42.

Sense of Impending Doom

"When you feel as though something extremely bad is going to happen. You may also feel as though your world is coming to an end."

--Urban Dictionary

————

"Hi Mr. Turtle. You're not who I called."

Hayes lowered the green stuffed animal from blocking the camera on her phone, revealing not only herself but also displaying Emerson's familiar, comforting, smiling face on the screen.

"Oh hey Sunshine, fancy seeing you here."

"Hi Emerson," Hayes replied, laying her chin on top of the stuffy's head. She had it squished between her chest and her knees and her phone was propped on the bookshelf so her hands were free to wrap around her legs.

Hayes was sitting on the floor, where she'd been since she had arrived home with some of her siblings from the bowling alley only maybe ten minutes prior. Only some, because the absentees were on a dinner run for the family. Hayes overheard votes for BBQ, but didn't pay attention to what they ultimately decided.

Once Austin unlocked the front door, they all dispersed to do their own things. Austin went into the den, Glen said he was taking a shower, Francis turned on the television in the family room, and Hayes collapsed on her bed before rolling onto the floor in the far corner of the bedroom.

Her back was resting against the bed as she was tucked away in the narrow space bordered by the wall, bed, and Colton's bookshelf. The tight space provided a sense of security that she and Glen used to seek out when they lived with the Bear. There were many nights where the two of them huddled together on the floor, trying to keep quiet and make it through the night.

But that was then.

Right now she'd been skimming the shelves full of various book genres, deciding which one was worthy enough to read. It was a distraction to the uneasiness she couldn't shake.

It was either find a book to distract her mind or keep dwelling about her suspicion that her brothers were possibly keeping a secret from her. She didn't have any besides her gut to back her up about this idea though.

Stop, Hayes.

They promised no secrets between them. She was just being hypervigilant and was making things up because that's what kids do. But she knew Glen better than she knew herself and vice versa. It was like he was trying to hide that something was bothering him.

He was acting weird.

But she trusted Glen to the fullest.

He'd tell her when he thought it was time, if there was something to even tell.

That was when her phone rang, scaring the bejeezus out of her, only to bring a pure smile to her face when she saw who was facetiming her.

Sonny, Sr.

And she, of course, was Sunny, Jr.

Emerson had updated his contact name in her phone when he had last visited for her birthday, along with choosing the most obnoxious ring tone possible - the classic 'old phone' tone.

"What's up, Buttercup? How was bowling?"

Her lips twisted to the side, revealing her true thoughts on how bowling was. Hayes shrugged. "It happened."

Emerson laughed at her obvious distaste. "Give me something better than that. It couldn't have been that bad."

"Oh, it was," Hayes replied factually. Embarrassingly bad for the girl with all her gutter balls.

"Why was that?" He asked curiously. Having been away for the weekend at a fall pre-season baseball tournament with his college team, which was the reason why he couldn't be at home with the rest of them to celebrate Glen's birthday, Emerson hadn't been on his phone very much until now. He still had Francis' many text messages to scroll through but decided to call his favorite little sister first when he had finally gotten back home to his apartment.

"Because I sucked. I hate bowling."

"Naaaaah," Emerson shook his head in disbelief, his shaggy unkempt hair flying everywhere. "No one could be worse than Colton."

Hayes raised her hand halfway up towards the sky, her index finger pointing at herself. "That would be me."

Emerson chuckled, "Well, at least you weren't the first loser then. Who won? My money is on Kota."

"Dakota only played in the second game. But Austin won the first game and I think Peyton won the second one. But it was really close."

"Huh, guess he was going easy on y'all."

"Who was going easy? Dakota?" she cocked her head to the side. "Why do you say that? Peyton was really good, too."

For Hayes to complement her sister-in-law, meant that Peyton must have really been a stand-out.

"Oh I'm sure she's a freaking beast. But Austin and Dakota are basically professionals."

"What? Really?" her voice held amazement.

"Welllll, it may be a teensy bit of an exaggeration but you get the point." Emerson pinched his thumb and pointer finger together, squinting his eyes for exaggeration. His picture happened to freeze like that, as a connection warning appeared on the screen.

Hayes snickered to herself as she waited for the internet to work. It wasn't a flattering view of her brother. Fortunately for him, the internet recovered quickly and she could see him moving normally on the screen.

"Did you hear me?" Emerson asked, when the girl didn't respond.

"Yeah. I'm the exact opposite of a professional," Hayes sighed, dramatically dropping her head back against the bed and staring up at the ceiling. "I'm a noob." She picked her head back up, curious now. "Why are they so good?"

Emerson clicked his tongue, suddenly a whole lot uncomfortable. "Ah, that may be a story for a different time."

"What? No, tell me," Hayes digged, wanting the scoop. She was officially distracted from her own thoughts, she certainly wasn't going to stop the line of questioning right when it was getting to the good part.

"How'd Smiley do?" Emerson wasn't so subtle.

"Emerson!" Hayes whined, "Tell me!"

"Hayes!" Emerson mocked, "I said no." His reply was curt.

Hayes paused, not used to this side of Emerson, not used to him even calling her by her actual name. "I'm hungry, I think I'm gonna go," she muttered, shrinking back into herself.

Emerson' face instantly dropped to sadness, "No, come on Sunshine, don't be like that. I'm sorry. It's just... you should ask Austin or Dakota instead. You know?"

No, she didn't know. Because Hayes never questioned her brothers about anything remotely serious about themselves. This just proved to her she was better off just asking Glen for answers. He was used to being her mouthpiece anyways.

Emerson chewed on his bottom lip, trying to erase the awkwardness. He shouldn't have brought it up at all, majorly regretting his decision as he watched Hayes pick at the left googly eyeball of the turtle, obvious discomfort radiating off of her.

