12.

~Fun-day Sunday~

"Peanut butter jelly time,

peanut butter jelly time,

peanut butter jelly,

peanut butter jelly,

peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat."

Apparently Hayes woke up on the right side of the bed this morning. She wasn't quite sure how that song ended up in her head, but it was catchy and now she couldn't stop singing it as she made her way into the kitchen looking for any sign of her brothers.

Where oh where, was her eldest brother at? She was needy and wanted a hug.

She found the kitchen empty so Hayes maneuvered her way around for some water. A lone note left on the counter caught her eye, diverting her attention from the fridge. It was from Austin, letting everyone know that he went to church and he'll be back soon and please don't kill each other.

Oh ye of little faith.

Hayes grinned. She knew what this meant. The tv was free! Finally, she would be able to watch whatever she wanted and no one could tell her otherwise because there was absolutely no one else awake currently in the house beside her. Sweet victory!

Coffee mug full of water in hand, the lid a necessity since she had a habit of spilling, she made her way from the kitchen to the family room. All she had to do was simply remember the directions Austin taught her on how to pull up the show recordings. What a gift it was to be able to watch shows whenever you wanted.

It was time for some Family Feud!

Or not.

Hayes tilted her head to the side, intrigued by what she was seeing. It wasn't even that early, already 9 am, but yet here laid Dakota and Emerson, passed out on the couch. She wondered if they slept down here all night when they had way more comfortable beds just right upstairs. Why were boys so lazy?

Hmm, she squinted her eyes glancing from each brother, or maybe they were dead. Guess Austin's request was a fail.

She chuckled at her morbid thoughts, before slowly grimacing. She should probably stop joking about death considering her grandfather was currently a 'person-of-interest' in a murder investigation. Don't want people to think she's crazy or something. Meh, Hayes shrugged, too late for that.

She softly placed her cup on the coffee table before slowly making her approach closer to the side of the couch where Emerson was sprawled out, tempted to poke him to see if he was breathing. She learned her lesson last time about disturbing Dakota and definitely did not want to repeat that. Though, how scary could he be while wearing his obnoxiously bright neon green sweatshirt? She let out a snort, looking down at her own sweatshirt. Best purchase ever, thank you, Baker.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." someone grumbled.

Hayes froze. She was so busted.

Her gaze slowly slid up to Dakota's face before transferring to Emerson's face. Sure enough, Emerson was staring right back at her with one eye open, but slightly glazed over indicating that he wasn't truly awake. She didn't say anything, didn't move a muscle, in hopes that he'd fall back in to dreamland.

"Too early, go away." He muttered sleepily, waving a hand as if to shoo her away. It made her giggle. It was not early! The day was wasting away and she had some television to watch.

She eyed him some more, debating what her options were before a brilliant idea hit her. Spinning on her foot, she went to leave the family room.

"No wait, don't leave. I'm cold, come snuggle with me." Emerson changed his mind when he saw he making an escape. He was the birthday boy and he wanted to cuddle with his little sister.

"Be right back!" she tossed over her shoulder. Hayes ran out of the room and up the stairs to her bedroom. She looked around for a moment, trying to find her squishable. She quickly snagged it off the floor along with a random blanket before running back out of her room and down the stairs once more. The blanket dragged on the floor as she ran, causing her to almost wipe out onto her butt when she accidently stepped on the edge of the blanket. That, ladies and gentleman, was why Austin repeatedly told her not to run in the house. Oops! Good thing he wasn't here.

She appeared back in the family room to see that neither brother moved an inch, still in the same spot she'd left them in. Excellent. Grinning, she walked up to Emerson and placed her squishable on his back, patting it a couple times to fluff it just right.

"What are you doing?" His voice was groggy, making him sound super confused.

