60.

"I call Emmy."

"I get Hayes," Glen quickly interjected, the obvious package deal with his sister. He pulled his bestie to huddle beside him on the other side of the small, rectangular alcove.

Opposite of their enemies, Emerson and Francis.

Dakota grunted, sidestepping to where the blonde babies stood.

Nobody objected to that.

They knew better.

"Peyton's on our team," Emerson declared next, reaching out and grabbing his sister-in-law's arm. He tugged her to team Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Don't ask.

Peyton went willingly, stifling a laugh at the seriousness that marred the younger brothers' faces. Talk about being competitive.

It was just a game of laser tag, after all.

With Peyton accounted for, that left Austin and Colton as the lone rangers to be picked up. They had to each join a team to round out to a perfectly even number of 8 members.

Baker, expected though still unfortunate, had to miss out on all the Black Friday fun due to his demanding work hours. He had been covering more shifts than usual, sacrificing these good times so that he had a solid week off for all the Christmas shenanigans.

He was not about to miss the babies' first Christmas back home.

They had a tree to decorate, lights to put up outside, gingerbread houses to make. It was a popping time full of traditions that Smiley and Sunshine were about to be introduced to.

Laser tag was not part of the tradition, just a way to pass time. According to Glen's insistence, they were suppose to go paintballing as Austin supposedly promised a couple weeks ago. But alas, the eldest brother negotiated with the little brother and all his younger siblings who ganged up on him, which is how they ended up in the current situation.

Picking teams that no one would then go home and cry about.

Francesca.

Compared to paintball, Austin felt that laser tag was definitely the more laxed sport of the two, so the eldest brother wouldn't go all batshit worrying about keeping Hayes from getting hurt. Words from the mouth of Dakota, as his argument.

It would certainly have been hard to protect Hayes against her ruthlessly competitive brothers.

An impossible feat, alone.

But when both of the oldest brothers were present, that gave the young girl a fighting chance to come out unharmed. Especially when one of the brothers was SWAT and knew how to accurately send karma right back to whoever dared targeted Hayes with a paintball.

Austin's hand briefly covered his mouth, his finger brushing over his lips as he thought about this. He wasn't too convinced by the teams his siblings created. His gut was telling him that this setup wasn't going to work out.

Neither was Colton sold, who had his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes flicked to the clock bolted to the wall above that was continuing to count down to zero, before meeting Austin's eyes.

Both brothers already knew what was going to happen if they didn't intervene.

Dakota.

Austin dropped his hand to his waist as he shook his head. "Try again. You now have less than 7 minutes to decide on new teams. Better hurry up."

"Fair teams," Colton made sure to emphasize when Austin failed to.

"What's wrong with this?" Emerson asked, failing to see what the problem was. He glanced around the alcove, quietly assessing team Pew Pew's skills.

There was the obvious enemy, Dickota, who's life goal was to cause as much chaos as possible then sit back and watch the world burn. He might be a problem, especially, if Sonny was being honest, for Franny.

Then he had Smiley Green Giant, the devil hidden behind his cheeky grin. The little bro was tricky to get a read on, as Glen currently didn't have any vendettas so any brother or Peyton was a possible target.

Lastly, but not to be underestimated in the slightest, was Sunshine, who had absolutely horrible aim as he first-hand experienced with the nerf guns prior to leaving the house. But he was not to be deceived by her poor aim, as lasers were harmless unlike the nerf bullets. He would just have to not be fooled her deceitfully innocent look, as she was just as much of a mischievous maker with nothing to lose.

Hmm, yeah okay.

Austin and Colton made a good point.

Emerson could see how these teams weren't exactly kosher, per say, but he wasn't about to crush his best friend's dreams. He left that task up to Austin to handle.

"Yeah!" Francis exclaimed, "What? Too afraid you're gonna lose?"

Glen and Hayes conspired in whispers, their eyes twinkling with a whole lot of trouble. The kids must have reached an agreement as they both nodded. Then Glen said, "Austin is on our team!"

"That's not fair," Em and Fran immediately grumbled, as it was a sibling's nature to disagree for no sound reasoning other than just because.

The blonde little devils sneakily grinned at each other. How predictable of their two knucklehead brothers, they played right into their hands.

Glen easily relented, "Then I guess we get Colton."

"Way to make it feel like a pity pick," Cole said, narrowing his eyes at his little brother in mock ferocity.

As ferocious as a cute ol' golden retriever puppy with the family trait of blonde hair, as everyone knew the brother was a hugger not a fighter.

Smiley shrugged his shoulders, no longer hiding the upward curl of the edges of his lips.

Hayes happily laughed as she jumped forward to her older brother and slipped her fingers between his firmly crossed arms. "Noooo, Colton! We saved the best for last."

Colton lifted his arms up, shaking himself free from her grasp only to trap her in his embrace before she could dance away. He complimented her quick wit with a tug of her pony tail, "Sure you did, Miss Smarty Pants."

The young girl tilted her head back and gave him a full-watt smile. "Why thank you. So you'll be on our team, right?"

Team Pew Pew.

Colton chuckled as he released her, allowing his sister to pull him with both hands around his wrist to where Glen and Dakota were hanging. "Sure, kiddo."

Glen and Hayes cheered.

Excellent.