The thing was, his intuition was telling him she wasn't downhearted simply because of his sudden rebuke. Yes, his little sister was sensitive, very sensitive, but lately she'd been doing much better at toughening it out. She usually she didn't lay off her curiosity so quickly.

Now he found himself really scrutinizing his sister as she continued to avoid his gaze. "You okay, Sunshine?"

She lifted her head up a little bit to glance at him, confused by his concern. "Yeah...?"

"You'd tell me if you weren't, right?"

"Why is everyone always saying that? I'm fine. Just tired," Hayes reiterated with a yawn, fleeting annoyance heard in her tone.

She glanced back down at the turtle, flapping its front legs. The turtle was a newly acquired stuffed animal curtesy of Baker. He had recognized the signs in his sister of self-destruction from boredom because she had nothing to do but watch the second game of bowling, and took it upon himself to entertain her. Hayes immediately took up his offer for another round of Dance Battle which somehow, included a pitstop at the claw machine.

The brother was whipped.

Hayes gave Baker the biggest hug when he won the turtle for her, making it all worth it considering Baker ignored rule number two that Austin had implemented for the arcade. The eldest brothers worked hard to have a consistent front for their siblings, not allowing them to be played against each other.

Given the unexpected circumstances, Austin let it slide this time.

The turtle was absolutely adorable, about two times the size of Hayes' face, complete with the funky smell it carried and it only cost him $5. A huge improvement since last time they tried the game.

After lengthy contemplation, Hayes named it Speedster, Speedy for short.

"Tired already? It's only 5 pm." Emerson teased, happy to find something else to focus on. Bedtime always got a rise out of the girl for some reason. "Guess someone's going to bed early tonight."

"I didn't say that," Hayes disagreed, shaking her head.

"Oh, my bad. But I heard you have a big day at school tomorrow. Don't you need all the sleep you can get?"

"I do?" Hayes questioned, wrinkling her nose. Unaware of this news, she wracked her brain, thinking of what he could possibly be talking about but came up blank. She had a history project that was due sometime next week but she wasn't worried about that. Colton had said he'd help her with it, such a nerd her brother was. She did have a basketball game but that wasn't anything special. The sports season has been going on for a couple weeks now.

"You have a game tomorrow? Against the reigning division 2A champs? Ring a bell?" Emerson led rhetorically, his eyes widening at her apparent lack of knowledge on the subject. Why was he more fired up about this than she was?

"Oh, well yeah. I know I have a game tomorrow. So does Glen." Hayes still didn't understand the hooha, as evident by the lack of enthusiasm heard in her voice.

Emerson smacked himself in the forehead. "You don't realize that this is a big deal, do you?"

"It's just a game," Hayes responded with a shrug. She'd try her best, just like she always did, wanting to make Austin proud of her.

"Just a game?" Emerson repeated, sliding his fingers into his hair and lacing them together. Yeah, she definitely didn't get the hype.

"Is it not just a game?" Hayes wasn't following. She watched her brother take a deep breath as he seemingly remembered who he was talking to. The girl didn't care if they won or lost, she was simply happy to be able to play on the team.

The bigger the smiler she had on her face while playing, the more competitive she became. It was actually pretty funny to watch because her opponents just became more visibly mad when Hayes would run circles around them.

"No," Emerson breathed, dropping his hands to his lap. His trademark grin reappeared, easing the tension. "It's just a game. You're right. You gonna kick ass tomorrow?"

"Duhhhh." Hayes sassed, complete with an exaggerated eyeroll to make him laugh.

"That's my sister," Emerson grinned. He flexed his arms up one at a time, his fists next to his ear in a show of his well-defined biceps. "Have them meet Lightning and Thunder, right? Pew pew. The beach is that way." He pointed to his left.

Hayes bit down on her lip as she tilted her head down, muffling her laughter against the turtle's head. Her shaking shoulders gave away her tittering.

"What's so funny?"

Hayes bumped the back of her head against the bed as she jumped from the unexpected intrusion. Her hand reached back, rubbing the soreness away, as she tried to look behind her to see who was there.

"Hey, Austin!" Even though he couldn't see him in the phone view yet, Emerson recognized his eldest brother's voice anywhere.

"Hey, Sonny," Austin replied as he walked into Hayes' bedroom. He had heard voices coming from her room as he climbed the stairs, but when he peeked in and couldn't see his sister at first, he had a mini heart attack. The way she was crouched on the floor kept her out of view from the doorway.

But Austin's heart was beating normally again as he casually laid down on the bed, his legs hanging off the end because he was so tall. He gently knocked Hayes' hand out of the way before removing the ponytail holder and sliding it onto his wrist, freeing her blond hair into messy waves down her back. His hand replaced where hers was, rubbing the tender spot she hit. "Sorry, baby," he apologized.

"It's okay," Hayes automatically responded. Her lips twitched upwards when she felt Austin kiss the top of her head, muttering another apology.

Austin was also dealing with guilt because of the relief he felt from hearing Hayes' giggles, knowing that he held knowledge that would quite possibly crush her spirit. Guilt because Hayes' heart and mind had been through so much and now he had to push her some more. The resilience that Glen showed at the bowling alley truly represented who the boy was, and although he hoped Hayes would respond in the same nature, Austin knew the two kids were as different as they were similar.

Francis and Emerson still didn't know about the Bear either, but Colton was being filled in right this very second. That's why he and Dakota went in Baker's car, to separate from the kids. Dakota was more or less forced to go with Baker because Austin didn't want to risk Dakota accidently blurting it out with his eruptive nature.

Was this the best idea?

Hard to say.

But it wasn't like there was a handbook out there somewhere, a 'how-to' guide about how to tell your little sister that her grandfather committed suicide in prison, after she begged him, pleaded with him to help the Bear.

To be honest, though, even if there was such a book, he wouldn't read it anyways.

