29.

**I read it then would edit it then read it again and I think I checked it for the final time but as always, read at your own risk**

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Hayes' leg bounced up and down a million times a second. Her nerves were getting the best of her right now.  It was like her senses were on hyper-alert, every little noise, every little movement, piercing her ears. Adrenaline.

Tick.

Tick.

Oh how she so badly wanted to just rip that clock off the wall and chuck it down the hall. The ticking of the clock especially was driving her absolutely insane.

Sniffle.

Hayes' leg movement paused as she shuffled around in her seat, freeing her right hand from underneath her thigh where she had been digging her nails into the fading red cushion seat. Her left hand was tightly clenched by Francis' unwavering grip as if she was his lifeline in his anxiety. She glanced at him, bent over with half his face hidden in the palm of his hand, his own leg bouncing up a storm. Family trait she supposed.

They weren't kidding when they said Francis wore his heart on his sleeve. She had been able to read every expression that flitted across his face during his conversation with Austin.

It wasn't good news.

But Hayes had only been able to hear just bits and pieces as her ears were clogged by this constant annoying ringing sound. The sound that occurs when you're so overwhelmed and you can't focus on anything and it feels like the world is going to crap.

But, as it turned out, the world wasn't falling apart.

She had been able to hear the most important part of the conversation, allowing her to breathe a little easier. Her chest to feel a little less tight.

Her brothers were okay. It wasn't Baker.

Charlotte, on the other hand, was not so lucky.

The door to the main office was pushed opened, allowing in the outside noise as random students roaming around during their lunch break entered the bustling office. Hayes watched them as they walked down the hall, away from where the two siblings sat. She kept her eyes peeled for their missing musketeer.

She had texted Glen almost 10 minutes ago and he still hadn't come yet. Hayes frowned, where was he?

The door opened twice more, before finally revealing Glen amongst the few students who straggled in. Lunch would be over soon. He spotted them right away and hurried over. She could see the panic clear as day written on his face. Maybe she should have elaborated in her message besides just in office, pls come.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Glen questioned as he skimmed over Hayes and Francis for any hints of damage. Hayes offered him a weak smile in reassurance that she was fine. Frazzled, but fine.

At the sound of his voice, Francis became more alert, picking up his head to look at Glen. His free hand rubbed one of his eyes before wiping his nose in the back of his hand. He sniffed once before clearing his throat, trying to pretend that his eyes weren't totally red, that he wasn't leaking tears this whole time.

"Hey, baby bro. What's up?" Realizing he still held on to Hayes' hand, Francis let go, running his fingers through his hair before laying his arm on his leg. Hayes quickly clenched and unclenched her hand in a fist, trying to regain some of the feeling back. Francis had squeezed the blood out of her fingers.

"Don't 'hey' me," Glen scowled at him, his heart pulsing so fast, "What the hell is going on? Why are you guys in here?"

Francis shrugged, remaining stubbornly closed-lip about it. He focused his attention on his hands, clasping them together. Truth was, he didn't really know what was going on either. Austin didn't say much over the phone, just that Charlotte was in the hospital. Well, and now since the youngest siblings knew about it, that they were going to be picked up from school.

Glen's gaze swung from Francis to Hayes and back to Francis again. Even though Hayes didn't appear nearly as upset as their brother, Glen wasn't satisfied. Growing frustrated, he kicked Francis' shoe, gaining his attention again. "No fucking secrets," Glen growled, reminding them of the sibling pact. They'd all agreed to this, and Glen held up his side.

Francis sighed as he avoided Glen's stare. He knew his little brother was right to call him out, but he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't want to think about it. It hurt too much. It hurt so much.

"I'm waiting," Glen stated, his foot tapping against the floor, his arms crossed. Francis needed to explain quick or else he was going to lose his mind with all the possibilities his brain was conjuring. "Hayes?"

Hayes looked at him wide-eyed. She didn't even know what to say.

"Peyton," Francis abruptly stood up as she strolled over to them. When she was within 5 feet, Francis met her with a hug. Then he took a step back, letting Peyton's hand drift to holding his arm. "Do you know anything? Any updates?"

"Hey, Francis," Peyton said softly. It was obvious they were comfortable with each other, acting how a real older sister-younger brother relationship should be. Peyton deserved that title, having been a constant figure for practically half of Francis' life.

