A/N: * drum roll please* Here it is. The sequel everybody had been waiting for, I'm sorry it took so long. It appears that I can never stay away too long from this story. I've decided on a unique way of writing this story. In the prologue, there is a six year time jump, and then every chapter after that will be a memory from various points during those six years. There may be some present time chapters in there, I'm not sure yet. So, I hope this story becomes everything everybody has been looking forward to. Enjoy, :)

~ Prologue ~

Isabella

Fourteen year old Isabella Dilaurentis walked up the driveway, cutting across the grass. The sound of the school bus roaring away sounded behind her, the cacophony of kids' chatter fading into the quiet hum of suburban life. The December air was frigid and there was a dusting of snow on the ground, with the sky threatening more snow. She pulled her metallic gray parka closed, since she had forgotten to zip it up before she got off the bus. As she did that, her schoolbag slid off of her shoulder and brushed across the ground, the strap settling in the crook of her elbow. Her bag blew some snow onto her tan Uggs as it brushed the ground.

There was an unfamiliar tan car in the driveway and Isabella grew curious when she saw it. Then, her eyes widened as she received a hunch, and she ran the rest of the way to the house. She stomped her boots on the mat, pulling her house key out of her bag, but she found that the door was already unlocked. She smiled as she walked through the door, already guessing what she was going to find. The door swung shut behind her. Isabella dropped her bag on the floor and took off her coat and scarf, hanging them on the hooks lining the wall by the door.

"Hello?" she called out, taking the strap of her bag again, dragging it across the floor of her mother's childhood home; her home now, too. She heard a noise down in the basement as she lifted her bag onto the coffee table in the living room. She smiled and walked out to the hallway. "I know you're here."

The shuffling around down there stopped, then a couple seconds later, someone started coming up the stairs. Isabella stood in the hallway, patiently waiting, a smug smile on her face, her arms crossed. The basement door opened a moment later and her uncle appeared around it.

"Hey, Bells, I guess I can't fool you," Jason smiled, closing the door slowly and looking at his no longer little niece. "You know, you look just like your mother when you do that."

Isabella smiled knowingly; she got the same comment a lot, even from strangers if they were out together. "Mom told me that you were coming home for Christmas, so I kind of guessed that that was your car in the driveway," she explained. "I wasn't scared. If you were a burglar, you would have either sneaked out of the house quietly or you would have grabbed me at the first sound I made." She ended on a laugh.

"And you're fearless, just like Ali," Jason laughed, and then held out his arm toward his niece. "Come here, Bells." Bella ran into her uncle's arms without hesitation; she didn't care if it was childish or not, she had missed her uncle so much and she was happy to see him, as he lifted her a little bit off the floor.

Jason set her back on her feet and they walked out of the hallway, back to the living room. "I'm so glad you're back and spending Christmas with us," Isabella said. "It's going to be so much fun!"

"Well, I'm here to spread the joy," Jason smiled at his niece. "Where is your mom? Is she still at the school?" He sat down on the couch, dragging his duffel bag across the floor to sit at his feet.

"Yeah, she has just a few more term papers to grade," Bella explained. She leaned against the arm of the sofa. She eyed Jason's bag curiously. "Anything special in that bag?" she asked, slyly.

Jason laughed. "Maybe," he drew it out, "but you have to wait until Christmas morning." Isabella pouted. "Except, I think I have something for you for now."

Bella smiled grandly as Jason reached down and opened his bag. He shuffled around inside of it for a couple seconds. Then, he sat back, pulling something out of the bag as he did. Bella gasped when she saw it. Jason smiled at his niece's reaction and placed the object carefully in her hands. It was a snow globe, with a house that looked similar to the one they lived in. A smiling snowman stood in the front yard, and a blonde little girl spun happily around it.

"It's beautiful!" Isabella gushed, softly. She tipped the snow globe, gave it a small shake, and then righted it again. Silver, white snow began falling on the beautiful scene, causing her blue eyes to light up even more. "It's snowing, just like the day mom and I moved in here." Amid her excitement for her gift, she reached over and hugged her uncle.

"Thank you, I love it," she told him, as he hugged her back.

"Your welcome, bells," Jason said, pulling back from the hug. He watched her gazing at the snow globe. "Do you remember that day?" he asked her, curious.

Isabella looked up at him, a new smile spreading across her face. A smile of warmth and nostalgia. "Like it was yesterday..."

