52.

Whenever life gets you down

Keeps you wearing a frown

And the gravy train has left you behind

And when you're all out of hope

Down at the end of your rope

And nobody's there to throw you a line...

~~

"Dibs on the shower first."

"Actually, I think Austin wanted to talk to you first." Colton interjected before the daily argument could break out amongst the boys. As if there weren't two showers available, they both had to fight for the master bathroom.

Hayes never took part as she was never in a hurry to take a shower.

Francis frowned as he picked his head up from where it was previously buried in his phone to look at Colton. "Me? Why?"

"Not just you. All three of you." Colton corrected.

"Womp, womp, womp," Glen provided the necessary sound effects for how the three teens felt about that.

He, especially, was worn out after Coach Colton made his basketball team have a conditioning day which meant his legs felt like jello. Conditioning and a therapy session in one as many of the players had hypothetical what-ifs about school shooters for Colton to answer.

Safe to say, all the teens would be hugging their parents a bit tighter and longer tonight.

All in all, the boy was more than looking forward to a hot shower, a hot meal, and a cold bed to sleep in.

"And the answer to my second question is..."

"I didn't realize we needed any particular reason to talk to you?" Colton retorted, his eyebrows rising towards his hairline.

"That's not what I meant." Francis clicked his phone off and dropped it on his lap.

"It's not what you said but how you said it," Glen sung underneath his breath, his pointer finger swaying in the air with the little tune.

Colton's eyes flickered to the rear view mirror. "That's enough, Smiley, thank you."

Not wanting to attract Colton's attention next, Hayes attempted to hold in her laugh, her puffed out cheeks turning red with the effort. Glen's filter, meaning lack of, was on its A-game during this car ride.

With Glen on a roll with his witticisms, Hayes crossed her fingers for flying under the radar, hopefully able to escape her eldest brother's chat. The post-practice hunger was real and so she only had food on her mind.

Ice cream.

And dogs. Not to eat though.

Mhmmm and chocolate. Definitely for eating.

Francis squinted as he stared out the front window, spying their house on the dead-end street. His 20/20 vision coming in clutch. "He didn't go to work?" One could hear the suspicion in his voice.

"Who didn't go to work?" That made Curious Glen straighten up in his seat. He would have benefited from wearing his glasses like he was suppose to.

Hayes leaned over as far as she could before her seatbelt stopped her movement, the two of them peering out his window together.

Francis briefly glanced sideways at Colton as the brother pulled into their driveway. Colton sent the back of Francis' head a questioning look in return, wondering how he knew that.

Colton was privy to that information already, but the three kids weren't told. Reason being, that whenever the routine was altered from the normal day-to-day, it threw the younger bunch into a frenzy. Therefore, Austin staying home from work qualified as a change in schedule.

"Same shirt," Francis mumbled his answer to the unspoken question, before opening his door and climbing out. He hip-checked the door close behind him. The teen's observational skills were on point as Austin was still, in fact, in the same clothing they had last seen him in that morning. Gym shorts and the random shirt Francis grabbed for him.

"Baker's still here?" Hayes piped up, a little slow as she was just now noticing his truck was still parked in the same spot at the end of the driveway, blocking in Dakota's jeep. Her lips tilted upward in excitement at the thought of seeing her older brother twice in one day.

"Yeah, kiddo," Colton unbuckled his seatbelt before turning around in his seat to face the back. His mouth opened and closed like he had something else to say but the words didn't reveal themselves. Instead, the three of them stared at each other for a silent second before Colton's gaze flickered to the front porch.

The kids followed his eyes, focusing on the sight of Austin standing there as the one-man welcoming committee. They watched as Francis trudged up the three wooden porch steps to greet him. The teen initially tried to bypass his eldest brother but was stopped by an outstretched arm and hushed words. It didn't seem like he had put up a fight, either. His tough-guy, annoyed act was just that, an act. Francis was not one to deny his brother's affection and attention.

Glen looked back to Hayes and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly then got out of the car, too. The little girl scooted over to the open door, ungracefully hopping out after him. Glen snickered at her stumbling mishap, pretending to shut the door on her when she reached back in to grab her backpack.

They then proceeded to playfully bump into each other, making their way to the trunk of the car to retrieve their gym bags.

"I have the bags. Austin is waiting for you," Colton shooed the kids away, seeing through their poor procrastination techniques.

"Womp, womp," Hayes mocked Glen as they spun around to face back to their family home. Glen pinched her tricep which actually really hurt, so Hayes backhanded his arm with a loud smack.

When she caught the troublesome glint in his eyes, she immediately ran off, with Glen hot on her tail. Their backpacks hitting against their backs did not slow either of them down. Glen was quick to chase her up the steps to where their two brothers stood.

