50.

Fifty?

50 cent, that you?

This is wildddddddd!

Nice easy read for a lazy Sunday afternoon. You're welcome.

"I farted. Teehee." -Glen (random throwback to ch8)

~~~~~~~~

"Ow, shit."

Glen laughed at his brother's cry of pain, collecting the pile of cards on the table that were now his. He was winning by a lot, in case anyone had their doubts.

"It's not funny," Francis scowled, rubbing his poor elbow. There was nothing humorous about hitting the funny bone. Absolutely nothing. It hurt like a bitch.

"Yes it is," Glen replied with a easy-going grin. The light-hearted mood contrasted with the dark purple circles under both brothers' eyes. Neither brothers got much sleep, and after a while they had sort of given up and ambled downstairs for food.

There was no tiff or lingering animosity between the two of them. Almost as if nothing had happened besides a sleepless Saturday night. Which was far from the truth, but suffering through tragedy bonded them together for life so why dwell in the past when the present was much more brighter.

Plus, Glen, with the tenacity like none other, might have mentioned to Fran something along the lines of 'If you ever throw in the towel again, you'll be the one punched in the face next time.' Then they bro-hugged and went on their merry way.

All is fair in love and war, sometimes, even if Austin disagreed. But he didn't have to know about that exchange.

"You're cheating," Francis grumbled, looking at his sad deck of dwindling cards he had left.

"You're a sore loser," Glen retorted, watching as it was Fran's turn to flip over a card. Glen's knee was bouncing with all the suspense. Would the next card be a Jack? Only one way to find out.

Four of clubs.

"Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater." Francis snipped.

"Just gotta be faster, Granny Franny," Glen taunted, taking his turn to put the card down.

Nine of spades.

Francis' hand twitched with anticipation. He was determined to not let his baby brother be crowned victor. "Never knew you were such a trash talker,  baby broski."

Two of spades.

"What are the dipshits up to today?" Dakota alerted everyone of his presence, coming to a stop behind Glen's shoulder and overlooking their card game.

Five of diamonds.

Queen of hearts.

"Playing slapjack. Wanna play?" Glen invited Dakota, glancing at him over his shoulder. He could only look for a brief second as he wouldn't have put it past Francis to steal some cards from his pile.

Dakota didn't answer, instead being a pain in the ass and scaring the shit out of Glen when he roughly grabbed his shoulders. The kid was still a little skittish from the nightmares, even though he acted like he was unbothered.

Francis frowned, glaring a hole at Dakota's face until he finally stopped pestering Glen and went to search the fridge. "It's your turn," Fran said after a moment of silence.

Seven of spades.

Two of clubs.

King of clubs.

Jack of hearts.

"SLAPJACK!" There was no hesitation as hands met the wooden table in a resounding bang as both brothers rushed to slap their palm down first.

"Ha!" Francis gloated, a cocky smile on his lips as he slid all those cards to his side of the table.

"You're still losing," Glen grumbled, his eyes flicking to the left when he heard a chair scraping across the tile floor. Dakota apparently was joining them at the table, a cold bottle of water in his hand as he slouched down. He twisted off the cap and took a long sip of water, complete with a satisfied ahhh.

"Not for long," Francis sung, straightening out his card deck. His eyebrows rose when he saw Dakota decide to hang out with them, only to do a double take, realizing his brother was dressed decently for it being Sunday morning. It was not a common occurrence to find Dakota in a decent pair of slacks and collared shirt. Never would be caught dead in jeans though, Dakota hated jeans. "Where were you?" Francis asked, his interest piqued.

"Selling drugs," Dakota deadpanned.

Glen's breath inadvertently hitched. Air went down the wrong pipe, making him cough harshly. He's just messing, don't believe him.

Dakota sat up straight, his face turning serious. "It was just a joke, Glen."

"It's not funny," Francis snapped back on Glen's behalf. "Stop being such an insensitive dick, dude. Austin told you to stop saying that."

"Stop saying what?" Austin walked in, two boxes and a paper bag from Dunkin' Donuts in his hand. Now Francis understood where Dakota had gone, out with Austin. The eldest brother went to church on Sunday mornings so that meant Dakota went to church too. Jeez, Francis was surprised the whole church didn't burn down as soon as he stepped foot in the parking lot.

Austin took in the various expressions on the faces of his siblings. He addressed Dakota, though his gaze remained on Glen. "I thought I specifically said not to rile everyone up, Kota."

"I didn't fucking do anything," Dakota held up his hands in a 'what the hell' manner.

And because Austin was not born yesterday, he asked his little brother who still looked a little rattled. "Glen?"

"Nothing happened," Glen replied, keeping his eyes averted from his eldest brother.

Austin obviously didn't believe that but if Glen didn't want to draw attention to it, than he would let it go. For now. The eldest brother moved over to the counter, and put the boxes down. He purposefully held onto the bag, strolling over to the other counterspace and placed it on top of the toaster oven. "We got donuts..."

Glen and Francis cheered, immediately abandoning their game of cards.

"Make sure you save some for everyone. And don't even think about eating the muffin or face Hayes' wrath."

"Sir, yes, sir," Francis saluted as he stood up, Glen doing the same. The teens wasted no time, mouths full of sugary donut in a matter of seconds. "So, when do we get the x-box privileges back?" Francis talked with his mouth full.

As an unexpected surprise for the teens, Austin had taken away their electronics, including phones and television, when he woke up in the morning, having had an epiphany. The family needed to get back on track with no distractions and this was just the start.

Austin leaned his lower back against the counter, crossing his arms. "I don't know," he answered honestly.

"What do you mean, 'I don't know'?" Francis frowned.

"I mean, could be tonight, could be a week." Austin shrugged. "How ever long it takes."

Glen glanced at Francis, just as puzzled with the cryptic answers. Then in unison, both brothers shrugged and returned to the breakfast nook.

"Alrighty," Francis said, grabbing a probably clean napkin from the middle of the table and putting his second donut on it to eat while playing. He scooted his chair in before finding Austin who migrated over to the refrigerator. "Want to play slapjack with us?"

"I'm winning," Glen added.

"Sure, I'll play cards, but not slapjack. I don't need Glen breaking his thumb again." Austin decided, dropping a frozen bag of corn in front of Glen before ruffling the kid's hair as he walked around to the open chair next to Francis. "20 minutes on, Smiley." He pointed at the frozen pack, only relaxing his arm once Glen picked it up and pressed it to his slightly throbbing nose.

"How about Rummy?" Francis suggested, collecting all the cards on the table. He shuffled the deck, doing it a couple times to make sure it was shuffled well to not given Glen any advantage to winning.

He already knew Austin was going to kick his ass no matter what cards he was dealt.

"Sounds good to me." Austin was a family man through and through, and playing cards was a fun way to pass the time while waiting for the rest of the gang to emerge from their slumbers. That just meant Baker and Hayes, as Colton's car was missing from the driveway. Austin, of course, knew where the brother was, but the others probably didn't. Colton preferred it that way. "Dakota, you in?"

Glen and Francis eagerly looked at him like twin golden puppy dogs.

"Yeah, why not," Dakota huffed, leaning his arms on the table. "Just don't cry when you lose, Francesca."

————

In the short amount of time that it took Baker to get up, seize the opportunity to shower since the hallway bathroom was free, get dressed and then return to the bedroom, Hayes didn't move a single muscle.