Taken by surprise at seeing Peyton, Glen looked back down at Hayes for answers, who shrugged before standing up next to him. Hayes was just as clueless as he was, having expected one of their brothers to show. She brushed down the back of her skort, all wrinkled from her constant fidgeting. "All I know is that Charlotte's involved."

"Go figure," Glen scoffed. She just couldn't seem to fully be gone from their lives. But to be fair, neither kid had heard her name being spoken since she left their house that fateful Friday night.

Hayes swung her backpack onto her shoulders, her fingers curling around the straps. "I think it's bad, G." She whispered like she was sharing a secret, "like, really bad."

"Huh," Glen's mind jumped to the obvious outcome. It wasn't hard to fill in the blanks.

Death.

But would that really be so bad?

"Hi you two. I know you're probably really confused right now, but I'm going to take you home. Austin will meet us there." Peyton's voice interrupted their thoughts.

Both kids looked at each other before shrugging. Hayes let Glen take the first step before following closely by his side as they walked to where Peyton and Francis waited. Glen tried to make eye contact with Francis but he continued to dodge him like the plague.

As a group, the four of them left the office and headed to Peyton's car. Francis hopped into the front seat, leaving the kids to sit in the back. Glen climbed right in whereas Hayes hesitated for half a beat before climbing in after. If Glen trusted Peyton, then Hayes had no reason not to trust her as well.

Right?

... Right?

Right.

————

The car ride was deemed uneventful, minus the intermittent sniffles from Francis. His head was tilted against the window, letting Hayes see his red-rimmed eyes through the reflection. Soon the youngest two Powers siblings found themselves left alone in the family room. No one had been home yet when they arrived so Francis was quick to run upstairs into his bedroom. He was hoping a hot shower would calm his anxiety.

Glen initially had tried to question Peyton in the car about what was going on but she kindly shut down his attempts by saying that Austin wanted to explain everything to them. That was why Peyton was somewhere in the house, probably hiding from any more of Glen's interrogation, waiting just like they were for one of their eldest brothers to return. She would never abandon them, they were her family.

Supposedly Austin was to be there shortly, but after 15 minutes passed, Glen and Hayes gave up hope. Since then, an hour had come and gone, along with two reruns of Family Feud playing on the television for background noise.  But still no sign of any of their brothers.

"Well this blows," Glen announced, plopping down on the couch next to Hayes. Bored with waiting and riddled with an ominous feeling, he had been digging through the miscellaneous chest of forgotten toys and pulled out their nerf guns. He dropped Hayes' gun on her lap and held up his own, aiming at the giant picture that hung above the fire place.

"You're not being very nice," Hayes muttered, holding up her own gun. She checked her ammo before aiming at the picture as well. It was a nice photograph, probably a couple years old, of the brothers that Hayes often found herself looking at. She was most likely imagining it but if she examined the photo closely enough, she could point out the differences in their smiles. Then and now. Pre-kids and post-kids. They were so, so much happier now.

"How am I not being nice?" Glen retorted, "I simply want answers on why Colton suddenly left us at school." He pulled the trigger, belatedly realizing that they may have difficulty retrieving the nerf bullets afterwards. The picture was higher up than he first thought.

"And I told you," Hayes' turn to shoot, they watched the nerf bullet soar, barely missing her target of Emerson's face. "Charlotte is sick or something. She does have cancer, you know. Maybe we should have expected this."

Glen looked at her as if what she said was the most absolute bizarre thing. "You, of all people, are sticking up for her?"

"No," Hayes denied, lowering her nerf gun. She was most certainly not sticking up for her vile sister.

Glen leaned over, entering into her personal space, to examine her face for the truth. "You're scared," he concluded.

Hayes pushed his head away, "No."

He continued to watch her as she fumbled with the nerf gun in her hands. "Yes, you are."

She didn't respond, instead raising her gun back up to shoot at the picture again. This time she was way off, the bullet sticking to the frame. "Francis was crying," she spoke softly, guilt seeping into her voice.

"Hayes."

"He was crying, Glen," Hayes hugged the gun to her chest, "he was crying and, and I didn't know what to do." She looked up at Glen, tears forming in her own eyes, "am I a bad sister?"