Ignoring the melancholy moods, Hayes laughed freely as she continued to run, swerving around Francis to hide behind Austin's large frame. Forgetting she was all smelly from practice, she had no hesitations towards wrapping her arms around the front of his stomach for protection.

"Austin, tell Glennard to go sit on a cactus!"

The little girl wasn't stupid. She knew her eldest brother was a safe zone.

Speaking of, the eldest brother automatically returned the embrace without even missing a step, reaching backward with his free arm as he continued to talk quietly to Francis. He had become so use to the craziness of the kids that he didn't bat an eye anymore.

Whatever important thing he was saying was too quiet for Glen and Hayes to overhear without effort, but it didn't matter as the two kids were distracted by each other to listen anyways. After a long, draining day of school, their brains were fried, and by default, on child mode.

It wasn't their fault. The whole school couldn't stop talking about the overnight shooting, which was gossip that Glen and Hayes wanted no part of. Especially when they only had to close their eyes and think back to just hours prior and how Baker nearly scared them to death with his sudden appearance. So the kids did what they did best, and reverted to their childish defense mechanisms to get through the day.

Wasn't the greatest plan, but it worked for them.

They made it home in one piece, just in time for their older brothers to pull them back to reality.

Hayes peeked her head around Austin to stick her tongue out at Glen which he returned. Their attention spans were no longer than a goldfish as the two completely forgot Colton's announcement in the car. In seconds, the two of them raced off in an escape attempt into the house.

"Stop. Get back over here," Austin turned his attention away from Francis for a moment and caught them red-handed, Glen already in the motion of twisting the door handle.

It was like Austin constantly had a set of eyes on the babies, well... most of the time, which prevented trouble half the time.

Which was better than none of the time.

Glen froze before slowly removing his hand off the door knob. He turned around, a cheeky smile lifting the edges of his lips upward. "Hey Austin, didn't see you there."

Hayes followed Glen's move, gracing her eldest brother with her own innocent Sunshine smile, which quickly faltered when her brain finally caught up with her eyes and she recognized the somber look on not only Austin's face but also Colton's.

The latter had finally joined the group, his muscular shoulders barely weighed down by their collective four gym bags. Lazy boy Francis hadn't bothered to grab his either, leaving it for Cole to carry. The brother placed them on the floor of the wooden porch deck before resting his hands on his hips, an expectant look on his face.

Yeah...

The little girl still wasn't feeling up to this small talk and began to inch backwards past Glen with the intent to sneak inside. But unlucky for her, Glen wasn't going to let her leave without him. How dare she even think that. He was quick to snag the waistband of her gym shorts, stopping her.

"I want to go see Baker," Hayes whined, trying to pick off Glen's fingers but his grip was unbreakable. She had short nubs as nails due to basketball so she went with plan C. As the girl was about to stomp on his foot, Colton intervened with a firm hand on her shoulder. She flinched a bit, not expecting him to have moved in front of her so speedily. Curse his long legs.

"What did I just say in the car?" Colton gently reminded her with a whisper in her ear.

That glued Hayes' mouth shut, as she finally understood there was no getting out of this conversation. So she begrudgingly let Colton tug her back to the circle of brothers. Glen too, obediently retraced his steps to where Austin and Francis were. This time, Hayes was stationed in front of Colton, both his hands on her shoulders. His thumbs moved up and down the back of her neck, trying to relieve her tensed muscles.

Alas, Hayes began anxiously fumbling with her backpack straps until Glen grabbed her right hand and gave it a squeeze. The brother had sobered up, but Hayes' maturity lagged behind, creating a nervous nelly in the presence of her brothers.

"How was school?" Austin's warm, comforting voice drew up Hayes' blue eyes. His own eyes found hers, before flickering amongst his siblings. The open-ended question was meant for any of them to answer.

Francis kept his head tilted at a downward angle away from wondering eyes, as Austin's question went unanswered. The teen was trying to keep his emotions reeled in as best he could because as soon as the dam broke, he'd be a mess. Francis always had big feelings about everything in life. That's why he turned to playful humor because once the other emotions came to light, it was a fire fest.

One only had to revisit Saturday's fiasco to know how bad it could get.

After several seconds,  Glen could no longer resist the urge, having to fill the silence with his pointless rambling as he took the bait.

"Umm, this girl told me I was going to get ink poisoning and possibly die if I kept getting tattoos." Glen had to let go of Hayes' hand in order to lift his left hand up, making a fist to show off his sharpie heart. It had definitely faded throughout the day but a faint black outline of the heart was still visible.