20 minutes.

He wasn't surprised at that.

But what did give him pause, was the intruder who snuck right in.

Yep, that's right. There was a new occupant in the bedroom, who had the guts to try and take Baker's spot, all snuggled up by Hayes' side like he ruled the palace.

Didn't matter that the dog was the most handsomest dog in all the world, Baker didn't appreciate having his spot stolen.

The only question was, how did Chubba get in the room? The dog didn't have any thumbs to open the door, so someone had to have let him into the bedroom.

Who dare do such a thing?

Let that be the mystery of the morning.

Baker settled back in bed, sitting on top of the comforter with his legs stretched out in front of him and resting his back against the headboard. His sister laid sprawled on her stomach, taking up a decent amount of space for such a little girl. It was a difference from when she started off the night, cuddled up beside him, using his arm as a pillow. But now, she was hoarding two real pillows under her head and the dog had somehow claimed the third one, leaving Baker with her squishable for a lousy back cushion.

He reached out his right arm, his hand lazily landing on Hayes' knotty blonde hair. He playfully pulled on a random strand before scratching her scalp. The girl had to wake up eventually or she wouldn't be sleeping that night which wasn't ideal since it was a school night now. Not to mention, they had already slept half the day away.

Baker didn't have the best sleep schedule, always switching shifts at work from days to nights or the opposite, but he knew the teenage sleep-the-day-away mentality wasn't healthy. Even if Francis and Emerson tried to constantly convince the eldest brothers  otherwise.

Chubba climbed to his feet and did a shimmy shake, the dog tags on his collar making a jingling noise. He forced Baker to snatch his arm out of the way as the dog stretched his front legs, doing a little bow so his butt wiggled in the air right near Baker's head before maneuvering down to the less crowded end of the bed by their feet. Much more spacious for the golden retriever.

Hayes wasn't truly a deep sleeper, at least not all the time, so Baker knew she heard that.

"Chubba, shhh," the girl moaned, pulling the comforter up tighter to her body, covering the lower half of her face.

Baker chuckled and began scratching Hayes' scalp again in a soothing manner. It must have felt good to her, because the girl suddenly rolled towards him, the comforter somewhat falling off her body as she moved. She came to a hard stop against his legs.

His hand paused, his eyebrows rising in amusement at how cute his sister was.

"Keep going," Hayes mumbled as her fist appeared from under the covers to wipe her eye before she snuggled closer.

Baker obeyed her majesty, Lady Sunshine.

"Wanna hear a funny story?" He asked, running his fingers down her head to her back. Since she was a wee little toddler, Hayes loved having her back scratched. Not rubbed, but scratched. She was very particular about it.

Hayes didn't respond and Chubba always ignored him, but like any of that was going to stop him.

Baker continued speaking to his captive audience, "Well, if you insist. So I took a shower, which, my little Sunshine, you will be taking one when you get up," Hayes groaned in opposition. "Hush hush, you smell, missy. Anyways, after my shower, I went to grab some of my extra clothes that I keep in Austin's room, you know? And guess what I found?"

No answer. Again, shocker.

"I found..." another dramatic pause. "That I had almost no t-shirts left. That's weird, I thought, because no one else would be going to this specific drawer to find specifically my shirts and then have the nerve to not put them back."

A teensy giggle escaped Hayes before she muffled it with the fabric of Baker's shirt.

"Isn't that so weird, Sunshine?" Baker tickled his fingers at the back of her neck, making her giggle some more as she squirmed like a worm in place. Then he became nice again and returned to rhythmically scratching her back.

"It's weird," he confirmed to himself. "You know what's even weirder?" He playfully pinched up a bit of the t-shirt that Hayes was wearing. "This shirt looks exactly like one of mine." He had recognized it by the flag design on the back when she had just enough energy left to tug off her sweatshirt before burying herself under the covers.

Baker let go of the fabric, slipping his hand underneath the shirt to rub her back. "What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

Hayes dissolved into genuine laughter as his fingers landed on her very ticklish side. It was torture, but Hayes was too stubborn to admit that she was double dipping, taking both Austin and Baker's t-shirts to wear as her own.

"Now what is so funny?" His attack came to a ceasefire to allow Hayes a chance to breathe.

Chubba decided that was his opening to join in on the fun by attacking Baker's face with kisses. The brother had to fend off the onslaught all the while making sure the dumb dog didn't step on the little girl by accident.

Hayes squealed, her arms rising to protect her face and hair when Chubba almost tumbled on top of her. Between her giggles, she managed to say, "You might need to do some laundry, Baker."

Baker chuckled, taking a glimpse over to the open closet accordion doors where Hayes' overflowing laundry hamper of dirty clothes could be seen. For someone who was in uniforms more often than not, he was amazed at how fast she accumulated dirty clothes.

Go figure, the only clothes that she wore too many times and never ended up in the pile were the brothers' sweatshirts, which Austin had to purposefully hunt down once a week to make sure they got cleaned. Baker made a mental reminder to grab the sweatshirt she had worn last night off the floor before she gets the idea to wear it again.

The older brother nicely encouraged, basically shoved, Chubba off the bed and bent forward, planting a kiss on her messy mop of hair. "Time to get up, baby cakes."

Hayes clutched onto his sweatpants, burying her face into the side of his leg. His sweatpants were surprisingly very soft. Her blonde hair strands whipped back and forth as she shook her head. "Maybe later."

Baker laughed. "No, now. Go take a quick shower, c'mon." he patted her butt, encouraging her to get up. When that didn't work, Baker started tickling her again with no mercy.

Payback.

"Okay, okay," Hayes released him and rolled away to the other side of the bed, far away from his assault. Laying flat on her stomach, she somehow wiggled her legs off the bed first before sliding the rest of the way off and onto the floor. The dog wasted no time in running around the bed to check on her. The sound of Hayes' laughter let Baker know she was perfectly fine.

He basked in the joyous sound, happy she woke up in a good mood as opposed to a not-so good mood. Sunshine being Sunshine beat cranky Sunshine any day of the week.

Baker shook his head in amusement. "That's one way to get up." He stood up from the bed like a normal person, cracking his joints.

"I'm still sleeping," Hayes declared.

Baker rounded the edge of the bed to where she was, now sitting on her butt and giving Chubba a hug. Her face was tucked under the dog's muzzle, their blonde hairs meshing together.

"Uppsie daisies," Baker insisted, stepping closer. He  leant down and slid his hands under Hayes' armpits and lifted her up to her feet, much to Chubba's protests. "Quicker you shower, quicker you can eat."

"I'm not hun-..." Hayes' stomach said otherwise with a rumbling growl. She tossed her head back as her cheeks automatically warmed. The girl patted her stomach. "Dumb Tommy tum tum."

Baker laughed. "What was that, baby? Oh right." He pointed at her with finger guns. "You, shower." He pointed his thumbs at himself. "Me, take the dog outside." Then he did a zigzag cross of his arms, pointing at all three of them. "We, meet in the kitchen for chow time. Deal?"

"No," Hayes huffed, though her eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Well too bad!" Baker replied sassily, channeling his drama queen self. "You are dismissed, Sunshine. What do you say?" He switched roles quicker than she could blink, now acting as a drill sergeant.

Hayes stuck her tongue out at him, her hands on her hips.

"Sunshine, what do you say?"

Hayes dodged his attempt at smacking her butt, cackling as she ran out of her room, nearly tripping over the too-long sweatpants she was wearing.

