Fearless

6

"Are we there yet, Mom?" three of Sophie's kids sang as her fifth child giggled wildly in her car seat, and her first rolled his eyes. "Now? Now? Now? Now?"

"I already told you guys, if you don't quiet down we'll never get there," she laughed. She should actually be annoyed but they were going to see Uncle Derek and it was okay if they were that excited.

"Exactly," Brian said firmly as he looked in the rearview mirror, laughing slightly at her goofy grin. "I'll leave you all out for the wolves."

"Uncle Derek would be mad if you did that," Chelsea giggled.

"He can't do that," Jared shrugged as he took his ear buds out of his ears. "There aren't any wolves. Not in Seattle."

"Oh there aren't?" Sophie asked her oldest son.

"It's Seattle, Mom. There isn't anything cool in Seattle."

"Jared..." Sophie rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"Just stop," she sighed. "You like Seattle."

"Whatever."

"You can give the teenager to the wolves, Bri," Sophie groaned under her breath.

"I'm good with that," Brian agreed, squeezing her thigh.

"Saves a lot of money on food."

"And water," her husband laughed, turning down the dirt road.

"Jared, we're giving you to the wolves," Sophie declared, smiling a little wider as they approached the place her brother's trailer was.

"At least wolves don't have three thousand kids."

"But they'll eat you."

"Not if they like me."

"Wolves won't even let you say hi before they tore you to shreds, J," Brian laughed.

"Not the point, Dad."

"It sounds like the point to me."

"I need cooler parents," Jared groaned as he put his earbuds back in.

"We could just give him to Derek," Sophie shrugged.

"What would Derek want with a teenager?"

"I don't know," Sophie sighed and then smiled. "Mark would take a teenager."

"Yeah, Jared's about the age of Lex, isn't he?" Brian smirked.

"Mean, that's mean."

"But true."

"Not true," Sophie shook her head. "Lex is great. But Mark's wanted a mini-Mark forever. He could make Jared into a mini-Mark."

"You'd want our son to turn into a mini-Sloan?" Brian's eyes widened.

"If we gave him to Mark he wouldn't be ours."

"Don't think it works that way, Soph," Brian laughed before putting the car in park. "Okay, spawn of mine, what are the rules?"

"Rules?" Cameron asked.

"Yes, rules when we're at other's people's houses...err...trailers."

"No jumping on things!" Cameron nodded firmly.

"No running around since the trailer is too small," Chelsea reported.

"And?" Sophie urged them on.

"Um..." Liam echoed Cameron.