They maybe, kinda, sorta, actually wanted to not be on Austin's team so they could tag team and shoot him with their laser guns. No offense to the eldest brother, but now that sounded like fun and would certainly catch him off guard.

The little rascals were all about that sibling love, yeah?

But then Austin all but demolished that idea when he voiced his decision, finality in his tone. "Fran and Smiley, you guys swap teams."

Both brothers' jaws dropped in response, surprise written on both their faces.

"What? Why?" Francis complained, tossing his head back so he could stare at the ceiling. "Why? Why? Why? I'm always the sacrificial lamb. Don't you love me?"

"Fuck you too," Dakota replied, full on knowing Francis was being a whiney little bitch because of him. The smirk on Kota's face though showed he found it more amusing than insulting.

"Because you want to play, don't you? Otherwise you know he's going after you the entire time and I don't want to listen to you complain all night." Austin said point blank. The truth hurts sometimes.

Francis opened his mouth to shoot back an argument before closing his mouth again. His lips pursed as he held in his thoughts. Even the teen was smart enough with his few brain cells to recognize when Austin was correct.

With a dramatic groan, Fran stomped the several steps across the alcove to the other side where he slipped behind Glen. His hands plopped atop the kid's shoulders and shuffled him to where he was previously taking up space. Smiley was a good sport, and not disgruntled in the slightest.

"Happy now?"

"Very, thank you." Austin held back his chuckles to avoid riling up the teen any more.

All the siblings' attention diverted to the door that then opened, a group of strangers who must have just finished playing a round came out followed by an employee walking out. "Powers, party of eight?"

"That's us," Emerson replied on everyone's behalf, casually throwing his arm over Glen's shoulder.

"Awesome. If everyone is ready, then follow me." The teen worker turned back around and led the way into the next room where the equipment was stored on the hooks on the wall, waiting to be used.

The young girl in the group did a little happy tappy feet dance as she let her other siblings enter ahead of her, Dakota reluctantly following behind Francis. The poor teen seemed paranoid that Kota was going to attack him or something that he kept looking over his shoulder. Austin saw this and made Dakota back up a couple steps to create space between them.

Then Colton looped his arm that was still being held hostage by her fingers, around her shoulder and gently led her inside.

Team Pew Pew went to the right to find their blue vests while team Chitty Chitty Bang Bang found their red vests hanging on the hooks on the left side of the small room. The siblings and Peyton busied themselves putting on the equipment while listening to the basic rules of the game.

1. No running in the arena.

Hayes.

She twisted her foot on the floor, oh so innocently. What were the odds that everyone turned to look at little girl? Austin wasn't fooled by her angelic expression.

2. If you get hit, return to the starting point and reactivate your sensor. From then, you have 20 seconds of safety before you can be targeted again.

3. Do not aim the laser in another player's eyes.

Colton helped Hayes put on the vest, buckling the front for her. The girl grimaced slightly from the unexpected heavy weight of the vest, making her shift around until it felt more natural to her. The gun was a comfortable weight in her hands.

"Is that okay?" Cole asked, removing her ponytail from where it caught in the back on the strap.

"Yep! Ready." Hayes nodded excitedly as she held up the gun in position. She was locked and loaded, ready to go. Austin better watch out, Sunshine was coming for him.

Pew Pew.

————

Glen hesitated at first, his body's gut reaction to not being able to see anything beyond the darkness. He could barely make out shapes just two feet in front of him.

From the other side of the wall divider that separated the two teams at the entry site, he could hear giggles coming from his sister at the excitement of playing. She didn't quite yet grasp the concept of having to be quiet so she didn't reveal her hiding spot. He would have to assume someone on her team probably covered her mouth to not give themselves up, because the sound suddenly cut off.

"Come on, Smiley," Emerson spun back around when he felt his brother falter. Sonny reached out and lifted Glen's arms back up. "Keep your gun up so you're always on the attack."

The boy nodded as his eyes and mind finally adjusted. He managed to spit out a mumble in reply. "Got it."

And then he was fine, nimbly sneaking up the ramp right alongside Emerson without making a peep. He could feel Peyton's and Austin's presence behind him, until they reached the second floor landing and split into two groups. Glen kept pace with Emerson while the oldies went in another direction.

There was an overhead speaker counting down in the arena from fifteen seconds. Talk about creating an adrenaline rush. The anticipation spiked as he and Sonny found empty barrels to hunker down behind as their initial lookout and a chance to get their bearings.

The arena was encompassed in darkness, obviously. It felt massive with two floors to scope out and lots of nooks and crevices to duck in and out of.

Now that he was on the same team as Austin, that meant he couldn't tag his brother out as friendly fire didn't work unfortunately, but at the same time, that also meant now Hayes could be his target.

Glen hadn't even realized the game started when his vest blinked red.

Damn, someone already killed him.

He glanced up in time to catch the back of his sister's head, her blonde ponytail giving her away as she dashed away. He sensed Kota was somewhere in the shadows too, so whether Hayes was the one who tagged him or not, he'd never know. Until the end, he supposed when all their individual player points and kills would be counted up in addition to the team scores.

But okay, HayHay. So this was how it was going to be.

The game was twenty minutes long, which went by extremely fast. Yes, the younger bunch of siblings ended up breaking every rule that was given, too.