"Hoo-ah, Sunshine!" Baker playfully shouted after her. It seemed Chubba was the only one getting fired up by his motivational speech, as the dog started jumping around, pouncing on Baker as he tried to get some pets. Baker was ruffling his golden fur when Hayes came running back in with a clean towel over her shoulder.

He smelt trouble.

Quick as a ninja, Hayes karate-chopped Baker's butt. "High-yah!"

————

"I know I said a quick shower, but geez, that was quick. Did you even use soap?"

"Yes," Hayes scowled at her brother's back, "and I brushed my hair. Thank you very much." She knew that would be the next question.

Baker glanced down at the dog who was obediently sitting at his feet or begging for scraps, same thing. "You hear that Chubba? She even brushed her hair." He smiled brightly over his shoulder at his sister. "I'm so proud of you."

"You're not funny," Hayes grumbled at the condescending tone. Her lips twitched upward when he sent her a wink.

"Ouch." Baker pretended to grab his chest in pain. "Way to hurt a guy's ego."

"What are you making?" Hayes asked, ignoring her older brother's antics. She had gotten a whiff of whatever was sizzling in the oven when he took a quick peek inside. While waiting for his reply, she started playing with Chubba who was extremely very super extra excited to see her as if he didn't just see her five minutes ago. He jumped up on his back legs, his front paws resting on Hayes' chest as she gave him all the love and affection in the world.

"I am making bacon and eggs for breakfast. Would you like some?"

"No, thanks," Hayes politely declined, not a fan. She rubbed her forehead against the dog's face, laughing when he tried to lick her chin.

"You want some bacon, Chubba?" She changed her voice as if the dog was speaking. "Bacon? Gotta get that bacon. Smokey bacon. Crispy bacon. Tasty bacon! Yum yum yum yum yum, its bacon! I'd get it myself but I don't have any thumbs. It's bacon! I love you! I love bacon!"

Hayes cracked herself up as childlike laughter filled the kitchen, spilling into the hallways of the home. She hadn't heard her other brothers yet, but if they were in the vicinity, no doubt they heard her.

Baker gently shushed her for being too loud as he quietly laughed alongside her, knowing exactly what commercial she had seen. "You, little lady, watch way too much television."

"Just Family Feud!" Hayes defended herself, "it's not my fault they play the same commercial all the time." It was one of her favorite commercials.

"I'm just joking," Baker said, turning on the stove fan before going to grab the cartoon of eggs from the fridge. "What do you want to eat?"

Hayes shrugged, glancing around the kitchen for some inspiration. She spotted a glass of milk and two vitamin gummies placed in front of a chair at the table.

Wild guess, but she assumed that was meant for her.

Baker threw out some options, a healthy mix between breakfast and lunch choices since it was noon. "I believe Austin bought us donuts." Hayes shook her head. The frosting gave her a headache.

"You want some chocolate chip waffles? Or I can heat up your chicken tenders from dinner? Or we have bananas. Get some potassium in you to help prevent those leg cramps you've been having ." As he spoke, Baker freely moved about, doing his kitchen routine as if he lived there. Which he did, for a number of years before marrying Peyton.

Hayes shook her head, a little overwhelmed at the number of choices he gave her. While undoubtedly she had gotten better with picking from the immense spread of food available to her, Austin and Colton had learned over time it was a safer bet to only present two food choices for her to pick from. Just one of those quirks she retained after many years of living the years with the Bear. This was gourmet compared to pizza rolls every third night.

Whereas Glen had no struggles with food, quickly turning into a bottomless garbage disposal like the rest of his brothers. His eating habits probably tripled.

After going back over the options in her head, Hayes' lip curled up in disgust as Baker had slipped in that dreadful fruit.

When she hadn't responded, Baker turned to look at her, smirking when he saw her face. "Banana, it is then." He grabbed one of the last remaining bananas from the bunch and walked over to Hayes. She was hovering behind her designated seat, her hands wrapped loosely around the bar atop of the chair.

He teasingly held the banana out in front of her face, giving it a little enticing shake. "You know you want it," Baker sung.

"No, I really don't," Hayes turned her head away. "Baker, stop," she whined, ducking down when the banana was right at her nose.

"Why don't you want it?" Baker asked. "Because we both know that if you stop eating bananas, then Austin won't buy as many and as soon as we stop buying them, you're gonna suddenly want one again and then there won't be any."

The logic was easily applied to any of her brothers and their constantly changing food cravings.

"You know why," Hayes huffed, using both her arms to push his right arm away.

"I don't think I do. Enlighten me here, Sunshine," Baker had a hint of amusement in his voice.

Hayes scowled. She wasn't going to fall for his tricks. He was totally making fun of her. "Pretty sure you do know."

"Fine," Baker easily admitted, not wanting to ruin the girl's morning. "You're right, I know."

"Of course you do! You always know everything," Hayes puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. It was true, even if he was halfway across the country, he would know what was all the happenings going on in their family.

"It's my job to know everything. That's how Austin and I can keep all you rascals in check." Baker pointed the banana at her.

It was too close to her face. Yuck, she could feel the vomit building.

With the intention to get Baker to leave her alone with that darn banana, Hayes jabbed his side with her elbow. Her face paled as realization washed over her for what she just did and she hastily retreated back out of his reach. Accidently trapping herself in the corner between the wall and the panty, she had no where to escape. Nervously, she crossed her arms, hands tucked under her pits to hide the tremor. "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking. I didn't mean to, Baker. We were just playing around."

Hayes wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. Why was she so stupid? Why couldn't her stupid brain understand to not do that? All she had to do was keep her hands to herself. It was that simple! After last night, she would have thought all urges to punch someone would just evaporate.

Baker's eyebrows furrowed in confusion until he concluded that Hayes now associated all man-handling, or in her case, little girl-handling, on the same playing field as a punch.

Baker gently shushed her again as her voice rose an octave. "Shhh, it's alright, Sunshine. We are just playing. You didn't do anything wrong and you did not hurt me."

Hayes didn't look too certain, causing Baker to sigh. He made sure to put the banana down on the table before he walked over to where Hayes was cowering. "You're fine," he assured her. "You're allowed to play, Sunshine. You're most certainly allowed to defend yourself." He suddenly flicked her in the forehead. "As long as I get to do this."

"Ow," Hayes yelped, rubbing the sore spot.

Baker gripped her wrist, moving it out of the way so he could kiss the reddening boo boo. Then he pulled her forward into a tight hug. "See, no harm no foul."

"That wasn't nice," she grumbled against his chest. But she got his point, kind of.

"I love you, too, Sunshine," Baker grinned, resting his chin on top of her head. He mentally patted himself on the back for the quick save from an impending melt down.

The sound of paws tippy tapping on the tile floor broke up their mini hug fest.

"Umm, Baker, I think Chubba just stole the banana off the table." Hayes bit her lip to stop herself from snickering. Good Doggo.

Baker gasped as he let Hayes go and turned around to look. "What? Come on, Chubba! You dumb dog. Now you're gonna be shitting diarrhea all day." He was too late to catch the dog's collar in the kitchen as Chubba bolted, his tail wagging wildly as he went to find a safe space to munch on his snack. "Fuck, he better not go on the carpet. Austin will kill me."

Unable to contain it anymore, Hayes snorted at her brother's misfortune. "Might want to get Chubba some pepto for dogs! Nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrheaaaa." Hayes knew the catchy jingle by heart, quickly dissolving into more laughter, bending over at the waist as she hugged her arms to her chest.

