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!

5. Chapter 5

A/N: So, uh…sorry this is so epic! We had lots of ideas for this chapter, so it got quite lengthy! Hopefully, it's more for you to enjoy! We decided to change Warrick and Cath's kids' names. And yes, we realize that Molly Brown was the lady from Titanic, but we like the name. Thanks so much to those who have read and reviewed so far! This is the last chapter in this "time frame", so next time the kids will be older!

Jordan rummaged through her closet, searching through clothes, shoes, and discarded toys to find what she was looking for. Really, she and Marley needed to clean out their closet, but of course she wasn't going to unless her parents made her. Cleaning was not her number one priority as a five year old. Finally, as she moved a stray flip flop aside, she found it. A Burger King crown. Jordan picked it up and tried to straighten it out the best she could.

"Hey, Coliiiin!" She called to her now three year old little brother. Today was Colin's third birthday, but unfortunately he was a little upset, thanks to Marley. The little boy whimpered a little in the next room, cuddling in his mother's arms after being through a little incident. Jordan took the crown with her and scurried into the room next door, where Colin was still looking a little upset, but otherwise unharmed.

Sara dramatically gasped, hoping to get Colin excited, and not thinking about the little bruise that was forming on his head. She jiggled the boy a little bit and pointed at the crown her daughter had found. "Look, Colin," she said gently, resting her chin on the top of his head. "Look what Jordan found."

Colin rubbed at his eyes a little bit and considered the offering. He'd long since lost any Burger King crown he'd acquired, and it was his birthday after all. Birthday boys should have crowns. Colin reached out with his still slightly pudgy toddler arm, and let out a little sound, universal for "gimme".

Jordan happily crossed the room and stood in front of her brother. "Here, Colin. Let me put it on you," she offered. Colin allowed her to, and she fit it on his head snugly. "Look, Mom, it's King Colin!"

Sara grinned and picked Colin up to stand. "Thank you, Jordan. That was very nice of you," she praised her. With her twin girls, it was seriously like Dr. Jekyll and Ms. Hyde. Marley was constantly either tormenting someone or being generally mischievous, and Jordan was always looking out for others. Sara was thankful to have Jordan and her kindness around, especially when Marley's jealousy reared its ugly head.

Sara kissed the top of her youngest son's head. "Here. Why don't you take Colin into the bathroom so he can look at his crown in the mirror," she suggested, setting Colin on the ground. Jordan nodded in agreement and gently took her brother's hand, leading him towards the bathroom. The mother of six watched them go and let out an exhausted sigh, putting her hands on her hips. Already she was tired, and it was only ten in the morning.

She walked towards the master bedroom where Marley, the culprit, was sitting in time out. Nick had been keeping an eye on her as he brushed his teeth and shaved in the master bathroom. As she entered the room, she saw Nick poke his head out the door to check on their ornery five year old. He saw that Sara had come in and raised his eyebrows at his wife, as if to say, I don't know what to do with this one.

Sara gave him an exhausted look and walked to where Marley sat in their chair. If they'd been hoping for remorse, they weren't getting it. Marley sat in the chair with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. With a sigh, Sara knelt down in front of her daughter to address her.

"Marley, do you have anything to say?" Sara prompted her.

Marley narrowed her eyes at her and shook her head no.

"Well, I guess you need to stay in time out for another five minutes," she decided, and began to stand up.

"Nooooo…." Marley whined a little.

"Then I need to hear an explanation," Sara went on. "Why did you hit your little brother on the head with your cast?"

Marley looked very thoughtful for a few moments, biting her lip as she tried to come up with a good reason for hitting her little brother. Finally, she looked up and said, "Well it's because you have to give someone birthday hits so they grow? One for every year and then one for good luck!" She paused a moment to see if her mother was buying it. "I thought my cast would be even better?"

"Marley we don't hit," Sara admonished her little girl gently. "You know better."

"Mama it was an accident. I didn't mean to hit him," Marley's story changed a little bit. She was by far the sneakiest one of the family but also one of the worst liars. She couldn't ever stick to a story. Jordan, who rarely used the skill, could fool anyone if she wanted to. "I swear it. I didn't mean to."

"We don't swear either," Sara interjected and then frowned down at her. It was Colin's birthday. Why couldn't Marley be good for just one day? "You're off the hook for today because it's your brother's birthday but first thing tomorrow you're grounded for three days. No TV, no playing outside, no friends. Just homework and your AR books."

"But," Marley tried to protest. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"You hit your brother and then lied about the reason. That's one day for hitting and two for lying," Sara told her gently. "Now if you tell me the truth right now about why you hit your brother I'll shorten it to a day."

"Okay," Marley sighed like a teenager. Sara shuddered a little at the thought of Marley as a teen. "He was singin' a song 'bout swimmin' and I can't go later... and it made me mad. I don't see why I have to have this stupid cast or why I can't go swimmin'. I should get to have fun too."

Sara understood her daughter's frustration with having a cast. She really did. Everyone knew that little kids were full of energy, but Marley was like a cyclone. She didn't slow down (until she totally conked out), and having this cast on was like torture. Sara wished she could magically cure her arm and get her back to normal, but there was no magic pill.

"Marley, remember what the doctor said," Sara gently reminded her. "The cast helps your bones stay in place while it heals. You have to keep it on, and you can't get it wet."

"But I don't like it," she whined as she twisted her arm around, as if to prove her point. Marley didn't seem to realize that her parents had no control over whether she had a cast or not. It had to stay on, and that was all there was to it.

"I know you don't," Sara placed her hands on her daughter's knees in understanding. "But that's how it is. You need to be a big girl and keep going. Can you do that?"

"Maybe," she said, looking thoughtful again. "Am I done with time out yet?"

Sara smirked at her little hellion and nodded. "Yes, but first you need to go apologize to Colin. And I'll only ground you for a day since you told me the truth."

"Yes, ma'aaaaam," she agreed as she stood up. After giving her mother a quick hug she scurried off towards Colin's bedroom to tell him sorry. Truthfully, she knew it was a bad idea to hit her brother, but sometimes she just had trouble controlling herself. Besides, he was just a little wimpy kid and couldn't handle a little tap on the forehead. He was just a baby.

Back in the master bedroom, Sara sighed as she stood up and Nick walked out of the bathroom drying his face with a hand towel. "I have to admit, smacking Colin in the head with her cast was pretty creative, and kind of funny," he admitted.

Sara chuckled as she walked towards him and wound her arms around his middle to sit on his rear end. "Don't say that too loud, or the kids are gonna walk all over us."

Nick flashed a grin and leaned down to kiss her. Sara happily obliged, and they slowly shared a sweet, sensual kiss. They'd never had time as just a couple, both having children of their own before this marriage, so they had to steal time whenever they could. Both were enjoying their lip locking when they heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. The mother and father turned their heads to see Noah, looking a bit creeped out.

"Uh…Dad, can I talk to you?" He asked, averting his eyes. Seeing his father and stepmother making out wasn't exactly a pleasant sight.

"Sure, man. What do you need?" He asked, stepping away from his wife.

"Well, I was wondering if maybe Allison could come over to Aunt Catherine and Uncle Warrick's with me?" He asked slightly timidly, because he knew this was Colin's party. Only, Brandon had been getting more serious with Molly Brown, and they were both going to be at the party, obviously. If his brother got to mack on his girl, he should get to also.

"I don't have a problem with it, as long as you behave," he raised his eyebrows at him, knowing how his boys could be. "And you better call your aunt and uncle and make sure it's okay."

Noah looked a bit relieved and nodded. "Okay. Thanks Dad." He was gone in a flash.

Nick smiled and couldn't help but laugh a little at his son. He wandered back over to his wife's side and kissed her cheek gently. "He really likes that Allison girl."

"He does," Sara smiled and then after a moment of thought she asked, "And Brandon and Molly are well on their way to being serious, I think."

"Serious?" Nick feigned surprise. "Brandon Stokes actually being serious about someone?"

"Stranger things have happened," Sara said with a laugh. "Like Sara Sidle finding not one but two men in her life that she cared for enough to marry."

"That was just Charles and I both being lucky," Nick said, but became more preoccupied with talking about his son. "So you really think they're that into each other? I mean I know that they've been getting more serious... but serious serious?"

"Well he has been in love with her since she was two weeks old," Sara said, remembering the day that a barely year old Brandon had first met baby Molly in the lab.

"I don't want to see either of them end up heartbroken," Nick said. "It could go either way."

"I don't either," Sara didn't sound worried about that. Her tone shifted and she said, "But I also don't want them to end up pregnant."

Nick cleared his throat uncomfortably and ran his palm over his recently washed hair. "There are two types of people who don't have sex, Sara. Your parents, and your children."

Sara rolled her eyes at him and patted him supportively on the chest. He was one of the most protective fathers she'd ever known, wanting to shield his kids from all the bad things in life. If he was like this with Brandon, a son, she didn't want to think about how he'd be like with Marley and Jordan when they started dating. A chastity belt was probably not out of the realm of possibility. "Just because you don't want to believe Brandon may be having sex, doesn't mean it can't happen," she reminded him. "Maybe you need to have another little talk with him."

Having the talk with Brandon back when he was twelve was painful to say the least. He didn't want to think about his little boy being interested in girls and doing…that. But at the same time, he knew that as a young boy, he'd started having thoughts at about that age, and acting on them just a few years later.

Nick whined, putting Marley's theatrics to shame, as Sara steered him towards the door. "Nick, I'm sure he's being safe, but I think you'll feel better giving him a refresher course. Be a man and do it."

Reluctantly, Nick walked down the stairs as Sara checked on Colin and the girls. He found Charlie and Noah both on the couch, watching television. It was likely something he wouldn't want them watching, as Noah immediately switched the channel when he saw his father coming. Nick looked at the TV and saw they were apparently watching a Discovery Channel special on meerkats. He gave them both a little look. "Feet off the table please," he told Charlie. "Where's Brandon?"

Charlie did as he was told, and Nick noticed he was looking a little glum. "In our room," he answered.

Nick knew that going to a three year old's birthday party wasn't exactly a treat, and if memory served him right, Charlie wasn't bringing a friend along. All the older kids had permission to bring one friend along with them (the girls loved playing with all Colin's little friends, and the Stokes feared more little girls would cause problems). "Are you bringing anyone to the party, bud?"