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Liam and Madison

"Where are you taking those boxes?" six year old Madison Fitz questioned, following her older brother, thirteen year old Liam Fitz. The little girl skipped forward, her leopard print skirt swishing around her legs and her twin braids swinging side to side. She wore a pair of pink capri leggings under her skirt and a long sleeved brown knit shirt. She stopped skipping just in time to not crash into the back of Liam.

"Mom asked me to put these in the attic," Liam told his sister, setting down the two boxes he carried on the floor for a quick minute. He reached up to the ceiling and pulled on the string that releases the attic's ladder steps.

"Why?" Maddie asked, lifting the lid of the top box and started to kneel on the floor. "Hey, these are Christmas decorations! We need these!"

"Nuh-uh," Liam told her, taking the boxes away from her, causing her to pout. "These are old ones. We don't need these anymore." He started climbing up to the attic. Maddie jumped up, and started following him again, even though she knew she wasn't allowed to go up in the attic. Liam reached the top, placed the boxes on the floor, and then pulled himself up into the attic. Maddie was next. Liam picked the boxes up again and walked to the far corner.

"Wooow, I've never been up here before," Madison awed, gazing around the attic. She stared walking around, looking at everything.

"You're not supposed to be up here," Liam told her, but he really didn't care if she was up there or he wasn't going to tell on her. Their mom only said Maddie wasn't allowed up here because Maddie would wind up getting into things and making a mess. He set the box down on top of a pile of boxes.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna touch anything," Madison rolled her eyes. "Ooooo, hey, my old crib!" she exclaimed, seeing the old mahogany crib that she and her brother had used. She ran her hand over the dusty rail, but it apparently wasn't latched, because it slid down at her touch, with a loud clatter.

Liam whipped around. "Oops," Maddie giggled, moving on. Liam laughed with her. He couldn't be made at his sister when she laughed like that; no one could.

"What's going on up there?" they heard their father's voice yell up to them. "Liam, is that you?"

"Yeah, I, um," Liam called back, glancing at his sister. Maddie silently pleaded with him to not tell that she was up here. "I, uh, tripped over something. It's all good."

"Ok, well, hurry up," Ezra replied, "I'm going to get Maddie, and we're all going to decorate the Christmas tree."

"Okay!" Liam called back. He looked back at his sister. "Don't touch anything else."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Maddie mumbled, walking on. She walked towards one wall with a window. "Wow, you can see everything from up here!" she gushed, gazing out the window. She glanced down and gasped again. "Hey, is this all of my stuff?!" She knelt down to the dusty attic floor in front of the gray plastic tub that read Baby Madison in marker. She started to reach for the lid.

"Maddie, no, don't touch anything!" Liam exclaimed, walking over to her fast.

"It's my stuff. I can touch this," Madison stuck her tongue out at her brother, continuing to do what she wanted. Liam didn't hear her, however, because her voice was drown out by someone else coming up the attic stairs.

"Liam, Maddie isn't in her room. Did she come up here with you?" Ezra asked, stepping into the attic. He didn't need an answer now, since his eyes landed automatically on his daughter kneeling on the floor.

"Hi, daddy," Maddie grinned up at him, her hands inside of the box.

"She followed me; I couldn't stop her!" Liam said quickly, putting his hands up.

"It's okay," Ezra laughed at his son. "What are you doing, princess?" He walked over to her.

"Is this really all of my stuff?" she asked. She picked up a polka-dotted sleeper set, then looked through some other outfits.

"Yep, all yours," Ezra nodded, grinning, squatting down next to his daughter. He reached into the box, and pulled out a white and pink outfit, with pink tulle on the sleeves and going around the waist in a tutu. Three pink outline of stars were printed on the front. "Mommy was so convinced of bringing you home from the hospital in this outfit. It didn't matter that it was a little too big on you. The tutu almost swallowed you up." Ezra smiled and laughed a little at the memory.

Liam leaned forward and grabbed something out of the box. "This was my lion," he explained, holding up the pale yellow floppy lion that had a clip where it could be hooked onto anything. "He made me happy all the time, so I decided to give it to you and you could be happy all the time."

"Really?" Madison replied, looking up at him.

"It always seemed that you and Liam had this special bond from the day you were born," Ezra told both of them. Brother and sister looked at each other, sharing a secret smile...

