Cheaper by the Half Dozen

by bauerfreak

As if working full time as CSI's wasn't enough to keep them busy Nick and Sara manage to balance work with four boys, two girls, and a whole lot of sibling rivalry. Presented by Bauerfreak and Lostladyknight!

4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here's chapter four! Thanks so much to our reviewers. You pretty much rock! At the end of this chapter, we will leave something a little up in the air, and we'd like your input about how to proceed. So, kindly leave us a review and tell us what you think! Thanks for reading! – LLK and bauerfreak

Sara shifted her eyes open as she felt the familiar sensation of a car taking the I-18 off ramp towards Glendale Avenue. They were about three blocks from home. Sara shifted a bit to be in more of a sitting position in the back of the cab and glanced at her watch. The sun was far in the west so it didn't surprise her that it was well past seven. She ran a gentle hand though her son's hair as his head lay on her lap like a little child.

"We home?" he asked, starling her a little. The car had been an eerie quiet even to spite the fact she was riding with two other people.

"We just turned on to McCourt Drive," she told her son gently as he slowly started to sit up. McCourt Drive was the next street up from where they lived. "You ready to be home babe?"

Charlie rubbed his eyes and looked at her for a second. She knew that her son loved their family with all of his heart but she also knew that sometimes he really needed alone time with her. He would never be one of those people who was good in large groups all the time, and his shy quiet nature tended to let him get washed out in the hubub of a six child family

"I guess I kinda missed Colin," he admitted with a shy smile. The two year old was everyone's favorite family member, most of the time.

"And Jordan," Sara teased her son. He smiled and nodded. "And Marley and Noah and Brandon."

"Yeah, I guess I missed them too a little," he admitted. "And Dad... Nick... er... whatever. Just, don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Your secret is safe with me," she said giving her son a full smile. She was glad to hear him calling Nick dad again. There was no reason why he should feel like he couldn't love Nick as a father just as much as he loved the memory of his own father.

A couple minutes later, the yellow cab turned onto their street. It was amazing how just a few days away from home made it so special to pull up into your own driveway again. Getting away for a while was always nice, but Sara truly thought it was so much nicer to come home.

The cab came to a stop in the driveway of the Stokes home. It hadn't burned down. Not that Sara had any doubt in her husband's abilities to handle five kids on his own…but they could be a wild bunch.

"How much do I owe you?" Sara asked the cabbie as they began to unbuckle their seatbelts.

"Seventy-five," he informed Sara. She raised her eyebrows a little. With the rising gas prices, she guessed riding in a cab was more expensive now than it had been just a few years ago. She'd only saved about sixty dollars to pay for the cab.

"Alright. Charlie, will you go in and grab me twenty bucks from the jar in my bedroom?" She requested. Charlie nodded and got out, running towards the house as the cabbie got out to unload their belongings from the trunk. Just a few moments later, the twins came running out, with Colin shuffling not far behind, trying to keep up.

"Mommy!!" They both exclaimed at the same time. Sara grinned from ear to ear as her three youngest approached, apparently elated to see them. It was hard to be away from them for such a long time, because they were all at ages where they still needed a lot of help and attention. She bent down to receive them into her arms.

"Hi, girls!" Sara planted a kiss on both their cheeks as she hugged them warmly. The girls squeezed her hard, so glad to have their mother back with them, especially since Brandon had been in charge since Nick left for work earlier. He'd gotten as much time off as he could, but had to go back today. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you more," Jordan told her, kissing her twice on the cheek.

"I missed you the mostest," Marley trumped as she leaned into Sara, almost toppling her over. Colin reached the pack of three females a moment later, and they let him into the big bear hug.

"You've got a whole brood don't you miss?" the cabbie asked her with a chubby cheeked smile. He seemed like a pretty down to earth family man. Sara had taken an immediate liking to him at the start of their ride when he started telling Charlie about the three hundered species that could be found in the zoo near the airport.

"Yeah," she admitted. "Plus two more boys inside, but they're a bit older and don't miss their mommy like these three do." She picked Colin up and started trying to juggle him and her purse as she waited for Charlie to come back with the money. "He'll be back out in just a sec. I'm sure his brothers have a million questions for him."

"Nah miss, it's okay," the cabbie told her. "With what... six kids? You've got to have a birthday coming up sometime soon. Keep the cash and spoil the kids. They grow up so fast. Before you know it twenty bucks won't seem like much of anything compared to what they're asking you for."

Noah came out of the house a moment later and Sara smiled at her stepson. It was good to see him. She couldn't help but laugh a little. Lately Noah and his brother had started getting more and more expensive, Brandon especially now that he was driving.

"Hi Sara," he said, coming forward and wrapping her up in a hug. She dropped her purse and put an arm around him tightly, running her fingers through his hair. Noah didn't show affection like this often and she knew it meant that he'd missed her.

Oddly enough, of all of the kids, Noah was the least cuddly. Brandon was never ashamed to hug his father or even Sara if he felt like he wanted to, though he'd never do so in public. He'd even had a habit of kissing Sara on the cheek before bed at night, of course that was only on the nights when he wasn't mad at her or Nick for one reason or another. Noah, however, had never been one for physical displays of affection unless he really wanted to.

"I missed you kid," Sara whispered in Noah's ear. She then turned to the cab driver and said, "are you sure about the fare? He'll be back in a minute."

"No, no," the driver told her as he climbed back into his yellow vehicle and started to drive away. He leaned out the window as he rolled onto the street and said, "Sixty's plenty. Have a great evening miss, enjoy your kids."

As the driver sped away down the street, Sara let out a relieved sigh. Charlie trotted out at that moment with some cash in hand, but saw it was no longer needed. He handed the twenty to his mother.

"Thanks, Charlie. He said not to worry about the rest of it."

With five of her children surrounding her, she definitely felt loved and needed, and it felt so nice to be home. "I see you guys didn't burn down the house," she smirked, ruffling Noah's hair. He grinned as they started walking towards the house. Noah and Charlie both picked up a suitcase, and Jordan took her little brother's hand so he didn't wander off.

Sara saw that her sons had picked up her bags, gratefully. Despite all the chaos that regularly went on at their house, they were good kids (most of the time). Little things like the boys carrying in the suitcases reminded Sara they were doing a pretty decent job.

Marley skipped along beside her mother as they walked, and grasped her hand. "Mommy, I have a surprise for you," she said, her voice going up slightly at the end in her little mischievous way.

"You do?" Sara played along. After a plane ride followed by a cab ride, she kind of hoped it involved alcohol. "What could it be?"

"I don't know. You hafta come see," she told her evasively as they walked in through the garage door. Sara was met with the sound of Brandon playing his guitar down in his basement bedroom. She smiled a little. He was getting pretty good, and she admitted to being a fan, at least when she wasn't trying to get a little peace and quiet.

Marley soon pulled her into the kitchen, where quite a grand mess was awaiting her. Dough, chocolate chips, icing and egg shell all adorned the counter top. On top of the stove sat a fresh tray of chocolate chip cookies, which interestingly also had pink icing and sprinkles on the top.

"Lookit, Mommy," Marley pointed. "We made you welcome home cookies. For you and Charlie." She smiled up proudly at her mother. Sara looked past the mess and knew her daughters were just trying to show how much they loved her.

"Mmmm. This looks good." Sara stepped forward and used the spatula to pick up one of the…very creative cookies. They apparently hadn't waited until the cookies had cooled to put the icing on, so the tray was a bit of a mess of cookie and melted icing. Still, she took a bite and grinned as she chewed.

Noah rubbed the back of his neck like his father did when he wasn't sure what to do. "Don't worry, Sara. We'll clean it up. They really wanted to make you a treat."

"Noah, why don't you and I clean up the mess and we'll just let the little ones get away with this, just this once?" Sara asked, winking at him. She could barely contain her relief that Noah had been involved in the baking process as she chewed on the cookie in her mouth. At least he knew about proportions and how to read a recipe, and, she knew that she wouldn't have to worry about biting down on an eggshell.

Noah smiled at her, sensing her relief and smiled in agreement. He took a plate and piled a few cookies on it, handing it to Jordan. "Why don't you and Marley take these down stairs to see if Brandon wants some while Sara and I get up the mess? And tell him she's home too, okay?"