Sleep deprivation put her in a childish giggling mood. Again, better than crabby, cranky pants.

Baker could listen to her laugh all day long.

He put his hands on his hips, looking stern. "That's it. No more TV for you."

Hayes' jaw dropped, though she couldn't get rid of the cheeky grin on her face for long. "What? Why? That wasn't even from watching TV."

"Oh yeah? Where did you learn that song from, Sunshine?" Baker challenged her, raising his eyebrows.

"Francis," She giggled, quickly covering her mouth with her sweatshirt sleeve as if sharing a dirty secret, "he eats McDonalds too much."

That was the truest statement Baker heard today.

Baker rolled his eyes at Francis' stupidity. The teen never learned that the shit he puts into his body has to come back out someway or another.

"By the way, I'm telling Austin!"

Baker playfully pursed his lips, giving her a pretend glare as he waved his hand around. "Pray tell, Sunshine. What exactly are you going to tell him?"

Feeling evil, Hayes simply shrugged. She felt Baker's eyes watching her every move as she picked up the gummies off the table while ignoring the cup of milk. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she teased, slowly inching her way towards the threshold to take her exit.

Baker pressed his lips together as he pointed two fingers at his eyes then at her. I'm watching you.

Hayes shot him her brightest smile before zooming out of there. She knew Baker was feeling generous and let her escape without more pestering. She also knew he'd come collect her in a couple minutes to eat real food, too, so she used this free time to roam around in search of her other siblings.

While chewing on the vitamins, her immediate instinct was to check the family room first, which was where her brothers typically congregated at all hours of the day. She was rewarded with Francis who was crashed out on the couch. Welp, if he hadn't been woken up yet from all the banshee screaming, then he was in a deep sleep.

Hayes empathized with him, having not gotten such great sleep either. So she left him alone like a respectful little sister, instead turning her attention to Chubba. She had seen him in her periphery, the dog was sitting by the back door with the banana in his mouth, patiently waiting to be let outside.

Drool was actually dripping from his mouth as he could not wait to devour the banana.

That made one of them.

Hayes unlocked the door, and with one final pet to the top of his head, she pulled open the door, releasing the beast into the backyard.

Her job was now deemed complete in the family room so Hayes snuck back out, sliding the windowed panel shut so Francis would be undisturbed.

She continued on her hunt for more brothers, her fingers dancing along the top of the dining room chairs as she skipped through the house. She could faintly hear Baker tinkering around in the kitchen, but he hadn't called her back in yet.

🎶"Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road.

Follow, follow, follow, follow,

Follow the Yellow Brick Road."🎶

Hayes hummed to herself as she pranced, her head bopping to the tune. Why in the world that song had popped into her head, she didn't know. She hated the Wizard of Oz. Everything about it was just so creepy to her. Hayes even shivered just thinking about it.

As she approached the crossroads of the foyer, she now had five paths to choose from; Colton's bedroom, the laundry room, out the front door, up the stairs, or into the living room.

Tough decision to make.

Hayes could hear the clinking of metal coming from the direction of the garage. Assuming that was where Dakota could be found, working out on this lovely Sunday, Hayes wisely steered clear of the laundry room.

Colton's bedroom was dark, so that would be pointless to go in as it meant Colton was not in there.

She was 99% certain that no one was upstairs and a quick glance told her the front door was locked.

Soooo, process of elimination landed her in the living room.

Pretending she was on a secret spy mission, Hayes snuck up to the wall that bordered the staircase, almost hugging it as she silently peeked her head in. Right away, she spotted her eldest brother laying on the couch, his body turned on his left side with his face towards the back of the couch. Another nap taker! How scandalous.

Skimming the rest of the living room, she caught sight of a shadowy figure in the office. Peter Pan?

Hayes leaned forward just a smidge more as she subconsciously held her breath careful to not make a sound. Just a teensy bit more. Can almost see now... Aha.

Who else but Glen! He was doing something on Austin's laptop.

Hayes balanced her weight on the back of her heels before twisting around out of visual and pressing her back against the wall. Now what should she do?

The sight created a battle that was currently taking place in her heart as she had to decide which brother to approach first. Hayes felt a twinge of uncomfortableness in approaching either one as she hadn't really had a normal conversation with her eldest brother in forever and Glennard, well, they didn't exactly leave each other on very good terms. In fact, Hayes left him on no terms, running from her problems like always.

Both her own doings.

But that was going to change.

Right now.

Just as soon as she stopped feeling like she was going to vomit from nerves. Her playful mood with Baker was slowly slipping from her clutches.

She could do this.

All she had to do was apologize.

One at a time.

Austin or Glen?

Glen or Austin?

Austin.

Glen.

It shouldn't be this hard.

Come on, Hayes.

Squirrel.

Easily distracted as she took advantage of anything to procrastinate the awkwardness and mega uncomfortableness she was psyching herself out with, Hayes whipped her head around when she thought she heard voices coming from behind her.

There was obviously no one there, but as she waited an extra second just to be extra sure, she confirmed the voice was real. Singular, though.

Hayes' eyes widened in surprise. Was that Dakota was singing in the garage? Singing or more like Scream-o?

🎶"you fucker get up, come on get down with the sickness"🎶

The little girl quickly covered her mouth to prevent any sounds from escaping. He wasn't bad, per say, but she knew it wasn't showcasing his true singing capabilities. Hayes couldn't hear the music to go along with his vocals so he must of been jamming out with headphones.

Either way, she wasn't sure the song was something Austin would approve of her listening to.

Just a feeling...

————

1 hour and 34 minutes down...

2 hours and 26 minutes to go.

Glen hoped getting his driving permit was worth this absolute torture he was being forced to check off. Okay, he couldn't very well say forced, because Austin reminded him that having the permit was a privilege not a right, which now that he thought about it, the words sounded like they were taken right out of the same parenting book that Stephen Rayon read to deal with Patrick. Maybe he let Austin borrow the book.

Glen's lips twitched which he swiftly turned into a cough to hide his amusement. He subtly leaned back in the desk chair, checking to see if Austin was paying him any lick of attention.

Nope, the man was asleep on the couch in the living room.

Glen truly snickered this time, letting his mind enjoy reliving the memories of some of the good times with Patty Cakes and the Rayon family. Glen subconsciously reached into his pocket to pull out his cell phone, coming up empty handed as he remembered Austin had their phones. Scratch that idea then.

He suddenly sat up straight in the chair, his right hand covering the computer mouse. He moved the mouse really fast, watching the cursor go berserk on the laptop as he prevented the screen from fading black due to inactivity. The timer in the left corner of the screen continued to count down until it reached zero, and Glen was able to click the arrow to the next module. Finally, only 20 something more of those to go.

Glen leaned forward, resting his elbow on the desk and perching his cheek in the palm of his hand. His fingers tapped impatiently against the side of his head. At least Colton wasn't around this morning to harass him about the bad posture. And Austin was napping so that crossed him out. But Baker was hanging out in the kitchen, and although he wasn't nearly as neurotic about it as the others, it was still a pet peeve of his.

Shoulders back, head up, yada yada...

Hayes was always getting told to stand up straight as she had a tendency to curl her shoulders in, to blend in with the shadows. Glen had noticed she's been better about it, her confidence in herself getting stronger every day thanks to their brothers.

