THE WAY WE STAY

Chapter 1

RILEY'S P.O.V

"It's not workiiiiing..."

"Daddy, I want the chocolate chips!"

"The right one is loosing the tie too! Look!"

"Nooo..."

I held my breath for a poor five seconds. It has been almost four years with the twins and I still could not bear with our mornings. Headache always comes on time and with the two loud screaming beauties at the dining table... I just had no idea where to start.

"What's with the chaos?" Connor walked down the stairs to the messy area in the kitchen.

"Uncle! Daddy isn't listening to me." Calista was being cranky and asked for Connor's lift.

Connor threw the smirk at me because he knew he just won America's Next Best Uncle, whatever.

"Chocolate chips are coming baby, but no need to scream next time, okay?" I poked Cassandra's nose.

"Let uncle see what is loosing its tie... Oh! Shoe lace is fine though! It only needs a little trick right here, and, there you go!"

Connor calmed Calista down by swinging her around. She giggled at me over Connor's shoulder and I kissed her cheek for that. Toby was being another best uncle in the world, already set the car at the garage to send the two princess off to school. He must loves the twins so much that he sacrificed his glorious morning to drive them.

"Bubye, daddy." Cassandra hugged me.

"Hmm." Calista joined the hug without saying anything, probably felt represented already.

"Be good at school, alright? I love you both so much." I leaned a kiss on both of their pinkish cheeks and let Toby do the magic.

Connor and I saw Toby's struggle in wrapping the girls on their car seaters. He groaned a bit by every kick they made, but he was fine. Finally they drove away.

"If you should master anything in the world with that valedictorian title that you have, brother-"

"It's only two weeks. Give me more time."

Connor laughed at my desperation. He knew exactly how real everything is. To be fair, deep inside my heart I could never thank him and Toby enough for humbly staying at my house to help take care of the kids. This was our rest period after being two months on the road. They could have just ignored me, but they did not.

"If you and Toby were twins, mom would have had the same headache." Connor cracked the silence with his bass-tone laugh.

"That's why I want to hug mom so tightly and say sorry for whatever I've done in the past." I chuckled. "Man, having your own children is different."

"I know." Connor nodded calmly. "I know, you're old."

"Says the man who turns 34 this year." I threw him a chocolate chip Calista left on the table. "You and Liz should get married already."

"So you can get even? Nah, I'm good."

"Yeah, tell that to her. She'll throw you off the street in a snap."

Connor and I had our weird - but almost normal - morning, cleaning the twins' war zone while throwing jokes at each other. I washed the dishes and he cleaned the entire area.

Living in own house is another life challenge to work on. I have been living separately from our family house for four and a half years now. The one I own is about twenty minutes driving distance. Fairly far from our main home, thus the brothers' presence in this lonely property was a huge help.

Few minutes later, Toby came in with the paper bag and three beautiful coffees in it. We quickly grabbed our own and sipped it in a quick peaceful silence.

"Look at us. Damn we're old." I leaned myself on the living room wall.

"Honestly though..." Connor started the painful smirk.

"Stop." I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah you're old, okay, you are. But having the twins is a miracle, huh? You don't beg for such happiness. You just earn it. So don't be so hard on life."

"Hard, how?

"Go outside, meet people. That fluffy fur ball over there, she needs some help with the grass and fresh air." Connor pointed.

"Oh you mean walk with Snow?" I stared at Cassandra's beloved white puppy and its lazy bum. "I can do that."

"Fool yourself, but don't fool me."

"Here we go the next mind puzzle to solve." I groaned at Connor's word trick that I never understand.

"Meet people, dude! It's been almost two years! You expect her to what, knock on your door, kiss the girls, cry and tell you she's sorry?"

Connor's straightforward stab was painful though, I wish he stayed showing off the trick.

"When it's time, Con."

"Don't tell me about the girls getting in your way. They never did." He wrapped my shoulders. "A good wife would have stayed. She left. So she is not a good wife."

"Ha, we're too far off track from chaotic morning to talking about Natasha."

"Actually, we're not." Toby leaned on the couch. "You can start by dropping the girls off to school."

"What about it?" I squinted my eyes.

"Fresh air, exactly." Connor nodded at Toby for being on the same page.

"Don't you realize, that except during tour, you don't really go outside? You haven't driven or picked the girls up from school? You don't do grocery shopping without at least one of us?"

Toby ranted. For one second I thought he was messing around. But the look I captured in his eyes, he meant my condition.

"Has it been that bad?" I chuckled.

"You're the band's center of attention. Basically you own the world." Connor turned the TV on to watch his favorite morning show. "What Toby and I said was, think about it."

"I am."

I rolled my eyes and left the heavy talk on hold. I got their point, but I ignored completely. My main focus in this world is right in front of me. The band is running well as it should be because it has been our breath since the longest we remember. And having full custody of the twins is my miracle in life, I have never had other life goals since.

So I barely kept my head around anything else, let alone attending parties or having an intended afternoon stroll with Snow the puppy in a hope for replacing Natasha, my beautiful, long gone ex wife.

No.