"I'll get the tickets." Daniel says, as we near the entrance of Knott's Berry Farm.

It's the weekend so we decided to pay his parents a visit and somehow, the whole family managed to take out time and now we're all at the amusement park.

"We'd been promising Morgan this for the last three months but couldn't find the time to bring him." Elana sighs.

"It's Hazel's first time too. Though, she won't remember any of this in a few years." I say.

"Morgan! Hazel! Let's go!" Daniel calls to the two kids who're chasing each other around the open area before the entrance. When they see the passes in Daniel's hand, they run back to us and take theirs from him.

"What should we do first?" David asks once we're all inside.

"We both are going to find a nice spot to sit and have some coffee, just the two of us." Daniel's mother says, emphasizing on the last part of the sentence and I smile at Daniel over her shoulder. We watch the parents walk away, holding hands.

"They're so cute." Elana coos, making us all laugh.

"We should do the Mountain Log Ride. It's still early so there won't be a long que." I suggest.

"Let's do that!" Elana agrees as we start walking towards the ride.

About three hours later, the children have ridden almost every ride they can go on under their age limit.

"Mommy, I want something to drink." Hazel says, tugging on my hand.

"Juice?" I ask and she nods, vigorously.

"Morgan do you want something to drink?" I ask as I lead Hazel to a little tuck shop, selling refreshments.

"Water." He says, walking over.

I buy them their drinks and then David says, "Why don't we leave the kids with mom and then ride the roller coaster?"

"I'm up for it." "I'm in." Elana and I at the same time.

"Fine." Daniel sighs and I give him an encouraging smile.

David calls his father and asks where they are, then he leaves with the children and the rest of us join the que which is quiet long for the roller coaster. David returns when we've reached the front.

"What took you so long?" Elana asks.

"They chose the farthest café they could find from the rides and the noise, near the water safari." He explains.

While we wait for our turn, I pull out my phone and lean into Daniel, holding it up for a selfie. Then we take one with all of us in it.

We hear the bell ring which announces that the carts have returned to the loading station. When the conductor opens the gate, Elana and David choose seats at the very end of the ride, while I convince Daniel to sit at the very front.

We buckle ourselves in then the hydraulic systems set in. A short countdown follows after which we start to move. We start off by slowing gaining speed on horizontal tracks then all of a sudden we're ascending and then we plummet down, faster than I was anticipating which makes me scream and I'm pretty sure that I hear David scream from the back too.

But before I know it, my screaming turns to laughter and then the ride slows down and comes to an end.

"That was fun." I laugh as we wait for the belts to rise up.

"No way am I going on a roller coaster ever again." Daniel says, starting to get out.

"You've been saying this since the first time you rode one." David says, walking over with Elana.

When we're off the ride and back on the ground, Elana says she needs to use the bathroom so we part ways and Daniel and I start back towards where the others are.

"Do you remember the first time we came here?" Daniel asks, taking my hand and swinging it.

"Yeah. One of our first dates." I remember, smiling at the memories.

"I won you a teddy bear." He mentions proudly. I can't help but laugh because it still sits on my side table in our bedroom.

"How about I win you another one?" He asks, pulling me back to him, so that I'm facing him.

"All I know is that Hazel would demand one too." I remind him that we have a daughter now.

"Right." He agrees, smiling at me.

I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck as he leans down and kisses me. I lean into him, deepening the kiss.

We hear someone whistle behind us and then David's voice says, "Baby brother trying to drown his failures in a kiss."

Daniel pulls away from me and glares at his brother, clearly wanting to say a lot of things but manages to keep a grip on his anger before taking my hand and starting to walk so that we're ahead of the other two.

"Come on. You know I was joking!" David calls out.

"Were you?" This time Daniel stops to face his older brother. With one last glare he hurries off towards the table where his parents and the children are sitting.

"Why would you bring this up right now?" I ask and without waiting for an answer, join the others at the table.

I watch Hazel jump off her chair and scramble onto her father's lap which makes him relax a bit.

"Are you having fun?" He asks her and she nods, snuggling into him.

"Let's order the food." Elana says, taking her seat.

