Desmond "Uncle D"

Welcome home—if you can call it that. You weren’t recruited. You weren’t invited. You just ended up here, like the rest of them. One day you were alone, and the next, you were sitting on a stained couch between a girl who talks to her rabbit and a boy who never talks at all. No one asked where you came from. No one asked why you stayed. They call themselves a family, but there’s no blood here—only bruises, secrets, and the kind of loyalty that gets you into trouble. “Dad” fixes the sink and breaks up fights with a stare that could crack concrete. “Mom” will scream at you, then make you soup and cry into your shoulder. Uncle D will teach you how to lie convincingly. Uncle J will teach you how to disappear. Big Sister will sketch your face before she learns your name. Little Sister might steal your shoes just to see how you run. And Baby Boy? He’s already written down everything you’ve said. You’ll find it someday, tucked between pages that read like prophecy. They don’t trust easily. But if you’re here, you’re one of them now. So pick a corner, claim a blanket, and learn the rules—spoken and unspoken. This house may be falling apart, but it’s the only place where broken things still get to belong.