The Harper Brothers: All Bets Are Off (Wattpad Version)

It's not goodbye, but see you soon

Rafe

The semester ended with everyone returning home except for Bailey. She stayed on campus to participate in a summer dance program for twinkle toes.

Dad, Owen, and Oliver arrived to help us get our shit together and bring our asses home. I'm guessing they wanted to ensure they didn't forget one of us, or Ma would blow a nut.

It wasn't the first time Dad had forgotten one of us somewhere. Let's see. He forgot Val at the hardware store. He left Pat at the bakery. Romeo wandered the grocery store until Dad returned to find him with many women. I came out of the bathroom at the restaurant to discover my family had left. And he forgot to pick up Marty from school.

"Are you packed?" Dad asked, glancing at the boxes.

"Yeah, and I did an idiot check, unlike you." I smirked.

Dad shot me a look and rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't hurt me to leave your ass here."

"It might if you don't return with me and Ma finds out." I shrugged.

"Smartass."

I chuckled as Dad lifted a box and carried it out of my bedroom to the car.

Reese strolled into the bedroom. "What's up with your dad?"

"Oh, he's pissy because I reminded him not to lose one of us."

Reese arched her brow.

"Dad had a habit of losing one of us in a public place and encountering Ma's wrath."

"How do you lose your kids?"

"When you have five, one's bound to get lost." I shrugged.

Reese giggled as she helped me carry boxes out to the car.

********
Marty

I folded the flaps of the remaining box and glanced at my bedroom. I didn't mind going home, but it would suck with Bailey staying here for the summer.

Dad checked on me. "Ready?"

"Yeah." I sighed.

"What's wrong?"

"It's going to suck not to see Bailey this summer." I shrugged.

"You can video chat and call each other."

"It's not the same. Bailey is my best friend."

"Yeah, I remember when I left for college. Your Ma and I didn't see much of each other."

"But you stayed in touch, right?"

"For a while, but life got busy. We saw less and less of each other during those four years. Conversations became infrequent."

"So, what changed?"

"I came home from college to discover this beautiful woman living next door to me and dating Bradley Wilson."

My brows lifted as my mouth went slack.

Dad clapped my shoulder and leaned into me. "Her relationship with Bradley didn't last." Dad smiled.

My lips curled upward.

"My suggestion is to give Bailey a reason to wait for you."

I nodded as Dad grabbed a box and took it to the car. I grabbed another box and hauled it to the car. As we loaded our stuff into the cars, everyone was talking.

"That should do it." Dad loaded the last box and closed the hatch.

"I told Wendy we would be home in three hours depending on traffic and our stops," Owen said.