"No," Glen vehemently denied, wanting to rid her of that thought immediately. If anything, he was the callous brother. "Heck no. You're the best sister anyone could ever have." He laid his head on her shoulder, blinking innocently up at her before adding, "even with all your flaws." He hoped his teasing worked.

"You're so annoying, Glennard," Hayes breathily laughed after a moment, breaking the tension. She dropped her shoulder causing him to fall down against the cushion. It muffled the sound of his own snickers before she shot him in the back of his head.

Their laughter died off when the sound of the front door being unlocked was heard. The kids froze, straining to hear who was home. Unable to wait, Hayes went to get off the couch only to be pulled back by the collar of her shirt.

"Wait." Glen held a finger up to his lips, indicating to be quiet. He wanted to know what was going on and he had a high suspicion that their brothers wouldn't talk if they knew young ears were listening in.

They heard Francis' eager footsteps racing down the stairs. "Any updates?"

It didn't matter that Glen and Hayes were snooping because other than a few passing words they couldn't even decipher, nothing else was said. Suddenly they could hear footsteps again, getting louder and louder as whoever it was made their way to the family room.

Hayes subconsciously pressed her back against the couch, her grip on the nerf gun tightening. The weight of what was going on settled back on her shoulders.

The intruder pushed open the sliding door that separated the family room from the rest of the house.

"Sup, losers."

Instantly, in tangent, both kids held up their nerf guns and fired at him.

"Oh, you little shits," he suddenly charged at them and jumped on top of them, smushing them against the couch.

Hayes started laughing, "Dakota, you're crushing me."

"Fat ass," Glen managed to huff as he fought against Dakota's advantageous size. The teen boy had no chance.

"I don't think you're in the position to talk, Smiley," Dakota taunted, maneuvering around so Hayes was now free of his weight.

Curious, Hayes seized this opportunity to get off the couch and peek around the corner, checking to see if anyone else had come home with Dakota. Namely, Austin.

Noticing this, Dakota sobered up pretty quickly. It was his job to occupy Smiley and Sunshine until Austin could chat. Be the comedic relief, so to speak, ironic because his humor wasn't exactly PG. Dakota not so gently shoved an elbow into Glen's stomach to help him sit up right.

"Ooof."

"They didn't come home yet," Dakota answered her unspoken question when she looked back at him.

"Are they still at the hospital?" Glen asked uncertain, rubbing his stomach to take away the sting.

Dakota paused for a second before recovering by roughly messing up Glen's hair, "Austin should be home any minute." Glen pushed his hand away with a scowl making Dakota chuckle as he got up to his feet.

"That's what Peyton said an hour ago," Hayes whined as she walked back over to him. As soon as she got close enough, Dakota pulled her into a hug.

"Tough shit," Dakota replied, flinching when she stepped on his foot. That was a new habit of hers that the brothers were eager to squash.

"dakota?"

"Yeah?" Dakota rested his chin on top of Hayes' head, glancing over to Glen. He blinked, momentarily imagining Glen as the blonde baby from when he was taken. His heart skipped a beat. Now was not the time to lose his cool. Blinked again, the lanky young teen stared back at him.

"Is Charlotte dead?"

Dakota's gaze darkened as Glen's question. He could feel Hayes shifting in his arms so she could look up at Dakota's face. He hugged her head against his chest so she couldn't see.

Thankfully for Dakota, the front door opened once more, garnering everyone's attention.  Hayes immediately went to let go to investigate but this time Dakota held her back.

Unfortunately though, he forgot that the sliding glass door was still open. They could hear everything that was to be said.

"Austin," They could hear the sigh of relief in Francis' voice. He must've of waited on the steps instead of returning to his room. "How is she? Can we go see her? What happened?"

When Austin didn't respond right away, it was Glen's turn to be curious. He strolled towards the doorway to see.

"Glen," Dakota hissed, tightening his grip on Hayes. The brothers knew Francis would probably have a melt down.

Glen ignored him, determined to find out what was happening. But he stopped cold turkey at the sight before him, the temperature instantly dropping as chills ran through him.

He changed his mind, but body didn't want to cooperate.

He could only stare as Francis stood in front of Austin, his arms stiff by his side. Peyton was hanging a few steps away, ready to jump in and help if needed.

