By popular demand, I have written two more chapters. Sorry it took so long. Hope you guys enjoy.

"Good morning, handsome," Brandy greeted sweetly to her pint-sized boyfriend, who had just gotten out of bed.

"Good morning to you, beautiful," Bruce replied as she leaned down to give him a kiss. "Say, do I smell waffles?"

Brandy nodded. "With strawberries. Sweet and packed with carbohydrates."

"I love it when you say carbohydrates," Bruce chuckled, wrapping his hair around her hand. He tried to be discreet as he used some to check the size of one of her giant fingers.

"Okay, hot stuff, come eat your breakfast," Brandy giggled, pulling her hand free. As they had breakfast together, Bruce couldn't help but think about the past three years they had spent together, and perhaps, the many more years to come.

Maybe it was time for those years to begin.

"What are you thinking about?" Brandy wondered, noticing the dreamy look in his eyes.

"Oh, nothing," he said. "Just how lucky I am to have you in my life."

Brandy smiled. "I'm lucky to have you, too."

Once he had finished his breakfast, Bruce wiped his mouth clean with a napkin and went to get dressed in a pair of white shorts and a black and green palm frond print T-shirt.

"You still catering that office party?" Bruce asked Brandy.

"Yeah, but I should be done before our date tonight," she reassured him. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no particular reason," he replied, not wanting to spoil the surprise he had in mind (a surprise so big, he wouldn't even tell whoever's reading this). "I'm going to be pretty busy today, too, so..."

"Well, don't work too hard," Brandy said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "See you tonight, sweetie."

"I'll be thinking of you," Bruce replied sweetly. Just as he opened the door, however, he quickly noticed Jules at the door with a look of concern. "Oh! Jules. What are you doing here?"

"Hey, Bruce," she greeted. "Is, um... Is Brandy home?"

"Right here!" Brandy replied, sliding right up to them. "What's up, Julie?"

"I, um... I just read this article," Jules explained, holding up a newspaper with "BEACH BALL BIRDS PROTEST VOLLEYBALL GAME" as the headline.

"I saw that coming," Brandy replied.

"No, I-I'm talking about this," Jules corrected, pointing to smaller print that read, "Former Answering Machine Tape Tycoon Diagnosed With Terminal Illness."

"What are you saying?" Bruce asked.

"Brandy... your father is dying."

Brandy's eyes widened in disbelief. She hadn't heard from any of her family in years. Hearing this now was unbelievable. Bruce looked up at his towering girlfriend and quickly noticed her lower lip trembling.

"Um... thank you, Jules," he said. "It means a lot that you told us this."

"Of course," Jules replied. "So, um, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Brandy answered. "I love my father, but it's been a long time since I saw him last. I doubt he wants to see me again."

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't go anyways," Bruce said. "Honey, this may be your last chance to make things right with him."

"Yeah, you're right," she admitted. "You'll go with me, right?"

"Of course," Bruce assured her. "What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't? Besides, I would love to meet your family."

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Later that day, Bruce, Brandy and Jules were on their way to Brandy's childhood home, which was no longer as fancy as it once was. Like most buildings on Vacay Island, it was made of sand, but while it was still standing, many of the other fancy structures, including the fountain and most of the statues, were either eroding or gone completely.

"I, um... I think we're at the wrong house," she fibbed, only to wince once she noticed a sand sculpture of an answering machine tape. Jules just banged the knocker against the door and the three of them waited for someone to answer, that was when the door was answered by a Vacaytioner who looked just like Brandy but with blue hair, pregnant, and wearing a wedding ring.

"Brandy?"

"Hi, Candy," Brandy said shyly to her sister. "It's uh... It's been some time, hasn't it?"

"Seven years, five months, three weeks and six days, but who's counting?" Candy answered, and then noticed Jules. "Oh. You're not still friends, are you?"

"Yes," Jules answered bitterly.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring that other guy here."

"I was young and overwhelmed," Brandy muttered. Bruce decided this was a good enough moment to make his presence known and cleared his throat.

"And who's this?" Candy asked.

"This is my boyfriend, Bruce," Brandy introduced, carefully picking him up. "Bruce, this my sister, Candy."

"Pleased to meet you," Bruce greeted, holding out his hand. Candy just gave him a perplexed stare.

"So, when did you get married?" Jules asked, hoping to avoid any more awkwardness.

"About five months ago," she answered. "Though, I only married him because... well... this. But at least he can pay the mortgage."

"Oh," Jules muttered.

"So, where's the rest of the family?" Bruce chimed in. Maybe, he thought, the rest of them wouldn't be so bitter.

"Mandy and Jill are inside, the rest are on the way," Candy answered. "Though I doubt Daddy wants to see you."

"Probably not," Brandy quietly agreed, and prepared to walk away before Jules grabbed her wrist.

"We'll take our chances, sugar," Jules replied, and the three of them stepped inside the house. Though not as lavish as it once was, the inside of the house was still very nice.

"Brandy, is that you?" asked a pink-haired sister.

"Yeah, it's me," Brandy confirmed. "This is Bruce, and you remember Jules."

"What up, Jilly?" Jules greeted.

"Hey, Mandy!" Jill hollered. "Brandy's home!"

