Isabelle hesitated, a needle hovering over her midsection. What was she doing? She didn't really trust this project. In reality, she was trusting it less and less the more failed subjects they gained. "Failure leads to success," they said. "It's for a good cause," they said. But, as time went on, it seemed like Ashley's dream was farther and farther away.

Ashley. Isabelle thought, I'm sorry. We were so close. But, if the next few fail.... This entire project was a waste. I don't want to abandon you but... I keep praying for a miracle, Ashley. That maybe we'll have a successful subject. That maybe we'll have many successful subjects. That maybe you'll just... come back. And we can put this aside. But... I've waited too long. This is my last chance to help you. So I have to try.

She held her breath. For Ashley. Before she could second guess herself, she shoved the needle into her chest, injecting the serum inside into her child. At least, that's what they assumed happened. No one was exactly sure. And no one has the desire to find out.

Only once the purple serum had been completely emptied did she release her breath. Tears brimmed her eyes, making her surroundings fuzzy, as if someone had draped a thick layer of gauze over her sight. Isabelle buried her face in her hands and wept silently. So much was on the line now. Ashley. Her child. Even her future children. It had to be worth it.

"Mama?" Bailey stood in the doorway to Isabelle's room, looking at her mom with obvious concern.

Quickly Isabelle composed herself, wiping the years off her face and standing up, "Bailey, sweetheart," she picked up the toddler, "You're supposed to be sleeping."

"Mama sad?"

Isabelle smiled, "Not anymore, baby. Come on. Let's go to sleep."

______________________

"This is boring!" Hayden complained.

Harper smiled, "I thought you wanted to run the blender."

"I did. But nobody wants anything!"

"I'm sure someone will want a smoothie soon, Hayden."

Hayden pouted and say down on the counter, staring jealously at Thomas through the window separating the rooms, "Why can't I run the money machine?"

"You said you wanted the blender."

"But now I want the money machine!"

Harper rolled her eyes, but her smile never wavered. She and Hayden had only just gotten to the cafe, and only one person had walked through the door. Hayden was just impatient, "Maybe you guys can switch in a few minutes. Be patient."

Hayden grumbled something mentioning "Thomas" and "spoiled" before turning back to his blender, dropping a few berries in and watching them get churned into a liquidy mess. Harper watched him for a little bit before going back to her own job. Washing dishes that hadn't been cleaned the night before. What a fun job! Normally she was the cashier, but with Thomas at the counter, her job was taken. So she started cleaning dishes. While she loved her brothers, she really was dreading the day when they would start working at the cafe with her.

A cry of frustration drew her attention to Thomas, who couldn't seem to open the right screen. Bailey was trying to help him while apologizing to the patient lady waiting for him, but she barely knew what she was doing too. With a sigh, Harper walked over to the counter. "Everything good, Thomas?"

Bailey sent her an apologetic look, "Register stopped working."

"You're smart!" Thomas exclaimed, "Fix it!"

Harper could barely resist rolling her eyes as she leaned over and tapped the power button. Immediately the screen flickered to life. She stole a sideways glance at Bailey, who stood there, staring at the power button in complete embarrassment.

"Woah, you fixed it!" Thomas exclaimed in awe, as if he hadn't thought she would actually do it, "How?"

Harper smirked, "You turned the register off, Thomas."

Thomas looked between the register and Harper a few times with an expression that told her that he didn't think he could've been the cause of the problem. He looked around - Maybe for someone else named Thomas who would dare turn off his register - before looking back. "...what? No, the register was on. I made sure. I turned it on twice!"

Harper held in her laugh, though she couldn't keep a small chuckle from escaping her lips, "I think that may be your problem," she looked at the woman at the counter, "Sorry, ma'am."

The woman smiled softly, "That's alright, dear. I'm not in a rush."

Looking back at Thomas, who was still trying to understand what she meant, she nodded with her chin towards the woman, "Maybe you should take her order."

With that, she left a stammering Thomas with Bailey and went back to her job, though she could hear her brother trip over his words as he tried to take the woman's order. As she went back, she saw Hayden laughing quietly at his place by the blender, which was running at a high power though there was nothing inside it, "You still want to run the register?"

Hayden shook his head and burst into another round of laughter, "He turned it off!"

"Yep!"

"That's so stupid! Why would he do that?"

"I don't know! Why is he blender still running of nothing's in it?"

Hayden paused for a moment before quickly flipping the switch on the blender, turning it off, "I was trying to hide my laughing," he explained as he dropped some strawberries in - though Harper had no clue where those came from. Last she checked they were all out of strawberries.

"That was probably smart. Don't want Thomas charging in and leaving his job."

Hayden nodded vigorously and flipped the blender back on, turning his berries into mush. "He'd be really mad!" He yelled over the noise.

"Probably!" Harper laughed as she went back to the sink.

For a time only the sound of the blender and running water filled the room. Suddenly the blender turned off. Harper turned around and saw Hayden sitting there, thinking hard about something. "What's up?" Harper asked. Turning the faucet off and standing, she walked over to her brother and sat across from him.

"...Is everything going to stay like this, Harper?"

"What do you mean?"

Hayden knotted his fingers together as he spoke, "Like, are we going to have any more problems? Is mom going to come back? Will we lose this?" he gestured around the room. When he met her eyes, they looked big and afraid, "You won't leave, will you?"

Harper didn't even hesitate before replying, "Never. I'm never leaving. And this is our home now. Mom can try to take us away, but it won't work. Don't worry." She put both of her hands on his, "We'll be ok."

Hayden paused before nodding, "Ok."

The two of them sat quietly until the front door swung open, the little bell on top ringing frantically. Logan walked in and looked around for a moment before talking to Thomas. He kept his voice quiet enough that Harper and Hayden couldn't hear him through the window, but when he met Hayden's eyes and pointed at him, Hayden grinned and pulled his little container of berries a bit closer to him. Harper smiled and went back to her job, Hayden's worries still circulating in her mind.

Wow! An update on a Thursday! I decided to live up to my goals and actually try to update during the week, though I feel like Thursday is cheating (especially since I don't have school tomorrow) but it's progress.

As I said, I don't have school tomorrow. I actually have a five day weekend (starting tomorrow) and I want to try to update almost every day of that weekend. So, if you guys could find a way to remind me to write, my appreciation would be grand. I'm not very good with remembering to write, but I want to get this story done so I can focus a bit more on my other stories. I still love constructive criticism, though.

Well, I think that's all for now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see y'all later! Bye!