"There are a lot of us, was hard to keep us in the house." Five rambunctious children with far too much energy were hard to entertain indoors. "My mother and Mrs. Potts are friends. The twelve of us were all nestled in between each other. My oldest brother between the two oldest Potts girls, some overlap down the other end. I went to school with both Thistle and Zinnia. Wally and Dahlia were in the same year and then of course Calla and Sloane." He shrugged. It made sense to him, even though the oldest set had already started Hogwarts and didn't quite run around like the younger half, it had been a lot of fun. Chaotic, but fun. Throwing them all together to try and figure out how to entertain themselves.

"I think it was easier for them to just toss us all in the garden and hope nobody got hurt. Lots of pickup quidditch games, racing, tag." He laughed, imagining it now, the clear vision of them trying to maneuver his father's old brooms around the large garden, avoiding the trees and the pond. Or falling into the pond on purpose. "After Sawyer passed I think my mom loosened up a little bit, gave us a little more freedom, especially here." He'd been almost ten at the time, and he remembered it vividly. Losing a child in infancy was far different than losing Sloane, but no less tragic. Alvin often wondered what life would have been like if Sawyer had been around to grow up with Sloane, but it was hard to imagine a person who was still an infant in his mind. Add in almost losing Wally and Fiona Bixby astounded him every day with her resilience.