28.

*lil something to get you through these next couple weeks because ~test~ day is soon*

"Drink."

"I'll pass," Hayes' face morphed into one of disgust. She couldn't even look at it.

"Wasn't asking."

"I've already taken my vitamins. I don't need this." Hayes slapped Glen with the back of her hand when she heard him snicker.

"Oh? Should I confirm that with Austin?" Colton questioned, his attention focused on making sandwiches.

"No," Her shoulders slouched. He should definitely not bring that excuse to Austin.

Colton sighed as he began to clean up the bread crumbs. "Sunshine, it's not going to kill you. It's just milk."

"It's nasty."

Fed up from making no progress, Colton abandoned the counter, dusting his hands off in the sink before marching right over to the young girl. He picked up the cup to put it in the sink, "Fine, no ice cream this weekend." No sweat off his back.

"But that's not fair!"

"Then drink the milk!"

"I'll drink the fricking milk," Francis mumbled as he walked into the kitchen. He grabbed the cup from Colton and chugged it all in one breath. "Happy now?" He slammed the cup back into Colton's empty hand and went on his merry way to the fridge.

Hayes watched her brother with wide eyes. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today and their name rhymed with Granny.

"No," Colton huffed at Francis' back, "That was for Hayes."

"Obviously she didn't want it," Francis rolled his eyes as he took out a water bottle.

"Obviously, she doesn't have a choice," Colton mocked, reaching past Francis' shoulder to grab the milk carton.

"Just drink the milk, HayHay," Glen added his two cents as he nudged her foot from his chair next to her. He was playing peace keeper this morning. The argument was nothing new. It occurred every morning since that darn doctor's visit, except it wasn't really an argument. Austin just let Hayes whine for a bit before putting his foot down.

But today, Colton had the unfortunate task of enforcing this which he was failing terribly at. Austin had an early meeting for work that he needed to be at so he was upstairs getting ready, swapping shower times with Hayes.

"Please Cole," Hayes begged, giving him a pouty face. It was a look she was beginning to master with her weaker link brothers. Austin still had strong resistance to it. Dakota, too, since he never did anything he didn't want to do.

A new freshly poured glass of milk was placed in front of Hayes. "Come on, Sunshine. It'd already be done by now if you didn't complain."

Hayes dramatically huffed, stubbornly keeping her arms folded. Milk be darned, she was not drinking it.

"I don't know why you guys keep trying. It's obvious that Sissy wants to look like a little girl for the rest of her life, with her little noddle arms." Francis was purposefully riling her up now.

"I do not have noddle arms," Hayes glared at him.

He chuckled, not at all intimidated by her, "Sure you don't, Sissy."

Before Hayes could stand up and show Francis just how noodly her arms were, a giant hand landed on the top of her head. She knew exactly who it was when they ran their fingers through her messy hair before gently tugging on her ponytail.

Hayes' lips clamped shut as the hand made its way to her chin, tilting her head upwards. Austin.

She couldn't help but sniff the air, his 'fresh-from-the shower' scent smelling good. A sheepish smile formed as she stared up at his bright blue eyes. "Hi."

"Don't 'hi' me, little girl." He said with a stern expression, contrasting the amusement seen in his eyes. His fingers tickled underneath her chin making her squirm. "Drink your milk."

Knowing the battle was lost now since Austin arrived, she gave one more dramatic sigh. "Fine," she dragged out, picking up the glass. Counting to three in her head, Hayes brought the glass to her lips and drank as fast as she could.

Snickers could be heard as she coughed a couple times afterwards. It wasn't the best technique, but it got the job done.

"Thank you, baby." Austin kissed the top of her head, "Next time don't give Cole such a hard time, yeah?"

"There won't be a next time," Colton half-grumbled, leaning his back against the counter.

Hayes grinned as Austin pulled her chair back from the table, indicating for her to get up. "Sorry, Colton," She said, jumping up to her feet.

"Apology accepted," Colton easily replied, already forgiving her hard-headedness. He opened his arms for Hayes' hug attack, knowing his little sister's plans before she acted on them. "Geez, you reek, Sunshine."

