . .�
�That was different,� Dan defended. �That was an estimation.�
�And it�s different?� Zac asked.
�Of course it is,� Dan assured him.
�Oh.� Zac nodded. �I get it.�
�I thought you would.� And, all conflicts resolved, Dan meandered toward the kitchen.
So, sometimes Zac and his brothers had fights, but mostly they didn�t. And they played a lot of army men games. And once they had a war.
The best times were at night, though. Now, they all went to bed at about the same time. Ike was usually tired enough not to protest, but sometimes they let him stay up later, if he wasn�t. If Zac went to bed by himself, it wouldn�t take him a long time to fall asleep, but Taylor would wake him up again, as soon as he came to bed, and then Zac would be up for a long, long time. Which was what Taylor wanted, but it wasn�t a good thing, Nora said.
So Taylor and Zac went to bed at the same time, and usually Ike did, too. And mostly, they all wanted to go. That was because it was fun. And because all three of tehm were together again, the way it used to be, without any adults around.
�Okay,� Taylor would whisper, as soon as they heard Dan and Nora�s footsteps retreat down the hall. �They�re gone.�
Zac would wrap one arm around Bear, stick his thumb in his mouth, and let his eyes adjust to the darkness, waiting.
Sometimes they would put on a show. They would drape sheets around the bottom bunk, so they looked like curtains. Then they�d get dressed up in costumes, whatever they could find in their drawers, and all of them would do something different. Once Taylor pretended he was a lion tamer, and he made Zac be the lion. Things were going really well until Taylor tried to stick his head into Zac�s mouth.
�Open it wider!� he demanded.
�This is as wide as it will go!� Zac protested, demonstrating.
Another time Isaac pretended to be the psychotic host of a cooking show, during which he lost his mind and went after his audience with a plastic spatula. Taylor, winding a towel around his head, told his brothers that he was �Madame Zsa-Zsa, the fortune teller.� He proceeded to tell Zac that he was going to marry seven different girls, which made Zac cry, because he didn�t even want to get married at all. So then Taylor changed it and said that Zac was going to be a fireman and Ike was going to have seven wives and a hundred million kids. Then Isaac and Zac wanted to tell Taylor�s fortune, but Taylor wouldn�t let them have the towel. They told his fortune anyway, and said that he would have a hundred million wives and a billion kids, and he�d have to wear dresses every day. That made Taylor cry.
Once Zac dressed up as Taylor, demonstrating for Isaac how their brother had gotten stuck between the bunkbed and the wall, then rolled out of bed onto the floor, then kicked Dan out of bed. Isaac had wanted to see it again, but the real Taylor had started crying. Zac pretended to be crying, too. And then he repeated everything that Taylor was saying.
�Stop, Zac!� Taylor sobbed.
�Stop, Zac!� Zac sobbed.
�I�m telling!� Taylor threatened.
�I�m telling!� Zac threatened.
�No, I�m telling!� Taylor screeched.
�No, I�m telling!� Zac screeched.
�You never be NICE to me!� Taylor wailed.
�You never be NICE to me!� Zac wailed.
�No, I�m always nice!� Taylor protested.
�No, I�m always nice!� Zac protested.
�Ike, make him stop!� Taylor demanded.
�Ike, make him stop!� Zac demanded.
�No, Ike, make Zac stop!� Taylor sniffled.
�No, Ike, make Zac stop!� Zac sniffled.
Taylor turned to Zac, a puzzled expression on his face. �But. . . you are Zac.�
Zac turned to Taylor, a puzzled expression on his face. �But. . . you are Zac.�
�No, you are!� Taylor insisted.
�No, you are!� Zac insisted.
�No, you�re Zac!� Taylor shrieked.
�No, you�re Zac!� Zac shrieked.
�I�m not Zac!� Taylor wailed.
�I�m not Zac!� Zac wailed.
�You are so!� Taylor bellowed.
�You are so!� Zac bellowed.
�I am not!� Taylor cried.
�I am not!� Zac cried.
�You are too Zac!� Taylor buried his face in his hands.