Names were cursed, laughter loud, and faces flushed as they all darted around the arena under the disguise of darkness. Glen got out just as many times as he was getting his siblings dinged. And he only ran smack straight into someone once.

It just so happened to be Austin, whom briefly gave a disapproving look since the boy was running but Glen didn't hang around long enough to apologize.

When the speaker announced the one minute remaining, the tension amped up. Who would get the final kill?

Sunshine could not wipe the grin off her face as she slunk along the wall of the upper balcony. She had Smiley in her periphery and that was who she was going after. It may have taken her 19 minutes and 14 seconds to take her brother down, but dangnabbit, she was going to do it.

Kota was stealthily looping around the other way so Glen would be trapped between them. If it came down to it, her brother was not above taking Smiley hostage and holding him still so Hayes could shoot him.

The girl didn't get many kills during the game, as she was the main rule breaker for rule number 3. But it wasn't for her lack of effort! Just her horrible aim.

At least she had fun.

Hayes got momentarily distracted at the sound of Francis and Emerson chasing each other on the ground floor. Mentally keeping track of her siblings, she did not know where Austin or Peyton were hiding at. Colton was somewhere behind her probably trailing her with curiousity, as she had passed by him seconds ago when she ran up the ramp.

The girl's shoe hit against a barrel, creating a resounding bang.

Oopsies.

She probably looked like a deer caught in headlights when Glen spun around at the noise. Hayes tried to duck behind the barrel but she wasn't quick enough.

Instead, the girl stood back up to her petite height and gave her brother her widest smile. "Hi."

"Fancy seeing you here, HayHay." Glen snickered.

She dropped her smile. "Come here often, Glennard?"

In unison, both kids raised their weapons at each other, their brows narrowing in matching fierceness.

Suddenly, an arm crossed over Glen's collarbones, yanking him backward a step as the boy yelped in surprise.

"Get him, Sunshine."

Her smile brightened even more if possible at Dakota's words and she aimed her gun at Glen's target. Going right for the bullseye, she didn't hesitate though it took her a couple clicks of the trigger to finally tag him out.

Once his vest lit up in red, solidifying the kid's death, Dakota let him go. Glen dramatically gasped, his hand coming up to lay over his heart. "HayHay, after all we've been through."

Hayes laughed with no regard as she watched her best friend dramatically act out his death by collapsing onto the floor and onto his back.

He must have been taking lessons from Francesca.

She shared a proud smirk with Dakota before his face suddenly morphed into distress. "Hayes, watch out!"

Time moved too slow for Hayes to process when suddenly her vest was flashing blue just as well. Someone had gone and killed her too, right at the very last second as the 'game over' buzzer went off.

How rude.

"Gotcha," her eldest brother gave a chuckle from where he stood behind her.

It was Hayes' turn to gasp in shock as she turned around to face him. "You shot me," she accused, her jaw dropped.

Austin.

The betrayal.

"I did indeed," Austin confirmed, lowering his gun down to hang by his side now that the game was finished. His lips were lifted in amusement, his blue eyes reflecting the mischievous twinkle that his siblings often held.

There was nothing else for Hayes to do in that situation except to mimick Glen's actions and slowly drop to the floor. First by crouching down then falling backwards onto her butt. She splattered onto her back, her arms and legs sprawled out like a starfish.

Dakota stepped around her to stand next to Austin, the two rival brothers glancing at each other before staring at the two dead blonde babies on the floor.

"Well shit," Kota eventually huffed, his elbow bumping into Austin when he crossed his arms. "It was fun while they lasted."

R.I.P.

————

3:17am.

The next morning came way to early for the eldest brother.

Especially after a later night than usual. The younger half of the siblings had been able to successfully talk Austin into using the firepit in their backyard to finish out their Black Friday and honestly, the eldest brother had no reason to disagree.

The warmth from the fire burning wood kept the family and Chubba comfortable until the last ember died off. Yes, even the golden retriever got to enjoy the festivities, as Emerson and Francis had kidnapped the dog from Baker's house after the game of laser tag.

Team Pew Pew won.

But not by much, it actually was a fairly matched game.

That didn't stop Emerson from claiming that he needed emotional support though to get past the lost.

But actually, Peyton had asked if they wanted to pet-sit on Saturday as she was taking a trip to her mother's house for the day and the brothers took it upon themselves to extend their duties to include Friday.

How kind of them to offer up Austin's dog-sitting services.

Anyways, Colton thankfully planned ahead for the possibility of this Friday nighttime bonfire, and had smartly stocked up on the necessities to make smores when he had gone food shopping earlier in the week. Always on the ball, that man.

He must be a teacher.

So the siblings went to bed with their bellies full of many slices of pizza and lots of chocolate with their hands sticky of marshmallow. What more could they ever ask for?

Austin would ask for more sleep.

But that was a longshot.

A wet snout touching his hand and a pair of Elvis blue eyes staring into his soul startled the eldest brother awake on Saturday.

"What's wrong, baby?" Austin mumbled, the heel of his palm rubbing the sandman out of his eye.

"Chubba has to go pee," his little sister replied. The dog seconded this, his tail wagging happily. The two had been sleeping in the girl's room up until this point.