The kids were an enigma, and there was no correct way to raise them besides the part about giving lots of love and boundaries and structure.

Everything else was from winging it and look, his brothers didn't turn out so bad.

Francis was still questionable.

Emerson, oblivious to Austin's too-early, lost count of the number, mid-life crisis, watched his two siblings banter. He quickly smothered the little bit of jealously he felt at seeing Austin interact with Hayes so effortlessly, their bond unbreakable. He knew he should be thankful to even have a relationship with his sister, because just a couple months ago, their baby siblings weren't even here.

Emerson sighed, catching himself. He knew he was exhausted from the weekend, and that's when his emotions went a bit manic. He was also feeling a bit homesick, per the usual when talking with any of his family. It sucked greatly that the next time he'll be home wasn't until Thanksgiving.

He was counting down the days on the calendar.

"How did the tournament go?" Austin asked, breaking Emerson's inner dialogue.

"It was good," Emerson replied, eagerly jumping into story-teller mode. "We won all four games, so coach was actually happy. I even caught him smiling at one point. The last game was basically batting practice for us which was fun for us, but not so much the other team. You know? But then coach benched most of us to let the freshies play so I didn't feel as bad because they haven't played much against college pitchers but whooo, Austin. These freshies have hot bats. Remember that one kid I was telling you about, Macaroni? He smacked the ball so far he set off a car alarm..."

Austin hummed, actively listening to his brother retell all about his weekend as he mindlessly gathered all of Hayes' hair into his hand. His fingers instinctually began braiding her hair, a little slow at first as he hadn't done this in many years. He could feel Hayes' shoulders become more relaxed as he played with her hair.

Hayes kept quiet, much rather preferring listening to her brothers converse than have to actually take part. Their voices were calming and would have lulled the girl to sleep if it wasn't for Austin finding knots in her hair every now and then, making her wince.

"Ow," Hayes tried to pull away after a particularly stubborn knot.

Austin held her still, pressing a chaste kiss randomly on the back of her head. "Next time, I'll find the elusive hairbrush first," he poked fun at her, "get some of these tangles out."

"I brush my hair every day," Hayes grumbled. She wrongfully thought these hairbrush jokes would have stopped by now. Her mistake.

"Yeah but do you do 100 brushes before you go to bed?" Emerson asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Heck no," Hayes almost shook her head no before remembering Austin had a strong grip on her hair. That would have hurt.

Emerson swept his relatively long hair off his face. "Maybe you should try it. Silky smooth over here."

Hayes snorted. Sometimes she wondered if Emerson was supposed to be the sister in the family.

"Next time you come home, Francis is chopping your hair off," Hayes informed her brother with a wicked glint in her eyes. Her sportive mood was returning.

Emerson gasped, "He wouldn't dare."

Hayes shrugged with a smirk, "Can't say I didn't warn you."

Austin finished up the braid, using the hairband to secure it. He gave her hair a quick tug before dropping the braid against her back, admiring his handiwork. Not bad for being out of practice. "Getting cheeky, huh?"

Hayes turned around to pull an ugly face at Austin. Her, cheeky? never.

He laughed, "Ferocious, Sunshine."

"Ferocious as a puppy," Emerson snickered, earning himself Hayes' death glare. "Oooh, I'm so scared."

Hayes stuck her tongue out at him before tossing the turtle aside on the floor. She was done with talking to Emerson.

Hayes got on her knees before scrambling to her feet and on to the bed where she forcefully snuggled into Austin's side. She briefly sat back up and grabbed one of the fleece blankets that Austin wasn't laying on top of. Hayes wrapped it around herself before flopping back down. Austin let out a gasp of air in surprise when she landed right on top of him as dead weight, squirming until she found a comfortable position. She was using his broad back as her pillow.

"Alright," Austin said, seeing that Hayes was now done with the conversation. "Dinner should be here any second, so we're gonna go set the table. Okay Sonny?"

Emerson nodded, "I should probably eat too. I think Drew was making pizza or something."

"Sounds healthy," Austin chuckled. "Tell Drew I say hello."

"Will do," Emerson said, before turning to look at his bedroom door. "Drew, Austin says Hi!"

"Hey dude!" came the shout back.

Austin rolled his eyes at his brother's predictable action, not surprised in the slightest because Francis and Dakota still did it all the time. Why take the time to nicely walk over to someone when they could just yell like banshees throughout the home? Some things never changed. "Alright, I'll talk to you later tonight or tomorrow."

"Who are you talking to?" Glen appeared in the doorway, fresh from his shower with no shirt on. He kind of hesitated before noseying his way closer to the gang. He stretched out on the bed, taking up Austin's other side. Spotting the phone on the bookshelf with his brother's face blinking back at him, Glen waved. "Oh, hey Em!"

"Happy birthday, Smiley," Emerson greeted.

Glen's face flushed, as it did every single time Emerson said that. The count was close to 50 since the start of the week. In the beginning, Hayes thought it was cute how he got embarrassed from the attention, and started doing it as well. Then Glen punched her super hard in the arm, no bruise though, and that was the end of that.

"It's not my birthday anymore," Glen grumbled even though he secretly loved it, before getting distracted when his phone buzzed. He glanced down, reading the text message from Colton. "Austin, Cole said they'll be home in five."

"Okay," Austin acknowledged, glancing at Glen. His gaze lingered on the faint scar that rested on Glen's collarbone. Now that Austin knew it was there, since Glen incidentally pointed it out back at the court house, he couldn't help but wonder the story behind it. But Glen and Hayes never brought it up again so Austin and Baker remained mute.

Austin looked back at the phone. "That's our cue, Sonny."

Emerson nodded. "Got it. Catch you later, fam."

"Later, bro. I love you," Austin said, the kids echoing with their own goodbyes.

