To the rescue!

My boys are brawlers. They seem to thoroughly enjoy beating the crap out of each other. As a first time mom who was blessed with two little boys, I have to admit I was quite horrified at how rough they can be. Imagine my surprise when they showed me a different side of their relationship...
A couple of weeks ago, I was attempting to clip Tommy's fingernails - an act of sheer torture for him. He was kicking, screaming, twisting, crying, and generally making it impossible for me to make any progress. Upon looking up, I spied Michael peeking his head around the corner of the couch and staring at me with a look of great concern on his face. It was clear he wanted to know exactly what I was doing to his brother. In the most soothing voice I could muster (somewhat spoiled by Tommy's continued and loud attempt at escape) I said, "Tommy's okay sweetheart. Momma is just trying to clip his nails. Don't worry, everything is okay." Naively, I assumed this satisfied him. I assumed wrong. In about two seconds flat, Michael had crossed the room to plant himself in front of me, fix me with a wicked glare, and slap me right across the face! I could almost hear "Leave my brother alone!" I was in such shock that I just froze in place. Tommy took advantage of my distraction and both boys took off running to their room. I know firm discipline should have been my course of action, but I was oddly touched by the whole thing so I decided to laugh instead.
In hindsight, I should have seen this coming. Yesterday, I got a call from the sitter who has a son the same age as my boys. They were all three playing together when her son started ramming a toy shopping cart into Tommy over and over again. Tommy started to cry. And Michael decided to slap the little boy across the face. Apparently, Michael is trying to send a message - nobody gets to hit my brother but me!
Jerry Springer, here we come.... ;)