Chapter III

Luna sat on the back of her dad's truck and watched as people arrived for the night races and fun run with a night market they were going to do to help create awareness and raise funds for all mental disorders like PTSD, anxiety, depression, insomnia and so forth. "Who knew that my favorite color would be the color I would race in one day to create awareness for something I'm suffering from?"

"Not me." Cory said.

"Thanks for coming." Luna said.

"You are welcome." Cory said. "It is summer vacation, and I do only work again tomorrow afternoon, plus mom and dad are away for their anniversary."

Luna smiled and she tightened her trainers and smiled when Joy and Greg, one of their other police friends, came to her. "Hey."

"Hey. Dad assigned about ten of us to patrol the perimeter, and Greg and I are market bound." Joy said. "We have a few civvies cops in the crowd as well, but have fun and take care."

"Where is Chase?" Cory asked.

"He is here somewhere." Joy said. "Probably trying some street food before he has to get into his car."

"I would be too, but I'm too nervous to eat right now." Luna said.

"Well you know you can call me if you need some motivation." Joy said.

"Thanks." Luna said. "I need to go."

"Have fun." Joy said and she petted Colt. "Be a good boy."

Luna smiled and she hugged her brother and then geared up properly before she joined everyone else who was doing the early warm up run. She did some stretches and then began running when the horn blew, and she made sure it was an easy pace so Cory could keep up.

"Okay that was the pinnacle of my running career." Cory said when they got to the finish line.

"You guys did well." Chase said coming to them.

"I thought you were driving patrol." Luna said.

"Nope. Someone needs to man the station, so I am on the first three hours shift with Devin." Chase said. "So I excused myself for a minute when I heard your numbers being announced."

Luna nodded and she took the bottle of water from him. "Thanks."

"You are welcome." Chase said and he handed Cory the other bottle. "You guys were seventh. That is not bad for a warm-up run."

"I am not taking on another one." Cory said. "I might join for the five-mile fun run much later."

"Well the guys are going to take turns to run with Luna and Colt, so you don't have to run one of the actual races with her." Chase said.

"Thanks." Cory said. "I need food."

"Let's go and feed you." Chase said and he looked at Luna. "Are you going to eat something now?"

"I have peanut butter bars in the car." Luna said and she smiled when he placed his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"Your next race isn't until everyone is back, so you can at least have a smoothie." Chase said.

"You are on duty." Luna said.

"I know." Chase said. "My dad is the chief of police, and we are here to support the entire cause, but also because a very good friend of the current shift is running in the races as a sufferer, so we all got given a little grace as long as it meant we made sure you and your brother was safe and fed and so on, and as long as we didn't all abandon our posts."

"Fine." Luna said and she took his arm from around her. "But I feel soaked to the skin, and you are in uniform."

Chase smiled and he took her hand and then went to a food cart with her and Cory. He got them both a smoothie packed with nutrients and vitamins as well as all-natural proteins like peanut butter and eggs, and then he took them to a burger stall.

"I just want some nachos." Luna said.

Chase nodded and he handed Cory some money. "Grab whatever you like."

"Thanks Chase." Cory said.

Chase ruffled his hair and then took Luna to a Nachos stand and he got her some super cheesy nachos before they went back to Cory who was already busy devouring a burger. "Someone ran up a good appetite."

Cory nodded and he wiped his mouth with a serviette. "I wasn't sure where you guys were, and I couldn't let this get cold."

"Dig in." Chase said and he sat down next to Luna and enjoyed nibbling on her nachos when she offered him some while watching the young man devour his food. He stood up when he got called over the radio and then kissed Luna's cheek. "I will see you later."

Luna nodded and she smiled when he ruffled Cory's hair before walking off.

"That was really good." Cory said when he had thrown the rubbish away.

"I must agree." Luna said and she stood up. "You have a water station to go and man."

Cory nodded and he hugged her before he left.

Luna smiled and she went to the contestant booth and made sure of her times before she got ready for the next race. She enjoyed running different races, some being endurance and some of them being sprints until midnight when everyone made a break to get water and some food. She had two of her energy bars and then went to where some of the officers were sitting at a table and she sat down next to Chase.

"How would you say it has been going?" Greg asked.

"It has been going good." Luna said. "Some of the races I know I could be doing better in, but I don't want to push myself to the end degree in every race."

"That makes perfect sense." Greg said. "Joy is running the next sprint with you, and after that I will be joining you."

Luna nodded and she laid her head on Chase's shoulder, smiling when he put his arm around her and rested his hand on her waist. "I could use a power nap."

"You are more than welcome to take one." Chase said and he kissed her head. "Maybe we should move to one of the picnic tables with a back."

"Good idea. I'm taking coffee orders." Devin said.

"Coffee all round, just grab a handful of sugars. We all take milk, and remember an extra one for Cor." Joy said.

"That's easy enough." Devin said and he left.

Luna smiled and she went with the group and scooted in when Chase made her go in before him. She laid her head on his shoulder once he was sitting again and drifted off with their lively chatter long before Devin got back with the coffee.

"She is tuckered out." Joy said.

"But this did her the world's good." Chase said and he smiled when Cory came to them with Colt on a leash. "Hey boys."

"Hey." Cory said and he took the coffee Devin handed him. "Thanks."

"You are welcome." Devin said. "How did the water station handle?"

"Good." Cory said and he put some water down for Colt and petted the beautiful dog before he went to a snack stand.

Chase smiled and he looked at Luna and then looked up when he heard familiar voices and he gave a whistle when he saw his mom and June.

"Here you guys are." Sephira said. "The kids are all crashed out and Sarah is watching them since Joel had to go out of town for a night, so we decided to come and see what is happening here."

"Sounds fun." Chase said and he tweaked June's nose. "How are you feeling tonight?"

"I'm okay." June said. "I had my meds and I slept while the little ones were playing around and stuff."

"Good." Chase said. "We can't have you sick all vacation long, can we?"

June shook her head and she smiled when Sephira squeezed her shoulder. "I generally feel better from around eleven until around five. I usually wake up at five getting nauseous if I was sleeping. Mom has been allowing me to be awake when I feel okay so that I could at least have a little fun this vacation, and then I feel awful again from there on. I think the medicine I have to drink at night has something in that makes my body calm down so that I can sleep properly at night."

"What bug do you have?" Greg asked.

"It is some sort of digestive system bug." June said. "It's not contagious like, if I throw up or cough, you will get it, but if I put a spoon in my mouth and you take it, you have a fifty percent chance to get it. That is why I am currently staying with Aunt Seph and Uncle Bry, because Luna and Cor both have to work and cannot really afford to get sick, and the Colton kids have extra mural activities every day, so they are not home through the worst of my nausea spells, and the little ones know they should leave me alone and not feed me anything and so on. I have had it for a week already, and if I say that I do not ever want to throw up again, I don't mean it as a joke."

"Are you sure it is a bug?" Joy asked. "Because stomach bugs rarely last more than forty-eight hours."

"The doctors say it is a bug." June said. "I am on a feeding tube from seven on until around nine at night, depending on when I wake up again at night, and it does nothing, but anything else I eat, like if I eat some market food now, it instantly makes me nauseous."

"That sounds very odd." Joy said. "Have they done x-rays?"

"No. Dad said unless Aunt Seph said we should go for deeper investigation, I just need to go with the flow because I am still a minor, and then he will handle it once they get back." June said.

"I get what you mean, Joy." Sephira said and she kissed June's head. "How about we have x-rays and MRIs done tomorrow?"

"Beats waiting for my dad to get back." June said and she began sobbing. "I just want to feel better already."

"I know, angel." Sephira said. "Let's go walk around a little more and then we will see what we can arrange, okay?"

June nodded and she wiped her cheeks. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, it's okay." Joy said. "No one likes feeling sick, and no one who has a good relationship with their parents want to be sick while they are out of the country."

June nodded and she wiped the tears with a tissue she got handed. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Go enjoy the market and find something nice that won't spoil quickly for when you feel okay again." Joy said.

June nodded and she hugged Joy and then went with Sephira.

"What do you think it is, Joy?" Chase asked.

"I don't know, but I think mom should really keep a close eye on her. If they can put a feeding tube in for her, it means there isn't really an obstruction." Joy said. "But the fact that normal food makes her nauseous is making alarm bells go off in my head."

Chase nodded and he looked at Luna when she stirred. He allowed her to have a sip of his coffee when she opened her eyes and then kissed her head before he carried on sipping his coffee while talking to his friends and colleagues.

