"Whoa, Brat, you scared the living daylights out of me," he exclaimed.

"Uh huh. Sure I did. I know what you were up to," he said, glaring accusingly at his big brother.

"What?" Frank asked sheepishly, trying to act innocent, but not quite pulling it off. He knew very well that his brother knew what he was up to.

"You were trying to steal chocolate!" Joe said, his voice a mixture of triumph and accusation.

"Ha, ha," Frank laughed feebly. "You know Joe, you’d make a terrific detective!" he said, trying to get Joe to smile. But Joe just stood there, glaring stonily at him.

"Or maybe," Frank mumbled, "a great drill sergeant!"

"What was that?" Joe asked sharply/

"Nothing, nothing," Frank said hastily. Joe, indeed looked like a drill sergeant, with his feet spread shoulder width apart, arms folded across his muscular chest, biceps bulging, his blue eyes narrowed into icy chips, and mouth set in a thin, straight line. All that was missing was the uniform, boots, and cap to cover his unruly, curly blond hair.

"Frank, you know you get sick when you eat chocolate!"

"I know, I know! But, I had such a craving for chocolate that I just had to grab some!"

"That’s beside the point, Frank," Joe exclaimed exasperated. "You know you aren’t supposed to eat any chocolate. At my birthday party, you ate so much chocolate, that you were sick for days afterward! After that incident, the doctor, and Mom, and Dad said you were not to eat any chocolate! And, they made me there little spy!"

"Aw, Joe, you won’t let me have even a little bit? You’re precious big brother?" Frank tried to wheedle out his situation. Although he didn’t have his brother’s wheedling skills, he was still pretty good, and with his big brown eyes, looked just like a cute puppy when he wheedled, which usually got him his way. But Joe held firm.

"Uh uh, Frank. No way," he said.

"Oh, come off it, Joe!" Frank exclaimed, getting kind of annoyed. "Remember, I’m the big brother, you’re the little brother! I’m supposed to take care of you!"

"Excuse me?" Joe’s eyes flashed with anger. "Can you give me one reason, besides the fact that you are older than me, why I can’t take care of you?" Frank thought for a minute, but nothing came to his mind.

"All right then, that’s what I thought!" Joe said mimicking their seven-year-old neighbor’s new favorite phrase. This eased some of the tension in the room, and both brothers laughed.

"Seriously though Frank. You aren’t supposed to eat any chocolate at all, understand?" Joe raised his eyebrows at Frank.

"Yes Mother. No more chocolate." But as he said that, he slowly put his hands behind his back, giving Joe the impression that he was crossing his fingers.

"You know what frank? I can’t trust you. So I better take matters into my own hands." With those words, Joe brushed past Frank, went to the refrigerator, and took out one chocolate bar. He glanced at Frank, and then tore off the wrapper and, with three big bites; he ate the entire candy bar!

"Hey!" Frank protested. "What did you go and do that for?" he pouted angrily.

"I had to! If not, then you would have gone and sneaked the bar when no one was home!" He checked to see if there were anymore more chocolate bars, and seeing none, closed the refrigerator. He then turned to his brother and saw his brother’s hurt brown eyes. He felt some of his least favorite emotion. Guilt. He sighed.

"When god was making emotions, did he have to make guilt?" he asked himself. He walked over to Frank.

"Frank," he said, looking into his brother’s eyes. Frank turned his eyes angrily.

"Frank," Joe said again, this time putting his hand on Frank’s shoulder. He turned Frank towards him, forcing him to look at him. "You know I did that because I love you and don’t want to see you get sick!" He cupped Frank’s cheek with his hand and tilted his head slightly to the side. "Don’t be mad at me. Please?" Frank sighed. He was never able to stay mad at his baby brother for long.

"It’s okay, Joe. It’s probably for the best," he said. "I probably would have gone and snatched some chocolate!" Joe grinned and gave Frank a big hug. None of them noticed their mother standing in the kitchen doorway. She was smiling, looking at her two sons. She was always proud of the relationship between the two. She was also always proud of the relationship the boys had with her and their dad. Then tears filled her eyes as she realized that it was exactly the type of relationship that Jason, Jaclyn, and Jennifer will never have with their parents. She walked into the kitchen.

"Boys, I have to tell you something," she said, tears falling down her cheeks. Both boys immediately turned to her and their eyes widened when they saw that she was crying.

"Mom! What’s wrong?" Joe cried, as Frank rushed to get a glass of water and pull out a chair for their mom. Joe helped their mom into the chair then kneeled down at her feet.

"What’s wrong, Mom?" Frank asked.

"Boys, your Uncle Ted has died." Both brothers gasped. Their Uncle Ted was their uncle on their Mom’s side. He was their Mom’s younger brother.

"What!" Joe exclaimed. "How?"

"He had a heart attack. We don’t know the details. His funeral is on Friday in Milwaukee. My other brother arranged. I’m going to have to go." Suddenly, something dawned on Joe.

"But Mom, " he said slowly. "Aunt Jan died last year giving birth. Now Uncle Ted’s dead. Who’s going to take care of his kids?"

"That’s just the thing Joe. My older brother can’t take care of them. He’s doesn’t have a wife, and he has three teens of his own. We certainly can’t put them in an orphanage. That means it is up to us. I’ve already talked to your father. We’re going to take in the twins and Jason!"