He shrugged and kept his eyes on the television. Sometimes, Charlie didn't think Nick understood him because both his boys were popular, and he'd been popular all throughout school. They didn't get that no one wanted to come with him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Well, you can still call someone if you want," he reminded his stepson as he walked towards the basement to talk to his oldest.

"Brandon?" Nick called as he was on the way down the stairs. How exactly did you have a sex talk with a sixteen year old?

"Down here," he heard his son call. As Nick came into the room Brandon was buttoning his shirt. Actually, it was one of Nick's dress shirts. He was wearing it buttoned partially with a "Does this shirt look okay?"

"Lose the khaki's and try a pair of jeans," Nick advised his son. "You wanna look like you're at a party not going to church."

"Thanks Dad," Brandon grabbed a pair of jeans and started changing. When he realized that his father wasn't leaving the room he looked up, "Oh right. What did you want?"

"Well actually Brand I kinda wanted to talk," Nick said, taking a seat on Charlie's bottom bunk. "Uh... because... well because you're kinda getting close with Molly. I just wanted to know if you had any questions."

"You mean like about sex? Or like... about relationships?" Brandon asked. It almost looked to Nick like his son might be wondering about the latter. "Because we had the sex talk already. I understand all of that. I shouldn't have sex before I'm married, but if I do use protection. But like... it's the other stuff I have some questions about."

"Right. Well it's important," Nick said, feeling better already. "What do you want to know?"

"Uh... well... if you're pretty sure you really care about a girl... how do you tell her?"

Nick wished that after so many years on this earth, he could tell his son, with expert advice, exactly how to tell a girl you care about her. But, it wasn't that simple. There were feelings, different situations, different people…it was an endless continuation of variations. Plus…they were women. Who knew what they really thought?

"Well, bud," he scratched the back of his head a little bit. "The best I can tell you is just be honest with her. Tell her what you like about her – is she funny? Sweet? Great personality? And you have to be genuine about it, because women can see right through you if you're not. And don't push for her to say anything back. Just let it be."

Nick rambled a little bit, and when he looked up at Brandon, he looked slightly confused, but thoroughly engrossed. He found that even as teenagers, his kids practically begged him to tell them how to do the right thing. They wanted to know how to do it right, and they truly thought he knew all the answers. By now, Brandon had figured out that his father didn't know everything there was to know, but he still trusted him enough to seek advice from him.

"Um, alright," he said, sounding a bit unsure of himself still.

Nick smirked at him. "There's no right or wrong way, Brand. You just have to say what feels right, and just go with it. You know what I mean?"

Brandon nodded and looked over at him. "Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Dad. It's just – I've gone out with a lot of girls, you know? But I've never felt this way about any of them. You'd think I'd have all the lines and right words figured out by now."

"You're only sixteen, man. You've still got a lot of learning to do," Nick confessed. "Just promise me that if you do start getting urges…you talk long and hard about it. Make sure it's the right time for both of you, and especially for her. Because Uncle Warrick will kick your ass, and Aunt Catherine will help hide the body. And use protection. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, Dad. I got it," he said, getting up, hoping to end the conversation. Just then, they heard a pounding on the bedroom door.

"Daddyyyy!!" It was Jordan, and if they weren't mistaken, Marley was with her, singing a song at the top of her lungs now.

"Girls, I'm talking to Brandon right now. I'll be right out," he called to them. As a father of six, it always seemed that someone needed him. Brandon smirked at him and picked up his iPod and buds.

"I'm fine, Dad. I'll just chill in here until we're ready for the party if that's cool," he said as he laid down on his bed.

"Sure. I might need your help with the little ones later though, if you don't mind," Nick said as he stood up. Miraculously, the boys' room was pretty clean today, so he didn't have to hound them about picking it up.

The girls had been waiting patiently outside the boys' door, sitting on the steps. "Can I help you?" Nick asked them, their identical eyes looking up at him.

"Mommy said for you to help us get ready for the party," Jordan told him. He noticed both of them had a bathing suit in their hands and sunscreen. They were certainly old enough to dress themselves, but Sara had purchased the most complicated bathing suits, with lots of little straps and openings. Sometimes he couldn't even figure it out.

"Alright, let's go up to your room," he told them.

"You ask him," he heard Marley whisper to her twin as they followed him up the stairs to their room.

"No, you do it," Jordan whispered back. Nick sometimes loved how bad they still were at keeping their voices down. "It was your idea."

"You do it," and Nick heard the unmistakable sound of Marley pinching her sister as hard as she could. Surprisingly Jordan didn't cry out in pain.

Jordan had realized that keeping Marley's hurt arm a secret for as long as she had was a very bad thing and felt like her twin's cast was completely her fault. Nick knew that the guilt had her being as accepting of Marley's teasing as possible. "Girls what's going on?"

They stopped in their room and Marley pushed the door closed behind them. Nick, for a moment, saw a teenage version of his little girl slamming the door on him, him on the other side. He wasn't looking forward to that. "Jordan wants to ask you something."

Jordan set her bathing suit down on her bed and smoothed it out. "No, Marley wants to."

"Chicken," Marley said.

Nick started brushing through Marley's hair and trying to pull it into a ponytail, "girls neither one of you is going to know the answer if you don't tell me."

They were silent for a while until it was Jordan's turn to have her hair done. She took a deep breath as he was brushing, "Daddy, why do girls have boobies?"

Ignoring the fact that they'd just spent the last fifteen minutes with their mother, who possessed said 'boobies', Nick wasn't sure why he looked like he would know a good way to answer it. They taught this kind of stuff in fifth grade didn't they? And why couldn't they ask Sara?

He sighed and kept his eyes focused on the ponytail he was making for Jordan. Daughters…they could be so cute, and then they had to go say something like that? At least they weren't asking him about sex.

"Why do you ask that?" Nick posed to both of them.

Marley was watching her sister get her hair brushed and shrugged her shoulders. "I heard Brandon talkin' on the phone to Molly an' he said he liked her boobies," she blurted. If Brandon knew what his little sister had just told their father, she'd never see the light of day again. "What are they for?"

Nick pursed his lips together to keep from laughing out loud. That wasn't what he was expecting, but it sure explained a lot.

"Well, when you're a mommy, that's just something you, uh…need," Nick tried to explain without going into detail. He should've known they'd ask even more questions.

"But why?" Jordan asked. "And why don't little girls have 'em?"

"Well, only big girls have 'em," Nick said as he tied the twisty elastic around her dark brown hair. "Maybe this is a better question for Mommy, girls."

"Cause she has boobies?" Marley asked. It amazed Nick how unembarrassed they seemed about it now, throwing around the word booby like it was the word shoe, or house.

Nick chuckled a little bit. "Exactly. She'll be able to tell you more, but I think she's busy with Colin right now," he reminded them. "Let's get your bathing suits on."

Both girls began taking off their regular clothes so their dad could help them put on the complicated swimming suits. Nick knew he'd had enough when both girls examined their chests. "Daddy, are these little boobies?"

Nick stood up then, "Um, I'm gonna go get Mommy to finish changing you, okay? You sit tight, and she'll come answer all your questions."

Nick went across the hall and asked Sara to trade children with him. He was helping Colin tie the string on his swim trunks when he heard his cell phone ring from his pocket. Looking down he realized it was Kathleen calling. He told Colin he'd be right back to help him and left the room to answer.

"Nicky, it's not a bad time is it?" She asked.

"Well it's my son's birthday," he said, a little frustrated. "I'm trying to get him ready to head over to Cath and Warrick's house for the party."

"He's three now?" Kathleen asked. "He sure is growing up. I've actually got a gift for him. I'm in Vegas, can I come over?"

"Now?" He asked. "Right now?"

"Well, no time like the present?" She said. "C'mon Nick, Jared and I are in town to see the boys and I'd like to say happy birthday to Colin. We're family."

"You can come over and ride to the party with us if you want," Nick finally conceded. "And who's Jared?"

"Jared Keller," she told him, beaming. "You remember him? He's living up near me now. I ran into him at the supermarket and we've been together ever since. Funny how that works out huh?"

"Jared Keller?!" Nick wasn't as happy for her as she seemed to be. "Kathleen, I coached his little league team! What's he like seventeen?"

"He's twenty-five Nick, not a child. I'm not asking for your permission." She almost sounded angry with him. "Why can't you be happy for me? We've been divorced long enough now, when are we going to be friends again?"

"You know," Nick said, trying to think of a good response. "I try to be your friend Kathleen. I mean we were married. But you make it awful hard."

"And how do you think I felt when you got together with Sara?" Kathleen shot back. "And how do you think I feel about my own sons living a thousand miles away from me, and not getting to see them grow up, huh? How is that fair for me?"

When they fought, Kathleen always used that card. Of course it sucked that she didn't get to see her boys, but he hadn't forced her to move to Seattle. If she wanted to be close to her boys, she could be, but she chose a different route.

"I didn't bring her uninvited to a toddler's birthday party," Nick pointed out to her, whispering as he saw a body pass by the door. "You can't think I would be happy about bringing your new twenty-five year old boyfriend to my son's birthday. And what about the boys? You think they'll be excited to see their mom has a man in her life?"

"I'm entitled to move on," she said. "You did."

"Look, I'll be civil about it in front of the kids, but I am not happy about this, Kathleen," he tried to end the argument. "We're leaving in about forty-five minutes. You remember how to get here?"

"Of course," she said. "See you soon."

Nick grumbled a goodbye and then turned his cell phone off. He turned to see little Colin looking up at him, playing with his drawstrings. "Who vat, Daddy?"

He picked his toddler up and took him back to his bedroom. "Oh, it was just Brandon and Noah's mom. She's got a present for you."

Colin gasped in excitement as Nick set him down and knelt in front of him. He began to tie his drawstrings and then reached for the sunscreen. It was always a whole lot less hassle to put the lotion on the kids inside, not when a crystal clear, sparkling pool rivaled their attention.

"Daddy, when you said vat I got weal assited," he confessed. Colin cracked Nick up sometimes with the random things he said. "I don't know what anybody got me but I say fank you to all of 'em."

