When You Were Mine (Adams Sisters) by Adrianne Byrd

up.
                  The dial tone immediately hummed in her ear and she returned the hand unit back to its cradle.
                  “Who was that?” Her father asked, looking up from his bowl of Grapenuts.
                  “Phil.”  Peyton replayed the conversation in her mind and still believed something was terribly wrong. 
                  “What did he want?” he asked, watching her.
                  Not wanting to sound any alarms, Peyton shrugged to downplay her suspicions.  “Nothing.  He was just looking for Mike.  She might be on her way down here.”
                  Marlin nodded.  “Probably caught wind that her brother was down here.”  He chuckled.  “I wouldn’t be surprised if she had this house bugged.”
                  “You must be talking about Michael,” Flex said, entering the kitchen with a wide smile and a slow gait.
                  Marlin shifted in his chair while Lincoln glared at his brother-in-law.
                  “What happened to you?” Peyton asked.  “You look like you’re in pain.”
                  In the same methodical motion, he retrieved a bowl and the box of cereal.  “I had a little incident with Mr. Oak in the backyard.”
                  “What kind of incident?”
                  “Well, I sort of fell out of it.”  He opened the fridge and grabbed the milk.
                  “You hauled your big butt up that tree?” Lincoln quaked with laughter.  “Now, that would’ve been something I would have liked to see.”
                  “Trust me.  It couldn’t have come close to seeing you in two in bed,” Peyton retaliated in her brother’s behalf.
                  “Or the look on your face when you kissed me this morning,” Flex added.
                  “You kissed him?” Peyton thundered in wide-eyed shock.
                  Lincoln shrank six inches right before their eyes.  “I told you I thought he was Peyton.”
                  “First I’m not even going to tell you how much that hurts my self-esteem or my self-image, but how far did you go before realizing he wasn’t me?”
                  Lincoln opened his mouth,
                  “Wait!” Marlin held up his hands and then pushed back his bowl of cereal.  “I don’t want to hear this.”
                  “Nothing happened!” Lincoln protested to a dubious looking audience.  “I swear.”
                  The front door slammed and caught everyone’s attention.
                  “Where is he?” Frankie and Sheldon sang.  They rushed inside and then screamed when their eyes landed on their baby brother.
                  “Oh, I can’t believe it.  You’re actually here.” Frankie exclaimed, planting kisses all over his face.  “Why didn’t you tell us that you were coming?  We could have planned a party.”
                  “You just answered your own question.” Flex winced while being pulled from one sister to the other.  He went on with his usual pretense of hating the attention, but in truth, he loved it.
                  “You know Mike is going to have a fit when she gets here,” Sheldon warned, repositioning in her two-seat stroller.  “She takes pride in organizing everyone’s life.  Whether they want her to or not.”  She rubbed at her belly.  “Oh, if this child don’t get off my bladder.”
                  “Trouble with baby number five?” Peyton asked, leaning over the stroller to coo at her niece and nephew.
                  “Just the usual rigmarole.  You’d think that I would be used to this.”
                  “You should take a breather,” Frankie said, pulling a chair from the dining