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Molly, Mackenzie, and Josh

Ten year old identical twins, Molly and Mackenzie St. Germaine-Fields, sprawled out on the living room floor with big lilac-colored poster board in front of them. There was an array of pencils, markers, scissors, cut up paper scraps, glue sticks, and photos all around them. They were working on a school project. Molly sat cross-legged in a pair of black leggings and an oversized sweatshirt with a neon colored peace sign on it, trimming a photograph with a pair of scissors. Mackenzie was dressed in gray sweatpants with pink stripes down the sides and a pink tank-top with a rainbow-colored peace sign on it. She glued down another photograph, laying on her stomach. Both girls had their long, dark curly hair pulled up in messy buns.

"Our family tree project is going the most interesting," Mackenzie gushed, pressing down the photo so that it would stick.

"Absolutely," Molly agreed, smiling. "No one has a family like ours." She passed the neatly trimmed photo over to her sister. She tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "Are we still going to draw something around the edges? It needs something there or else it's going to look too plain."

"Yes, Mol, we agreed already," Kenzie flashed her sister a grin. "But let's get all the pictures on first and then you can get creative. Here, you make the connecting lines." She handed Molly a marker. Molly took the marker.

"I color too, girls," the twins' three year old brother, Joshua Wayne St. Germaine-Fields, toddled over to them with a red marker in his hand. His black hair swooped down over his forehead and his brown eyes were wide and expressive. His dinosaur fossil shirt had some new red marker smears on it.

"No, that's ok, Joshy," Molly told him, gently. She reached over and took the marker from him nicely. "This is for school. We'll color in some coloring books when we're done, okay?"

Josh didn't fight to keep the marker. His hands fell into the other with the loss of the marker. "School?" he asked.

"Uh-huh, yeah," the twins mumbled in unison, engrossed in their work. Josh plopped down on the floor, and sat there, watching his sisters.

Emily came into the living room at that moment, a blue sippy cup in her hand. "Hey there, little man," she cooed to the toddler. She picked him up off the floor and settled him on her hip. "What are you doing? Do you want some juice?" She handed Josh the cup. He took the cup and began sipping on it.

"Girls school," Josh said, pointing at his sisters and spraying some apple juice from his mouth.

"Yeah, they're doing work," Emily told him, smiling at him. The toddler only gaped at them, seeing them coloring; something they all did together. Emily turned to her daughters. "Do you need any help with that?"

"Um, we need a couple more pictures," Molly replied. "Where's that box our dad sent us a couple years ago?"

About four years ago, Enrique Santos, the girls' biological father, sent them a box full of family mementos that he thought the girls would like to have. It was all simple stuff, photographs and knick knacks and other stuff. The girls have seen the stuff only once and then Emily and Maya decided to keep the box in the garage, until the girls were old enough to appreciate it.

"Uhh, I believe it's in the garage on the back shelf," Emily told them, having to think about it. She shifted Josh to her other hip. "Do you need any help getting it?"

"No, we can manage," Molly declined, climbing to her feet. She flicked her sister's bun. "C'mon, Kenz."

"O...kay,...I'm...just...finishing...up...," Mackenzie drew out, pressing a photo down on the poster board. "Okay, done." She vaulted to her feet, landing in perfect form. That was her athletic prowess shining through.

"Be careful, girls," Emily told her daughters.

"We will," Molly and Kenzie said, together, walking to the garage door.

Josh started straining toward them. "I go!" he started whining. "I go with sisters! I go, I go!"

Emily held on to him tighter, despite the fact that the little boy was getting bigger and stronger everyday. "No, no, you can't go." At the no, Josh began to whine a little harder. "You're going down for a nap. The girls will be right back."

"No nap!" Josh screamed, throwing his juice cup to the floor. Emily said something firmly to him, and the toddler started to cry. She walked down the hall to the nursery.

Molly and Mackenzie continued out the garage door, letting it bang shut behind them. "I just realized that Joshy is a little person now," Molly commented. "He was so tiny and babyish before, now he has feelings, interests,...outbursts." She smirked on the last word, thinking about what just happened.

Kenzie chuckled, agreeing, "Yeah, do you remember when mommies told us that we were going to be big sisters?" They walked to the back of the garage.

"Yeah. We were confused and asking so many questions, mommies couldn't keep up," Molly laughed out loud. Mackenzie joined in the laughter.

"Remember we actually thought he was going to come in the mail..."

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Tyler and Eliza

Seven year old Eliza Cavanaugh pressed herself to the wall outside her parents' bedroom. She peeked into the room and breathed a sigh of relief. Empty. Good. She turned and padded into the room in socked feet. She crossed the room, walking over to her mother's makeup table. Eliza pulled out the padded stool, and sat down, facing the mirror, excitement fluttering in her belly. She knew she shouldn't be doing this; she'll get in big trouble, but she couldn't help it. Her mommy had promised her that she could wear a little makeup for the Christmas party. The party was a little more than two weeks away. Eliza wanted to try out some makeup, to see if she could pick out her best look.