"Well, that's very good Colin. People like it when you thank them," Nick agreed as he began buttering up his son. Sara had purchased SPF 45 again. It was no wonder their kids were the palest on the block.

As Nick started applying the white cream to his son's shoulders, Colin wriggled away and then looked at his father with a very serious expression. He reached up and grabbed his father's face with both of his tiny hands and he asked. "How does sun scr-- how does sun scre-- how does sun-- sun-- how does sun screen work?"

Sometimes Nick and Sara were concerned about Colin's stutter but it hardly ever happened and it didn't limit his ability to communicate much, so they'd decided not to see a doctor yet. He was still a small child. Still, it showed more when Colin was trying to be serious. The problem was that Nick didn't really know the answer to his son's serious question. They'd agreed not to lie to their kids, ever, unless it was absolutely necessary. Making something up about a tough question didn't constitute a lie. "Well bud, I'm not sure actually. Why don't we look it up together when we get home from your party."

Nick's time alone with his baby—no, big boy—son didn't last much longer. Charlie walked into the room and knocked on the wall a bit, "Dad can I talk to you?"

His stepson had always called him Dad, until the big fight they had, but since then he hadn't really been comfortable with it. The kids all had their way. Charlie had called him Nick or Dad, mostly Dad, his whole life. Noah used Mom and Sara interchangeably. Brandon admitted openly that he loved both Sara and his mother equally and claimed that he had two mothers, unless he was angry at Sara, but he never called her Mom.

The fact that Charlie was calling him Dad again made him think that whatever he had to say was pretty important. "Colin would you go find your mom and sisters for me please?"

Colin, who was too young still to understand that it was a cue to get him to leave the room said, "Okay Daddy." He left without any other question.

"What's up Charlie?" Nick settled himself so that he was sitting on Charlie's bed.

"Well, I uh... have a question and I'm not sure I wanna talk to Mom about it." Charlie hedged a little bit as though he was trying to build up the courage to ask.

"Okay," Nick said slowly. "Ask away."

"I don't have a lot of friends, I get that..." Charlie's face turned the shade of purple-red it did when he was going to cry. "But... why don't they like me? How come I don't have any friends?"

Nick decided it was 'ask Dad hard questions' day. So far, he'd been asked by the twins why females had breasts, had the sex talk with Brandon, been asked how sunscreen worked by Colin, and now poor Charlie was having his own problems. His heart dropped to his feet, seeing how upset and totally honest Charlie was being about his problem. Charlie didn't open up to him that much. He'd always asked Sara tough personal questions, so he was a bit surprised. Nick would always accept him with open arms, and Charlie knew it.

"Hey, man, why don't you come in and sit down," Nick first suggested, his tone patient and understanding. Charlie nodded and ducked his head as Nick went to the door and closed it so they'd have some privacy. When he turned back, his stepson was sitting on the bed, his arms crossed nervously over his chest. Charlie was a good kid. He was a nice, friendly kid, but he just had problems making friends. He'd never been outgoing or particularly athletic, but that didn't mean he wasn't a great, fun kid. Nick tried to think of something intelligent and empathetic to say as he took a seat next to him.

"Charlie, I can see you're upset," Nick started off. "There's nothing wrong with you, bud. Some people just have a harder time making friends, that's all."

Obviously, he'd been thinking about this a lot, because he was already choking on his tears. Charlie didn't often let his stepfather see him cry. Nick wasn't sure exactly what Charlie needed to hear, but he took a chance and put his hand on his shoulder. "But I'm never mean to anyone. I try to talk to people, but they just don't seem to care. And Brandon and Noah practically have friends oozing out their ears, and I just know everyone's thinking how'd they get stuck with such a loser stepbrother? Why isn't Charlie cool like them? And I don't know why, Nick! I need to know. I can handle it. Just tell me!"

"Bein' a kid these days is tough, Charlie. And everyone goes through some rough times, where we don't feel like we're being accepted, or we think we're losers. You're not the only one," he told Charlie. "Let me ask you this. Are you trying to be friends with people you might have something in common with, or are you trying to be friends with kids like Brandon?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie looked a little offended. Why couldn't he be friends with kids like Brandon? Was he not worthy?

"What I'm saying is, maybe you're burning yourself out because the guys you talk to aren't interested in the things you're interested in. Like chess, for example. If I try to get Brandon or Noah to play chess, they're out of the room like a bat out of hell. But you, for example. I know you love chess, so we play sometimes. You get what I'm saying?"

Charlie was calming down a lot now, and had stopped crying. Nick hoped he was helping, and not making Charlie feel any worse. "Yeah. I should hang out with kids like me. But sometimes they don't seem to even want to hang out with me."

"Well, you do have some friends." Nick was choosing his words carefully. He knew this was going to be a tough conversation for both of them. "You've been friends with Amanda since you were in pre-school. And what about Lucy and Aiden? You spent a lot of time with them at the beginning of the year?"

"Amanda moved to New York," Charlie said, sniffling. Nick and Sara had once agreed that Amanda and Charlie were probably going to be best friends for the rest of their lives. The poor kid had been devastated when she moved. "And Lucy and Aiden are always doing girl things and don't invite me."

"Well you can still be friends with someone even though they moved," Nick advised his stepson. "There's email and the telephone. And...what kind of girl things are you talking about Lucy and Aiden doing?"

"Well like shopping or going to see girly movies or being in the school play, stuff like that," Charlie said, making a list. "I mean they talk to me in school but they never want to do anything with me outside of class."

"Well, have you ever considered doing things like shopping or movies or plays with them?" Nick knew that it must have sounded like he was going back on his own advice but having friends was tricky. You have to try a little.

"Noah and Brandon would make fun of me," Charlie answered quickly, without even thinking.

"Well forget about your brothers they can be real jerks sometimes," Nick hated saying mean things about his kids but brothers were jerks sometimes. It came with the territory. "Would you have fun doing those things?"

"I guess so," Charlie admitted. "Yeah, probably."

"Then don't you think that's why Lucy and Aiden are your friends," Nick said. "Because you guys have fun together? Whatever you're doing?"

"So I should just hang out with girls even though the boys are gonna pick on me?" Charlie asked, calming down a lot. Nick was getting the feeling that he just needed to hear it from someone else.

"You like them?" Nick asked his son.

"Yeah, I do." Charlie hugged Nick awkwardly for a moment and then started out of the room. "Thanks Nick, and uh... don't tell Mom I uh... talked you about that?"

"No problem," Nick knew that Sara had a habit of being too protective and a discussion like that with Charlie would have broken her heart. He wasn't going to keep a secret from her. He'd feel badly doing that. But it didn't mean he had to address the issue without any tact at all. "I won't go into details."

"Okay, thanks," he said as rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably in the doorway.

"Make sure you get your sunscreen on. Let me know if you need help with your back," Nick called to him. His stepson just nodded and started to make his way down the stairs. Nick walked out of the room and towards the twins' bedroom, where Sara was wrangling all three of them into getting sunscreen on and packing their clothes into bags.

"Jordan, can you go into the bathroom and get the sunscreen please?" she asked her daughter as Nick walked into the room. Jordan nodded and began to skip out of the room. She saw her dad and stopped to give him a little hug.

"How's everything going?" Nick asked his wife cautiously. On days like these, where they had to get all six children ready to go somewhere at the same time, they both got a little frazzled. Add to that the stress of having an ex-wife and her new boyfriend around, and it was going to be a rough day. Nick felt a little guilty having to tell her about it. Sara always tried to be cordial, but no one was ever exactly happy to see their spouse's ex around, especially at their son's birthday party.

"It's going," Sara sighed as she stuffed a couple pairs of undies in the bag. "Colin, did you pick what t-shirt you wanted to bring?"

Colin let out a shriek and giggled from where he was playing with his sisters' dollhouse. Well, at least he was. He had since stripped off his swimming trunks and was playing buck-naked. "Mommy, he's in his birthday suit!" Marley joked as she ran to her bed where Sara was sitting and launched herself onto the comforter.

"Colin," Sara said warningly, already exhausted from the chasing.

"I'll get 'im ready," Nick said, walking over. He scooped the naked child up, and snatched up his trunks, bringing him over to the bed.

"Daddy, can I go over to Amy's house 'til we're ready to go?" Marley asked, always quick to get bored. Jordan returned with the sunscreen and handed it to her mother.

"No, Marley," Nick said as he worked on re-dressing Colin. "We're gonna be going in a few minutes, and we need everyone to stay in one place. Why don't you clean all these toys up while you're waiting. That'll keep you occupied."

"How about I don't?" Marley said with a bit of sass. She twisted her lips to the side when she saw the look she got from both her parents. "I can't! I've got this big cast on, and I can't do any cleaning with it on."

Nick pulled up Colin's trunks, still looking at Marley. "Funny. You can play all day just fine, so if you can do that, you can clean."

"But Daddy, it's Colin's birthday, and no one should have to clean on someone's birthday. It's a rule! And I can't even swim today!"

Sara was rubbing lotion onto Jordan's back and shook her head. "I can only think of one rule that's being broken right now, and it's arguing about something your father told you to do," Sara said, giving her a warning look. Marley hated when she was outnumbered. She sighed loudly and began picking up some of the toys on the floor. Today wasn't going to be a good day. She had to sit out from the swimming party, tomorrow she was grounded, and now she had to clean.

Nick cleared his throat as he tied Colin's trunks again. "Sara, I need to talk to you about something," he began a little nervously.

"Sure. What is it?" She kept her eyes pinned on Jordan's back as she evened out the white lotion.

"Well, uh…turns out Kathleen's in town," he began, ready to gauge her reaction before he continued.

"Uh-huh," she said flatly. Kathleen got along pretty well with Nick and the whole family, but it wasn't exactly a happy event that she was in town.

"And, well…she brought someone with her."

"Jared?" Sara asked knowingly. Nick frowned at her, giving her a look because she knew something he didn't. "Noah mentioned him to me the other day. The boys know she's seeing someone."

"You know anything else about him?" Nick asked her back, smiling again because he now had the upper hand. "Anything at all?"

"Just what the boys told me," Sara said. She almost sounded jealous as she continued, "they're fine with her dating. She's allowed to be in a relationship Nick, they know that."

