The clock could not move nearly fast enough and Colton sighed as he watched the hand tick slowly around the face. He knew the time would pass, he just didn't know when. Lindsay had told him to stop watching the clock and even gave him things to do, but he always came back to sit in front of the clock and watch it tick. Ben sat beside him, staring at the clock too but not knowing why.

"Boys, stop watching the clock."

"But mama, I have to know when it's time."

"I know that, but-"

"I have to watch and Ben is helping."

Lindsay shrugged her shoulders and gave up, figuring that if they weren't whining about it, it wasn't a problem. She went back into their bedroom to get their overnight bags ready while the boys kept vigil in the living room.

"Hey Qwerty, c'mere. Look at the clock with us."

The dog walked over and sat down on Colton's other side, and they all fell into silence.

"Budder?"

"Yeah Ben?"

"Why?" he asked, pointing at the clock.

"When the long part is on the number six and the little part is on the number five, that is when Austin will come over and get us. Then we will go to their house to spend the night."

"Mama daddy?"

"Mama and daddy is gonna stay here. I don't know what they is gonna do, but I bet they are gonna play with our toys."

Ben's eyes popped to twice their normal size and his mouth dropped open.

"Yes?"

"I bet so, Ben. I bet so," Colton sighed, wrapping his arm around his brother's shoulders.

"Dunner?"

"Yup, you could play with Junior and I will play with Isa and Sarah. You guys will prob'ly have to go to sleep early 'cuz you're littler than us."

"Oh."

"But I bet Austin will give you popcorn first."

"Po'corn!"

"Yep."

The front door opened and they both jumped to their feet, running across the room and grabbing onto Austin's legs.

"Hey dudes."

"You are here a'fore the clock said so!"

"Yeah, I made good time."

"Didja get some bad guys today, Austin?" Colton asked curiously, noticing that she was still armed.

"Nah, mostly I just made fun of Flack."

"You is always teasing peoples Austin."

"That's my job."

"No, your job is bein' a police!"

"I guess you're right."

"I know I am right. That's why I said that."

"You sound like your mama."

"You'd better mean that nice, Messer," Lindsay said, bring the boys backpacks out.

"I always mean every insult nicely."

"Well at least you're consistent."

"So what are you two doing tonight?" Austin asked, taking the bags and swinging Ben up into her arms.

"I don't know. Maybe just go to bed early."

"Well I already guessed that…"

"I meant to sleep."

"Linds."

"And the other thing, but mostly sleep!"

"What other thing?" Colton asked.

"Pillow fights," they both responded.

"Oh wow! I wanna do that!"

"We'll see," Austin chuckled. "You ready to go?"

"I been ready all the day long."

"I figured as much."

"Let's get outta here!"

"Aren't you gonna say bye to your mama?"

"Bye mama. Later."

"Hey! That's not a proper goodbye young man."

He sighed and walked over to her, giving her a tight hug.

"I see you in the morning, mama. I love you."

"I love you too. Be good."

"Mm'kay."

She kissed Ben goodbye and they headed out the door, Colton grabbing onto Austin's free hand.

"Hey Austin?"

"Yeah?"

"I said to Ben that we might get popcorn. I did not tell a lie, right?"

"I think we could probably have popcorn."

"You is the best."

"Colt! Sarah, Colt's here!"

"Yup, here I am," Colton announced, dropping his backpack on the floor. "What is we gonna do first?"

"Well, I don't actually know," Isa sighed, crossing her arms. "Daddy said Sarah could pick."

"Well Sarah? What we gonna do?"

"Din'saurs," she answered definitively. "I eatin' trees."

"Ahh!" Isa screamed. "I are a tree! Run away!"

The older kids took off into the bedroom while Austin settled Ben on the ground next to Junior.

"Hi Binyin."

"Hi Dunner."

"Les'go."

"Okay."

They walked into Junior's bedroom and sat on the floor. Junior pulled a plastic basket of toys over to them and handed Ben a fire truck.

"Pirepuck."

"Oh?"

"Uh-huh," Junior replied, taking his own truck out of the basket. "There."

They made siren noises and raced the trucks around the bedroom, Junior jabbering as if he was a fireman, and Ben answering as if he knew what was going on.

"Boys, I need help!" Danny said from the doorway. "There's a fire out here!"

They both jumped up and ran into the other room, Junior shouting when he saw the pile of orange and red blankets in the middle of the floor. Ben wasn't sure what the commotion was, it was just blankets, but he decided to go along with it.

"Oh no! Binyin!" Junior shrieked, pointing to a blue washcloth. Ben stared at him for a moment, then watched as he threw a similar washcloth onto the blankets.

"Wadder!"

"Oh," Ben sighed, tossing the washcloth where Junior indicated.

"Yeah, put that fire out dude," Danny coached. Ben smiled and picked up another washcloth and helped Junior put out the fire.

"Yay!"

Their victory was short lived, however, as the big kids ran through and trampled the pile of blankets.

"No!" Junior shouted, stomping his foot. "Isa!"

"What? We was playing first!"

