66.

(hi #LifeIsRuff Woof Woof )

** SHORT CHAPTER ALERT **

As always, never read over before sending out into the interwebs. Mistakes likely to be found. If too many, will unpublish and fix later.

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Bedtime was craziness in the Powers' household, especially when there were four little monsters rushing around everyone's feet. Everyone being Colton as he was the only one home.

Making him the unofficial babysitter, and the target.

The littlest monster, better known as Sunshine, was the last of the bunch, her toddler legs able to propel her only so fast. Dragging behind her and unintentionally cleaning the dirty wood floor was her beloved blanket, the one she had since she was born. She didn't go anywhere without it, not if she could help it.

Up ahead, her brothers turned the corner fast, escaping from her sight.

"Got you!"

Arms swooped down and scooped up the baby of the family. The tiny tot rolled back and forth in their grasp, but she was no match for the teenage version of Colton. His muscular arms, proof of his dedication to the game of basketball, provided a secure embrace. There was no chance of his little sister falling from his grasp.

"No, no, no, no," Hayes babbled, quickly dissolving into giggles when he blew a raspberry against her cheek.

"Yes, yes, yes" Colton mocked back, wrinkling his nose at her as one her little fingers accidently went up his nose. He thankfully turned his head to the side, Sunshine narrowly avoiding a direct sneeze to the face.

"Bless you!" piped up two little boys as they raced back down the long hallway into the main room, everything easily turned into a competition for the preteen brothers.

The home they occupied was small, with only four bedrooms including the master bedroom to house the rambunctious siblings and their parents. Not that their mom was home much and their dad was overseas.

Nonetheless, the siblings shared their three designated bedrooms amongst the six of them, eight when the oldest brothers were also home. Once upon a time, it was nine but then Charlotte went to sleep-away school and Aussy and Baker went to big boy sleep-away school.

HayHay missed her brothers mucho, heck they all did, which is why the nightly bedtime routine for all the younger siblings finished with Austin and sometimes Baker on the phone to say goodnight.

"Smiley, where are you?" Colton called out for his youngest brother as he herded Emerson and Francis to their bedroom. The three boys shared a room, which surprisingly was not all chaos all the time.

Just most.

"The potty!" Glen shouted back from the hallway bathroom.

"Well make sure you wash your hands!" Colton reminded him, already knowing Smiley would not in fact wash his hands.

The barely turned seven-year-old did not understand the concept of germs.

"Okay!"

"I wanna call Aussy," Hayes exclaimed, bringing Colton's attention to the ball of Sunshine who was now holding on to around his neck like a sloth.

"Hey, it's my turn!" Francis whined, a sourpuss look on his face. He stomped his foot and crossed his arms for the extra dramatic effect.

"Too late," Emerson declared, happily showing off Colton's phone in his hand. The phone in fact was dialing the eldest brother's number as they all glanced at Sonny.

Colton frowned at that. His brother had pickpocketed him and he hadn't even realized.

"Wait for me!" Smiley's voice preceded his presence as he came flying into the bedroom. He made a sprawling bellyflop leap onto the bed, landing atop of all the stuffies and blankets and random junk that Sonny never put away in their proper places.

"Did you wash your hands?" Colton questioned.

Glen grimaced, "I forgot."

"Did you flush the toilet?"

"No," Glen scrunched his nose.

"Jesus Christ," Colton mumbled under his breath, earning himself a poke in the cheek from his cheeky little sister.

The phone call went to Austin's voicemail, making the youngins groan in unison. How dare he not answer? It's not like they did this every night or something.

"My turn!" Francis snatched the phone from Emerson's hand, redialing Austin's phone number which they knew by heart.  The eldest brother had made sure of that, testing the boys from time to time to see if they remembered.

Hayes knew all the numbers except the last two digits, for some reason she just filled in the spots with her favoritest numbers of the day. It was a battle that was postponed for the time being, as Colton had way too much on his plate for any teen to carry.

He was practically single-handingly raising four kids. Not bitter.

He was not bitter.

There was an end game in mind, which he was well aware of. And in order to get there, there being Austin got custody of the siblings, then Austin needed to go to college and get a job.

Which Colton appreciated his eldest brother stepping up.

But this right here and now, was rough.

It wasn't all woe is me, though.

He literally lived with a ray of Sunshine, for goodness sake.