"She's dating Jared Keller Sara," Nick said and he couldn't resist the urge to laugh when the realization crossed her face. "You do remember him, right?"

"Little Jerry Keller from outreach?" She asked in disbelief. Nick and Kathleen had still been married ten years before when they'd all first met Jared and the other boys. Nick and Charles coached the little league team together as an outreach program from the police department. "What's he like two?"

"He's twenty five now," Nick said as he shuddered in disgust. "Can you believe her? She could be his mother."

"Not quite Nicky," Sara reminded him. Kathleen had only been twenty-four when she married Nick and twenty-six when Brandon was born. "It's not so bad."

"Yeah it is," Nick shook his head. "It really is."

"So, they coming to the party?" Sara asked, trying to change the subject? Then a smile spread across her face, "you think I should pack an old diaper bag for Jerry?"

Nick gave her a sheepish grin as he stood up from the bed. It was a little creepy that Kathleen was dating someone so much younger than her. To the boys, it must be even odder. Jared was only nine years older than Brandon; practically a big brother. Maybe Nick was getting ahead of himself a little. It's not like they were getting married, and the boys rarely saw their mother anyway so who she dated didn't really matter.

"Funny, babe," Nick commented and looked at his watch. He clapped his hands together, perhaps to get everyone inspired to move. "Alright, girls. You about ready? We need to leave soon."

"Does this mean I can stop cleaning?" Marley asked hopefully, with a couple Barbies in her hand. Nick nodded, so she tossed them a couple feet over back onto the floor. Her father snorted a laugh as Sara and Jordan both stood up. Colin tugged on Nick's shorts to get him to pick him up.

"Alright, birthday boy. Are you ready?" Nick asked his youngest son, tickling his bare stomach. Colin giggled as his father carried him towards the stairs. "How old are you again? Thirteen?"

"Daddy, I'm fwee!" He clarified as they descended the stairs. Nick smirked and gave him a couple kisses on his face. He was looking forward to a great family day with all his children, and tried not to think about Kathleen and Jared being around. They'd all have fun despite the uncomfortable situation.

Just as they reached the bottom of the stairs, the doorbell rang. Since Noah was sitting on the couch, and closest to the door, he got up to answer. When he saw his mother standing in front of him, he practically lunged at her and enveloped her in a warm hug.

"Mom!! You're here!" He exclaimed, hugging her tightly.

"Oh, look at you!" Kathleen gushed, as she took his face in her hands to get a good look at him. "Is that my Noah?"

Nick set Colin down on the floor and noticed Jared standing back uncomfortably. He wondered how that conversation had gone. Did Jared really want to take a plane ride to Vegas to meet his girlfriend's ex-husband, who happened to be his old coach, along with his six children? Nick figured Jared wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect, but was just trying to show his support.

"Yeah, Mom. It's me," Noah grinned. He'd had quite a growth spurt since she'd last seen him, easily growing a couple inches. Noah stepped aside so they could both come in.

"Daddy, he's too big to wear diapers," Jordan commented, not understanding it wasn't polite to do so.

Nick was going to apologize for his daughter's unintentionally rude comment when his oldest son came into the room and let him off the hook by making it worse, "Dude Mom where'd you find Jared?"

Brandon walked forward and clapped Jared on the hand welcomingly, not quite putting it together yet. "Brandon?" Jared asked him, "Wow dude you grew up!"

"Yeah, it's good to see you!" Brandon said. He'd been a water boy to the team while Nick and his uncle had been coaching. "What're you doing here?"

"Well I'm here with your mom," he shifted and wrapped his fingers around her hand. "Didn't she tell you?"

"Wait, what the fuck?" Brandon asked. It may have been the sentiment that Nick himself was feeling but it wasn't appropriate language. Again, however, his chance to reprimand his child was lost to him. His wife handled the situation.

Sara, who had just approached, reached out and pinched her eldest stepson's arm. She then leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "Don't speak like that in front of adults or the little ones. Why don't you invite your mom and her friend in?"

Brandon leaned forward and dropped a kiss on his mother's cheek, through gritted teeth, obviously trying to control himself for his stepmother's sake, he said "Why don't you guys come on in?"

"Honey you look great. So grown up," Kathleen gushed over her eldest. "Too grown up."

"Yeah," Brandon spat, unable to control himself any more, "because obviously you don't want the men in your life to be grown-ups at all."

Kathleen's lips closed in displeasure as she cleared her throat a little and squeezed Jared's hand. She knew dating a younger man may cause a bit of a rift, but she hadn't even been there for five minutes and she was getting flack from her own son. Sara attempted to smooth things over, not wanting an argument, especially right off the bat. She wanted to say that if Kathleen wanted to date a 25-year-old, fine, but truthfully it was obviously affecting Brandon.

"Kathleen, Jared, why don't you sit down," she motioned to the couch, which luckily happened to be void of toys and other junk. "Can we get you something to drink?"

"We have to leave in a few minutes. We don't wanna be late to Colin's own birthday party," Brandon pointed out, not really caring to let this all blow over. He of course loved his mother and was happy to see her, but what teenage boy wouldn't be weirded out by this?

Kathleen offered a polite smile as she and Jared sat down. "No thanks, Sara. We can just get something at the party if you're in a hurry."

Nick could see the veins in his oldest son's neck threatening to pop out so he knew he needed to address the situation with him before he said something really stupid. "Brandon, why don't you come help me pack some sodas in the cooler," he suggested, motioning with his head to follow him to the kitchen. Brandon gladly followed, opening the refrigerator door harshly. Nick took out the mini cooler from one of the cabinets and sighed.

"Brandon, I know this is weird," he started in a low voice, so not to be overheard. "I'm a little surprised over all this too, but you need to be civil, man. Not only because it's Colin's birthday, but because she's your mother. She deserves to have a chance."

Brandon set the first pair of sodas on the counter with excess noise and didn't make eye contact with his father. He knew he was trying to cool him down, but why should he? He wasn't the one acting ridiculous. His mother was the one dating someone over fifteen years her junior. That would be like him dating a newborn. It just wasn't right.

"Dad, I really don't wanna hear it right now," he told his father. "You can't expect me to be okay with this." Brandon finally looked over at him. "I mean, what the HELL is she thinking?"

"You know... your mom and I are about as far apart in age as she and Jared are," Nick used the same comment that Sara had earlier, though he struggled more getting it out than she had. "And there's nothing wrong with dating someone younger or older than you... as long as you love each other."

"So I could run off right now with some forty year old woman and you'd be okay with that?" Brandon asked. Inside, the idea really did bother Nick but he wasn't going to let it show.

"If you were in love with her then I wouldn't have a problem with it," Nick took a deep breath. "Love is blind son, it has to be."

"Well I still think this is stupid," Brandon commented slowly. "I mean the guy's closer to my age than he is to Mom's."

"Well yeah, I get that it makes you uncomfortable," Nick admitted. "But you and I don't understand it yet, not the way they do."

"You trying to say they might actually be in love with one another?" Brandon asked his father." Do you even think that's possible?"

"I don't know Brand," Nick tried to give his son a better answer but in truth couldn't come up with one. He had no idea why Kathleen had decided to start dating Jared. Maybe she really did care for him, "Maybe?"

Brandon shook his head in frustration, grabbed two coolers, and left the room quickly. As Brandon was pushing his way out of the door he ran smack into Charlie who was on his way into the room, cradling a wounded looking finger. Nick saw his stepson and called him over.

Charlie's finger was bleeding. "What happened?" Nick looked around franticly for something to wrap the damaged digit. Seeing a paper napkin he grabbed it quickly and wrapped it around the poor ten year old's cut.

"It's fine Nick," Charlie protested, trying to pull away. "Where's my mom?"

"She's in the living room with Brand and Noah's mom," Nick said, wondering what Charlie had been up to while the rest of the family was giving his ex wife the third degree. "Now, how'd you get cut?"

"I want Mom to fix it," Charlie protested.

"Your mom's gonna freak out and rush you to the emergency room," Nick told Charlie with a gentle laugh. "And that's not necessary. Your finger will be fine in a few minutes. Now, how'd you do this?"

"I was in your bathroom," Charlie admitted. "And I knocked your razor on the floor... when I reached down to pick it up I guess I grabbed it wrong because the next thing I knew I was bleeding all over the place."

"Well I'm sorry that happened to you bud. I won't leave it out anymore," Nick took full responsibility for what had happened. Pulling the paper towel back a bit he looked at the wound. It was deep and disgusting but his stepson would survive. "I once did a similar thing in a dorm bathroom in college. I had to go have one of my buddies wrap it up because it was my right hand and I couldn't work the band-aid," Nick showed Charlie the scar on the tip of his right ring finger. "I was a little embarrassed."

"Wow," Charlie said, looking down at his finger again. The bleeding had all but stopped. Nick had told him the story to distract him while he pinched the cut closed and bandaged it. "Thanks Nick."

Nick smiled at his stepson before looking down at his shirt. The whole process had led to a couple of blood stains near his cuffs and a small pool of it near the bottom in the front. He unbuttoned slowly and took the shirt off, revealing a bear chest. Charlie, having just noticed the satins said, "oh I'm sorry Nick I didn't mean to."

Sara had picked that moment to come into the room. She'd been wondering why he hadn't come back out into the living room with Brandon. "Sorry about what?" She asked, wondering aloud.

"Oh, Charlie had a cut," Nick gestured to the finger and then to his shirt. "It bled a little on me."

Sara looked very alarmed for a moment and moved towards her son to check out his finger. Once she was satisfied that Nick had taken care of it well enough Charlie took his escape, hoping to avoid any more of his mom's fussing. "Let me wash that out for you," Sara offered, reaching to take the shirt from her husband.

As she got closer to take the item Nick's strong hands grabbed her by the forearms, allowing the shirt to fall to the floor, he pulled her against his nearly bare body. "It can wait," he whispered, dropping a kiss on her forehead, then another on her lips.