Emerson saluted the three of them before the FaceTime ended.

"Well then," Austin broke the silence. He went to push himself up but the groan of annoyance from his little sister when he moved, stopped him. He turned his head over his left shoulder to check on her before glancing the other way at his little brother.

Although Glen was handling his emotions quite well, maintaining his position of not wanting to talk about the Bear, Austin was still very much concerned for him.

Which was why Austin decided to give it a day or too for the news to settle with Glen before speaking to Hayes about it. This also bought him some time to gather more information from Stephen Rayon on what the hell happened. He was going to call the man tomorrow.

So until then, Austin only had to worry about making sure his siblings ate dinner, went to sleep at a decent hour, then send them off to school in the morning.

Piece of cake.

Austin ruffled Glen's hair, causing the boy to try and duck away. But Austin was persistent, making Glen laugh as he fought back before the boy accidently rolled completely off the bed.

Oh shit.

Austin froze, hearing Glen land on the floor with a bang.

"Rude," Glen huffed as he sat up, thankfully unhurt. A twinkle in his blue eyes alerted Austin that payback was probably coming his way very soon. "Don't hurt your siblings, Austin," he chastised in a sarcastic tone.

"Oops," Austin chuckled, breathing again. He suddenly flipped himself over onto his back so now Hayes laid sprawled on his stomach.

"Hey," Hayes whined, officially cranky, as she grabbed onto his t-shirt. Now she had to readjust to get comfortable again.

Austin couldn't help the chuckle. Oh the horror.

"No sleeping," Austin stated, running his hands up and down her back, not so gently, in order to wake her up. "It's dinner time."

"No, it's not," Hayes disagreed, rubbing her forehead against the soft fabric of his shirt.

In the mean time, Glen jumped back on to his feet and faced the bed where his siblings still lay. He propped his hands on his hips before seeing an opportunity and seizing it.

"Dog pile!" Glen half-collapsed on top of his sister and brother, turning the siblings into a pile of jumbled limbs.

"Oof." Austin winced at the sudden knee to his side. These kids were beating him up this evening.

"Geez Glen, you need to go for a run," Hayes puffed out, trying to elbow her way out from beneath Glen. Poor Austin was stuck at the moment under their weight, because if he made the wrong move, he risked the kids getting hurt.

At least they weren't heavy, even with muscle weighing more than fat. He actually needed to fatten them up a bit, as both were still listed as underweight according to the doctor. He was trying but it wasn't easy. The kids never liked sitting still for long, but that was how all the siblings were.

Accepting his fate, Austin lay an arm over his face, covering his eyes as Hayes and Glen bickered. He loved them more than they could ever imagine.

"Are you calling me fat?" Glen accused, latching onto her upper arm so she couldn't escape.

"Yes," Hayes grunted.

Out of the blue, the doorbell rang multiple times, completely freezing Glen and Hayes in fright, followed by the front door being unlocked with keys. They relaxed when the door was finally pushed opened and a couple sets of loud footsteps resonated through the house. "Food is here!"

"Din-Din time!" Francis cheered from somewhere in the house.

"Finally," Glen breathed, getting up, much to Austin's relief. The pizza from the bowling alley did not fill the teen's constant appetite.

"Fatty."

Austin's relief was short-lived as Glen stared Hayes down. "What did you say?"

"Fatty McFatFat," Hayes snickered as she sat up on her butt. Surprisingly, her hair was still contained in the braid with only minor wisps.

Hayes squealed when Glen lunged at her, punching her in the arm before she could scurry off the bed. She ended up kicking him in the leg, in total self-defense, before Austin was able to separate them.

The last thing he needed was someone getting hurt, like Glen busting his hand again.

"Stop," Austin said sternly, holding out his arm to keep Glen back. "Don't make me put you two in time-out."

Hayes and Glen looked at each other in mirror surprise before bursting out in laughter. This was completely the opposite effect that Austin imagined his warning would have, but when did the kids ever respond like he expected.

"Time-out," Glen sputtered, mostly serious beneath his snickers. "What's that?"

"It's when you stand in a corner and think about your wrong-doings," Austin, to his credit, calmly explained the punishment as Glen and Hayes laughed some more. If he didn't know their history, Austin would have been concerned that they were psychopaths or something.

Nonetheless, he didn't question their wacko behavior as the three of them finally got off the bed.

Glen left the room first with a skip in his step, entranced by the sound of his brothers' voices from downstairs. That, and the smell of some good BBQ was reaching their noses.

Hayes was a little less motivated, clinging onto the back of Austin's shirt as she walked behind him, nearly tripping on his feet multiple times as the concept of personal space apparently didn't exist for the time being.

Austin stopped at the top of the staircase, wanting to prevent a dangerous incident from occurring. God forbid, he could picture them somehow tripping down the stairs. That would not be a pretty sight.

He turned around and stooped down a bit to look at Hayes in the eyes. Her mood changed quicker than one could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Or think it.

Austin frowned. Did she know?

No, he'd definitely know if she knew.

He had to be careful. Minds games were enough to make anyone crazy.

"What's wrong, baby?" He asked softly.

Hayes felt the uneasiness return but couldn't put a name to what was causing it. Should she warn him about Glen? He appreciated it last time, when Glen was not acting like himself. Maybe he already picked up on it. Or should she ask him about his bowling skills? She was still curious. But what if he got mad like Emerson did.

"Nothing, just tired," she said instead.

"You sure?" Austin rubbed his knuckles against her cheek, his sixth sense for his siblings ringing all the bells in his head.

"Hey! Hurry your asses up! The food is getting cold!" Dakota's pleasant voice yelled from downstairs. A feminine voice, Peyton, was heard, probably to teach their brother some manners, but the words didn't make it up to Austin and Hayes.

Hayes twisted her lips to the side as she looked at Austin and gave a half-shrug.

