Two Years Later

Autumn smiled happily enjoying their family outing. The Calaway clan had assembled one more time in honor of another big night…her high school graduation. The early part of the day was spent with family and friends celebrating the grand day, now they were all enjoying their time fishing. The five of them were in the middle of the ocean enjoying the peaceful start to the summer.

Autumn was happy, she had her Dad and her brothers. Her life was a good one. In the last two years, so much had changed while so much had stayed the same. She was still enjoying painting and art as a whole, but now she focused mostly on soccer. She'd found that once the nightmares had stopped, so had her need to paint and draw. Her journaling had almost ceased completely. Autumn smiled as she remembered what Sammy had told her. 'When you get over your past, your nightmares will go away'. She smiled at the thought, it was apparent that Autumn Mackenzie Calaway had left Autumn Lewis in the past. Her life was new and it was good.

She jerked her head around after hearing a splash. Lizard's head popped up glaring daggers at his brother. Thunder only smiled…he'd finally won. Trian kicked Thunder in the knee. "Why'd you do that?" Thunder picked his brother up and threw him at Lizard. Autumn's eyes popped out of the socket.

"I'm the king of this castle." Thunder was enjoying gloating. Mark came up behind his son and also tossed him overboard.

"No, I'm the king." Autumn smiled, the more things changed the more they stayed the same.

That night...

Autumn was laying on her stomach on the floor of the balcony alone. After a few hours with her brothers she'd often found herself in need of some alone time to clear her head. It wasn't that she didn't love them, it was just sometimes, they were a bit too much. She sighed, her life was a bit complicated these days. She was going to be the first one in the family to move out of Houston and Texas. She was heading to California on a soccer scholarship. Her stomach stayed in knots over the idea of leaving her family, but she needed to do this. It was a make or break type of situation. She sighed.

"Ladybug." Autumn shook her head, leave it to Mark to come and find her when she wanted to be left alone.

"Hey," she said somberly. Mark smiled down at his daughter and took a seat. The two stayed silent for a long while. Neither of them wanting to say anything. This was hard on both of them. After a few more minutes he spoke.

"I'm going to miss you." She glanced at him and then returned her gaze to the city skyline. "Ladybug, we've been through a lot," he paused. "A whole lot." He took a sip of his drink. "But we never gave up on each other. We made it through the hard times and the good times and we'll make it through this." Autumn turned and stared at him. "I'm still your dad and I'll be here when you come home on holidays, I be here when you need to talk after a long day, I'll always be here. No time or space can keep us apart. We said we wouldn't turn back and I don't break my promises." Autumn smiled as she looked at the skyline. She rolled over and set herself on the bench next to Mark. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders pulling her close to his chest and kissed her head. "I love you." She smiled. She loved him more than he could ever know.

"I love you too." Mark smiled and the two stayed like that for a long while. It was so peaceful neither one of them wanted to move. Mark grunted as his cell phone vibrated.

"Well, we're going to have to cut this gathering short. Your brothers have just been put into holding cells for disturbing the peace. I've gotta go and get them out." Autumn shook her head and got up too.

"Those two never cease to amaze me." Mark rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I know."

"You know, I think I'm going to write a book about this family." Mark turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh really?" She shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess, I've been thinking about it for a while. I'll call it Calaway Crazies." Mark shook his head.

"Horrible title." Autumn rolled her eyes and grabbed her jacket. "Where are you going?"

"With you, duh. I'm not going to miss this for anyone." She shrugged. "Sides, you said it, we're a family who don't turn our backs on each other. That goes for all of us, not just me and you." Mark smiled and opened the door for her to walk out of. She snapped her fingers as she walked down the hallway. "That's it!"

"What?"

"The title of my book...No Turning Back." Mark shrugged and smiled.

"That could work."

Five years later

In five years Autumn Calaway's life had changed drastically. She now lived in California as a writer for the Los Angeles Times and did freelance photography. She couldn't believe her good fortune. She had a high paying job and a family who loved her. What more could she want? Autumn smiled as she held her snake, Copper while she cleaned his tank. She'd inherited her love of all things reptilian after she'd held Baby Randy at Lizard's house almost seven years ago. Ever since that day she'd been fascinated by all the slimy creatures that kept Thunder away from her apartment. Who knew the mongrel had a fear of reptiles? She smiled evilly at the memory of Lizard throwing a baby Frankie at Thunder who squealed and fled the house. That had been such a good day indeed. Autumn like her older brother loved her babies. Copper and her iguana Frankie were her two favorite things in the world, that is just outside of her family.

Autumn looked up from the tank she was cleaning and smiled. It was the summer so Trian was staying with her for two weeks. He was such a joy at fifteen. His small body was now a lean frame identical to Thunder's. What scared her was how similar they looked. From their eyes, to their walk, to even the way they spoke. She shuddered, one Thunder was enough. Autumn heard her name being called and tried to hear where it was coming from. "Sky! Sky!" She turned to see her younger brother sprinting towards her. "Sky!" Trian handed her the newspaper. Autumn's mouth dropped at the sight. "You did it Sky! You're number one!" Autumn stared down at the paper.

New York Times Bestseller

1. No Turning Back-A.S Calaway

Autumn hugged her brother and smiled. What a great life she'd lived. What a great life indeed.

to Mattagot...you always inspire me to go further. :D