Sara grinned at the twelve year old, proud of him. Yeah, they weren't doing such a bad job with their kids at all. When she'd first married Nick she had been a bit intimidated by playing mom to three boys. Her own was one thing but then two more, who were even older than Charlie, on top of that had intimidated her to say the least. They'd turned into a family pretty quickly and now she loved Nick's two boys easily as much as she loved her own children.

Then all at once the magical spell of having good children seemed to stop. Somewhere else in the house the sounds of Marley's shrieks and Colin's wails were met with Charlie's yells and Brandon's door slamming. In front of her Noah used a paper towel to push all of the loose flour, sugar, and eggs into a trash can he perched next to the counter. He threw the open bags of flour and sugar back into their cupboard, without rolling them up, and put the eggs in the fridge, on the wrong shelf, carton still opened. Then, he picked up all of the caked on filthy dishes piled into the sink and darted out of the room, and out of sight.

Sara sighed, ran a hand through her hair, and started stacking sprinkle and frosting cans neatly on their shelf in the family pantry. With six kids you had to pick your battles and making Noah come do a good job of the kitchen wasn't one she'd win easily, nor was it worth fighting when she could fix it herself in a half hour. At least she'd gone some resemblance of help. As soon as the novelty of Sara being home wore off, it was like things were back to normal in the Stokes household.

As Sara began to wipe off the counter with a wet cloth, a visibly upset Marley came back up the stairs with the full plate of cookies. Sara glanced over at her as she wiped. "What's up, sweet pea?"

She took the plate of cookies from her daughter and set them on the counter, then reached down to tousle her hair lovingly. "Brandon said he didn't want any of my cookies cause he said they looked gross, Mommy. And then he made me leave and he slammed the door and then him and Charlie started yellin'."

Sara sighed, figuring Brandon wasn't in that good of a mood, being in charge of four of his siblings for the afternoon. He was a good big brother for the most part, but like any teenager, he needed his own space. Plus, he was grounded, so he couldn't exactly go to a friend's house to get away from it all.

"I'm sorry, Marley. I think he's just in a bad mood." Sara consoled her. "I loved the cookies you made me. They were delicious," she lied. It seemed to work its trick on the little girl, as Marley nodded and hugged her mother for a little while longer. "Good girl. Are Jordan and Colin still downstairs?"

Marley nodded and rubbed at her eyes. "Why don't you pick out a movie to watch and I bet they'll come join you," she suggested, hoping to get a little bit of semi-quiet time. Just like that, Marley seemed to make a 180, and she skipped off towards the stack of DVDs stored in the living room. Sara wiped her hands on the dishtowel and headed for the stairs to make sure everything was alright.

Colin and Jordan were sitting on the little landing at the bottom of the stairs, next to the boys' room. She didn't know why they decided to pick that place of all places to play with some of the family's toy cars, but they did. They must have just been laying around. The house wasn't too bad of a mess, but it looked like it needed some picking up. However, Sara was tired, and not in any state to caravan the kids about cleaning.

"Guys, why don't you go upstairs and help Marley pick out a movie to watch." Sara told the younger two in the hallway. Jordan nodded and stood up, grasping her brother's hand. She loved to play mommy towards him, and was always very patient and nurturing. "Take your toys up with you, please, so the boys don't trip."

They gathered up the small collection of toy cars and trucks as Sara stepped over them and knocked on the older boys' bedroom door.

The door was closed and even though they had a house rule about locking doors the children had always been allowed to close their bedroom doors if they wanted. It was also a family rule, one that had come into effect when Brandon was about fourteen, that if a door was closed you had to knock before entering, parent or child alike.

Sara leaned forward and knocked on the boys' bedroom door. "Hey, can I come in?"

Brandon was the one who answered, "if you want."

She knew that she was the public enemy when it came to Brandon right now. He was grounded and even though it was his father who had grounded him, Brandon tended to be of the mindset that if one parent was punishing him for something it was a team effort. Sara didn't get any reprieve from this even though she was hundreds of miles away.

"Hey Brand," she said, stepping into the room. She was surprised to see that Noah and Charlie weren't in the room with him. "I was just coming down to let you know we're home safe."

"Okay," he grunted at her, shifting away from his guitar to his computer desk where he booted up AOL instant messenger. He turned and looked at her, "is that it?"

"Gee no," Sara said to him, a little annoyed. "I've been gone for a week Brandon and I don't know about you, but I kinda missed you. I thought it'd be nice to see you after all that time or that maybe you'd even come give me a hug or tell me about your week or something."

"Whatever," he said, standing and walking across the room. He pulled her into a hug quickly, and dropped a kiss on her cheek. She almost marveled at how muscular he was becoming but didn't have time to, the hug was over so quickly. He was already back at his computer. "Welcome home," he said.

"Brandon, what is up with you?" she asked, feeling hurt that he wasn't showing her any more affection than that. Usually when they were alone together Brandon treated her like his mother just as much as Charlie did.

"I just don't feel like having any company right now," he said to her in an annoyed tone. "Okay? Yeah, I missed you but I don't have to come running up stairs and hug you like the little ones do and right now I don't really want to talk to anyone."

"Oh," she said. She decided not to mention that he had just signed onto an instant messenger service. She also opted not to get on him about cleaning his room up, just yet. "Well uh... thanks for helping Dad with the little ones so much while I was gone."

She thought about leaving the room to give him the space he seemed to be demanding through his body language, but decided not to. She sat on his bed and started reading the chemistry notebook he'd left there. If he wasn't going to involve her in his life, she would.

Brandon had been busying himself with typing in his username and password, so he hadn't noticed his stepmother sifting through his belongings. He happened to glance over and saw her thumbing through one of his notebooks. Brandon didn't only write schoolwork in those – if he got bored in class he was known to think up lyrics, which he wasn't comfortable sharing with hardly anyone, especially his stepmother.

"Sara!" He raised his voice and quickly swiped the notebook out of her hands. "Jesus! Can't I get even an inkling of privacy around here?"

Sara sighed and stretched her legs out, tucking her hands in between her thighs as she looked up at her stepson, who seemed to tower above her. It was amazing how much he resembled his father. "I'm sorry, Brand. I wanted to see what you've been studying, and since you won't talk to me…"

"That doesn't mean you can start going through my stuff," he quipped as he set the notebook down on top of a pile of other notebooks and textbooks that crowded his desk. A ding was heard, indicating he'd gotten an instant message. Apparently, he was way more interested in talking to whoever was on the other end. "Look…I'm glad you're back, but can you just…leave? Please?"

Sara reluctantly stood up from the bed and sighed. She really wished she could be closer to Brandon, but that's not what he wanted at this point in his life. It was to be expected, with him being a teenager. Maybe she expected him to be more like Charlie, who still enjoyed her company. It wasn't fair to expect Brandon to be the same, but she could always hope for a little more attention.

"Fine," she replied in a low voice, showing her obvious disappointment. Was it so bad to want to be involved in Brandon's life? She decided to try to dismiss it because of the stress of the last few days. "I'll call you up for dinner in a little while." She started walking to the door and then she had a thought. "Hey – are you even supposed to be on that computer? What did your dad ground you from?"

"I'm allowed to do homework," he informed her, his tone indicating how beyond ready he was to have his stepmother out of the room. Brandon continued, knowing she'd ask about why he was on instant messenger. "I have a question about my chem assignment, so I'm asking Chris."

Sara quirked her eyebrow, questioning his honesty. Truthfully, parenting Brandon still made her really nervous, because he was so different from Charlie. What worked with her own son didn't work at all with Nick's sons. "Fine. But you need to get right off when you're done. And you know, I know a thing or two about chemistry. You can always ask me."

"Yeah, I know," he told her and then stood and walked over to her, putting a hand on each shoulder he started pushing her out of the room. "And if I need your help I'll ask you."

Sara couldn't help but laugh at him as she started climbing the stairs. She remembered the first time he'd ever grabbed her shoulders and pushed her out of a room. He was eleven at the time and the twins were just a couple of months old. He was in their nursery changing Marley's diaper when Jordan had woken up and started crying, and Sara, like any mother, had come running. She hadn't been sleeping well, trying to be the mom of newborn twins and five, seven, and eleven year old boys so Brandon had taken a baby monitor down to his room and resolved he would handle the twins for the night. When he'd seen her he'd grabbed her and pushed her out of the room, he could handle changing a couple of diapers and a midnight feeding or two.