"You sure?" Austin really didn't want it to be so. He could already feel the sleep slipping through his fingers.

A squeak of a yawn escaped her lips. "Positive."

The brother turned his head into the pillow accompanied by a long sigh.

A cold finger poked his shoulder, "Chubba said he really has to go pee."

And Austin had given her strict instruction to not take the dog out by herself so it fell onto Austin's shoulders to handle.

"Did he now?" Austin moved quick, flipping over onto his back and bringing Hayes with him so she laid sideways across his stomach. "I forgot you spoke dog."

Hayes dissolved into silent laughter as he found her ticklish sides before she could catch her breath. "Chubba says he's gonna pee in your room!"

"Oh no he better not," Austin said, gently pushing Hayes all the way over so she laid next to him on the bed instead of on top of him. He reluctantly sat up and swung his legs off the bed. He twisted his body to glance back at his little sister, only to find her already curled up underneath his comforter and on her way to falling back to sleep.

That little Sunshine, what a piece of work.

Chubba whined and shoved his head onto Austin's lap reminding him of the mission at hand.

"Okay, we're going, we're going," Austin muttered, his hands pushing off the mattress to stand up. He grabbed his sweatshirt off his desk chair, tugging it over his messy bed hair as he left the bedroom with the dog by his side.

————

Counting his blessings, Austin was able to snag three more hours of sleep after taking Chubba outside for a quick whizz.

By the time 6 o'clock rolled around, the little girl was awake and kept shoving her frozen toes against his bare legs. On purpose, if her quiet little snickers were anything to go by.

He groaned. There was no reason for her to be up so early still.

What a little she-devil, Sunshine could be.

On the other side of Hayes, the dog happily lay atop the covers, his tail wag encouraging the girl to cause more trouble for her eldest brother.

So up the brother-sister duo went, along with Chubba who did a big stretch on Austin's bed before lazily finding his way out the bedroom and down the stairs.

Since it was still considered ridiculously early for the rest of the siblings in the household on a weekend, Austin and Hayes camped out in the family room watching Family Feud on the television. A fresh cup of coffee in hand, Austin settled back and relaxed on the L-shaped couch, his sister snuggled warmly against his side.

He didn't know what the little girl was going to do once she watched all these recordings. Austin didn't know if he could take a second round of the shows.

But let's be real, for Sunshine, he'd sit through anything, even if it was painfully watching Family Feud again.

He just really wished he wouldn't have to.

The day truly got started once Colton shuffled out of bed, dressed for the day a little after 8am. He came into the family room, joining Austin and Hayes on the couch.

It was still a holiday break, so there was no basketball practice for the boys' team so Austin wasn't sure why Colton was up already.

"Good morning," Cole greeted, sinking into the couch cushions. Then he had to say hello to Chubba who scurried over for some ear scratches.

"Morning," Austin replied, doing a once over when he saw Cole in actual clothes and not just the sweatpants he probably slept in. His voice held a bit of confusion when he asked,  "What plans do you have today?"

"I'm going to go have breakfast with Stella," Colton explained, adding, "Figured I'll just meet you at the church for the Christmas tree whenever you guys are ready."

That made Hayes perk up, her whole face lit up with excitement as she leaned forward to see past Austin. "We're getting a Christmas tree?"

"Yes, I told you that. Weren't you listening?" Austin asked, glancing down at her.

"Errr, no?" Hayes answered truthfully making Colton chuckle.

Austin shook his head and flicked her in the forehead. "Silly Sunshine."

Excuse me, sir. That hurts.

"Silly Austin," she copied his voice, trying to flick him back only to fail big time when her brother wrapped her up in one of his bear hugs.

"How about you practice your listening skills right now and go take your bedsheets off the bed and carry them downstairs so we can wash them," Austin said.

Hayes wrinkled her nose. "Do I have a choice?"

"Mmmm, no." Austin teased, pressing a kiss to her uncombed blonde hair before letting her free. "Go on, take Chubba with you. I'm sure he can keep you on task."

"Fine," Hayes groaned, getting up. She climbed over Austin's long legs instead of simply walking around the coffee table and gave Colton a quick hug before running out of the family room.

"Please no running, Sunshine!" Austin felt like a broken record sometimes with this girl.

"So, what did you want to say that you didn't want little ears to hear?" Colton asked, shifting more sideways so he faced Austin.

"Nothing, just wanted to make sure everything was good with you," Austin said, not feeling embarrassed in the slightest about his intentions being called out. "Last you told me, you weren't too sure your relationship with Stella was such a good idea anymore."

"Yeah, well," Colton scratched his forehead. "I'm not breaking up with her, if that's your concern. It's really just getting breakfast this morning. I just think maybe I need boundaries or something so I don't get distracted again and let what happened with Hayes happen again."

"Colton, it was not your fault that Hayes fell in the pool." Austin stated for the umpteenth time. "You have to let it go, brother. Otherwise you're going to miss all the good that's happening in the mean time."

Colton sat there for a second, taking in the wise words of his older brother. He didn't feel the need to reply, but yet they sat together in solidarity.

Both brothers got up when they heard the sound of Hayes cheerfully singing a bit too loudly to Chubba as she returned back downstairs.

"I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do..."