Sara giggled into her husband's passionate kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. Their kids had seen them kiss before - not that they made out in front of them - so there would be minimal harm if one of them did walk in. As their lips mingled, noses rubbed, and then Nick's hands traveled to her bottom, though, Sara remembered his ex-wife and little Jerry were in the next room. That might be a little uncomfortable. Though it took everything in her to push the epitome of sexy away, Sara gently forced him back, feeling the warmth of his tan, still toned body beneath her fingers.

"Nicky," she giggled a little as he darted in for another kiss, way too strong to be held back by Sara. "There are people in the next room."

Nick leaned in again and captured her lips in a chaste, but sultry kiss. "And?"

Sara full-out laughed and gave him a bit of a playful shove. "And I don't think I want your ex-wife and her practically teenaged boyfriend watching us make out."

Nick smirked, linking their hands together, giving her the most pathetic look. "You're turning me down? Is that what's going on?" He teased her, letting his nose gently bump against hers.

"You're trying to use that on me, huh?" She joshed right back, truthfully finding it very hard to turn down a shirtless Nick Stokes. Even after years of marriage, the flame was still very present. It was practically a bonfire, really. Sara planted one last passionate kiss on his lips and ran her hand through his hair. "I'll make it up to you later. I promise."

His eyebrows wagged up and down a few times suggestively, to which Sara responded by playfully swatting him on the butt to get him to move towards the living room. They found Jordan eyeballing them from the entryway. That's the way it was around here - always a kid around.

"Mommy, you're not s'posed to hit people. Especially Daddy," she pointed out quite matter-of-factly.

Nick latched right on. "Thank you, Jordan. I agree," he said.

"Alright, you two," Sara tried to move things along, stepping into the living room, where everyone almost everyone was gathered now. "Okay, are we ready to go?"

Nick stepped into the room and couldn't help but notice Kathleen's eyes do a scan of his bare torso. "Lemme go find a new shirt, and I'll be right down."

Five minutes later Nick was walking down the stairs, re-dressed in a deep gray t-shirt. It was a size too small and fell a little tightly over his shoulders and parts of his chest but in spite of the awkward way it sat on him it was his wife's favorite. He didn't understand that one.

He walked through the kitchen and living room one last time to check and see if there was anything obvious that the family had left inside. Nick was amazed that in five minute's time Sara had managed to get all six kids, all the supplies, and their two guests into their cars. It would have taken him a half hour at least. Nick spotted the sun screen and put the bottle in his pocket before heading outside.

He laughed at Marley who had her lips pressed up to the window and was making faces at him as he walked towards the car. It was a broken rule but his child's face looked very funny. "Marley Nicole," he reprimanded her with a laugh as he climbed into the car, "we don't do that. Sit back and put your belt on."

Marley giggled mischievously as her father got in the driver's seat. Though he was sure his wife had done it, Nick turned around to make sure everyone had their seatbelts buckled. Marley, Jordan and Charlie were now all buckled up and eager to get going. Kathleen and Jared were driving their rental car with Noah in the back seat. Brandon had already taken off with Colin in the car because he was eager to see Molly again.

Both parents knew that the afternoon might be somewhat difficult for their injured little girl Marley. Swimming was one of her absolute favorite things to do. She loved going to the Browns' anyway, but being able to go in the pool made it unbeatable. They both sensed she was still trying to hold onto the possibility they might let her in.

"Momma, if I promise not to put my arm in, can I get all the way into the pool?" She asked hopefully, playing with the drawstring of her shorts as Nick pulled out the driveway.

An adult might be able to pay attention enough to get their arm up in the pool, but they all knew Marley was easily distracted. She'd get caught up in the moment. Sara could see it now – Jordan would dive under the water to find a diving ring, and Marley would dunk herself under without a second thought. It was too big of a risk for a five year old, especially one as rambunctious as Marley.

"No, baby," Sara reluctantly told her. She still got the sense Marley thought they were ruining her fun on purpose. "Daddy and I said you can sit on the steps or dangle your feet in but that's it."

"But that's not fun, and it's Colin's birthday. We're s'posed to have fun," she pointed out, her voice full of whine.

"Marley, don't whine please," Sara reminded her as they cruised down the street. "That's what the doctor says, and we have to follow his rules."

"Momma do you think Molly will take me to the store for shopping then?" Marley asked, her tone had improved. "We could get ice cream while the other kids swim?"

"I don't think so baby-doll," Nick answered for his wife. If Molly was as into Brandon as he was into her there was very little chance she'd be interested in socializing with a five year old. "It's just one birthday party kiddo, there'll be others."

Sara wanted to back her husband up, she did, but she caught sight of the shirt he was wearing and was having her own internal battle. She had to fight to keep her hands to herself. There were children in the back seat. Nick claimed the shirt was too small but it fit over his sculpted body perfectly. It gave her a very crisp picture of what the man beneath the shirt looked like.

Marley's protests picked up again and this time Sara tore her eyes away from her husband and started watching the road in front of them. "Marley this isn't a negotiation. No pool until the cast is off."

Sara reached out a hand and squeezed gently on Nick's leg, and he lowered his hand to hold hers. Before she let his fingers wrap up around hers she ran them up and down his firm muscular arm one time. She liked the way her hand fit with his, how perfectly the tones of their skin meshed.

"I'd really enjoy taking a swim with you," she whispered to her husband. "Just us."

The car stopped at a red light, and Nick leaned his body towards his wife. "Me too, baby," he whispered, and stole a quick kiss from her. Today, it seemed they were having trouble controlling themselves, even with the kids around. If they didn't have six kids, Sara figured today would be one of those days they never even got out of bed, and just had their way with one another over and over again.

"Ewwwww," the twins responded simultaneously from the back seat. Charlie didn't seem bothered, or perhaps he was just used to it. He just stared out the window, glancing down at his bandaged finger every now and then.

A few minutes later, the car pulled up to the Browns'. There were already several cars there, so Nick parked in the street and told the kids to stay put until they opened the door. The girls were already overly excited. At five, they knew what birthday parties entailed – cake, ice cream, presents, friends – even if it wasn't all for them. Nick opened the back door and Marley came careening out. Though there were no cars nearby, he immediately caught her by the arm and pulled her to his side.

"Marley, calm down," he told her, taking her hand instead. "You weren't watching for cars."

Marley shook her arm and jumped around a little bit, anxious to get to the party as Jordan hopped out. She took her father's other hand and shut the door. Nick decided to get the kids inside first, and unload everything in a few minutes. With the way things were going, the twins would definitely be wearing themselves out and sleeping well tonight, for which he was thankful.

Kathleen and Jared pulled up behind the Stokes' car. Nick had to look away because they were holding hands. The family walked up to the front door, which opened before they could even knock. Warrick greeted them with a smile, and got pummeled by the twins.

"Uncle Warrick!!" They exclaimed, getting a hug from their favorite non-blood uncle.

"Hey girls," Warrick said as he leaned down to wrap both arms around the girls, scooping them up. Nick let go of their hands and let them go to their uncle. They wrapped their four little arms around his neck as he pulled them tightly and dropped kisses on each of their cheeks. "You guys excited for the party?" He asked them as he started carrying them towards the door.

Nick chuckled to himself and walked back to the car so he could help his wife and stepson carry a few of the items inside. He looked around at the cars on his way in: Michael, Mandy's husband, had his car there. That meant the entire Webster-Davis clan would be there. Mandy and her husband of nine years had a daughter and a son. Addison was five years old and the son, Mark, was three-- the exact same ages as the twins and Colin. Greg's car was there too. Nick glanced in and saw the car seat. Greg had his kids that weekend, they were there.

Greg was newly divorced (the papers had been signed all of a week before). He was also a father to two boys and a girl. His eldest, Troy, was eleven. The other boy was a six months old and called Liam. His daughter was called Rachel, and was nine.

Other cars he spotted were Wendy's, Hodges', and Grissom's. He couldn't tell if Wendy's kids were there or not, he'd have to wait until he was inside to figure it out. Nick looked at Charlie as they walked towards the door together, "looks like a lot of your cousins are here today."

"Yeah," Charlie agreed.

They walked towards the door where Catherine and Brandon met them, each taking an arm load of miscellaneous objects. "You guys think you've got enough here?" Catherine teased them.

Sara laughed as they headed towards the back porch, where most of the items needed to go. Brandon took the coolers into the kitchen so they could be put away. Once the items were set on the floor or table, Sara and Catherine gave each other a brief hug, then Nick leaned in and gave Cath a quick peck on the cheek. At times like this, Nick and Sara realized how lucky they were to have such great bonds with their coworkers.

The whole crew was already outside in back, most of the kids already in the pool. Noah was helping Colin on with his armbands so he could swim freely without having to be held. Nick and Sara were greeted all around by Greg and Mandy and her husband. They all remembered Kathleen, and were cordial to her, asking about Jared and politely introducing themselves.

As they were settling in, Sara became aware of the fact that Brandon and Molly weren't outside with the rest of them, so she excused herself to duck inside and make sure they weren't up to no good. She spotted them in the hallway, just out of sight, exchanging some kisses. Sara made a point of noisily filling a cup up with ice and clearing her throat.

"Brandon, I think Greg and Mandy and her husband want to say hello," she called to him. "And I'm sure your mom wants to talk to you some more."

Brandon rolled his eyes, eliciting a little giggle from Molly. Not that he didn't like any of the people outside, but he'd much rather just be hanging out with Molly. No one else his age was around. "I already said hi to everyone," he called back, taking his girlfriend's hand to walk out to the kitchen.

Sara was trying to be discreet. Her oldest son didn't need to be inside, out of sight, making out with his girlfriend. "Well, I still think you need to join us outside," she said, popping her eyebrows up a little bit in that motherly way of hers. Brandon knew what she was getting at, but like any teenager, he didn't always want to do as he was told. He decided to make light of the situation.

"I think I'd rather just go back in the hallway and have sex with Molly," he said bluntly. Molly gasped and smacked Brandon on the rear as Sara gave him a warning look – not a serious look, but Brandon knew when to stop.

Sara pointed to the sliding door that led to the backyard. "Out. Both of you."

"Actually Aunt Sara," Molly said, giving her aunt a grin. Even her green eyes were smiling in a way that Sara knew was a weakness to everyone in the "family" the only exception being Molly's older sister. "I wanted to get Brandon alone for a bit. I promise no sex?"