Another hour later we're all done eating and sipping coffee from Styrofoam cups. We got Morgan and Hazel some cotton candy and now they're having pictures taken with the lake.

Hazel looks aesthetic in her jeans and blue top with the pink cotton candy. Daniel hooks his sunglasses onto the front of his shirt and then crouches down to take a picture of me and Hazel in front of the roller coaster tracks. The ride whizzes past us, blowing my hair into my face. Hazel giggles as I tame it back so that Daniel can take the picture.

"Morgan come have a picture taken with Hazel!" I call out, holding out my hand. He starts towards us but David holds out an arm and stops him.

"Whatever." I hear Daniel mutter as I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear to cover my embarrassment.

"We should get going. It's almost evening." Mrs. Aaron says, looking at her sons.

"Yeah. We have a long drive." Daniel agrees, taking his daughter's hand.

"You aren't going to stay the night?" Elana asks, confused because she planned to stay when we got here.

"No. Jeremy just called and there's some work to take care of." I can see him making this up because he cleared all work for this weekend. "Besides, Hazel has swim class tomorrow."

"Yeah, Hazel and her swim classes." David mocks.

In a second Daniel is in front of David. "You can go on about me but you mention my daughter again and I will make you sorry."

Our BMW unlocks automatically as we near the car in the parking. Daniel helps Hazel into her car seat and then closes the door. David, Elana and Morgan are in their car by now, waiting for the parents to get into their car as well.

"Daniel..." His mother starts, placing a hand on his arm.

"It's alright. It's just..." He sighs and shakes his head, "We'll come visit some other time."

We say our goodbyes and then get into the cars. We head back home while the others start back to Long Beach.

Hazel falls asleep almost immediately but Daniel and I sit in silence. My brain still running over the conversation between the two brothers.

"I'm sorry." I feel Daniel take my hand.

"For what?" I ask, surprised.

He sighs. "I know how much you hate when David and I quarrel. I should've controlled myself and let it go."

"I get it that he's your brother but he has no right to say this. Besides! What does he get out of this?" I huff, frustrated.

Daniel doesn't reply immediately but I can see that he has something on his mind. "Daniel?"

"When I was driving to the park with dad...he told me something about David's work." He starts.

"David's work? As in your family's businesses?" I ask, genuinely lost.

Daniel nods, his face grim as he looks at the road ahead. "David's been neglecting his work. Dad says he hardly shows up at his office at all. Managers have started taking liberties, workers are complacent but worse of all the cash situation is taking a hit."

"You mean..." I gasp.

"Dad stepped in before the banks could. Thank goodness he never handed over complete authority to David." Daniel leans back into his seat.

"Is everything okay? With the business." Daniel nods, "Dad's back to work. He's actually happy about it, said retirement didn't suit his temperament."

I smile at the road ahead. "You take after your dad in that aspect. I don't see you ever retiring."

Daniel laughs at this and sneaks a glance at me. I sigh and lean my head against the headrest.

"Dad said he has asked David to look for some paid employment."

"Seriously?" I ask, sitting forward. "Is that what today was all about?"

Daniel nods. "I was smart enough to start off with HSBC (bank) and gain experience before settling for the corporate sector. David skipped this step and now has to start over so he's pissed at me."

"That makes no sense. You're his brother. He should be happy for you. Not trying to pull you down!" I exclaim.

He shrugs, "What can I say? He's David. The same competitive, older asshole, bully of a brother."

"Daniel!" I shriek at his language and lean around my seat to make sure Hazel is still asleep and didn't hear this sentence. Thankfully, she is.

We drive in silence for some time before Daniel speaks up again. "Emma."

"Hmm?"

"This might get worse. The situation with David. I just want you to know."

"I'll be right here, Daniel. However you need me, I'm here for you." I tell him, kissing his cheek.

Family drama! What do you all think?

This chapter is quite long compared to the ones I usually write. What do you all prefer? Short or long chapters? Do let me know!

And also, Knott's Berry Farm is an actual amusement park (I did my research :)) However, some of the attractions might not be real, just pretend that they are ;)

Read, Vote & COMMENT! PLEASE! I WILL REALLY APPRECIATE THIS!

-T