That had been a long time ago now and even though most of the time Brandon was still the same kid, and even though she knew he adored her secretly, it was rarer and rarer that he ever showed it. She came up to the living room and saw the twins and Colin sitting on the floor watching Finding Nemo for the ten thousandth time. "Hey guys have you seen Charlie or Noah?"

"Noah's outside," Marley and Jordan both answered her, in a sing-song voice.

"Chah-wee's up in you and Daddy's room," Colin updated her on the other boy's whereabouts. Sara smiled and tousled his short hair as they all looked on towards the television screen. That Nemo DVD was sure worth the money. Sometimes, they'd watch it all the way through, but at times they got bored sitting around and were known to skip off and play, leaving the movie running.

"Okay, sweetie. Thanks," she stood up and walked over to the kitchen to get herself a glass of lemonade when she spotted a piece of paper on the opposite counter she hadn't noticed before. Her mouth formed a smirk when she saw who it was from. In the age of cell phones, it was nice to find a hand-written note from her husband in his famous chicken scratch.

In the note, he updated her on all the happenings in the house. Colin had wet the bed, and his sheets were in the dryer now. Marley and Jordan needed to get their math homework checked and initialed, Brandon was still very much grounded, and Noah had a big test in history the next day which he needed to study for big-time. Sara knew very well that history was not a forte in the Stokes family. They were math and science people. Noah was currently getting a C- in history, and they were working on helping him pull his grade up. Nick had signed the note with an 'XOXO', and scribbled his name. She couldn't wait to see him later on that evening.

Seeing the note about Noah, she decided she'd better go find him outside and tell him to get studying. She'd quiz him on the chapter later, and make sure he had a nice, quiet place to study. Sara walked over to the back porch and opened it. Halfway down the lawn, he spotted Noah swinging on the family bench swing. He already did have his history book open in his lap, but he sure wasn't studying it. Instead, he seemed to be studying the eyes of a certain young lady sitting next to him. Sara guessed it was Noah's new 'girlfriend' that she'd heard about on the phone, Allison.

Sara had been anxious to meet this new girl in her stepson's life, so she walked out onto the porch and towards the bench swing where they sat. She saw Noah look up at her, with disappointment and annoyance on his face. Still, he tried his best to be polite.

"Hi, Sara."

"Hey, bud. Who do you have with you?" She asked in a kind tone.

Noah smiled a little at Allison, and she grinned shyly. "This is Allison Jacobs. She's a friend from school."

Sara reached out and shook Allison's hand politely. "Nice to meet you Allison."

"Nice to meet you too, Mrs. Stokes," she answered nicely, though she seemed nervous. Sara hoped Noah hadn't told her some horror story about his stepmother.

"How's school going for you so far this year?"

"Pretty good," she answered simply, giving Sara a forced smile.

"Good. Well, I'd love to invite you in for a snack, but I'm afraid Noah needs to head inside and get studying for his history test tomorrow," she informed both kids.

"We are studying," Noah said, holding the book up for Sara to see it. "Besides I'm doing a lot better in history anyway."

"A C's not an acceptable grade in our house Noah," Sara told her stepson, gently. "I'm sorry but until you have, and keep, a solid B in history I think study dates are out of the question."

"That's stupid," Noah grumbled back. "As long as I study what does it matter how I do it?"

"It matters because you learn the material better with fewer distractions," Sara said. While Charlie could best anyone in the more literary side of school work, and still keep up with them in the math and sciences, Sara knew Noah and Brandon both had always needed an extra kick when it came to history and English. "I'm sorry but why don't you say goodbye to your friend."

"Can I at least walk her home?" Noah asked. Sara knew he was trying to appeal to the side of her that tried to teach them good manners.

"I don't think so," Sara said. She knew about where Allison lived. Nick had told her once when she'd called to check in on the family. "Allison lives bicycle distance, not walking distance. I'm sorry, maybe next time."

Noah was obviously about to protest again when Allison stood up, dropped a kiss on Noah's cheek, said goodbye to both Noah and Sara, and got on her bike to leave.

"Thanks a lot Sara," he said. "Now I'm going to have to call her and apologize."

"Look Noah," she said to him. "I get that she's your first girlfriend and all but really, grades are important."

"Fine, whatever," he said back to her, coldly. "You do the same thing to Brandon all the time. You just hate that we're growing up."

"Noah William!" She admonished him, but she was at a loss for words. Why was it that all of a sudden her three oldest had decided to become natural teenagers over night? "Just... I... I'm speechless at that comment. Go down to your room and start studying, now."

Noah picked up his book and kicked at the base of the bench swing in anger. He knew studying and getting good grades were important, but seriously? Sara wouldn't even let him study with Allison. If they were studying, why did it matter?

As he neared the door, he turned around to look at his stepmother, his face contorted with anger and disappointment. "Dad would've let me!"

Before Sara could answer, Noah had slammed the sliding door shut behind him. Sara sighed to herself and tucked her hair behind her ears. That was a regular argument when it came to disciplining each other's kids. Though Nick and Sara always made it perfectly clear that whatever one parent said was the final answer, Noah and Brandon especially liked to throw that little gem out in a moment of frustration.

Sara made her way inside. The three younger kids looked like they were already getting rambunctious, and wouldn't be sitting through the entire movie. With no adult nearby, Marley had since climbed up onto the couch and was prancing around jumping. Sara gave her a look as she closed the sliding door, "Marley, on your bottom."

The little girl complied and got off the couch to run to her mother. "Mommy, will you take us to the park? We're bored!" She complained, tugging on her mother's jeans. Sara sighed and rubbed at her forehead. All she wanted right now was to take a nap.

"Not today, baby. Why don't you go play in the backyard for a while if you're getting bored," she suggested. Perhaps then she could get a moment of peace and quiet. Sara felt guilty that not an hour after she'd gotten home, she was already wanting to be alone. Perhaps if any of her children were being at all helpful, things might be different.

Marley pouted for a moment, but decided that playing in the backyard would be good enough. The three youngest bolted outside to play on the swingset in the backyard.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Noah stormed into his bedroom where Brandon was laying on his own bed, squinting at his chemistry textbook. Noah threw himself down onto his own bed and crossed his arms in frustration. "I hate Sara," he muttered under his breath as he stared up at the ceiling.

Brandon rolled his eyes and continued to scan his textbook. "What now?" He asked his brother.

"She's just so stupid," Noah complained to his brother, rambling. "She sent Allison home just because she didn't believe we were studying!"

"She got on my case earlier," Brandon admitted. Usually if it was Charlie or one of the other kids that had a problem with their parents Brandon would try to make them see the parents' side of the story but when it came to Noah Brandon was always dead honest, even when he shouldn't be. "It just, ugh.. man she started reading my notebooks."

"Dad wouldn't do that," Noah said, grumbling.

They both looked at each other for a moment and said, "Dad would do that." It was the truth. Sara and their father both tried to give them privacy from the other children but for some reason seemed to think that they didn't count.

"You know who wouldn't though?" Noah asked. "Mom wouldn't."

"Yeah but with Mom it wouldn't matter if she did or not," Brandon said, closing his book and looking up at his little brother. "With Mom you don't have to hide things."

"Yeah," Noah pounded his head against his pillow again, settling in. "I miss Mom sometimes. We haven't seen her since Christmas."

Brandon nodded in understanding. They were the only ones in the family that had to deal with divorced parents. Sure, Charlie's dad being dead sure sucked for him, but their mom was living up in Seattle, where they never got to see her. It was rough, not being able to go get a hug from her when they needed one, or get to talk to her when they were upset about something. She just seemed so far away.

"Hang in there, man," Brandon told his little brother. They both knew what each other was feeling, because they were in this situation together. Of course they both loved Sara, but there was nothing like their real mother.

Upstairs, Sara poured herself a glass of wine and was just settling into the couch to enjoy it when her cell phone rang. When she checked the caller ID, she grinned when she saw it was Nick. He was the only one she hadn't gotten to see since she'd gotten back, and the one she was aching for the most. Sara flipped her phone open and settled into the couch further.

"Hey, baby," she almost whispered into the phone. On the other end, Nick had just stepped outside the CSI building for a break from the dark, gloomy indoors where he'd been processing evidence.

"Hey, sexy," he answered, leaning his body against the side of the building. "You back home yet?"

Sara ran her fingers through her hair, "Yea. Got back about an hour ago. Sorry I hadn't called yet. The kids have kept me busy."

"Yea, I bet," Nick didn't doubt that, "Was your flight okay?"