"Fran," Austin's voice was low, solemn. That one word was all it took to deliver the news.

"No," Francis cut him off, "no, no, no, no! You're lying," he pleaded, his hands flying to his head. "No, Austin, she's fine, right?" His voice cracked.

He couldn't handle it.

"Come here," Austin pulled Francis into a firm hug, just in time for sobs to be heard. Tears soaked Austin's shoulder.

"She's got to be fine. She has to!"

"I'm so sorry, Francis." Austin voice shook a little as he leaned his forehead against Francis' head. It hurt him to see his younger brother like this. Francis just loved so hard, even those he wanted to hate.

"She didn't need to go," Francis cried, "it's not fair! Why didn't she fight?"

Life wasn't fair. Austin didn't need the reminder. Their family fought enough battles to know this.

"I know it hurts," Austin tangled his fingers through the back of Francis' hair, holding him tight, "You're not alone, we're right here with you.

"It hurts so much."

"I know, buddy, I know."

————

Almost as if it was an out-of-body experience, Glen slowly backed away from the wall and collapsed down on the couch. He was in a daze over what he just heard and saw.

Charlotte was dead.

He freaking called it.

But he didn't think he'd feel so bad about it. Or, was it that he felt bad for Francis? He didn't think he was going to forget that image any time soon. It was haunting, seeing his brother break down like that. So vulnerable.

"You okay, Sunshine?" Dakota asked, leaning back to get a look at the girl's face. Hayes did look a little pale as she rubbed her eyes.

She slowly nodded, her eyes darting to her feet to avoid his inquiring gaze. Hearing Francis wail like that really shook her up. Goose bumps lined her arms.

"Talk to me," Dakota poked her side but she barely squirmed. She looked like she was going to keel over any second.

"Francis," she shakily responded, "he, he... is he okay?"

"He will be," Dakota replied, pulling her back into a hug and pressing his lips to the top of her head. "Hey," he suddenly snapped his fingers a couple times to get Glen's attention. The boy turned his head to look at him, "don't bow out on me now, kid."

"I'm fine," Glen brushed off his concern. He clasped his hands together, twirling his thumbs.

Dakota frowned at his brother. None of them dared to move, the kids paralyzed as they listened to their goofy, crazy, fun-loving brother's sobs soon calmed to cries to eventual silence.

Knuckles rapped on the wall alerting the bunch to a new presence. Their heads all turned to the entrance where Austin greeted them. He looked beat.

Hayes broke out of Dakota's arms and stumbled full force into Austin's stomach.

Austin held her tight, closing his eyes as he left a couple kisses on her head. "I love you," he mumbled against her hair. Words he will be surely repeating even more often after today.

Another set of arms joined their hug, blonde hair invading Hayes' vision.

"They heard," Dakota let Austin know the cat was out of the bag.

Austin nodded. He looped one arm  around each of his kids, holding them close to his heart. Hayes could hear his heart beating against her cheek.

Screw that, his kids were his heart. Every last piece of it belonged to them.

Baker, Colton, Dakota, Emerson, Francis, Glen, and Hayes.

His whole entire heart.

He kissed Glen's messy mop of hair as he closed his eyes tight. He didn't plan on letting them go anytime soon.

————

The rest of the Monday afternoon into evening was a quiet affair for the family. Glen and Hayes remained by Dakota's side, tucked out of the way in the family room as he seemed to be the least emotionally affected one. Austin spent the majority of his time comforting Francis as the brother would wax and wane with his crying bursts. He was a sensitive boy. Peyton hung around for another hour or so to help with dinner and what not before heading home herself. Colton eventually returned home that night, but locked himself in his bedroom. Neither Hayes or Glen even got a glimpse of him.

Then there was the matter of telling Baker and Emerson.

All in all, it was a long, draining night for Austin.

But then morning came again, and Hayes brought a smile to his face without even trying. Mentally exhausted, the duo skipped out on running that morning so she was already dressed in her school uniform.

"Good morning, Sunshine," Austin hugged her tight as she leaned against him, her head coming to rest against his shoulder. "Don't you look cute."

"Morning," Hayes yawned, "where's Colton?" Usually he'd be up by now since it was approaching 6:30 and since Hayes slept in she had fully expected to see him sitting with a cup of coffee.