Austin had caught her doing that lately, humming some words to herself from popular Christmas song. Just a few lines, as she never knew all the lyrics. Austin didn't think she even realized she was doing it. Oh how he so wished he could keep his little girl young forever, having her experience the magical joy of the holidays as an innocent child always.

Austin put his hand on Cole's shoulder. "See what you would miss if you were too caught up in your head about all your wrongdoings? That little girl serenading you with Christmas songs."

Colton chuckled, "You're right. I wouldn't want to miss this for anything."

————

"Oh good, you're up."

"No, I'm not," Francis grumbled, throwing himself down onto an unoccupied kitchen chair. It was only him and Austin in the kitchen this morning at the current time, so plenty of chairs to choose from.

"We have a long to-do list we're working on today. What do you want for breakfast?" Austin kept on going like the teen said nothing. Francis was all talk anyways, his grumpiness had no sustenance. The eldest brother closed his laptop that he was scrolling around on and stood up.

"Can I join the land of the living before you start bossing me?" Francis rested his forearms on the table and laid his head down on top.

"Those bathrooms aren't going to clean themselves." Austin said, placing an empty bowl and spoon in front of the teen. The gallon of milk put right next to it. Austin ruffled his hair as he rounded the chair to the pantry to get the Fruity Pebbles.

Francis groaned, "I'm going back to bed."

Austin chuckled, "What's got you in such a mood? Besides the fact that you've only gone to bed a couple hours ago."

It was almost noon.

The three musketeers went to bed well after 2 am as far as Austin knew. That's when Colton had reported kicking them off the video games after their excited shrieking woke him up for a second time. The cons of having the downstairs bedroom.

Luck was on their side that Austin didn't come across them when he took Chubba out to pee at 3am.

"Poo poo on you," Francis mumbled, rubbing his forehead against his arm.

"Eat up," Austin said with a sense of finality as he dropped the cereal box by his head. The eldest brother began tidying up the kitchen, spraying down the kitchen counters before wiping them with a paper towel. When you live with so many siblings,  it was second nature to constantly be cleaning up after them.

They tended to leave crumb trails.

Reluctantly, Francis sat up and poured the cereal into the bowel and then the milk, accidentally overflowing the bowl when he stuck the spoon in. "Where is everyone?" Fran asked around a mouth full of food.

"I believe they all went on a walk," Austin replied, throwing away the crumpled ball of paper towels. Seeing the mess that Francis made, his tongue kissed his front teeth. He tossed him a pile of napkins. "Clean that up."

"A walk?" Echoed Francis as if the word was foreign to him. "Why?"

"Because fresh air is good for you. Maybe you should give it a try? Get out of the house and not waste away in front of the TV."

Francis shook his head. "I'll pass."

What a terrible idea.

"Next time then," Austin said, right back in the work mindset after taking a couple minutes for himself to relax. He'd been busy all morning, keeping Hayes and Chubba quietly occupied while beginning his chore list.

Speaking of chores, doubling back to the full trashcan, Austin lifted the trash bag out of the container and onto the floor where he tied the strings together. He carried the bag, stopping by Fran's chair on his way out to take the garage to the garage. He pressed a kiss to the top of the teen's head. "Bathrooms when you're done," He reminded him.

"Bathrooms?" Francis spluttered. He turned around in his chair. "As in plural?"

Austin paused in the doorway, chuckling. "No, just the master bathroom along with your bedroom. The other bathrooms are already done, sleepyhead."

"The whole bedroom?" Francis exclaimed, "Glen should do it. It's his mess."

"Really?" Austin deadpanned.

"Alright, it's mostly my stuff. But!" Francis held up his spoon to make his point, "my stuff is his stuff and all that jazz so technically it's his stuff too."

"Sure," Austin wanted to roll his eyes, especially when Fran realized he was now dripping milk everywhere.

"Don't get your undies in a twist," the teen did roll his eyes, "I'll mop the floor. Just add it to my list."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Austin retorted, "At least get dressed after you're done eating so we can go get the Christmas tree.

"Fine."

"Great," Austin chirped, already out of the kitchen. He walked through the foyer and passed through the laundry room, setting a mental reminder to swap over the washer into the dryer, before exiting into the garage.

So far checked off on his own chore list, with the help from Hayes, he brought in the Christmas boxes full of decorations from the shed in their backyard. They folded a pile of towels that had been left from the night prior. He got the teens' school uniforms ironed, which was normally Colton's job but Cole wasn't present to do it himself. And, with the help from Emerson and Glen, they managed to get two-thirds of the bathrooms cleaned.

Austin considered that a pretty successful morning. And now that the entire household was awake, they can go get the tree and check that box off as well.

And then after that, he'd convince one or two of his siblings to start taking out the Christmas inflatables and situate them around the front yard however they pleased as long as it was appropriate for children to see.

It was tradition they had started about five years ago when Austin relocated the family to South Carolina. Each Christmas, they buy a new inflatable for their collection to decorate the outside of the house, so that would be their goal to figure out for tonight.

It was a process, one that took probably way to long for such a silly thing, but eventually they all came to an agreement... or at least a majority agreement.

Last year, the winning vote was a minion in a bunny costume, designed after Ralphie in the movie A Christmas Story.

The year before that was Santa Claus chilling on a flamingo pool floaty.

So anything was a possibility. It truly could go in any direction.