Speaking of the little girl, she yawned loudly before nuzzling her nose against his neck. Right on cue for Sunshine to be falling asleep as it was way past her bedtime. But when it was Cole against all of the little monsters, it was easier for them all to go to bed at the same time.

Colton briefly debated just tucking her into her bed now, which technically was Austin's bed, but then with his luck, she'd become wide awake and not be settled until she heard her eldest brother's voice. She was a girl of routine.

And they all knew who Hayes' favorite was. Everyone else was vying for second place.

"He's not answering," Francis grumbled, chucking the cell phone onto the unoccupied mattress on the other side of the bedroom.

"Hey, don't throw my phone." Colton growled, shifting Hayes in his arms so he could rescue the precious phone before it was inevitably broken. Then they'd all be SOL.

"When's Kota coming home?" Emerson asked as he decided that was the prime opportunity to get ready for bed. Which made sense, as they were in fact, going to bed. He pushed his shorts down his waist leaving him in his boxers, letting the gym shorts fall to his feet. He picked his left leg up, untangling his foot from the shorts before returning his foot to the ground. Then he kicked his right foot, sending the shorts sailing in the direction of the back of Colton's head.

Bulls eye.

All the boys started laughing, making each of them laugh even harder. Again, everything was a competition with the knuckleheads.

Every dumb little thing.

Colton closed his eyes, and took a practiced deep breath in. He held the inhale and was in the process of counting to 10 when cold hands smushed his cheeks into a fishy look. This was followed by a cold nose knocking against his for an eskimo kiss.

"I love you too, Sunshine," his lips curved upward at his adorable little sister's antics. When he opened his eyes, her sparkling blue eyes stared back at him, full of adoration. Colton gently pressed his forehead against her's before making a funny face, which made Hayes giggle.

"Austin sucks," Emerson announced, flopping backward onto his bed. To save himself from being suffocated, Glen squirmed out from underneath Sonny, rolling onto the floor. Emerson added, "This sucks."

"Don't say that word," Colton instantly chastised. Their little sister was a parrot and that was not a word he wanted her to echo. If only Austin appreciated how hard Colton worked to keep Hayes innocent from her brothers' poor choice of words.

"This blows," Emerson corrected, being a smart ass. He was at the age of pushing the limits of anyone in authority. Which unfortunately was Colton.

"Sonny."

"Colton."

"Emerson," Cole warned, to which Emerson rolled his eyes.

"Francis," Franny grinned.

"Smiley!" Said little boy raised his hands in the air before deciding to run around the small bedroom with his arms spread out like an airplane. His limbs bonked into Francis' stomach then Colton's hip, before stumbling into Dakota's chest, who magically appeared in the open doorway. "Kota!"

The grouchiest brother of the bunch took in the familiar scene, his face remaining deceptively uninterested. But purple circles under his eyes and the shades of bruise on his cheek did not lie.

Colton spun around to look at the newcomer, his eyes instantly narrowing on the new addition to his troublesome brother's face. "Seriously, Dakota? Another fight?"

Another night, same outcome.

Austin kept saying it was a phase Dakota was going through, but Colton disagreed. Sooner or later, he hoped the eldest brother would do something before Kota landed himself in deep shit. It was getting hard to remember that the difficult teen used to not be so... difficult for lack of better terms.

Colton couldn't even think of the last time Kota truly seemed like himself.  Not since... He didn't let his thoughts travel there.

Dakota shrugged carelessly as he leaned against the door frame. "Does it involve you? No? Then fuck off."

"It'll involve me when you end up in jail," Cole retorted, his out-of-character harsh tone making his younger siblings quiet down. Colton was a lover not a fighter.

Hugs, not thugs.

"Better than this shitty home," Dakota dissed. Ignoring his little brothers' wide-eyed glances which were full of hurt, he finally walked into the room. And Dakota went right to where Colton stood and snatched his baby sister from Cole's arms.

The only person in the world who could somehow still put a remnant of a smile on Dakota's face.

"What do you think you're doing?" Colton was full of exasperation over Dakota's attitude. But he had no help from his older brothers who were hundreds of miles away at college and their mother was who-knows-where. Not that Dakota would ever listen to that wrench either.

"Your job, apparently," Dakota replied. His tone then miraculously brightened by 10 as he addressed the blonde baby, "Time for bed."