The young girl looked down at the table, at all the different makeup laid out on the table. She didn't know what to do first. She tapped her finger against her chin, looking at herself in the mirror. Then, she decided: when in doubt, start at the top. Lizzie picked up an eyeshadow palette. Opening up the case, she picked up the little brush and smeared it in the pink color. She dragged the brush across one eye, then the other, and looked in the mirror.

"Perfect," Eliza praised herself, even though it was far from perfect. The color on one eyelid extended all the way to her temple and the other one stopped too short. She place the eyeshadow back down, and picked up a bright red lipstick. She pursed her lips in the mirror and smeared the lipstick over her lips. Lizzie was just capping the lipstick and reaching for the mascara when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

She froze, feeling her heart start to pound at the thought of getting caught doing something wrong. The makeup she was holding clattered onto the glass table and Lizzie jumped off of the stool to her feet. She stood there for a panicked second, then she dove for the far side of the bed, landing on her stomach on the floor. Her shirt was thin, so her skin stung from sliding along the carpet, but she ignored the pain.

"Lizzie! Peanut, are you up here?"

Her daddy called out to her, but she remained silent. She peered under the bed, watching Toby's feet pause at the open doorway, then walk past a moment later. Lizzie breathed out a sigh of relief. Now, she just had to sneak out of the room without anyone seeing her. Eliza started to move, but then stopped when she saw something under the bed. Two shoe boxes sat side by side; one had her brother's name written on it in black marker, the other one had her name on it. Her brown eyes sparkling, she pulled her box out, sitting up. She lifted the lid off, and peered inside the box. On first glance, she saw all different types of baby stuff. The first thing she saw was a pacifier with a fuzzy brown monkey attached to the end. She held it in her hands, and, for a minute, she had the urge to put it in her mouth. Eliza had no concrete memory of the pacifier, but there was a strong familiarity.

Placing the monkey pacifier down beside her, she looked into the box again. There was a pair of white infant shoes, her hospital bracelet, and a couple of photos. After gaping at the tiny shoes, wondering how she could have been that small, and read her full name on the bracelet, Eliza Marion Cavanaugh. Then, she looked through the photographs. The first one was of her as a tiny, tiny baby inside an incubator, wires and tubes attached to her. There were photos of her in her mother's arms, one as she's being held by her daddy, her brother with his hand on the incubator looking at his baby sister. A picture of her mommy, daddy, and her. The last of the photos was their family of four in front of their house, on the day that she came home from the hospital.

"Oooo, what are you doing in here?"

Lizzie jumped, startled, and looked up to see her ten year old brother standing over her. "Oh, it's just you," she said, looking back down. "I found my baby stuff. There's another box with your name on it under the bed."

"You're going to be in soooo much trouble. You're not supposed to be in here," Tyler warned her, then his eyes widened. "AND you went through mommy's makeup. You are going to get it BIG time."

"I won't, if you don't tell," Eliza said, slyly.

"Maybe I won't, but daddy is going to to notice all that stuff on your face," Tyler told her, crossing his arms.

"I'll wipe it off," Eliza replied, without hesitating or missing a beat.

"If I keep this secret, what's in it for me?" Tyler asked.

Eliza thought about it. Then, she negotiated, "If you don't tell on me, then I'll let you choose the whole team of characters when we play Skylanders on the Xbox. I won't argue about it,...for two games."

"Make it three games, and I'm in," Tyler amended.

"Deal," Lizzie agreed and stuck her hand out. Tyler shook her hand in agreement, also. Then, they started giggling to release the tension.

"So," Tyler said, dropping to his knees on the floor. "Find anything cool in there." He tried to peered into the box on her lap, but he couldn't see anything without picking it up. Instead, he fingered the stuff she had already taken out. "If there's nothing interesting in there, I won't bother pulling mine out."

"Well, I don't know," Lizzie replied, "How interesting does it need to be?" She shuffled through the box again. She stopped and looked inside curiously. "This is weird," she murmured. Tyler looked up at her. She pulled an old Teddy Grahams wrapper out of the box. "What is this doing in here?"

"Hey, I know what that is!" Tyler exclaimed, reaching forward and grabbing the wrapper from her. "Mm-mmm, chocolate chip." He licked his lips at the memory of his favorite Teddy Grahams flavor.