Austin carried the full trash bag, crossing the garage floor to the green trash can. The next garbage collection day wasn't until Monday so he didn't have to pull the can to the street quite yet.

But as his gaze flickered to the end of his driveway, he spotted his siblings making their way home after their walk. They were gone a decent amount of time, and as far as he could tell, all remained in one piece which was always a plus.

Instead of going back inside, Austin stood and waited for the motley crew to make it back up to him. Dakota led the group, and as he got closer, there was no mistaking the pissed off look on his face.

Austin sighed. What now?

The brother stomped right past Austin with no intention of stopping until the eldest brother grabbed his arm.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Kota was seething, "what's wrong? I'm fucking pissed at you, that's what's wrong."

Austin was taken aback. "What happened?"

"When were you going to tell me that Hayes fucking drowned in the pool?"

Oh.

How did that even come up on the walk?

Dakota took Austin's silence in the negatory. "Seriously? You weren't going to fucking tell me? Get off of me." He ripped his arm out of Austin's grip. "What a fucking joke."

"Dakota, come on," Austin didn't want a fight right this second. "She didn't drown, it was nothing like that. She's perfectly okay. There was no reason to tell you because I didn't want to scare you guys."

"No, don't fucking talk to me." Kota snapped before storming off inside. The garage door slammed shut behind him, illustrating just how pissed off Dakota was.

Fun.

Austin sighed again, but let his brother go sulk in his bedroom. Sometimes that was the best option, and he'd try explaining his reasoning again when Kota was relatively calmed back down. There was more than one side to a story, but Dakota needed to cool off before he'd be willing to listen.

"Sorry, Austin," Hayes quietly said, the remaining trio and the dog now at his side. "Emmy bet that Glen would jump in the pool for $50 and I said that that was stupid because the water was really cold and they asked how I would know that and I didn't really think about everyone not knowing and it sort of just came out."

Emerson and Glen didn't look too thrilled either.

"It's alright, Sunshine. It's my fault for creating the secret in the first place." Austin replied, running his hand over her wind-blown hair and down her ponytail. "Go take Chubba inside for some water. He looks a little thirsty."

Hayes took the dog leash from Emerson's hand but hesitated on walking away. "What are you going to tell them?" She asked curiously.

Ah, his little sister was paying attention now unlike this morning with Cole when she was still in her own little world.

"Just catching them up to speed on what happened," Austin said, owing them an explanation just as much as Kota.

The siblings truly all cared for one another and it threw them all out of wack knowing Hayes almost was hurt.

Hayes twisted her lips to the side but then shrugged and went inside with the dog. She tapped her fingers along the dryer then the washer, stopping when she noticed the red light on the washer, indicating the cycle was done. Eager to be helpful and not just cause her brother stress, Hayes lifted the lid of the washer to move her bedsheets into the dryer.

"Oh fudge," she gasped, staring in shock.

How does this even happen?

Hayes was dumbstruck, her blue eyes real big and her mouth parted.

Woah.

So what had happened was... it seemed like one of her pillows accidentally ended up getting washed too. It must have been tucked in her blanket or something and she didn't pay attention to what she was doing.

Uh oh.

Staring back at her was a tub full of feathers, with some floating up into the air.

Woah. Again.

Now the girl stood in awe of the beautiful mess that was accidently created.

She laughed once before quickly covering her mouth. She didn't think Austin would appreciate her laughing at this disaster.

Outside, the brothers had no idea what was happening in the laundry room. Austin had just finished telling Emerson and Francis about their sister's accidental dip in the pool when the girl poked her head back into the garage.

"Umm, Austin?"

"Yes, babe?" He turned around, seeing her timidly leaning around the door to look at them.

"There's a teensy tiny problem that you should probably come see." Hayes bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing.

Her three brothers glanced at each other, none knowing more than the rest. She looked like she was possibly about to cry, which made red flags pop up in their heads. Did Dakota do something with his blind anger?

"What's wrong?" Emerson asked, his eyes crinkling in amusement when Chubba's head peeked around the door to join the party.

"Err, well... maybe you should just see for yourselves." Hayes didn't really know how to explain it in a way that wouldn't make Austin freak.

She didn't think he'd find it funny if she said it was snowing feathers in the house.

But it was a little funny.

Or a lot.

"Oh boy," Austin mumbled, bracing himself for what could possibly be wrong. She was only gone for a second, what kind of trouble could the girl have gotten herself into?

Hayes stepped back, holding open the garage door for everyone to come inside. Because of this, the wind from the outside entered the laundry room, sending more feathers floating into the air.

Literally, like it was snowing feathers.

Everywhere. In the girl's hair, on Chubba's tail...

First time for everything.

"What in the hell?" Austin lifted his hand to his head in a bit of shock. His first thought was he had no idea how he was suppose to clean this up. The second thought, was at least no one was hurt. Then came the reminder that there was never a dull moment in this home followed by snickers from Emerson and Glen.

Hayes couldn't hold back her giggles any longer. "I think we may have killed a pillow."

————

Hayes' small hand slipped into the safe grip of her eldest brother's, her shyness coming out to play in the overwhelming environment. Not overwhelming in the sense of crowds, but that it was a new experience for her. Austin wasn't quite sure how much Christmas spirit they had during their years in Florida but it was quite possible she had never gotten a tree before.

