15.

"Good morning, my favorite fourth period class," Mr. Brandt greeted his biology class. He was a middle-aged man of average height, with big-rimmed glasses, a bald head, and married with children, according to the wedding band on his ring finger and the photo on his desk. He was also Hayes' first male teacher of the day and if she had to guess, probably her last too, with PE as the other exception. But it hadn't been so bad, her teachers could have been old enough to be her grandmother with greying-white hair and spunky attitudes. Nothing that made Hayes feel threatened or represented her mother in any way. That didn't mean she'd be spending anymore time with them than necessary, though.

Class was 55 minutes. That's as long as she planned to spend in the classroom.

"We're your only fourth period, Mr. Brandt," someone sitting in the back of the room felt the need to point out. From the way they spoke, Hayes figured this was an everyday occurrence of Mr. Brandt.

Mr. Brandt waved them off. "As you may have noticed, we have a new student with us, welcome Hayes." He extended a hand in her direction, making Hayes slump down in her seat a little as the students turned to look at her. She had been receiving this unwanted attention all morning which was to be expected, but at least her face didn't showcase her embarrassment anymore. The redness of her cheeks finally faded after 3 periods.

Overall, she'd have to say that being the new student wasn't like what she expected, in a good way. None of her teachers made her introduce herself in front of the classroom or any torturous thing like that, so her nervousness was riding low.

On the other end of the spectrum, Glen was probably enjoying every moment of it, making friends with everyone. He was such a people-person, just like the rest of their brothers. Somehow that trait missed the youngest sibling.

Hayes was curious who they'd end up eating lunch with, eager to see who clicked best with Glen.

"If you all remember, on the first day of school we did an ice breaker to get to know each other. Soooo," Mr. Brandt slapped his hands against his pants for a drumroll. "We're going to do it again!" The class cheered, making Hayes high-key confused. Ice breakers were awkward and uncomfortable, so she didn't understand why they were happy about it.

"Don't look so scared," someone spoke from next to Hayes. "It's actually really fun." Hayes turned her head to the right to look at her desk mate. For some reason the girl had the only empty seat beside her, but if Hayes had to wager a guess, it was probably purposeful because she was too talkative. They hadn't had a chance to introduce themselves to one another because as soon as Hayes sat down, Mr. Brandt addressed the class with his announcements. But Hayes recognized her from her 2nd period math class, and the girl got a warning for chatting during the lesson.

"That's what Glen usually says before we do something stupid and get in trouble," Hayes muttered, fiddling with the pen in her hand.

"Who's Glen?"

"My brother," Hayes answered, biting on the end of her pen. It was another one of her habits, sometimes because of nervousness, or boredom, or because she spaced-out. This time, definitely nerves thanks to the icebreaker game.

"That's the spirit, guys and girls. Remember, it's suppose to be a boring fact about yourself, so nothing like being able to juggle, okay? Juggling is freaking amazing and deserves all the respect. " Mr. Brandt pointed to a specific a student, making them laugh. "And let's keep the repeats to a minimum. I'm sure we can all come up with something boring. The more boring the better."

A boring fact about herself? Hayes switched to chewing on her bottom lip and tapping the pen against her desk, at a loss of what to say. Lately, it seemed like her life was anything but boring.

"I'll go first. My name is Mr. Brandt," he held his hand to his chest, "And I like golf. Okay, take it away, Matthew," Mr. Brandt said.

"Alright, Mr. Brandt. My name is Matt and my boring fact is that I enjoy mowing the lawn." Matthew responded, making his buddies boo him. It was a tough crowd.

"That sounds very boring, Matt. Thank you. Next, please."

The girl sitting next to Matthew shrugged, "My name is Katie and I put my socks on both feet before my shoes."

"Super lame, Katie. I like it."

"Listen up everyone." Hayes watched the next student stand up, commanding the room's attention, "Hunter, and my boring fact is that I pour my milk before cereal. Thank you." He sat back down with a smirk on his face.

Hayes could hear crickets, that's how silent the classroom was until there was an uproar in protest. The class was flabbergasted, because who in their right mind would pour the milk first?