The sudden boom of heavy weights dropping to the floor pulled him from his thoughts, making him almost crack his chin on the desk when his hand jerked from surprise. Austin would have really been elated to see his chin matching with his nose.

Freaking hell, Dakota.

The outcome of what he just barely managed to avoid plagued his mind, as he absentmindedly rubbed his chin from the ghost of pain. That would of hurt.

"Psst."

Glen whipped around in the chair so fast, banging his knee against the inner part of the desk as he done so. First his nose, then his chin, and now his knee. He was lucky he didn't just give himself whiplash.

Talk about misfortune.

Glen hunched over, keeping his eyes on his sister as he rubbed away the knee pain. It was only the second time he was seeing her since she smashed her fist in his face. The other time was earlier in the morning when Hayes was still asleep. He couldn't help himself and had to check with his own eyes that she was home and unharmed.

He had no hard feelings, but he wasn't so sure what Hayes was feeling.

"Sorry," Hayes whispered, chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes traveled all over his face. This was the first time she was seeing him and what did she do? Caused him to hurt himself.

Glen stared back at her, his eyebrows furrowing together, creating wrinkles on his forehead. There was a sense of awkwardness surrounding the two of them which the duo had never usually had before. Neither of them liked it but didn't know how to maneuver through it either.

Hayes scrunched her nose up in response, all of a sudden finding her socks so fascinating. Today's matching pair was pink with cows on them, courtesy of Francis.

Glen's lips tilted in a lop-sided smile, knowing he was going to be the one who had to break the ice. Somethings just never changed. "All those times we watched the Muhammad Ali movies really paid off, huh?"

Hayes startled at his voice,  not expecting Glen to be cracking jokes at a time like this. She slowly lifted her eyes up without moving her head much, gaging his facial expression. She saw nothing but hope and optimism in his blue eyes.

"Are you being serious?" Hayes asked, standing up straight.

Glen nodded as he lifted himself out of the chair by the armrests, his knee already forgotten. "Yeah, the old one-two punch. Dakota was impressed, you know, after the fact, once the nose bleed stopped bleeding and all."

Hayes frowned, warily watching Glen walk forward until he stood in front of her.  She dug her toes into the carpet in a nervous manner. "Are you forgetting the part where I punched you in the face?"

Glen swiped his hand in the air as if pushing that thought away from him. "I'm trying too, but it might be hard if you keep bringing it up."

"Because I hurt you!" Hayes exclaimed, "Why are you acting like it's no big deal?"

"Because," Glen dragged out, "Given the circumstances, I would have punched myself too. But instead, you did it for me. So thanks!" He chirped.

Hayes' fingers flexed into fists. A smile grew on Glen's face when he saw her frustration festering and he immediately crossed the gap and hugged Hayes tight. "Float like a butterfly. Sting like a bee. You can't hit what your eyes don't see." Glen quoted by heart, as he smooshed his sister's face against his chest.

If she wasn't certain she was dealing with Glennard right now, Hayes would have assumed it was Francis speaking. The two brothers were starting to sound eerily similar along with their already freakishly alike natures. Two brothers cut from the same piece of cloth, that's for sure.

Glen squeezed his sister tighter, pivoting them side to side when he heard Hayes take a shuttering breath. He didn't mean to make her cry.

He suddenly spun them around when he remembered the computer test, so now he was facing the desk and could clearly see the laptop over her head. The timer was still plenty ticking away.

"No tears, HayHay, you know the rules." Glen teased, laying his cheek on top of her head.

"I'm not crying, Glennard," Hayes denied with a tell-tale sniffle. She turned her head to the side so she wouldn't suffocate from his shirt. "I just don't want you to be mad at me because I'm really, really sorry."

"I forgive you," Glen stated earnestly. "Is that what you want to hear?"

Hayes nodded.

"Okay, well that was easy. Now it's your turn to say it back." Glen demanded, his voice turned serious as he was not past the guilt he was feeling.

"But you didn't do anything?"

"Exactly! That's the fricking problem! I should have told you as soon as I found out. We're partners, us against the world, right? That's what we always said and I broke that promise. I left you hanging in the wind and you were right to blame me for not telling you. But I'm not going to take back what I said. The Bear didn't deserve our help. I am sorry for yelling at you though. I shouldn't have done that."

"I know," Hayes simply said with a single shoulder shrug.

"You know what? That I'm the worst brother in the universe? Thanks," Glen said dryly.

"No, you moron," Hayes pushed out of his embrace, taking a step back as she stared up at him. "I know we weren't suppose to save him."

Glen stuck a finger in his ear and cleaned it free of wax. He cupped his hand to his ear making a sound funnel. "I'm sorry, what now?"

Who was this Hayes imposter?

"Baker talked to me. He kind of scared the shit out of me to be honest, but I get it now," Hayes firmly crossed her arms against her chest, embarrassed by last night's meltdown. At least the parts she remembered, some were a bit foggy.

"You said a bad word," Glen poked her in the forehead exactly where Baker flicked her prior. "I'm telling Austin."

"Shut up," Hayes scowled. She flinched when Glen suddenly leaped around her and wiggled the computer mouse on the desk. She spun on her socked toes, leaning around his arm to look, curious as to what he was even doing. "What's that?"

"The drug and alcohol test," Glen muttered, half distracted by the pop-up question on the screen. It was the evil test makers' ways to ensure the student was sitting at the computer for the whole time.

"For your permit?" Hayes excitedly punched his arm. "That's so cool! Then you'll be like my own personal driver! You know, if I ever wanted to go anywhere. Yeah! This is great."

Hayes was a homebody. She was never going anywhere.

"Yeah, no shot," Glen shook his head, striking down that idea. He clicked his answer choice, getting a green check in return to mark it as correct, then clicked the arrow to move onto the next painfully boring module.

Her mind twittering elsewhere, Hayes took a couple steps back, swaying lightly on her feet with her hands clasped behind her back.

Feeling her lack of presence, Glen stood up straight, fixing his messy hair as he turned back around to find his sister. "What?" He asked self-consciously when she just stared at him with her sharp blue eyes.

Hayes took him and herself off guard when she sprung forward, wrapping her skinny arms around his waist. "I forgive you, Glennard."

And if that wasn't the best thing Glen heard all day.

"We're finally free, can you believe it?" Hayes lightly chuckled, still amazed.

Tired from the fight,

I've been fighting for tomorrow.

It's a new day.

And we're finally free.

Glen glanced down at her, his eyebrows meeting in the middle. "Huh?"

"Baker said we're free. No more worrying. No more anything. We're absolutely freaking free." A weight had been lifted off the kids' shoulders.

"Feels good." Glen exhaled. He could say that again.

"Feels really, really good," Hayes agreed.

Glen grinned. "You gucci, HayHay?"

Hayes knowingly returned the smile, their identical twinkling blue eyes reflecting the pure happiness and relief they felt. "Just peachy, G."

Glen squeezed her super tight. "I love you, my most favorite sister in the whole wide world."

"Love you too, you big oaf."

"That's not very nice, Bestie." Glen squeezed her infinitely more.

Hayes stomped on his foot, escaping his suffocating grip. Glen punched her hard in the arm, making Hayes gasp at the disrespect.

That meant only one thing... the kids were back.

"Are we really starting up again with this behavior? Haven't we learned our lesson by now?"

