“Yes, sir,” Eli shouted irritatedly as they rounded the house.
Somewhere to the right Ruger let out a screech, then started crying and sobbing immediately surrounded by all the girls, including Juliette and Collette.
“Damn it! Which one of y’all bit him?” Lucien yelled.
“We didn’t do it!” Collette and Juliette both shouted defensively.
“Lola bit me!” Ruger screamed and sobbed, holding his little hand that didn’t even have a bite mark on it.
“Lola! Why did you bite your brother?” Analise demanded.
“Because he won’t let me play,” Lola said matter of factly.
“Barrett won’t let you play,” Ruger wailed.
“Barrett!” Emmalyn scolded.
“What? She bites!” Barrett answered.
“She doesn’t bite me,” Roslyn said sweetly, looking up at her mother.
Hellen looked over at Lucien. “At least it wasn’t ours this time.”
“Truth,” Lucien said, smacking a kiss to her lips.
“Barrett Saunders! We do not exclude our cousins!” Emmalyn insisted.
“We really, really gotta go,” Ronan said, looking at Brandt.
“Alright, alright! Everybody stop where you are! Ronan has to go or he’ll miss his reservation! Let’s get this done!” Brandt yelled. “Everybody up on the staircase.”
“Who’s going to take the picture?” Emmalyn asked as she rounded up her two and started up the stairs.
“I am,” Charlie said, licking the grease off his fingers from having delivered a plate of shrimp to Daisy.
“Somebody grab the pregos and get them to the stairs, too,” Brandt ordered as he helped round up the remaining children.
“Hey! I resent that!” Daisy yelled at her brother.
“Me, too!” Addie said as she tried to get up out of the hammock and ended up only swinging precariously back and forth.
“A little help here!” Daisy called out.
“I got them,” Christian said, trying to help both Addie and Daisy out of the hammocks.
“Everyone find a place to be, and Charlie’s gonna snap the picture,” Brandt said.
Every couple, every child, every single member of the Legacy clan found a place to stand on the curved stone staircase leading up to the massive stone porch in front of Havoc and Analise’s house. Some kids stood by their parents smiling, some stood by others’ parents smiling. It didn’t really matter because in the end they were all a part of one massive family. A familyborn of loyalty and integrity, some hard fought, but all prayed for and cherished. They were an example to all who’d ever known them that blood does not a family make. It takes love, respect, kindness, generosity, and an appreciation of not only the things that make a family stronger together, but of the unique differences that make every member of that family stand out as an individual. With that belief is how the Legacy clan was born.
Charlie peered through the lens of the camera he had mounted on a tripod. Once he was sure everyone’s face was visible and no one was blocked from view he called out to Barron. “Hey, leave room between you and the railing. We’ll photo shop Tessa in there.”
“Tessa is here,” a haughty voice said from behind him. “And don’t think I’m not aware that you were going to take it without me, Brandt!” she said as she glared up at him standing near the top of the stairs.
“You weren’t here!” he said.
“But yet, two minutes later, here I am,” she said. Without waiting for an answer, she walked up onto the steps, slipping between people until she reached her brother. She kissed Emmalyn’s cheek, picked up Barrett and held him on her hip as she leaned against her brother. “You may take the picture now,” she said to Charlie.
Charlie checked the lens once again, then darted toward the steps to stand with his arm around Daisy, who already stood with Carson and Penny on the bottom step. “Everybody smile on three!” Charlie called out. “One, two, three!” he said, then pushed the remote he held in his hand. “Don’t move. I’m taking a few more to make sure we got it.” Once he was done, he ran over to the camera and scrolled through the shots he’d gotten. He looked up at everyone waiting for confirmation they’d beensuccessful. “We got it! Looks great! The whole family smiling and looking in the same direction — pretty much.”
