“Alright let's see,” I moved around my parent's living room, Alexander following me, “whiskey lemonade for Cy, coconut rum for Cadie, old fashioned for Cash, lemon drop for Callie, margarita for Cruz, and two whiskey sours for us,” I handed the last drink to Alexander before cuddling onto the couch.

“Thanks,” Cassian cleared his throat, taking a small sip.

“Penny? You don't want something?” I called to my sister-in-law Penelope and she shook her head, laying it against Cassian's arm.

“I can't,” she shrugged, patting her stomach softly, “I'm pregnant. I was about to announce it but… it just felt wrong.”

“I can make you something with no alcohol. Hang on,” Alexander jumped up and walked back to the kitchen. 

I sighed, smiling when Cyrus took the seat on the other side of me, “hey kid.”

“Dude I'm not a kid shut up.”

“You're always a kid to me. Penny? Do you know what you're having?”

“A boy. We already named him. Oliver Maddox Hope.”

“It's perfect,” Calliope smiled before she started to cry and Cadence held her tightly, “I know Papa would be throwing things at us for crying. It's been two days since he left us but I just…”

“You can't force away grief,” Alexander joined us again, handing a drink to Penelope, “it's a virgin margarita. Anyway, when we lost my Papa, my mum tried to hide how badly she was hurting from Zeke and me. My dad tried to shield us as well. But we knew. You have to feel what you need when you need, and how you need. It's best to be transparent and rely on each other. Your children need to see that level of openness. It can also damage your mental health if you keep forcing away what happened or try and ignore it,” he looked pointedly at Cyrus who nodded slightly and looked at the floor, “It's hard right now and it will be for a while. But you have to listen to Sebastian. He promised he was fine and he isn't alone. You 6 have each other to rely on as well as me, Penny, Sunny, Bobby, and Layla. It'll be okay. I swear. Even when the world feels bleak and dark, you're never truly alone.”

“Thank you, wise giant,” Cruz hiccuped, chugging down his drink, “I miss my kid. She's so confused but I knew Sunny was right to take her home. She needed to be with her Papu. I'm too messed up right now to be her dad.”

“And you will be,” Alexander nodded, taking Cruz's drink to the kitchen, “it's totally normal Cruz because there's nothing normal about what's happening. Don't be surprised if your kids seem better than you right now. As if nothing happened. That's how Zeke was. He didn't seem to really process what was happening and seemed confused as to why Mum and Dad didn't take him to the beach like we always did on Sunday or why I didn't want to run around the yard with him. He's 18 years younger than me after all,” he gave Cruz another drink before flopping down next to me, “I basically was his dad for a few weeks as my parents handled everything. I had to try and be as normal as possible for him to make things easier on my mum. It might be weird or frustrating if they aren't processing how you are, but you have to remember to be patient. It'll be easy to be angry right now that they seem fine. They aren't, they just don't know what it really means for someone to pass.”

“I forget your brother is so little,” Calliope smiled, rubbing Cadence on the back, “he's barely older than Carson. We want to meet your family.”

“I plan to bring them here sometime next year. My mum is sending a few things to your grandparents and parents. She understands better than anyone how losing a father feels. He also had a stroke.”

“What's his name?”

“Petteri Akseli Jokela. If you wanted it to be a bit Americanized it would be Peter Axel. My grandma is Beatrice Lucile Graham. They met in London and he stayed in England before they moved to Taupaki when my mum was five. Right next door to my dad's family. My parents live in my grandparent's house now and run their dairy farm. My Koroua, that's my dad's parents, live on the south island. They're both general practice doctors and run their own clinic.”

“So you're Finnish, English, and New Zealander?” Cassian looked at Alexander surprised and he nodded, taking a sip of his drink, “Interesting mix.”

“You're all Portuguese, French, and American. Just as odd as me.”

“Forgot Russian,” Cyrus laughed sadly, his head still on my shoulder, “I miss Papa. I want to call him again.”

“I know,” I sighed, kissing the top of his head, “Me too.”

The front door opened and my parents came inside, Teodoro carrying a stack of letters as Remington carried a bag. They were both red in the face and as soon as Teodoro got close he stole my drink as he placed the envelopes in my lap. I started looking through them, realizing each one was addressed to one of my siblings as well as their partners and myself. The last one was to Alexander and I handed it to him before passing out the rest and sitting down to read my own, a lump in my throat.

Caelan,

Hi, little bear. Been a long time since I called you that, huh? I'm not sure when you'll get this. I wrote it a while ago, I think. If you're reading this, I'm gone. I'm resting with my parents, watching over all of you. I love you. Please never forget that you're one of the brightest parts of my life. I'm so proud of you and everything you've accomplished. I hope you never forget that. You remind me of myself, shutting away your heart so you won't be hurt. But I don't want you to live like I did until I met Sebastian. I want you to find love. You need to understand how beautiful it can be. I'm leaving you a few things. This is my will, after all, split up over multiple letters to my entire family. But yours was special to me because you'll appreciate it and finally know something no one else did. I never even told your Papa. He'd probably kill me if I was still with you. I'm laughing while writing this, I wish you could see how funny I find it. I, Oliver Tyler Hope, being of sound body and mind, leave my home in Whenpaui, New Zealand to my grandson Caelan Lucas Hope. To give him that chance he always wanted to live in New Zealand. I love you, Caelan. I wish I could be there to meet your first child if you have any. Be true to yourself, your heart and mind. Everything is going to be okay. Walk the road in front of you toward peace and light and know that you are always worthy of anything you want in life. Rely on your parents, show them who you really are. Goodnight, I'll see you later.