Hayes glanced down at her own hand, the bold, black line clear as day from being traced over many times with a black pen as well as the blue shade she used to color in the heart shape. That was the resulting product of her school day. The little girl didn't pay much attention in her classes today. But that was meant to be her little secret.

Francis sniffed as he tried to subtly wipe his nose with his knuckles before glancing at Glen. "You got yourself a girlfriend, baby bro?"

Glen made a face, his lip curling up in distaste. "No."

"Does she know that?"  Francis joked, clearing his throat from sounding hoarse.

"Shut up," Glen reached around Hayes to punch Francis in the chest.

Hayes slouched back against Colton's chest, her backpack creating space for her to tilt her head back. She stared up at Colton's chin with his 5 o'clock shadow, willing him to look at her so she could persuade him to let her go in the house. But Colton stayed strong and avoided her puppy dog gaze and pouty lips.

The brothers had noticed it did not take her long to master the devilish cherub look.

With Hayes out of the line of attack, Francis stretched his arm forward and poked Glen's flushed cheek. Everyone knew Francis was teasing, but their sister couldn't help but take advantage of Glen's embarrassment. Laughter bubbled out of her as she imagined Glen with this faceless girl.

"Don't be weird. She's just my lab partner in chemistry."

"Chemistry, huh?" Francis winked, this time blocking Glen's assault before he received another bruise. "I bet you two have lots of chemistry going on."

"Stop hitting each other," Austin ordered, taking a step forward to separate the two teens with his body. He gripped Francis' wrist forcing his arm behind his back, preventing the cycle of retaliation. The eldest brother took that move out of Baker's playbook. "We don't hit siblings." He also gave Glen a pointed look who grinned innocently.

"Ow, okay," Francis laughed loudly as he shook his arm out of his brother's grasp. "Tell that to Glen. He hit me first. He's the bully here."

Glen rolled his eyes, not even bothering to defend himself. If it cost him some good-natured jesting to get Francis back to normal, then so be it. Pearly gates of Heaven, here he come.

Austin and Colton shared a knowing look as they briefly chuckled. "Way to throw your own brother under the bus, Fran."

"It's brotherly looooove," Francis sidestepped right around Austin and locked his arm around Glen's neck. Francis grinned widely as he sneakily shoved his index finger into poor, unsuspecting Glen's right ear. "Right, baby broski?"

Glen winced at the sudden intrusion in his ear. "Shove off, Fran!" He exclaimed, pushing Francis away. "Why do you always do that?"

Now, he was starting to sound annoyed and definitely not acting like Francis had initially. Glen's limit had been reached for the time being.

It was Colton's turn to separate the boys, forcing Francis back to his respective side of Austin. Cole kept a hand on Glen's shoulder, the pressure of his grip a reminder for the boy to calm down.

Deep breaths, young padawan.

It was then that Hayes decidedly had enough of her brothers' shenanigans once and for all, and tried her luck again. She danced forward into Austin's open arms. Her fingers made tiny fists as she gripped onto the back of his shirt, resting her chin on his chest.

"Can I go inside now, please? I want to see Baker." Hayes sweetly repeated her request.

Austin brought his left hand up to cup her cheek as he properly addressed her for the first time since she arrived home from school. "He's sleeping, baby."

Hayes groaned. She shifted the weight on her feet and let her forehead crash against him, her mumbling of despondence being lost in the fabric of his shirt.

Austin mindlessly moved to scratching the back of her scalp beneath her messy ponytail as he brought the focus back to his original question. "Really though, I know it couldn't have been an easy day today. If you guys have any questions or want to talk about anything..."

Francis' facial expression immediately saddened again, all signs of previous laughter gone. Hayes scowled down at her feet and Glen scuffed his foot against the wooden porch in a fit of uncomfortableness.

"They wouldn't stop talking about," Glen shrugged, his lips twisting to the side in a scowl, "you know."

It had gotten to the point that he and Hayes ate lunch outside, away from the cafeteria crowd and their posse of three friends, to get a break from the noise.

The shooting had made state headlines by the time third period had rolled around. The quiet suburban town of South Carolina was not feeling so quiet. Someone was destined to have known the victimized family and soon enough, it was leaked which school the teenager had attended.

That made it a whole new ball game, once the school name was out there. Made it a whole lot more personal when it seemed like everyone had friends who attended that very school. Glen and Hayes were excluded from that list, but Francis on the other hand, had a rough day.

The friendly guy that Francis is, he has tons of acquaintances that he had made throughout his years of playing travel baseball in South Carolina, whether they were past or current teammates or his opponents on the diamond. It was only a given that someone he knew attended the school as well. But really, the question was not who, but how many.

So all in all, Francis also was not productive in school today either. He spent more time looking at his phone and checking his group messages than looking at the white board.