"A-hem," Eliza coughed to get her brother's attention.

Tyler glared at her for second for destroying his fantasy, and then he explained. He held up the wrapper. "This is from the day you started walking for the first time..."

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Leslie, Hailey, and Jacob

"Go ahead, you can do it," nine year old Leslie Rivers smiled down at her baby brother, two year old Jacob. They sat on the floor in the living room, a puzzle in between them. "Where does the cow go?"

Jacob held the cow puzzle piece up in the air, blowing raspberries and drool dripped down his chin. Leslie giggled. Jacob slapped the piece down onto the board. It fit into its' spot nicely, after a couple of smacks.

"Good job!" Leslie clapped. Jake looked up at her and smiled, clapping his hands together too. "You are getting so smart." She reached out and ruffled his brown hair that was falling past his ears.

"What did he do?" a voice piped up from the big reclining chair in front of the television. Seven year old Hailey was stretched across it sideways, her eyes and attention glued to the the Ipad on her lap.

"Jakey did the puzzle all by himself," Leslie told her younger sister, smiling at her baby brother. She stood up, and Jake immediately climbed to his feet, copying her. Leslie picked Jacob up in her arms and moved closer to Hailey.

"No, he didn't. You helped him," Hailey said. A loud beep came from the Ipad and Hailey scowled at the screen. "Stupid alien."

"Ssssstoopid alum," Jake mimicked her, giggling. Hailey giggled, too.

"Don't teach him bad words," Leslie scolded her sister. "It's not nice."

Hailey rolled her eyes, finally looking at her sister. "Ugh, you sound like mommy," she said. " 'Don't teach them bad things, honey'." She swung her legs over the chair to the floor.

" 'We're just having fun, sweetheart'," Leslie replied, grinning. The girls burst into laughter for copying their parents. Jacob looked between his sisters, confused, then he laughed the loudest.

Their laughter died down in a couple of minutes. "Ok, I'm going to my room to play Shopkins, before mommy finds out I went past my time on the Ipad," Hailey admitted her wrong. She slid the Ipad onto the coffee table. She turned back to Leslie. "Don't tell?" Hailey held out her pinky finger.

"Sisters don't tell," Leslie smiled sincerely at Hailey, linking her pinky finger with Hailey's. The girls may be complete opposites, but their bond as sisters was stronger than most. Hailey skipped off, heading to the hallway and the stairs. "Oh, and I helped you with puzzles and stuff when you were younger, and you became very smart," Leslie called after her sister.

Hailey twirled around, her ever present grin on her face. "I never said he wasn't going to be smart with your help," she stated. "We have the best big sister in the world."

Leslie looked down at the floor, bashfully.

"Hi, daddy, I'm going to go play with my toys," Hailey said as she left, her pink sparkly dress flouncing as she moved.

"Ok, angel, have fun," Caleb replied, pulling playfully on her blonde hair. Watching until his youngest daughter was further away, he spoke while walking more into the room. "You know sometimes I think she tries too much to avoid getting in trouble." He reached his kids, and held his hands for his son. Leslie handed Jacob over. "What do you think, bud? Do we need to run some checks on her?"

"Yeah!" Jacob exclaimed. "I get my compooter!" Caleb laughed as he set his hacker-in-training son down, and watched as the little boy ran across the room. Caleb turned to his oldest child, still smiling.

Leslie had sat down on the couch, her eyes cast downward at her hands on her lap with her fingers playing with her jeans. "Are you okay, princess?" Caleb asked her, his brow furrowing in worry.

Leslie looked at him, with a small smile. "Hailey said I was the best big sister in the world," she shared with her daddy.

"Wow," Caleb chuckled, "That's a good compliment from her,...and a very true one." He kissed Leslie's temple, his hand holding the back of head, before lowering himself down beside her on the couch. "Something tells me that something else is bothering you."

Leslie looked down again. "I am happy, but..." she began, hesitatingly. She lowered her voice a lot. "...I'm always the big sister. I never got to be with you and mommy, without being a big sister. It was never just us."

Caleb put his arm around his daughter comfortingly. Once again, the time stolen from them with Leslie rears its' ugly head. Leslie looked up at her daddy. He kissed her forehead. "And that is why we tried to make your birthday all about you..."

A/N: Well, how did you like it? What do you all think? I hope this story lives up to all of your expectations. The next few chapters will be going back in time to the memories each child was remembering. Which one are you guys looking forward to? Please review; let me know what you think.