Papa Oliver.

I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks as I clutched the letter to my chest and looked around at my family. All of my siblings were crying, reading their letters and my parents were smiling from the breakfast island, watching over all of us.

“What did he leave you?” Remington called softly and Cassian was the first to reply.

“Money and his truck.”

“Money,” Cadence and Calliope said at the same time.

“Rights to his stock of Parallel,” Cruz hiccuped, “told me to keep them to accrue interest down the line or cash it out right now.”

“The… ranch,” Cyrus gasped, “what the fuck! I thought you owed it!”

“We do but he asked me to sell it back to him so he could leave it to you,” Remington shrugged, “Caelan?”

“A house. I thought he only owned the castle in Italy and the beach house in Hawaii. What the hell?” I whispered, still staring at my letter.

“What do you mean? Those were the only ones he didn't sell before he married Sebastian.”

“He had one in New Zealand,” I handed the letter to Alexander and he gasped.

“Whenpaui is a really expensive part of Auckland. It's about 30 minutes from Taupaki where I'm from,” Alexander nodded, “do you have a deed or anything?”

“Oh I have another envelope for Caelan hang on,” Remington reached into the bag and handed a manilla envelope to Alexander.

He immediately opened it before letting out a choking sound and I looked at Alexander confused.

“Babe?”

“4.3 million dollar riverfront property. Left to Caelan and Caelan alone.”

“He left us all an equal amount?” Cassian gasped, “We got money but he gave you that equivalent in property. You did always say you wanted to live there.”

“But I'm going to. With Alexi. In our house in Taupaki. I don't want it,” chewing my lip, I looked at Alexander who nodded, “I have no… oh. I'll sell it,” I smiled gently, “I'm sure someone would be happy to buy it. Then I'll split the money up. Between Cozy, Carson, Camden, Ezekiel, and little Oliver. Oh and set some aside for my future child too. Alexi, how much more does your family owe on the farm?”

“750 thousand but uh… your Papa left me a million. So I'll give it to my parents. I don't want it either. Did he leave money to your partners too?” He looked at my siblings and they all nodded, “Caelen, I know this house. I looked at it from the gate, jealous of whoever owned it. Are you sure you don't want it? We'll be closer to our jobs, no need to commute too far daily.”

“We're staying in Taupaki, Alexi. That's our home. We agreed already. It'll be best for us.”

“I will always respect your choices,” he smiled, kissing my cheek, “we can stage and sell it. I'm sure your Papa wouldn't mind.”

“He would love it,” Teodoro nodded, cuddling on Remington’s lap after they found a spot on the couch, “he was the king of respecting people's choices.”

“Oh by the way,” Cassian looked at Penelope and she smiled before nodding, “we're expecting. Another little boy. Oliver Maddox Hope.”

“Really?” Teodoro gasped loudly and Cassian scrunched his nose happily, “Oh, that's amazing! I wish Oliver was here…”

“I told him,” Penelope shrugged, “he was the first to know because we wanted to name the baby after him. The stroke happened a week after.”

“What a blessing. Does anyone else have news?” Remington clapped Cassian on the shoulder, clearly full of pride.

“Callie is pregnant too!” Cadence giggled and Calliope stared at her, “What? You are.”

“Fine. Yes, but I'm only 13 weeks so hush,” Cadence rolled her eyes.

“Wow. So many babies. That makes,” Teodoro looked up at the ceiling, “six grandchildren.”

“Eight,” Cruz whispered and we all stared at him in shock, “Sunny and I are adopting twins. Two little girls. We go get them in a month or so. Just waiting for them to be born. We already named them. Athena Theodora and Artemis Renee.”

“Jesus Christ,” I groaned, “you're all crazy for having this many kids.”

“Um,” Cyrus cleared his throat and I glared at him, “Oh, I'm not having a kid yet. If I do at all. I just uh… met someone. Their name is Ash. Really sweet. Works at a bar I go to quite a bit. We've gone on a few dates and uh… I'm going to see if they want to make it more official.”

“Good for you,” I smiled, hugging Cyrus, “that's great, Cy. Did you… get help for the issue we've been talking about?”

“This is officially my last drink,” he held up his glass with a nod, “I'm an alcoholic with severe addiction issues. I can't keep living this way. I've been going to a therapist and a program. It's going well.”

“Good,” I hugged him again and Alexander patted Cyrus on the top of his head.

“Do you two have anything shocking to share before this day ends?” Teodoro sighed, gesturing to Alexander and me.

“Not that I'm aware of?” I looked at Alexander and he shrugged.

“Other than my family wanting to come out here next year to see the country and meet you guys nope. Oh, but my dad is a twin. Confused Caelan,” Alexander snorted, “if you want anything to be surprising I suppose. His brother is named Harvey.”

“We can't wait to meet your family,” Remington laughed, “they sound lovely.”

“They're sending care packages of snacks and things. Should be here in a week. Mum had my grandma send some stuff from Leeds as well so you'll get a mix of English and New Zealand foods and tea to try.”

“I'll make sure to give our thanks,” Teodoro yawned, looking over all of us, “kids. I know you're sad and hurt. But it's going to be okay. I hate that losing Oliver is what it took to get us all together again outside of Christmas. But I'm grateful to have all my children here.”

“We love you,” I called softly, and Teodoro smiled.

“And we love you all very much.”