Sorry for the impromptu hiatus, guys! I have a lot going on at school (in fact, I should be critiquing poems right now) but I'll try to stay on schedule as much as possible. Thank you for sticking with me!

Family Drama

The first few days at the cabin were relatively quiet. The boys had moved into their cabin with little fuss—except who got the single bed and who had to sleep in the bunk beds. In the end, they played a little rock, paper, scissors and Kevin ended up taking it, sticking his tongue out at the other two as they bickered over who got the top bunk.

Javi won and scrambled up with his bag, immediately settling in to nap the morning away, like everybody else. Kevin did the same and the boys were snoring in no time, while Castle continued to unpack before passing out himself.

After a much deserved nap, Johanna and Jim dragged them out of bed for an afternoon hike and it became a routine for them to travel to the waterfall together, the couples holding hands and Kevin trailing behind, looking around at all the scenery.

And every day after their hike, when Castle would collapse dramatically into the hammock, Kate would curl up with him and they would watch the clouds. On the third day, Lanie and the boys joined them, laying in the grass next to them—or sometimes, Lanie would squeeze in next to Kate and leave the boys on the ground—and talking endlessly about the impossibly blue skies.

On the one-week mark of their trip, however, a storm broke out and they were all forced to stay cooped up inside, where it was slightly humid, despite the air conditioning, and there wasn't much to do.

Jim and Johanna had never thought to buy a TV for the cabin, but had an old radio that they turned to NPR and listened to interviews and readings. The teens attempted to listen in too, but soon found themselves terribly bored and wandered off to find something else to do.

Kate led them to the game closet and pulled out Jenga, Monopoly, Clue, and Candyland, carrying them into her and Lanie's room, settling them down on the floor. The rest of them sat around and they started the first game; Jenga.

Four hours and halfway through an intense game of Clue later, there was a knock on the door and all the kids turned their heads in the direction of Johanna entering, a grim look on her face as she pressed her hand against the phone clutched in her fist.

"Rick," she said, "I need to talk to you for a moment."

Castle nodded and stood, following her out as the rest of the kids watched him go, all four of them rushing to press their ears against the door.

"What's wrong?" Castle asked, once they were in the hall. Johanna sighed and stared him straight in the eye.

"You need to promise me something," she said, gravely.

"Okay…?" Castle replied.

"No matter what happens, you have to promise me that you'll stay calm. Promise?" Castle nodded and Johanna took a deep breath, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Your mother called me about two hours ago," she informed him, "saying she needed help."

Castle's eyes widened at that, panic blanching his face. "What?" he said. "Is she alright? What happened? Where is she? We should probably go to her! I'll get my shoes and—"

"Rick!" Johanna interrupted, placing both of her hands firmly on his shoulders now. "Rick, honey, it's okay. Jim has already gone to pick her up from the hospital."

"THE HOSPITAL?!" Castle was on the verge of a full-fledged panic attack, she could tell, and she heard the bedroom door open behind her, four sets of eyes poking out, worriedly. "WHAT HAPPENED?" Castle asked, pulling Jo's attention back to her.

"You'll have to ask your mother when she gets here," Johanna told him. "Which will be in a couple of hours now; I just didn't want you to be blindsided when you see her."

"When I…what happened to her? Is she okay?" There was only worry in his voice, which was weak and scratchy, his eyes searching Johanna's worriedly.

"There was…an issue," Johanna replied. "That's all she said and she asked me not to tell you even that before she got here." She reached out for him, running a hand soothingly through his hair. "It'll be okay, Rick; everything's going to be okay."

She pulled him into her arms, Castle taller than her by a view inches. He had to stoop slightly to lay his head on her shoulder as she hugged him, her hand stroking over his back.

"It's all going to be okay."

It's short, I know, but Castle is on and I can't really focus. More next week I swear!