The next day our fathers had things to discuss with us and us having something to talk with them, namely digging up a body. This situation put Nik on edge, having to deal with his grief all over again or not. There were so many things wrong with this scenario; it wasn't even funny.
They gathered all of us younger kids in the kitchen since it only affected us since the older ones graduated. We all sat around the table as our dads stood in front of us.
"Dad, what's happening?" RJ asked.
"Well, since your brother and sister, along with the others graduated, we decided you all need a change of scenery," Ryan said.
We all looked at each other.
"What kind of change?" RJ asked.
"The kind that involves moving to an unfamiliar house," he said to him. That causes us all to cheer and high five each other.
"Except for one condition," dad said.
"Well, that was too good to be true," I mumbled, and dad shot me a look. "Continued."
Ryan continued. "You won't have Hunter overseeing you since Mason is sending him on an assignment, but you will have someone else."
"Who?" Austin asked.
We all looked at them as Ryan waved the person overseeing us into the kitchen. Except it wasn't one person. It was five - the brothers. We all dropped our heads onto the table.
"Told you it would thrill them," Frazier whispered to Ryan.
RJ picked up his head. "Come on, dad. I'm pretty sure we can take care of ourselves."
"Oh, yeah, you have shown how well you all have been able to take care of yourselves," he said, rolling his eyes at RJ.
"I'm good with this arrangement," Nik said with a grin. We all looked at him, and he shrugged, then turned to see Leo wave at him. He would be good with this arrangement.
"Look with your older brothers and sister not being here; your mothers would feel better if you had someone here in case anything happened," Ryan said to us.
"Fine as long as you help us with something," RJ said.
"Like what?" Ryan asked.
"How do you feel about robbing another grave?" Austin asked them.
They looked at each other, as Dad said, "Fuck. We walked right into a trap."
"Yep," Ryan said.
"I knew their calmness was too good to be true," Frazier said.
We all smiled at them. You want to stick us with den mothers; then, you will help us rob a grave.
"Liam, I could get my license yanked if they find out," dad said to me.
"Come on, dad. We need to see if it's Mike in there," I said.
"And what if it isn't? Are you guys going to handle the outcome? And what about his parents? Did you even think about what this could do to them?" He asked us.
"Uncle Jordan, we're not asking to remove the body, but we need to check, especially after Maddox and Micha. I hate that we have to do this, but I need to know how this bracelet left his casket and ended up by us," Nik said.
"Nikolaus, I don't want you to have to go through what you went through again," he said, placing his hands on Nik's shoulders.
"But that's the thing, I have Leo this time," he said, looking at Leo, who nodded.
He looked at all of us, as Ryan said, "Well, Jord, ready to rob a grave?"
"Fine, but we need to plan this and make it quick. Mike's parents can't know anything about this," dad said, and we all nodded.
"Then it's settled, but first things first-time to pack everyone. We're heading home tomorrow. Once we get settled, then we'll rob a grave. But not a word to your mothers," Ryan said, and we all nodded.
As they went upstairs, I stopped dad, "Dad?"
"Now what, Liam?" Dad asked with irritation.
"Can I ask a favor?" I asked, not sure how this would play out.
"I think you have about run out of favors, don't you think?" Dad questioned me.
"It's about Mel," I said.
That made him soften in his expression as I asked him my favor. He nodded, and we both went up to my room. We walked in to find Mel sitting on the side of the bed. He walked over and crouched in front of her. "Hey, Mel."
"Hi Mr. Shaw," she said with a perkiness to her tone.
"Mel, I told you to call me Jordan," he said.
"Right. Jordan," she said.
"Mel, I hear that you were a little upset about leaving," he said to her.
"Oh, no, I'm okay, Jordan. I mean, my aunt is excited to see me," she said, smiling. "I know everyone is going home, and I'll see Liam in the fall."
Dad looked at me then back at Mel as he said, "I understand, but maybe you should come home with us, plus we would love to have you. Maybe this one won't be such a crab ass with you around the house." Dad thumbed at me.
"Really," she said excitedly. Then calmly said, "That would be nice of you. Thank you."
"Any time. We leave at nine tomorrow," Dad said, standing up and leaving, patting my shoulder on the way out.
She got up and tackled me to the floor. "You know we got to stop meeting like this."
"What fun would that be?" She asked with a grin. I reached up and pulled her into a kiss. After our mini make-out session, we packed, so all we had to do was toss on some clothes in the morning. The top thing we slept buck naked, plus it helps when you're going round after round. Clothes hinder a person in that aspect.
The next morning, we all got up early and packed up the cars. Then we all got in and headed for home. As soon as we got home and settled, I knew we had to do what we needed to do. It would take finesse on dad's part.
After we got home, we took our stuff to our rooms. Dad, JJ, and I left, leaving mom, Elijah, and Mel confused. Dad stopped by the coroner's office to get some medical records on Mike, including dental records.
Then he went to get an order of exhumation from a judge, and luckily our family knew one that would sign it with no questions asked. Thankfully Mike's parents were out of town when we did this, so we didn't upset them.
After gathering all the information we needed, we met up with the others. Dad laid the file on the picnic table and took a seat. He opened the file and looked through it until he found what he needed.
"What's that?" Ryan asked.
"Dental records," he said, then pulled out a small round container and tossed it on the table.
Frazier picked it up. "What's this?"
"Putty. I need an imprint of the teeth to match the dental records. If they match, then it's Mike. If not, then I can figure out who the hell they buried in that grave. Dental records don't lie," he said to all of us.
"When are we doing this?" Ryan asked.
"The sooner, the better. I already made the calls, and I have people meeting us there to dig him up. Ryan, I got to tell you, I don't have a pleasant feeling about this," he said.
"I know Jordan, but it's better to make sure than not," Ryan said.
I looked at Nik, and he looked like he was ready to pass out. I motioned to dad to look at Nik, who motioned to Frazier.
"Nikolaus? You okay?" Frazier asked.
"Yeah. Can we just get this over?" Nik asked nervously.
"Yeah. Leo?" Frazier mentioned.
"I'm on it, Frazier. Nik, baby, come with me," Leo said, taking Nik's hand and leading Nik away.
We all looked at each other as JJ said, "Damn Nik looks like he will hurl."
"Yeah, he was a wreck when we got home," Austin said. "He hasn't left Leo's side."
"Let's go," Ryan said. With that, we all got up, heading to the cemetery.