Hi there! This is my first Cheaper By The Dozen story about Sarah and Jake. I know Jake is younger than Sarah but I just can't see that from the movie, and also the ages will be slightly different, and there will be some OOC because I'm new at this so I'm sorry for that. This is completely AU. I hope you enjoy it! =3

Nora- 20

Charlie-17

Lorraine-15 (almost 16)

Henry- 14

Jake-12 (almost 13)

Sarah-12

Mark- 11

Kim- 9

Jessica-9

Mike-8

Kyle- 6

Nigel- 6

"Twelve is too much." Those four simple words were enough to tear the family apart. It's the first thing someone thinks of when they first meet them. It's probably the second thing they tell them. They would ignore those words and think they didn't mean anything. The Bakers didn't know it would be enough to break them down.

It started off as a normal day, or as normal as you could get with the Bakers. It was the afternoon meaning most of the kids were already at home. Except, of course, for Nora, Charlie, Jake, and Sarah. That was normal too. Nora lived on campus at her college, Charlie was at football practice, and Jake and Sarah were at the skate park. Jake and Sarah, being the closest siblings except for the twins (but they were mistaken for twins all the time so it was even) would walk to the curb at four and meet Charlie at the park where he would pick them up to go home. It was like any other Tuesday. You know, I wish I could start this story like that, all nice and happy. Sadly though, that's not how this is going to go.

It was only a little after three-thirty, but Sarah and Jake were already heading home, skateboards in hand. They would've stayed a lot longer, but Sarah had fallen from the ramp and did something with her ankle. This, again, was normal. One of them would get hurt somehow at least twice every month. Jake had an arm around his younger sister to support her while she leaned on him and limped, wincing every other step. Other than that everything was perfect fine. But we all know it's not going to end up fine. And it'll happen right about –BAM- now. The two siblings were thrown onto the ground, their boards rolling in separate directions. Jake's breath picked up and he looked around in panic. For he knew for a fact that it was a gunshot. However, to tell you the truth, Sarah had no idea what the noise was. She wasn't allowed to watch cop shows, so she didn't know what a real gunshot should've sounded like. She did, however, know that something was going to happen. And something bad at that. They scrambled up from the ground and Jake put his arm under both of Sarah's arms and practically carried her the other direction. They stopped under a tree and Jake let go of Sarah, letting her sit down while he leaned against the tree. Both were panting and Sarah clutched her ankle.

"You," pant, "okay, dude?" Jake asked putting a hand on her shoulder, "You know you're heavier than you look."

Sarah glared up at him and shook her head, her voice was strained due to the pain in her ankle, "Shut up Jake."

Jake looked at her worriedly and crouched in front of her, examining her ankle and pulling a face at how swollen it was. "Well that throws the idea of you walking out the window," he grumbled, shaking his head.

He looked back around the tree nervously, hoping whoever made that noise wasn't following them.

Sarah pulled a face and looked up at him, "Sorry, Jakey…"

He sighed and crouched back to her level and looked at her in the eye, "It's not your fault Sis. Now c'mon, we have to make sure whoever shot that gun isn't anywhere near us."

Sarah's eyes widened and she hastily stood up, hissing when she put too much pressure on her ankle. "T-That was a gun?" She stuttered, looking at her older brother in complete panic.

Jake looked at her uneasily, "Yeah… Don't worry, Sar, it'll be fine." Little did he know, he was horribly mistaken.

Not even a minute after Jake said that, another gunshot rang through the air, though this one sounded much closer. Sarah jumped and gripped Jake's arm, looking at him with terrified eyes. Jake looked down at her, equally scared, but he knew he had to play the big brother role here, a role he usually never has to play.

He put an arm around her, making sure she wouldn't have to walk on her ankle too much. "We have to run dude, right now. You up for it?" Sarah looked up at him her expression brave and determined, but he could still see the fear in her eyes.

She nodded hastily, "L-Let's go." Jake nodded and began running with her. He strained his ears and heard people yelling from behind him and he started running faster, doing his best to ignore Sarah's wincing at every step. Suddenly, another shot sounded out, but this time the bullet flew less than an inch above their heads. At that Jake jumped to the ground, wincing when his sister cried out in what he knew was pain from her ankle.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," he muttered, he looked back at her and saw that she was curled up in a ball and gripping her ankle. He could tell she was trying to hold back tears. "Dude, Sarah you gotta get up," he said shaking her urgently. He could hear the voices getting louder. Sarah whimpered and shook her head, "It h-hurts." Jake bit his lip in panic, "Sar, I'm gonna pick you up okay?" She nodded her head, her eyes still closed.

Jake hooked one arm under her legs and another supporting her back. He stood up, his legs shaking and tears stinging his eyes, but he ran. He heard footsteps pounding on the grass behind them and he ran faster, but it wasn't enough. After a while, he was knocked onto the ground with a loud thud. He curled up on the ground, covering a shaking Sarah. He wrapped his arms tightly around her as he heard more screaming, but he couldn't comprehend what was being said. Soon he felt his sister go limp in his arms, whether it was from pain or fear he never found out, for not even a minute after, his world went black.

Tell me what you think! But no flames please, =)