The next day, I'm lying in bed when I hear my niece and nephew walk down the hall. Putting the doona over my head, I wait for them to enter my room. The door handle moves and the door swings open. Their small feet make noise as they approach the bed.

Pulling the cover back, I yell. "Boo,"

Mia jumps and nearly falls off the bed. With my quick reflexes, I pull her into my arms and start kissing her. She starts giggling, and then I move over to Logan.

Logan looks at my fingers as I move them back. "No, not the tickle monster."

I start tickling him, and he laughs.

Looking at the door, I see Kat and Seb. They have huge smiles on their faces.

"Momma," Logan laughs. "Help me."

Kat folds her arms and leans against her husband. "I can't help you out, bud. That's something you need to work out with Aunt Liz."

"Breakfast ready," Dad calls down the hall.

Logan gets out of grasp and yells. "I'm hungry."

He runs out the door and to the kitchen.

"Logan," Kat yells. "DON'T RUN IN THE HOUSE."

Mia's stomach rumbles, and she hides her head in the crook of my neck. "I'm hungry."

Picking her up, I carry her down the long maroon hall and stop at the top of the stairs. "Do you want to walk down the stairs?"

She shakes her head.

Holding onto the rail, I walk down the stairs with my niece in my arms. Being careful, I made it down the stairs without falling.

When I get closer to the kitchen, I hear male voices and recognise them immediately as my brother, whom I haven't spoken to in a long time.

Jasper is the first person I see. Standing up, he walks over to me and says, "Hey, Sis. How are you?"

"Good," I step around him and head to the table. Putting Mia in her high chair, I grab some fruit and place it in front of her. Sitting next to her, I grab a muffin and some fruit.

Since my brothers stopped talking to me long ago, I think it's best that I continue what they started. If they apologise for everything they've done for me, I may consider talking to them more.

Mom looks at me and says, "Is everything alright, Eliza?" She can tell something happened between my brother and me. When I don't say anything, she looks at them. "Boys, what's going on between your sister and you?"

Dylan shifts uncomfortably under Mom's gaze, and he says. "Nothing, everything is great between us."

Her gaze connects with my other brothers. "Are you going to tell me? I'll find everything out from Eliza after you leave if you're not. She's protecting you while we're all together, but she won't when you leave this afternoon."
Kat walks into the room with her husband at her side. She looks at the guys and says. "What the eff are you doing here?"

Mom waits for a response, and when he doesn't say anything, she looks towards Dad and says. "Make them talk. You're better at being the bad guy." She stands up. "I'm going to my room. Can you bring my food up to my room?" Holding onto the wall, she makes her way out of the room, dragging her right foot.

Jasper watches Mom move out of the room. "Wait, Mom." He walks over to her and says. "She's unhappy with us because we haven't spoken to her since..."

"Since when Jasper?"

"After you had your stroke. We weren't happy she chose to stay home and care for you. She should have gone to University, and right now, she'd have her own family, but she doesn't because she chose to take care of you and help Dad with everything around the house."

Mom slaps him across the face. "How could you be so selfish? Your sister put everything on the line to help us out. She did her university degree online and was at the top of her class. If she had graduated with everyone, she would have graduated with honours. How's that for someone who put their life on hold to help raise her younger sister and help me around the house?" She looks from Jasper to Dylan. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE. UNTIL YOU APOLOGISE TO YOUR SISTER I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU."

Dad stands and moves to her side. "You heard your mother. Get out." He helps her out of the room and to their bedroom.

Kat looks at them and says. "Grab your food. You can eat it in the car. Next time you come here, make sure you've made amends with Liza."

The rest of us start walking out of the dining room when Dylan says. "Eliza, I'm so sorry for only calling you when I need money. I've got someone managing that for me, and I won't need your help. Can you please forgive me?"

Turning towards him, I say, "You're only apologising to me now because Mom is kicking you out of her house. Call me when you say it. See you around." With Mia in my arms, I carry her to the TV room, and we put on The Little Mermaid.

Kat sits next to me, and she wraps her arms around me. "I didn't know they were going to come around. I haven't spoken to them since Thursday night when I told them I was bringing the kids here for the weekend."

"Are they going somewhere for the weekend, or did they just stop by for a day trip to spend time with us?"

"I think they wanted to spend time with my kids and me. We would catch up on weekends in the City, and the kids would play at the park while we caught up." She looks at the door. "I'm sorry they came at the wrong time. I hoped they would sort things out with you before showing up."

Hugging my sister, I say. "It's not your fault, Kat. They showed up knowing I wouldn't welcome them here because of what they did to me. It's not easy to forgive them for abandoning me when I needed them the most. All three of you had lives outside of this town, which is something I couldn't change. You came home often and always called me to see how I was doing. You know more about my life than our brothers do. The truth is they weren't interested in anything I did. Our brothers and sisters care about themselves. The first chance Nina and Chloe got, they left the house for University and never looked back."

"Do you hate any of us for not sticking around when we could have?"

Shaking my head, I say, "You all are where you're supposed to be. Besides, I never wanted to start a family when I was in my early twenties. Now that I'm nearly twenty-eight, I want to have what the rest of you do.