While cooking lunch and baking a cake with Rachel, Beth was forced to tell her life story to Rachel on which she almost started crying. Again. Beth started wondering if there was something they could talk about without making Rachel cry. "So, uh, how did you and Vincent meet? If I may know." There was a pause until she heard her sniffling. 'You're kidding me, right?' Beth asked herself while turning to Rachel, ready to apologize for asking. "Ugh, don't worry, I was cutting onions. They always make me cry.", 'Why am I not surprised? Stop it, Beth, you're being bitchy. Wait, I have an idea; why don't you ask her to lend you some of her feelings, since you got none?' Beth stopped peeling carrot she was holding and sighed. Seriously, was she just…? Jesus, it's been a long time since she talked to herself.
"We met in high school. I remember it as it was yesterday. Vince was rebellious, but also did well at school. It all started when he sat behind me and kept poking me in the back with his pen until I took it from him and broke in half. He didn't leave me alone since then." Rachel said with a smile and maybe even chuckled while remembering. "You are together since high school?", "Yes. As I said, he didn't leave me alone. We even went to the same college together. He was quite a pest in the beginning, but once I got to know him…" and now she giggled. "That is so nice to hear." Beth commented and continued peeling the carrot. It really was. When you're with someone you met as a girl and you love each other even after all those years behind you… Cute as hell.

By the time boys came back from the meeting, Rachel and Beth were done with the lunch.
"Welcome home, darling. How did the meeting go?" Rachel greeted her husband while Beth rushed to hug Sebastian; she felt an urge to hug him tightly. "I'm glad you're back." She muttered into his shoulder and kissed him. "Did something happen?" he asked confusedly on which Beth simply shook her head. "No, I'm just happy you're here, that's all.", "Hey, Ciel! Oh, how great you're here, I missed you!" everyone turned to Ciel's awful imitation of a girly voice and gave him a questionable look. "What? I want someone to welcome me, too." He answered and went upstairs to his room to change clothes. "Yeah, I think I'll change, too.", "Can't wait to eat, I'm starving." Vincent and Sebastian talked mutually while walking upstairs. "Well, I'm about to set the table.", "I'll help."

Not even half an hour passed after lunch when guests arrived. Beth wasn't sure if it was arranged or not, but they sure were family. "Elizabeth, this is my sister, Francis Midford, her husband Alexis Leon, son Edward and her daughter, your namesake Elizabeth." Vincent introduced his family to Beth. "Hello, I'm Elizabeth Brant, it is nice to meet you." She introduced herself and smiled at each of them. When they sat down on the couch and started talking about general themes, Beth studied each of them. Francis, if she remembered correctly, seemed as a strict woman mainly because of her indifferent face and upright seating. Her blond hair was tied in a bun with one long, curled cowlick falling down. She wore beige Capri pants and a white sleeveless blouse, which made her look elegant. At least from Beth's point of view. Edward, her son, was kind of flustered and kept his head away from Beth, talking to Ciel about something. His sister, Elizabeth, looked very cute with her long, golden-blond curls falling down to her waist. To make the image perfect, she wore slight pink dress which reached her knees and the matching shoes. Beth felt weird calling a 20-year-old girl cute, but damn it. At least she looked 20. And to finish her study, the father, Alexis, was the most relaxed one in the family. He was cheerful and casually talked to Vincent, laughing his heart out. His hair was grey, but had indications of blond hair.
"Beth, could you come and help me, please?" Rachel kindly asked Beth and she nodded while standing up and followed her to the kitchen.

"Okay, quick introduction." Rachel said in a lower voice than usual while preparing tea and coffee. "Francis seems stringent, but is actually quite respectful, if you're consistent of being respected, though. She's a sincere critic and doesn't know to embellish the truth. Deal with it somehow. Her husband, Alexis… everyone calls him Alex, except Francis; she calls everyone by their full name. Anyway, Alex is in one word, carefree, since Francis is there to take care of everything." Beth wasn't sure why was Rachel telling her about them, but she was thankful; not everyone would do that.
As Rachel kept talking, Beth opened the cookies Rachel handed her and shook them out into the bowl. "Edward is proud, just like his mother, but can't quite 'stand' girls. Especially those like you. And me." To simplify the sentence, Rachel showed with her eyes to Beth's breasts. "Oh… Well, that explains a lot.", "Yeah. And Elizabeth, who everyone calls 'Lizzy', is kind of childish, despite her age. She is 19, in case you wondered and Edward is 21." Rachel finished with preparing beverages and talking at the same time and sighed at the end. "They always drink the same, so there is no point in asking." She smiled and gave one tray to Beth, on which were cups with tea and cookies while she carried the other one, with coffee, sugar and milk.