Glen and Hayes felt their hearts jump to their throats at the deep voice, immediately snapping to attention. Austin stood in the doorway, hip propped against the wall with his arms crossed, observing his kids.

"Weren't you sleeping?" Hayes asked, evidently very surprised to see her eldest brother very much so not asleep.

Glen nudged her, correcting his sister with a teasing tone. "He was just resting his eyes, not sleeping. Weren't you, Austin?"

Austin maintained his unimpressed gaze on the outside, contrasting the warm fondness that spread throughout his chest.

"I was indeed resting my eyes," he confirmed, breaking character as he playfully rolled his eyes at Glen's proud smile. "Then I heard you two chatty kathys yapping away and had to come see what was happening."

Glen slung his arm around Hayes' neck. "Just hanging with my best friend."

Austin smiled. "I'm glad to hear that." He shifted on his feet, his right hand folding behind him to scratch an itch on his back.

Glen's lips quirked upward when he realized it was Austin's nervous tick. It was rare to see such a thing from his eldest brother.

Being the awesomeness little brother that he was, Glen decided to help him out a bit. He poked Hayes in the cheek with his finger.

The girl gave him a perplexed look, unsure of what she did now.

Glen tilted his head in Austin's direction. Talk to him.

Hayes frowned, her eyes flickering between her two brothers.

Glen did a double head bob in Austin's direction, hoping Hayes would pick up on his hints. It wasn't rocket science. The urgency rose as Glen watched the eldest brother start to turn to walk away, letting his two weirdo kids continue whatever they were up to in peace.

"Austin, wait up," Glen called out, hurriedly grabbing Hayes by the shoulders and literally pushing her towards the man. Austin stopped and turned around, puzzlement on his face. Glen dropped her off right in front of Austin before ducking back into the office and closing the door, leaving just a crack so he could snoop.

The brother and sister were left glancing at each other's faces.

Hayes felt her cheeks heat up as Austin softly smiled.

"How are you feeling, Sunshine?" Austin kindly asked.

Hayes replied slowly, "I'm fine." She felt so painfully awkward and she absolutely hated it. It wasn't suppose to be this way between her and Austin. Hayes knew the ball was in her court to fix it as Austin wouldn't dare rush Hayes into something she wasn't wanting to do. He just wasn't that type of guy. Patience was his super power.

The little girl sensed Glen's eyes on her and she quickly checked over her shoulder, busting Glen instantly. Not embarrassed in the slightest at being caught, he shot her a thumbs up before doing a shooing motion to get a move on.

Hayes took a deep breath and exhaled. "Austin?"

"Yes, baby?" He was taking everything in stride, putting no pressure on his sister.

Hayes nervously pinched herself on the palm of her hand. "I take back what I said to you. I don't not like you. I don't know why I said that. I was just really worried about Glen and I got frustrated because I was scared and I took it out on you. I'm really sorry, I hope you know that."

Austin's gentle smile didn't falter. "I know you are," Austin replied, "and I'm sorry for making you feel like I wasn't listening. I'll try better next time, okay? I promise."

Hayes felt her bottom lip tremble. She was an emotionally sensitive teenager and it was an emotional weekend and she never had emotional guidance, so she just couldn't help it.

She called his name again. "Austin?"

Austin replied, "Sunshine."

"May I hug you?"

"Absolutely. You never have to ask," Austin opened his arms for Hayes to bulldoze into him, immediately the siblings embraced each other. Austin pressed a long kiss on top of her head followed by two short, chaste ones.  "I hope you know how much I love you."

"I love you, Austin." She snuggled closer. "and I really love your hugs."

Austin laughed, "I love your hugs, too."

Hayes tilted her head back a bit to look up at him, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

His hand gently palmed the side of her cheek. "Hayes, there is nothing to forgive. You stood up for yourself in the way you knew how. I would never hold that against you."

"But-."

"No buts," Austin tweaked her chin, chuckling when he heard Glen's snicker of immaturity. "Sunshine, I love you and I will always love you, until the sun dies out. And then I'll continue loving you beyond that, forever. And because I love you and your brothers so unconditionally whole, you never have to ask me for forgiveness, because you already have it."

Hayes opened and closed her mouth, not a single word coming out, a clue that she was getting overwhelmed. Giving up on words, Hayes tucked her head under his arm, nuzzling her forehead against his soft shirt.

"Did I break you?" Austin teased, running a hand over her hair and down her pony tail.

Hayes squeezed him tight and murmured, "You're the best ever, Austin."

"Finally!" Glen, with no shame about listening to their conversation, came running and crashed into their hug. "We're a happy family again!"

Hayes' eye roll was hidden, though Austin's hearty laugh was heard. "Take it down a notch, Smiley. I think Francis is still sleeping in the family room."

Glen's enthusiasm could not be contained as he continued to bounce on the balls of his feet, his arms wrapped around Austin and Hayes for a group hug. Austin freed one of his arms from around Hayes and pulled Glen's head closer so he could kiss the boy's mop of blonde hair.

Glen was something else, that boy.

"Hey Sunshine, I think this muffin has your name on it if you want it. I also heated up the tenders and fries for you- oh." Baker cut himself off, happening across the heart-tugging scene in the living room. "Oh, oh oh, what do we have here?"

Wasn't this the sweetest thing since apple pie?

A relieved smile bloomed across his face. Before the moment could end, he took his phone out, making sure to snap a photo for the memories. Then, because he thought himself funny, he sent it in a group message with the three oldest brothers.

Just a dad and his kids.

Half of them at least. Francis and Emerson would be offended they weren't included in the family affair.

The moment passed, Glen broke apart from the trio first, sprinting back into the den to check on the computer before all his progress was lost.

Hayes was much slower, and more unwilling, at ungluing herself from her eldest brother, which Austin solved by keeping an arm wrapped around her shoulder. Together, the two turned to look at Baker who was leaning against the piano with his ankles causally crossed. A stupidly happy smile was on his face.

When no one spoke, Baker cleared his throat and stood up. "As I was saying, food is served, Miss Sunshine."

Austin frowned, jostling his sister as he led them over to Baker. "You didn't eat yet?"

Hayes shook her head, just about to defend herself when the sound of a dog barking in the somewhat distance disturbed the peace.

Oh no, she forgot about Chubba!

Her eyes grew big, but she kept her mouth shut as to not get in trouble for letting the dog outside without checking the yard gates first to make sure they were locked. She'd let Baker sweat it out a bit, karma for teasing her with the banana in the fist place.

He'd figure it out eventually, Mr. Know-it-all.

"Umm, where's the dog?" Baker asked hesitantly, glancing between the siblings. He could just picture the diarrhea waiting for him to clean up on the carpet somewhere in the house. Always the carpet, never the tile.

Shit, literally.

————

The rest of the afternoon was not nearly as enrapturing as the beginning.

Baker had departed for his own home with Chubba relatively soon after ensuring Hayes ate a nutritious meal of a chocolate chip muffin with a side of french fries. She fed half of the chicken tenders to the dog and ate the other half.

Turns out, Chubba didn't poop in the house either, as Hayes already knew he hadn't, so the dog was welcomed back another day.

Baker would have stayed longer, as he loved just hanging out with his younger siblings doing anything and nothing, but Peyton was due to return home from her weekend adventure soon and there was a 'honey-do list' that he hadn't even started. So off he went, to go save himself from being banished to the couch for the night.