"Time to get back to running." Joy said when everyone got called together again.

"Have fun." Chase said and he helped her up and then grabbed Cory's arm when he wanted to run off when paramedics came rushing past. "Hey."

"I need to find June." Cory said.

"It might not even be June, Cor." Chase said, and he kissed Luna's cheek. "Be careful."

Luna nodded and she went with Greg, her mind still a muddle from the nap that she wasn't even thinking what her brother was thinking. She began running when the horn blew and just zoned out completely until she stepped on a rock, twisting her ankle and falling, making pain shoot up her leg and into her knee.

"Hey, are you okay?" Greg asked and he crouched next to her.

"I don't know." Luna said and she buried her face in Colt's fur when he lay down next to her.

"Base, this is Greg, do you read me?" Greg asked into his mic.

"Hi Greg, its Devin. Chase is out." Devin said.

"Okay. Luna stepped skew and went tumbling. She appears to be in pain. You mind dispatching one of the cars, or the medics? I am sure it is just a sprain, but she is tired and all." Greg said.

"On it." Devin said and the line went quiet for a few minutes. "Okay, paramedics are coming. If it is more than just a sprain, we can make it worse if we just load her into a cop car."

"Okay." Greg said. "I will see if I can move her out of the way."

"Be careful. Let me know when the medics arrived." Devin said.

"Will do. Over and out." Greg said and he got Luna to move with Colt's help and then he took her trainer off and pushed her legging up when he saw her knee looked a little swelled as well.

"It is really sore." Luna said. "I just want to go home."

"Shhhh, I know it is sore." Greg said and he laid his hand on her forehead. "Colt, hand me the pump."

Colt took the asthma pump from his vest and placed it in Greg's hand and then laid his head on Luna's lap and watched Greg.

Greg made Luna use her asthma pump and then put it away again and he informed Devin when the medics arrived and then helped them to load her in.

"You need to finish the race." Luna said softly.

"Are you sure?" Greg asked.

Luna nodded and she petted Colt when he lay down on her lap with most of his body lying on her chest. "I'll be okay."

"Okay." Greg said. "Take good care of her, boy."

"She is in very good hands, and paws." The paramedic said and he closed the back up and then climbed into the driver's seat.

"It really hurts." Luna said softly.

"We will be at the hospital soon and then they can do x-rays and stuff." The paramedic said and he pulled the oxygen mask over her face when she seemed to have a hard time breathing. He monitored her all the way to the hospital and then took her in with her partner when they arrived.

Luna looked at everything around her even though it was a haze and she turned her head when someone took her hand.

"Hey, you will be okay." Chase said softly and he kissed her forehead.

"Chase, my leg hurts. Want to go home." Luna said softly.

"Her head is a bit muddled after the asthma shot and painkiller that she got along with the shock having kicked in." The paramedic said.

Chase nodded and he walked with Luna wherever he could, and by the time she was admitted until morning with her leg braced up making it look like it was more of a robot leg than a human leg, he was spent and ready to just crash out, and he rested his head against her bed and drifted off like that.

"Chase." Luna said softly around seven and she placed her hand on his head.

"Hey." Chase said and he sat up and laid his hand against her cheek.

"Where's my baby?" Luna asked.

"What baby?" Chase asked.

"My baby." Luna said.

"Luna, I have no idea what baby." Chase said softly. "You are just suffering from shock. We will go and see how June is doing just now."

"My baby." Luna said and she began sobbing. "I want my baby."

"Luna." Chase said and he placed his hand on her cheek. "Hey, you will hurt yourself more."

"Where's my baby? I want my baby?" Luna cried and she got hysterical despite his trying.

Chase hit the medical button when he realized it was beyond his control and he looked at Colt when he came running in and jumped on the bed and lay down on Luna.

"Hey." Jeremy said coming in with a team of nurses.

"I thought you guys were on a cruise." Chase said.

"We were, until we got called saying our youngest had to go in for emergency surgery to remove her appendix and then got a message to say Luna injured her leg again." Jeremy said and he removed the oxygen mask from Luna's face and placed the special face mask over her face that took her asthma pump and he pressed on the back of the little canister and he gave it another pump when he realized she was fighting too much, and he placed it on the table and then tried getting her to calm down. He eventually picked her up and held her close to him after he got Colt off her. "It's okay, baby girl."

"Why is she crying like that?" Chase asked, feeling quite distraught.

"Just hang in there." Jeremy said looking at him and he went around the bed. "Right now, she needs someone just be there for her and hold her while she is crying."

Chase nodded and he moved deeper onto the chair. "You probably want to go and check in on June."

"I would like to, yes." Jeremy said and he placed Luna on the young man's lap and helped him to get comfortable with her leg that was braced up and unable to bend. He threw the blanket over them and then kissed his daughter's head. "I will be back in about ten minutes."

Chase nodded and he kissed Luna's head and just held her close until she calmed down against him. "Hey, you okay?"

Luna nodded and she buried her face in his neck and pulled the blanket a little higher up. "I thought..."

"What did you think?" Chase asked softly.

"The last time I was in hospital I was..." Luna began, and she buried her face in his chest and began sobbing again. "...I was in a car accident."

"Car accidents happen." Chase said and he kissed her head. "It's okay. Is that when your anxiety started?"

"About a day later." Jeremy said from the door. "June is fine. She feels fine, and she had some pizza already, and she thinks she can conquer the world again."

"Great." Chase said and he looked at Luna and then rubbed her back before he looked at Jeremy. "I don't understand why her anxiety only started a day after."

"Luna was married for about eight or nine months." Jeremy said. "I could still kick myself for agreeing to it, but they both wanted it. Trevor was in Portugal when it happened, he has since immigrated there because his work needed him there and so on. She was in hospital for a week and he had filed for divorce and that was when she moved back in with us. The divorce went through between ten and twelve weeks after the accident."

"He left her after a car accident?" Chase asked.

"Yeah." Jeremy said and he took his phone out when it rang. "He was verbally abusive the day he got back, and that was when the anxiety started. By the time the divorce had gone through, she was diagnosed with PTSD, but a lot of people said it was nonsense because what could be so traumatic about a car accident and a divorce."

"People don't understand, so I don't try to explain." Luna said softly and she wiped her cheeks and then buried her face in his neck.

"Hey, half my friends have had PTSD, some of them still battle with it, and some of them went through counseling and got over it. Nothing is ever too small to cause PTSD, Luna." Chase said and he kissed her head. "And I think a husband who verbally abuses his wife when she needs him most, is more than enough reason to get PTSD."

Luna nodded and she buried her face in his neck.

"I need to take this call." Jeremy said. "Lu, they will come in and do a brace you can go home in soon."

Luna nodded and she laid her hand on Chase's chest and fixed his collar. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"Flashbacks happen." Chase said and he kissed her head. "But I was thinking, maybe we should start our road trip earlier. June had her appendix removed last night, it is what caused her to feel sick and have cramps and stuff. So she will have to be kept quiet and in bed at least for sixty to eighty percent of the time, you are not going to be doing much walking, so we can just as well start the road trip early when you girls will be sitting most of the day anyway."

"Now that is a brilliant plan." Bryon said standing in the door.

"Hi Dad." Chase said.

"Hey. I am all for that plan." Bryon said. "What do you think, Luna?"

Luna nodded and she buried her face in Chase's shoulder.

"Good, then we will go do some shopping later." Bryon said. "I will just confirm that with your parents."

"Kay." Luan said softly.

"I am going to go and see how June is doing. You look nice and comfy there at the moment." Bryon said.

Luna smiled and she closed her eyes and the next thing she knew, she woke up on the bed with Colt lying next to her. "Hi buddy."

"Sleeping beauty is awake." Chase said coming in. "You are signed out. I was just about to come and fetch you. June got sent home on strict bed rest for two days. Her doctor said if she is still lightheaded and feeling awful just thinking about getting up by day three, she needs to go in and see him, but if she is recovering steadily, we can go on our road trip by Friday."

Luna nodded and she looked at her leg. "Exactly what is the damage?"

"Torn ACL and fractured ankle." Chase said and he helped her up and into the wheelchair he had brought in. "Apparently the ligament was weakened with your car accident."

"Seeing that the outer half of my lower leg is covered in a steel plate with a rod in it, that doesn't surprise me." Luna said and she took the cooler bag from him. "What is in here?"

"Your meds and gel bags. Your ankle and your knee are strapped under this massive brace, and we have strict orders to ice it as soon as we get home." Chase said. "You need to come in when June comes in for her checkup and get smaller braces. A moon boot for your ankle and a traction brace for your knee."