"Shhh, I'm getting comfy." She responded. Not wanting to take the risk of waking Dakota up with the TV, she figured that if she couldn't beat them, might as well join them. Taking one more peek at Dakota to make sure he was still asleep, she climbed on top of Emerson's back. Hayes was right, his back was the perfect size for her to lay on. As she curled up into a ball underneath her blanket, a wave of deja-vu hit her. Little did she know, she used to do this all the time as a baby to her brothers which explained why it was so comforting to her. Although she did just wake up, it was never to early for a nap.

She could feel Emerson sigh deeply, as he closed his eyes again. He knew it was a lost cause. To be honest, he wasn't bothered in the slightest. In fact quite the opposite. He was ecstatic that Hayes felt comfortable enough with him to even do this. It also reaffirmed what he had secretly been crossing his fingers for, hoping that his little sister was still just as crazy as when she was a baby. The verdict was out, still cute and no doubt, definitely still crazy.

————

"Tape."

"Tape." Glen parroted, handing Francis another piece.

"Tape." Francis held out his hand.

"Tape." Glen ripped off another piece.

"Tape- oh wait" Francis glanced around approvingly before stepping off the chair, rubbing his hands together. "just kidding. I think that's it, Smiley." He was quite proud of how it turned out. With the help of his handy dandy side-kick, Smiley, the kitchen was now fully decorated with streamers and a banner for Emerson's birthday. All that was missing were the balloons that Austin confiscated earlier. When they were getting the decorations laid out, Glen had immediately vetoed them on Hayes' behalf. According to him, she would probably cry at the first sight of them. When asked why, he didn't elaborate other than stating that she was scared of the popping noise.

Austin picked up on the recurring theme of loud noise - no balloons, no fireworks, and he was sure loud brothers didn't help. Was it possible this was just all residual effect from the car accident that continued to haunt her or did something else happen in the years they were gone? Not wanting to think the worst, he could only hope it was the former.

"Wow, looks good guys." Impeccable timing as always, Austin walked into the kitchen, draping his arms over each brothers' shoulders.

"Thanks," Glen replied, smirking at Francis, "it was a lot of work, but we managed."

"Yeah, real heavy lifting you did." Francis reached around Austin and punched Glen in the gut so Glen threw the tape dispenser at him. "You break my heart, little brother!" Francis gasped, letting the tape clatter noisily to the floor before trying to attack Glen.

"Really Fran?" Austin could read Francis like a book, so he was easily able to hold him back. "Don't jump your brother. And Smiley, don't instigate your brother."

"Sorry Austin," Glen smiled at Austin, instantly turning into the cheesy little boy.

"Don't be fooled by that smile, Austin. He's evil." Francis stated, crossing his arms with a glare.

"Yeah, like you don't do the same thing?" Austin laughed at them. He kissed both brothers on the head before letting them escape his grip. "I swear, all of you are so similar that it's scary."

"Don't fucking group me in with the toddlers and baby." Dakota disagreed, strolling into view. Austin had left him and Colton chilling in the living room when the noise had caught their attention. Everyone had been waiting for Francis to finish decorating in order to move onto the next phase of the birthday tradition.

"I apologize, you are your own beast of nature." Austin teased, walking over to where Dakota leaned against the doorframe. Before Dakota could defend himself, Austin reached out, looping his arm around Dakota's neck to pull him close. "Love you." he muttered, kissing Dakota's head. Although Dakota put up a hard front, the brothers all knew Dakota loved being loved upon.

Dakota waited an extra second before pushing Austin away, returning his attention to messing with his camera that hung around his neck.

"Let's get this show on the road, Papa's getting hungry." Colton exclaimed. It was approaching 11am and he was ready to eat some delicious pancakes courtesy of chef Austin. It would be everyone's second breakfast, or brunch for the two sleepy heads, but alas, another birthday tradition that would not be skipped.

"We're ready." Francis announced to Colton's pleasure.

"Fucking finally, Francesca," Dakota huffed, earning a slap to the back of the head from Austin.  All Austin wanted was for everyone to get along for 5 minutes with no name-calling or altercations. It seemed to be an impossible task for his siblings.