She had her father's charisma and Sara knew that it was a weakness with the whole "family" Molly's mother especially. "Okay, he's yours but I'd really like to spend some time with you too kid, so come on outside okay?"

I promise," Molly grinned at her again. "Thanks Aunt Sara."

Sara chuckled at the teens, remembering what it was like to be fifteen and in love. Though, sometimes she thought it was a lot more like the love she shared with her husband, or even the love Catherine and Warrick shared, only a much newer and younger version. She and Nick loved each other passionately, fiercely, and very physically. Catherine and Warrick were much more intimate, even in public, intimate and breathtaking in their way. Sara smiled at the thought that she and her friends had found the people they were meant to be with, and again at remembering she'd been so lucky twice in her life.

"Wow," Brandon chuckled dropping a gentle kiss on Molly's cheek. "I've never seen anybody get rid of Sara that easily. I should keep you."

"You might have to," Molly spat, the smile had vanished from her face. "Brandon there's something we really need to talk about."

The worried look of her beautiful features made Brandon's face drop also. He instinctively clasped his hand with hers and walked them towards the couch. "What's up?"

Molly gently released her hand from Brandon's and instead tucked her fingers in between her knees self-consciously. She looked down for a moment, wetting her lips as she fought up the courage to tell him what she needed to say. "Well, uh…" she cleared her throat, not liking how afraid she sounded. "I'm sorta…well my period's almost a week late, Brand. I was waiting and hoping it would come, so I didn't say anything, but…" she gestured with her hand in frustration. "I'm late."

It felt good to get it off her chest finally. She'd been silently battling with this knowledge for days. But sharing it didn't mean it was going to be fixed. It meant that now Brandon was scared out of his mind also. "Wh…are you sure?" He asked her, not really knowing what to say.

She half-smirked at his lame question. "Uh, yeah. It hasn't come. I'm pretty sure I'd notice."

Brandon scrubbed a hand across his cheek in worry. "Yeah, I know. I meant, are you sure you calculated it right. I mean…you're really a week late?"

"Yes, Brandon," she told him morosely. "I might be pregnant."

The word seemed to punch him in the stomach. Only a week or so ago, he'd had an argument with his father about how he didn't want any kids for a long time because he'd been so tied down with responsibility for his own siblings. He didn't want kids at least for another ten years. This wasn't fair. Suddenly, he felt anger boiling up inside him. Not anger at Molly, but at himself for not being careful. Damn, he'd just had a conversation this morning with his dad about being careful. He was at a loss for words, and simply rested his head in his hand, his elbow resting on his leg.

Brandon's silence was troubling Molly, threatening to send her to tears. "Brandon, say something."

He squeezed her hand tighter and did what he thought was the manly thing, "well, okay. You might be pregnant. We can handle this."

"Brandon," Molly's voice was almost angry. "It's not like one of us failing a test—well I guess you could look at it that way, if I actually do take a test, and uh... fail."

"What I mean is... I'm not gonna just turn my back and run," he squeezed her hand tightly again. No matter how afraid he was he wasn't going to let her down. He really did love her. "I guess we should try to get our hands on a test."

"Wait," Molly looked at him, almost crying. "You're okay with this?"

"No," he admitted, he couldn't lie to her. "Not really. But you're not gonna do this alone."

"Should I tell my mom?" She asked, meekly. "Or call my sister?"

"I don't know," Brandon was getting a little scared. "I don't think we should talk to the parents yet. You could just be late. Doesn't that happen for all sorts of reasons? Sports, stress, stuff like that?"

"It can," she was a little less close to crying.

Brandon was known at his school to be quite the ladies' man, much like his father had been, but he also knew how to treat a woman. At times like these, Brandon knew he could run and hide, but he was much better than that, despite his tendency to be a bit of a flirt.

"Heyyy," he cooed gently, moving in for a hug. Molly seemed to cling to him just a little bit as he rubbed her back. "We'll get through this. If you're pregnant, we'll deal with it. And we'll have our parents to help us. I know they would."

Molly laughed humorlessly. "My dad would kill you, and then he'd probably lock me in the basement until I'm thirty," she retorted. Brandon winced, remembering what Nick had told him earlier about Warrick killing him and Catherine hiding the body. Truthfully, they would be a bit disappointed, but they were all great parents and would help out their kids.

"They may be a little ticked at first, but they'd come around. You know they would," Brandon pointed out, and Molly knew she was right. She was thankful she had a supportive family, unlike some other kids at school. Molly nodded in agreement and Brandon pressed a kiss to her forehead, and then another gently to her lips. "We'll be fine."

"Yeah," Molly whispered.

"Want me to sneak off and buy a pregnancy test at the drug store?" He offered, wanting to know right now if they were gonna be parents in nine months.

Molly smiled at his supportiveness and shook her head. "About a year back, Lindsey had a scare and bought, like, eight pregnancy tests. There's still one in the bathroom."

Brandon nodded and stood up, tugging her up gently by the hand. They disappeared up the stairs to find the test.

Meanwhile, outside, the party was in full swing. All the kids, sans Marley and baby Liam, were now in the pool, all buttered up with sunscreen, splashing away as the parents conserved their energy on the porch. Marley sat on the first step in the pool, watching her siblings and cousins play happily. Her mother had directed her to keep her right arm on the side of the pool, out of the way. It was sheer torture having to watch everyone else play.

While the teens were unseen in the house the rest of the clan was outside all running around in and out of the pool, enjoying themselves. Charlie had buddied up with his cousins Rachel and Troy, who were both within a year's age of him. He was hardly noticing anymore that he hadn't brought any friends with him. Noah's girlfriend Allison had been dropped off and was actually paying more attention to Marley than she was to Noah, though he didn't mind. Noah was being entertained by his baby brother who had all but learned how to swim through his aid.

Nick was talking to Greg, who had a very disgruntled looking Liam on his lap, but they were interrupted momentarily when Catherine and Warrick approached. Catherine made a fuss over baby Liam and carried him off someplace with her. Warrick pulled her back briefly, dropped a kiss on her lips, and then let her wander away while he settled down next to his friends.

"Don't you just love how we've managed to turn a three year old's birthday into a huge backyard get together," Warrick said, looking around at everyone who was there. "And look at all these kids. Can you believe that there are eleven of them here just between the three of us? I remember a time when we were all bachelors."

"You and I were never really bachelors," Nick said with a laugh. "Catherine and Sara had their eyes on us for a long time."

"Too bad there were a few hiccups," Greg commented. "Namely Tina, Charles, and Kathleen."

"Hey, you've got to count Eddie Willows in that," Warrick jabbed back. "And I don't think it's exactly fair to call Charles a hiccup, considering."

"Speaking of hiccups though," Greg said. "What's Kathleen doing here? And why's she with that kid from your baseball team?"

Nick groaned dramatically, letting his buddies know he wasn't happy about it. "Well, she hadn't seen the boys in a while, and she thought Colin's birthday would be a good time to pop in. She didn't tell me Jared was coming until this morning," he explained, glancing away for a moment to check on their brood of kids.

"How old is he?" Warrick asked.

"Twenty-five," Nick gave a perturbed smile and nodded as Greg whistled. "I used to coach the little shit. I'm trying to be understanding about it, you know, but Brandon's pretty weirded out by it too."

"I can understand that," Warrick said, as they looked over at the couple. Jared was rubbing Kathleen's left shoulder a bit as they watched the kids play. Nick couldn't help but feel a little bad for Kathleen, with Brandon's reaction this morning, but he couldn't blame his son for being uneasy about it.

Marley came wandering over, her arms crossed over her chest, with just the bottom of her bathing suit wet. Her hair was dry, and a frown was set on her face as she approached Nick. Dramatically, she collapsed her upper body on his legs, hoping for some comfort. Noah had since stolen Allison back, and she was left without a playmate.

"How's it goin', baby girl?" Nick asked, patting her back, with her face buried against his leg.

She mumbled something he couldn't understand. "Can't hear you, Mar," he gently slipped his hands underneath her arms so he could pull her up. "Come sit in my lap and talk to me."

Marley allowed him to situate her on his lap and rubbed at her eyes. "Daddy, everyone's playing and no one wants to play with me cause they all wanna be in the pool, and Jordan won't even play with me cause she's playin' with Addison and no one wants to play with me!" She rambled. Marley always tended to get emotional and dramatic when she felt wronged.

Nick gently pushed her bangs away from her eyes in a backwards motion as she poured her little heart out. He wished he could let her swim; he really could. But it just wasn't in the cards.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he told her. "Do you wanna stay here and hang out with Daddy and Uncle Greg and Uncle Warrick?"

Marley looked thoughtful for a few moments and then glared at her father, "no I don't wanna hang out with you I want to play with the other kids!"

"Well why don't you ask them to come out of the pool a while," Greg suggested to his niece gently. "I bet they'll play with you if you ask nicely."

"Daddy take my cast off," Marley demanded, ignoring her uncle's words. "So I can get in and swim. You can put it back on when I'm done."

"It doesn't work that way sweet pea," Nick told his daughter. He dropped a kiss in her hair and hugged her. She seemed frustrated though, because she pushed away from him.

Nick was going to ask where she was headed off to when Chandler came walking up to the group of them, sipping on a can of soda. "Hi uncle Nick," he greeted.

"Hey buddy," Nick said to the fourteen year old. "What's up?"

"Just hanging out at my three year old cousin's birthday party," Chandler said with a chuckle. "And getting ready to poke fun at my uncle."

"Why's that?" Nick asked, laughing. Chandler had always had the best sense of humor of the kids. "What'd I do?"

"Not you," Chandler said looking over at Greg. "I just finished reading uncle Greg's new book..."

Nick was about to comment on the latest of Greg's series of stories about old Vegas when he heard a splash over in the pool. There was something familiar about the sound, enough to alarm him even though he'd been hearing splashes since he arrived. A moment later there was a shriek from Jordan and then he heard laughter from both of his girls. Nick grumbled when he looked up. Marley had jumped into the pool.

"Oh my God," Nick muttered under his breath, his jaw torquing in annoyance. He felt bad for Marley not being able to swim, but direct disobedience wasn't something he and Sara tolerated as parents. Nick was out of his chair in less than a second, striding over to the edge of the pool. Marley was laughing, doggy paddling around in the pool without a care in the world. Perhaps she didn't realize this would mean yet another trip to the doctor and getting her cast set a second time.