"I don't like my cereal to be soggy before I can eat it," he defended himself.

"Class, we must vote. Everyone who thinks Hunter is not boring, say Aye."

There was a resounding "Aye."

As more and more students had their turn, it was getting closer to Hayes' turn to speak. Think, think, think. What would Glen say?

She scrunched her nose up. Scratch that idea. Glen was weird, she didn't want to know what he'd come up with.

It was her turn.

"Alright, Hayes, what do you have for us? Tell us the most boring fact about you." Mr. Brandt smiled at her in encouragement.

"Um, my name is Hayes and I walk with one foot on the ground at all times." She owed that one to Francis, having been at the butt end of the prank by her brothers. The class went absolutely wild at her response, making her feel a part of something. It was a nice change of pace for once, not being a wallflower. It felt good.

If the smile on her face was anything to go by, biology may turn out to be her favorite class for the year.

————

"That's pretty neat, that we both have 'boy' names, don't you think?" the girl, who Hayes now knew her name was Johnna, decided to try and engage Hayes again as they packed up their backpacks.

"Huh?" Hayes frowned, glancing up at her. Should she take offense to that? She didn't have a boy name, did she?

"My name is John Paul, well, actually it's Johnna Pauli, but my parents named me after Pope John Paul. They were like his biggest fans, or something."

"I'm Hayes," she zipped up her backpack and slung it on her shoulders. Hayes could picture Glen slapping his forehead at her lack of conversational skills. He represented the angel on her shoulder in this situation, encouraging her to make friends.

And she would, if the idea of making friends didn't totally make her anxious, which is why she only had one, Margot, and that's all she needed. But now Margot was in a completely different state. So maybe making a friend or two would be good for her. It would certainly make Glen proud of her, probably her eldest brothers, too.

Hayes would be lying if she said she didn't like when her brothers praised her.

"I know. Hayes is a cool name, by the way. I didn't mean to offend you. Sorry, my family says I talk without thinking a lot. Oh! And you can call me JP or Johnna, I don't care. Just not Johnny. My brothers call me Johnny just to annoy me and it makes me want to kick them in the balls every time." Johnna stuck her hand out to Hayes for a handshake.

"Hi," Hayes shook her hand, before dropping it and grabbing onto her backpack straps.

"We also have math together, and lunch because the whole high school eats at one time, so if you want to eat with me, we have space."

"Thanks, but umm, I usually eat with my brother." Hayes hesitated, knowing Glen wouldn't want to be used as an excuse. But she didn't have to tell him that part.

"The brother who gets you in trouble?" Johnna asked.

Hayes breathed out a laugh, "Yeah, that's the one."

Done with the conversation, Hayes headed out of the classroom in search for Francis. True to his word, he had been meeting her after every class to walk her to the next period. Now, she needed a recharge, and a hug from her brother would do the trick.

"Sounds like you have more than one," Johnna noted, keeping up with her. The girl just didn't give up.

"Seven."

"Three, with one being my twin." Johnna made a face. "My twin is younger than me but they all say I'm the baby; meanly, of course, because my brothers are rude as heck."

"Sup, Sissy," Francis appeared in Hayes' line of vision, providing the much needed interference for Hayes. "How was bio, Miss Smarty Pants?" When he saw Johnna standing beside her, he smiled, "Sissy, did you make a friend?"

Hayes scowled, "Stop calling me that." His nickname made her sound like a baby. She didn't mind at home, but not while at school!

"Johnna," the girl waved, "and trying. I think right now we are acquaintances since I'm probably scaring Hayes off, to be honest. My brothers say I do that."

"Nah, my Sissy is tough. She deals with annoying brothers on a daily basis, so she doesn't scare easily." Francis winked at Hayes, pulling her into her side. He could see the sign of distress on her face. "But we have to run to C building, so you'll have to try again later."

"See you at lunch!" Johnna called, as Francis lead Hayes away. Hayes frowned, she didn't remember agreeing to that.

"Johnna seems nice," Francis squeezed her shoulder. Hayes shrugged, she hadn't made her mind up yet. "I think I know her brothers, they all look alike. Nice family."