"Does everyone remember the plan?" Francis ignored Dakota's comment, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Seeing Dakota roll his eyes while everyone else nodded, Francis grinned, purely trying to get on his nerves. "Okay, I'll just say it one last time to be sure. Kota, you take the photos. Colton, you pick up Sunshine so we don't crush her. Me and Smiley will dog pile on Sonny,  and Austin stands there looking pretty."

"Then when you count to 3, we say happy birthday." Glen tried to speed him up. "Now can we go?" He was getting excited.

Francis nodded and led the charge into the family room.

Hayes was simply a lump on the log, swaying between consciousness and the sleep fog, when she heard the voices traveling from the kitchen. She didn't really comprehend what they were saying.

"Cole, you're up." Francis whispered, urging him forward.

Hayes blinked a few times, slowly regaining her senses. First, she wiggled her toes, freeing them from under the blanket. She must have kicked her socks off at some point because now they were cold. Then, suddenly she was in the air as someone picked her up, blanket and all. A tattooed arm appeared in her vision, letting her know it was Colton.

"Morning, Sunshine." He shot her a grin and kissed her forehead as she snuggled closer in his arms.

"Morning," She mumbled back against his chest, her heart racing from the unexpected change of position. There was a flash of light from Dakota's camera that was aimed at the two. Knowing that time was a precious commodity, it was important to Dakota to be able to capture these real moments between his siblings. But as much as he hid behind his camera, his brothers still managed to get him in the pictures as well. It was a fight he didn't mind losing once in a while.

With Hayes safely out of the way, Francis and Glen looked at each other, evil smirks on their face. Dakota gave them the head nod, indicating that he was ready. Austin crossed his arms, nudging Colton with a smile. Although it sucked being on the bottom of the pile when it was their turn, Austin was glad it was a tradition his younger brothers made sure to keep. And with Glen and Hayes back with the family, it was a tradition that would hopefully last for a couple more years.

Francis held up his hand, counting down from three to one.

"Dog pile!" He yelled, diving onto Emerson's back. Glen landed on top of him a second later. Emerson groaned, shoving his face into the couch cushions. Still too early for him and he couldn't even blame it as being hung over because they didn't drink alcohol.

"Happy birthday, Sonny!" The brothers shouted.

"Before you say anything, we let you sleep long enough so no bitching." Francis added cheerfully, messing up Emerson's hair.

Hayes wiggled around in Colton's arms, trying to figure out how to get down. She was not to be left out! Colton quickly understood what she was doing and gently lowered her down. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she made a running leap on to the top of the pile.

"Happy birthday, Emerson!"

————

"Cannon ball!"

The unexpected attack of waves flipped Hayes completely off the pool float. A hand reached down and pulled her back to the surface. She clung to the arm as she coughed, having some water gone down the wrong pipe. It was not a pleasant feeling.

"You dick face," Dakota, her savior, yelled, "she wasn't ready yet."

"Dakota, don't say that in front of her." Austin instantly reprimanded him.

Francis popped up in front of Dakota and Hayes, making Hayes flinch back. Thankfully Dakota still had a hand on her arm and was able to save her from going back under the water. Unfortunately for Francis that meant Dakota's other hand was still free to splash him in the face as punishment.

"Sorry, Sissy." Francis grinned, unperturbed by the splash. He stretched his arm out to pull the float back over and held it in place so Dakota could lift her back on it.

At Emerson's birthday request, the siblings were spending the early afternoon in their backyard swimming pool, taking in the sun's beaming rays. Austin was a little worried at first, unsure if the youngest kids knew how to still swim, but the fear was unfounded when both kids were the first to jump into the pool with no hesitation. But Austin did add to his mental shopping list that they needed bathing suits. Glen borrowed one of Francis's and Hayes was more than happy to be in a pair of running shorts and a sports bra. Though at Austin's insistence, she wore one of their shirts to protect herself from getting sunburned.

