"I'm never doing that again." I groaned, placing a hand to my forehead and lying back down on the floor.
Nix laughed, probably still doped on whatever he took the previous night, "None of us will be doing that because we're all going to fucking jail, isn't that fun?"
Pessimistic bitch.
For once I have to agree.
"Where's.." I trailed off, propping myself up against the wall and noticing everyone else scattered across the room in awkward positions.
Xander had his feet in Cairo's face, who kept sneezing and Remi had his legs propped up against the window practically sleeping on his neck. Aurora was hugging Reid's leg for some reason while Dalton had his head rested on my stomach for some reason. Brinley still had glitter and a cowboy hat on, resting half off the couch and half over the edge. Jaden was resting on my shoulder and Nix was obviously awake.
I stood up, moving a pillow under Jaden's head and propping Dalton up against the wall after accidentally dropping him back down.
I grabbed my phone, sitting next to Brinley, and checked the 147 missed calls off my family. Before dealing with that, I pressed on Phoenix's contact, waiting to hear the familiar voice mail.
"Phoenix here, leave a message. Or don't, because I actually don't like anyone."
I smiled softly, hearing the bored tone in his voice. Neither of us knew that those would be the only words I would be able to hear from him again.
Taking a deep breath and wiping my eyes, I decided to face some of our problems and called my mom, hoping she was doing okay.
"Carter? Thank god you picked up I thought something had happened. Are you and your brothers okay?" She asked me, panic filling her voice.
"We're all fine, sorry for not picking up. Brin suggested we make the most of our time left." I told her sadly, pushing out the inevitable thoughts.
"I'm so sorry for all of this. I'd like to blame it all on one person but we should've known that there wasn't much time left until someone figured it out. We deserve this, but you guys don't. You weren't given a choice and I'll always regret that I couldn't take better care of you all. But you have to know that I love each one of you unconditionally, no matter what happens." I could hear the shakiness in her tone and my brows furrowed.
"Mom, what's going on?" Everyone seemed to wake up at that question and Nix took a seat next to me while simultaneously dragging Remi with him. Xander and Cairo shot up, bashing heads and cursing but stood in front of us with confused expressions.
"I'm going away for a while now, " Her voice cracked and I felt tears building up in my eyes, "We never really got the reunion I hoped for did we? I promise we all will though, no matter how long it takes us to get back to each other. I love all of you, more than anything and anyone in this world. Don't ever forget that. Be strong."
At that we heard the dial tone and I was positively in tears as I shot up from the couch, moving around the room to find the remote to turn the tv on. I felt like I was drowning when I finally turned it on, under all the pressure of the past; the future that was far from certain.
It was the same news reporter from the previous day who spoke, no remorse in her tone for the family she was documenting the downfall of.
How could any of us expect to have remorse though, we were the bad guys, and we had lived the lie for too long.
"It was only yesterday that Alexander Hunt, the long time boss of the American Mafia was locked up for life without any chance of ever getting released. This morning the most involved people in the business, his siblings, were also jailed. Reuben, Creed and Damon Hunt for life. Wyatt, Zane and Victoria Hunt for fifteen years. I suspect we'll only have to wait another day until more people that have been mercilessly taking our families away for years are also locked up."
I covered my mouth with the back of my hand while tears streamed free from my eyes, rolling down my cheeks. My mom was gone, again. I hadn't even spent more than four months with her, but she was one of the most important people to me.
Xander left the room with tears blurring his vision and Cairo followed. Liza and Zeke were comforting Remi while Nix was just leaning against the wall drinking.
I was glad Brinley hadn't woke up yet. I didn't want to tell her that along with her brother and mom, her dad was also going away. But I would be there for her, no matter what.
Nix looked down at me with a blank expression when I took the liquor from him and set it down on the table, the underlying anger in his eyes simmering down when I hugged him.
"We'll find out who told the police." I stated as he slowly returned the hug.
He rested his chin on the top of my head and I felt him nod, "We will, and they won't get away with ruining us."
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