Alright, baby.

Austin understood. He gently grabbed her arm, tugging her closer into a tight hug. If she didn't want to speak, he wouldn't push her, but he at least wanted to make sure he knew how much he loved her.

So, so much.

————

Glen patted the open space next to him on the couch, recruiting his partner-in-crime to sit.

Hayes obliged, munching away on her left-over french fries as she plopped down. She had poured her remaining stack on her plate into a bowl, easier to handle and less of a mess when she moved from the dinner table into the family room.

Whereas all her brothers and Peyton had BBQ, feeling fancy with their delicious brisket or pulled-pork sandwiches, baked beans, and whatever else they wanted for sides, someone smartly ordered Hayes the chicken tender platter with lots of french fries.

One less meltdown achieved.

Glen tried to sneakily grab some fries but Hayes moved the bowl out of his reach. She was not in the sharing mood.

Glen laid his head on her shoulder, looking up at his sister with his puppy dog blue eyes. "Please, HayHay?"

"Nu uh," Hayes denied, "What do you have for me?"

Glen smirked and leaned further against her, making her lean away from him.

PPPPFFFFFTTTTTTT

"Glen!" Hayes exclaimed, jumping from the couch, completely grossed out.

Glen dissolved into snorts of laughter. "You're welcome," he replied, wiggling his butt around in his seat, satisfied with himself.

"It smells like complete ass in here," Dakota commented as he strolled into the room with his laptop in his arms. He went over to the television, messing around with the cords that were there in order to connect to his laptop. He was hard set on not letting the afternoon's fun events disrupt his plans.

Francis was next to enter alongside Colton, just seconds after. He sniffed the air, "Smells like beans."

"Good God," Colton made a face of disgust, "Seriously Fran?" He ditched Francis, taking the seat next to where Hayes' claimed, leaving enough space for the girl to sit back down.

"It wasn't me," Francis pointed to Glen, "It was all him." He sat down in the La-Z recliner, looking relaxed for a second before suddenly sat up straight and lifted his right leg up.

PPFFFFFTTTTTT

Ahh, now he was relaxed.

"Okay, that one was me," Francis proudly claimed.

"That's it. I'm leaving," Hayes announced, going to walk off but Colton managed to grab her by the waist before she could take a step.

"No, don't leave me," Colton pulled her backwards, making her stumble and fall on his lap. By luck, Hayes didn't spill any of the fries. "Don't make me suffer alone."

Not bothering to fight Colton's strong grip, she focused her attention on eating some more french fries. Colton was better trained at being sneaky than Glen was, slipping his hand into the bowl successfully and retrieving a couple fries for himself.

Glen laughed, his whole body shaking with the effort. "Now it really smells like beans in here."

"Beans, beans, they're good for your heart. The more you eat, the more you fart. The more you fart, the better you feel..." Francis sang the old nursery rhyme.

"That's enough, Francis," Austin put an end to his younger siblings' fun as he, Baker, and Peyton filed into the room.

Dakota belched.

"6." Francis said.

Hayes tilted her head to the side, glancing at Colton in confusion.

"He rated the burp," Colton answered her unspoken question.

"Oh," Hayes mumbled as she chewed on her food. She kept forgetting that was a thing.

Then it was Baker's turn to burp.

"Sorry, had some soda." He hit his chest with his fist, wincing when Peyton pinched his arm.

"7."

Glen laughed. "Why was 6 afraid of 7?"

"Because 7 ate 9," Francis waggled his eyebrows.

"Francis."

Hayes giggled, imagining Austin putting Francis in time-out.

"What are you laughing at?" Colton mumbled in her ear, sneaking some more french fries.

"Take a seat, losers," Dakota made a 'hurry up' motion at the older bunch, "chop chop, we don't got all day."

"It's night time now," Francis unhelpfully pointed out.

"Hey, Francesca," Dakota mocked, waiting until Francis glanced at him to stick up his middle finger, "that's how many fucks I care."

"Dakota, give it a rest," Austin warned, taking a seat on the couch. Baker had chosen the other comfy chair, cuddling with Peyton all lovey-dovey to make up for his burp.

Dakota rolled his eyes, mumbling something probably not nice underneath his breath as he set up the video he wanted to play for everyone.

"What are we even watching?" Francis inquired, as he got more comfortable. He leaned back in the chair as he put the footrest up, stretching out his long legs.

"Shut the fuck up," was Dakota's answer.

A sharp whistle came from Baker's mouth making Hayes and Glen flinch, a second warning for Dakota. "Yo, watch your mouth Kota."

Was Dakota too old for time-out?

Hayes leaned back against Colton, not liking the hostility floating around her brothers. He wrapped his arms around her like a warm, comforting hug.

"Fine, just can you all just shut up and watch, please?" He added, not wanting to get told off by Peyton again for no manners. Once was enough when Baker was present to kick his ass, especially when he was in a mood.

They were all in a mood, to be honest.

But yet, no one would address the elephant in the room, like Dakota thought they should. But what did he know?

Everyone finally settled down, ultimately curious to see what Dakota created. He wouldn't reveal anything as much as his siblings pestered him about it. Austin had an inkling as Dakota asked him for help a couple times, but wasn't sure what to expect.

A movie clip popped up on the television screen with a giant triangle overlaying a black box in the middle.

"Ooooooh, aaaawww," Francis provided the dramatizing audience effects, wincing when Baker reached over and smacked the back of his head.

Dakota stood in front of the TV, silently asking for their attention. He crossed his arms, feeling uncomfortable and vulnerable in front of his siblings. It wasn't everyday that he put his work on display like this. Giving a photograph as a gift was a whole lot easier.

He skimmed the family room, feeling a bit bolder after catching the reassuring head nod from Austin, a thumbs up from Glen, and a mouth full of mushy potato fries in a form of a grin from Hayes.

