"You know, I was just thinking..." Justin started.
"Woohoo! We're proud of you!" Brian, Aaron, Angel, Nick and A.J. all said jokingly.
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway! We have a lot of siblings. I have Jonathon and Steven. Two. J.C. has T.J. and Heather. Four Joey has Janine and Steven. Six. Chris is loaded with Molly, Kate, Emily, and Taylor. Ten. Lance has Stacy. Eleven. A.J. doesn't have any. Eleven. Nick has Aaron, Angel, B.J., and Leslie. Fifteen. Brian and Harold. Sixteen. Kevin with Jerald and Tim. Eighteen. And then Howie with Polly, Angela, Caroline, and John. Twenty-two siblings for ten people! Of those, one has passed on and six are half brothers or sisters."
Everyone listened and just nodded along. They all knew Justin was saying this only because he could not stand the silence. Then J.C. and Lance left to go back to the basement.
"Okay, I gotta ask you this. Aaron, Angel, Harold, and Pollyanna, do you guys find it weird to be listening to the radio and then suddenly hear your brother singing? Do you find it gross that all those girls like your brother?" Justin asked.
"No. My brother's voice is really different from his singing voice. When he's singing, he's another person. Now for the girls, I dunno," Aaron answered.
"Yes for the first one and, well, not gross, but strange? Yes, strange," Angel quietly answered.
"Yes, because one day I'm listening to him sing in church, and then I'm listening to him sing on the radio. And it's gross that the girls like HIM!" Harold whined.
"I don't really have feeling about that, other than being proud of you, Howie!" Polly said.
Howie and Nick were really blushing, but Brian was frowning and glaring at his brother.
They all walked off to do their separate activities.
The day quickly passed. They managed to squeeze all fourteen in one room for dinner. Then they all found an activity to keep them occupied until they wanted to go to sleep.
Brian and Angel were writing a story with Tyke sitting nearby. They were writing a fictional story with Angel, Brian, Tyke, Harold, Kevin, B.J., Nick, and J.C. as the main characters. The story was mainly about Brian, Tyke, Angel, and Kevin. They all lived together on a houseboat. Tyke was in charge of keeping someone awake at all times. Then one day they all fell asleep and J.C., Nick, B.J., and Harold all snuck aboard the boat. And, of course, they all became friends and lived happily ever after. It was a dumb story, but they were tired and bored, so they did not mind.
Kevin and Polly were playing Lance and Howie in Trivial Pursuit. They were playing a close game, but Kevin and Polly were slightly ahead.
A.J. and Joey were relaxing in the jacuzzi. A.J. was telling Joey how he been reading some literature by William Shakespeare and the old English had stuck in his head, and that was why he was speaking strangely, but when Justin started acting gay, it just stopped.
J.C. was in his room playing around with his keyboard. It was a mix of practicing, composing, and just fooling around.
One by one they all went to sleep. Polly was sleeping in J.C.'s bed, while Harold and J.C. occupied the two couches. Brian fell asleep hugging Angel tightly. Again, Aaron slept on the floor and Nick in his bed.
The next morning they all woke up around the same time.
"Brian?" Angel whispered. No response. "B-ROK, WAKE UP!!" Angel yelled in his ear.
"What? Huh?" Brian responded sleepily.
"Let go! I can hardly breathe!" Angel informed him.
"Oops. I thought you were my teddy bear!"
"You have a teddy bear?!"
"Well, um...yeah!"
"You're almost twenty-four, and you sleep with a teddy-bear!!!"
"Where's Tyke?" Brian asked. He was trying to change the subject.
"You care more about that dog than everything else in the world combined!"
"Nuh-uh. Well, actually...yeah!"
"Told ya!"
"Aaron!" Brian yelled.
"What?!" Aaron said.
"Does Angel have a history of being a grump in the morning?"
Before Aaron could answer, Angel said, "Nick, does Brian have a history of being a big baby?"
"Yes!" the two brothers answered.
"Let's get some food!" Nick yelled and ran towards the door and down the stairs. Angel, Aaron, and Brian followed.
The four walked into the kitchen, only to find confusion made by sleepy people. J.C. and Chris were arguing again. A.J. was coaching Lance through the omlette-making process. Howie was trying to get plates, glasses, silverware, and everything out of the cabinets. Justin was getting orange juice, apple juice, and other juices out of the refrigerator. Joey was working with Polly to slice fruits. Kevin and Harold were in the corner of the room having a quiet conversation.
Nick and Brian guided Angel and Aaron out of the noisy room and down to the basement before they were noticed.
"Nick, you will never change!" Aaron exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Nick asked innocently.
"You know what I am talking about!" Aaron said.
"Oh, tell, tell! I wanna know!" Brian whined with a puppy dog look pasted across his face.
"Nick is always and has always found ways to get out of work!" Angel answered. Aaron nodded his agreement.
"You know, now that I think of it...he even does that when we're on tour!" Brian said, and Aaron and Angel laughed.
"What?" Nick asked while blushing. The others looked at him. "Okay, okay, so maybe I do do that every now and then...okay, a lot!"
Brian, taking advantage of the moment, joked, "But if he did any work it would ruin this cute little face!" Then Brian pinched his cheek.
Nick was mad in a friendly sort of way. He went to give Brian a playful push, but it was more of a shove. Brian fell into the water backwards. As he fell, he tried to grab for something, anything to hold on to that would prevent him from falling in. He ended up clasping a hold of Angel and dragged her in with him.
"This position, it happens a lot, now doesn't it?" Angel asked.
Brian ducked under water and ignored what she said. Angel grabbed a lock of hair from the top of his head. She yanked him up.
"You know, every moment you Carters seem meaner and meaner," Brian said.
"Oh, really?" Nick yelled.
"Really!" Brian exclaimed.
"I'm agreeing with Brian on this one," Aaron added.
"Aaron, you just dissed yourself. And maybe, just maybe, we've been a teeny weeny bit mean," Angel suggested.
"Oh, you've been more than a teeny weeny bit, but that's okay!" Brian said.
"You're just mad 'cos you're wet!" Nick shouted.
"You're jealous that you're not wet," Brian retorted.
Aaron came up from behind Nick and shoved him in, then he jumped in, also.
"Happy now?" Nick asked as he shook the water form his hair.
"Oh, yeah!" Brian smiled.
Brian dragged Aaron out of the pool and whispered, "C'mon on, A.C., I'm hungry and I wanna see how long it takes for Nick to notice that we're gone."
"Okay, let's go," Aaron replied.
They walked upsatirs, and grabbed some breakfast from the plates of prepared food. The others, who were also eating, just stared, finally Harold spoke, "I think I can say this for everyone when I say, 'I don't even want to know what goes on in your bedroom!'"
"Good, 'cos I'm not gonna tell ya!" Aaron replied.
Everyone laughed and continued eating in amusement.
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