"Hey Francis?" Hayes asked as she subtly inched closer to his side for the hug she was craving, "do I have a boy's name?"

"What?" He sputtered, trying not to laugh, "I don't think so, I mean it's possible sure, but you're the only Hayes I know which makes you the O.G. Why? Someone called you a boy?" He glanced down at her in concern. It was a weird and random question coming from her.

"Johnna said I had a boy name, like her."

"Just ignore her, Sissy."

They continued walking in silence, Hayes tucked under Francis' arm. She was completely relying on Francis for direction because she had not a single clue where they were heading. But that wasn't any different from her other four periods thus far. She'd be completely lost without him. Glen briefly crossed her mind again, wondering how he was managing finding his classes, but then she remembered that he was a social butterfly and probably had someone new escorting him to each period.

Francis was moving up on her favorite brother totem pole.

School was tiring although compared to her old school, she couldn't really complain about anything, besides the uniform skort that is. As it turned out, the school year in Florida began a couple weeks earlier than other states, and so even with missing school last week, her and Glen were not behind in learning. They were actually still a week ahead.

She'll have to hatch a solid argument with Glen to convince Austin to let them stay home for the rest of the week. Why spend it in school learning nothing new when she could hang out with her eldest brother?

Who was she kidding? Austin would never buy that.

But maybe Baker would.

A hand grabbed her backpack, pulling her back. "Hold up, Sunshine. Our class is right here." Lost in her thoughts, she was about to walk right pass it.

Hold up, brother. Our class?

Hayes' whipped around to face Francis. "Francis." Hayes stated.

"Sissy." The grin on his face widened.

"Do we have a class together?" How did that even make sense? He was a senior and she was a freshman. But she didn't exactly hate the idea, either.

Francis winked at her as he spun her back around and marched her into the classroom.

"Ciao Signora Moratta," Francis greeted the teacher at her desk. Another example of what Hayes imagined a loving grandma to look like.

"Ciao Signor Powers, e chi e questro?"

"My sister," Francis jostled Hayes' shoulders to annoy her, earning a scowl. Back down the totem pole he fell.

"En italiano, raggazo sciocco." Mrs. Moratta pretended to smack Francis's arm with the pen she was holding.

"Mi dispiace. Mia sorella, Hayes, e una bambina en sua classe." His grin never faltered. Francis wasn't exactly the best at speaking Italian, but he stuck with it, making the poor teacher endure 4 years of him in her classroom. He may not have had straight A's like some of his other siblings, but Austin was satisfied of B's too. Above all, Francis was a hard worker and well behaved so all his teachers loved him, leaving behind a positive reputation to pass on to Glen and Hayes.

"Ah, I see, Francis," Mrs. Moratta said, amused by the siblings. "Piacere! Nice to meet you, Hayes, welcome to Italian I. As Francis may have already explained, this period is conjoined with Italian IV, but they do self-studying. Isn't that right Francis?

"Si, Signora." Francis nodded over-enthusiastic. Due to the limitation of only one Italian teacher at the school, they had to make due with having a mixed class. Fortunately, there were only 8 students in Francis' Italian IV class, so it wasn't a major issue. As long as the 8 students completed their work by the end of the period and didn't distract the rest of the classroom with their antics, she didn't mind what they did. It worked out great, usually.

"Bene. Siediti prego, Francis, e Hayes let's find you a seat," Mrs. Moratta smiled at them. Having two Powers siblings in one classroom should be very interesting.

————

"I'm so hungry I can eat a horse," Francis complained as they walked to the cafeteria. Fifth period was finally over which meant lunch! Like Johnna had said, the whole high school population had lunch at this time, so Hayes was only half paying attention to Francis; she was more focused on looking for Glen. "He's going to meet us at the table." Francis picked up on her lack of listening.

"Who? Glen?"

"Yep, good ole' Smiley boy. He said he's coming from PE so it's going to take him a hot minute."

"How do you even know that?"

"He texted me." Hayes pouted, "you're in the group message too if you just checked your phone." Francis pointed out.

Oh. Honestly she forgot she even had her phone.