Nasty.

Reading Dakota's mind, Colton stretched his arm over Glen's head to dim the lights from the wall switch.

Without a single word for an introduction, Dakota simply pressed play before taking his respective seat at the end of the couch, closest to the television.

The black screen transitioned to a more colorful background, the words 'We're One, Big, Fucking Crazy Family' appearing smack dab in the middle. Beneath that, in smaller print was 'Powers Family'. The title faded, revealing a recent family photo that Hayes recognized from her birthday. It was from the obstacle course, as there was tell-tale dirt all over everyone's clothes.

The picture made them all smile as they thought about that day. It was weird how it felt like the memory was just the other second, but yet days had already passed. The concept of time was truly fascinating.

In the photo, Hayes stood in front of Austin, a baseball cap sideways on her head. Austin had one hand on her shoulder, the other was on Emerson's. Glen was sandwiched between Emerson and Dakota, the latter with a choke-hold like grip around Glen. On Hayes' other side, Baker had one knee on the ground with Peyton next to him, her arm resting on his head. Colton and Francis sat on the floor in front of the siblings, their knees bent. Everyone had matching wide smiles on their faces.

What was originally appearing to be a still photo turned into an action clip, as the next seconds were pure chaos. "Happy Birthday, Sunshine!" They all shouted, as they posed for what they assumed was a time photo. After a second, the video captured Emerson suddenly tackling Francis from behind. With the two laying on the ground, Glen sat on Emerson's back. At the same time, Austin swooped down and picked up Hayes, flipping her upside down, her hat floating to the ground. There was no real distinguishable sounds as their voices all merged together, besides Hayes unmistakable laughter as Colton turned and tickled her stomach. Ignoring their siblings, Baker stood up and grabbed hold of Peyton's hand. He twirled her in a circle before dipping her. He pulled her back up and kissed her. When they broke apart, Peyton wacked Baker in the chest as she laughed.

Abruptly, the angle changed as someone picked up the camera from where it was propped up and Dakota's face appeared. "A bunch of fucking animals," He turned and yelled at his siblings, humor in his voice.

The brief video fizzed out, replaced by a much, much younger family photo. Glen nor Hayes didn't recognize it, but they surely recognized everyone in it.

Hayes and Glen both felt the rush of excitement run through them as they picked up on what was happening. Their hearts warmed.

Dakota made a family home video.

And they were a part of it.

Hayes scooted off Colton's lap back to her own seat in between Glen and Colton. She put the bowl of fries on the coffee table before scooching back. Her hand found Glen's, lacing their fingers together.

This was their family.

"We are the dinosaurs, marching, marching, we are the dinosaurs..." Three little blonde boys strutted around a brown coffee table, each having no shirts on. Emerson, Francis, and Glen. It was scary how identical the three of them looked, passing as triplets to any random passerby.

Even now, years later and time apart, the brothers remained similar in appearance, minus their hairstyles.

"Hey, hey, hey," Austin's voice was heard before he walked into view, carrying something in his arms. Not something, someone. His baby sister.  He was gently bouncing the maybe two-year-old, trying to keep her asleep. "Inside voices, okay guys?"

The three boys, ranging from ages four to nine, stopped and faced their eldest brother. "Sorry, Austin," they replied in unison.

"Hey Smiley, why don't you show Austin your new trick?" Dakota suggested in a very obvious mischievous tone. Even as a pre-teen, the boy was trouble. He was the one holding the camera, the audio picking up on his quiet snickers.

Glen cocked his head to the side as he seemed to be weighing his options.

"Oh God," Glen muttered from besides Hayes making her laugh. He could only imagine what this 'trick' would be.

Someone snorted, in real life and in the video. It happened to be the same person though, Colton, as the camera panned to the right briefly to catch Colton who had a book in his hands. How he was able to read with his chaotic little brothers running around was an impressive feat.

In the video, Colton who was perhaps 15, was wearing a t-shirt, the short sleeves showing off his bare arms. It was weird to see him with no tattoos, though still muscular.

The camera returned its focus to the three boys as Glen seemed to have made up his mind. The smallest boy took a couple steps forward to stand in front of Austin.

Austin's gaze flickered to Dakota before he gave Glen his attention. "Let me see, Smiley," Austin encouraged the four-year-old. He fixed Hayes in his arms, one hand laying flat against her head to keep her nuzzled against his neck.

Glen giggled before holding up his hands like claws. "Raaaaawr!"

The editing cut the clip before it could show Austin admonishing Dakota, as one could guess for most likely waking up their sister.

In real life, the siblings laughed as Glen's face turned a bit red. He hated any bit of attention.

"Nice one, Glennosaurous," Francis winked at his baby brother.

"Thanks, Frannosaurous," Glen replied.

Hayes squeezed his hand, her eyes bright with joy when they looked at each other.

The two of them were loving this.

"Aussy! Aussy!" Hayes' baby voice played from the television, highlighting a little toddler waddling as fast as she could towards the camera. The camera must have been sitting on the ground as the angle was low. Hayes was outside in what appeared to be an open field of grass, a soccer ball and Dakota left in her wake. Further back in the view was a soccer goal.

"Hi, baby!" Austin answered just as excited as she sounded. "What are you doing?"

She tripped, taking a tumble before she could reach wherever Austin stood. "I okay," Hayes announced as she pushed back to her feet. She clapped her hands together, "I okay."

"You're okay," Austin laughed, finally seen on the camera. He squatted down to be at Hayes' height, opening his arms as she began waddling to him again. "Hey Sunshine, who's that?" He asked, standing up once she was in his arms and pointed in the direction he just came from.

Hayes looked off-screen, a small pout on her face as she focused intently on whomever he was indicating too. She must have finally identified them as their little sister began squirming in Austin's arms. "Bakey! Bakey! Bakey! Bakey!"