"It was great. No delays," Sara went on, "When I got home, the girls had made me chocolate chip cookies with pink icing and sprinkles."

"Yum," he grinned sarcastically.

"I saved a few for you."

"Thanks. Everything else goin' alright over there?"

Sara sighed a little into the phone tiredly, "Things are alright, but I get the feeling Brandon and Noah aren't too happy to have me back."

"Noah too?" Nick whistled. He knew his oldest was giving the whole family a run for their money but now with Noah on his team they were all in for a hell of a time. "What happened?"

"He had his little girlfriend over," Sara started to explain, "without permission which I might add. I didn't bust him for it. Anyway, I sent her home so he could study for that history test and he got pretty angry about it."

"He'll calm down," Nick told her, which she knew was the truth. "I take it Brandon's just taking out being mad at me on you?"

"Yeah," Sara told him, taking a swig out of the wine glass. "I just hate being on bad terms with any of the kids you know? I missed the boys just as much as the little ones."

"The kids driving you to drink?" Nick teased her, having heard her take a sip of the wine. "Trust me, my guys missed you just as much as the little ones."

"I know they did," Sara said. "Noah came out and hugged me when I arrived. It was so sweet of him. And, I don't know if I told you, but I've been getting texts from Brandon the whole time I've been gone. Things like asking if we were there safe, how Charlie was doing, what it was like, if there were any girls."

"The standard cover stuff?" Nick chuckled. "It's just that power you have over us Stokes men. None of us can stand to be away from you."

"Well at least you act like you love me," Sara said. She heard Nick about to speak again when he was interrupted by the sound of the house phone ringing, "hold that thought I've got to answer the house line." She fumbled around the couch for a few moments and found the cordless phone wedged between the cushions.

When she saw who was calling she answered it quickly and asked the other party to please hold. She came back to Nick and said, "I'm gonna have to take that one. Come home already would you? I miss you and the kids are being mean to me and I want you here with me and not at silly stupid work." She whined into the phone like Marley or Jordan would. Nick laughed at her and told her he'd do the best he could.

"Kathleen, are you there?" Sara asked, pulling the house phone back to her ear. She settled forward to on the couch to bring the phone down to the boys when she was done talking with their mother.

"Yeah, I'm still here," Kathleen said. "How are the boys doing? School? Girls? All of that?" Kathleen only called the boys about once every couple weeks but she always liked hearing the parents' side of things as well as theirs so she had a better idea how they were doing.

Sara started telling her about the boys and their recent endeavors when she watched Marley and Jordan come in the back door with Colin. Jordan poured glasses of water for all three of them and then made a bowl of grapes on the table for them all to enjoy. Sara even heard Marley say please and no thank you as she grabbed the water and headed past her mother towards her bedroom.

Sara finished up her conversation with Kathleen so she could pass the phone off to the boys downstairs. "Oh, I wanted to talk to you and Nick about the boys coming up to see me sometime in the near future," Kathleen stopped her. "It's been awhile, and I know they don't always act like they wanna see me, they seem to enjoy themselves when they're up here."

"Oh, sure. Sure," Sara agreed. She was really glad that Nick and Kathleen managed to have a decent relationship after their divorce. They kept to themselves for the most part, but communicated about the boys when it was necessary. All three adults had always managed to be civil to each other since the divorce. "When were you thinking?"

"Well, I think the boys have Spring Break coming up soon don't they? I know Brandon was thinking of going to California with some friends, but I don't know."

"No, actually the trip's off because they couldn't find any parents to chaperone for the week," Sara explained, which had been a real downer for Brandon. They definitely weren't letting Brandon go off to the coast for a week with a bunch of other high schoolers with no parents around. That was a recipe for disaster. "I'll bring it up with Nick. He's at work now, but we'll definitely talk about it. You can ask the boys about it, because I'm sure Nick would be fine with it."

The two women wrapped up their conversation soon, and Sara took the phone down the stairs to the boys' room. It was closed again, so she knocked and heard a mumble a few seconds later. She pushed the door open to find both boys on their beds reading their textbooks.

"Your mom's on the phone," she announced, and was surprised at how quickly both boys shut their books and sat up, and then dove for the phone. Brandon was a little quicker, and was able to snatch up the phone before his younger brother. Sara squeezed Noah's shoulder in reassurance, but then left the room to give the boys some privacy.

"Mom?" Brandon answered the phone, laying back down on the bed.

"Hey, Brand. What's up?" Kathleen answered from the other end. It seemed like perfect timing for Brandon, that they'd just been talking about how much they missed their mom, and she just happened to call. Gosh, his mom rocked sometimes.

"Uh, not much. Just doin' some homework," he said, "I was playing my guitar earlier."

"You were?" Brandon could still make out her Texan accent. His parents had met in Vegas, but both were originally from Texas. There was something comforting about the slight twang in his mother's voice. "I bet you've improved so much since you last played for me. You haven't posted any new videos on youtube recently, have you?"

One of their bonding activities was for Brandon to film himself playing guitar and post it on youtube so his mother could see what he was up to.

"Yeah I know," he said to her. "I've been kinda grounded a lot lately so I haven't been online as much. I've got a couple new videos finished though. Dad bought me this new software last week so I can make effects and stuff. It's pretty cool."

"What'd you do to get grounded?" his mother asked him, gently. She never got angry about anything. "And you're right, you have been grounded a lot more lately... what's up with that?"

"Ugh," he growled into the phone. "It's just Dad and Sara being stupid and so harsh with all of the rules. I mean, I'm sixteen I'm supposed to mess up once in a while."

"Well yeah you are," Kathleen told her son. "But I think your Dad and Sara are doing the best they can. Six kids is a lot of work, you know?"

"Yeah I know," Brandon admitted to his mother. If only he lived there with her he'd be an only child, or one of two. He was pretty sure that Noah would have wanted to stay with him, "But the truth is sometimes I wish I lived there with you."

"Sometimes I do too honey," Kathleen told her son. "I think about it a lot and I just hate that you're so far away all the time. I mean I know your dad was right that it was important for you to be there and watch your sisters and other brother grow up some... so you could be closer with them. But I miss you boys every day."

"I miss you too mom," he said into the phone, watching Noah intently listening to their conversation. Then he got thinking about what his mother said and tapped his fingers on his knee. "I love the little kids and all but how close are we gonna be really? I'm going to be in college in two years and then what? Maybe it would just be better if I was there with you."

"Brandon," Kathleen said, choosing her words carefully. "I want you here more than anything but-"
"But." He cut his mother off He was sick and tiered of adults using "but" as a good reason to let him down.

Kathleen heard the disappointment in her son's voice and couldn't take it anymore. "But nothing. You're sixteen and I think you're plenty old enough to decide which parent you live with."

Brandon hadn't anticipated his mother actually agreeing with him. Usually, if he was griping about something going on at his dad's house, he'd get some sympathy, but in the end Kathleen would affirm what his dad and Sara's decision was final. His mother was actually agreeing that it might be good to live with her.

"Really?" He stumbled out, taken aback by her response. "You think I should decide?"

"Well, yeah." Kathleen agreed, "I mean, both me and your father would love to have you live with us. And maybe living there in Vegas was best for you for a while, but you're almost an adult. You're capable of deciding what's best for you."

Brandon was a bit speechless for a few seconds. In a way, it was a little scary to have this decision resting in his hands. There was something comforting about having his parents decide what was best for him. He didn't have control over it, so he couldn't hurt either of their feelings by choosing one over the other. But if his father actually agreed to this – he'd almost be deciding which parent he liked living with better. And truthfully – he wasn't sure if he could pick. He was getting a little tired of being one of six kids, and his dad and Sara's tight rules, but he loved them. But his mom had missed out on a lot of his life the last few years. It wasn't fair that she didn't get to see him grow up.

"Um…yea," he stammered, rubbing his hand over the back of his head in thought as he sat up in bed. "I'll think about it, Mom. Have you talked to Dad about it yet?"

"No, not yet sweetie. I guess he's at work, so it'll have to wait." Kathleen felt a flutter of excitement inside. She didn't want to plant the seed of possibility in her sons' minds if it wasn't possible, but she didn't see why not. Nick and Sara had had them for the past six years, and she was all alone up in rainy Seattle. She deserved a little time with them. Like Brandon said, he'd be in college in two years, and moving on with his own life.

Noah was getting impatient. Whatever they were talking about sounded juicy, and he wanted to know what it was. "I wanna talk to her," he had a little whine to his voice.