"Marley Nicole!" His voice carried over all the splashing and laughing the kids were doing, and immediately caught everyone's attention. Marley looked up at him wide-eyed from the center of the pool, out of his reach. Everyone, including Sara, could see that the little girl had finally snapped and jumped in all the way. "Get out of the pool right now."

"NO!" She immediately answered back. If she hadn't always been such a firecracker, everyone may have been surprised by her answer, and her resolve, as she swam even farther away from where Nick was standing. Sara immediately crossed the backyard to back her husband up.

Nick lowered his voice, not wanting an audience, but his voice was still stern. "I'm counting to three, and if you're not to the edge of this pool, you'll be grounded for the rest of the week. One…"

Marley frowned but stood her ground, or her place in the water, so to say. Nick felt a little embarrassed when he started counting, and she didn't budge, with almost every eye watching him. Of course, they all understood. Every parent had those moments of sheer embarrasment in front of others, when their child was being so completely ridiculous it hurt.

"Two…" Jordan could see how mad their dad was, and tried to nudge her sister towards the edge, but Marley just grumbled and kept swimming in place.

Sara clapped her hands together. "Marley! Listen to your father." Her request was ignored. As far as Marley was concerned, she'd been jipped, and she just wasn't going to take it anymore.

"Three. Alright, I'm goin' in," Nick said tersely to his wife. If she wasn't so upset with her daughter, Sara would have thoroughly enjoyed the sight of her husband stripping off his t-shirt. He tossed it to the side and kicked his flip flops off. Without hesitating, he crouched down at the edge of the pool and braced himself with his arm to work his way into the pool.

"Daddy no!" Marley shrieked and swam as quickly as she could away from her father. It was a futile attempt though. He was larger and faster than she was.

He gathered her up and swam to the edge of the pool passing the sobbing child up to his wife. "Mommy don't be mad at me," Marley begged as Sara wrapped a towel around her shoulders. "I didn't really do anything wrong."

"You deliberately disobeyed your father and I," Sara said, ushering her child away towards the house for a bit more privacy. "That's about as wrong as it gets."

"Are you really gonna ground me for a week?" Marley asked, sniffling, as she sat on the kitchen table drying off. "It's Colin's birthday, I was just trying to have fun."

"Your father said till the end of the week," Sara said, though she was tempted to ground the child until the end of the year but she was much more strict with the twins than her husband. "So that's how long you're grounded for."

"But it's Colin's birthday!" Marley tried to use her excuse again.

"Even if it was your birthday you'd be in trouble kid," Sara rubbed her daughter's shoulders with the towel another time and then wiped the tears from beneath Marley's eyes. "Honey I get that you're frustrated but when Daddy and I give you instructions it really is for your own good."

Marley sobbed a little bit as her feet dangled over the edge of the table. "But I don't wanna be grounded!"

Sara dried off her daughter's legs as Nick came through the sliding door, still looking pretty pissed. He understood that because Brandon was a teenager, he'd give him a hard time, but not from Marley. Little girls were supposed to be sweet and innocent and obedient, right?

"You should've thought of that before you jumped in," Sara said as she grabbed a tissue from the kitchen counter and began wiping her daughter's nose. Nick had since dried off the best he could and had thrown his towel over his shoulder, though his trunks still dripped a little bit. He stood in front of Marley, putting his hands on either side of her on the table so she had to look at him.

"Marley, why'd you disobey us?" He demanded, though he kept control of his voice. If he got overly upset every time one of his kids disobeyed him, he'd be a mess.

"Cause I wanted to swim real bad," Marley answered him, looking him in the eyes.

"You know better, Marley," he reminded her as Sara placed a hand on his back and rubbed gently. They were both angry at Marley, but they all made mistakes. She'd just have to accept the consequences, and get a new cast. "I'm really disappointed in you."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," she mumbled a little, clutching her towel a little closer to her body. "Can I go back outside now?"

"Absolutely not," Sara piped in, not willing to reward her behavior with getting to go back to the party. "We're gonna call the doctor, because you're gonna have to get a new cast now, Marley."

Upstairs, Brandon and Molly had heard what sounded like Sara and Marley, and then Nick come inside, and it didn't sound pleasant. Since Molly had implored with Sara to let them stay inside by themselves for a while, they figured they'd better show their faces. They came down the stairs holding hands as Nick found the phonebook to find the doctor's number.

"Brandon, Molly," Sara acknowledged them, having forgotten amidst all the chaos they'd been inside the whole time. "Where've you been?"

"We were just talkin'," Brandon said, squeezing his girlfriend's hand. He noticed Marley looking teary eyed and fully wet. "Did you jump in, Marley?"

The little girl nodded and sniffled, wondering if it had all been worth it. "You know, your cast is gonna start stinking now," Brandon said. "One of my friends accidentally got his cast wet back in seventh grade, and it reeked."

Marley's tears started again. She didn't want her cast to smell. It was bad enough already. "Momma, I don't want my cast to stink!"

Sara was about to promise her daughter that they would take her to the doctor and get her a new cast when she realized that Brandon and Molly were being a little fidgety. It was like they'd just been caught doing something they shouldn't. Something just wasn't right—but she didn't want to pressure the situation with everyone in the room.

Nicky," she said, trying to give her husband a reprieve. "Why don't you head back outside and check on Colin. I can finish up in here."

"You think we're done?" he asked Marley, not noticing that Sara was trying to coerce him out of the room. The truth was that he didn't want to spend too much time reprimanding his child when there was an entire party outside wondering what was going on in there.

"We can be done Daddy," Marley answered, feeling a little guilty. She hated it when her parents were actually mad at her about something. "I'm really sorry."

"Well thank you sweet-heart," Nick said, dropping a kiss on her forehead. "You're still in trouble Munchkin, but I love you."

"I love you too Daddy," Marley said. "And I love you Mommy, and I'm sorry Mommy."

"What'd the little brat do?" Brandon asked. Molly squeaked and slapped him in the arm. Nick glared at him. Sara shushed him.

Marley, however, was quick enough on her feet to put him in his place. "I didn't do nothin' Brandon!"

Nick chuckled, "I'll be outside sweetie." He kissed his wife on the cheek and retreated back through the door where he'd come from.

"Molly sweetheart do you think you could take Marley upstairs and get her a change of clothes?" Sara asked the teen. "Something of Sammy's? We didn't bring anything for her to change into because we didn't think she was going to be swimming."

"Sure I think there are a couple of outfits in Lindsey's room," she reached a hand out and led Marley towards the stairs. "You wanna wear that purple shirt with the butterflies?" Sara heard her niece asking her daughter on their way out of the room.

She had Brandon alone now and wasn't going to waste the moment, "okay kid you've got three minutes to tell me what's going on with you two or I'm gonna go get your dad."

Brandon sighed heavily and ran his hand through his short hair, much like his father did when he was bugged by something. If he totally spilled his guts to his stepmother, it would be really weird, and she'd tell his dad, and they'd probably never let him date again. Plus, it had just been a scare. Thank goodness it was just a scare. No, he couldn't tell her everything. It wasn't really her business, anyway.

"Oh, just something going on with friends, Sara," he fibbed, but looked her straight in the eye. Sara had never been able to tell with her oldest stepson when he was lying to her. With any of the other kids, they had a deer in the headlights look, but Brandon had always been able to keep his cool. He'd probably make a really good actor. "Molly just wanted to talk about it in private."

Sara didn't say anything for a few long moments, sizing her stepson up. She really hoped he was telling the truth, but she still felt suspicious. They'd been alone quite a long time. Anything could have happened. "Brandon…I know you probably don't want to talk about this with me. But, are you and Molly…sexually active?"

Brandon turned in his place and looked up at the ceiling, not believing Sara was actually asking him that point blank. "If I was, do you think I'd actually be talking about it with you? And what? You think we'd just go upstairs and have at it at a three year old's birthday party? Give me some freakin' credit," he quipped, feeling a bit insulted that she felt she could ask him this. Sure, he was semi-close to Sara, but he really didn't want to have this conversation with her. He had trouble talking to his dad about it; he wasn't going to open up to her.

"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it with me, then maybe you should talk to your dad about it…" Sara suggested.

Already done with the conversation, Brandon started heading towards the sliding doors. "He already had the sex talk with me. I understand, now let's drop it," he called over his shoulder as he exited the house, letting the door shut loudly.

Whatever it was I wasn't trying to ambush you. Sara typed into her cell phone and then texted it to Brandon. She truthfully hadn't wanted to make him feel trapped, it was just that he and Molly looked really uncomfortable. Her initial fear was that Molly had dumped him. She was relieved that wasn't the case.

Then, Sara decided to ignore that Brandon had gotten so angry with her and to try to go out into the party and enjoy herself. The whole crew wasn't together often enough. She went back outside and found Catherine, Warrick, Mandy, Greg, and her husband.

"Sorry about that everybody," she said, snuggling next to her husband with her arms around him. "When you've got six kids you can't get them all to behave like you want them to."

"Sometimes you can't get some adults to behave either," Mandy's eyebrows arched as she pointed across the yard to Kathleen and Jared. Kathleen was sitting on the younger man's lap, kissing him like they were teenagers. Well, some teenagers even had more self control than that.

Brandon and Noah were sitting with Allison and Molly at a table about twenty five feet from where their mother was going at it with a former role model of theirs. Even Noah, who hadn't been as against the match as everyone else seemed put out by the public display. Couldn't his mother control herself? If not for her own personal image then for the sake of her sons?

"Jeez are they gonna come up for air?" Greg asked, leaning forward to reclaim his youngest son from Catherine. Liam started tugging on the collar of his father's shirt.

"You think we ought to call the fire department or something?" Mandy asked, squinting at the two of them.

Liam squealed a chuckle of approval at her comment.

"Liam can't even talk yet and even he agrees something needs to be done," Warrick chimed in, holding out a hand for the infant to give him five. "That's my boy!"

"Maybe one of us ought to talk to them," Catherine observed aloud. All eyes fell on Nick.

"Me?" Nick asked, sounding shocked. "Get someone else to do it."

