At 3 A.M., My Brother Dragged Me Out of My Bedroom While Dad Laughed—He Had No Idea What the Smoke Detector Had Recorded

The clock showed 9:09.

I knew it was 9:05.

I smiled.

Douglas would probably have corrected the clock eventually if he’d found the discrepancy embarrassing in front of a visitor.

Aaron might have used it as another example of my carelessness.

I no longer needed to guess what either of them would say.

The clock was mine.

If I wanted to fix it, I could.