Mercifully, the teachers were just as aware of what was happening in the news, which was why there was no consequences for the lack of focus from their students. The teachers were going through their own stages of emotion themselves.

How it could have been their school.

Their classroom.

Their lives.

Colton had looked his colleagues in the eyes, knowing each of them had silently pledged to sacrifice their lives to save their students if it came down to that. He had promised the same.

"And there was an assembly today," Glen continued in a low voice, his brothers' eyes keyed in on him. Meanwhile, Hayes had her face mashed against Austin's chest, his fingers still soothingly scratching her head.

"...Where we watched a police video about what to do if someone brought a gun to school. They called it run, hide, fight, I think. Apparently statistically I have the same odds to be struck by lightening, in case you were wondering."

Shivers ran through Hayes. She didn't like the video very much. Gave her goosebumps the whole time.

"...And a lot of the girls were crying all day because apparently some of them are districted for the school the dude went to if they didn't go to Sacred Heart. They kept saying they could have died today all very dramatically. And it was just really a lot and all I want to do is go take a shower and eat food and not talk about it anymore. Okay?" The boy was nearly close to yelling as his voice cracked.

His anxiety was shooting through the roof now.

Glen never had to deal with something like this before and he never wanted to experience it again. This never happened in middle-of-nowhere Live Oak. It was a small bubble they lived in, out in the country, where half the town probably owned a gun.

The thing was, Glen and Hayes were no strangers to guns. Sergeant Stephen Rayon had taught them and his son, Patrick,  all about gun safety. They knew how to shoot the weapon. That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that not once had the idea crossed their naïve minds about what to do in an active shooter situation.

Glen just couldn't understand what they had done in life to have escaped one version of hell with the Bear only to be tossed into another.

Should he now have fear of his own classmates?

This line of thinking would only drive him further away from sanity which he had felt already slipping from his fingertips at school.

That is why he didn't want to talk about it.

Austin's fingers gently hugged Hayes' head closer to his chest, closer to his heart. He hated the fact that his siblings had to even think about this at school. A place where they should feel safe at, not have to worry about if they are fast enough or if there is someplace to hide.

"Okay, Buddy. I understand," Austin said, holding his free arm out, inviting Glen to come closer. "You can go inside."

The boy allowed himself to melt into his eldest brother's embrace for a moment. He felt lips pressed against his head as he shut his eyes tight. Austin was his anchor, his eldest brother, his father-figure, all wrapped up in one.

Glen counted to ten in his head before pulling away from Austin. He lifted his practice jersey up to wipe his face, before swiping his gym bag off the floor and walked over to the front door. He glanced back at Hayes as he opened the door into the house before turning his head away and lightly kicking the door shut behind him.

Hayes' gaze stared longingly at the door. Traitor Glennard. "Can I go inside, too?"

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about anything?" Austin asked one last time. He twirled her pony tail around his fingers as he stared at her face. The brother was finding no success in reading where her thoughts were at.

Austin glanced at Colton for a second opinion, who shrugged, also unsure and feeling just as helpless. She hadn't brought it up in the car so Colton couldn't even garner a guess.

Which meant only Glen knew and he left the meeting.

Hayes shook her head no, her whole body swaying with the force. It caused her backpack to swing wildly, accidentally hitting Francis who was standing closer to her than she realized.

"Alright, Sunshine," Austin finally relented. He plopped his hand atop of her head to make her still. "Why don't you go take a shower, too. And please try not to wake Baker up yet. He's sleeping in your room."

Hayes immediately wrinkled her nose. Reason being because she wasn't ready to shower yet. She opened her mouth to complain, "I can't shower when Glen is showering! There won't be any hot water for me."

"Then you better hurry up," Austin replied.

The little girl tried a different argument. "But my clothes are in my room. How am I suppose to not wake up  Baker when I need to go in my room? That's like asking for the impossible!"

Hayes figured that had to be a valid reason enough.

And the solution would be to wake Baker up after all. Or, let's be real, just snuggle with him in bed.

She folded her fingers together in a plea, her hands rubbing underneath her chin.

"Do I have to shower now? Pleaseeeeeee may I go see Baker?"

Austin sighed, exchanging yet another pointed look with Colton. The truth was, Austin really just didn't want Hayes waking up Baker by herself in an out-of-control manner.

Sometimes after tough nights, Baker had these recurring nightmares. But it wasn't every night, which is what made Austin so hesitant. He didn't know how Baker would react from the sudden burst of Hayes. God forbid Baker freaked out, leading to the little girl potentially getting scared or even hurt.

"Come on, we can go wake up Baker together. It's almost dinner time anyways, right Austin? He'll probably want to eat with us," Colton suggested, to which Austin nodded his consent. It was a good compromise. The older brother would be able to contain Hayes' enthusiasm.