She realized it was wishful thinking, but she just wanted to make sure he was okay.

"He's still sleeping. I'm going to take you to school today. How's that for a change?" Austin said, smoothing down some of her fly-aways.

Hayes stayed quiet as she thought about what he said. "He's not going to school today?"

"No, baby, not today. He needs a little bit of time to himself."

Hayes chewed the inside of her cheek. This was turning out worse than she thought. What she couldn't understand was why her brothers were so upset over this. Charlotte was practically banned from their lives. They hated her.

But Colton was her twin. So it was fair if he got a pass.

But the others? She didn't know what to think. Should she even have an opinion? At least she had Glen to commiserate with. The two of them were on the same page, having had a lot of time to process everything during their sleepover in Hayes' room. Which was why Hayes didn't fight sleeping in for a few extra minutes and was still tired. Austin didn't need to know the time they finally fell asleep.

A couple pats to her butt startled her from her thoughts. She pulled away from Austin, grabbing a banana from the bunch as she went to sit in her own seat.

"You're thinking too hard. What's on your mind?"

Hayes wrinkled her nose, unsure if she should voice her question. She didn't want to overstep, or for Austin to be offended or anything, but she was confused.

"Earth to Sunshine."

She bit her tongue. Welp, here goes nothing. "Why is everyone so," she shrugged her shoulders up, "I don't know, sad, I guess? After everything she did, why aren't we just moving on? Do you miss her?"

Austin watched Hayes as she pointedly stared at the banana, taking her sweet time peeling the skin so she wouldn't have to look up at him. His finger mindlessly tapped on the table as he thought of how to respond in a way so she'd understand. Short answer, it was complicated. But when wasn't it?

"What'cha talking about?" Glen meandered in to the kitchen, half dressed in his uniform. He had impeccable timing as always. He scratched his bare chest as he made his way to the pantry to find some cereal.

"Where's your shirt, bud?" Austin asked, raising his eyebrows. He stood up and grabbed a bowl from the cabinet, sliding it on the table over to Glen's seat. He then grabbed a cup and opened the fridge to retrieve the milk.

Hayes scowled as she watched him. Why couldn't he have forgotten for once?

"On my bed," Glen replied, "this way I won't have to keep changing my shirt if I spill. Smart, huh?" He waggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that," Austin chuckled, placing the cup of milk in front of Hayes. He shook his head as he watched Glen carelessly pour the box of cereal into the bowl, overflowing it onto the table.

"Whoops," Glen grinned at Austin, pointing to the mess, "see what I mean?"

"Such a slob," Hayes commented.

Glen flicked some of the spilt cereal in her direction. "Takes one to know one."

"Since I have you both down here," Austin said, stopping their bickering, "Hayes asked a good question and I realize that I never got around to explaining what happened yesterday and I'm sorry about that."

"It's alright," Glen mumbled as he chewed his food. Nothing new.

"We understand," Hayes added, grimacing at Glen's gross behavior. "Francis needed you."

Austin rubbed his mouth, knowing how lucky he was to have such easygoing siblings. They should be annoyed with him. "do you know how much I love you, kids?"

"So much," Glen cheekily replied as Hayes held her arms out wide to indicate this much. It was sweet but her movements were sudden, causing the banana she held in the right hand to jerk, the upper third breaking off and falling to the floor.

Austin chuckled as Hayes sheepishly looked at him before bending over to pick up the piece. "Oops, sorry," she quickly apologized, bending over to put the dirty piece in the table. "Continue," she added, once she was right-side-up again.

Such a slob, Glen mouthed to her. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"It's fine, Sunshine, don't worry about it," Austin laid his arms on the table, palms down so his fingers tapped to a random beat. "So about yesterday, I first wanted to apologize..."

"Why?" Glen interrupted before he could help himself.

"For not handling this in the best way. It wasn't fair of me to keep you in school when something this major was going on. Granted, I didn't expect you to go visit Colton either but it doesn't matter. I'm at fault here." Austin crossed his arms so his hands rested on his biceps. "It just took me by surprise and was a complete whirlwind. For reasons that I don't know, Lotte had me as her emergency contact from when she had cancer the first time."

Glen made a face at that.

"Yeah, I don't know either, we were never close as you guys know and she never changed it. So anyways, the hospital called me yesterday saying she was in the ER."