"I know," she laughed, tightening her arms around his waist. She'd never admit it, but she couldn't exactly remember if she put on deodorant before her and Austin went on their early morning run extravaganza.

Speaking of...

"Go shower, Sunshine. You leave in 20 minutes."

Hayes groaned, dropping her hands and turning around to give Austin a pout. "Do I have to go to school?"

"Yes." He didn't even miss a beat, continuing on his hunt for his second cup of coffee this morning.

"What's with the glare?" Colton knocked his knuckles gently against her head.

"Stop it," Hayes instantly scowled, scooting away from the child abuse. She hadn't even realized she'd been glaring a hole into Austin's back.

"Hayes, shower." Austin commanded for the second time, not even looking at her.

When she didn't respond, he glanced expectantly over his shoulder. "Hayes."

"I'm going, I'm going." Keeping the scowl on her face, Hayes obediently began her walk out of the kitchen. She knew better than to test Austin's patience any further. But before she made it two steps, she suddenly stopped and spun on her foot. Her eyes locked onto Francis as she ran over to him and jabbed him in the stomach. "That's for saying I have noodle arms," she sneered, feeling satisfied when he doubled-over. From pain or  from shock, didn't matter.

Colton covered his mouth in surprise as Glen burst out laughing, proud of his sister for sticking up for herself. "Nice one, Hayes!"

Austin, on the other hand, didn't look too thrilled as Hayes booked it out of the kitchen before she could get yelled at.

Knowing he had to choose his battles wisely, he let Hayes run off without consequence, for now, to hopefully go take a shower. "God give me strength for this day" was Austin's only comment before taking a sip from his coffee mug. Colton chuckled.

"Holy heck, she's a spiteful child," Francis finally bit out as he recovered from the sucker punch. Good thing he hadn't taken another sip of water otherwise it would have been spit right back out, all over the floor.

"You deserved that," Glen said, still crackling at his brother's misfortune. Unperturbed by the morning's events thus far, Glen continued on with eating his bowl of cereal. Fruity pebbles, God's gift to mankind.

Looking over the rim of his mug, Austin eyed his youngest brothers, cautiously curious about what Glen was going on about. He must have missed the main event that caused Hayes' retaliation. It wasn't like Francis to be the one to start something. Trouble was Dakota's lane.

But then again, it had been three weeks already.

Three weeks of Baker's absence, that is.

Which made it a little over two weeks since the blow out with Charlotte.

After everything that has happened... had there really been two weeks of, dare he say, normalcy?

Wow, he hadn't even realized. With everything going so well at school, work, sports, and the home front, the Powers siblings were due for some chaos.

Austin could only pray it was just a little chaos this go-around. He really hoped he didn't just jinx their luck.

Austin didn't blame Francis for the mood swing, in fact it was right about this time that he began to subtly change during Baker's extended leave. By now, the brothers had no problems picking up on Francis' regressing clingy behavior as the voice of doubt creeped into his teenage mind. The tiniest feeling of abandonment still hanging around from his baby days.

It was hard to deny the fact that they were pretty much abandoned to take care of themselves at a young age.

But the three eldest siblings worked hard to rid that word from all their thoughts, making sure everyone had enough love and affection to last many lifetimes, but sometimes, the devil reared his ugly head.

Only this time there was a little snappiness, perhaps because of the youngest siblings' return? Austin frowned. Why was he building up defensive walls against the kids? Francis absolutely loved having his little brother and sister reunited with them so it was definitely displaced attitude.

Bottom line, Austin had some investigating to do.

As Austin sorted through his musings, he glanced over to Colton to see him watching Francis as well, with his own brows furrowed in thought. Glen's eyes darted back and forth between the three brothers in an inquisitive nature as he spooned some more cereal into his mouth. Mornings in their household was better than television.

"You doing okay, Fran?" Austin asked, watching as Francis sat down after picking a red delicious apple to munch on. Always the first one ready to go, the apple was his healthy post-breakfast snack as he waited for his lackadaisical siblings to get ready for school. But also, the teen's stomach was an endless pit.