"Brandy?!" Mandy shouted from the other room. "As in... Brandy?!"

"We also have my partner, Hunter, and Mandy's little family," Jill said. "It's about time they all met you!"

"Looking forward to meeting them," Bruce said as they headed inside the great room, where three other Vacaytioners were talking to each other.

“Welcome home, Brand," Mandy said with a warm smile, before glaring at her companions. “Jules. Purple-haired elf."

“Actually, it's Bruce," he said, slightly annoyed, “and I'm a Troll."

"Hunter, Carl, this is Brandy!" Jill introduced. "She ran away before she could meet you guys!"

"Um, hello?" Brandy mumbled.

"Pleased to meet you," said a purple Islander with light green hair and a bit of stubble on their chin.

"That's Hunter, they're a landscaper," Jill said to Brandy. "Over there is our brother-in-law, Carl. He's a rock-climbing instructor."

"Mandy and I have three kids playing hide and seek... somewhere in this house," Carl added. "I guess they're succeeding."

Just as Carl sat down on the loveseat, everyone heard a loud PFFFFFT! noise, causing him to blush in embarrassment. Then, all three kids, two girls and a boy, popped up from behind the loveseat and laughed at him.

“Kids, no pranking your father!" Mandy scolded.

“Ooh! Can I have a doll like this?!" one of the girls said, picking up Bruce and squeezing him tight. “He's so squishy! I love him!"

“Can't breathe!" Bruce gasped. “And I'm not that squishy!"

“Kids, right?" Carl laughed nervously, pulling him free from the child's grasp. “Don't hate us."

“Little girl, he's not a doll, he's your Aunt Brandy's boyfriend," Jules explained.

“I don't have an Aunt Brandy," the girl denied.

“Of course, you do," Jill insisted. “You just never met her before."

“Because she left this family," Candy explained, entering the room.

“Aren't you going to ask me why I left?" Brandy muttered.

“It doesn't matter, you still left us alone," Candy said. “You may not realize it, but that was the day our childhoods ended. Daddy lost his business and we had to find ways to get by without you."

“Actually, I feel great working as a swim coach," Jill said. “And Sandy's an architect now."

“She is?" Jules asked. “Good for her!"

“No one asked for your opinion," Candy said. “We're talking about our sister, who abandoned us."

Brandy sighed in exasperation. “Your childhood may have ended when I left, Candy, but mine ended when Mom died. I had to take care of all six of you because Dad said it was a woman's job to stay home with her children. And when the money was gone, he expected me to marry some rich jerk to keep us alive. It was all way too much pressure for me! I admit, I shouldn't have run away, but don't you see why I did?"

No one in the room said anything. The sisters just looked at each other in confusion.

“Yeah, that's what I thought," Brandy muttered, then headed upstairs.

“I didn't want to marry a rich jerk, either, but I actually went through with it," Candy muttered. “Even if he prefers his secretary."

Jules huffed. “And here, I thought candy was supposed to be sweet."

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“Brandy, honey, are you in... any of these rooms?" Bruce called out as he headed down a long hall upstairs. He stopped in his tracks, however, once he heard someone coughing in one room. He went in that room and found an elderly Islander laying in bed, looking at a photo. Having a strong feeling of who this was, Bruce jumped up on the bed to meet him, except the man was more focused on looking at a picture of a younger version of himself with a woman and their seven young daughters, all yellow with different hair colors. He chuckled at how cute Brandy was when she was little.

“Oh, hello there," the man said, not looking away from the photo. “Who are you?"

“Um, my name is Bruce," he answered. “I'm seeing one of your daughters."

“Which one?" he asked. “Andie? I was wondering when she'd settle down."

“No, it's... it's Brandy," Bruce answered. Brandy's father finally turned to face him.

“I was wondering when I'd meet you, Spruce," he said with a chuckle.

Bruce's eyes widened in disbelief. “You know me?!"

“If you had seven daughters, you'd know what they liked when they were teens, too," he explained.

“Fair enough," Bruce admitted. “Except I go by Bruce now, sir. But how did you know I was dating Brandy?"

“In there," Brandy's father said, pointing to a drawer on his nightstand. Bruce pulled it open with his hair and found a cut-out newspaper article with a headline that read “New Talent Shines At Cooking Fest" and featured a photo of Brandy kissing his cheek.

“I forgot I was still that skinny," Bruce chuckled, patting his now-larger midsection. “But if you knew about Brandy's accomplishments, why haven't you reached out to her?"

“I figured she hated me," he admitted. “I was taught how to run the family business so I would fill my father's shoes once he retired and hoped to teach that to my own son one day. I didn't know what to do with seven daughters, or when the world no longer needed answering machine tapes... or when the girls lost their mother. I didn't realize how much I hurt her until she ran away with that halfwit."

“If it makes you feel any better, she's got a restraining order against that halfwit," Bruce said.

“Good riddance," Brandy's father scoffed. “But still... the worst part is, I still don't know what I could've done differently. How I could've... been their father."

“Well, maybe you should stop thinking about what you could've done and start thinking about what to do while you can still do it," Bruce suggested. “And I can think of one thing you could do right now..."