(Author's Notes- Hi guys! This chapter is a little more interesting. lol :) Hope you like it. Please Read and Review! Thanks!)

Chapter #8- Part 2- A Sleepless Night

After Serena found each girl curled up next to either of their brothers after a night of stoires, she covered them all with blankets so they wouldn't get cold on this particularly chilly late-April night. Serena then quietly kissed each child goodnight, and slipped out of their room, going into her own with a lost look in her eyes.

She then went into the bathroom, shut the door, slid down the wall, and started to quietly sob, but ending up in body racking sobs.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Asked Anthony.

'Thank God only one of my kids decided to investigate this. I'd never be able to explain it to them all, nonetheless one. Granted I never was able to let them get into a deep sleep because we had to move so often...Anthony probably told the others to go back to sleep and he'd check it out...' Serena silently thought.

"Nothing honey, go back to bed." Serena said quietly as she tried to stop crying.

"Mom, for as long as I can remember, you were always a bad liar. Maybe not to others, but to us kids. You could never lie to us kids. Besides- you always said you'd try to stay truthful to us...Plus, how could you tell me nothing is wrong when you're sitting against the wall, knees to your chest, arms resting on your knees - soaked with tears, and your face streaming with tears – and that's just physical appearance...And you NEVER pass up reading to the girls. What's going on?" Anthony said confidently and with his hands on his hips.

'Oh Anthony, you are so like your namesake sometimes...' Serena thought with a slight shake of her head.

"You know me too well...You see right through me. But to answer your question - yeah, your right. I can't lie my way out of paper bag – especially to those who know me best." Serena said.

"What is it mom? Is it school? Our teachers?...Us?" Anthony asked.

"Anthony Lucas Stevenson, don't you EVER think any of this is your fault. EVER. NONE of this is your fault, your brother's fault or either of your sister's faults. Understood? If anything is anyone's fault, it's my own..." Serena said sternly.

Serena shakes her head, then continues: "But regardless of that, to answer your question, it's your teachers."

"Our teachers?...Are they the bad guys too?" Anthony asks worriedly.

"No, no...that's just it. They're the good guys...They're the good guys." Serena said barely above a whisper.

"So why are you upset? Why does it seem like you're about to say any minute now: 'get packed, we have to leave again.'...Mom?" Said her son who is now sitting next to his mother.

"I know them." Serena stated.

"You know them?" Anthony asks quizzically.

"Yes...a long time ago. It took everything I had not to be as nervous as I wanted to be under their kind gaze. I wanted to cry so much then but knew I had to hold it together..." She said as she continues to cry.

Serena then covers her face with her hands in shame, and continues to cry as her eldest son wraps his 10 year old arms around his mother.

This time a child comforts his mother instead of vice versa.

An Hour Later-

Anthony has fallen asleep next to his mother, with his arms still wrapped around her neck. Serena carefully picks up her young son, and lays him down next to his little sister, where he last left them. She then went back into the bathroom.

Spending most of the past years on the run, Serena's children only knew what she felt safe telling them. To both sets of twins, they only knew to keep hidden by changing your name, moving from place to place, keep as quiet as possible while running and hiding, & occasionally change your hair color. That was enough for them to know.

Serena knew more...Lots more.

She just prayed she would never have to use more than what her kids already knew.

While in the bathroom, Serena ended up taking out her contacts.

It was then revealed that Serena's once crystal clear, deep blue eyes were actually dark brown...

...which opened up the windows to her deep, truly shattered soul.

(Author's Notes- See? Everything is unwinding...Will Serena's world soon fall apart right in front of her? Will the world she creates dissappear? What about all she's lived for? Her children that she'd die for no matter what?...All will be exposed in time...(Evil Laugh j/k)

Please Read & Review! Thanks!)