Francis held the door open for her to walk in first, before guiding them to his regular table in the back-center of the cafeteria, already occupied by several students. Pushing her down onto the bench, he took the seat right next to her. Her first instinct was to stand right back up and flee, but Francis crushed that idea when he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, ensuring she couldn't go anywhere.

Giving in, Hayes gave a small smile to the other people at the table, presumably Francis' friends. They looked nice enough, all greeting her with smiles and waves.

"Sunshine, meet the dudes and dudette," there was one girl at the table besides her, " dudes and dudette, meet Sunshine."

Rolling their eyes at Francis' terrible introduction, they each introduced themselves - Alex, Nick, Lucas, Zealand, and Rosie.

"Do you want us to call you Sunshine or Hayes?" Lucas asked.

Surprised that they knew her name, she looked at Francis for an answer.

"We're not creeps," Alex laughed, interpreting her facial expression, "Fran couldn't stop talking about you and Glen since he found out you were coming."

A small blush covered Francis' cheeks. He rolled his eyes at being ousted by his friends. "There's nothing wrong with being excited." He pulled her closer to him and kissed her head while chucking a random napkin at his friends with his other hand.

The guys laughed at him while Rosie shook her head at their antics, smiling when she made eye contact with Hayes. "We're all happy you're here, Hayes. Welcome to the group."

"How old are you?" Nick asked. She looked mighty young to him.

"13." Hayes responded.

"Wait, how are you a freshman? My sister is 14 and she has a summer birthday."

Hayes, again, looked to Francis for an answer. No one had directly asked her this question yet but everyone seemed to be thinking it because his friends all looked curious. She didn't have an answer for them because she didn't know any different. She simply began school when her mother dropped her off with Glen one day.

"Military brats, remember?" Francis answered on her behalf. He didn't know if that was the truth, but it was a fact. Their dad had been in the military, so they lived in several states before Austin took over and moved them to South Carolina.

"Oh yeah," Zealand chuckled, "sometimes I forget you only moved here a couple years ago because it feels like we've known you forever, man. Where are you from again?"

"Maine and yes, it's as boring as it sounds."

Hayes raised her eyebrows at that statement. She didn't know they were from Maine.

"Boo." someone whispered between her and Francis' head.

Hayes flinched into Francis' side. She recognized Glen's voice right away but couldn't help her immediate reaction. Glen's laughter filled her ears as she turned around and jabbed him in the stomach. Or attempted too, because Glen easily caught her fist.

"Aye, just in time little bro. Smiley, meet the guys. Guys, this is Smiley. He plays basketball so we don't talk to him."

"Shut up, Francis," Rosie said, "baseball is not the superior sport at this table."

"Yes, it is." the guys responded. They were all on the varsity baseball team with Francis so she was outnumbered.

Glen shrugged good-naturedly, "Guess that means we're getting the boot, Hayes."

"Wait, wait, wait. Hayes, do you play basketball?" Rosie asked, a smile growing on her face.

"Yes she does," Francis said proudly.

"The girls' team would love to have you!" Rosie gushed, making Hayes uncomfortable. She was not interested in playing for the girls' team.

"Babe, dial it down a notch. You're scaring her," Alex chuckled.

"Um, that's okay, Rosie. Thank you, though." Hayes mumbled. She slid over on the bench, letting Francis' hand drop back to his side and stood up.

"Aw, Sissy, don't go." Francis whined, reaching out to grab her hand but missed.

"Just face it, Fran, she likes me more." Glen gloated, tugging on her backpack so she stumbled backwards.  The funny thing was that no one disputed him. "Okay byeeee," Glen waved, tugging once more on Hayes' backpack to get her to follow him.

She turned back around briefly to wave goodbye to Francis before catching up to Glen.

"Glad to see you're still alive," Glen teased, nudging Hayes in the shoulder. He kept his voice light in order to hide his concern. Hayes didn't know this, but he had been texting Francis outside of the group chat too, checking to see how she was doing. Though he was pretty confident that Hayes hadn't checked her phone at all so she probably didn't read the group messages either.

"Barely," Hayes replied.

"Still alive but I'm barely breathing." Glen sang.

"Such a geek." Hayes rolled her eyes before nudging him back. "So where are we sitting?"

