Smiley and Sunshine

66.

(hi #LifeIsRuff Woof Woof )

** SHORT CHAPTER ALERT **

As always, never read over before sending out into the interwebs. Mistakes likely to be found. If too many, will unpublish and fix later.

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Bedtime was craziness in the Powers' household, especially when there were four little monsters rushing around everyone's feet. Everyone being Colton as he was the only one home.

Making him the unofficial babysitter, and the target.

The littlest monster, better known as Sunshine, was the last of the bunch, her toddler legs able to propel her only so fast. Dragging behind her and unintentionally cleaning the dirty wood floor was her beloved blanket, the one she had since she was born. She didn't go anywhere without it, not if she could help it.

Up ahead, her brothers turned the corner fast, escaping from her sight.

"Got you!"

Arms swooped down and scooped up the baby of the family. The tiny tot rolled back and forth in their grasp, but she was no match for the teenage version of Colton. His muscular arms, proof of his dedication to the game of basketball, provided a secure embrace. There was no chance of his little sister falling from his grasp.

"No, no, no, no," Hayes babbled, quickly dissolving into giggles when he blew a raspberry against her cheek.

"Yes, yes, yes" Colton mocked back, wrinkling his nose at her as one her little fingers accidently went up his nose. He thankfully turned his head to the side, Sunshine narrowly avoiding a direct sneeze to the face.

"Bless you!" piped up two little boys as they raced back down the long hallway into the main room, everything easily turned into a competition for the preteen brothers.

The home they occupied was small, with only four bedrooms including the master bedroom to house the rambunctious siblings and their parents. Not that their mom was home much and their dad was overseas.

Nonetheless, the siblings shared their three designated bedrooms amongst the six of them, eight when the oldest brothers were also home. Once upon a time, it was nine but then Charlotte went to sleep-away school and Aussy and Baker went to big boy sleep-away school.

HayHay missed her brothers mucho, heck they all did, which is why the nightly bedtime routine for all the younger siblings finished with Austin and sometimes Baker on the phone to say goodnight.

"Smiley, where are you?" Colton called out for his youngest brother as he herded Emerson and Francis to their bedroom. The three boys shared a room, which surprisingly was not all chaos all the time.

Just most.

"The potty!" Glen shouted back from the hallway bathroom.

"Well make sure you wash your hands!" Colton reminded him, already knowing Smiley would not in fact wash his hands.

The barely turned seven-year-old did not understand the concept of germs.

"Okay!"

"I wanna call Aussy," Hayes exclaimed, bringing Colton's attention to the ball of Sunshine who was now holding on to around his neck like a sloth.

"Hey, it's my turn!" Francis whined, a sourpuss look on his face. He stomped his foot and crossed his arms for the extra dramatic effect.

"Too late," Emerson declared, happily showing off Colton's phone in his hand. The phone in fact was dialing the eldest brother's number as they all glanced at Sonny.