At some point, the brothers decided to have a cannon ball contest where Hayes was the judge. She tried competing with them in the beginning, but her wave barely tickled the surface making the brothers laugh for a good 5 minutes at her expense.

"Disqualified." Hayes stated, using her foot to splash him in the face.

"Excuse me?" Francis pulled her foot, causing her to slide right back into the water.

Once again, Dakota pulled her back to the surface, letting her catch her breath. This time she was laughing. She was thoroughly enjoying her time in the pool with her brothers.

"Fran, stop messing around! It's my turn!" Emerson complained from the side of the pool. He was standing at the deep end along with Glen, Austin and Colton who all had yet to go.

"Yeah, you heard the lady. You're disqualified." Colton threw the football he was holding at Francis, testing his quick reflex.

With the help of Dakota, Hayes got herself resituated on the float once more, but this time she was straddling it, with both legs in the water. Hopefully it would help keep her balance.

"Skeeeeeet!" Glen took the opportunity to go next, skipping Emerson's turn. Hayes bobbled with the waves but fortunately was able to stay on.

"Dude," Emerson threw his arms up in the air as he practically stomped his foot like a child.

Glen swam under the water, emerging in the shallow end. He shook his head like a dog, sending water droplets everywhere. "How was that?"

"Hmm, 6." Hayes was a tough critic.

"Oh, shit." Austin suddenly cursed, catching everyone's attention. The man rarely ever swore. "Smiley, we need to get you a haircut." Hayes let out her breath she was holding, she was in the clear.

"No we don't." Glen disagreed, pouting. He was hoping Austin had forgotten, but no such luck.

"Yeah, we do Bud, sorry." Austin ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself. "Shit, I can't believe I forgot. I'll call Joe and see if he's free."

"I think it can wait an hour, right?" Colton said, watching Emerson's face slowly morph into sadness. Emerson wanted to spend more time with his siblings outside.

"Oh yeah, definitely." Austin agreed, picking up on Colton's hint. "Waiting on you, Sonny." Austin said, extending a hand towards the pool. Emerson didn't even have a chance to jump before Colton pushed him into the pool.

Hayes cheered, "it's a 10!"

————

"Glen! Hayes! We're leaving in 10 minutes!"

Glen groaned, tossing his towel onto his bed. He didn't want to.

"Hey Smiley, you ready?" Emerson appeared in the door way, observing his youngest brother. Glen reminded him a lot of himself at that age. Afraid of change, clinging to what he knew. But Emerson had his brothers to push him out of his comfort zone whereas Glen was still looking for comfort. He could see the internal struggle Glen was going through, and knew what he had to do. It was time for him to be the big brother.

"No." Glen scowled.

"Can I come?" Emerson casually asked.

Glen turned to look at him, shrugging.

"Cool, cool. Wait until you meet Joe. What a man." Emerson waited for Glen leave the room before turning and following him downstairs to where Austin and Colton were huddled by the door appearing to be in discussion.

"Fabulous." Glen muttered.

"Are you coming with us, Sonny?" Austin was the first to notice the brothers' arrival.

"Yeah, why not." Emerson shrugged. "You driving?" He asked Colton, noticing the keys in his hand. Colton nodded, shaking the keys. That's what he had been conversing with Austin about. They wanted to get the kids comfortable in his car before Monday morning when Colton would be driving them to school. The goal was to prevent Hayes' from an anxiety attack if possible.

"Hayes!" Austin called the young girl's name again. "Time to go, Sunshine!"

"Coming!" her voice reached the brother's ears just as they saw her flying down the stairs, her messy pony tail flowing behind her.

"No running, babe." Austin caught her at the bottom before she could pass him.

"Sorry," She grinned up at him, wrapping her arms around his waist for a hug., "I just need shoes and then I'm ready."