Luna nodded and she petted Colt and then took her phone and she watched as he wheeled her out to his mom's bus. "Where is my dad?"

"Your dad took June home." Sephira said climbing out. "We are planning on taking you out for breakfast and then getting you girls some nice and cool summer clothes for the road trip. June said she doesn't want to go shopping; you know what she likes."

Luna nodded and she got in with Chase's help and sat down before she strapped herself in and petted Colt when he lay down on the seat next to her. She pulled the special cover up and secured it to the back of the seat so he couldn't just fall off and then looked at Chase. "Where is Cor?"

"Kaylo and Joel took him and Jordan out for paintball with the guys." Chase said. "I am not a fan of paintballing. I would much rather go play laser tagging."

Luna nodded and she watched as they went to the mall and she had a glorious breakfast with Chase and his parents and then enjoyed getting to go to one of the fancy clothing stores around and picking out a bunch of outfits for herself and for June. She looked at the gladiator style sandals and high heels and looked at Chase when he placed his arms around her waist.

"You will look amazing if you pair them with those shorts and the cold shoulder top you got." Chase said.

"Yeah but I'm braced up on the left side." Luna said.

"Take them anyway." Chase said. "You need to dress up the one side still."

Luna smiled at him and she took the flats she liked and placed them in the trolley. She smiled when he placed the heeled ones she really liked in as well and then looked up at him.

"You can wear them when you are off the crutches and stuff." Chase said and he helped her get more shoes before they went to the cashiers.

"I'm tired." Luna said.

"Dad, I am taking Luna to the next shop and then we will go and get something to drink." Chase said.

"Okay." Bryon said.

Luna looked at Chase with a pout and then followed him out to a tech shop.

"This should be quick." Chase said and he spoke to the man behind the counter and then looked at Luna. "Would you like to get a tablet for movies on the road?"

"I have a laptop." Luna said.

"Does it have an SSD in?" Chase asked.

Luna looked at him and then shook her head. "I don't like tablets that much. You either need to find the perfect cover for it, or you need to lie flat and watch movies, or of course, hold it the whole time."

"Fair point." Chase said and he paid after checking inside the bag he got handed and then took her to the nearby Starbucks. "Good morning, do you guys have a bench table open?"

"We do. Would you like smoking or non-smoking?" The waitress asked.

"Non-smoking, and for four people." Chase said.

"Sure." The waitress said and she took them to a corner table and left some menus.

Luna sat down on the bench and scooted in and then lifted her foot onto the bench and rested her head against the back rest. "I just need a nap."

"It's okay." Chase said. "Mom and dad will stop at a hundred other shops on the way here so that you have more reason to rest."

Luna smiled and she made herself comfortable and before long she was light out.

Chase threw his jacket over her lap when he saw her hands were restless in her sleep and then pulled it a little up before he looked at his menu.

"Can I get you anything, sir?" The waitress asked.

"How about we go for a plain coffee Frappuccino? I will get something fancy once my parents get here. My friend just needs a little powernap. Her medicine makes her drowsy." Chase said.

"It's no problem, sir." The waitress said and she left.

Chase smiled and he did some stuff on his phone and thanked her once his coffee arrived and then sipped it while scrolling through some motivational quotes his grandfather never ceased to send him. He looked at Luna when she got really restless and he moved closer and laid his hand on her lap and moved her one hand to rest on Colt's head that was resting on the bench. He waited until she quieted down again before he just enjoyed observing everyone around him until his parents arrived. "Did you guys leave any shopping for us to do?"

"We need to get some nice bedding and I need some help on deciding food." Sephira said.

"Mom, not all in one day." Chase said.

"I know." Sephira said. "These are just small things. New camping cutlery, a camping lantern and a torch for each person and some handy travel sized tubes for lotions and stuff that comes in their own little mesh bag."

Chase smiled and he looked at Luna when she gave a shake before she woke up. "Hey."

"I had another flashback." Luna said softly.

"It's okay." Chase said and he kissed her fingers. "Would you like something to drink?"

"I just want some caramel coffee." Luna said softly. "And I want to go home."

Chase nodded and he gave their order in once the waitress appeared and he enjoyed the time out with his parents and Luna, but felt bad about it when Luna literally only greeted them out of respect before disappearing to her room, looking completely drained.

"We will take the groceries to our place." Bryon said. "June's stuff is still at our place."

"Thanks Bryon." Jeremy said and he ruffled Chase's hair. "You did well this morning."

"Thanks." Chase said. "I need to get home and go sleep as well."

"Sleep well." Jeremy said and he watched as they left before he went back into the house and went to check in on his eldest daughter. He pulled the duvet over her when he saw she was sleeping and then went to June's room and he smiled when he saw she was lying on her bed with a book. "Junie-bug."

"Hi dad." June said.

"How are you feeling?" Jeremy asked.

"Much better than the last couple of days, but yeah, still bleh." June said. "I'm almost done with my book, would you mind if I carried on?"

"Go ahead." Jeremy said and he smiled at her before he went to work in the garden.

◦♪◦♥◦♪◦

"If I have to repack once more because my clothes don't all fit into my suitcase, I am going to have a fit and I don't care if it is immature." June said while sitting on the floor at the Colton Residence in Faye's room while Luna was helping the twelve-year-old pack her bag.

"I thought that might be a problem." Joy said coming in with two larger trolley bags that each had their own vanity case. "There is a smaller one inside each one as well. They are both black, with different trimmings."

"Aquamarine for Luna." Faye said.

"Thanks Faye." Luna said. "You guys are spoiling us."

"It's not like we can't afford it." Joy said. "But my grandfather is paying the trip since he wants us to come and visit, and he told mom that he didn't want anyone to feel like they lack anything, including the three new guests."

Luna smiled and she pulled Faye's ponytail. "We need to finish packing, Ms. Colton. Bedtime is at eight strictly for everyone. It is already four. Your dad will be home any minute now with the RV and you still have chores to do."

Faye nodded and she quickly helped Luna to carry on packing her bag.

"Downstairs." Joy said when her sister's suitcase was ready. "Get."

"I'm going." Faye said and she left with her suitcase, vanity case, gym bag and backpack.

"I still wonder where your dad found an RV big enough for twelve of us." Luna said.

"I think it is a tour bus rather than an RV." Joy said, and she helped June to pack her stuff into the new suitcases. "We have gone on a road trip before, but that was in a friend's RV before Jet, Austin and Faye were around, and what my mom did was we each had two suitcases. Like this. Once a week we would do a full day stay over somewhere, usually a motel or something and we would repack. You pick five outfits for a week, you wash your things in the shower like undies and socks, and tops. Jeans are good enough to wear up to three days before they look soiled unless we went somewhere where it was dusty or where we went on rides or something, so jeans are thrown in the machine once a week unless it was a dirty week and then it will run twice a week, and at the end of the week everything gets washed properly and laid out, you pick five new outfits and off we go. Mom and dad made sure you guys each have two pairs of hiking boots, even though Luna is probably not going to do a lot of hiking, but still. You rotate it, if we are spending the day on the road, stopping only for quick snacks or meals out, you wear sandals and toss a mix of baking soda and corn flour with tea tree oil into your boots and toss them into a Ziploc bag so that the germs can all die. If we are having an active week, where we drive in the morning and stop for the afternoon and go hiking or just go out and explore, wear your shoes max for two days before chucking some of mom's shoe powder in and tossing them into a bag. They only have to stand overnight, so if you feel you should air them out daily, go for it. Chase does his every night, dad does his every night, so it is all about preference. If we are going to be out of the RV for most of the day, like we are going to be staying in the motel for the night, toss some of the same powder on your sheets and in your bed and on your pillow. We use it for everything because it helps keep everything smelling fresh and it kills the germs and the bed bugs and you know, everything."

"Wow." Luna said.