After Francis' satisfactory noon nap, he sought out Hayes, wanting to see if they were still friends. Hayes, of course, said yes, which sparked Francis into giving one of his obnoxious bear hugs, swaying her side to side. He obnoxiously shouted-sang an unoriginal tune, too.

Sissy loves me, this I know,

For my Sissy tells me so.

Glen happened to be nearby and joined in again, crashing his second group hug of the day. This created the classic Sissy Sandwich that Hayes oh so thoroughly enjoyed.

Dinner was nothing special either, other than the fact that Colton had still not come home. It was odd, but Austin brushed off their concerns, giving the excuse that he was out with friends. Conversation was more on the mellow side as everyone was tired from the draining weekend. Francis carried most of the discussion, talking about who knows what with Austin, though he was petitioning for three day weekends at one point. Francis was simply a happy dude whom nothing could kill his vibe after certifying that his siblings didn't hold Saturday night against him. Glen piped up every now and then, excitedly chattering about how he passed the online tests so now he can get his permit.

Hayes really paid no attention to either of those brothers.

The attention grab came from the other end of the spectrum. Dakota was acting his grumpy self, giving grunts for responses whenever he was forced into conversation. Hayes didn't know if it was her paranoia and anxiety acting up or what, but it seemed like he was avoiding her and Glen all day and even while sitting at the table. But she swallowed her concerns and minded her own business as she ate her plain chicken quesadilla that was nearly the size of her face.

The brothers had voted on Mexican food for dinner.

In other, other news, and in no means meant to compete with Glen's celebration, Hayes set her new world record for the number of showers in a day, a grand total of two! She didn't wash her hair when she had showered earlier that morning so when the evening finally came around, Austin suggested she go shower again as part of her night routine and get her uniform laid out for school. The morning would be here before she knew it.

At first Hayes was fighting it, simply because she was in the good part of the book she was reading and didn't want to stop. But then Glen said that he would shower first and that got her up and moving real quick. Hayes didn't want to risk Glen using up all the hot water, as it had happened before with her stupid brothers.

That brings everything up to date, as Hayes was freshly cleaned in one of Austin's t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants but surprisingly no socks.

She was back to reading her book, comfy on the living room couch with her feet tucked under her and a blanket covering her lap. The little girl was enjoying Austin's company as he was by the piano, ironing everyone's school uniforms, making sure the three teens had enough for the rest of the week. Collared shirts for all of them, and pants for the boys. Hayes' skorts were easy to clean, as they didn't need to be ironed out as long as she folded them away in her drawer right away.

Hayes yawned as she finished reading the very last page. She wasn't sure if she was satisfied by the ending or not, slowly closing the book with a pop. She tossed the book onto the couch beside her, readjusting the blanket so now it covered her whole body up to her neck. A nighttime chill had crossed the threshold into their home.

"All done?" Austin asked, checking on his little girl.

"Yep, another one bites the dust," Hayes replied with a grin. Her and Colton had this unspoken book battle going on, trying to see who could read the most books before Christmas. The count would restart at New Years. That was her fourth book, whereas Colton crushed a book a week pretty much. He enjoyed reading in the early mornings and before going to bed, mostly historical fiction and classics but he also dabbled crime novels which is why Hayes just finished a James Patterson book.

"Why don't you start making a list of books you want for Christmas. Maybe Santa Claus will bring you some." Austin's eyes crinkled as he smiled, enjoying watching Hayes' expression transform from to shock to joy to confusion to disbelief back to confusion.

"But there are still books I haven't read yet on Colton's bookshelf. Why would I get more? Isn't that just a waste of money?"

Austin put the iron down, holding up the shirt he had just finished ironing and folded it nicely. "Because it's nice to have something that belongs to you, don't you think? And I know your taste in books is different than Colton's. You're allowed to ask for what you want, you know we'd get you anything, within reason. Same for Glen and Francis. Plus, it's Christmas."

Her mind instantly jumped to a specific book she was dying to read. Back in middle school, Margot had gotten the whole book series and even offered them to Hayes so she could read them too, but it was too risky. She would have felt horrible if the Bear had gotten his hands on the book and destroyed it. The girl would never have forgiven herself, so instead she waited for someone to donate the books to GoodWill for her to find.

It was also what Hayes deemed a very girly book, one that her brothers would probably tease her about. Vampires and werewolves. Therefore, her cheeks turned rosy in color as embarrassment flooded her.

"What is it?" Austin asked, seeing the wistfulness burning in Hayes' eyes.

Before Hayes could give him an answer, Dakota stormed into the family room, a man on a mission as he rudely interrupted the siblings' conversation. He barely bothered with a glance at Hayes. "Austin, where's the tv cable? I can't get the soccer game to fucking stream on my laptop."

He apparently was not included in the no electronics gig that Austin was enforcing with the younger siblings.

"Up your butt and around the corner," Hayes muttered, her anxiety at Dakota's grumpiness making an appearance as sarcasm. She had done good all afternoon, staying out of his way to not bother him, which would sound impossible when she sat next to him at the dinner table. But heck, she did it.

Hayes subconsciously crossed her arms under the blanket, holding her heart in place. She kept telling herself that Kota being miserable had nothing to do with her. He'd snap out of it soon enough, the little girl just had to wait it out.

Dakota sent her a nasty glare, making her shrink back into the couch. Guess she wasn't quiet enough. She blamed her tiredness for the lack of filter.

"Leave her alone," Austin put the folded shirt on top of the growing pile of shirts he had already finished. He stepped out from behind the ironing board and met up with Dakota, pushing him to get walking. "Hayes, don't move. I will be right back." Austin warned.

Yes, Austin.

She had no where to run anyways. She didn't feel like joining Francis and Glen in the garage nor did she want to be by herself.

As soon as Austin and Dakota were out of the room, Hayes blew a raspberry. She probably just earned herself a lecture which she had heard plenty of times since living here because of her unfiltered snide remarks. But cut the little girl some slack, this was the first time she didn't have to be overly worried about every little thing she said.

Because she was freeeeeee.

Wee Wee Weeee, said the little piggy all the way home.

Hayes grinned at herself, having somewhat of self-awareness that it must be close to her unofficial bedtime because she was losing her mind.

When fatigue hit, her mind spun faster than anyone would be able to comprehend and every random thought she ever had was fair game.

She started singing to herself. "... and he waddled away, waddle waddle, and he waddled away 'til the very next day. HEY, bum bum bum, got any grapes?"

Someone cleared their throat, making Hayes look up very slowly, caught in the act. A sheepish expression crossed her face when she saw her eldest brother. He found the cable cord so fast, Hayes was impressed. Then she remembered he was the one who hid it so Austin should have no problems retrieving it.

Dummy.

"Hayes, you know better than to speak like that." Austin got right to the point, referring to her sassy remark. The corners of Austin's lips were turned down in disapproval.

Though his actions shined of love as he purposefully stopped right in front of her, scratching her scalp fondly. Her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders and down her back, still damp from being washed in the shower.

Hayes grinned up at him, earning herself a boop on the nose courtesy of Austin's finger. "Just because you're cute doesn't get you out of trouble, young lady."

"Don't worry, you're cute too, Austin," Hayes cheesed widely, hastily flapping her arms under the blanket to free them so she could latch onto his waist before he could step away.

"And it must be your bedtime," Austin noted, wrapping his long arms around Hayes' back in the affectionate embrace she was yearning for. He rubbed up and down her back several times before patting her shoulder blade. "Alright, let me go. I want to finish ironing before it gets too late."