"I'm fine," He mumbled, his gaze remaining on the table. His index finger traced the random cracks and ink marks on the table, battle scars from years of dealing with rowdy boys.

Dissatisfied with his answer, Austin kept his gaze locked on his brother for a couple more seconds. He needed to free up some time to spend with Francis, one on one, pronto.

They were past due to take their monthly visit to the turtle rehabilitation center, anyways. Austin didn't even remember when Francis' love for turtles first started but it was a special activity they enjoyed doing together. Gave them some sacred bonding time, especially now with two more kids thrown in the mix.

"Oh shit, I need to leave." Quickly catching the time on the kitchen clock, he finished up the rest of his coffee. Austin deposited the mug in the sink before walking over to Francis. He squeezed his shoulder and kissed his head. "Have a good day at school. Don't forget your lunch on the counter. I love you, Franny boy."

It barely qualified as a whisper but Austin still heard his response, "Love you, too."

Austin made his way around the table to his youngest brother. "And you, Smiley, stay out of trouble." Clasping one hand on his shoulder, he bent down to kiss Glen's head as well. "Don't forget to actually wear your glasses at school, alright? I didn't pay all that money for you to still complain about headaches."

Glen cheesed real wide, appearing very innocent. "I won't forget." At Austin's continued stern look, Glen added with a slight whine, "I won't, Austin. I swear."

"You better not, or Colton has the right to run you nonstop at practice" Austin threatened before ruffling his brother's shaggy hair. He was already due for another haircut. "Love you, Bud."

"Love you too, Austin." Glen groaned, trying to fix the mess that Austin created.

Colton followed Austin out of the kitchen to the stairs where both brothers paused. Neither heard the shower running, letting Austin know Hayes was still not in the shower. That girl was a piece of work sometimes.

"Kota, Sunshine, I'm leaving," Austin hollered up the stairs. He never liked leaving the house without saying goodbye if he could help it. It was only once in a blue moon that he even left without someone accompanying him.

Within seconds, Hayes came flying down the stairs, still half-dressed in her running gear; a sports bra and compression shorts remained. At least she was in the process of getting ready to take a shower. Baby steps.

"What did I tell you about running in the house," Austin grunted, watching his daredevil sister leap off the 4th step into his awaiting arms. He caught her with no problem, her feet dangling in the air as Austin supported her weight with an arm around her waist.

"I love you, Austin," She replied instead, hugging him tight around the neck.

"And I love you. Please take a shower before you make everyone late to school." he kissed the side of her head twice before letting her feet touch back onto the stairs again.

"Yes sir," she smiled a toothy grin at him, one hand on the railing as she turned slightly to go back upstairs. He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"Now," Austin added, giving her a light swat on the butt to get moving.

"Sir, yes, sir," she called as she scampered back up the stairs, "Bye Austin!" She narrowly missed running into Dakota who casually leant against the wall at the top of the stairs.

"Watch it, smelly rat," Dakota teased, nudging her with his elbow as she passed. "Put some fucking clothes on, will ya? It's rude walking around naked. There's other people who live here, you know."

Only Dakota, the hypocrite, could hear whatever her snarky response was, making him bark out a laugh as she shut the bathroom door behind her. It was the running joke between all the siblings, since the majority of the brothers had long given up the appearance of dressing 'appropriately.' Many of times, they liked to hang around in their boxers or seemed to lack their shirts, Francis, especially in the mornings.

Boxers and hoodies were the current trend.

Used to sharing closed quarters with Glen, it didn't bother Hayes in the slightest.

"You sure you're okay with Peyton bringing you to work?" Austin called up to Dakota. Since the meeting was earlier than his normal arrival time, Austin wasn't able to drop Dakota off like usual. He couldn't help his hovering parental nature because of the change in their routine.

"I said yes for the 50th time, Jesus," Dakota rolled his eyes at Austin's persistent concern. "She'll be here in 30 minutes."