"No, bad!"

"You're bad!"

"DADDY!" they both wailed while Sarah covered her ears and Colton giggled. Ben stood there with his finger in his mouth and watched as they continued to argue. Junior pushed Isa and she pushed him back, knocking him to the ground.

"No, 'Sa!" Ben hollered, stomping over to her. "No."

"He push me first!"

"No yellin'," Sarah sighed while Colton dropped his arm around her shoulders.

"What is going on in here?" Austin asked, her hands on her hips.

"'Sa no! Dunner!" Ben said, trying so hard to convey the fact that his best friend had been slighted.

"Nu-uh! He pushed me first, ma!"

"Isabeth-"

"Ow!" Junior shrieked, as if he was really injured, falling all the way back to the ground and putting on very impressive fake tears.

"Daniel Messer, that's enough," Austin said, hauling him to his feet. "You two say you're sorry."

"Sorry, Isa."

"I'm not sorry. He pushed me first."

"Isabeth."

"No, ma. Not gonna."

"Then you can go sit in the corner."

"But we have guests," she whispered.

"Then you need to be nice and say sorry to your brother."

"But-"

"No buts, Isabeth."

"Goin' to the corner," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and stomping off to the stepstool in the corner. Sarah took Colton's hand and pulled him into the other room while Ben and Junior stood staring at their destructed fire.

"Want me to help you make a new one?" Austin asked. Junior shook his head.

"Binyin. Come on."

Austin cleaned up the mess as the boys headed back to Juniors room. Halfway there, Junior detoured into the bathroom, tiptoeing inside and closing the door behind them.

"What, Dunner?"

Junior pulled the toilet paper and handed it to Ben.

"In'nere Binyin."

Ben stood there for a second. He knew that playing in the bathroom and putting things in the toilet at his house was a bad idea. It tended to make mama and daddy upset. But maybe things were different at Junior's house. Carefully, he put the end of the toilet paper into the toilet.

"Loud," Junior warned, reaching for the handle.

They both laughed as the paper spun off the roll and was sucked down the drain, but backed away when the toilet started to overflow.

"Uh-oh. Bad."

"Binyin?"

"Hmm?"

"Run 'way!"

They ran out of the bathroom and smack dab into Danny who was coming to investigate.

"What did you boys do?"

They stayed quiet and smiled, rocking back and forth on their heels until Danny sighed.

"The big kids are coloring, why don't you two join them?"

They skipped back into the kitchen and found the markers, sneaking them off the table when Austin wasn't looking. They didn't need to talk about this one, they were both pretty excited to be coloring on anything, but could not be limited to paper. They stood there for a second, both feeling the fright of knowing they had a very short amount of time to make their mark as it were. Eyes drifted over the room until they spotted their unsuspecting victim.

"Elbis?"

"Elbis."

They headed for the old greyhound and popped the lids off their markers, adorning his stomach with vivid colors. He didn't seem to mind, just stared at them for a moment before laying his head back down on the floor. They colored for a few more minutes, giggling until they heard footsteps.

"What did you two do?" Austin exclaimed, surprised but not mad.

"Pretty!" Ben offered, pointing at Elvis.

"Oh dear."

"Isa, I not wanna smell yours stinkin' feet," Colton grumbled, pushing Isa's feet away from his face. "We's wrestlin' not grossin' each other out."

Isa laughed and tackled him and he scrambled out from underneath her, waiting until the precise second when she wasn't paying close enough attention, and tackled her back. They laughed as Sarah joined them, her main wrestling weapon being tickling. They all rolled around on the floor for a while, wrestling and laughing until they were exhausted.

"Hey Isa?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I call my mama? I just wanna tell her I love her."

"You don't wanna go home right?"

"Um… a little."

"But we don't want you to leave!"

"Yeah. Stay. We love you," Sarah agreed, giggling and poking his arm.

"Okay. But I still wanna call my mama."

"I will ask. Ma! Colt wantsa call Indy!"

"Just a minute," Austin hollered back from the other room where she was fighting Ben and Junior into their pajamas.

"She said just a minute," Isa reported, as if they hadn't heard. "Want fishy crackers?"

"Yeah!"

"I get 'em."

She went into the kitchen and Colton and Sarah sat in silence for a minute.

"You sad for your mama?" Sarah asked softly, patting his knee.

"Nope, I'm okay, Sarah. I be here when I not at home."

Giggling, she tackled him back to the floor and patted his cheek.

"Know what?"

"Huh?"

"You my best friend."

"Mama say I could get two best friends. So you is mine too. And Isa."

She smiled as Isa came back into the room with a box of crackers.

"Dig in!"

They all ate happily for a while, playing with the crackers and creating an entire underwater world on their sleeping bags.

"You kids ready to watch a movie?"

"Yeah! Can we watch the 'Cred'bles movie?"

"Sure. Want to trade your fishy crackers for popcorn?"

"Yep!"