"Noooo," Hayes refused, tightening her grip on the back of his shirt. She will not be defeated.

"Come on, Sunshine," Austin loosely tugged on her arms but she was relentless. "Okay, you asked for it." His fingers wiggled under her armpits, instantly sparking giggles from the little girl. Her grip slacked enough for him to slip away.

"Austin, come back," Hayes complained, kicking her legs out and letting her feet drop heavily against the couch.

"What, Sunshine?" Austin sighed, letting the tiredness seep into his voice. He was allowed to be tired, too. He walked over to the ironing board and picked up the next wrinkled shirt to work on.

"I just wanted a hug," Hayes pouted, crossing her arms. "That's all I want in this whole wide world and you're depriving me of it."

"Is that so?" Austin continued to humor her as he got the chore done.

His attention gave her a sudden energy boost. "Yeah! Did you know physical touch is my love language? Francis found this quiz online and Fran, Glen, and me took it..."

"And I," Austin corrected her grammar.

Hayes huffed. "And I took the quiz, like I was saying, and guess what!"

"What?"

"I love hugs and high fives and snuggles but Fran and Glen both love quality time and then physical touch. They got the same exact results, can you believe that? So freaky, it's like they are twins."

"You don't say?" Austin gasped, his eyebrows rising when he glanced up and saw her unamused look. "You do say?"

The iron hissed as a puff of steam was released. Austin set the iron down, folding the small uniform shirt. "Well, who would have thought that. Wait, when did you guys take this quiz? Not today, I hope."

Hayes shrugged, her blonde hair that was freshly shampooed flopping everywhere with the movement. "I don't remember," she replied, sliding herself off the couch and onto the floor like a petulant child.

"Don't remember or you don't want to tell me that you went on someone's computer today after I said no electronics?"

Hayes held her shoulders up to her ears with a little grin on her face. "I dunno. Don't remember, remember?"

They were totally busted, the three of them snuck on his laptop when he and Dakota went and picked up the dinner from the restaurant.

"Uh huh," Austin clicked his tongue. "Get over here and give me a hug."

Her most favorite request ever, Hayes' grin widened as she scampered over to where Austin stood. In fast-acting instinct, his hand shot behind him and prevented Hayes from tumbling sideways into the piano with her momentum. "Easy, Sweets," He murmured, "Don't need you getting hurt."

Hayes embraced Austin from behind, gluing herself to his back as she hugged him. "I'd rather not," she agreed, rubbing her cheek against his soft shirt. The girl suddenly snorted, "I wonder what Dakota's love language is."

"Dakota's a special kind of guy," Austin said, turning his torso so he could stack the nicely folded shirt on top of the pile on the piano. He grabbed the next shirt to iron, just one more after this and then he was done for the night.

"Yeah," Hayes thought about it. "He's not much of a touchy feely kind of person, but he hugs me, sometimes. When he's in a good mood I guess. He hates gifts or any sort of attention. He also avoids family time." Hayes let out a sullen exhale. "Maybe he doesn't have a love language. But if he doesn't have a love language, then how do we love him?"

"He likes to be complicated."

"Very."

Austin blindly reached behind him and tickled his little sister. "Don't be mean to your brother."

"You said it!" Hayes squealed, jumping out of his reach without letting go of Austin's waist. "I was just agreeing."

Austin chuckled, "Alright, fair enough. Tell me what the five things are again?"

Hayes listed them off, "Physical touch, which is mine, umm, quality time, gifts, service like people doing things for you, and words of affirmation."

"Words of affirmation," Austin immediately said. "That and quality time, I would think."

"Really?" Hayes was skeptical. "Huh. Why?"

"Because that's just who he is. And don't you dare mention that to him." Austin gave her arm a little warning squeeze. "You hear me?"

"Mention what?" Hayes smartly replied before moving on. She was successfully distracting Austin from sending her to bed and she didn't want to mess up her progress. "Okay, what about Emerson? Wait, that's an easy one. Quality time! Oh and physical touch probably! Oh nooooo," Hayes groaned with the horrible realization, "just like Franny and Glennard. How annoying is that."

"Be nice," Austin chastised.

"That is me being nice." Hayes replied seriously.

"If that's considered being nice, then this family needs more work than I thought." Austin hummed, "No electronics for a month at this rate."

"I'm kidding!" Hayes exclaimed, backtracking, "kidding, just kidding." She reattached herself to Austin's back, nuzzling her forehead against the curve of his spine. "Please don't do that to me. Francis can only take so much losing at card games before he explodes."

"Oh, man." Austin laughed heartily, having to put the iron down before he stained the shirt by accident. "Now, that's more like it. You sound very concerned for our brother's wellbeing." He turned around in Hayes' embrace to face her properly. His hands palmed her cheeks, tilting her head upward so he could plant a kiss on her hairline. Then he wrapped his arms around her, returning her snuggly hug.

"You know, I think my love language might actually be gift getting."

"Oh?" Austin asked, loosening up his hold. Hayes immediately tightened her grip so he couldn't get away again.

She was risking it for the biscuit. "Yeah, then if you get me a puppy, I'll know for sure that you love me forever."

Austin's chest shook with his silent laughter. "I already love you always, silly. I don't need to prove it with a dog. But I guess if you don't need all these hugs anymore..."

"No!" Hayes shot that right down. "You have to hug me. It's part of the official brother handbook, didn't you read it?"

"Uh huh, right below the 'enforce bedtime for siblings' part, no?" Austin teased her right back.

Hayes shook her head, her damp hair sending little water droplets everywhere. "I don't have a bedtime, sir."

"Tonight you do, 9pm. Oh, look at that. We're right on schedule." He tried to pull away, but Hayes stepped on his feet, ensuring he couldn't escape. Austin had the very important role of keeping her toasty warm contrasting the chills from her slightly wet hair.

"It's not funny, Austin," Hayes whined, cackling when his fingers found her highly sensitive ticklish sides. Her feet tippy tapped on top of his as she tried to squirm away without actually abandoning ship.

"Okay, okay," Austin smiled, his fingers sprawled on her back, nearly covering shoulder to shoulder. He scratched her back. "We need to be winding down, not getting you fired up."

Still high with her second wind, Hayes grinned as an idea suddenly brightened in her mind. "Dance with me, Austin!"

Aussy, dance.

The core memory ached in his heart. "I'm too tired for that, babe. It's getting late."

"Aww come on, Austin, it'll be fun," Hayes insisted, tilting her head back and finding his matching blue eyes. Her twinkling eyes had no trouble convincing him, sending him reminiscing of the little girl who adored him then and still did now. She started swaying side to side in his embrace. "Pretty please?"

Please, please with ice cream and sprinkles? Aussy, I wanna dance on your toesies.

The four-year-old never got the point of the cherry on top when there could be sprinkles!

Austin could feel his lips curve upward by their own regard. His heart could never withhold his little girl's demands. "As you wish, Sunshine."

With her bare feet on top of his, his right hand flat against her head and the left hand curved around her upper back, the living room turned into their personal ballroom.

The eldest brother gracefully waltzed them around eliciting pure joy from his little sister.

A memory he'd cherish for a lifetime.

🎶I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,

Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance... 🎶

I hope you dance.

~~~~

(Arnold Schwarzenegger voice) I'll be back... sometime in June.