"But Aussy no answer," Sunshine immediately whined, even as she compliantly lay her head down on Kota's shoulder. Her left hand came up and softly touched the bruise on his cheek, making the brother flinch out of her reach.

"We'll use my phone," Dakota said, striding out of the bedroom without looking back, back to his teenage moody self. "Smiley, move your ass."

Glen hesitantly glanced at Cole, seeking his approval before hustling after the big, old, farty Grump.

The two youngest blonde babies were both sleeping in Austin and Baker's designated bedroom, which had become Hayes' room when she was born. That now also included Glen, as he was the acting bodyguard to HayHay overnight. Once in a blue moon, Dakota also joined the duo but not tonight.

He'd just tuck them in like usual, then he was leaving again to go reck havoc with his delinquent friends. He was smart enough to know they were bad news. But that didn't stop him from making the same poor decisions.

Because why would he have expected this specific night to become the living nightmare that he didn't even know he feared?

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Countdown until Christmas: 6 days (Sunday, December 19th)

Morning had come too early for the eldest brother who had gotten exactly zero hours of sleep. He should have crashed as soon as his head had hit the pillow, but that was not the case. For some reason, he could not stop thinking about that night.

That dreaded, dreaded night, where all their lives had been changed.

It was safe to assume he kept watch of his two kids all night long, each tucked on either side of him in bed.

Nowadays he vaguely remembered talking to Smiley and Sunshine that night, nothing of particular importance about their goodnights, the babies giggling back and forth to each other in sleep delirium.

Dakota had been there on the other end of the phone, glimpses of his old self shining through his bruteness when he was with the tator tots.

He should have been there. He should have realigned his priorities and been home, getting Dakota on the straight and narrow. Keeping watch of his siblings in person. Not relying on Colton to do it all.

But his selfishness took him away, to college that felt a million miles away. He was still young himself and just couldn't let go of his dream to attend that program. And Baker followed him, the two glued at the hip, just how Smiley and Sunshine were.

Are.

There was no Austin without Baker. No Baker without Austin.

And then, there was simply no Smiley and Sunshine.

Mistakes had been made. Mistakes that Austin had been trying to right every single second of his life. And it wasn't working.

Dakota was in the hospital, surviving yet another car accident with his little sister in the passenger seat. Physically doing somewhat decent, but his mentation was yet to be recovered. This time would be different though. Because Austin was here and he was not going to let his brother be owned by drugs of any sort. To find himself involved with any sort of trouble again, not like last time.

And he (unrealistically) was not going to let Hayes and Glen out of his sight.

A soft knock sounded on the partially open bedroom door. "Visiting hours are in twenty, B-T-dubs."

Austin uncrossed his arms, scrubbing at his face. The five o'clock shadow from the previous night remained, otherwise he was dressed and ready to face the day. "Already?"

"Yeah," Colton quietly replied. He laid a supportive hand on Austin's shoulders, unable to even imagine what his eldest brother was going through right now. "Want me to go instead? I'll go help Baker bust Kota out of the hospital, no problem."

Cole couldn't decide if busting his brother out of the hospital was better or worse sounding than busting Dakota out of jail. Thankfully, he never had to do the latter before.

"No," Austin shook his head, his hands dropping to his sides. "I have to do it. I have to be the one to tell him about..." His gaze traced over his two sleeping kiddos.

Tell him about the blonde babies who Dakota had no recollection of coming home.

He could already picture how that was not going to go over well.

Colton nodded in understanding, making a move to go to the desk chair where he'd plant his butt for the next several hours until Glen and Hayes woke up. They were currently sleeping like the dead.

Which was not a funny thought to have at all.

"Wait," Austin stopped him with a quick hand to his arm.

Colton turned on his heel, looking expectantly at his older brother. His head subconsciously tilted to the side a smidge, just like his younger brothers. "Yeah?"

The eldest brother stared at Cole, his thoughts running wild on top of one another. Then his mind cleared, leaving one message front and center.

Austin pulled Colton's frozen frame in a hug, his right hand slapping his brother's back before holding him firm. As eldest brother, he granted himself one free pass to recognize the special day, no matter if Cole was an unwilling participant.

"Happy birthday, brother."

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Spread love, not hate. See ya'll in two weeks (fingers crossed).