"So you will basically get an RV survival kit when you go downstairs. It contains homemade deodorant and it works even for sensitive skin, and you smell fresh much longer than with normal deodorant, homemade sunscreen, it's a bunch of fruit oils and so on thrown together, but it is expensive to make so mom doesn't use it for everyday use, but you don't have to stay in the shade for like thirty minutes before you can go play or what not, so you can apply it just before we go out in the sun, and it is a natural bug repellant as well and you can use it as a lip balm if you want. There is lip balm in, mom did homemade, again. A cap, a t-shirt, a note book, a large SD card for photos, colored pens if you are a girl, the boys are not interested in colored pens, so they just get a normal black pen, we do too, some stickers, some of this powder mom makes, and don't try and make it last, if you use it up in the first week, mom will be so proud of you because it means you use it correctly, or something like that. Some citronella aqueous cream, again, bug repellant, but it is a common occurrence around here, this is just a little container for everyone so that we do not stand and queue to get to the anti-bug stuff." Joy said. "It comes in a nifty bag, oh and some travel sized tubes for you shower gel and stuff, because the shower is small, so everyone has to keep his or her toiletries with themselves, so it is easier grabbing two or three small tubes, than what it is to carry two or three bulk sized bottles. So you keep the bulk stuff in the large suitcase and refill every time they come out. Also, books and earphones are the best invention ever for a road trip. Faye may be twelve, but she gets niggly, and Austin is only eight, and Jet is only five. They could barely make it on a three-hour drive over Christmas, we are going to be in the RV for at least six weeks, even though we will be on my grandfather's ranch for a week, but you get the idea. Also in your kit will be a small first aid kit, Luna, I think mom mentioned you will get an average hiking sized one as well since you are the qualified ER nurse, but all the other kits, except for Jet, will have a small kit in with a few alcohol swabs, allergy tablets, band aids, ointment and painkillers as well as a pressure bandage and a sling. The main first aid kit is in the overhang cabinet right above the door, you will find burn gel, aloe gel, a scalpel, anti-venom, an Epi-pen or ten, you name it, in there."

"You sound clued up." Luna said.

"Mom drew up a quick floor plan, dad had mods done and we got informed of the general location of things to make it easier to pack, and also to find stuff in an instant. Mom also printed vinyl labels and had tags made for us, which is color coded and picture coded. Obviously, Faye is unicorns and pink, but you know, make it easy. Pick up a bag, check the tag and toss it on the right bed. Any clothes found lying around goes into a laundry bin and at the end of the week everyone will get a bill and you either forfeit your clothes or you have to pay it out of your allowance. Mom and dad are fair, it's like a quarter for the two littlies, half a dollar for Titus and Faye, and for the rest of us it will be a dollar. At home they have a point system until they turn sixteen, from there on, it is their own responsibility to make sure it stays clean, but if it gets really bad, you could wake up in the morning without your phone or your laptop anywhere to be seen and a note saying if the room was cleaned and the laundry done properly, you can get your tech back." Joy said.

"Makes sense." Luna said. "I need to go and repack my bag."

"Yell if you need help." Joy said. "June, take yours downstairs and find out where you can help, or go lie down in the lounge if you are feeling a little off again."

"Okay." June said and she took her stuff and left.

Luna smiled and she went to the room where she slept the previous evening and she repacked her suitcases and looked at Chase when he handed her a cross body sling bag that looked rugged. "What is this?"

"It is your kit." Chase said. "My mom makes up a kit for everyone before any long trip. This one is just a little larger than normal."

"The survival kit Joy mentioned?" Luna asked.

"Yeah." Chase said. "I just suggested this type of bag for the adults because it isn't bulky like a backpack, and it means you can just throw it over your head or grab it in one hand or even your teeth while battling with the crutches."

"Thanks." Luna said and she unpacked it and looked at everything before packing some of the stuff into her smaller suitcase. She smiled when Chase just filled up the traveling tubes without her even asking, and she looked at the bag full of medicine boxes and bottles.

"This should help with that." Chase said and he handed her a bag that had little keying capsules in. "I had them engraved with the days of the week and there is a little color chart to put up on the fridge so that everyone else knows the colors too. There are two shades of each color, the darker one is for night. They are fully waterproof, I dunked them in ice water, I dumped them in boiling water, and I tied one to a rock and threw it into the pool. It stays waterproof."

"You are amazing." Luna said and she placed everything in the same bag. "I will do it if I have time left."

Chase smiled and he finished filling up her travel tubes and then laid out her outfit for the next morning. "I will take your luggage downstairs in a minute."

"You should finish packing as well." Luna said.

"If I help you finish up, you can come and sit with me and sort out your meds while I pack my stuff." Chase said.

Luna smiled and she finished up and then got up while he was out with her luggage, and she took the bag with her medicine in and hobbled to his room. She made herself comfortable on the floor and kissed Colt's muzzle when he came and stood next to her. She played with him a little and then patted the floor next to her and she smiled when Chase came in with two cans of juice and two little bags.

"Juice, and your tags." Chase said. "Mom had them made somewhere for us. Each sleeping cubicle will have a name on either side of the bed, so at the feet and at the head, and if you find a bag or something with a keychain or tag on, toss it to the bed. Jackets will be marked, but other clothing pieces just land up in the laundry basket unless it is your own and you pick it up before mom or dad tells you too."

"Thanks." Luna said and she opened the can and had some of her juice before she began putting daily doses of medicine into their right dosages into the little capsules and closing them up and then splitting them up between day and night. "You know what, we should get little magnets and stick it onto them and then just stick them to the fridge and when it is empty, toss it into a little jar on the counter or something."

"I like that idea." Chase said. "I will get some later. Dad asked me to go and pick up the pizza order for supper. He said he would do takeout tonight because mom is still busy packing food and stuff."

Luna smiled and she carried on sorting out her medicine and then threw each pile into its own bag and tied it up. "I did six weeks' of meds."

"I got shades of red to yellow for June. She was doing it while mom was keeping an eye on her because she still has meds to drink for the next two weeks and she is on the allergy pill, little cod liver oil capsule and the mild anti-inflammatory from then on until we get back." Chase said. "So it will also help her keep track of what she needs to drink when. I didn't have hers engraved, and I got plain silver ones because I liked the idea, so mom made her count out the silver ones until her anti-inflammatory and so forth are finished, and the colored ones are for when she is on the preventative medicine."

"You think about a lot of stuff." Luna asked.

"You like it, don't you?" Chase asked.

"It can be annoying sometimes, but all things considered, it is more helpful in the long run than annoying." Luna said.

Chase smiled and he finished packing and then held his hand out to her. "Let's go downstairs. I am sure mom won't mind a hand and I need to go to the shops quick."

Luna took his hand and let him pull her up and she rested her hand on his chest when he was suddenly much closer than planned.

"You are beautiful." Chase said softly and he leaned down and kissed her softly. "I love you."

"Chase." Luna said softly and she allowed him another kiss before she pulled away and turned around.

"Luna." Chase said and he wrapped his arms around her. "I was rushing, sorry."

"It's not that." Luna said softly and she rested into his arms when he hugged her.

"Then what is it?" Chase asked.

"My chances of having kids before the car accident was about five to ten percent." Luna said softly. "Or that is what the doctor told us, after the accident, I got told it would be nothing short of a miracle if I ever had kids. I broke all the ribs in my chest, and..."

"Hey, it's okay." Chase said and he kissed her head. "We can adopt or go for surrogacy or something like that."

"The only baby I might have ever had, got rammed up into my chest, dying on impact." Luna said softly.

"The baby you were crying for the morning after you fell." Chase said and he hugged her close when she began crying. "It's okay. I know it's not easy."

"Trevor was upset about the accident and that I had gotten hurt while he was away, but he was furious when he learned the baby died. He blamed me for it, said I was an irresponsible mother and that he couldn't bear the thought of ever seeing me pregnant again, and that if I wasn't so arrogant about wanting to work and pursuing my career, then I wouldn't have been in the accident, and baby would still be alive. He said he couldn't bear living with such a selfish wife, and he wish he had never married me, and he was filing for divorce, and what I did was unforgivable because I killed his son." Luna said and she began crying.

"And that was when the PTSD started." Chase said.

Luna nodded and she cried her heart out in his chest. "I start having panic attacks if I hear brakes skidding or a colliding sound or a baby crying, and I start shaking so bad if I have to handle a baby in the ER that whoever is in the room with me has to take over."

Chase hugged her tightly to him and he rubbed her back and waited until she calmed down before he wiped her cheeks. "You are not selfish or arrogant. He was in Portugal for a business trip and from what I heard, a very selfish and spoiled brat. You will make an amazing mom."

"How do you know?" Luna asked.

Chase looked at her and took her hands and rested it on his cheeks. "If a woman can touch me lovingly and caringly, whether I am sleeping, just got off work, sweating like I ran the marathon or just hugging her, without demanding attention and feeling lustful in doing so, then I know that she respects me as a human being and cares for me on a deeper level, and then I know that she will make an amazing mom. Just the way you touch me or look at me can almost instantly tell me what your intentions are, and that is probably why I make such a good police officer."