"Yo, Glen over here!" Well, that answered her question. She followed Glen like a puppy dog to a table on the side of the cafeteria. She took this time to observe the people they were approaching, two boys and a girl.

"Hi Hayes," the girl grinned up at her. It wasn't just any girl, but Johnna Pauli from math and biology class. Guess Hayes would be eating lunch with her after all. Now the question was, how did she meet Glen?

"You know each other?" Glen raised his eyebrows at Hayes, impressed. The last time Hayes made a friend was when she was 5, and even then, Margot pretty much forced Hayes to be friends.

This situation was not so different.

"We have class together," Johnna answered, "and I'm guessing you're Glen, the one who gets Hayes into trouble. Ow, Abraham, don't kick me." The boy who was apparently Abraham, smirked at Johnna. The similarities between them made Hayes realize he was the twin. She also figured out the Glen didn't know Johnna, but her twin brother. What were the odds of this.

"I am Glen. You must be Johnny, Abe's twin." Glen replied easily.

"Abraham, I swear to God if you don't stop telling people my name is Johnny." Johnna glared, "I will cut you."

The boys laughed, "He told me to say that." Glen threw Abe under the bus. He took a seat next to Abe, leaving Hayes to sit next to Johnna.

As Glen took his lunch out of his backpack, he gently stepped on Hayes' foot underneath the table to get her attention. "Eat your lunch," he reminded her.

Nodding her head, Hayes intentionally relaxed her shoulders to try to feel more at ease since it seemed that this was their new lunch crew. It also was beginning to appear that Johnna was going to be her friend no matter what Hayes wanted, so she may as well embrace it now.

She pulled her backpack onto her lap to unzip it and grabbed her brown bag lunch. As gracefully as she could, which meant not gracefully at all,  Hayes dumped the bag's contents into a small pile onto the table in front of her. Her heart raced as she watched as a sticky note flutter out, snagging it in her hand before it could fall onto the floor. No one had ever stuck a note in her lunch before.

The one side was blank so she flipped it over, finding a note from her eldest brother. Have a great day at school! I love you, Sunshine!!

It was simple and sweet, something she was going to treasure forever. She quickly slipped the note into the small front pocket of her backpack to keep it safe as a wave of homesickness washed over her.

Before her thoughts of sadness could cloud her, Glen's familiar laugh made her glance up, reminding her that her home was right in front of her. But also, her home was sitting across the cafeteria surrounded by his friends. Or in the elementary school building teaching his class. Or at their respective jobs, getting their work done for the day. Or at the house, probably spread out on the couch playing video games.

Hayes felt her heart warm as her mind flipped through images of her brothers' faces and what they were doing right now. She didn't even realize it, but she had begun to think of all her brothers as her home. It was no longer the Hayes and Glen duo.

She wasn't homesick, she was brother-sick. Hayes missed her brothers.

————

Hayes hadn't stopped smiling since she put on her basketball sneakers that afternoon.

"Hey guys, gather around." Colton called, clapping his hands for attention as he walked onto the court. "I have two people I'd like to introduce, but it seems as if you guys have already met them." Colton smiled at his siblings who were standing amongst the team. If Hayes hadn't been standing by Glen's side, she probably would have been hidden by everyone's legs. He was happy to see them fit right in. "Glen and Hayes, meet the team. You got Wendell, Theo, Keegan, and Joey, the forwards; Mark, our center; Michael, Trevor, Abe, and David, the guards." Colton pointed to each player as he said their names. This came as no surprise to the team because Colton previously mentioned it at the Saturday practice.

Glen nodded to everyone in greeting as Abe and Theo patted his shoulders. It was the same Abe and Theo whom the siblings ate lunch with. Go figure, Glen had already befriended the only two sophomores on the varsity team.

"Alright, Hayes stay for one moment, the rest of you go warm up." Colton dismissed them. Glen shot her a grin before heading off with the rest of the team to start stretching.

Hayes chewed on her lip as she walked over to Colton, unsure what he wanted to talk about. "Sunshine," Colton said, a smile teasing his lips. The young girl refused to look up, irrationally afraid of being kicked out of practice since she hadn't done anything wrong.

