I knew this wasn't the first time he had been left alone, and probably wouldn't be his last. His role was becoming solidified. Soon, to anyone on the outside, all would appear well. All three of these children have been abandoned. The chances are very high that they will suffer as adults, in some way, because of abandonment trauma.
Children can be, and are, extraordinarily creative in their coping mechanisms.
Even at seven or eight, they can take on the roles of an adult, in order to fill what is missing in the family. They can play the roles of Little Daddy, Little Mommy, Rescuer, Scapegoat, or any number of other roles, until they become the role, losing their sense of identity in the process. These young children become pseudo-adults, always calculating their next move, trying to control the hostile adult world that they are saddled with. It is the voice of experience. It is the voice of a child who's been there, and survived against impossible odds.