"It's on, Michaelis.", "Go for it, Midford." Francis and Vincent were staring at each other, ready to start their round of arm wrestling. "Ready…go!" Rachel, the judge, gave the signal and two siblings started. "Is this for real?" Beth, still not believing what happened in the past minute, asked Sebastian who was watching with an amusement. "It sure is. Every time they start quarreling about something, it turns out like this." It began with Vincent proposing swimming in the pool and Francis disagreeing. Then they were divided in two teams for arm wrestling; Michaelis and Midford. Beth, instead of being a judge, was in the Michaelis team. They even got numbers.
"Your family is weird. I like it." Beth whispered to Sebastian and he hugged her around the waist and watched the match like that.
Cries like 'You can do it, mom!' and 'You're doing great!' were going on for a minute until Vincent won and smirked to his sister. "Strong as ever." He complimented her while standing up. "You're no worse than me.", "Match number two. Who is next?" Rachel announced seriously, like a real judge. Next were Alex and Ciel. Beth thought that Ciel was going to win, but the old man was tougher than he looked; their match was on for 10 seconds. "Match number three.", "I'm sorry, Lizzy, I'm not making it personal." Sebastian apologized to Lizzy before they started, there were no questions about this one. At least he pretended he was struggling. Adorable.
"Match number four." This one was Beth's and Edward was her opponent. 'We're going to lose this one.' She said to herself as she sat in front of the coffee table they set up for this show. Edward's palm was sweaty, but his grip was firm. As soon as Rachel gave the signal, they began, but their hands were still in the same position as on the start. 'Okay, I'm not that strong and he's not that weak.' It got suspicious to Beth since Edward was the same age as her so it was logical he'd be stronger. But then it occurred to her. She remembered Rachel's words about him and his weakness, if it could be called a weakness. She heard cheers for her and Edward and slightly smiled. This family sure knows how to have fun.
Now, Beth's not a dirty player, but this was for the sake of team Michaelis… or at least she was assuring herself in that. She leaned a bit forward, acting as if she's trying hard to win and waited for the moment. When Edward lowered his look and gasped sharply, Beth quickly pinned his arm to the table and secured the victory. "Team Michaelis wins."
"It was fun while it lasted." Vincent said with a victorious smile on his face. "Now everyone go change, it's time for a rougher game."

"You knew, didn't you?" Sebastian's question reached Beth's ears and she turned to him with a confused look. There was a cunning smile on his face and she knew what he was talking about. "Excuse me?" she asked, pretending she didn't understand while tying her bathing suit in their room. "You can stop playing innocent now, we're alone." Tiny tingling went down her spine when his breath tickled Beth's earlobe as he was helping her with tying. Her simple smirk revealed her and Sebastian's pretentious laughter echoed through the room. "I knew it. Playing dirty, huh? Did mom tell you? While you were 'helping' her earlier?", "Oh, shut up." She said with a smile and slightly hit him in the ribs with her elbow.
"By the way." Beth said before Sebastian left to the bathroom. "Yes?", "Have I ever told you how I love your calves?", "My… calves?" he asked, looking at the back of his legs. "Yeah. They're so… round and… fleshy. Very attractive.", "Don't stare, you're embarrassing me! Pervert!" he yelled and rushed to the bathroom while Beth was laughing. "Idiot."

