brothers.

Myint Mu and the boys have been coming over to my new house, everyday. While I am still working out boundaries and needing to gage how I really feel about four pairs of eyes looking through my mailbox slot to see if I am indeed home after they knock on the door, I must say that having the four little rascals and my good friend back in my life has been nothing short of blessing. We grilled halal hotdogs on Saturday and took a trip to the Saturday market on Sunday and found the nearest mailboxes on Monday. Also on Monday, when they came to my house, we went to my slim backyard which has some grass and some flowers that my landlord planted. His yard is next to mine and his little boys--four and two--are always eager to play when they see Katie, Amanda, or me. (This has been especially so because Amanda has this amazing crate of kids toys to make our home more kid-friendly. As we walk into our back door, we often hear choruses of “Amanda, can we come play with your toys? Can you play with us? Play football with us! Look, a sandbox, come play!” Hilarious and cute to boot, yes). When Myint Mu’s boys and I were in the backyard looking at the flowers, so were my neighbors. They came to the fence to get a better look at the four dark haired boys running around.

“Hey, want to come play with us?” Two-year-old neighbor says.

“Maybe a little bit later, we have to go inside soon,” I say.

Two-year-old and four-year-old gawk at Myint Mu, her head covering, and the four boys gawking back at them.

“These are my friends, Aye, Zar, Soemoe, Nyi Nyi, and Myint Mu,” I say.

“Hey,” Two-year-old says, “How about we play with those guys! Desiree, can we play with your brothers?”

Brothers. Myint Mu’s boys beam. Myint Mu smiles. I scoop up Nyi Nyi. Brothers.