"Okay, Mom," Brandon shifted, getting ready to hand off the phone to his brother. "Noah wants to talk, so here he is. I love you."

Kathleen said the same, and soon she was transferred to her youngest son, who wanted to tell her all about his new girlfriend.

"Hi mom," Noah said into the phone, trying not to sound too eager. "What's up?"

"Just calling to check in on my boys," she said to him, happily. "How's things there? How are the other kids?"

"Everything is fine," Noah told his mother. "The twins are being oddly quiet today. Sara and Charlie just got home from a trip to visit his dad's family. Dad's at work and I'm not sure what's new with Colin. He's not really old enough to be any fun yet."

"Yeah but he'll get there," his mother told him, gently. "You remember when the girls were that age, right?"

"Yeah," she liked to hear about how the other children were doing because they were a big part of how her own sons were growing up, but she was always more interested to hear how things were going in her boys' lives. Noah knew this, so he stopped talking about the other kids. "Mom, guess what?"

"What?" she asked, trying to match her son's eager tone.

"I have a girlfriend!" He told her, excitedly. "Her name is Allison. She's in a couple of my classes."

"Wow!" She said, excited. "Hey, I was thinking you and Brandon should come to visit. Bring some pictures of her when you do, okay?"

"Really? When?!" He was even more excited now, something about Sara being away made him really miss his own mother even more. "Have you told Dad yet?"

Kathleen felt like she was lying to her son but the idea that his older brother might come live with her may not go over well with him. She was sure it would be best to let Brandon handle telling Noah all the dirty details. "No, but Sara said she would. Spring Break sound okay?"

That wasn't very far away at all, which made Noah ever more exicted, "Yeah! I haven't seen you in forever."

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Kathleen agreed. It was the hardest thing she'd ever done, having to move away from her boys. She always savored her time with them when they were up with her. The mother and son shared a little more conversation, but soon it was time to say goodbye. Noah had a lot of studying to do, and he knew Sara would quiz him on it later. He told his mother he loved her, and then they hung up.

Noah sighed after he'd clicked the phone off, and stared up at the ceiling. "How far away is Spring Break?" He asked his older brother, who had since gone back to instant messaging on the computer.

"Hmmm, about a month," Brandon figured as he stood up straight. He figured he shouldn't get his brother's hopes up (or down) about the possibility of actually moving to Seattle. Brandon thought his brother would be even more confused about his feelings than he was, and he didn't even want to get him thinking about it until their dad had approved the idea. "I can't wait."

"Me neither," Noah agreed, grinning to himself. "I'm too excited to study now."

Brandon chuckled a little at Noah as he stood up and decided to go upstairs. His annoyance with Sara had since passed, or at least was temporarily overlooked, as he reached the top of the stairs. Sara still sat on the couch, relaxing with a glass of wine.

"Sara, guess what?" He asked excitedly. Sara already knew what it was, but she played along.

"What is it?"

"Mom wants us to come visit at Spring Break!"

Sara put on an excited face. She knew how much the boys loved to visit their mother. It was important for them to spend time with her, even now as teenagers. "That's great, Noah. Are you pretty excited?"

"Heck yea!" He exclaimed. "Is Dad getting home soon?"

"Yeah I think so," Sara told her stepson. "But if you want you can grab my cell and give him a call. While you're at it can you ask him to pick up some pizza?"

"Thanks Sara," Noah said, grabbing her phone off the couch where she'd left it earlier. He pressed the call button to see who she'd last talked to and when he saw that it was his dad he pressed send.

The phone rang twice and then he heard his dad's voice answer, "hey sexy," and all Noah could do was laugh.

"Hey kitten," he said back into the phone. Then after he and Nick both laughed together for a moment Noah continued, "Hey Dad, I was wondering when you were going to be home."

"I'm about two minutes from the house bud," Nick said, happy to have heard from his son. The boys never really called him just to check in on him anymore. "Can I do something for you kiddo?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," Noah said to his father. "Oh and Sara asked if you could get some pizza."

"Yeah I already got it," Nick said, laughing again. "I figured you guys hadn't eaten yet."

Nick also figured his wife wasn't very much in the mood for cooking. The general plan for dinner was that whichever adult was off for the day, or whoever got home first, was the one who cooked dinner. After years of marriage, he could read the tone of her voice and knew she was exhausted. And he wasn't exactly in the mood to get cooking when he arrived home.

"Wow, you're a mind reader," Noah joked as he gave his stepmother the thumbs up sign.

"I don't know about that," Nick admitted as he turned onto his street, with three boxes of pizza in the passenger seat. "If I could read minds, what would I be finding in your little brain about that history exam?"

Noah sighed and rolled his eyes. Parents. "Probably that I still need to do more," he said vaguely.

"Mmmhmmm," Nick agreed, having heard only vaguely what had been going on at the house earlier. He highly doubted that Noah had done any studying at all before Sara had gotten home. "I bet you do. I'll help you take a look at it after dinner."

Noah saw his father's car pulling into the driveway, so they said their goodbyes. "Dad's home!" He announced loudly, for everyone in the house to hear. A moment later, he heard Jordan and Colin running out of their rooms upstairs to greet their dad. Charlie wandered out also. He'd been up in his parents room since he'd gotten back using their laptop, since Brandon was being a jerk earlier.

"Oh, thank God," Sara mumbled to herself before she took another sip of her wine. It would be good to have the other adult in the house around to back her up.

The door opened, and Nick walked in with the pile of pizzas. Colin hitched onto his leg and Jordan pummeled him excitedly. "Daddy!"

Sara walked in to the room and saw Nick for the first time in a week and all of a sudden it was like when they'd first gotten married again. She rushed forward to his side and flung her arms around him, pulling him so close her face pressed into his neck. She hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until he was standing in front of her. "I missed you," she whispered in his ear, sidestepping so she didn't block Jordan or Colin in.

Nick handed the pizzas over to Charlie and told Noah to get out plates. Since it was after nine, and after the little ones bed time, they decided it would be a free-for-all supper and they wouldn't disturb anyone. There were four pizzas and even in a family as big as theirs that meant there would be plenty left over for Marley and Brandon if they woke up hungry in the middle of the night.

"Hey Dad," Brandon greeted him a few minutes later when he and Sara were sitting at the kitchen table eating their share of the pizza. Noah had taken the other kids outside to eat on the porch. It was a warm night and even through the haze of the city the stars were visible.

"Hey Brandon," he said, pointing to the pizza. "There's only one piece of sausage left. I had to fight the little ones off of it."

Brandon smiled and grabbed it. When he went to live with his mother he wouldn't have to worry about people taking all of his favorite pizza. "Dad, could I talk to you?" He realized he was thinking of terms of when and not if. He guessed his mind was already made up.

"Well Sara's got me right now," he winked at his son and grabbed Sara's hand, squeezing it. "And Noah said he has something to ask me but it should be quick. But then I'm all yours. Unless it's something simple..."

Nick knew it wasn't something simple, Brandon was using his 'big deal' tone. "No, I'll wait. You think you'll be able to talk to me in a half hour?"

"Sure bud," Nick said, looking at his watch to make sure he was available for his son by then. "If I'm not down in thirty minutes come get me. I'll stop whatever I'm doing."

"Thanks Dad," Brandon grabbed a second slice of pizza and headed back down stairs. Nick and Sara were finally alone sitting at the kitchen table. The kids were laughing and joking around outside, so Nick leaned in for a slow kiss. It was hard getting through the day not being able to kiss her, and hold her.

"Mmmm. I missed being able to do that," Sara whispered when they finally broke apart. They had never been apart from each other for a whole week since they'd been married.

"Me too," Nick agreed as he gave her another light kiss. "You know what else I missed doing?" He asked as he leaned into her ear and kissed just below it. Sara giggled and squirmed a little, only Nick's hand on the other side of her neck held her in place. She laughed out loud as he blew a raspberry on the side of her neck.

Sara playfully swatted his arm and pushed him away, causing Nick to flash his thousand-watt smile. "You jerk," she accused him, though her wide grin gave her away. Nick kissed her temple and pulled her back toward him.

"I know. But let's get the kids to bed soon so we can do it," he suggested, giving her a suggestive wink. Sara grinned and they exchanged another sweet kiss. Soon, everyone had finished dinner and brought their paper plates inside to throw away. Everyone was glad there were practically no dishes to clear up.