Austin put her down, letting her run off to wherever Baker was, only for her and Baker to walk back into the view together. He was carrying her bridal style, stopping when he got to Austin and blowing some raspberries on her belly.

"Hey," Dakota called out to his brothers as he finally ran over. "Put my defender back down. We were playing."

"Finders keepers," Baker teased, dodging Dakota's attempts at taking their little sister back. The two brothers ran around, eliciting laughter out of all four of them before the next clip transitioned onto the screen.

"Aww, hun, you were so cute," Peyton commented, patting his cheek. "What happened?"

"Hardy har har," Baker fake laughed as he turned his head and kissed her palm. "I knew you were going to say that."

A couple more clips went by, each highlighting the special connection amongst the siblings.

Glen and Francis fitting into one pair of plaid pajama pants, one boy in each leg hole. They tried walking, only to fall flat on their faces.

Glen and Francis sitting in a plastic storage container and riding down the staircase with helmets on for protection. Surprisingly, Colton was the one filming that poor decision. Both kids survived, unscathed.

Emerson teaching Hayes how to hit a baseball off a tee, only for the little girl to swing the bat right into his nuts. At least it was a plastic bat.

Poor Emerson.

The siblings having fun in the sun at the beach as they decided to dig a hole to find the center of the earth. It was wide enough so that Glen, Francis, and Emerson could stand in the pit with their plastic shovels. On the opposite side of where the boys were working hard, Dakota and toddler Hayes were pushing the sand back into the hole. Austin was recording Double Trouble with Baker and Colton providing stupid commentary, until suddenly they all abruptly got up when Hayes somehow fell into the hole.

She was okay, nothing but a mouthful of sand, though it definitely restarted the brothers' hearts.

Dakota had done well, finding videos of their baby siblings playing with all of the older brothers.

The kids especially got a kick out of the clip where the four youngest were playing in the rain in the front yard and somehow managed to find the biggest mud pile ever. Hayes had no fear and was the first to jump into it, becoming immediately covered from head to toe as the mud sloshed up.

The siblings deduced that Baker was most likely in charge, their thoughts proven correctly when his voice was heard loud and clear on the camera with his hearty laugh. He was the one filming, taking up dry post under the cover of the garage. The camera focused for a second on a car pulling into the driveway as Baker muttered, "Oh fuck me."  Who other than Austin and Dakota, both jumping out of the car and coming straight towards where Baker was.

Austin didn't look quite thrilled with what was happening, especially when Hayes noticed her big brother and wandered over to greet him. Muddy and all.

She stopped right at the edge of the garage, as Baker already told her that she couldn't cross the imaginary line or she wouldn't have ice cream after dinner.

"Aussy, play!"

"Not today, Sunshine," Austin told her, breaking his own heart into tiny pieces when she pouted up at him.

"Kota, play!" she turned her pout onto Dakota when Austin didn't budge.

The camera caught Dakota shaking his head. "I'm hungry," was his excuse.

Hayes turned back to Austin, her bottom lip wobbling as she fully manipulated her eldest brother. "Please, please?"

Austin held strong to his decision. "How about we get you cleaned up instead?" He walked into the rain and took Hayes' hand, the two of them walking off, well Hayes was jumping in the puddles, splashing the water all over Austin's legs. They returned with the garden hose so Austin could spray off all the mud that coated his little siblings before letting them inside to bathe properly.

The best part was when Hayes randomly decided to take off her clothes after being hosed off, and ran right back into the mud before Dakota could grab her and wrap her up in a fluffy towel.

"Sunshine rocking the birthday suit," Francis laughed. "No shame, Sissy," he held out his fist for her to pound, but Glen, being in the way, stole the fist bump.

When Austin turned to look at her, tucked between Glen and Colton, his face was amused as he winked. Hayes smiled back, her shoulders coming up to her ears as she could feel her face warm.

It was neat for Glen and Hayes to watch themselves grow up right in front of their eyes, alongside their brothers.

For everyone else, it was a little bittersweet, knowing what was inevitably coming up.

If only they had the power to freeze time.

There was also some subtle behavioral transformations that was seen amongst the siblings in the videos from the aftereffects of the car wreck. Plus the obvious brace that suddenly appeared on Dakota's leg with crutches in some of the videos.

It also didn't miss Glen's keen eye that three specific people were absent from anything they've watched so far.

The next video started off with loud chatter, in what Hayes had deemed to be a basketball gym. The camera was aimed at the court, the angle downward indicating that whoever was filming was most likely sitting up in the bleachers.

What sounded like a grown man yelled their brother's name, cheering him on. "Take him to the hoop, Cole!" The camera zoomed in on the basketball players, specifically a blonde haired lanky kid who could definitely pass as a Powers' brother.

Glen and Hayes looked at each other, a wrinkle in their foreheads, not recognizing the voice at all. They glanced around at their brothers, spotting a range of expressions on their faces. Austin and Baker briefly made eye contact, both somewhat expecting questions to arise from this. No one looked particularly ecstatic nor did they look mad. It was almost a melancholy look.

So the brothers definitely knew who it was.

Hmm, intriguing.

Hayes leaned into Colton's side but didn't say anything as the video kept her engaged. She wanted to know what happened next.

The whistle blew, calling for stoppage of play. One of the teams called a time-out as the players jogged to their respective benches. All but the blonde kid, who glanced back towards the stands, appearing to be looking for someone. He suddenly waved, and when the camera zoomed back out and to the right, a little girl was eagerly waving back. She stood between Austin's legs, the eldest brother had his arms loosely around her, caging her in so she couldn't fall.

She giggled before turning to the camera, her bright blue eyes and messy blonde hair in pigtails. It could be no one else but Sunshine. "You see me, Kota?"