At that exact moment the two three year olds at the party, Colin and Mandy's son Mark, trotted past them followed by Troy, who'd been elected to babysit for the day. "Marky, Colin, come here a minute boys," Mandy said.

After dropping a kiss on her son's forehead Mandy continued, "You see those two people over there," she pointed towards the nearly copulating couple. "They're gonna bring you some cake. Why don't you boys go over there and ask them to get it for you."

"Okay," Mark said, Grinning.

"Th-they're busy," Colin chimed in. "It's rude."

"No, no," Mandy gently told them. "They're just waiting for you boys to come get them. Don't stop asking until they get up to help you."

"Okay," Colin agreed.

As the boys wandered off to complete their mission Troy looked back at Mandy and the others and couldn't help but start laughing. "I can't believe you just did that."

Sara, who was a little put out by the fact that Mandy had just used her youngest son as a weapon against her husband's ex wife thought the situation over again. It was pretty funny. As she watched Mark and Colin each start tugging on different parts of Jared and Kathleen's clothing she slowly started to laugh along with Troy. It was funny. Warrick, Greg, Catherine, and Nick all started to laugh along with her. Even Liam giggled his approval.

It took a few seconds for the affectionate couple to pry their lips away from each other, but eventually perhaps out of annoyance, or maybe remembering there were about twenty other people around, Kathleen pulled away and looked down at the two toddlers.

Brandon watched from across the lawn as Colin and Mark did their duty, causing his mother and her boyfriend finally to get up and stand farther than three centimeters apart. At least he had the decency to make out with Molly in the hallway out of sight, and his mother was making out in front of a small crowd? And was Jared living with her? If he decided to move in with her, would he have to put up with this all the time?

Everyone else seemed to be too scared or perhaps too polite to say anything to Kathleen about her behavior, so Brandon decided he needed to give his mother a piece of his mind. In a second, he spun himself around and stood up, then began striding towards his mother. Kathleen was leading the two boys over to the table to cut some cake when her oldest son walked up, looking pretty ticked off.

"Mom, I need to talk to you," he said, gritting his teeth. Kathleen could tell by the look in his eye it was important, and it wouldn't be pleasant. It amazed her how much like Nick her son was becoming. They had that same look when they were angry – tightened jaw and shoulders, eyebrows furrowed. Colin and Mark had since been ushered back over to their parents, so Kathleen turned to her son, her forehead creased in concern.

"Fine," she said, nonchalantly, and gave her boyfriend a little wink. Nick had been observing the whole thing, and grumbled under his breath. Something needed to be said to Kathleen, but he wasn't sure if Brandon would handle it the right way. He got up from his chair and followed his ex and his son towards the house.

When Brandon saw he had been followed in he started, "Dad, I wanna talk to Mom alone."

"Brandon, you look pretty upset," Nick told his son. "I think you need to calm down before you say something you regret."

Brandon scoffed, his hands on his hips as he stood in front of his biological parents. "Calm down? Mom's making out like she's a teenager in front of the entire family, and what? You're okay with this? Mom, you're acting like a freaking whore, and I really don't wanna watch it!"

"Brandon!" Both his parents yelled simultaneously.

"Don't you dare use that language with me, Brandon, I won't have it!" Kathleen reprimanded her son. "I'm sorry if you don't like the idea of me dating Jared, but I'm entitled to love someone and to kiss him."

"You were practicly having sex," Brandon spat. "It was disgusting. Have a little consideration for other people around you. Especially your kids and my brother Colin. He didn't need to see that."

"Brandon!" Kathleen chided. It was the first time in his life that the teen could remember his mother ever having really reprimanded him for anything. She had always let their father be the disciplinarian. "You won't talk to me that way. I won't take it."

"Maybe you'll take it from me then," Noah piped up, standing in front of his older brother. "Because you need to get your tongue out of that guy's mouth long enough to realize you're in public. Jeez Mom, even I control myself better than that!"

"That guy!?" Kathleen shouted back, deranged looking. "That guy happens to be my fiancé. And you two better learn to like it or you're going to have one hell of a time when you come to live with us."

"Live with you?!" Brandon asked, still very angry. "Noah and I are NOT going to come live with you. You couldn't pay us enough."

Noah's face fell though and his resolve was weakening a little, "you actually want us to live with you? You mean like... in our own rooms at your house? You'd be the one making us dinner every night? We'd get to see you every day?"

"Noah, Sara and Dad do all of that for us," Brandon said, dropping a hand on his brother's shoulder, steering him towards the living room. "You don't need to go to Seattle."

"But Brandon it's Mom," Noah said, talking quietly so that the rest of his family wouldn't hear. "We never see her and when we do she's always working."

"Well I'm not going to move in with her and her new husband," Brandon said gently to his little brother. "And I don't want you to either. Dad and Sara are just... better at being parents I guess. Besides they need us to take care of the little ones."

"Since when am I not a 'little one' to you?" Noah asked, glaring at his brother. "And since when do you get to say who I live with and who I don't?"

"Because you're my little brother," Brandon answered. "No matter how grown up you think you are, or I think you are, you're still my little brother. I don't want you to live eleven hundred miles away. Besides, mom's acting like a hoochie... you don't wanna be around that, do you?"

Noah had always been the more emotional of the two boys. He loved his mother, and wanted very much to live with her, but if she was going to be making out with Jared in front of them all the time, he'd rather stay with his dad. At least he and Sara were discreet about their affection. The push and pull of the situation was getting him a little upset.

"I…I just wanna be with Mom for a while, Brandon," he confessed. It was what he wanted, and their father had taught them to stand up for what they wanted, because no one else would. "But I don't want to see that all the time," he said.

"Well, that's what you're gonna get 24/7," Brandon said. "And do you really wanna leave Colin and the twins and even Charlie for that?"

They were interrupted by a knock at the opening of the living room. It was their dad, looking concerned. "Boys," he stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked towards them. "I can see you're both still upset about this whole thing. But I don't think today is a good time to be making any decisions about where you live."

"I've already decided," Brandon said quickly. "I'm not gonna live with THAT."

"You're upset," Nick reminded him. "And we don't know if Jared's gonna be there for sure."

"You heard her, Dad!" Brandon raised his voice. "They're engaged. He's gonna be living there, and by the time we've lived there for a couple days, they'll probably be having sex in front of us."

"Brandon," Nick's voice had a warning tone to it. His oldest was getting almost irate and he could see Noah looking down at his feet, keeping quiet. All too much, Brandon got to dictate what he and Noah thought, always being thought of as a pair because of who their biological parents were. "Enough. I understand how you feel, but you need to calm down, man," he advised his son.

Brandon sighed loudly and shook his head, pacing around. Nick observed Noah for a few moments, and knew there was something he needed to get out. "Noah, what are you thinking about?" Nick asked him gently.

Noah looked up at his father with tears in his eyes and it nearly broke Nick's heart. "I don't know, Dad," he practically whispered.

Nick thought for a moment and then raised a hand and clapped his younger son on the shoulder. "I think you're thinking about something and I'd really like to know what it is."

"Why does it have to be about Mom's family and our family?" Noah asked very quietly. "Why can't it all just be one family?"

"That's part of being divorced kid," Nick answered, wishing he had a better explanation. "We don't expect you to love any one member of your family more than any other."

"But who counts as my family?" Noah asked. "You and Mom and Brandon? You, Sara, the twins, Colin, Charlie, and Brandon? Or, some variation of the two?"

"A variation," Nick answered, this time more confidently. "We're all your family, each and every one of us. And for now so is Jared. And Uncle Warrick, Aunt Catherine, Chandler, and Molly. And uncle Greg, Troy, Rachel, and Liam. And... everyone else."

"That's a lot of people," Noah laughed a bit. "But I mean real family Dad."

"This is your real family kid," Nick told him gently. "Look you don't have to choose between your mom and me. We both love you. It's not a contest and it's not a choice. We're both always gonna be here for you."

"Seems more like mom wants to be here for herself," Noah spat. "And Brandon's not making it any easier for her to pick us."

"You can't blame your brother or your mom for that," Nick told his son. "Sometimes things about our life situations just suck. You can't always lay blame."

"Yeah right," Noah rolled his eyes. "Mom doesn't like being with us for a reason Dad."

It troubled Nick that his son thought his mother didn't want him around. The reason she wasn't around was more a problem of distance, not at all whether she wanted them around or not. She guilt-tripped him all the time about not having the boys. Divorce and visitation was a messy thing, and Nick wished he could make it all better, but some things in life were just hard.

"Buddy, that's not true," Nick corrected his son. "She wants you around so bad. You know it's just about the distance."

"She didn't have to move!" Noah pointed out. "She could've stayed here if she really wanted to, but she didn't."

"That was so hard for her to move, Noah," Nick reminded her. "And she misses you two so much every day. Believe me, she wishes you could be together, and she wishes we all lived nearby."

"If she misses us so much, maybe she should move back instead of making us choose between you and her."

Nick looked at his son sympathetically and pulled him into a hug. "I know it's hard. And I think today, you both have been pretty upset, so don't be makin' any choices today, alright? Let's just try to enjoy Colin's birthday."

They heard the sliding door open, and Catherine poked her head in. "Hey, we're about to do the cake and ice cream!" She called, knowing several party members were inside. She needed to get to the kitchen to find the ice cream, but didn't want to intrude, knowing some intense conversations were going on.

Nick heard a squeal from upstairs. Marley was still up there with Molly changing. Though by now they'd probably resorted to playing with some of the upstairs toys. "Caaaake!" The five year old yelled and they heard her footsteps running.

Nick pulled away from his son. "You alright?"

Noah wiped at his cheeks with the back of his hand, trying to shake his emotions off. Brandon had since sat down on the couch with his arms crossed. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Want me to help with the ice cream?"

"Sure, man, that'd be great," Nick told him, squeezing his shoulder. "Go tell Catherine."

Marley came bounding down the stairs, full of smiles, and had seemingly forgotten all about her misbehavior earlier. She tended to get over things pretty quickly. Though she was still in trouble, Nick thought it would be cruel not to let her have cake and ice cream. She saw Noah and bounded over to him.

"Noah, let's go get cake!!"