Time slipped too fast, as attested Leone's hair that stretched beyond his shoulders, which he liked to have tied in a topknot.
"Joah, Gabi, come."
"Look at Leone playing supervisors. He's a real tyrant," Ulrich said.
Klara laughed, "he's a bit like you when we were younger. You used to take us for minions too."
Leone covered his grandfather with sand and had the twins Joah and Gabriel bring the water.
"I can't wait until they attain the calm phase like yours, Shai."
"Calm, you say, look at them. I don't call throwing seaweed at one another and chasing each other with crabs calm. At least Joah and Gabriel are organized in a task force, and Malia is a sweetheart," Shai said nervously before yelling. "Milo, Levi, you better stop that or else."
"Ma-Li-A," Millie called.
"She's probably with her dad," Sierra said and got up to find them.
Unlike her brothers, who enjoyed following Leone's lead regarding mischief, Malia was a true daddy's little girl. She followed her father everywhere, and the man could not get enough of his only daughter.
Jonas held Malia's hand as the water swayed at her feet.
The whole family was in Halmstad for summer, grandparents, aunts, and uncles included.
They all took a week in summer to spend time together as everyone had busy schedules.
Ulrich made the big decisions while Joshua helped supervise their five stores.
Elsa had a stressful year as the insemination her girlfriend tried failed a few times. The women were frustrated, especially when they saw how happy everyone was to have kids.
The only person missing was Lars. Feeling outed by his family, the man left bitter, "what do you imagine? You're not the only one with talent here who can make millions, Jonas. You think I didn't learn a thing or two while working with you?"
Jonas clenched his fist, his tolerance had its limit, and he was about to pounce. Lars hit everyone's red zone, as proved by Ulrich, who got up and grabbed Lars by the collar, "you crazy punk."
"What are you going to hit me?" Lars said, widening his eyes in defiance.
"I swear you deserve it and more. You almost sunk the company and destroyed almost Jonas' family. Sierra could have died, and Leone, we don't know where he could be right now if Elsa didn't ring alarms everywhere. And here you are throwing your spite when you should be thankful to sit here. If there's one person here who has always been diligent towards you, it's Jonas. He gave you chance after chance, and you blew it."
"Ulrich," their mother begged.
If someone asked Sigrid the most challenging part of having many children, she would say maintaining peace.
The Potsmann parents had succeeded. Each child lived their life the way they desired, but they remained united. There was no disagreement they could not fix, but all knew there was no going back this time.
To forgive and forget at that instant, neither seemed to be a feasible option.
Lars left promising he'll do better than any of them.
The anger Jonas felt became sorrow. Lars was the youngest, and just as Leone helped his siblings walk or eat properly, Jonas took care of his brother. As an adult, he hoped to help Lars find what he truly desired to do in his life. Now all was lost; within a second, Lars forgot what his brother did for him.
"He's not a child Jonas, it pains us more than it does you, but Lars knows what's wrong or right. Shame is what made him say all those things. He covered his culpability with arrogance. He'll come around. If he doesn't, well, I guess he isn't the man I thought he was," Jonas's father said solemnly.
Almost a year after, no one brought up his name. His absence left a void, but none spoke of him.
"Jonas."
The man turned and smiled at his wife while Millie came and picked up her cousin.
Malia's eyes switched from her cousin to her father.
What was happening?
There she was, having the time of her life with the dad of her life. What was this interruption?
The little girl stretched out her hands to her father only to be told off.
"No malia, come with me. It's your nap time."
"Il faut faire dodo, Malia," Sierra added.
The little girl's expression darkened as she knew her mother's word was law. Malia looked up at Millie, who smiled, and they walked back to the spot under the parasol set for the babies.
Joshua's twins laughed as Millie gathered the younger children for their nap. The boys were happy to be no longer obliged to follow the ritual.
"Leone, you too. Come here," the girl yelled.
"Non, Olly, viens."
"Woof," Leone ran in his parent's direction, leaving the triplets to their fate.
Sierra and Jonas walked, hand in hand. It was the first time since the birth of the triplets they didn't feel they had to run. With Millie around chaperoning the babies, the parents benefited from little moments alone.
"I love Halmstad; it's one of my favorite places in Sweden."
"I guess the first place is by the pond," Jonas said.
Sierra shook her head "no."
Jonas frowned, "then where ?"
The woman stopped and stepped in front of Jonas, "my favorite spot in Sweden is in your arms."
"Aww, stop it, Sierra. You'll make me blush."
"You're blushing already," Sierra said.
"See ."
"How can you be so bashful?" Sierra asked and grabbed his cheeks.
"Look who's talking."
"Maman."