Austin put the movie in and grabbed the crackers, going into the kitchen to make popcorn. The kids all snuggled into their sleeping bags and gravitated to each other until they were one big pile of kid. Ben cuddled up to Colton and slid his thumb in his mouth. He was getting a little homesick for his own mama and his own bed, but he didn't want to cry in front of everyone, so he needed his brother.

"Hey Ben, it's okay. We see mama in the mornin'."

"My mama."

"She would give us snuggles huh?"

"Yes."

"And maybe she would tell us stories 'bout bein' a little girl in Totana with her big brothers pickin' on her. And daddy would give us squeeze hugs a'fore we falled asleep."

"Yep."

"What's you two talking 'bout?" Isa asked as she sat up.

"Just brother stuff," Colton answered. "You not understand it, Isa. You is a sister."

"You are awful and mean!"

"Not my fault you is a girl!"

"Ma! Colt called me a girl!"

"Perish the thought."

"That is not very nice! I could be a boy too if I wanted to. I just don't want to."

"Hell gots no fury," Colton said with a shake of his head.

"What?" Austin chuckled, setting the bowl of popcorn down on the floor.

"That's what daddy say when mama's carryin' on 'bout somethin'."

"Oh really? What does mama carry on about?"

"When she's tellin' daddy stuff and he's playin' the video games. And he say "Yeah babe, gotcha," and she throws a pillow at his head and calls him a jerk and he just laughin' and then she starts chewin' him out and then he say that thing and she tells him to shut up and then they kiss and laugh."

"How often does this happen?"

"Oh, 'bouts every night."

"I'm not surprised. Alright, you kids can watch the movie and then it's time for sleep."

"Okay. You gonna go 'way so we can watch?" Isa asked.

"Sure," Austin chuckled, watching as the kids moved into more comfortable positions, not caring that someone's elbow was in someone else's face, or that they were almost all twisted into Picasso versions of themselves.

"I don't know where one kid ends and the other begins," Danny muttered, coming to stand next to her.

"I don't think they do either."

"Isa, I will trade you a bite of mine for a bite of yours," Colton offered, showing her his blueberry poptart."

"Um… okay!" she agreed, leaning over and taking a bite of his breakfast. They grinned at each other as they shared food, while Austin sighed and shook her head.

"Hurry up and eat, we've got places to go and people to see."

"Like who? Who?" Sarah asked insistently.

"Like the guy at the shoe store, Miss Growin' Toes."

"Oh. Colton and Benjamin gonna get new shoes too?"

"No, they're goin' with daddy and he's going to take them home. Speaking of which… Danny, you're gonna be late."

"Yeah, I'm comin'," he said, sliding his wallet into his back pocket. "You boys ready?"

"Yep, I am. Come on Ben. We's goin' with uncle Danny."

"Yay!" Ben hollered. "Unca Dan."

They said goodbye to the other kids and each took one of Danny's hands, following him out the door.

"Could we ride your mocorcycle?"

"Motorcycle? Nah, your mama would be very, very upset if I let you ride it. Maybe someday when you're older I'll take you."

"That could be awesome."

"Yeah, I think so too."

"Are you goin' to work?"

"Yeah, after I drop you off."

"Do you miss mama workin' with you like before she was sick?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Maybe she will get better soon."

"She's gettin' there. Sometimes it takes a while."

"Danny, is my daddy gonna get sick too? He is so tired like mama was."

"Nah, your daddy's the real kind of tired. He's working a lot and trying to take care of you boys and your mama."

"Everything's gonna get better, right?"

"Yep. I promise."

"I really missed gettin' hugs and kisses last night," Colton sighed as the door closed behind Danny.

"I did too," Lindsay confessed, kneeling down in front of him and pulling him in for a hug.

"Austin gave us lotsa hugs and kisses, but it not the same."

"No, it's not."

Ben toddled over and snuck between them, not wanting to be left out of this.

"I like sleepin' over there, but I like when I comin' home too. Even when I get to be a big man like daddy, I could still live here, right?"

"I don't know if you'll want to then, but you can live with me and daddy as long as you want."

"Okay. I will live here forever, except maybe I will move away when I get married."

"Where are you going to move to?"

"Phil'delphia."

"Really? How come?"

"I like sayin' the name."

"Good reason. What about you Ben? Wanna live with mama and daddy forever?"

"Nope!"

"Well where are you going to live?"

"Dunner, 'Sa, 'Sa-'Sa."

"You're going to live with Junior, Isa and Sarah?"

He nodded and grinned.

"Love, mama."

"I love you too."

"Mama, where's daddy?"

"He's in the shower getting ready for work."

"He will be out soon so I could hug him, right?"

"Yeah, I think he'll like that."

"I will go wait by the door. Could you bring me a book?"

"Sure."

"Hey mama, I just gots one question."

"What's that?"

"We is all gonna be a family forever, right?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Even Austin and Danny and the kids?"

"Always. No matter what, they will always be our family."

"Good. A'cuz I love our family and I would be sad if they were just friends."

"I would be too, buddy."

He smiled and kissed her cheek before sitting down by the bathroom door. He was happy and for the first time in a while, he felt really, really safe. Everything was going to be just fine.