"Yeah, I knew it." Sebastian murmured while looking at the net on the middle of the pool that Vincent set up. "Water volleyball?" Beth asked while putting her towel over one of the chairs that were next to the pool. "Yes. And in case you want your towel to be dry, put it in the safer distance." She listened what he said and put their towels closer to the door. The pool was inside the house, rectangular shape with blue tiles that gave the impression of one of those competition pools. The room the pool was in had glass windows and door that gave view of the backyard. In two corners were large, green houseplants. All in all, it was charming.
After everyone showed up, they had to draw numbers, again, so they could be divided in two teams, justly. Beth was with Sebastian, Ciel and Lizzy; Vincent, Francis, Alex and Edward were in the other team while Rachel was the judge. 'The fuck is going on with this family?' Beth wondered while looking at the males. They were all tall and well-toned, even Francis. As if they were athletes. Which, in their case, wouldn't be surprising.
The other team served first, but the ball went off the court. "Sorry! It's been a long time since I played." Francis apologized and got ready for another serve. For some strange reason, Beth felt like some blood will be spilled. Luckily, she knew how to play since their P.E. teacher made them play either volleyball or basketball back in high school.
For the first five minutes, the other team was in lead up to 4 points until the tables have turned and the luck passed to Beth's team. Lizzy, despite her feminine figure, had a strong kick and, along Ciel and Sebastian, secured few points. Beth managed to hit only 5 or 6 balls since one of her teammates snatched her chance of hitting. Those people were brutal. The water in the pool reached their lower chest so it was easy to jump, which gave them chance to jump high and hammer the ball into the opponent's court.
Before the end of the match, Vincent called for time-out so they could plan their strategy. Beth's team did the same. There wasn't a lot of negotiation; they just changed the positions and… yeah, they only did that. Beth and Ciel were in front, while Sebastian and Lizzy were behind them. The last serve of the game went to Francis who shot it to Ciel. Instead of hitting it back, he tossed it to Beth, much to her very own surprise. To use her chance, she jumped and hit the ball, aiming for the surface of the water. "Edward!" someone shouted before the ball hit him in the middle of the face. "I'm okay." Edward uttered while holding his nose. Only now occurred to Beth why she was on the front line; so Edward would stare at her while she was jumping and forget about everything else.
"We won!" a group consisting of three people, Sebastian, Lizzy and Ciel, happily celebrated their victory while Beth was watching them with disapproval. "Brats, you did that on purpose." She said, looking at each of them, especially Sebastian who must have been the brain of that plan. "But hon, you already got used to playing dirty. You should be proud." Sebastian said with a mocking voice to Beth and ended up splashed with water.

"Rain? But it was so sunny yesterday." Beth said when she came to the kitchen the next morning and looked out the window, only to see rain pouring down. "Well, crap. And I meant to take you sightseeing today." Sebastian said while standing next to her. "Sorry, kids, but the weather here is changeable. You already forgot, Sebastian?", "I guess." He shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of coffee, still staring outside.
Their stuff were already in the suitcases, ready to go, but will have to wait until lunch.
"Vince, could you go to the town, please? I'm out of milk and I really need it.", "Oh, don't worry mom, I'll go. I meant to go after, but since you need milk…", "Fine, I don't care who goes, just bring me my milk." Rachel impatiently said and rushed him to go. Beth, who was sitting at the table, had an awful feeling storming in her body and her leg was restlessly bouncing up and down.

It's been 45 minutes since Sebastian left. Beth thought she was being paranoid because he didn't come back yet, but Rachel and Vincent started to worry, too. She asked Vincent how many minutes were there to reach the town and when he said 10, she couldn't sit anymore. Vincent was reading newspapers, but would often turn his look to the window. Everyone twitched when the phone suddenly started ringing. Rachel quickly answered and Beth intensely listened to her conversation. "Yes, you did. I am. What about him? He's what?!" Now Vincent stood up, too and turned to Rachel, as same as Beth. Her heart seemed as it was going to explode from how fast it was beating. This situation seemed like déjà vu of what happened 2, no, 3 years ago.
Rachel barely put the phone back into its place while she covered her mouth and leaned on the wall, with tears flowing down her face. "Rachel! Rachel! What happened? Who was it?" Vincent asked while leading Rachel to the nearest chair so she could sit down. "They called… from the hospital… They… they said Sebastian… car crash…" she couldn't talk anymore. Crying and sobbing took over her.
Beth thought she was going to throw up. Her knees buckled and she ended up on floor, breathing heavily. It was happening again.

Yay, we're reaching the end. Just a little more, you can do it :)