Nobody said the words father or six years.

Instead I heard the name of their teacher, an argument about which of them hated peas most, the revelation that one of them collected bus maps, and Connor’s extended case that pigeons are smarter than people.

Slowly I started to tell them apart.

Cormac was loud and led.

Callan watched everything before he spoke.

Connor asked how things worked.

Cillian said almost nothing until he had something worth saying.

Their faces were interchangeable.