The siblings had just arrived at the Christmas tree farm that was being hosted on the church grounds next to their school. A large white event tent covered a good chunk of land where the trees were strategically plopped for children to dash around.

At least that's what his siblings do, as they tended to act ten years younger than their age.

Austin waved a hand in the air to Colton, who had beaten them here from his breakfast date with Stella. It was just to let Cole know they had arrived, as the brother was currently talking to one of his student's families. Since he started teaching at Sacred Heart, he always ran into at least one of his gremlins when in the 10 mile radius of school grounds.

Cole never minded, he took great joy in his students, past or present, running up to him, eager to see him. Better than the alternative where they would run in the opposite direction of him.

The siblings crossed the parking lot before Emerson, Francis, Glen, and Dakota disappeared into the forest, leaving behind Austin and Hayes to dawdle. They all had a role to play, whether they realized it or not.

Emerson and Francis scoped out the potential tree contenders, the fatter the better and could be no taller than 8 feet. That was Austin's height cutoff because otherwise, the tree got a bit unmanageable and it was Austin who had crawl underneath to water the tree stand each evening.

Smiley was the trainee in this hunt for the perfectly imperfect Christmas tree, so he'd be ready for next year. He didn't really know what was happening, nor had much of a choice when Francis pulled him along by the arm.

Dakota was the self-designated photographer, because as grumpy as he still was from the swimming fiasco revelation, he didn't want to miss out on the memories. Because when everything was said and done at the end of the day, these memories were all that remained.

And he'd cherish them for a lifetime.

Austin let Hayes lead him to wherever her heart desired, the two casually strolling along, moving at her speed as she took in all the greenery, the wreaths, and the Christmas woody fir smell.

They found themselves at the quieter end of the tent, where the more Charlie Brown-like trees were posted. The eldest brother watched the smile grow on his little sister's face as she glanced around.

She whipped her head up to look at him, a question at the tip of her tongue but she remained mute. He could see the wistfulness in her blue eyes as she laced her hands behind her back, her sneaker twisting in the dirt on the ground.

She was nervous about whatever it was she wanted to say.

"Go ahead, ask me," Austin encouraged, wanting her to speak her mind.

She lowered her chin, taking another look at the trees before zeroing in on one with her eyes. That gave her the necessary confidence boost to spill her request as she tilted her head back to look at him again. "Can we get one?" Her voice was barely above a whisper as if bracing herself for the denial. She got a little braver, "Please? I promise I'll clean up the feathers all by myself."

"Don't worry about the feathers." Austin ran his hand over the top of her head, smoothing down the fly-aways and twirling her ponytail around his fingers. "Just where would you plan on putting this tree?"

Hayes thought about it. "Ermm... in the living room?" Her voice rose at the end to form a question.

"Okay," Austin agreed, sending her a wink.

"Wait, really?" Hayes didn't think it'd be that easy.

"Sure," he replied, his gaze catching on something beyond her head. "But let's go take a family photo first, then you can show me which one you want."

Wrinkles appeared on her forehead at the change in topic. "What family photo?"

"Look who's here," Austin said, making Hayes spin around in even more confusion. There was a man walking towards the two siblings, a smile breaking out on his face as he sped up a little.

Hayes smiled as well, because she knew that man. She looked like that man, too.

"Baker," the girl exclaimed, beelining to her older brother. She missed him in the 24 hours that they've been apart. She also had no inkling that he was coming today as no one said a word. Or Austin told her this morning and it was when she wasn't listening. She just assumed he'd be working and not have time to join.

Which that was half correct, as her brother was in his basic SWAT uniform of grey tshirt, black tactical pants, and boots with his gun in his thigh holster. It went without saying that his partner, Lindsey, was holding down the fort in their work SUV.

"Hey, Sunshine," Baker lifted her into his arms for a bear hug before returning her to her feet. He swiped his finger over her flushed cheek before planting a kiss on her forehead. The girl's skin was freezing even with the sun shining down. "I missed you."

"Missed you more," she instantly responded, nuzzling back into his chest.

"Wazzup, AJ," Baker said hello to the eldest brother, the two shaking hands like gentleman.

"Glad you could make it," Austin returned, giving a friendly smack to his brother's arm.

"Psh, like I would miss this," Baker scoffed, his hands rubbing briskly up and down on Hayes' back. "This is like the officially official start to Christmas."

"You mean, instead of Advent that starts on December 3rd?"

"Okay," Baker drawled, making Hayes snort. He corrected himself, "The unofficial official start to Christmas."

"Sure," Austin appeased, reaching out and pulling Hayes back into his own embrace. Her back bumped against his chest and he folded his arms over her shoulders. "I think we gave the knuckleheads enough time to pick a tree that is up to their standards. Shall we go find them?"

"Lead the way, O captain, my captain."

————

"It looks like our tree shit out your little branch."

"Real nice words, Emerson James," Austin scolded. "Just for that, you can vacuum all the tree needles up in the house."

Emerson shrugged with a smirk, unbothered as he playfully tugged on Hayes' ponytail before leaving the family room to go look for the vacuum. Personally, he found that chore soothing, the rhythmic back-and-forth nature on all the carpet in the house.

