Zac's thoughts...
We arrive back home after dropping Maui and Lucy off, and I go get changed for bed. Mom and dad put the younger ones to sleep, and I lay on the couch listening to their conversation. Dad is saying that the house is too small for seven children, and mom is insisting that all we need to do is add on. I knew this day would come. Needless to say, I'm slightly upset. I agree with mom. This is the house I grew up in. This is the house I've always known, and I make a pact here and now to stay in it. Tay comes into the den, and I pretend I'm buried in my book. "What are they arguing about?" He asks me, and I know that he knows that I know what they're planning. "I think our days in this house are numbered." Is all I say. He nods. He knows exactly what I'm saying, because, like me, I imagine he has seen this day coming forth over the bright blue horizon. He throws himself down on the couch, as we hear mom and dad moving throughout the house. Her harsh tone is no match for him, because we know now that his mind is made up. We are not staying here. I close my eyes, and think about what this means. I feel a bubble of emotion rising like a water reaching boiling point, and I flee the room. All I need is to have my older brother, who doesn't even want me around, but whom I adore, to see me cry. I yank my bed out from under Tay's, and flop onto it. Tears just start to come as I lay there in the dark, staring into what I've always known. Taylor argues with dad about staying up later, and dad gives up on an angry note. Slowly, the house quiets down, and there is less movement. I still hear the discussion over and over in my head, as I start to fall out of consciousness. I drift on the brink of sleep for about three hours, still hearing the faint hum of the TV from Taylor in the den. Its about midnight when Ike comes home, and Taylor and him enter the room. I open my eyes, and listen to Tay fill Ike in on the moving matter. Tears well up in my eyes, and they notice that I'm awake. "Zac...? Are you crying?" Ike asks me. "N-N-no." I say, wiping my puffing eyes. Taylor examines me. "You know...." He says, "It's ok to cry." All I do is nod, and let the slow tears lead me into slight sobs. I think its Ike who puts his hand on my shoulder, and engulfs my quivering body into a hug. "This is all I know..." I whimper into his shirt, as the embrace continues. He rubs my back, and softly whispers stuff to soothe me.

At some point in the night, I wake up shivering. My body is not cold, but I can't stop shivering. I let out a sickened cry, as I rush to the bathroom, barely hitting the toilet as my dinner leaves me, the way it entered. My body goes limp, as I kneel against the bathtub.My teeth chattering, and my body quivering, I can't stop the sobs that capture me once again.