Hayes glanced at Glen.

"They told me that Charlotte was found overdosed on her medication and it wasn't looking good." Austin looked at Glen and Hayes to gage their emotions, picking up a napkin to twiddle with. "So, I called Colton and met him at the hospital."

"And then what?" Glen asked after Austin didn't continue, lost in thought as he replayed everything that happened yesterday, thinking about everything he could have done differently.

"What?"

"Did you get there in time?"

Austin slowly shook his head, making Hayes subconsciously frown. "No, she had passed already."

Hayes' lips twisted to the side. She didn't know why but this one question just kept bugging her.

Glen let out a breath of air, his chest deflating. "Sorry, Austin." It felt like the right thing to say.

"No sympathy needed, Smiley." Austin suddenly sat up straight, garnering their full attention. "To answer your original question, Hayes, do I miss her? I'll be honest with you. No, I don't. We've all said our piece that night and it was done. I hadn't heard a single word from her until yesterday when they called me."

Hayes let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Then why are you sad?" She said it so innocently, her bright blue, inquisitive eyes looking at him.

Austin sighed, feeling as if the energy was still drained from his body. Good thing his kids rejuvenated him. Pushing his chair back from the table, he leaned back in his chair and held out his arm for her. "Come here, Sunshine. You too, Smiley, scoot over."

Hayes obliged, getting up and walking around the breakfast nook. She sat sideways on his lap, tilting her head up against his chest to look at him, as his arm wrapped around her waist. He laced their fingers together.

Glen pulled his chair closer so Austin could cup the back of his neck.

"I'm sad because no matter what, a life has been lost. She also shared our blood and although our relationship was non-existence, we cannot deny she was our sister." He tightened his hold on the kids. "But I think I'm most sad because she was young. 26. Charlotte had her whole life ahead of her."

What he didn't add was that he was more than just sad. He had been scared shitless.

For it could have easily been any one of his siblings lying there.

And he didn't think he was strong enough to survive that.

————

Life quickly returned to a resemblance of normal after that, applying the term 'normal' loosely. Certain brothers still had their sad moments, but everyone went to their respective work and school obligations for the next two days.

Wednesday came and gone.

The same with Thursday.

Then it was Friday. But there was nothing joyous about this Friday. Not even the aspect of pizza for dinner could cheer up the Powers siblings moods. As much as they tried to move past it, they still had to get through the funeral before being able to close this chapter of their lives. After three emotionally-charged days, they were all very much on-edge, each for a different reason. It made Glen and Hayes very uncomfortable, almost like they were living back with the Bear, never knowing when someone might just crack. So the two of them actively avoided their older brothers, locking themselves in Hayes' room when they were home, which meant a lot more time spent with each other.

A little too much time, because their annoyances then grew with each other.

The house was practically a ticking time bomb.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

In other news, Emerson had come into town late Thursday night. He had been able to get excused from his Friday class, arriving with plenty of time for the funeral service on Saturday. But they were still missing one more very important person.

"When's Baker coming home?" Hayes asked for the thousandth time that week. She couldn't help it. The momentary ease of her chest pain from Monday didn't last long. She really needed to see him with her own two eyes to truly believe he was alright. After all, he'd been gone for so long now.

"Oh my God, stop asking," Glen groaned, crabby from lack of sleep throughout the week.

"Stop asking," Hayes mimicked him.

"Knock it off," Austin chastised from where he stood at the kitchen counter, finishing up the school lunches. "And I told you babe, he'll be back by tomorrow morning the latest. I promise."

He had told her numerous times already that Baker had to finish up his work before being able to leave. She didn't need to panic, it wasn't like he was going to miss the funeral.

"No crap, Sherlock," she mumbled under her breath. The young girl was also very uncharacteristic cranky.

"Hayes said 'shit'" Glen fibbed.

"Hayes." Austin warned, not really listening to them. He didn't need a headache this early in the morning.

"I did not!" Hayes punched Glen hard in the shoulder. "Jerk."

"Punch me again, HayHay. See what happens."

"My pleasure, Glennard." Hayes relied smartly, punching him again.

"Hayes." He heard that; the unmistakable smack of her fist hitting solid.

Glen clenched his own fist eager to return the favor to his favorite sibling.