A smile instantly grew on Hayes' face as she did a small cheer.

"Yay!" she impulsively squeezed Austin's waist in a loving embrace before grabbing Colton's hand and trying to hurry him to the front door.

Cole didn't budge.

"Slow your roll there, Sunshine." Colton bent down and retrieved the remaining gym bags. "Just so we're clear, you're still showering tonight, you know." Cole lightly teased his sister, poking her in the side.

The sound of Hayes' snorts of laughter disappeared as the door shut behind them, leaving Francis and Austin outside on the porch.

The last two standing.

With his baby siblings now inside, Francis' mood became even more depressed than it had been. He sort of just dawdled, not normally one to shy away from what he was feeling, but also taking a second to build his courage up.

Finally, the teen brought his glassy eyes up to meet his eldest brother as he began picking up the pace with snapping the rubber band against his wrist. Francis could feel his heart rate skyrocketing as the painful reality returned full blast.

Austin patiently waited for the words to leave Fran's mouth.

Snap.

Snap.

"Umm, actually, can we talk? The two of us?"

"Yes, Francis, absolutely," Austin replied without delay. He pointed to the several rocking chairs to sit down on. "Pick a chair. Let's talk."

————

T'was the evening of Day 3 of no electronics for the three youngest Powers' siblings.

Everyone was still alive.

It was only Tuesday, almooooost hump day, and there had been relatively innocent quarrels every half hour that had to be refereed, but Austin was still counting this as a success.

It was not quite bed time yet for the little girl of the family, though they were all beginning to wind down.

Showers were taken, dinner was eaten, Hayes was forced to take her shower, and the three teens' homework were completed in a quick fashion, leaving time for a few card games to be played amongst the brothers.

Minus Dakota, as he was too busy watching some college soccer game on the television. But he made sure to walk by and incite trouble every so often, alternating between picking on Francis and Glen.

Hayes attempted to play one round of rummy before moving on to more exciting things.

Crossword puzzles!

She had become obsessed after Baker spent time with her the prior night trying to complete one. He happened to find the left over newspaper that Austin had delivered on Sundays. Now the girl made it her mission to finish it by the end of the week.

Hayes had her legs on the chair as she was sitting with her feet behind her. She leaned closer to the dinner table, her forearms propping her upper body up as she intently scanned the newspaper looking for the next clue to try to answer. Most of the answers came from her older brothers as the girl wasn't so good at this.

A for aEffort.

She mindlessly drummed the pen against her temple as she read aloud the next clue for the group to hear. "Eye sore."

"Francesca."

"Asshole." Francis snapped back, glaring at his brother.

"Behave or leave the room. Your choice." Austin warned, watching over his hand of cards as Dakota suspiciously stopped directly behind Francis' chair.

Dakota just always had the skill for his impeccable timing.

"How many letters, Sunshine?" Colton asked over the sound of bickering between Kota and Francis.

"Hmm, one, two... four." Hayes glanced up as she answered. Her eyes stayed on Dakota as he helped himself to the open chair across from where she was sitting. Although they were gathered at the dinner table as it provided more space than in the kitchen, their seating arrangements were scattered with Hayes at the head of the table and now Dakota at the other.

"Oh, oh, oh!" Glen perked up, laying his cards face down on the table so his brothers couldn't cheat. "I know this."

"Hayes, butt in the chair," Austin reminded her for the second time to sit properly as she was kneeling on the chair. Knowing her misfortune of getting hurt, he didn't want the chair to slide out from underneath her.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she straightened out her legs so her socked feet were on the floor.

"What'cha got for us, Smiley?" Colton inquired as he skimmed over the cards in his hands. It was his turn to go, and seeing that he had no viable options, he reached to the middle of the table and picked up a card from the deck.

"Is it stye?" Glen tilted his head to the side, continuing to contemplate his answer after he said it.

Hayes chewed on her lip as she found the spot in the puzzle where the word should fit. When no one else offered their thoughts, she shrugged and wrote it down.

Worked for her.

s t y e.

Written in permanent black pen, nonetheless, so there were no go-backs.

Just don't look at her other scribbles and scratched-out boxes with the teensy tiny letters in the corner spaces, from all the other times Hayes had to change their answers. She had been too impatient to find white-out to make it look neater.

"Sounds about right," Austin praised the boy, "good job, Bud."

Glen smiled bashfully, quite proud of his contribution. It had been mostly Austin and Colton so far participating, with random incorrect answers from Francis.

🎶Oh, I'd love to be an Oscar Mayer wiener.

That is what I'd truly like to be.

'Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer wiener,

Everyone would be in love with me.🎶

At the sound of someone's phone ringing, Austin dug his phone out of his pocket to check. He was not surprised to find that one of his siblings had once again tampered with it, this time Emerson being at the butt end of whatever joke.

All three of the teens started snickering, giving Austin no hint of the true mastermind behind the ringtone change. They all had the maturity of a 5 year old, laughing about hotdog wieners. He even caught Colton trying to suppress his amusement.

Shaking his head, Austin pushed his chair back and stood up, cellphone in hand. "You guys keep playing, I'll be back."

"Wait, I want to talk to Sonny!" Francis complained. He hadn't talked to his bestie since he got home from practice as Austin confiscated his phone.

Bestie withdrawal was a real, serious thing.

"Just give me a minute, and then you can talk to him," Austin said.

Protests continued to land on deaf ears as Austin left the room, going upstairs to his bedroom for some privacy. He knew Emerson wanted to talk to him about something important, and then Austin had to ask Sonny about his weekend plans.

If he was free, then the siblings would come up for a quick visit.

A frown replaced Hayes' previous laughter as she watched Austin walk away, her separation anxiety beginning to kick in. She was about to get up to follow him when Colton managed to distract her by asking for the next clue.

"Umm, number 53...," Hayes shifted onto her knees again. "Gains knowledge." She counted the corresponding empty boxes. "Five letters."

"Gains knowledge," Colton mumbled to himself as he thought about it.

Francis sighed loudly as he chucked his hand of cards onto the table, which Glen then collected all of the cards into a neat pile. "Guess we're done playing then."

"You were losing anyways," Dakota taunted unnecessarily. He flicked a broccoli crumb from the table, aiming for Francis' face.

"Fuck off. No one asked for your opinion." Francis grumbled, only proving Kota right in his observation.

"Francis, don't speak like that." Colton reprimanded the teen for cursing around their sister.

"Sorry, Sissy," he apologized, giving Hayes a goofy smile. The little girl made a silly face with her tongue sticking out.

"What about 'Teach'?" Glen offered as he began to shuffle the playing cards, but every time he did the bridge move, some cards flew out of his hands. Frustrated, he dropped the deck.

"Yeah! Good answer, good answer," Francis supported, high-fiving Glen across the table.

Hayes giggled quietly to herself. All those times Hayes had gotten her brothers to watch Family Feud with her were finally paying off. The game phrases were slowly slipping into their everyday vocabulary. Soon enough, she'd convince Austin to let them do an audition tape.

Okay, maybe not exactly soon. Hayes still had to work on her persuasive skills a bit. Austin wasn't keen on that idea yet.

Colton made a noise of disagreement. "Don't you think that'd be more of a 'give' then 'gain'?"

Glen huffed in defeat, "Yeah, I guess so." He drummed his fingers on the table, his mind feeling like an empty space. Crossword puzzles were a sure way to make someone feel dumb.

"Learn," Dakota stated blankly.

Hayes gasped as she spelled the word in her head. It was the correct number of letters and it seemed to fit in the boxes with the words they had already answered, so she filled in the missing letters. They were making decent progress, almost halfway done.

Bored of family time, Dakota abruptly stood up, the chair legs making the awful screeching noise against the tile floor. Halftime of the soccer match he was watching was probably over any minute now anyways.

"Where are you going?" Colton asked, trying to keep Dakota hanging out with them. Kota may be a grump most of the time, but he was still their brother.

"Somewhere."

"Don't go. I need your help," Hayes whined, stretching her arms out on the table as if to catch him before he could escape. She needed all the help she could get to answer more crossword clues and that included his brain too. Her feet accidently pushed her chair backwards an inch, making her almost lose her balance. That was exactly what Austin warned her would happen.

Colton caught her upper arm before she could truly fall, preventing her from banging her chin on the edge of the table. "That's why we tell you to sit on your butt. Now sit correctly or you can stand."

"Neither," Hayes huffed, wiggling her trapped arm with a bit of dramatic flare. That was a clear sign it was probably time for her to go to bed as her sassiness shined. She wasn't the type of little girl to talk back to her brothers like that, especially not when Colton utilized his strict teacher voice.

Colton waited to let go of her arm until her feet were firmly planted on the ground, ignoring her stomps in place of agitation. "I believe it's bedtime for you, kiddo."

Hayes shook her head. She did not believe the same thing. "Can I have ice cream?"

"No," Colton denied, still hoping for a smooth transition to her nighttime routine.

Anytime now Austin...

"I want ice cream." Hayes insisted, taking a step around the table towards the kitchen entry only to backtrack when Colton stuck his arm out, effectively blocking her way.

"Not tonight. It's almost 9pm."

