Family Ties

Fifteen Years Later

"Babe, why the fuck did you put mayo in the potato salad? You know I hate the taste of mayo." Darrin complained.

"It's not always about you. Everyone else loves my potato salad." Roxy said, by way of explanation. Even after all these years they still bickered.

"Babe..." He whined and grabbed her around the hips, pulling her back against him. The difference with the bickering now verses way back when, now the bickering always ended with some form of intimacy. Like now, when Darrin nibbled on Roxy's neck making her moan.

"Ugh, would you two cut it out!" Derek, their fourteen-year-old son, said as he entered the kitchen. He wore a disgusted look on his face that they'd seen often. They weren't shy about showing their affection for each other and their two sons had seen maybe more than they should have over the years.

"Where is your brother? This party is for him, and I haven't seen him for a while." Roxy asked and playfully shoved Darrin away.

Derek smirked, "He's...busy."

"Oh fuck." Darrin exclaimed and, pointing at Derek before exiting the room, added, "You should have intervened!"

Roxy followed in time to see Justin pulling his thirteen-year-old daughter, Daphanie, by the arm. He also had ahold of Drake's, Darrin and Roxy's thirteen-year-old son, ear. Justin looked furious, as he sent a glare toward Darrin, "Do you know what I caught these two doing?"

"Oh shit." Roxy winced.

Justin nodded, "Yes, oh shit! They were making out! They're barely thirteen! I sure as hell wasn't doing that at thirteen!"

"You were a late bloomer." Darrin said, which was not the thing to say in that moment. Justin sputtered, unable to form coherent words in response.

"Calm down, Dear." Sophie joined the group.

"Calm down? Did you not hear what was going on with these two?"

Sophie nodded, "I heard. Daphanie, are you alright?"

Daphanie nodded, with unshed tears in her eyes. The girl was clearly embarrassed.

"Good. Drake, are you alright?"

Drake nodded, the best he could with Justin still having ahold of his ear.

"Ok then, why don't you kids refrain from doing any of that for at least a couple more years? Justin let him go and let's have cake." Sophie said, clapping her hands.

Justin released Drake and the kids ran to the backyard for cake. Hunter and Andie had quietly joined the group and Hunter whistled then, "Damn, Sophie, I'm surprised you're not upset."

Sophie sighed, "I am, but what good would it do to yell at them and demand they never do it again. They're going to do it again. If I forbid them, they'd probably do it again before the day ends just to prove that they could. I asked nicely. Let's hope that'll guilt them into keeping their tongues to themselves for a while."

"Sorry guys. Drake is too much like his father." Roxy said, glaring at Darrin.

Darrin threw up his hands, "Hey, I'm innocent this time. I'm not the one in trouble here!"

Derek suddenly peeked his head back in, "Uh, Aunt Andie, the twins are fighting over who gets the piece of cake with the most frosting. I normally wouldn't care, but the way they're fighting the whole cake may end up on the ground and I want a piece!"

Andie threw up her hands now and went out to get control of her ten-year-old twin girls, with Hunter hot on her heels. They had their hand's full with six children. Hunter had wanted a big family and it hadn't taken much convincing to get Andie to agree.

Life had definitely changed for the group. They had twelve kids between them, and the kids kept them hopping. Besides starting families, there were now ten Swigging Shot bars. The guys were still as close as ever. Andie had just published her twelfth novel. Roxy had decided to go to beauty school and now ran her own salon. Sophie had finally gone to college. Her first husband hadn't allowed it, but now she had a degree and just completed her nineth year as a kindergarten teacher.

Life was full of surprises. It had its ups and downs, but they'd faced them together and overcome everything thrown their way. They all knew they were lucky. Friends like them didn't come around often. They knew to hold each other tight and protect them, no matter what came at them. They knew they could face anything together, because they were friends, they were family, and they knew that love could conquer all.