"Glen, you do that, you're grounded." Austin didn't even need to look to know his next move. He had enough of their shenanigans.

Glen wisely took a deep breath as well as a step back to calm himself before he could get in trouble. "I didn't do anything," He said, before turning to Hayes with a wicked glint in his eyes. Yet.

Hayes knew that look. It meant trouble in his own evil way. It meant she should be scared.

"I'm going to fart on your pillow," Glen promised her with a smirk, crossing his arms.

"Do that and I'll tell Francis that you broke his lucky chain." Hayes mirrored his stance, unintimidated.

Glen opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water. Damn, she got him there. The question was, how did she even know about that?

"Smiley, Sunshine, ease up a bit." Hearing their voices rise, Colton stepped in from being the innocent bystander, giving Austin a break as bad cop. "No need to threaten each other. Besides, we like to spread love in this household, not violence." He wrapped his arms around both kids, pulling them in for a hug.

"Colton," Glen groaned, struggling to escape, "Too much love bro."

"Get used to it, Smiley. I have many years of hugs to make up for."

Hayes giggled, fully embracing his sentiment. Glen, on the other hand, was slowly getting annoyed with all the extra love and affection being flung around the house this week. The boy could only take so much in a day.

"You can always hug me," Hayes grinned up at Colton, happy to see he was in a good mood this morning.

"Brown-noser," Glen coughed, earning a smack to the back of his head from Austin.

"Why are you guys fighting anyways?" Colton asked, having missed the opening diss. He turned Hayes around so her back was against his chest and wrapped his arms around her shoulder, snuggling her close.

"Bored," Glen replied with a shrug, Hayes doing the same. There wasn't really a reason, and come to think of it, neither remember what started their argument.

She thought about it, what were they fighting about?

Oh yeah!

Baker!

Hayes was about to ask another question when Austin spoke first.

"Good thing it's time to go to school." Austin said, handing the kids their respective lunches. "Put all this excess energy towards your studies."

"My studies are fine," Glen replied as he shoved his lunch into his backpack, "in fact, I think I can take the day off."

Austin chuckled as he walked out of the kitchen. "Nice try, Buddy. Dakota, let's go!" He yelled the second part up the stairs.

Glen groaned as he followed behind Austin to plead his case, "why do we have to go? Francis isn't."

"Don't start," Austin said, "we talked about this. You're staying after school for Hayes' practice, yes?"

"Yeah," Glen confirmed. Anything to stay out of the house. He couldn't wait until Sunday once everything was over and done with. He planned to do nothing but sleep all day.

"Good," Austin exchanged a look with Colton before checking his watch. "Dakota, now!" Colton wasn't going to school either, so Austin was on school drop-off duty again.

"I'm right here, jeez," Dakota stated, descending the stairs, "calm your tits, man." He ignored Austin's glare and kept on moving to the front door. "Chop, chop, don't want to be late!" He sarcastically called out. He opened the door, leaving it wide open in his wake for his other siblings. "Shot gun!"

That got Glen moving as he hurriedly said goodbye to Colton and rushed out to try to catch Dakota. The boy never gave up trying to win that seat.

Hayes rolled her eyes at her brothers' antics, giving Colton one more hug. She wasn't exactly sure what mood he'd be in after she got home from practice so she wanted to make this moment last.

"Sunshine, we got to go." Austin stated, standing by the door waiting for her. He was ready to take on the day, his third cup of coffee in hand.

"Hold up," Colton laughed, keeping Hayes still with a hand on her shoulder. "Did you wash your face this morning?"

She wrinkled her nose as her face flushed red, "yeah. Why?"

"You got a little milk stashe, right... there," Colton wiped it away with his thumb.

Hayes used the back of her hand to quickly wipe her mouth, making sure there was absolutely no evidence.

That stupid Glennard, she bet he wasn't even going to tell her.

Colton smiled, "all gone, Sunshine."

"Beautiful, babe, now let's move it." Austin extended his hand out to her. "I'll call you in a bit, Cole."

Colton nodded, playfully tugging on Hayes' ponytail as she pouted.

"Fine," Hayes reluctantly grabbed Austin's outstretched hand, letting him pull her away. "Bye Colton, love you!"

"Love you, too, Sunshine." Love you always, little sister.

~~~~~~~~~