Not wanting his sister to get in trouble, Glen jumped in. "I think I'm gonna go to bed," he coincidently yawned, making his statement more believable. "I'm tired. What about you, HayHay?"

Hayes carelessly pushed in her chair, banging it against the table before she crossed her arms in a firm stance, stubborn streak coming to light. "No, I want ice cream. Please Cole?"

Colton pressed his lips together. He didn't like having to play the bad guy when Hayes got in this mood. The decomp always happened so quickly from awake to overly exhausted, which is why Austin liked being ahead of the curve. The eldest brother seemed to simply know when it was time to whisk her away upstairs to do her bedtime routine of brushing teeth and using the bathroom.

And right now, the brothers could all see she was fighting sleep as she stood there in defiance.

"I don't even think we have ice cream," Francis commented, also trying to save Hayes from having an impending meltdown. "Pretty sure I saw Baker throwing out the carton earlier."

The older brother had spent the day at their home again, only leaving after dinner to go to his home where Peyton and Chubba were patiently waiting his return.

Hayes' eyebrows furrowed into her intimidating 14-year-old glare, "I don't believe you." She made to go look in the kitchen for a second time, but Dakota's cruel words froze her before Colton's arm did.

"He said no, for fucks sake. Don't be such a fucking spoiled princess."

Glen sucked in a breath, his eyes pinned to Hayes who looked like her soul left her body.

Princess.

She hated that name.

For good reason, too.

"Shut up, Dakota," Colton said harshly, immediately on high alert at the sudden change in Hayes' expression. This wasn't just her being sensitive. Call it brother instinct, he could feel that something was wrong. His voice returned to its more gentle tone as he spoke to his sister, "Let's just call it a night. Come give me a hug, Sunshine, then we'll get you ready for bed."

Hayes ignored Cole and his outstretched arm, running the other way around the table, practically tucking tail as she fled the dining room. Francis and Glen turned their heads, silently watching her run by.

"Where are you going?" Dakota called after her, something akin to apologetic in his voice. She had run to the stairs, climbing up the flight fast, eager to get away.

He hadn't expected her to react so sensitive. His words weren't anything special than the normal gruffness. He didn't even know where that came from.

Princess? He had never once thought to even call her that before.

Just always have to be screwing everything up.

Good job, Dick.

"Away from you!" Hayes yelled back. The brothers were taken aback from how hurt she sounded.

Glen knew why.

And Dakota knew he knew, as he looked expectantly at the blonde boy for answers. "What the fuck was that about?"

"Nothing," Glen grunted, dropping his gaze to the deck of cards. He started fumbling with them to busy himself from Dakota's piercing gaze.

Dakota gave a harsh laugh of disbelief. "That was not fucking nothing."

"Just don't call her that again," Glen cautioned for Hayes' sake.

Hayes was not a princess.

"Don't call her what? Princess?" Dakota questioned, turning defensive as he became more regretful. "Are you kidding? It was a fucking joke."

"Lower your voice, Kota," Colton warned, "Obviously it rubbed her the wrong way."

"It wasn't funny," Glen mumbled under his breath. He abandoned the cards, shoving his hands into the kangaroo pouch of his sweatshirt.

"We know," Colton pacified. "Dakota didn't mean anything by it."

Francis' blue eyes reflected his sadness as he couldn't form words. What little girl didn't want to be a princess?

Not that the brothers ever called her princess before and she most certainty wasn't spoiled.

She had always been their Sunshine. The name just fitted her since birth.

Dakota's mind was steamrolling now as he jumped straight to a conclusion. "Glen. What the fuck happened to her?"

"Just fricking drop it." The boy found himself scratching his elbow, exactly what he was trying to prevent as the nervous tendency would only encourage Dakota to continue his rampage of questions.

"No. No fucking secrets. Was it Jane? Did she call her that?" Dakota swore under his breath. "That fucking bitch. What did she do?"

Of course, they already knew to an extent what she did, even without Glen confirming. Their mother was a manipulator, her own babies not safe from her evil ways.

"He said stop, Dakota. Just fucking leave it alone, will you?" Colton swore as he got up, mirroring Glen's actions as he did the same from across the table, just in case the youngest brother let his emotions get the best of him. "Enough is enough."

Dakota breathed heavily through his nose, analyzing Glen's posture.

Was it worth his pursuit for answers if it harmed the blonde babies while doing so?

Something pitiful flashed in Glen's blue eyes causing Dakota's jaw to tense, stopping him from doing any more damage. Instead, he stomped off in the direction of the garage. The brother had some steam to burn off at the hands of the punching bag.