"Uh huh," He hugged her back, before patting her on the butt. "Still. No running in the house."

"Yes, Austin." Hayes replied innocently. What he didn't know, won't hurt him.

————

"Well, well, well look what the cat dragged in! Are my eyes deceiving me or is that the Emerson Powers standing in my barber shop?"

"Hey Joe," Emerson laughed, exchanging hugs with the old man.

"I never thought I'd see the day you'd be able to get him to show up. Look at how long your hair got!" Joe exclaimed. He greeted Austin and Colton just as friendly. He'd had gotten to really know the siblings since they moved to South Carolina all those years ago, even becoming somewhat as a mentor to Austin and Baker when they were still figuring life out. "And you brought me the little Powers! I'm Joe." he sent them a big smile.

Hayes tilted her head back to look at Austin who was standing behind her with his hands wrapped around her shoulders. Who was this man? Why was he so familiar with their brothers?

"Yeah, these are the babies of our family. Glen, Hayes, this is Joe." Austin introduced, tapping Hayes on the nose. She scrunched her nose as she faced forward again, gracing Joe with a small smile of her own.

"So, what can I do for you bunch of chaps and lady on this fine Sunday afternoon?" Joe asked.

"Glen needs a haircut." Colton answered, patting Glen's shoulder. Glen hadn't spoken a word since he dragged his feet from the car into the shop. It didn't go unnoticed by his brothers or Hayes.

"Ah, starting school at Sacred Heart, are we?"

"Indeed, they start tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? That's awesome, it's a great school, though I'm a little bias since my daughter works there. Ain't that right, Colton?" Joe winked. He had been trying to set the two of them up for forever. "Well, enough about that, let's get your hair washed." Glen paled.

"Actually," without missing a beat, Emerson stepped forward, "I'll go first." That caught everyone's attention. He almost laughed, when everyone whipped their heads to him.

"You're joking." Colton said flatly.

"The opposite actually. I think it's time for a change." He messed with his hair, pulling on the long strands.

Glen looked at him in a mix of disbelief and awe. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this the same Emerson who continuously got detentions in high school for refusing to cut his hair to appropriate length? The same Emerson who took pride in his luscious blonde hair that flowed out beneath his helmet?

Yes, it was the same Emerson who wasn't about to let his little brother go through something so traumatic by himself. Even if most people just considered it a haircut. To Glen, it meant a whole lot more.

Austin watched Emerson wink at Glen. When did his little brother grow up to be such an amazing young man? He had always been proud of who his siblings were without a doubt, but right now he could not have been any more proud.

Emerson convinced Glen to go into the back with them where the sinks were, throwing an arm around his shoulder as they went so he couldn't escape, leaving Austin, Colton, and Hayes in the front area. With nothing else to do but wait, they took their seats against the wall. There was an NFL game playing on the tv but Hayes paid it no attention. Pulling her legs up to her chest, she twiddled her thumbs, nervous for how Glen would turn out.

They were sitting for about 5 minutes when Joe popped his head around the corner. "Hey Austin, can you come back here for a sec?" Glen was clearly uncomfortable, pacing in the tiny space and Joe did not want to make it worse for him.

"Of course," Austin nodded. He patted Hayes' knee before standing and followed Joe to the back. Hayes frowned, she wanted to know what was going on too but she could only stare at Austin's back as he walked away. No fair.

Tapping sounds from Colton's phone drew her attention away from the back. She glanced down at his phone to see his thumbs rapidly moving across the screen, busy sending messages. In the top left corner of the phone, was the number 139. Holy cow, how could someone have so many unread messages!

"What?" Colton asked having heard her gasp.

"You're so popular." she stated in disbelief.

He chuckled, guessing she must have saw his notifications. "Those are just group messages that I ignore." He leaned back against the chair, dropping his phone in his lap as he draped an arm along the back of her chair, tickling her neck. "I try to get out of the groups and then they add me back in." He explained.

