I don't know

Epilogue

Archie nibbled his lip as he fingers the envelope in his hand. He was too scared to open it yet he was curious to what was in it.

It was the day they got their GCSE results back and Archie, Lucia and Austin were gathered with other parents and Yr11 students who were receiving their results. Many people were celebrating and some were talking to teachers on what to do about failed grades. Some were taking photos and some people hadn't even opened their results yet. Like Archie.

Archie shuddered, handing his letter to his mom. 'Open it. I can't even look at it.'

'It's not that deep is it?' Austin asked as Archie glared daggers at him. Not a time to mess with Archie James.

Lucia shook her head as she gently opened the letter and pulled the paper out. Archie shut his eyes tightly that paper was what Archie's life depended on. Ok, maybe he was being a tad bit dramatic but he had been studying for these for 5 years! 5 years!

A grin grew upon Lucia's face as she hugged Archie tightly. His eyes fluttered open as his cheeks tinged pink to being hugged by his mother in public but he hugged her back.

'What happened?' he asked, his eyes shifting from his mom to the paper.  Austin looked confused until he read them over his mom's shoulder.

'Ooooh.'

Lucia smiled and handed it to Archie. 'Read it, hun.'

Archie breathed out as he unfolded the paper...

Archie James-

 11K

The Grove Secondary School and Sixth Form Centre

English - 7

Maths - 6

ICT - 7

Woodwork - 7

French - 5

Geography - 6

P.E - 8

Science - 6

Art and Design - 8

Archie's face broke out into a grin. They weren't the best but he passed all of his classes! He hugged his mom, taking her aback.

'What happened?' Austin asked, looking confused but happy.

'I passed all my classes. My best grade was P.E and Art and Design. I got an 8!' Archie cried, hugging Austin.

'Well then, we best celebrate?' Lucia asked as Archie hugged her yet again.

'Yes we can. Cuz I passed French. I Dunno how I did that.' Archie said as he remembered all the times he fell asleep in French and his Dad was called in.

Austin was reading over the paper as he asked his mom a question, 'Didn't Anthony get a 9 in a subject?'

'Yeah in Spanish.' Archie retorted as Austin burst out laughing and Lucia rolled her eyes.

'Your brother uses his brain in the wrong situations. He won't use it when it's needed though' Lucia sighed as she slung one arm around Archie and the other around Austin as they walked to the car.

~~~

'I'm so proud of you brother!' Anthony shrieked as he looked over Archie's results. Damon, Ally and him had come over to celebrate and they were going over Archie's scores.

'Those are good mate!' Damon said as he high-fived Archie. Archie had not lost his grin since he read his results. He even grinned as he ate.

'Archie those are really good!' Ally said as she hugged him. Archie thanked the three of them and began talking to Damon about his A-Levels. He was going to continue going to Sixth Form at his current school [which also had a sixth form centre with it]. He was taking 3 A-Levels; Mathematics, Physics and  Art and Design for a career in architecture. It was something he'd been looking into for a while.

'What's a GCSE?' Cam asked as he and his sisters were playing catch the ball.

'Don't you worry about that just yet.' Anthony said, ruffling Cam's hair.

'I think it's a type of sweet?' Sierra shrugged as she threw the ball to Sydney. The adults let out a laugh as Anthony imagined what careers would best fit his children.

'So Austin, you've chosen your GCSE's, haven't you?' Ally asked as Austin nodded.

'Yeah. I took Computer Science, ICT, History, Religion and Mandarin. And the compulsory subjects with Further Maths.' Austin said as he drank some orange juice.

'Damn those are sophisticated.' Damon said, chuckling a bit. 'But then you were the brightest of us all.'

'Aren't you a lawyer? Last time I checked you need quite sophisticated A-Levels.' Austin remarked as Damon looked at Lucia.

'He's got me there.'

Anthony then in the mood for a sudden toast, stood upon a chair and lifted his glass up, spilling orange juice over his shirt.

'To Archie's amazing GCSE's and to Austin's incredibly sophisticated ones!' he said, making all of them laugh.

'Can we get McDonalds?' Archie asked. 'I'm craving the nuggets.'

'Me too! I also want the fries.' Anthony said as he hit Damon with a pillow for no reason at all. Damon retaliated as a pillow fight broke out. 

'Sheila's not even here to put an end to this.' Ally sighed as she shook her head at the two.

Lucia shook her head as she opened her phone and opened the app for McDonalds. She ordered 2 happy meals especially for Damon and Anthony. And she made sure they both got a toy. Heaven forbid they get a book and actually learn something.

~~~

The day overall was a great one. After the food got here, everyone went out into the garden to play. The triplets were playing tag, Damon and Anthony [who finally started acting like humans again] were talking about the latest cricket match. Ally and Lucia were indulged in a talk about Ally's recent case. Archie played with his nieces and nephew as Austin watched them.

'Archie, you need to get tinier hands. Your hands are too long that's why you keep catching us.' Sydney pouted as she crossed her arms and stared at her Uncle.

'Yeah Archie. You need tinier less lanky hands.' Austin sniggered as Archie put his younger brother in a headlock.

Damon and Anthony spit out some of the orange juice they were drinking as they burst out into laughter. Lucia and Ally joined them as Archie let Austin go.

Ever since Tom died, life wasn't the same and it would never be the same again. But some changes were bad and some were good. Like Anthony and Archie's relationship was fixed but Lucia now had to discipline her children more.

They had a long way to go, but they made a good start.