It was the last day of the month but it looked like every other day since the accident.

It was going terribly.

The rain poured down heavily and the only thing preventing the rain from pouring down on Andres was the porch. However, a shiver rode up his spine and this wasn't only from the cold but the noise coming from the house.

They were fighting again. He didn't need to see it to know. The argument always went in the same order. Fyodor desperately cries for Gala's attention, Mariam fights for the TV with Gala, Faun pisses off Gala by disappearing out of the house without telling anyone and when he was in, he didn't help her with anything, then lastly but not the least, Gala complains about everything. From taking care of the kids to keeping everything clean to tolerating everyone's bullshit.

Andres felt like he could relate to her in so many ways every time she came to him to complain. Then normally, after her rant, she'd storm out and he would have to call Vlad to come back and put the house back together. But the man never answered him. Never once picked up his call.

His voicemail was probably already filled up with calls from not only him but Gala also. He had gone up to check on the kids one night and had heard Gala making a call to him. It also went to voicemail and was probably why she had gone hysterical today.

Andres knew that if this went on any longer, it would further prove he wasn't ready for children and lord knew how badly he wanted one before all these started.

Taking a deep breath, Andres decided to stop acting like just a man but a father. Inhaling again, he shrugged the cold off his shoulder and stepped into the house. He was blessed with warmth but never got the chance to enjoy it before someone was pushed onto him. He staggered back then stared at the kid Gala was pushing.

It was Evan. Andres had seen him once or twice walking around the house. He was a very quiet kid, but Andres never bothered to get into a conversation with him because he had work and he wanted to run away from the house before someone else saw him and made him go mad the way Gala was at the minute.

"Get OUT! Don't come back ever." She pushed him out the door then slammed the door on his face.

Andres didn't know what to do at the moment and just stared at Gala. She looked like she had just finished having a fist fight with the boy she had kicked out. Her dark brown hair was ruffled and she breathing was raged.

Then suddenly, the noisiest house on the street fell silent.

Gala sighed with frustration as she turned back to the house saying, "Don't look at me like that."

Andres only shook his head and asked, "What's going on?"

When she didn't answer and disappeared into the dinning, Mariam who was standing in the hallway with Fyo said, "She kicked him out because he was rude."

"Very rude, papa." Fyo emphasized.

Andres hadn't pulled his coat or shoe and the drama was already making him stressed. Not wanting to give up on his original plan, he opened the door and not surprising, Evan was there, shivering visibly from the cold.

He cocked his head into the house and the kid thanked him before entering. He closed the door behind him, ignored the glare from Gala as he pulled his shoe and coat then walked into the dinning.

Gala followed him and as he placed his suitcase on the table, the kid exploded.

"Why did you let him in? He needs to leave because he is rude, disrespectful and all round annoying."

Licking his lips, he gave her a nod to tell her he was listening then he got out a sheet of paper and a pen. He sat down on the chair then looked at her.

"How was he rude?"

"Just call him and he'd tell you about it. Evan!"

The kid ran in and Faun stood by the hallway with Fyodor and Mariam. Evan was just as tall as Fyodor and Andres had a feeling that bothered her since she was older.

"I'm sorry, I was rude to her."

"What happened?"

"Well, um..."

"He told Gala to go get a boyfriend or a girlfriend." Mariam spoke up and everyone instantly turned to her. She cleared her throat and continued, "Faun and Evan were hugging the TV all day. Fyo had to play in his room and I wanted to go to the park! Gala didn't want to take me because she said she was tired. She made food and washed the dishes so I said okay! Then I wanted to watch TV but they did not let me. Gala tried to chase them away for me but Evan told her they were not done. He was like, why are you here all day? Don't you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend? If you have yourself one of those, you would not be so sad all the time and angry."

"I tried to stop him," Faun interjected. "He just gets things way out of hands sometimes."

"And I am sorry. It was supposed to be a joke but she got mad."

"How am I not supposed to get mad?! I was asked to take care of the likes of you. Dad won't come home and we are stuck with papa, the one who comes home late."

"Hey!" He frowned at her and a small smile fell passed her lips before she went back to shouting at Evan.

"I said I'm sorry. Thank you for taking care of us."

Andres was sure Evan was trying to be as sincere as possible but it only came out sarcastic and Gala, reading it wrongly, turned to Andres. "I quit."

"You can't."

"Why?"

"Because I need someone to take care of them while I'm at work. Besides, you can only quit when Vlad gets home."

Her eyes widened. "When is he coming?"

He sighed. "He hasn't answered my calls."

Gala shook her head and started to turn. "I'm done."

"You're not!" His voice rose and Gala stopped in her step. "You're not even when Vladimir comes back because taking care of the little ones is what you're supposed to do."

Andres smacked his lips together before continuing, "Faun, Evan, Mariam, you all aren't my kids but if you piss me off I'll treat you the same way I treat my kids. No special treatment. You do something bad, you get punished. I see why Gala gets frustrated all day and honestly, I don't like it. She's busting her ass up to get the four of you breakfast, lunch, dinner and help out with other stuffs and none of you give her the time of the day?

"Faun, come closer." He waited for the kid to walk up to him and Gala turned back to him to listen to what he had to say. "Mariam's your responsibility and if you bring your friends over, they are your responsibility. Not Gala's. She's not obligated to feed you and watch out for you. You should be thanking her that she bothered to get you anything."

Faun glanced at her but she didn't look back at him and just crossed her arms over her chest.

Andres sighed loudly then said, "Since I'm on a new case, I don't think I will be home for a while." Gala's face immediately grew with horror then he quickly added, "So I'm going make a roaster. Everyone is going to participate in it and that includes little Mariam and Fyo. Everyone will watch whatever they want at a particular time, clean at a particular time and help Gala in the kitchen. Gala's still the head, so if she tells you to do something you better do it. Everyone clear?"

It took a while but they all gave him small nods and soon they gathered around him to pick when and what day they wanted to help out.

Andres made it known that it was going to go on until Stuart took them away and when they nodded their understanding, he went back to planning.

As they argued over his head, Andres had a new found respect for parents with more than two kids. The shit was exhausting.

Then when Mariam told him about her show, his mind drifted back to Stuart and how he was dealing with Leon. He sent a silent prayer to God that everything would go back to normal.

_______________________
Hey! How are you today? I hope doing great and not giving your parents a headache? I know I am even though they're continents away.

So today, I need your help with something. In the comment, I'm going to leave the names of the four main characters and I would love it, if you reply me on what you love and hate about them. Then tell me who is the best character in this book.