"Yeah, I saw," Dakota responded, before the camera did a sweep to the left side of the bleachers now. Someone else had called his name. Three blonde boys came into view with a blonde man sitting at the end of the row.

The boys were also standing, like their sister, as they probably had lots of energy to waste being stuck inside so long for a game. They were currently doing a three-person crowd wave which looked very discombobulated, but hey, they tried.

"You ready now, Dakota?" the closest boy asked with a lisp, glancing at the camera. It was Francis with a wide smile, showing off his missing bottom teeth.

"Ready," Dakota confirmed, laughing under his breath. This got the gentleman's attention who turned to watch the boys do whatever they were planning to do.

Glen's breath halted.

That man looked awfully like Austin and Baker and Colton and even him, just much older.

"Say go," Francis commanded, ever the bossy 7-year-old.

"Stop."

Francis glared at Dakota.

"Fine, Go."

"Slap, slap, slap; clap, clap, clap," Francis and Emerson were in unison, slapping their butt cheeks and then clapping their hands in front of them as they turned in a slow circle in a little jig, again and again and again. Glen, who was in between his brothers, attempted to do the same actions but lagged behind them in timing. He kept stopping and laughing.

It was absolutely hilarious.

"Wow," Colton spoke up, "Y'all were real achievers back then, huh."

"You know it," Francis snapped finger-guns at Colton.

Colton shook his head, "My fan club, ladies and gents."

"Speaking of," Austin added, "Did you tell Emerson about this?" he asked Dakota. "I called him but he must have fallen asleep."

"I already sent it to him," Dakota replied. He was on top of his shit.

Austin nodded approvingly, slouching back against the cushion. He patted Dakota's shoulder before resting his arm along the top of the couch.

"My turn!" Hayes' shouted, "clap, clap... clap... clap, clap, clap."  Close enough.

The camera had just switched over to the toddler, filming her as she would smack Austin's arms then clap her small hands together. She did a little dance to her made-up song, shaking her tiny butt back and forth to the beat. The whole time, they could hear the boys still singing from Dakota's other side.

Hayes used Colton's arm to block her view of the television, her turn to have flushed cheeks.

Colton chuckled, patting her knee in sympathy. "Don't worry Sunshine, you're still cute."

The siblings and Peyton laughed as Hayes squished further into Colton's side, almost as if she was trying to disappear behind his back. She couldn't go very far though as her hand was still connected to Glen's.

There were a couple more recordings until the very obvious time jump occurred to the past two months.

With the main purpose of the whole project to be focused on Glen and Hayes, as Dakota made the video as a conjoined birthday gift for them, he didn't include any tapes that neither of the kids were in.

It truly brought a lot of comfort to Glen and Hayes to be able to see with their own eyes how the brothers never did stop loving them. Their bonds withstood the test of time, evident by how the current clips seemed to have picked up right where the older versions left off.

Just more grown up now.

But they'd always be the blonde babies.

More importantly, they'd always be their babies.

Dakota's home video eventually ended in what felt like way too soon for the siblings. But it did end the best way possible, with the million dollar shot of Austin moo-ing at the cows.

There was not a single chance they would ever let him live that down.

The brothers all complimented Dakota on his beautiful creation as Peyton ran off to the bathroom before she peed her pants from laughing so hard.

Dakota kept his head bent towards his laptop, bashful, hiding his blushed cheeks, as he unplugged the cords.

"So I have a question," Glen sat up straight as he pointed his finger towards the now blank screen. "Was that our dad or...?"

The older brothers all seemed to look at each other before turning to Austin to see what he had to say.

Their father wasn't a true sore subject for them, since he wasn't around much to leave an impression on them one way or another. He was just simply their dad.

"Yep, that's him," Austin said without any indication of how he felt. "I know we haven't really talked about him, but if you have any questions, you can ask us, whenever you want. Okay?"

Glen nodded but Hayes had her face planted against Colton's side so Austin couldn't read her thoughts.

She hadn't decided how she felt about it. It was approaching her unofficial bedtime, which meant everything became more overwhelming for her so her brain began to shut down for the night.

"He loved you two," Baker added, referring to Glen and Hayes. "He wasn't around much, but he did love us all. He just had his own way of showing it."

"But he loved work more," Francis mumbled.

"It doesn't matter," Austin said. "The past is in the past. What matters is us, our family, right here, right now. The nine of us are who are important, and that includes Emerson and Peyton. All that other stuff, don't worry about it."

Glen nodded again.

"We should have a reality tv show." Francis suggested, changing the topic back to the home video. "we're fricking funny as shit."

"You smell like shit," Hayes peeped. She also didn't have a filter after the 8 pm witching hour.

"Hayes," Colton squeezed her knee.

Francis' jaw dropped. "Wow, rude. I don't remember asking the peanut gallery."

Hayes lifted her head to stick her tongue out at him.

"It'd be called, 'Meet the Fuckers: Powers family edition'. How's that sound?" Glen laughed just thinking about it.

Dakota snickered, "Sounds about right."

🎶We are family

I got all my brothers, sister with me

We are family

Get up everybody and sing it to me🎶

"Is there any ice cream cake left?" Baker asked the crowd, stretching his arms as he got to his feet. It was about that time he and Peyton started to head out. He still had to feed Chubba and take him on a walk for his nightly poop.

"Why? Wanna blow out Glen's birthday candles too?" Colton chuckled.

"Maybe," Baker laughed, "think he'll throw a tantrum like Franny?"

"I'm right here, you know," Francis complained, waving his hand in the air. "I can hear you."

"We know." Colton replied, as the three eldest brothers laughed at Francis' frown.

"You all are so mean to me." Francis crossed his arms. "I was a baby!"

"You were 9!" Glen snorted.

"Whatever."

~~~~~~

😉

Dun dun dunnnnnnnn