Francis remained sitting at the table, covering his face with his hands. "Oh, Sissy," he mumbled, mourning her stolen childhood all over again.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray

You'll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don't take my sunshine away

————

"If that's what you want to do, I support you," Austin was in the midst of saying when a flash of long blonde hair zipped into Austin's bedroom, burying themselves under his cozy comforter before he could blink.

He was only gone for not even five minutes. What possibly could have happened downstairs?

"What's wrong?" Emerson frowned through the phone at Austin's distracted silence. They were Facetiming.

"That's what I want to know." Austin laid his hand on top of the comforter where he guessed Hayes' head was. "Sunshine? What's wrong, babe?"

"Sonny, Jr.?" Emerson happily exclaimed, bouncing on his bed where he was sitting in his own room back at college. "Let me talk to her."

Hayes didn't budge from her hiding spot, shoving her face more into one of Austin's pillow. She did not want to speak. The little girl just wanted the comfort her eldest brother's presence created.

Austin shook his head, giving his attention back to his brother. "She's not up for talking right now."

Emerson pretended to wail, "My baby sister doesn't even want to talk to me?"

Austin lightly chuckled, seeing Hayes pull the comforter tighter over her face. "Sorry, Em. You're out of luck. But..." Austin's eyebrows rose in interest as Glen came darting in, cutting off his sentence.

The boy was never too far behind his sister.

"HayHay?" Glen didn't acknowledge Austin as he belly-flopped onto the bed on Hayes' other side. He yanked the comforter off her head, only for Hayes to cover her messy hair back up. "Don't listen to him. He's a stupid jerk who doesn't know half the shit that comes out of his mouth."

"Okay, what is going on?" Austin asked the two kids, straightening up his posture as his tone grew serious. He had his back resting against the headboard, his legs stretched out in front of him with his ankles crossed.

"Yooooo, Glenny Smiley!" Emerson said, his cheerful presence cracking Glen's frowny face into a grin. "Who we fighting? Was it Kota? Oh, it was definitely him."

"Sup, Em!" Glen exclaimed towards the phone, evading all questions from his brothers. He turned to Austin, garnering Emerson's energy as he asked, "Did you tell him yet?"

"No, haven't gotten to it yet" Austin replied, running his hand over Hayes' curled back. He let Glen get away with his diversion, figuring this wasn't the best time to delve into the chaos of his siblings. Not when Emerson was on the phone, too.

"Tell me what?" Emerson's face brightened even more on the screen.

"We're coming to visit you!" Glen spilled the beans.

Emerson's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Hell yeah! When?!"

"This weekend!"

"Pause." Austin cut off the brothers' cheers before their enthusiasm got even more out of hand. "Glen, buddy you didn't even ask if he had plans already."

Glen scoffed, flicking his wrist as he brushed off Austin's concern. "Emerson never has plans. He just plays videogames with Drew."

"And how would you know?" Austin questioned, making Glen wisely rethink his next words.

Glen guiltily smiled, scratching his bangs-covered forehead with his hand.  He settled with a simple, "I dunno."

"I'm free," Emerson confirmed, already super psyched to see all his BFFs. "Friday, Saturday, Sunday?"

Austin shook his head, "No, just an overnight thing. The kids and Cole have a game Friday night. We'll come up Saturday, leave Sunday afternoon. Don't you think you should check your schedule first? Do you have baseball practice? Tests to study for?"

"I don't have plans..." Emerson pursed his lips in thought. He turned his head away from the phone to yell through his open bedroom door. "Hey Drew!"

Speak of the roommate...

"WHAT?"

"Do we have practice Saturday?"

"YEAH!"

"K, thanks!" Emerson leaned his head back against his fluffy pillow, giving Austin a sheepish smile through Facetime. "I change my answer. Baseball practice in the morning. But it'll be done by 11." His voice turned pleading, "You'll still come though, right? Coach won't care if I ask to leave early. Or you could come to the field! Yeah! Coach likes talking to you. And he loves Franny, but not more than he loves me, of course."

"Don't worry, Sonny. We'll be there." Austin placated, his eyes flickering to the ball of Hayes as she moved closer to him under the comforter. The eldest brother debated on whether to do the responsible thing and shoo the little girl off to the bathroom first before she fell asleep.

He felt Glen's gaze on him as they both waited with bated breaths for Hayes to make a sound, or better yet, emerge from under the blankets with her classic blonde messy mane of hair and bright blue eyes that were innocently angelic and mischievous at the same time.

Austin got his wish when suddenly the covers were haphazardly tossed off her head as Hayes hurried to sit up. Her right elbow almost nearly covered her mouth just in time for a very squeaky loud...

"ACHOOO!"

...right all over Glen's bare legs.

"Ew, dude!"

"Whoopsie."

~~~~~