Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Graces.

Note: The summary quote was originally said by Erica E. Goode. I did not come up with it.

Brotherhood

One: Eye Contact

Asbel Lhant was fifteen months old, and he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

It didn't seem like anything was out of the ordinary. He was in his house, like normal, and there were maids around, like normal. He didn't know where his parents were, except he thought that maybe they were in their room, which he was currently being kept out of. Not that he wanted to be in there, because he was a big boy – Daddy had said so – and so he didn't need to see his parents all the time. But he'd just learned to walk a few months ago, and so he wanted to walk down around the hallway and to his room to play with his toys, but every time he tried to go, his parents' friend – Frederic – grabbed him and pulled him back, saying, "No, young master, you must stay still." That didn't sit very well with Asbel at all, because he didn't like staying still, and he tried to say so.

Unfortunately, though he was a pretty good walker (and runner!), he wasn't too good at talking, yet. The jumble of syllables that came out of his mouth just served to make Frederic laugh, which just caused Asbel to puff out his cheeks in consternation.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, like longer than forever, his parents' door opened. Frederic stood up, scooping up Asbel around the waist and swinging him into the air, only for the big hands of Asbel's father to take him next. Asbel wasn't the biggest fan of being carried, and so he started squirming, but his father only laughed and held him close.

"Now, now, Asbel, you little rascal. Come here, and meet your little brother." That got Asbel to stop squirming.

His little what?

His Mommy and Daddy had been talking about something for a long time now – something called a "baby." And sometimes they would talk to Asbel about the "baby," and tell him that he was going to be a "big brother." Usually they would say this while patting Mommy's belly, which kept getting bigger and bigger, like one of his balls. But now he was apparently going to meet his "little brother," whatever that was – Asbel supposed it was like a "big brother," but . . . little.

Now if he could just figure out what a "brother" was.

"Asbel." His Mommy was in her bed, propped up against her pillows, just like she propped him up against his pillows when it was story time. She smiled at him as Daddy brought him over and set him down on the bed, but at the same time, Asbel thought she looked sleepy. Maybe it was time for her story time, and that was why they brought him in. He could pick out some good ones. "Here. Come say hi to your baby brother."

There was that word again. Brother. And this time it was paired with baby. Asbel's Daddy stood right behind him, hands hovering around him (Asbel hated when the grown-ups did that – he could walk on his own!), as he walked over to his Mommy to get a better look at the bundle in her arms. Said bundle was wrapped in a white blanket, and when Asbel leaned over to get a closer look (his Daddy's hands now loosely holding him by the waist so he didn't fall), he got a shock.

The thing in the bundle was looking at him. Bright blue eyes stared out from a wrinkled pink face, a tuft of blue hair – like Mommy's – resting on top. Asbel could only stare back. He couldn't even think of anything to try and say.

This was "little brother?"

Just as she always did when Asbel saw something he didn't quite understand, Mommy explained. "Asbel, this is your little brother, Hubert. Can you say 'hello' to Hubert?"

Asbel knew what his Mommy wanted him to say, but he was never very good at repeating what they wanted him to say, either. Instead, he stared at this bundle, this little red, wrinkled thing, his lips pressed tightly together. The little bundle with blue hair – his "little brother" – stared right back.

"Asbel?" his Mommy prompted. Not taking his eyes away from those blue ones, Asbel said:

"Li'l . . . brover."

His Mommy gasped, and for a moment, Asbel thought he did something wrong; he looked away from Little Brother and up at Mommy, just as she looked up at Daddy. "Oh, Aston—"

"Well, would you look at that." Daddy laughed and picked Asbel up again, spinning him around, and while Asbel didn't like being picked up (he could walk now!), he did like it when Daddy spun him around, just a little. "His first words. Looks like you were made to be a big brother, Asbel."

"Big brover" Asbel said, smiling, pleased that someone could finally understand what he was trying to say. His Daddy now securing him from around the waist, Asbel pointed over at the little bundle in Mommy's arms and declared, "Li'l brover."

"That's right, Asbel," Daddy said, and Daddy sounded so happy – so proud, and he was smiling all big and wide. Asbel beamed. "You're Hubert's big brother now. That means you have to look out for him – keep him safe. He's your responsibility, now."

"Re-son-bil-ty," Asbel tried, and Daddy laughed again, setting him back down on the bed.

"Close enough, son."

"Asbel, why don't you try giving Hubert a kiss?" Mommy shifted Little Brother so that he was closer to Asbel, and Asbel – his Daddy holding his waist again, just in case – bent down to plant a big kiss on Little Brother's forehead, just as he always did on Mommy's cheek at bed time.

"Good boy, Asbel," Mommy said, and Asbel smiled again as he looked down at Little Brother. He couldn't help it. For some reason, being a Big Brother – and having a Little Brother – made him feel really happy. And really, that made all of the staying still kind of worth it.