"Momma, I'm gonna take a piece of pizza up for Marley," Jordan announced, putting a piece on one of the paper plates for her sister. She was pretty sure her twin was asleep, but Marley was always glad to eat pizza.

"Okay, babe," Sara agreed, passing her a napkin. Jordan disappeared up the stairs with the plate. "Marley's been really good today, Nick." They were sure to point out occassions when their overly rambunctious child was well-behaved, because it was a rarity. "I've hardly heard a peep out of her."

Nick looked pleasantly surprised as he tossed his plate into the trash can. "Wow," he was a little shocked. "Maybe we should give her a little treat tomorrow."

Colin was practically falling asleep standing up, so Sara reached down and picked him up. "I'll take this one up to bed," she told her husband.

"Alright," he nodded. "Noah, why don't you go get your history book and bring it up to the table."

A minute later Noah reappeared in the kitchen and sat down across the table from Nick, handing him his study guide (which was surprisingly all filled out) and his text book. Nick flipped through it for a moment and then asked, "Okay son, what are the three branches of the US government?"

"The house of the executive branch, the legislative branch, and uhh... one other one," he said. "The uh..one with the president?"

"No, that's the executive branch," Nick told his son. "Think about my job and what I do only on a bigger scale and uh... not science?"

"Uh.. law," Noah answered. "Right... the judicial branch."

"Very good," Nick told his son. "This stuff's all pretty easy. It's just review right?"

"I guess," Noah said. Then he rolled his eyes as Nick started to scan for another question to ask him. "Dad why don't you and Sara just let us study on our own?"

"Because you learn better if you're learning interactively," Nick explained. Then he decided to take the opportunity to talk to him about his behavior towards his stepmother earlier. "Besides if we let you study by yourself you wouldn't get anything done. Sara mentioned your fight earlier. When you can keep your grades up by yourself you can have Allison over to study with you, otherwise no study dates understand?"

"Fine," Noah snapped. Allison was a better study buddy than his father.

"I mean it Noah, and you owe Sara an apology," Nick said sternly. "I don't think you realize how much it hurts her feelings when you act like that. How would you feel if she yelled in your face?"

Noah just stared back at him. Sometimes he hated how Nick was always on Sara's side. He was his son before Sara ever was his wife. "I mean it Noah, she does a lot for you kids. You know I was gonna say no Spring Break if you kids didn't get your attitudes in check but Sara convinced me that it wouldn't be fair not to let you go see your mom."

"So I can go?" he asked excitedly. "For the whole week?"

"If you want to, yeah."

Noah grinned, excited about that prospect of seeing his mother. He didn't realize Sara had stuck up for him with the whole Spring Break trip thing. Sometimes he lost sight that Sara wanted what was best for him. That was hard to see sometimes. Nick hoped the news would help with Noah's motivation towards school. Noah worked better when he had something to look forward to.

Nick and Noah continued along with their study session as Sara got Colin ready for bed. Charlie disappeared back into his parents' bedroom to use their laptop before he had to go to bed. No one thought anything of Marley not coming down for dinner. It was late, and her parents figured she'd just conked out. With the way she usually acted after being woken up, they decided letting her sleep was the best thing.

However, in the twins' room, Marley was far from asleep. Jordan had brought in a slice of pizza for her twin a few minutes before, which she was now eating slowly. She was starving, but she didn't dare come downstairs earlier to eat with the family. Marley whimpered when she moved her right wrist in a way that hurt. Earlier, when the girls were outside, they'd climbed the tree at the back of their lawn – the only tree in their yard, which happened to be next to a power line. Their parents forbade them to play on it. So, when Marley slipped and fell and hurt her wrist, the girls decided to keep it a secret in fear of getting in trouble.

"Does it still hurt?" Jordan asked her sister, eyeing Marley's now bruised right wrist. It wasn't looking very pretty, but as long as she wore long sleeves, they didn't think their parents would notice.

Marley nodded, the pain obvious by her facial expression. The little girl had never been good at tolerating pain. However, the threat of being in big trouble with her mom and dad was enough to keep her quiet. "I might need some more ice soon."

Jordan sighed, feeling bad about keeping a secret from her parents. They'd told her before that keeping the truth from them was the same thing as lying. Jordan hated lying to her parents. "Maybe we should tell Mommy and Daddy."

"Nooo." Marley countered, with a whine in her voice. "We'll get grounded for forever, or they'll take away TV. I bet it'll feel better tomorrow."

"Well Mommy and Daddy think you're sleeping so if they come in pretend okay? I'm gonna go brush my teeth and see where everyone is and sneak some more ice," Jordan said as she pulled her pj shirt over her head and smiled.

"While you're in there can you wet my toothbrush and put some toothpaste on it?" Marley asked her twin. "So they don't try to wake me up to brush?"

"I could bring it to you," Jordan offered.

"No, just go get me the ice," though her words were demanding her tone was polite. Marley loved her sister very much and was in too much pain to be mean. "Do you think I should take some Tylenol?"

"Not if Mommy and Daddy don't get it for you," Jordan said, sternly. "That's really bad. You could take too much and get really sick." Their parents had taught them never to touch medicine without a parent's help.

"Okay," Marley said to her sister, rolling over on her bed and laying down. She wanted to rub her arm but it hurt really, really, badly.

Jordan wandered in to the kitchen at the same time Brandon did but nobody noticed her as she went into the freezer for some more ice. Instead Brandon sat across the table from his father and started playing with a deck of cards he'd brought up with him. He dealt a couple of hands of poker, producing some Oreos and Goldfish crackers as currency from the snack jar on the table.

"Dad," Brandon said, a lot better at getting down to the point. "I was talking to Mom earlier and she said it was your idea that Noah and I lived with you and not her."

"Of course it was son," Nick said, honestly. "You don't think your mom would ever choose to have you boys so far away do you?"

"No, but why did you guys agree that we should stay here?" Brandon asked. He'd had an idea all along and his mother had said something about the twins but he really wanted an adult answer. "I mean…don't kids usually live with their moms?"

"Well it was because your mom and I and Sara all agreed that it would be good for you and your sisters to grow up together," Nick answered honestly. "And Colin too, when he came along. We wanted you to have a good relationship with them. They are your sisters and brother after all."

"Yea, but…" he leaned back in his chair, trying to think of how to word his thoughts, "it's not fair that Mom never sees us. I mean, we're her kids. I love you guys, and I love Marley and Jordan and Colin, but I love Mom too," he managed to get out.

Nick watched his son's body language and just listened. It wasn't often that Brandon had frank conversations with him, so he was sure to pay attention when he did. Too much of their communication was lost in the translation from teen to adult.

"I, uh…I talked to Mom today," Brandon admitted as he fidgeted with his cards. "We talked about visiting over Spring Break, but. Well…I've always wondered what it would be like to live with Mom," he blurted before he could talk himself out of it. Brandon finally looked up at his father to gauge his reaction. Surprisingly, Nick didn't look hurt or shocked even. It was like he kind of knew it was coming.

"Yeah?" Nick questioned. Brandon nodded, maintaining eye contact with his dad. Nick could tell how important this was to his son. "I can understand that, Brand. I really can. You have a right to be around your mom. And unfortunately, we live in different states so that hasn't been possible, you know?"

"Yeah…I know," he nodded, figuring his father was going to turn this into a 'this is where you belong' type conversation.

"You're sixteen," Nick stated, "You've been living with me for six years, and I've loved that. And all your brothers and sisters love that. But you're right that you're missing out with your mother. You have a right to live with her if you want to."

Brandon was silent for several prolonged moments, letting his father's words sink in. Somehow he knew that his dad would understand him about this subject. They didn't always agree on everything, but Brandon knew he was an understanding person. Nick knew that having a good relationship with his mother was important.

"So…what are you saying?" Brandon checked.

Nick rested his linked fingers on top of his head and leaned back in his chair. "I'm saying it's up to you, bud. If you wanna try living with your mom, I have no right to stop you. That's your choice. I just want you to think about it, okay? And make sure it's what you really want."

Nick looked at his son for a moment wishing that he was still the same little kid he was even a few years ago. Brandon had grown up on him and Nick had to admit he hated it. Telling his son it was his choice if he stayed with them in Las Vegas was the hardest thing he had ever had to do, other than signing the divorce papers with Kathleen eight years before. More than anything he knew that Sara probably wouldn't forgive him if Brandon left.

