Building Baby Brother (continued)

“If I ask him,” Josh went on, “he always tells me what it means.” He frowned. “Sometimes I still don’t understand.”

I nodded and gave him an sympathetic smile..

“That’s okay,” I told him. “Sometimes I don’t understand him either.”

I shifted over so that I now sat next to him on the floor.

“I guess you could say that he’s growing up.”

Josh turned and stared at Gavin’s currently silent form. I could see him trying to process this.

“But he can’t, can he?”

“Not really.” I shook my head. “Oh, I can build him a bigger body from time to time,” I said, “but that’s just a container for him. It’s not like when you outgrow your pants all the time.”

Josh giggled. I could not hold back my own smile. It was just what I needed.

“So how does Gavin grow up?” His eyes sparkled with curiosity.

I sighed.

I wasn’t sure I could explain it in terms that Josh might understand. To be honest, I wasn’t certain that I understood it.

“By learning more,” I said. “And by using what he’s learned to understand how other things work—bigger things.”

“Bigger things?”

Josh’s expression told me that he didn’t understand.

I thought for a moment.

“It’s kind of like understanding how to build a birdhouse, like we did last year, can help you learn how to build a real house.”

Josh nodded his understanding.

Whew. That was almost too easy.

Josh studied me for a moment.

“That’s not what you wanted to tell me.”

I looked away, unable for a moment to meet his eyes.

“When you grow up and get really smart,” I said, trying to figure this out as I went along. “What are you going to do?”

“Make lots of money?”

It was a half-question. I could tell he was confused by the strange path this conversation was taking.

I laughed softly. “Before that . . .”

“Oh,” Josh said brightly, understanding now. “Go to college.”

“Yes,” I nodded. More quietly, I added, “Some children leave home to go to college.”

He squinted at me with vague suspicion.

“Is Gavin going away to college?”

I could not help but laugh, more at his expression than his declaration. I took a breath, becoming serious once more.

“Yes,” I said. “And no.”

Josh looked at me in puzzlement.

“He’s a bit young.”

“Josh, his body will always look like whatever we build it to be.”

By the look on Josh’s face, I could tell that he didn’t completely understand. I took another breath and looked at the bedroom window at the cloudy sky outside.

“Gavin learns a lot faster than we do,” I tried to explain. “His mind keeps growing,” I went on. “He’s probably learned more in the last few minutes than either of us could learn in a month.”

“Because he’s really a computer,” Josh said.

“That’s right,” I replied, nodding.