"Speaking of shit, I put my vote in for the poop emoji wearing the Santa hat." Francis casually threw in as he stood amongst his fellow tree-admiring siblings.

They got a massive fatty of a tree. It was beautiful. And also going to take a decent amount of time to decorate.

First tree topper, then lights, then the ornaments.

But that was next weekend's struggle.

"Does that mean his idea is vetoed since he brought it up before tonight?" Colton wondered aloud, receiving a glare from Fran.

There were some unwritten rules for figuring out the inflatable decoration, such as anonymity. The purpose was so the brothers couldn't partner up against someone else because of bribes and all suggestions had to be put forth on a written piece of paper.

"Go away Colton. Nobody invited a party pooper." Francis shoved Cole with his elbow only to have Colton put him into a headlock. Smiley took advantage of his brother's tough predicament and quickly moved in to give Fran a wedgie.

It was a golden opportunity.

And not often did the littlest brother have the advantage.

"Smiley, I swear to God!" Francis shrieked and flailed his arms, forcing Colton to let him go before he got hit in the face. The drama queen dropped to the floor, rolling around in a ball as he tried to fix his boxers all the while with Chubba prancing excitedly around in his face.

Austin shook his head and walked out of the room to go check on the laundry. At the same time, the other brothers roared with laughter, including Emerson who returned with the vacuum from the laundry room.

Poor Franny.

Completely oblivious to the hooligan nonsense, Hayes tilted her head this way and that, catching different angles of her flawed little Christmas tree. She had originally planned to put it in the living room, like she told Austin, but she liked it in the family room where it currently was, too. Maybe she could put it in her bedroom.

Decisions, decisions.

A flash of light jolted her from her mind, and that was that. A simple flinch that made her turn around to find the source out of curiosity of who and why someone took a picture of her.

No panic attack!

Such progress.

It was Dakota, who avoided her gaze as he busied himself with pressing buttons on his camera that hung around his neck. He was still a bit hurt more than anything that his sister didn't tell him she fell in the pool. Perhaps it bothered him more than it should, but sue him.

That could have just as easily been a bad ending as it was good.

At least it explained her somewhat weirdish clingy behavior on Thursday, when she had been perfectly her Sunshine self that morning.

Fuck, he didn't know what to think, but taking his frustrations out on his little sister was not the way to handle this.

So as he was contemplating how to approach her because his mind conjured up anxiety over simply talking to his sister, he saw her admiring the trees and needed to save this memory of her childlike awe forever.

The simplest, barest tree on the property brought her the most joy. Hell, she would have been just as  content with the broken fir branch she picked up off the ground and pretended it was a sword, annoyingly stabbing all her brothers with it.

That was who Sunshine was.

Dakota felt the burning stare from Hayes as she was probably wondering why he took a photo of her. Without looking at the girl, he turned his camera around and extended his arm a little so she could look at the screen.

A white flag invitation.

Hayes inched closer to investigate, but still far enough away that she didn't intrude in his personal bubble. She was still nervous to be around him. Well not him personally, but the anger that exudes from him.

"You guys okay?" Colton asked Kota and Hayes, stepping away from where Sonny, Fran, and Smiley were now wrestling each other on the couches. It was only a matter of time before they ended up breaking something.

Hayes glanced to Dakota for his answer as she was fine.

"'Nice shot," Cole complimented his brother, looking over his little sister's shoulder to see the camera. "Can you frame that for the wall?"

"Was planning on it," Dakota grunted, as he was incapable of accepting compliments.

Hayes suddenly had an idea. "Can you take a picture of Chubba and me and my tree and put that on the wall too?"

She loved looking at the photographs that lined their dining room. Especially the ones from their baby years that she had no memory of. Like her eating ice cream, and smearing it all over her mouth. That one was Austin's favorite photo and now hanging right next to it was a recent photo of the girl eating the same ice cream order, and just as messy.

Because somethings just never changed.

"Sure," Dakota replied, "Where is the dumb dog anyways?"

"Chubba is not dumb," Hayes mumbled as her eyes darted around the room in search of the golden retriever. As she was looking, she felt fingers briefly in her hair.

"The fuck is this?" Dakota questioned, taking a feather out of her ponytail.

"A feather," Colton stated the obvious.

Kota's lips twitched but no smartass remark came out.

"Chubba?" Hayes called, still unable to find the dog. She walked a little to the right, nearer the couch-turned-wrestling-ring, then back to the left side of the room, getting closer to where the Christmas trees were. "Chubba, what are you doing back there?"

She padded over to the giant tree, squeezing between the wall and the branches to find the dog sniffing around behind it.

Suspicious.

Then the golden retriever glanced at her before lifting his leg.

Bold.

"Chubba's peeing on the tree!" Hayes announced to her brothers still in the family room.

"CHUBBA!"

The dumb dog must  have a death wish.

It was almost certain that Austin was so going to kill* him now.

*banish.

~~

Peace, Love, Pinterest.

Bonus: It's the Great Christmas Tree

Bonus-Bonus:

~~~~

Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays / Happy New Year!! (12/25/22)

I may have been up since 4 am because I couldn't sleep because SANTA!! And it may be nearly midnight when this gets posted, but it's still Christmas!

Here's a gift from me to you!

:)