"Alright, alright," Austin relented, raising his hands up, "Be safe at work, love you."

Dakota didn't verbally reply, but a slight wave goodbye of his hand relayed the same words. Love you too, Austin.

————

Hayes chewed on her bottom lip, lost in thought as her Italian teacher droned on and on about... something. Hayes honestly had no clue, for she was too busy going back and forth in her head trying to decide if it was safe to approach Francis after class or not. She had continued to keep her distance from him since the morning's breakfast incident but she needed to ask him a question.

A serious question.

About their dad.

Ouch. Hayes winced as she could taste blood, accidently biting down too hard. Sighing softly, Hayes switched to fiddling with a pen between her fingers. Her eyes flickered to Francis, where he was hunched over his own book, supposedly doing work. She stifled a laugh with her fist as she realized he was doing his math homework, in Italian class. The same math homework he told Austin he had finished last night so he could keep playing video games with Emerson.

Emerson had returned back to college after a weeks' vacation at home, all cleared from his concussion. Hayes missed him, but she routinely hopped in on his nightly facetime calls with Austin. Wasn't exactly the same, but it was better than nothing.

The bell rang, causing Francis to jolt his head up in surprise. Hayes watched as he glanced directly at her, catching her staring. She offered him a grin which he ignored, closing his notebook and packing up his bag.

How rude.

Frowning, Hayes packed up her own stuff and slung her backpack over her shoulder. Well if he wanted to be like that, then she'd ask someone else. Francis wasn't the only brother at the school she could go to for her question.

Hayes followed the flow of classmates ahead of her out the door. Francis had already exited so she was surprised to see him still hanging around the corridor. They normally walked to the cafeteria together but since he was still in a foul mood, she hadn't expected him to wait. Seemed like his soft spot for Hayes hadn't totally vanished.

Although kind of him, it didn't even matter because she turned in the opposite way to head towards Colton's classroom.

"Hey, where are you going?"

Hayes purposely ignored his voice, continuing on her way. If he thought she was going to forgive him for being a butthead just a second ago, he had another thing coming.

"Hayes, seriously, stop." Francis grabbed her backpack to halt her. The swarms of students sidestepped the two siblings, all in a hurry to get to lunch. She was hungry as well, but her own stomach growling couldn't dissuade her from her mission.

"What?" Hayes questioned, spinning around to look at him. She plastered an annoyed expression on her face.

"Where are you going?" he let go of her bag, running his hand through his hair before crossing his arms over his chest.

Feeling stupidly brave, she sassed him, "why do you care?"

"The cafeteria is this way."

Hayes shrugged, "so?"

"What is your problem?" Francis flung his hands in the air, his voice rising a smudge. But it was enough that Hayes took a step back out of instinct. She gripped her backpack straps to hide the tremor that ran through her but she couldn't hide the fright that crossed her face.

Francis didn't miss the fear in her eyes and instantly felt gutted. He pinched his eyes shut and took a deep inhale to calm down. This wasn't him. "Sorry," he breathed out, pulling at the rubber band on his wrist, "I'm sorry, Sissy. I'm just having a bad day."

"It's okay," Hayes quietly replied, shuffling her foot on the floor. She kept her eyes down, watching the uniformed brown shoes with various colored socks pass by her. Socks were the only opportunity to show off their unique character in school, every other clothing being the same. Thank you, Catholic school.

Rubbing his forehead with his palm, Francis opened his eyes again. "I didn't mean what I said this morning," he continued, "about the 'noodle arms' thing. You left a bruise, by the way." He clutched his stomach, feeling a twang of pain just thinking about it.

Hayes twisted her lips to the side, hiding her grin, "good."

"Good?" Francis gasped, his usual goofy self slowly returning, "You're a little devil, Sissy," He suddenly wrapped his arms around her in an obnoxious bear hug.

"Get off of me," her complaint was muffled by his shirt.

"What was that? You want more love?" Francis joked, squeezing her tighter. "What Sissy wants, Sissy gets." He swayed them back and forth a couple times before Hayes managed to find her footing. It just so happened to be with her foot landing on top of his.

