His Attention

17 years later.

"Nicholas and Naomi Cooper! I swear to God! Get back here!" I shout. The twins giggle and keep running away with my phone. I groan loudly and stop chasing them. I'm twenty nine now, married to Toni with two kids and another one on the way. Toni and I took over my father's business the second we said "I do".

Which left my sister to take over my mom's fashion business. Kenzie and Gia are her most trusted employees. Not surprisingly. Speaking of them, Kenzie and Andrew ended things a few years ago. She and Noah talked and she still loves him very much. They got married last year actually.

Gia is...well still single. She's happy with it though. Single life with no kids gives her time for partying. She's still a teenager I swear. Riley and Jackson got married a month after I did and have one kid, a boy, named Henry.

He and my twins are inseparable, scaring me. They will end up in jail one day for robbing a bank. Oh, right jail. Mom and Dad's trials went well. They were sentenced to life in prison.

As for Astrid...she went back to her town and never settled down or anything. She goes from guy to guy. Her Instagram is full of hundreds of guys. Courtney actually did get married believe it or not. To a girl. I don't know her name but Courtney seems happy...and less insane.

Randy...well he hasn't changed. Like at all...nothing has changed. Mr and Mrs Cooper are still happily married and come over frequently.

"Mommy!" A scream breaks me out of my thoughts. I run into the kid's room where they are huddling together in a corner. "What's wrong?" I ask worried. Nick points to a giant ass black spider. I scream and pick up my four year olds. "Toni!" I yell. He bursts in after hearing mine and our children's screams.

"What's wrong? Is everyone okay? Someone hurt?" He asks. We point to the spider making him sigh. "It's smaller then all of you. Seriously, it won't hurt you." He says frustrated.

"So is a grenade." Naomi points out. I nod in agreement, not even questioning how she knows what a grenade is. Antonio rubs his temple and walks over to the spider, killing it. I put the kids down and hug my husband.

"Thanks for saving us." I say sweetly. He scoffs. "You were hardly in danger." I shrug and grin at him. He leans down and captures my lips in his. I smile into the kiss and wrap my arms around his neck. "Eww!" Nicholas and Naomi whine.

"Don't torture your poor kids." My sister says teasingly. I break away and chuckle. "I never should've gave you a key." She shrugs innocently. "Aunty Riley." Naomi says sweetly. Ri looks down at my daughter and grins. "Don't bother asking hun. Henry is downstairs." My kids grin and push Riley aside to play with their cousin.

"Ready?" My sister asks. I take a deep breath and pull away from my man. "You and Jackson better keep an eye on those three. They're trouble." I playfully remind him. He smiles and kisses my nose. "Don't worry about us babe." I roll my eyes.

"It's my job Toni." I say, walking towards my sister and waving him goodbye. I follow my sister to her car and slide into the passenger seat. I said everything was going good. It's not a lie, but we haven't gotten closure. The two of us haven't made any attempt at visiting our parents. Until today that is.

We are on our way to the prison now to visit them. "I'm not sure I'm completely ready." She admits on our way. I release a breath I didn't know I was holding. "Me neither. But we need to know why they did what they did. We could've been a happy, normal family Ri. They didn't have to treat us like dirt." I explain.

She sighs. "I know I know...I'm just nervous." I laugh slightly. "So am I." She glances over and offers her hand. I take it and squeeze reassuringly. She smiles and squeezes back.

"Wasn't expecting this." Dad taunts. He and mom sit on one side of the glass and stare at us. We slowly take a seat and stare right back. "We need answers." My voice comes out surprisingly strong, the complete opposite of what I'm feeling.

"Ask away. Thanks to you two, we have nothing but time." Mom scowls. "Why did you hate us?" Ri questions. Our parents laugh bitterly. "Do. Not did. We still hate you." Dad says coolly.

"To answer your question though, you were greedy, money stealing bitches." Our mother spits. Uh...excuse me....what? "We never stole your money." I point out frustrated. Dad huffs. "You did. Your rooms and shit. Food. Clothes. That money could've been spent on us if you two were never born."

Selfish much? "And now you two imbeciles have taken over our businesses! Selfish pigs." How does that make us selfish? Riley stands up abruptly, making her chair fall over. She leans forward, up against the glass.

"If you never wanted kids, you should've never had any. You both are selfish, greedy, ungrateful trolls! You ruined our lives, made us live in hell. I was in the hospital because Dad stabbed me for christ sake! And Mom, the way you beat us that night! You are sickos who need help. I hope this life sentence, teaches you a lesson." My sister says evenly before walking out.

I smirk. "You heard her. Have fun in your own hell now bitches." I flip them off and strut out. "That was intense." I mutter. Riley nods and starts driving back home. That was hardly closure, but I get to go home to my family now and forget what happened. Today is Sunday though.

After everything that has happened, my friends and I all agreed we need one day a week to get together and let loose. Sunday is that day. "Do you think the boys are handling everything well?"

"Of course.''

---------------------------------

I spoke to soon. Toni was struggling to cook on the grill while Naomi pulled at his leg. Jackson was attempting to carry drinks outside and Henry was jumping on him. Where is Nick? "Mommy!" Henry shouts, running to Riley. She picks him up and looks around. "Hi Mama!" Nick says happily.

I look over at him chilling on the couch with a picture book in his hand, which makes me smile. "Thank God you two are back." Jackson says sighing. I leave them inside and join my daughter and husband by the grill. "Naomi, sweetie, let daddy cook. Okay?" She lets go of her dad and jumps into my arms instead.

I laugh and wink at my husband before walking over and placing her on the trampoline. "Jump on this. Not your parents missy." I tease her. She giggles and starts bouncing. "Chris! Gia is here!" I rush instead and meet the girls by the door. "Finally! We could use the help. The kids are crazy and we can't get anything done." I complain.

My cousin laughs. "I'll worry about the kids. You get everything ready." She assures us. We thank her and head to the kitchen. "I'll make the salad. Can you make your awesome onion dip?" I nod. Between the five of us, everything is done and ready by the time Kenzie and Noah arrive.

"Hey guys." The kids instantly jump on them. "Woah. We haven't even been in here five minutes." Noah exclaims, tickling his niece. She giggles and calls for the boys to save her. Henry and Nick attack Noah to save the "damsel in distress".

"How'd it go earlier?" Kenz asks me and Riley. "Tense. I flipped out on them." Ri admits sheepishly. Kenzie laughs. "I expected nothing less." She teases, swinging her arms over our shoulders and leading us to my backyard. "Burgers are ready!"

We all sit around the picnic table laughing, teasing each other and even, in Riley's case, resorting to violence as a defense mechanism. Jackson has a long life ahead of him. Lunch was amazing and, as I look around at my family, I smile.

We all went through a lot, but in the end, we made it out okay. We really are a picture perfect family.

"Smile!"

Click.