Luna smiled and she tucked his hair in behind his ear. "You should go for a cut before we end up back home."

Chase smiled and he kissed her softly, questioning her with his lips until she gave in and then he deepened the kiss for a moment. "I love you, Moon Princess."

Luna smiled softly and she enjoyed another soft kiss from him. "I got hurt emotionally by the man I said I loved for over three years, it is going to take me a while to admit it to myself, let alone say it."

"Your actions say it much louder than words." Chase said and he kissed her forehead. "Let's go downstairs."

Luna nodded and she took her medicine and gave it to him and then went down the stairs to the kitchen and she began helping Joy, Sarah, Faye and Sephira to finish packing the food that had to go with. "I like these containers."

"There is one for each 'kid' and they are refilled every evening and when it is finished for the day, it is finished. We have two fridges in the RV, one is juices and milk, and condiments and stuff we need to cook, the other one will be full of these drawers, on the fridge and freezer side." Sephira said. "Each 'kid' will get a drawer on each side that will be filled with yogurts, fruits, juice, ice lollies, popsicles and so forth. Initial restock is once a week, but we might randomly find stores that have delicacy stuff at a decent price and then buy it and split it up."

"And that is what all these baskets are for." Joy said holding up lined wicker baskets with the linings all being different colors. "Chips, cookies, candy and anything snackable that doesn't need to be chilled goes in here. Mom bought expensive but healthier chips and stuff. There will also be boiled eggs, premade sandwiches and so forth available for easy but healthy lunches."

"If we buy lunch early on, or we make lunch the night before, it will be in these stainless-steel containers in the large drawer at the bottom of the fridge so that the little ones can take it out as well." Sephira said.

"The fun part about all that is, you have your space in the cupboard and in the freezer and in the fridge that is all yours and no one else is allowed to put stuff in there or take stuff out, except mom and dad, without your permission. Mom and dad will not necessarily take something out unless it is suspicious, and they will only stock it up whenever they bought something nice." Faye said. "That black fridge over there has the exact same principle applied to it. There are drawers that are labeled breakfast and lunch, and a drawer each with our names on and for breakfast we can take from the breakfast drawer or we can have something from our own drawers, and lunch gets packed from the lunch drawer, or your own, and in the pantry there are larger baskets like these. There is a snack basket as well which has healthy snacks in like nuts, trail mix, dried fruit, peanut butter energy bars and single cookie Ziploc baggies with a healthy homemade seed cookie in and we are allowed to take from that once a day during vacation, and we are allowed to pick one thing from it for lunch during school days. We can have as much of our stuff from our snack basket as we want, but mom only restocks it once a month, unless she made some cookies or another nice treat in the meantime."

"We were only allowed free reign to the basket once we started middle school." Joy said.

"Yeah." Faye said.

"And when mom implemented the system, I think we all devoured the snacks in the first few days. Chase's lasted longer than ours because he would just get lost in a spy book or a mystery of some sort and forget the world existed, but still, we soon learned how to think before we just dive into it and devour everything like we haven't seen food in weeks." Sarah said.

"So what about when you guys moved out?" Luna asked.

"Mom still keeps snacks for us." Sarah said. "And if I come and visit and Jason or Jess is hungry, then I don't have to ask mom if she has something for them, I walk to the pantry, pull out my basket, get my kids a snack and they are happy, I don't have to feel bad for bugging my mom for a snack for my kids, and in the same time, I still feel like I am home and belong here."

"Yeah." Joy said. "I mean, even when we are having a family gathering and mom and dad buy snacks, you sometimes just have that extra little craving."

"And we won't say how many times the cookies magically disappeared from the basket." Sephira said.

"I don't get so much time to come and visit, so I cannot let them get old." Joy said.

"I know." Sephira said. "But you might not have noticed that I started putting them into a big bag and smaller bags."

"I was wondering why mom did that." Sarah said. "So the big bag is meant to be taken home, and the little bags are meant to be snuck out four or five at a time."

Luna giggled and she carried on cutting up the cheese. "What are we doing for breakfast tomorrow morning?"

"Muffins." Faye said. "And a travel mug of coffee, or hot chocolate."

"Sounds amazing." Luna said.

"Yup. It is an early-up tradition mom has." Joy said. "If you need to be up any time before six, even if you are the only one, mom will either stay up late and bake muffins and it will be standing ready on the counter covered in cling wrap or she will get up super early and as soon as you walk into the kitchen, there is a little plate standing ready with fresh hot muffins on it."

"The fun part about it if you are the only one who needs to be up early, mom only bakes twelve, and she does twelve of your favorite, and whether you eat one or six, whatever is left, gets sent to work or school or whatever with you. I had a community project for high school one Saturday morning where we were at a pet sanctuary to build cat houses and plant veggie gardens, make fix chicken coops and so on so that they could feed the animals of the land, and we had to be there by six. One of the other fathers fetched me since they just about drove past our house, and mom woke me up with coffee and fresh muffins, and because we would be busy until five the afternoon, and everyone had to provide their own snacks and drinks, mom made an extra pan of muffins for me just to make sure I had enough food. I had a muffin whenever I had the chance, plus I finished the sub mom packed in for me." Sarah said. "At that time Joel and I were dating already, so I shared one or two with him as he was there with his sister as well because she would randomly have seizures as a result of pressure on her brain which was inoperable at that time because she suffered from anorexia for about three years before she finally got the help she needed, so when they found the pressure on her brain, she was too far underweight to do any type of surgery."

"Wow." Luna said.

"Yeah." Sarah said. "If you look at her now, you wouldn't know she suffered from anorexia because she is healthy and the top student in law school, but yeah."

Luna smiled and she handed Faye the little bags of cubed cheese and smiled when Chase came in with some grocery bags.

"Dad said we are going to bed at nine." Titus said coming in. "He said we are cutting it a little close, so he is going to extend our bedtime by an hour. Except for Austin and Jet."

"Dad already gave them each a slice of pizza and said once they are done, they have to play tag where he can see them from the RV." Chase said. "The pizza is standing in the dining room."

"Thanks son." Sephira said and she handed Titus some of the stuff Bryon will be able to pack in.

"Oh, and dad said, like with every other trip we do, like when we go to Texas or Colorado and so on, we are going to be vlogging." Austin said.

"You guys vlog?" Luna asked.

"Only trips and vacations." Sephira said. "We started it when Sarah and Joy were small when we took them to the beach and they were too cute for words, and it is a tradition that stuck. The kids get excited about it because they get to share it with their grandparents even though their grandparents live hours away. The first thing Chase and Austin will do as soon as the video is uploaded is send the link to their grandparents."

"It depends on who uploads it. If dad uploads it, he gives Austin the link that YouTube gives you while it is still uploading, if Chase uploads it, he gets it first. If one of us girls uploads it, we send it in the family broadcast and then I think they get it from both boys." Joy said.

"What can I say? I love a road trip and I love it even more when gran and grandpa give us feedback." Chase said and he kissed Luna's cheek. "I am going to steal you away for a few minutes."

"Chase Colton." Sephira said.

"You guys seem to have everything under control here, mom." Chase said. "Ten minutes? Please?"

"You just bought like four bags of stuff." Sephira said.

"Six, and it's not all for everyone else. I just dumped it here because I had to stop here and because I want to steal my girlfriend away for a few minutes." Chase said. "Please mom?"

"You are acting like a little boy begging for a cookie before supper." Sephira said. "Go on, but only because I know she needs to take a rest with that leg of hers, so you are going to make her prop that leg up and take the brace off, and Ice It."

"Yes ma'am." Chase said and he got the iced gel bags from the freezer and took Luna up to his room.

"I love the candles." Luna said.

"It is citronella for the bugs and a lavender because I like it, and because it calms you down." Chase said. "Days like today, I feel like bouncing around the house like the little ones, but the mature side of me stops me, so on the inside there is a little boy going bouncy-bouncy-bouncy all over, and I need to make him calm down if I ever want to sleep tonight."

Luna smiled and she sat down on the bed and took her boot and the brace off. "Okay, this boot is still too tight on my foot. My foot is like instantly half the size bigger when I take the boot off. It throbs a million times more, but in all honesty, it feels better."

"Well I had a chat with your doctor and he said if it really felt worse wearing the boot, then I need to find a different type of brace and we should keep the boot for when you will be walking a lot." Chase said and he unpacked the bags on his desk and then opened a box and took a flat brace out. "This is a support for a fractured ankle, without the bulkiness of the boot. It will actually be better for your knee if you wear this thing, instead of the boot."

