Last kid raised by Benjamin Hayes Grier

Chapter 1

Hi, I'm Bentley Grier and I am 10 years old. I'm my parents' forth and last child. Because of the huge age gap between my older siblings and I, We didn't really grow up together. When I was two years old, my older brother Jacob graduated High school and moved away.

Then when I was 4 years old, my sisters both graduated high school and moved away as well. I pretty much felt like an only child for the next two years. At least they still came and visited as much as they could. Sadly when I was 6 years old my brother had passed away from cancer.

The sadder part was that his wife was pregnant with their first child when he had passed away. After he had died, she came and stayed with us for awhile. 

After she had the baby, she left for a month to do some 'business'. She came back after she was done with what she had to do and moved into the guest house with my niece.

Ever since then, I just kind of acted like her big brother. I'm mean, she kinda is my little sister. Now she's four years old and can do a lot more things with me, like play video games and hide-n-seek. She also comes and visits me at school every single day and eats lunch with me.

I enjoy her coming to my school and eating lunch with me everyday, since I don't really have that many friends. 

My favorite thing to do with Alaya is cuddling on the couch while watching A dog's purpose. It was my brother's favorite movie, so I try to watch it every single day so I can feel like he's with me. 

I still have that baseball cap that he gave me the day he went off to college. I keep it on my dresser in a see through case. 

I also have a few of his old shirts that I sleep in every night. Mom gave them to me when he had passed away, to help me sleep better at night. 

Right now I am in my clubhouse with Alaya spying on the new neighbors. We are kind of hoping that they have kids around our ages, so that we can have some friends to play with.

"I see...a girl...and another one and two boys." I said as four kids ranging from about 3 or 4 years old to 10 or 11 years old. The girls were the oldest and youngest and the boys were in the middle.

We watched them for a few more minutes until i noticed the older girl ask the mom something, then all four of them started walking towards the house.

We quickly but carefully climbed down out of the clubhouse then ran inside and pretended to be playing with Alaya's baby dolls.

A few moments later, there was a knock on the door, then we could hear heavy footsteps walking from the kitchen to the front door. 

We kinda just stood there and listened to the conversation that was happening about 20 feet away. After a couple of minutes, dad walked over to us with the four kids.

"This is my son Bentley and granddaughter Alaya, guys these are our new neighbors, Ellie, Maverick, Maddox and Harper." My dad said introducing us. "Hi..." I said kinda awkwardly since I'm usually a really shy kid.

"Hi." Ellie said with a bright smile. Dad patted my back, then walked back into the kitchen to finish what he was working on.

"So...How old are you guys?" I asked as I picked up one of Alaya's dolls and put it in the little crib thing. "I'm 10, my brothers are both 6 and my sister is 4. What about you guys?" Ellie responded for the four of them. 

"I'm 10 and she's 4." I answered. "Nice." Ellie said. Ellie and I kinda just sat down on the couch and talked a little while Alaya and Harper played with dolls and the boys kinda just wrestled. 

"So, are you an only child?" Ellie asked. "Well, Obviously not, I have a niece." I said with a laugh. "Oh yeah duh!" She said laughing at her own stupid question. "Yeah, I had a older brother and I have two older sisters." 

"Had?" She asked confused. "Yeah, he died 4 years ago." "Aw, I'm sorry." She said then hugged me. I hesitated but hugged her back. 

"Ooh Ellie has a boyfriend!" One of her brothers shouted. I never understood why other kids did that. Like can't boys and girls just be friends?

"Shut it Mav." She said and sent him a death glare. He stuck his tongue out at her, then went back to wrestling with his brother.

"So..how old are your sisters?" She asked putting her attention back on me. "They're both 24." "Are they twins?" She asked curiously. "Yup." "So are my brothers." "Cool." 

We both kinda got quiet as we tried to think of something else to say. Great I'm thinking too hard about thinking about what to say, that I can't think of anything.

"I'm home!" Kazzy said loudly as she walked into the house. "Mommy!" Alaya yelled then got up and ran towards her mom.

A few seconds later Kazzy walked into the playroom with Alaya on her hip. "Hey Ben, who are your friends?" She asked. "These are our new neighbors, Ellie, Maverick, Maddox and Harper." 

"It's nice to meet you guys, I'm Alaya's mom." She said with a smile. "Hi." Ellie and Harper said while the boys just continued to wrestle. 

"I want ice cream." Alaya said then gave her mom the look she always gives people when she wants something. "From the freezer?" Kazzy asked hoping that Alaya wouldn't make her take her to the ice cream shop. "No." Alaya said with an angry pout.

"Fine, go grab your shoes." Kazzy said with a sigh as she put Alaya down. Alaya ran out of the room and Kazzy sat down on the couch next to me.

"She is so much like her dad...It's a blessing and a curse." She said throwing her head back dramatically. "What do you mean?" I asked. "All they ever want is ice cream." "Everyone wants ice cream sometimes." I said kinda confused why she is being so dramatic about it.

"No, mean, If they could, they would eat ice cream for every meal. Your brother actually did that once, for a month. Ice cream and french fries was all he ate and somehow he lost weight." 

"How do you lose weight when all you eat is ice cream and fries?" I asked confused. "I have no clue, it's not like he was working out, all he did was lay in bed." "Weird." 

She just nodded then Alaya came back with her shoes in her hands. Kazzy put her shoes on her feet and tied the laces then picked her up and left after saying bye.

"Is she a model or something?" Ellie asked. "What?" I asked confused. "Your niece's mom, is she a model? She's really pretty." "I don't think so, but I honestly don't pay attention." 

We talked about random things for a little longer, then it started to get late, so they all left and I went upstairs and started working on my math project that is due tomorrow.