Hmm, can't relate.

His phone buzzed, alerting him to a new message. When she peeked at his screen like the nosy little sister she was, she recognized the contact photo as Dakota, only Colton's name for him was Krabby Kota. It was a beautiful picture of Dakota smiling. Now she had a mission to make him smile more often for her.

Colton pulled up the message, immediately snorting. "Such an asshole." He muttered, sending off a reply.

Unable to help herself, she leaned over the armrest to get a better look. Dakota had sent him a picture of a cake that said 'happy birthday Emily!' in pink frosting.

Him and Francis must have gone to the ice cream parlor when the 5 of them left for haircuts. Hayes glanced further down to see what Colton typed: 'there better be 2 cakes in that freezer or Austin will chew you out'

Hayes internally cheered. Yay, two ice cream cakes!

Instantly another picture came through, this time of two boxes sitting on someone's lap, presumably Dakota's. He was a good brother.

Colton shook his head at his brother's antics. Only Dakota. Softly chuckling to himself, he twirled his phone in his hands before a thought crossed his mind, making him frown. He looked over at his little sister, scanning her attire of running shorts and one of the brothers' t-shirts. No pockets, therefore no phone hidden somewhere.

A tug on her pony tail made her lift her head up. She met Colton's eyes questioningly.

"Where's your phone?" He asked. Oops, yeah about that. She averted her eyes to the TV. Wow, football was so interesting.

"Hayes?" He tilted her chin back towards him so she had no choice but to look at him. "Don't make me ask again."

"At home." She admitted sheepishly. Hayes didn't like when Colton's stern teacher voice came out.

"Don't let us catch you without your phone in your backpack tomorrow. Understand?" Colton asked with a hard look, making Hayes want to shrink back. He meant business and she did not like confrontation. Austin didn't buy her a phone just for fun. It was for her own safety and Austin had made sure she and Glen knew the rule of having their phones when they left the house. "Understand?" He repeated when she didn't respond.

"Yes Colton." Hayes answered obediently.

"Good," Colton let go of her chin, flicking her nose. She stuck her tongue out at him as she rubbed her nose. That hurt.

"Oh, you're fine." He teased, pulling her head close so he could kiss the top of her head.

"What do you think?" Colton and Hayes instantly turned to see who was there. Hayes' jaw dropped. Standing in front of them were Glen and Emerson, only they looked completely different. Good, different. Her brothers looked incredible.

When no one said anything, Glen scowled. "I knew it was ugly. You hate it, don't you."

"No!" Hayes exclaimed, jumping up. "Glen, it looks amazing!"

She could see he didn't believe her so she ran over to him and stood on her tippy toes to run her hand through his hair. "It's so short!"

It wasn't actually that short; on the contrary, he was probably pushing the limits a tad bit for the catholic school rulebook. But for as long as she knew him, his hair was always long and wavy. Just like hers, except shorter.

"Get off of me," He pushed her hands away not liking the attention. Not to be deterred in her reassurance, she hugged him instead. She kept him grounded, so he wouldn't fall into the trap of thinking about the past.

"I have to admit, short hair isn't so bad. I may be converted." Emerson shook his head so his hair flopped around. He had it cut similar to Glen's, making the two continue to look like twins. Now Francis just needed to grow his hair out a little bit, and they'd become triplets. And maybe if Hayes grew a lot, they could become quadruplets! Hayes grinned. That'd be something to see.

"Wow Sonny, didn't know you had it in you." Colton squeezed Emerson's shoulder. "It looks good, bro. You too, Smiley. I like it a lot."

"Thanks," Glen muttered bashfully. He wasn't use to compliments. Emerson, on the other hand, basked in them, trying to get Glen to let even a tiny smile free.

Hayes laughed, enjoying seeing Glen's flushed face a little too much. Boy, how the tables have turned. "Just wait until Deja hears about this! She's going to love it." Hayes punched him in the arm, emphasizing her point. In return, Glen punched her back before Austin could intervene. He'd have to get quicker to prevent the punches between the kids.

