I watch the mystery girl sprint off, shaking my head in confusion. Whatever. Not really my biggest concern right now. I glance at the men around me, still unconscious.

Who in the heck...?

I really felt bad for just leaving them there, but for all I knew they could have a death wish for random strangers. And I have a family I need to help support. So I decide that most likely, they'll be perfectly fine and come to soon.

In my mind's eye I imagine my seven younger siblings and smile to myself. Yeah, it's tough since Dad died and I had to become the man of the house, but those little troopers are worth it. Ready to trek home from my long day at work, I push my way up and over the small hill in front of me.

That girl with the guitar is still kind of freaking me out for reasons that I don't really know. I tend to overthink and make a big drama out of everything but I'm hoping I'm wouldn't be the only one to wonder why a girl would attack men in the middle of a forest and then run off with her guitar that she just felt like carrying around.

Come on, I mean... What in the heck?

I shake my head some more and pull the hood of my cloak off my head

I'm just up the road from my house when two of my brothers come sprinting out to meet me.

"CAMERON!!!!" the fifteen year old, Joshua, screams in a deep voice.

Before I can even ask him what has him and Patrick so hyped up, they both jump on me. Now Patrick is tiny for his age of twelve and his hit barely hurts more than a pillow. But Joshua can knock me off my feet any time of day. And I wasn't even prepared to take this blow. Hence, I soon find myself on my rear end.

I spit some of the dust from the dirt road out of my mouth and laugh. "Hey guys!" I greet them, tossing the brown mop of hair on each of their heads. Literally all eight of us have the exact same hair color.

"You'll never guess what!" Patrick says.

"What are you buffons so excited about?" I tease.

"Mom was able to get a hold of a chicken for dinner tonight!" Joshua screams, practically announcing it to the world.

I smack my lips eagerly and rub my hands together. "Yes!"

Chicken is a rare treat at our house. And I mean a very, very, very rare treat. It's so expensive and Mom and I are really just working hard to make ends meet at this point.

I stand up and dust off my rear. Josh finds it hilarious that I'm covered in dirt; he's laughing. I shove him playfully before taking off towards the house to both Josh and Patrick's surprise.

"Race ya!" I yell- once I'm already well ahead of them.

"No fair!" I hear Patrick whine.

"Pat, we can take him down, even when he cheats!" Josh says confidently as I hear his footsteps beginning to gain on me. And it's true. I will never have hope at beating Josh in much of anything that has to do with athletic ability. Josh beats me to the front door, panting like a dog on a hot day. I hear Patrick's high-pitched laughter at the fact that I managed to get beat when I had a ten second head start. I playfully whack Josh upside the head as Patrick finally catches up to us and we all head inside.

I love coming home; it's the best part of the day. The rest of my siblings, expect for the youngest- Phoebe- come attack me.

"Hayley! Ryan! Liza!  Erika! Oh, it's so good to see you!" I exclaim, trying to gather them all into my arms at once.

"You're late," Hayley observes with her ever present sass, snapping her fingers. At twelve, she's definitely the diva of the family.

Before I can think of a sarcastic retort for her Liza starts screaming. "WE GET A CHICKEN! WE GET A CHICKEN!" she chants. She's such a hyper child.

While the others start bouncing off the walls, Erika simply does not let go of me. "Missed ya," She whispers.

I squeeze her a little tighter. I am a little late, as Hayley so graciously pointed out, and I suddenly feel bad about it. Erika is so young and fragile, our little six-year-old. Losing Dad has taken its toll on all of us in different ways. For her, well, she's more anxious now. For instance if you're ten minutes late, like I am today, she'll think something awful has happened to you.

That's when Mom walks into the little entryway. Her hair is done up in a messy bun and she has her apron around her waist. Phoebe is in her arms. "Well," she says. "I was wondering what all the commotion was out here. Cameron caused it; no surprise there." She smiles at me with tired, but genuinely happy eyes.

I return her smile and gently take Phoebe from her arms. She smiles and coos at me and hits my cheeks with her chubby hands. "If by 'caused it' you mean there's commotion because my adoring fans spotted me, then yes," I tease, talking to mom but still looking at Phoebe.

Mom rolls her eyes, still smiling and turns her back to head to the backyard. I follow her through and find the trail of my adoring fans stalking in behind me.

"I presume you've heard about the chicken," Mom says with a grin as the open fire with a cooking chicken comes into view.

I laugh. "Yep. How were you able to get it?"

Mom's mouth starts to slowly turn down at the corners. She glances around at all the kids, running around in the backyard before replying, "Oh some rich family that heard about your father six months late. I didn't want to take it but I swallowed my pride cause I knew you kids would love the chance for a chicken."

I put Phoebe on my left hip so I can rub Mom's back with my right hand. "You work too hard."

She smiles up at me sadly. "No. You do."

I plant a kiss on Phoebe's nose. "It's worth it for these kids."

"That's how I feel too," Mom insists.

We both just stand in silence for a few moments, watching the kids play and letting their joy-filled shrieks fill the air. The only thing keeping this moment from being perfect is the fact that Dad isn't here to share it. But he wouldn't want us to dwell on that, I guess.

Mom speaks again; breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Well. Hand Phoebe to Josh and help me get this chicken out of the fire," she orders.

"Alright!" I say eagerly.

It's been a weird day, what with that guitar girl and all. Chicken is really going to hit the spot.

Geez. I almost forgot about her.

Almost.