Luna smiled and she lay back on the bed. "They are both feeling like they are trying to kill me."

Chase smiled and he placed some pillows, with an old towel over it, under her knee and then put ice bags all around it before he cleaned her foot up with a warm cloth. He rubbed some of her muscle gel onto her foot and then put an ice bag over it before he did the same with her knee.

"Someone realized I vanished." Luna said when Colt came running in and jumped on the bed.

"Hey boy." Chase said and he gave the beautiful dog some kisses. "I'm just tending to our girl's injuries."

Colt lay down with his head on Luna's chest and then watched Chase, and his ears perked up when a bag of treats came closer, but he refused to take it from Chase.

"Good boy." Chase said. "Give it to him."

Luna smiled and she took the treat from Chase and gave it to Colt before she petted. "You are such a good boy."

Chase smiled and he placed the bag with his backpack and then looked through the stuff on his desk before he handed Luna a box. "Do you want to open it, or should I open it?"

"You can open it." Luna said.

Chase smiled at her and he opened the bag and unpacked a DSLR camera with lenses and a bag, as well as an SD Card. "It's a combo pack I bought. It's not the top range, but it is the top range of the combos, and even then, it's not a bad camera."

"You bought a camera for the trip?" Luna asked.

"For you, yes." Chase said.

"Chase." Luna said.

"You are an ER tech, you barely get paid enough to sustain yourself if you had to move out of your parents' house, and I have seen the photos you took with Faye's dinky toy camera." Chase said and he leaned down and kissed her softly when he saw she was overwhelmed. "I love you, and yes this is expensive, but we are going to see places in America we have never seen before, and might not see again, so capture memories and if you can do it in style, then do it in style. And come on, tell me you are going to be sulky if the kids can go on rides at a fair without you if you could rather sit on the side and take photos of them."

Luna shook her head and she placed her hand on the side of his head when he kissed her again, and she allowed herself to get lost in the kiss, feeling like she got transported to a whole new world. She gave him a soft smile, which reflected more in her eyes than her mouth when they pulled apart, and she looked at the camera lying next to her when he straightened out. She took the plastic bag off and then touched it softly. "It's amazing."

Chase smiled and he packed it into the bag and then placed it next to her and Colt. He leaned down for another kiss and smiled at her after he got one before he went back to his desk.

Luna giggled when he threw packets of snacks into a box acting like a little boy and she smiled when he turned looking confused. "What?"

"What is your favorite exotic snack?" Chase said.

"Handcrafted nougat and macarons." Luna said. "Why?"

"Well I am throwing all kinds of snacks into a box, so I was wondering." Chase said and he turned back to the desk and a moment later came back and handed her a book.

"Out of all the greatest love stories written, ours is my favorite." Luna read and she smiled at him. "I get a feeling this is not a real book."

"Nope." Chase said and he smiled at her. "I found it at the craft store while I was there to get glue and magnets."

Luna nodded and she opened it and looked at the four compartments, two filled with nougat and two filled with macarons. "Chase."

Chase smiled, this time recognizing the overwhelmed pitch in her voice, and he went down on his knees next to the bed and he laid his hand on her right leg before he moved a little ribbon over the compartments, smiling when she put her hand over her mouth when she saw the ring.

Luna looked at him and then noticed the writing on the inside of the lid and took a deep breath to compose herself. "Love is not a word to say, love is not a game to play, it does not start today and end tomorrow. Love was yesterday, it is today, and it will be tomorrow, forevermore. Let's prove it to the world. Will you marry me?"

Chase smiled when her voice broke and he touched her cheek. "I'm not going to ditch you for being imperfect, or being the you I maybe don't know yet, and I definitely will not ditch you if you had to get pregnant just to have a miscarriage. Love is what is meant to carry us through those dark times."

Luna nodded and she closed the box and placed it next to her before she looked at him and wiped her cheeks. "I love you."

Chase smiled and he stood up and kissed her softly, yet with meaning. "Just earlier you told me it would take a while."

"For a guy to buy me a professional camera, give me a box full of some of the most expensive nougat and macarons around, which my parents don't even know is my most favorite treat ever, and prove to me over the last week, at least, that he will be there when my family needs him, not just me, I need to be blind or ignorant not to see just how much he really loves me." Luna said softly.

"Fair enough." Chase said and he kissed her softly. "So is that a yes?"

Luna nodded and she touched his cheek. "I want to know what forevermore feels like."

Chase smiled and he kissed her intimately, placing his hand on her waist and smiling past the kiss when her hand joined his and then got nuzzled by Colt. "That is one way to get my dog back."

"What? Marry his owner?" Luna asked and she giggled when he nodded before she got another quick but soft kiss.

"Right boy, just steal the heart of the girl who stole your heart, and then I get you back, and I get a girl as well." Chase said and he kissed the beautiful dog's nose and smiled when he got given a lick. "Yes, I love you too buddy."

Luna smiled and she opened her book box again and took the ring off and looked at it before she placed it in Chase's hand.

Chase smiled at her and then put the ring onto her finger, and he kissed her hand before he quickly moved back to his desk when they heard someone coming down the hallway.

Luna giggled and she watched him move around while whistling softly and then looked up when someone entered.

"What are you guys doing?" June asked. "I brought pizza. Everyone is eating while they have a minute or just grabbing bites in between, so I offered to bring some up for you guys, since I had to come upstairs to grab my meds that are set out for tonight already."

"That sounds good." Luna said and she sat up carefully and maneuvered everything so that she could sit up against the wall with her leg still propped up. She took the box from her sister and placed it next to her and then moved her camera and the book box.

"Thanks June." Chase said and he opened the box and took a slice of pizza out. "Man I forgot how hungry I was."

"You guys were both too quiet when I came in, you are always making my sister laugh or something." June said. "Just tell me."

Luna smiled at Chase and then held her left hand up and she smiled when her sister squealed and hugged Chase.

Chase smiled and he hugged June and then finished the slice of pizza in his hand while she calmed down. He wiped her cheeks once she moved away from him and smiled at her. "I guess that means you approve as well."

"Totally." June said and she gave another little squeal before she crawled onto the bed and hugged her sister.

Luna smiled and she kissed her sister's head. "Go tell Cory that Chase has something for him."

"Okay." June said and she took a slice of pizza and left.

"He is probably going to freak out." Luna said. "He has been okay since we began getting close, but he is still not fully recovered from what I went through with Trevor."

"I cannot say I blame him." Chase said and he had another slice of pizza and smiled when a confused Cory came in with a very eager June.

"My sister is scaring me." Cory said.

"June, meds." Luna said and she gave her sister a firm look when she pouted. "Get."

"Okay." June said and she left. "I just wanted to see."

"Curiosity killed the cat, June." Cory called after her.

Luna smiled and she took her ring off and tossed it to Chase, smiling when he caught it and held it for Cory to see.

"A ring?" Cory asked, not having seen that Luna had taken it off her hand.

"Well, it not entirely for you." Chase said and he smiled when he saw Luna had stood up and he caught her arm when she was wobbly. "Careful."

"Sorry, my bum is going dead. I was sitting funny with Colt trying to keep his head on my chest." Luna said and she looked at her brother who had moved a bit to give them a little more space. "I wanted this to be special for you, because I know how hard the last almost two years have been, on our family, but especially on you."

"Okay." Colt said.

"So, this is for you, but it is not for you." Chase said taking the ring with his other hand.

"Okay." Cory said and he placed his hands over his mouth when Chase slipped the ring onto Luna's finger, and instantly just broke down in tears.

Chase smiled at his fiancée and then made sure she had her balance before he pulled Cory close and hugged him. "I know you are just overwhelmed right now, and it is time you just cry all that anger and hurt out. You are only hurting yourself. The jerk who hurt your sister doesn't feel this hate, know about this hate or even care about the hate you are feeling, so just let it go, Cor. You don't deserve it, your family don't deserve it, so don't hold onto it any longer."

Cory nodded and he buried his face in Chase's shoulder and began crying heavily.

Luna rubbed her brother's back and then looked at Chase when he took her hand.

"Give him a little bit of space." Chase said. "The box needs to go downstairs, and if we only take it downstairs when mom is done, she will wring my neck."

Luna nodded and she got her crutches and then lifted the box down and pushed it over the floor and down the hallway, having closed the bedroom door to give the two men some privacy.

"I will take that." June said picking the box up. "Where is Chase and Cory?"