Brandon and Noah were Sara's babies just the same as any of the other children and he felt sure that of the three parents both of his sons had, she was the one who still loved them just like they were babies. Not in the sense that she didn't trust them or find them responsible but in the sense that no matter what they ever said or did she would always be able to look at them and see them as they were when they were first learning how to walk. He would be crushed if Brandon left but so would the rest of his family too, and his wife would be beyond devastated.

"Well Dad I have thought about it a lot," Brandon said. "And as much as I love it here I keep thinking about everything I'm going to miss out on with Mom if I don't at least live with her for a little while." He paused for a second. "I want to go."

Jordan, who was by now crouched behind the fridge in the kitchen had to bite her tongue to keep from crying out. Brandon was leaving? She watched and listened for a couple more minutes until Nick and Brandon both left the room, both in the direction of their own bedrooms. Her dad had said that if that was what Brandon wanted he would do what he could to help him. She thought he was being stupid.

Her first reaction was to want to run up stairs and tell Marley exactly what she'd heard, right away, but she realized that was probably a bad idea. It hurt, really badly, and it was really scary if Brandon was really leaving. Marley's arm was hurt and she didn't need any more aches until that was better. She grabbed a cup full of ice and a fresh rag out of the drawer next to the stove and started to head back up stairs. She just didn't know how she was going to keep it a secret.

Nick had since disappeared up the stairs and into the master bathroom to brush his teeth. Sara was already in their bedroom talking to Charlie. He had been M.I.A. most of the afternoon and evening, but Sara knew he sometimes just preferred it that way. It wasn't uncommon for Charlie to be found alone somewhere in the house, looking for a little solace. Nick decided to give them another minute alone, and he walked to the girls' room to check on them. He knocked first, and heard Jordan's little voice tell him to come in.

Nick walked in and saw that Marley was already curled up in her bed, her eyes shut tightly. He suspected she wasn't actually asleep, but pretending for some reason, but as long as she was tucked up in bed, he wasn't going to disturb her. One night of not brushing her teeth wouldn't cause her tooth decay. Nick did notice, however, that Jordan looked worried.

"Did you already brush your teeth darlin'?" He asked Jordan as he walked over to her bed. She was already in her pajamas, ready to be tucked in. Jordan nodded wordlessly as he gently tugged her by the arm towards the bed to stand in front of him. She was really upset after hearing Brandon may be leaving, but she wasn't supposed to be down there, really. "You okay?" He gently rubbed her arm, hoping she would calm down and open up to him.

"Yeah, I'm okay Daddy," she lied softly. There were lots of things wrong at the moment, but she couldn't tell him. She wasn't supposed to hear them talking about Brandon leaving, and she didn't want to tell him about Marley's wrist. Well, she kind of did want to tell him about Marley, but she was her twin, and she promised not to.

"You look a little worried, baby," he acknowledged. The little kids were so easy to read when something was bothering them. It had been a really long day for her, however, and Nick was looking forward to crawling into his own bed with Sara for the first time in a week. "Are you just tired?"

Jordan decided to latch onto that excuse, so she nodded quickly. "I wanna go to bed," she mumbled tiredly, rubbing at her eyes for effect. Nick nodded and kissed her forehead as he pulled her covers back.

"In you go," he gently told her, guiding her in and under the covers. Once she was settled, he pulled the covers up to her chin and knelt down next to her bed. "I love you, sweet pea. Have a good sleep."

"Love you, Daddy," she told him back. Nick gave her one last kiss on the cheek and then turned off her bedside lamp. He quietly left the room and walked to his own bedroom.

Before Nick had a chance to say anything to Charlie about heading down to his own room for the night the ten year old hopped up from his spot on the bed next to his mother and dropped a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks Mom," he said and then quickly headed for the door. "Night Nick."

Nick felt a little frosted out by how quickly Charlie left the room. He hadn't seen him in a week and the boy was just avoiding him as he had been before he'd left. Nick scowled a bit as he walked through the bedroom towards his bathroom, shedding his t-shirt in the process. He brushed his teeth vigorously as he thought about his sons and how frustrating they'd been lately. Colin was quickly becoming his favorite boy.

Sara came up behind him and put a hand on his lower back as she leaned in to him and slowly ran her arms around his middle, hugging him from behind. If he hadn't smelled her as she approached, that sexy Sara scent, he would have been startled by her touch. "You're really tense," she observed, dropping kisses on his bare back.

He gargled, grunted, and finally had to spit before he could answer her. "The boys," he admitted, "they've been giving me a run for my money lately."

"Teenagers do have a habit of doing that," she commented back to him, gently. "They'll grow out of it eventually. We just have to wait for them on the other side."

"Noah and Charlie aren't teenagers yet," Nick complained, almost whining.

"Haven't you heard?" Sara asked him, rubbing his back. "Ten's the new thirteen!"

Nick spun around and looked her in the eyes, almost telling her what Brandon had asked him earlier. Something about the way she looked though, standing there, loving him... he couldn't do it. Instead he dropped a passionate kiss on her lips, holding on until he couldn't breathe anymore. "God, I love you," he said through gasps for air.

"Wow..." Sara said, breathing in deeply, "wh-what was that for?"

At first, Nick was almost offended that Sara was demanding a reason for kissing her. They were husband and wife, life partners, lovers, parents to six children, and she wanted a reason for kissing her like that? Nick realized he was probably just frustrated after a long week without his gorgeous wife.

Nick gently nudged his nose against his wife's and then kissed her gently again before answering, "I missed you," he whispered, gazing into her eyes. Sara's eyes sparkled back at him.

"I missed you too," she admitted, running a hand over one of his still sculpted biceps. "I didn't realize a week could be such a long time."

Nick nodded slowly in agreement as he just took in the sight, the smell of his wife. It seemed whenever they were separated…even as little as a day…when they came back together, their feelings sparked like they were newlyweds. Things he usually didn't think twice about, and didn't notice, like the faint freckles on her shoulders, the smell of her hair…it caught him off guard how much it made him love her. He fell in love with her all over again. Sometimes he didn't understand how he could even breathe around her.

He let his hands fall down to sit on her waist as he began kissing her wantonly again. There was no rush – they took their time re-exploring each other's lips as Nick's fingers dashed under her tank top. Soon, all their clothing was shed and they were together, on the bed, reconnecting after a long, trying week.

A while later, Brandon wandered up the basement stairs. Charlie was in the downstairs bathroom, and Noah was in the ground floor bathroom, probably trying to get some privacy to talk to Allison on the phone. The house was dark, which meant his parents had probably gone to bed for the evening. They'd been apart for a week, so they probably couldn't keep their freaking hands off each other.

As Brandon began to climb the stairs up to the top floor, where the bathroom was hopefully unoccupied, he heard a tiny sound coming from the kitchen. His first thought was that there was a burgalar in the house, so he stopped dead in his tracks. Ever so slowly, he turned in his place and gingerly stepped down the two stairs he'd already climbed, back towards the kitchen. The broom happened to be sitting out in the corner, so he grabbed it to protect himself if need be. He turned the corner, wielding the broom, and turned the light switch on at the same time.

Jordan was so frightened she couldn't make a sound. She just stood, her mouth wide open, staring up at her older brother. In one hand, she held an ice pack. "Jesus, Jordan!" Brandon whispered harshly. "What are you doing here this time of night?"

"I-I-I," Jordan stammered, then looking down at the cup full of ice she had in her hand she looked up at her older brother and said, "wanted some ice."

"Whyyy?" Brandon asked, coming forward to his little sister. He picked her up and sat her on the counter next to the sink, taking the ice from her hands. He poured it into the rag she had draped over it and twisted it up gently. "Did you hurt yourself?"

"No," she said, not looking him in the eyes. "I'm fine."

He didn't believe her and began searching her small body. He checked her head, knees, arms, legs, back but didn't find any sign of damage or bruising. Then it had hit him like a ton of bricks. If Jordan was the one down stairs looking for ice that must have meant that she wasn't the one that was hurt... "Marley!" he said and quickly turned, ice in hand, and ran for the stairs.

Poor Jordan was still a little frightened of jumping off of the counter without a step and yelled "Brandon come get me down!" He was gone from sight though. Finally she bit her lip and pushed off, landing hard on the floor but much to her surprise and pleasure, perfectly okay.