The couple turned to see Leone running full speed towards them. His hairband had fallen, and his hair swayed in the wind.
Leone grabbed his father's leg, "no nap," he yelled.
"Leone, you're still little. You need your nap."
The boy frowned, "Je suis grand, [I'm grown]."
Leone didn't understand. His parents constantly told him he was a big boy and that he needed to be an example. Then they told him he was little and he needed naps.
Sierra crouched down to his level, "it's true, Leone, you're a big boy, but don't you want to be tall like dad and your uncles?"
The argument was a good one. Leone admired his father and uncle's height. He, too, wished to be tall and capable of lifting his mother like a rug when he wanted.
"Oui, je veux être grand, [yes, I want to be tall]."
"Well, you have to take naps to do that, and you know Malia doesn't sleep without her big brother."
The boy's face mimicked the etched expression Malia had earlier as he surrendered. His parents walked back with him. As expected, Malia sat on Millie's lap, waiting. She got off her cousin's knee as soon as she saw Leone.
"Il faut faire dodo Malia, aller ferme les yeux." [you must sleep, Malia, go ahead, close your eyes]. The little girl leaned and posed her head on Leone, who wrapped an arm around her.
Sierra had a lot of apprehension concerning how Leone would take having so many children needing attention around him.
She didn't need to insist on getting Leone invested. He tidied behind his siblings and picked them up every time they fell when they began to walk. He gave them their bottles and climbed on the toddler step stool to rinse the dummies when they lost them.
Leone saw how his sibling's personalities and appearances evolved. While the boy's remained fair, Malia's skin changed to milk toffee.
She also had huge curls, while her brother's hair stayed bone straight. It wasn't rare to have people stare at her, and it annoyed Leone.
Why did people act as though they had never seen a person like her before?
People stared at his mother the same way sometimes. Why did they do it?
The boy didn't know why, but something told Leone it was wrong. His parents always told him never to stare, yet some rude people did it daily. Thus Leone was always on the lookout when with his sister.
Malia knew she could rely on him, and there, it wasn't long before Malia slept. Sierra and Jonas sat with the rest of the family while Joshua's twins dug to free their grandpa.
"So when are you two leaving?" Klara asked.
Sierra frowned, and Jonas squeezed her hand, "sorry, I wanted to surprise you. Mom and dad are okay to keep the kids for a week. We could go to Puerto Vallarta together. They finished the contemporary art museum there last week and wanted to see the final product.
Between diaper changes, bottles, and playtime. Jonas worked; he took one project at a time. He usually visited when the constructors finished with the structure, and the interior design began. He would then see at the end. Sierra never got to go to Dubai as it was unthinkable to travel and leave behind her newborns.
Now all the children walked, and were easier to keep still it was difficult for the mother to leave her babies.
"Why didn't you tell me, Jonas?"
"I knew you'd say no because of the children. So I decided to make arrangements beforehand."
Sierra cocked a brow, "to force me."
"No, to persuade you."
Sierra looked around the table; it was not the time or the place to bicker.
"Jonas, we're already on holiday."
Sigrid laughed; it seemed her daughter-in-law still didn't know all the fundamentals of how to keep the love locomotive going, "go on, Sierra, how long has it been since you two were alone?"
A year to be exact, would have been the couple's answer. Even their bed found itself invaded by the babies that created a width distance as the parents slept at both extremities of their bed.
"Go on, Sierra, have fun," Elsa encouraged.
Sierra looked at Jonas's intense stare. She knew all that was left to do was pack, as Jonas never gave up once he set his mind and heart on something.
It reminded her of how he continuously demonstrated his love with his actions when she refused to admit she loved him.
He wasn't a man of many words, but Jonas knew how to make one bend to his desire. No, correction, he knew how to make his wife bend.
"Sigrid, it's not like there's one of them to take care of," Sierra said.
"Sierra, I know how many grandchildren we have. And don't you dare say you don't want to bother. Look at my arm, do see these are goosebumps? That's what happens every time I hear you say that. We love having the kids around. We retired; spending time with them is all we have left to do."
Sierra turned to face her husband, " I bet you've booked everything already."
Jonas nodded sheepishly.
Sierra sighed, "alright."
Jonas grasped her face with both hands and kissed her, "I love you."
Sometimes life was good, but for Sierra, it just kept getting better.
Hi guys,
The story officially ended a chapter ago, but I just wished to add a semblance of an epilogue. Sierra's Leone is a story I love so much. I'm glad to have finished the story. I'll start working on the story's first half to correct the typos and stuff soon.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the family's day out.
Thank you so much for opening these books and reading this duology. I'm so grateful to have you guys.
For those interested to know what happens to Lars, I invite you to check out Rebel Grained.
Take care!