"They are having some guy time." Luna said. "And they need it as much as we need to have sister time sometimes."

June nodded and she headed downstairs with her sister and placed the box on the counter and looked through it. "So far it looks like these are already made up into packets type of thing."

"Okay. Where are your braces, young lady?" Sephira asked when Luna came in without her braces on.

"Upstairs in Chase's room." Luna said. "I left without thinking about them to give the two some space. My foot is sore, but the rest is okay."

"Austin, go ask Chase for Luna's boot. Don't be nosy, just ask him, take it and leave." Sephira said and she watched as her youngest son ran out before she looked at Luna. "Now sit down and put that foot up. The wrong bump could send you back to the ER."

Luna nodded and she sat down at the counter and lifted her foot onto one of the other chairs. She helped June to sort through the box Chase compiled and then helped to split it up into the different baskets, and she smiled when Austin came in when the pizza box and her knee brace.

"Where is the other one?" Sephira asked.

Austin gave the pizza to Luna and then took the flexible ankle support out of his pocket and gave it to Sephira. "Chase said the doctor said he had to get her one of these and see if it works better than the boot because most of the time her foot swells up so badly that the boot makes her foot numb."

"Okay." Sephira said and she took the gel. "Thanks Austin."

"You are welcome, mommy." Austin said and he left again.

Luna smiled and she took her gel and rubbed it over her knee and then put the brace on and she watched as Joy did her foot. "That feels better than the boot weighing a ton."

"Good." Joy said and she washed her hands and gave Luna a warm soapy cloth to clean her hands.

"Thanks." Luna said and she wiped her hands and then ate more of her pizza before she helped with the final stuff.

"Okay, everything is set in the RV, except for the food stuff that still has to go, and everyone's own little space." Bryon said coming in. "Kaylo and Joel is outside with the kids, the twins are about to crash out but as long as Jet and Austin are all over, they keep running as well. Where is Chase and Cor?"

"We're here." Chase said coming in with Cory. "Cor just needed a minute."

"That is fine." Bryon said and he ruffled the younger man's hair. "You okay?"

"Yes sir." Cory said. "I feel better than I have in a while."

"Good." Bryon said and he smiled when Jet came running in and crashed against his legs.

"Daddy, is it eight-o-clock yet?" Jet asked.

"What? Do you want to go and sleep already?" Bryon asked.

Jet nodded. "Bath first."

"Okay, go find Jess." Sarah said.

"Jess is out." Joel said coming in with one two-year-old on his arm and one two-year-old holding his hand. "And this little guy isn't far behind."

"Where is Austin?" Bryon asked.

"Tearing up pizza boxes with Kaylo." Joel said. "He claims not to be tired yet, so Kaylo said then he could use all that energy into tearing up the boxes so that they take up less space in the trash."

"That works." Sephira said and she took Jason. "Let's go get these three into bed."

"Mom, what needs to be done still?" Joy asked.

"There is a box of water bottles in the pantry. Rinse them out, tag them and fill them up. They are different colors, but one green is for Jet and one pink is for Jessie, and a blue one for Jason, the rest needs to pick a color." Sephira said.

"There were only two aquamarine ones in stock." Bryon said.

"That's mine." Luna said.

"We thought so too." Bryon said.

"There is one for each, and two aquamarine." Joy said.

"Actually there should be two for each except the littlies. One bottle that size is going to last half a day with them. One set has filtration devices in, the kids get some of those, and one set doesn't, other than that they look the same." Bryon said.

"Right, so the filter ones are for water only, and the other one is for juice, flavored water and so forth." Chase said.

"Yes." Bryon said and he went into the pantry and helped get the boxes out. "This flat box has smaller bottles in. There is two of each for the kids, Jet to Faye, because if we give Faye a large bottle of juice, it will be finished just as quickly as a small one, but she will need to run like ten times more."

"Yeah." Joy said and she ruffled her younger sister's hair.

"And then one for the adults. Reason being, I told mom I don't want to see anyone drinking juice or water or soda from anything that doesn't have a sip top. If you bump it over and it spills the contents in seconds, I don't want to see it. We tested these bottles and they leak, but it is a small enough leak that you grab some paper towels, wipe it up and done. If you bump a can or a normal soda bottle over, you need a mop and a bucket and the whole shebang to clean it up, and we don't want that in the RV." Bryon said. "The water bottles have filters in because I am not going to be spending a ton of money on bottled water. It is activated charcoal filters, there are extra filters in the RV, if I see anyone buying bottled water, it better be flavored, or because we are at the fair or in town walking around and you forgot your bottle. Understood?"

"Yes sir." All the 'kids' answered.

"Good. The smaller bottles are originally meant for cans of drink. You got a soda with your meal, you don't feel like pouring it into your large bottle, or the large bottle still has juice in, so you just grab the small one, toss it in there and problem solved." Bryon said.

"Dad, you are actually a genius." Chase said and he helped to rinse out the bottles and then handed the juice ones to Luna and June already filled with water.

"What should we put in?" June asked.

"This." Joy said and she handed them two tins of powdered fruit juice. "Two scoops and let Titus and Faye shake them. Don't drop them, you two."

Titus and Faye nodded and before long they had a working system going on, and by eight-thirty the RV was ready for the next morning and the girls were all just putting the dry ingredients together for the muffins while the men were making hot chocolate.

"Bedtime." Sephira said once Faye and Titus had finished their hot chocolate. "Move. I will come tuck you in soon, Faye."

"Goodnight everyone." Both kids said and they disappeared.

"I will be sixteen again and go to bed now too." Luna said.

"Quick tour of the RV so that you guys don't stand around waiting for answers tomorrow." Bryon said. "Joel, Kaylo, Sarah and Joy have seen it already."

"We helped pack it." Joel said.

"I want a piggyback ride." Luna said. "My crutches are starting to give me a rash again today with all the up and downs."

Chase smiled and he allowed her to climb on his back once her hot chocolate was finished and then took her out to the RV.

"Wow. Now that is fancy." Luna said.

"It is actually a tour bus for bands and stuff, but having a big family, we needed a big bus." Bryon said and he took them into the bus. "We did do some modification to it. This one usually sleeps sixteen people, we have reduced it. We are twelve, excluding Kaylo, Joel and the twins, but that doesn't really matter since Kaylo sleeps with Joy and Joel sleeps with Sarah. And since mom and I also sleep together that leaves us at a total of thirteen beds needed, but the twins are small enough that they can sleep on the same bed, so that brings us down to a total of twelve beds. Upstairs we took out all the beds and made our own queen-sized compartments, and then we added two new bunk beds but without compartments or anything. So Faye and Jet will be sharing a bunk bed, and the twins will be sleeping on the bottom bed of the other and Austin will be sleeping at the top. We took out the dining area next to the stairs to go up and tossed in a king-sized bed there for Luna so that she has space to move and there are windows in two of the three sides, there is a cupboard and drawers under the stairs for her, so that all her stuff is at her height without needing to go up and down and so on, and then we left the other two bunk beds in for Chase, Titus, Cor and June."

"But it is not the original ones." Sephira said.

"No, it's not. Originally it is triple bunk beds that were in here, but we took that out since we changed upstairs into just sleeping quarters with a bathroom, whereas there used to be cupboards upstairs as well, now there is only overhead storage upstairs and drawers in the bottom beds for toys. We put ones in with more headroom and a storage space between you and the window and between the two bunk beds is a storage unit that is only accessible through your compartments, and down here, each bed has a curtain to cover it. The beds that we did take out made space for the larger kitchen and two fridges, and some more cupboards, plus in the steps down to the cab are more drawers, but that is for tools, fire extinguisher cans, the large first aid kit and stuff we need if the bus has a flat or so on. The large fire extinguisher is meant for outside use. If we overheat or a fire goes out of control or so on." Bryon said.

Chase smiled at his dad and he opened the spice cabinet and took burn spray and a small can out. "Whenever anyone is busy at the stove, this can need to stand next to the stove, but against the wall. We don't want it exploding on us. If an accident happens, this is easy enough that even Jet knows how to use this and can use it easily. They are strategically placed all over the place because I am the health and safety guy around here. So there is one in the drawer where whoever is driving can reach it, and that is also why there is no compartment between the cab and the living area. If it so happens that a fire breaks out and we spray out the entire can, or can't get to the can or anything, dad will be able to toss a can to the back for us. There is one at the stairs, there is one in Luna's space, there is one with mom and dad at their bed, one in the bathroom and one at the top of the stairs, and then the large one is right at the door where there is a mesh bag with Colt's leash, bandanas and some toys in, and with the large one, is also a can."