On purpose? Nah.

"Ow," Francis immediately dropped his hold and bounced on one leg.

"You were saying?" Hayes said, laughing at her brother's antics. It was very hard for her to hold a grudge against him.

"I was saying," Francis cleared his throat to regain whatever dignity he had left, "that I'm freaking starving and you're walking in the wrong direction." He went to grab her shoulder but she took a step back out of his reach.

"No, I'm not." Hayes denied, pointing her thumb behind her, "Colton's classroom is that way."

"Why are you going there?" Francis asked, confusion written on his face. His head tilted to the side, looking like a puppy dog.

"I want to ask him a question." Hayes replied, turning around to continue walking.

"What do you have to ask him?" Francis, the nosy-body, stepped in line with her. He wasn't about to let her off the hook that easily. "Why don't you ask me?"

Hayes shot him a look of disbelief. Really?

"Fine, I know. I wasn't being nice. But I said I was sorry!" Francis conceded, "What are you going to ask him?"

They walked out the double doors, their hands coming up to protect their eyes, squinting against the bright sun. Colton's classroom was in a different building which Hayes had a vague idea of how to get to.

"Wrong way."

Or not.

She walked across the patch of grass to meet up with Francis, walking in the correct direction once again. It's been a month now, she really needed to explore the school grounds more.

"Sissy."

"Hmm?"

"Why are we going to see Colton?" Francis reminded her of his lingering question.

"I wanted to ask him a question." she answered, knowing she was getting on his nerves now.

Ha, pay back.

Francis groaned dramatically making her laugh again.

"We have to do a project in religion class about our family tree," Hayes finally gave in, thanking Francis as he held the door open for her to enter the next building. She waited for him to take the lead, accepting that she had no clue which classroom door belonged to Cole and his gremlins.

"Oh," Francis mumbled, remembering the exact project she was talking about. He also had to complete it, once upon a time.

"I just wanted to ask a couple questions about dad."

"Oh," Francis repeated, not having much else to say.

Hayes frowned when Francis didn't add anything more. They stopped at a sports-themed decorated door that held some familiarity to the girl. Francis took the initiative and knocked a couple times. School policy kept all the classroom doors locked at all times to keep intruders out, including wandering siblings.

"Hi Francis, may I help you?" A lady opened the door, keeping it propped open with the heel of her foot. They could hear the excited chitter-chatter coming from inside the classroom.

Taken off guard, Hayes stumbled back to partially hide behind Francis. She wasn't Colton. Did they knock on the wrong door?

"Hey Ms. Miller, where's Colton?" Francis sounded just as confused as Hayes felt.

The brother and sister watched as Ms. Miller looked very unsure on how to answer. "He's not here. He left about an hour ago."

What?

"Did he say why?" Francis asked, his hand already digging into his pocket for his phone.

"Family emergency," Ms. Miller responded awkwardly, knowing that some members of said family stood in front of her. "I'm sorry Francis, I don't know more than that."

"That's alright, thanks Ms. Miller," Francis gave a half smile before gripping Hayes' forearm as he turned to walk away. He quickly unlocked his phone with one hand, immediately going straight to his contacts.

"Francis," Hayes was practically jogging to keep up with his long strides, "what was she talking about?" She could feel the worry seep into her bones. The panic already hitting her in full blast. "Why did Colton leave without us? Did Baker get hurt? What's going to happen to us? We need to find Glen!"

"Come on, pick up, pick up, damnit," Francis muttered to himself. He knew he should have just stayed in bed today. His anxiety was high from the moment he woke up.

They barged through the doors, stepping outside once again. The sun had no mercy on them.

"Fran-" Hayes stopped when she heard he phone clicked. Someone answered the call.

"Francis."

Francis halted his steps, causing Hayes to be jerked back into his side. His grip around her wrist unconsciously tightened from his own nerves.

"What the hell is going on, Austin?"

~~~~~~~~~~~

(ignore, 53)