Brandon heard the faint sound of his baby sister trying not to cry from the hallway before he'd even come into the room. She was laying in bed on her back, clutching her stuffed lamb and biting down on her blanket as she tried not to sob. He rushed forward and sat on the bed next to her, "Marley what happened?"

A while ago, Marley would have resisted telling anyone something was wrong, but the pain was getting so bad, she decided Brandon was a safe person to tell. He was almost an adult, after all, and she could get in trouble with him. She choked on a sob before beginning.

"I...I fell out of the tree earlier and my wrist hurts really bad!" She complained, and the relief of it all – of telling someone besides Jordan made a fresh wave of tears come. Brandon reached over and turned on her bedside lamp so he could survey the damage just as Jordan came back into the room. She shut the door behind her, because this was still supposed to be a secret.

Brandon gently guided her arm out from under the covers, and his mouth dropped at the sight of her bruised wrist. He didn't see how she could've gone all this time with what looked to be a broken wrist without telling anyone. Well, Jordan didn't count. They always kept each other's secrets, which was sometimes a good thing, but at times like this threatened Marley's well-being.

"Marley, I think you broke your wrist," Brandon informed his little sister gently, as he tenderly rubbed her tiny forearm to comfort her. "You need to go to the hospital."

Marley's eyes widened, "Nooo. Just get me some Tylenol. It's just a bruise." She argued. This argument had worked with her twin sister, because she didn't know any better, but Brandon could see this was more than a simple bruise.

"No, Mar. This is serious," he told her firmly, but still gently, looking her in the eye. "We need to go get Mom and Dad."

Brandon stood up, but Marley grasped his shirt sleeve with her good hand. "Doooon't!" she begged him. "They'll be really mad at me, and Megan's having a birthday party on Saturday and I really wanna go, and they won't let me if they know I climbed in the tree!" She rambled, obviously worried about the wrong things. Brandon sighed and shook his head, wondering how on earth she thought she could keep hiding this from their parents.

"They're not gonna be so concerned about you disobeying them when they see you broke your wrist," he pointed out. "They don't want you walking around with a broken bone, Marley. That's ridiculous. They just want you healthy."

He didn't listen to her protests as he picked her up, as gently as possible, and started carrying her towards the bedroom. He couldn't believe that Marley had been sitting up in her room for hours with a broken arm and the rest of the family had been preoccupied with their lives to even notice. There could be serious complications to not treating a broken bone. Then, a very childish fear crept up on him. What if she had to have it amputated? She wouldn't need that, for sure.

He knocked on his parents bedroom door and waited until Nick grunted a dissatisfied "what?"

"Dad can I come in?" Brandon asked and when he heard his father confirm he walked in to the dark room and crossed to the bed.

When Sara saw that Brandon was cradling one of the twins in his arms as he came in she was immediately concerned. "Brandon what's going on."

Marley clutched her older brother's neck and sobbed. "Don't let go of me," she begged. Brandon readjusted her slightly so he could keep hold of her.

"I think her wrist is broken," he informed them as both parents sat up in bed. Sara turned on the bedside lamp so she could see what was wrong. "She fell out of the tree."

"Set her down," Nick requested, because Marley was squirming away from them a little bit. She didn't want them touching her wrist, and she didn't like everyone looking at her wondering what was wrong. Marley whimpered and protested slightly as Brandon set her on the bed, right next to Sara. She gently balanced Marley's elbow in her hand so she could get a good look at her wrist.

"Mommy, I'm sorry," Marley immediately apologized, thinking her parents would be upset with her, "I'm not s'sposed to climb the tree but I was bored and…"

"Ssshhh, shhhh," Sara told her immediately, stroking her hair. "Baby, we're not mad. We just need to get you to the hospital."

Nick had since gotten out of bed and went to the closet to find some jeans and a t-shirt. He quickly slipped them on and walked over to Sara's side of the bed. "C'mere, baby," Nick gently cooed to her as he very carefully scooped her up into his arms. "We'll get you fixed."

"Brandon!" Marley called as her father began carrying her out of the room. "I want Brandon!" She of course loved her father, and felt safe with him, but for some reason at this moment, Marley just wanted her big brother. He was the one that was rescuing her, in her eyes.

Sara rushed to the closet also to throw on some jeans and a t-shirt over her pajamas. At the same time, she began giving Brandon instructions. "Dad and I are gonna take her to the hospital, so I need you to stay here in case the other kids need anything," she explained as she pulled a t-shirt over her head.

"Mommy, I wanna go!" Jordan immediately protested, wanting to be with her sister. She had, after all, seen her twin through her injury up until now, diligently bringing her ice when she needed it. She'd even sung her some songs to get her to calm down.

"No, Jordan. You need to stay here," Sara told her.

"Have Noah watch the kids, because I need to come with you," Brandon decided.

Nick looked like he was going to protest and tell Brandon that his place was at home with the littler children but hadn't they just discussed how Brandon was old enough to make adult decisions? Nick, who had his daughter in his arms, leaned forward and let Brandon hold Marley. As soon as she was in her brother's arms her sobbing dissipated into a low whimper.

Sara gave Nick a look that hid so many things. Noah wasn't old enough for this kind of responsibility. It was a school night, so he'd need his rest. What if something else happened? Should Nick undermine her that way with Brandon? "Sara you and Brandon go pull the car around, I'll be out in a sec."

Nick walked down stairs and found Noah in the bathroom. "Bud come on out here," he said. Noah looked like he'd just got caught doing something very bad. "Hang up the phone," Nick told him, and he didn't protest. "I'm not gonna get on you about talkin on the phone after nine this time but that's cuz I need a favor. Marley's got a broken wrist and we need to take her to the hospital. Can you hold down the fort?"

"Yeah," Noah said, obviously scared. "Is she gonna be okay?"

"She'll be fine bud," Nick told his son. "Thanks."

"What about Brandon?" Noah asked, already heading to find Jordan, knowing he was going to have to calm her down. "Why isn't he on toddler patrol?"

"He's gonna go with us," Nick said. "Thanks a bunch Noah."

As he was about to sneak out the garage door, he felt a tug on his shirt. He turned around to see Jordan, her eyes welled up with tears. "Daddy, I wanna go with Marley. What if she needs my twin power?" She pointed out. Whenever either of the girls had a minor boo boo, the girls had invented "twin power", a make-believe healing mechanism that seemed to calm them down.

Nick picked his little girl up quickly and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Jordan, I know you wanna be with your sister right now, but it's best if you stay here. The doctor needs to fix her, and it's easier with less people around. You can see her when she gets back, okay?"

"Daddy…" she was about to burst into tears. Nick felt torn. He hated leaving Jordan upset, but Marley needed to get to the hospital quickly.

"Sweetheart, I know it's hard. I need you to be a brave girl for me right now. Can you do that?"

Jordan rubbed at her eyes and looked at her father. She liked to do things that made him proud and helped him out, so his words managed to convince her. A couple kisses and a hug later, Nick was able to successfully leave Jordan with Noah and make a quick exit into the garage.

Brandon very carefully loaded Marley into the car, making sure he didn't jostle her wrist. She whimper-cried as he buckled her in. "It's okay, Mar. You're gonna be okay."

"It huuuuurts," she moaned, frustrated by the pain.

Brandon quickly raced around to the other side of the car and got in, then took her good hand in his. "I know it hurts, but they're gonna fix it for you real soon. You've just gotta be brave, and take deep breaths, and hold my hand."

Marley nodded and fought to compose herself. She focused on feeling her big brother's hand clasped around hers as her mommy and daddy both buckled up. Sara backed out of the garage fast, anxious to get her whimpering child to the hospital.

As they headed down the block of their street, Brandon kept his eyes focused on his little sister, wishing he could somehow do something else to help her. For now, she seemed to be able to cope as long as she could hold his hand. He couldn't think of what to do, so he started singing to her. He sang one of the songs he'd made up himself to his guitar. Marley looked over at him and just listened.

Brandon couldn't help but think about the what ifs, like he was turning into a parent. What if he hadn't come up the stairs when he had? Or what if he'd been paying attention more earlier, instead of selfishly thinking about the way his own life was heading? Brandon closed his eyes for a moment and just composed himself. All that mattered was that he was here with Marley now, when she needed him most. But what if, he wondered, he moved away to Seattle and she needed him again?

A/N 2: Sooo…here's where we need your opinion. Should Brandon and Noah move to Seattle? Just Brandon? Or no one at all? Please share your thoughts!