�You are too Zac!� Zac buried his face in his hands.
The door had opened then, and Nora stepped into the room, her hands on her hips. �What�s going on?� she asked, slightly exasperated.
�He�s picking on me!� Taylor pointed at Zac.
�He�s picking on me!� Zac pointed at Taylor.
�No, he is!� Taylor�s eyes threatened to spill over.
�No, he is!� Zac smiled broadly, pleased with himself.
�He keeps saying everything I say!� Dramatically, Taylor wilted into a defeated heap on the bed.
�He keeps saying everything I say!� Dramatically, Zac wilted into a defeated heap on the bed.
�See what I mean?� Taylor demanded, his voice muffled.
�See what I mean?� Zac demanded, his voice muffled.
�I see.� Nora made a small choking noise, holding back a smile. �Zac, stop teasing him, okay?�
�Yeah, Zac,� Taylor affirmed.
�Yeah, Zac,� Zac affirmed.
�Zachary. . .� Nora threatened.
�Zachary. . .� Zac couldn�t help repeating.
Nora turned her face away for a moment, collecting herself before she had time to start laughing. �That�s enough, all right? No more.�
Zac smiled brightly. �Okay.�
Taylor wiped his eyes. �Good,� he quavered.
Mostly, though, nobody cried. They�d just do things until Dan or Nora would come up and tell them to go to sleep, and then they�d talk.
�Tell us a story, Ike, hmmm?� Zac would propose.
�Yeah,� Taylor would join in.
�What story?� Isaac would ask.
�Tell about me and Bear,� Zac would suggest. Sometimes Ike would tell him that when Taylor was away at school. It was always the same story. Zac and Bear would save a cat from a tree, and they�d go to the circus and get a balloon, and they�d go to the toy store and get a toy and they�d go to the ice cream store and get ice cream and then they�d go home. It was the best story in the world.
Taylor didn�t like it, though. He wanted a story with him in it. . . or at least an alter ego. Isaac had never said that the three little boys in the woods story was about him and his brothers, but all three of them knew it really was.
The story had started a long time ago. Isaac had made it up one night at their old house, and he�d make up a different version every time he was pressed into telling it. By now there was an entire saga of the three little boys in the woods, and Taylor and Zac were always demanding to hear more of it.
�Okay,� Isaac began. It was the way he always started his stories. Some people said �Once upon a time,� others �In the beginning,� but Isaac always said �Okay.� Not even he knew why, really.
�Okay,� said Isaac. �One day, the three little boys-�
�We�re not little,� Taylor protested.
�It�s not about us,� Isaac lied. �Okay, the three little boys were sitting on a really high cliff, because they�d climbed all the way up to the top. And there was a waterfall down below, and they were going to jump into it. But first, they thought they�d sit there for awhile, because the cliff was so high you could see everything for seven hundred thousand miles around. . .� And Isaac would continue, describing the boys� battle against the elements when stranded in a blizzard, their experience of being abducted by aliens, or something equally impressive.
�That was a great story,� Taylor or Zac would yawn, as soon as Isaac was finished. And if Isaac was too tired to tell a story, they�d tell him one. Except he said their stories didn�t make much sense. Taylor and Zac thought they did, though.
�They don�t even have a beginning, a middle and an end,� Isaac would complain. �You start out with the middle, and then you tell the end, and then you tell the beginning. And you always get in a fight.�
His brothers denied this, but it was true. �Once upon a time, Joe was walking down the street,� Taylor would begin, �and he saw a car, and-�
�It came and hitted him,� Zac would interrupt.
�No!� Taylor would contradict. �He stopped and smelled the flowers!�
�He did not!� Zac would protest. �The car hitted him!�
�Before Joe got hitted by the car, he stopped and smelled the flowers,� Taylor would continue. �When he was walking down the street.�
�No.� Zac would shake his head. �He stopped and smelled the flowers before he was walking down the street.�
Taylor would pause, considering this. �Okay,� he�d decide, finally. �That�s the story. The end.�
Isaac didn�t think anybody could blame him for being confused by that.