He nudged her chin up, "Sunshine, I just have a question for you."

Hayes lifted her gaze to meet her brother's eyes. "Yes?"

"Do you want a men's ball or women's?"

"Umm," Hayes didn't realize there were different types of basketballs, "Whatever Glen uses?" They just used whatever basketball someone brought to the park or one of Patrick's.

"It's just the size. Men's is bigger. But," He reached out and grabbed her hand to give it a shake, before playing squeezing her arm muscle. "We all know you're strong. I figured, but just wanted to be sure."

"Okie dokie," Hayes replied, waiting to hear what else he had to say.

"That was all," Colton laughed. He pulled her hand so she stumbled towards him. A kiss on the head and a pat on the butt for encouragement, he sent her to go warm up.

It only took the first drill to realize just how skilled his siblings were. It was one thing to listen to Austin brag about them, another to play around with them on the driveway, and a third to see them competing alongside other talented players.

It was very evenly matched between Glen and his players, most if not all who have had private trainers. Colton was going to have to talk with his assistant coach and the athletic director to see if he could have Glen officially on the team.

Then he had his little sister who was a beast in her own right. No longer was Hayes the shy, anxious little girl. Only determination and power radiated off of her. She was not intimidated in the slightest by the teenage boys and was completely capable of holding her own against them.

Eventually it got to the part of practice that Hayes and Glen were looking forward to most, the scrimmage! But if Colton blew his stupid whistle one more time, Hayes was seriously going to punch him. Maybe not now since he was Coach Powers, but at home where he was her older brother Colton, it was fair game. The whistle was extremely loud and obnoxious for her sensitive ears.

She was currently bored, standing on the sidelines watching the game. Lucky Glen got to play right away since the team only had 9 players whereas she got to hang out next to Colton and his assistant coach.

Hayes wanted to play, too.

Colton shook his head at the disastrous play that was just attempted, before turning to Hayes who patiently awaiting her turn. He knew she was eager to get in the game, but to be honest, he was a little worried she was going to get hurt and the last thing he needed was Austin on his back for letting that happen. Though since technically Austin allowed the kids to practice, if anything did occur, then it'd be on him, and not Colton.

A promise was a promise.

"You ready, Sunshine?"

"Really?" Her twinkling eyes met his.

"Yeah, listen," He placed both hands on her shoulders and bent over to hold her gaze, conveying his seriousness, "These guys, Hayes, are bigger, stronger, and faster than you. They won't go easy just because you're a girl, either." Hayes started to frown and her shoulders began to cave in. She didn't like where this was heading. "But," Colton poked the wrinkle forming on her forehead, "You have the toughness of 10 of them and the power to kick their ass. Show me what you got, kid." He turned back to the court, blowing the whistle that hung around his neck, stopping the play.  "Mike, take a breather; Hayes will take your spot. Abe, let Glen run point a couple times."

"Okay, Coach." Mike jogged over to them, fist-bumping Hayes as he passed.

"Go on," Colton encouraged her. She hesitated for another moment before running off to join her team, being greeted with high-fives.

Colton crossed his arms against his chest, ready to see how this was going to play out.

She didn't know their plays, other than the two the team had briefly practiced that day, but that didn't matter. She didn't need it. Hayes played with natural instinct, finding the open player and taking fast breaks.

Watching Hayes and Glen play against each other was entertaining. Colton could see some of his players were hesitant to defend Hayes because they didn't want to accidently crush her, but it balanced itself out because Glen, Abe, and Theo had no problems guarding her.

She and Glen transformed their respective teams into playing way better than they had been, purely because of their energy. Colton saw the progression into a more flowing basketball game, where the players were less caught up with running perfect plays and more in-tune with playing ball. Don't get him wrong, his team was already phenomenal and he expected to have a go at the championship this season. But with his two siblings changing it up, they just became that much better.

Now all Colton had to do was figure out a way to convince his sister to join the girl's team. He didn't want her talent to go to waste.

————

"Bro, can you make me a sandwich?" Dakota strolled into the kitchen with his head down, texting friends on his phone. "Austin?"

"Hmm?"