"Alright, who's next?" Joe grinned, holding up his scissors.

————

Hayes spied two cars in the driveway that were not there when they left. One she recognized as Baker's, which made her smile. The second was a mystery, which made her frown.

"Who's that?" Glen asked, staring out the window.

"Who's who?" Emerson asked, looking at Glen's window, "that sneaky bitch, what's he doing here?" He recognized the car right away.

"Did you know he was coming?" Colton glanced at Austin as he parked the car behind their mystery guest. The visitor was not a stranger to the home.

"As of," Austin checked his watch, "7 hours ago, yes."

Emerson jumped out of the car, heading straight into the open garage to enter the house.

"Who is he?" Glen tried again. Both kids unbuckled their seatbelts but didn't move from the car. They wanted to know what they were walking into.

"Drew Mistins. He's sonny's BFF, roommate, teammate, whatever you want to call them." Colton answered.

The name Drew rang a bell in Hayes' head. She'd briefly heard him on FaceTime with Emerson, but never actually seen him or interacted with him.

"He's a great kid." Austin added, "Just when everyone's together it can be very loud and overwhelming, more so than normal. No one will be offended if you guys need a breather." He said it to both kids, but he made sure to get his point across to Hayes.

Hayes shrugged, how much louder could it get in a house that was already full of 5 brothers on a daily basis?

The answer, as she soon found out, was very loud.

Hopping out of the car, the 4 siblings made their way into the house. Hayes could hear several of her brothers' voices, but it was too dull to have been coming from inside.

"Baker's cooking burgers." Austin answered her unspoken question. "Peyton is probably out there too. And I think a dog may or may not be here as well."

"Really?" Hayes' eyes brightened. Chubba was here?

"Really." Austin laughed, watching as she ran off to the family room to go outside, "and no running!"

Hayes laughed, too eager to see the dog than to listen to Austin. "Chubba!" Hayes exclaimed, running over to greet the dog. "Hi there, Good Boy, oh my goodness I missed you." She gave the dog a hug, shoving her face against his furry coat. She gave him pets and in return, got lots of dog kisses.

"Why does it feel like my little sister likes the dog more than me?" She heard Baker ask.

"Because she does." Peyton jokingly consoled him, patting him on the chest. They had arrived about 20 minutes ago, just in time to start grilling. Knowing that Austin had taken the kids to get a haircut, Baker took over dinner. Along with the burgers, the fries were currently cooking in the oven. Did Francis and Emerson join forces so they could have hamburgers two nights in a row? Absolutely.

Hayes laughed and turned her head to look at them, "Hi Baker, hi Peyton." That took the couple by surprise, as they exchanged a wide-eyed expression with each other. Austin, who happened to walk out in that moment and overhear his sister was also taken aback, in a good way. Just the other day, she wouldn't have come within 10 feet of Peyton. The strides that Hayes was making made them all so happy.

But even if the brothers were afraid to speak it aloud, they all knew. They knew the honeymoon stage of having the kids home wouldn't last forever and could only watch, lying in wait for the other shoe to drop. Because as much as they wished otherwise, the siblings all knew one thing: life was a cruel bitch, and she was just getting the party started.

~~ Boom ~~

Welcome to my author's note!

Bear with me, I am beyond mentally and physically fatigued right now from studying these past weeks so as much as I tried to reread this chapter to make sure it was in excellent shape, I'm sure plenty of mistakes have been made. My eyes are closing as I write this 😅

Also! As of 4/19/2021, character aesthetics have been added to this story! You'll find it listed before the prologue :) I had wayyyy to much fun with them and every time I wanted to publish it, I found new pictures that I liked.

Next chapter coming soon, because this girl has a week off from school! Woo!

Until next time, ma homies!

-CollegeGirl2015