"So we are prepared for this." Luna said.

"We are." Chase said. "I had to help work on the design, so there are all kinds of stuff thought about that mom and dad wouldn't normally think about because my family isn't really reckless."

Luna smiled and she looked at the four seats behind the driver and front passenger. "These look comfy."

"They are meant to be comfy." Bryon said and he turned the front ones around and then lifted a table out of the side. "This is primarily for the kids, if we have lunch on the road, but it will work for laptops, board games, you know it."

"But there are only four seats." Luna asked.

"At night it can be extended to six, because they clip in here, but when we are driving, we want the middle open as an evacuation route." Chase said. "So the other two seats are in the storage bin, and there is this corner lounge piece too."

"But it doesn't have a table." Luna said.

Chase smiled at her and he pressed a button on the wall and turned the one couch at a ninety-degree angle. He raised the little table that was in front of the couches and then released a catch and flipped the top over, making it long enough to extend to the wall where it got latched to the wall. "This can easily seat four to six young adults."

"And the table can come out and latch to the wall even without the couch being moved, so if we need a little extra counter space, we just flip the table open and use it like that." Sarah said.

"Fascinating." June said. "I love the super-sized TV. I was thinking I would miss our TV the most if we are going to watch movies."

"While the kids are sleeping, I suggest everyone quickly fix up their bed, then it won't be necessary to do that tomorrow. All the backpacks and stuff are still in the lounge." Bryon said.

"June, you are the only girl sleeping downstairs, so pick a bed and move your bedding." Chase said. "Oh and the beds on Luna's side, has this shutter that can open, then you can lie on your bed and talk to Luna if she is resting."

"I will take bottom." June said.

"And Chase will pick the one above that, for obvious reasons." Titus said. "Cor, I sleep wherever I have a bed, so pick one."

"I will sleep up top. I am not used to having little ones around, so I don't want to have to risk it to be an ogre if one of them wake me up by crawling onto me." Cory said.

"That is why we have curtains." Chase said.

"A curtain isn't toddler proof." Sarah said.

"True." Chase said and he helped Luna to get to her bed. "You will see in this area around your bed and up to the bathroom, we installed these hand railings so that you do not need your crutches, because the stairs are not wide enough for that really."

Luna nodded and she smiled up at him. "Did your parents buy one and then customize it, or did they choose a model and a size, and then the company did the customizations."

"I think it was the latter. I don't know. Dad gave me and Joel floor plans and asked, how are we going to change it? Joel is an architect so he knew how to draw up plans and stuff, and I am studying to become a health and safety officer as a backup plan, plus Joel is the older brother I never had and thus we get along very well." Chase said.

Luna nodded and she opened the beautiful aquamarine curtains with a white pattern on and looked in awe at the beautiful bedroom that looked like it was built around the bed. "It is beautiful."

"I am glad you liked it. This part Joel and I did ourselves. We built the bookcase on this side, we modified this panel against the stairs to take these drawers, you won't have to live out of your suitcase because first of all we needed more storage space, so there are drawers under your bed, and your suitcase and June's suitcase is stored behind the drawers under your bed, so the plank your mattress is on can lift up, and the extra stuff like extra non-perishable food and so on are stored in the single large drawer. So there is one wide flat drawer under the bed for your shoes, and four drawers half the length for your clothes." Chase said while pulling out the drawers to show her.

"This is really amazing." Luna said. "I am just a little concerned about the shelf above my head, because I won't be able to reach that."

"Oh, that." Chase said and he pressed a button on the cabinet and held it while the shelf lowered to become a desk over the bed with a cutout for a travel mug or a water bottle and a pencil holder glued on. "And this button here at the door with the laptop on, is for it to be controlled from the door like in the case of you were watching a movie and fell asleep or you were even playing a game and so forth. We placed one of mom's vases that don't like jostling on the shelf in different places full of water, it didn't make a move other than you could see the water vibrate, after we added black food coloring, and we put a heavy duty sheet over it and added like five bricks and it still worked just as efficiently."

"You guys are amazing." Luna said. "You even made my bed already."

"Well I couldn't imagine you trying to do it in the cramped space you had." Chase said.

Luna smiled and she moved around a bit and even went upstairs to the bathroom and back.

"How is that?" Joel asked having come to the back.

"A bit harder than walking with crutches, because the steps are a little too narrow, but it is much better than trying to get up here with my crutches." Luna said and she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm getting my cardio in for the day as well."

Chase smiled and he went to her and kissed her before he lifted her off the last two steps. "Let's get you to bed."

Luna smiled and she hobbled down the little hallway with him to the front where his parents were sorting out the last few things.

"I have one last quick thing to share before we go to bed. June and Cor already know about it." Chase said and he smiled when his siblings all gathered around rather quickly.

"Okay, spill the beans." Bryon said.

Luna looked up at Chase and then held her left hand up making the RV erupt into noise ranging from the men just getting excited, all the way to the women squealing.

"When did you do this?" Sephira asked.

"When we were in my room." Chase said and he kissed Luna's ear. "I am twenty-four by the end of next year, and by then it won't be long before she is twenty-three, so I wanted to get it done with, rather than walking on the borderline for two or what years to make everyone else happy."

"Well you found a great girl, but she has been hurt, so you better be careful." Joel said.

"I know." Chase said and he kissed Luna's head before he looked at his parents. "I only found out about this earlier today, but according to a doctor, she had a max ten percent chance of getting pregnant before her car accident."

"And with the accident, it reduced it even more?" Sephira asked.

"Yeah." Luna said and she took a deep breath. "I was pregnant the night of the accident, and according to said doctor, when the baby rammed up into my chest it not only killed the baby, but it caused damage to my reproductive system. My dad didn't believe him, but I was in no state to go for a second opinion and Trevor and his parents believed him. I have been avoiding the entire topic because it still hurts, so I haven't even thought about it much."

"But you would like to go for a second opinion, I mean since you have a second chance at love and stuff, if your dad, who is a doctor, doesn't believe them, shouldn't you be questioning it yourself, with or without a guy who loves you?" Sarah asked. "I know the whole topic hurts, but there is a chance he was a fraud, or was even paid by your husband to say such things so he could divorce you while making you feel like it was your fault, when maybe he was cheating or something."

"We were married for six months at that stage." Luna said.

"Yet you spent a week at mom and dad's place and he never called you once, he never texted you once, and he was going to Portugal for two days of work, and said he would spend a week there for recreational reasons." Cory said. "It sounds like the perfect scenario for a cheating husband."

"I agree." Chase said. "Just go for a second opinion for yourself. You are hurting because of the baby you lost, and you are hurting even more because with the loss of the baby came the news that you lost your ability to have kids. If you only had a ten percent max chance to have a baby, why did you have a baby so early in your marriage?"

"I don't know, Chase. I am not a gynecologist." Luna said.

"I think let's drop the topic, we are upsetting her, and go to bed. It is her decision, and whether you go for a second opinion or not, you will find out once you are married." Sephira said. "We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Mom is right. Off to bed." Bryon said. "Sarah, don't even think about it."

"Yes sir." Sarah said and she left with Joy, Kaylo and Joel.

"Titus, Cor, June." Bryon said.

"Coming." Cory said and he climbed off his bed. "I am going to ask dad for an SSD for my birthday. He will freak out a little because they are still expensive, but he will understand when I say why."

"When is your birthday?" Chase asked.

"It is about three weeks away." Cory said.

"Fair enough." Chase said and he ruffled the young man's hair. "Let's go to bed."

Cory nodded and he put his arm around his younger sister's shoulders and walked into the house with her.

Chase looked at Luna and then picked her up and he carried her out of the RV and to the house.

"Sorry if I got a little defensive." Luna said softly.

"It's okay. It is like mom said, it is your decision." Chase said and he kissed her head. "And I will respect it. I already told you that we could go with adoption or surrogacy."

Luna nodded and she buried her face in his neck, and by the time he laid her on the bed, she was sleeping peacefully.

Chase smiled when she stirred when he pulled the duvet out under her, and he kissed her forehead and then tucked her in under the duvet. He kissed her softly and then left the room, switching the light off.

"Is she sleeping?" Sephira asked.

"She was asleep by the time I got to her room." Chase said softly after he nodded.

"Okay. Sleep well." Sephira said and she kissed his cheek. "And I am proud of you."

"Thanks mom." Chase said and he hugged her before he went to bed