"Austin, what's wrong with you?" Dakota slipped his phone into his pocket and stared at his eldest brother. Austin was sitting at the table with one hand rubbing his forehead and the other hand clutching his phone.

"I'm fine. What do you need, Kota?" Realizing he hadn't started making dinner, Austin finally stood up from the chair he had been occupying since he received the phone call an hour earlier.

"You're lying, but whatever." Dakota shrugged, "So, can you make me a sandwich?"

"No. Dinner is in 20 minutes."  Autopilot kicked in as he looked for a pot to fill with water. Boiling water took no time, and the meatballs he made the night before would warm up in the sauce. Easy.

"But I'm hungry now," Dakota muttered, helping himself to the fridge.

The sound of car doors slamming alerted them that their youngest siblings and Colton had arrived home from school, cutting off any retort that Austin had. It sent his brain into haywire, replaying the phone conversation in his head for the 100th time. Sergeant Stephen Rayon had called to let him know that Glen was looking for answers about what was happening back in Live Oak. Answers that Stephen thought Austin should share with all of the siblings.

He gripped the countertop, letting his head hang down. Austin knew he had to tell them. He should have told his brothers as soon as he found out. He just didn't want to reopen old wounds and see their reactions.

"You might want to get your fine shit together, the babies are home." Dakota suggested, shutting the fridge. There was never anything good to eat.

As if to prove Dakota's point, Glen's voice got louder as he walked into the garage and then into the house. Francis texted Austin on their car ride home about how Glen hadn't shut up since they got in the car. Seems that still held true.

"I call shower first!" Francis yelled, shoving Glen to the side as they raced inside.

"You suck, Francis." Glen chased after him.

Austin turned around just in time to see Francis zip past to the stairs with Glen right behind him.

"Glen, can you come here for a sec?" Austin called, making the young boy reroute to the kitchen.

It wasn't so much Glen and Hayes who he was worried about. Stephen made it sound like they pretty much knew the outcome, but this would be a blindside to Francis, Emerson, and Dakota. Though Dakota was the least of his worries; Austin could already picture him rolling his eyes saying 'fuck that shit' and moving on.

"Austin, Austin, Austin, Austin, Austin," Hayes' little body rammed into him, stinky and all.

"Hey Sunshine," he murmured, bending down to kiss her head. He soaked in this moment, having missed her. He missed both his kids.

"Austin, you should have seen us!" Glen burst into the kitchen, "it was so awesome! I can't believe that is what Patrick was doing this whole time. I'm so jealous. We've definitely been missing out, right Hayes?"

"Smiley, take a breath, man." Colton laughed, making his appearance. His laughter faded as he took a look at his eldest brother. "Did something happen?"

Both kids quieted immediately, sensing the shift in mood. Hayes released her hold on Austin and took a step back towards Glen and Colton. She nervously glanced around to each of her brothers, catching Dakota's eye across the room. He sent her a wink, trying to ease her mind. Although he didn't have an answer for her, the least he could do was stop her thoughts from racing out of control.

Glen looked between Colton and Austin, before settling his sights on Austin.

Steeling himself, Austin stood up straight. Dinner was going to have to wait. "I talked to Stephen Rayon today,"

"What?" Glen interrupted. "Why did you talk to him?" Glen had texted him earlier in between classes asking if him and Hayes could talk to him tonight. Stephen had replied affirmative right away, giving no indication that he was going to call Austin.

"He said you had questions about the case and thought I should share the information with everyone."

"What information?"

"Who is everyone?" Dakota and Colton, respectively, asked at the same time.

"Baker will be here in 10." Austin answered, ignoring the other question. Glen was becoming agitated, running his hands through his hair. The next step would be for him to start pacing.

"What fucking information, Austin?" Dakota repeated. As far as he knew, the kids were found by luck of the draw.

This was exactly what Austin was hoping to avoid. "Information about our mother."

~~ Welcome to my corner~~

😬 While we're 99.9% sure that their mother is dead, apparently not every Powers sibling is aware of that little fact. Seems like Austin kept it on the down-low. So, that'll be a juicy family meeting to look forward too.

Until next time ma homies,

CollegeGirl2015