"You know, I always found this game boring" said Charlie as he yawned and he moved his piece on the board.
"You find anything that has to do with thinking boring" said Nine as he scoffed.
"Ouch Nine, ouch, that one hurt though" said Dom as he and Michael laughed.
"That was rather mean of you Nine" said Natasha as she laughed and she shook her head.
"He deserved it" said Nine as he scoffed and Natasha gave Dom his salary.
"You know what I am going to buy this place, just so when Charlie lands here on his go, he can pay me" said Dom as he chuckled.
"Hey Dom, what a friend you are? You all know that I'm clearly bankrupt here, I need to get my salary" said Charlie as he sighed and he shook his head.
"Mr. White, I don't think that is a wise financial decision, your reason for buying that piece of land is not a valid one, you should think about the future and save your money to buy a land that actually valuable to you" said Natasha.
"You know what Miss. Cole, I believe that you are right" said Dom as he laughed and Natasha laughed.
"No fair, she is helping him, that's cheating, even though she saved me" said Charlie.
"No it's not cheating" said Michael as he laughed and he shook his head.
"She is obviously playing favourites" said Charlie as he scoffed.
"No Charlie, I am not showing any favouritism here, I am the banker, and I will freely offer any of you my financial advice if need be" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Yeah right, you and Dom are a horrible when you team up together" said Charlie.
"We didn't team up together Charlie, I was just watching over his financial assets, because from what I can see on the board, you all are going to end up bankrupt in the end" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Charlie, you should be grateful, Natasha is offering us her financial advice without us paying at all" said Michael as he laughed and Natasha laughed.
"Why thank you Michael, you know what, I should start charging you all" said Natasha as she laughed.
"You know, I wonder why you didn't just decide to study Accounting, you are very good at it" said Michael as he smiled.
"I do really love Accounting, but I chose to study Business because I wanted a more versatile course, that covers all areas of business" said Natasha as she smiled.
"That's a good reason for you studying a business degree, meanwhile, we were forced to study it" said Michael as he sighed.
"I know" said Natasha.
"So what would you guys have studied if you had a choice?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"I wouldn't study anything" said Charlie as Natasha laughed.
"Oh Charlie, I know that you are already out of this conversation" said Natasha as she laughed and Charlie smiled, he hated books, studying and reading, memorizing stuff that you would later never need in your life, he found it just an annoying way to stress children.
"I think I would have studied something to do with communications" said Michael as Natasha smiled at him and she looked at Nine.
"Computer Engineering" said Nine.
"And you Dom" said Natasha as she smiled and she looked at Dom.
"Well firstly, I would never have a choice, and If I did, I would still go with Business, like you said, it's very versatile" said Dom as he smiled and Natasha took a sip of her hot chocolate as she nodded her head.
"Nine, it's your turn to roll" said Natasha as Nine rolled the die and it landed on three as he moved three spaces ahead.
"Charlie, seriously, what did you put in this? It's way too sweet" said Natasha as she had been trying to find out what Charlie used to make his hot chocolate, but she just could not taste it at all.
"Hehe, it's a secret my dear Natasha" said Charlie as he chuckled.
"It's just honey" said Nine.
"Aww what?! How did you know Nine?" asked Charlie in disbelief as he looked at Nine.
"The taste is there, subtle, but it's there, and also, next time you make your "special recipe" put back all your ingredients" said Nine as Charlie scoffed, and Natasha, Dom and Michael laughed.
…
Natasha yawned as she rubbed her eyes, It was only Dom and Nine left in the game, and it was going back and forth.
"Oh you guys, someone should lose already" said Natasha as she yawned again and Dom chuckled as he moved his piece on the board.
Natasha brought out her phone as she switched it on and she rubbed her eyes as she saw what time it was.
"Oh my goodness, it's 11:30???" asked Natasha as she stood up in surprise.
"Just where did the time go? I was supposed to be home an hour ago, my goodness guys" said Natasha as she shook her head.
"Oh Natasha relax, I am sure that your dad doesn't mind that you are out late, he hasn't called you once" said Charlie as Natasha nodded her head, he was right, she had no missed calls from him.
"That might be true, but I mind" said Natasha.
"I have to go now guys, goodnight" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Goodnight Natasha" said Dom, Michael and Charlie as Nine waved and Natasha walked out of the room as she walked to the door.
…
Natasha sighed as she opened the door to her house, which was left unlocked because of her, she closed the door behind her, as she locked it, and all the lights had been turned off.
"Dad" called Natasha as she whispered and she walked up the stairs, she wondered if he was asleep already.
"Dad?" called Natasha as she walked to his room and she knocked on his door lightly as she opened it, and she smiled when she saw her father sleeping, she didn't even realize what time it was.
Natasha smiled as she decided not to disturb her father so she closed the door and she yawned as she walked to her own room and she closed the door behind her.
…
"*Ugh*" said Natasha as she groaned and she opened her eyes as the sunlight from her open window shone in her eyes.
Natasha rubbed her eyes as she heard her phone ring, as she moved her right hand to get her phone that was on her beside table as she answered the call.
"Hello" said Natasha as she put her phone to her ear.
"Hello Sweetie!!" came Lia's happy voice from the other side of the line.
"Hi Lia" said Natasha as she groaned, she just felt so tired, she didn't want to get out of bed at all.
"Hi Sleepyhead, since when did you start waking up late?" asked Lia as she laughed.
"Oh you don't know the half of it Lia, I am so exhausted" said Natasha as she yawned.
"I can see that" said Lia as she laughed.
"So how was game night?" asked Lia as Natasha sat up in bed.
"Well it was fun, but Charlie insisted on playing Jenga, and he ended up knocking the whole tower down" said Natasha as she shook her head.
"*Sigh*, Oh Charlie, of course, he pulled a Charlie" said Lia as she sighed and she laughed as she shook her head and Natasha laughed.
"But then after that, we played Monopoly" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Ooh, and you don't have to tell me who the banker was sweetie, I am speaking with her" said Lia as she laughed and Natasha laughed.
"Yes, but then Dom and Nine were left in the game, and I had to go, I spent wayyy too much time over there" said Natasha as she shook her head.
"Aww, and what about Lulu? Didn't she play as well?" asked Lia.
"Well no, she was over at Grandfather's she didn't want to hang out with us, apparently we are boring" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Aww Lulu used to be so sweet, she followed us everywhere, but now, she's so mean that sometimes I wonder if she really is Dom's sister" said Lia.
"Oh leave her be Lia, she's a teenager now, so of course she wants to do her own things, and also I don't blame her, she won't be able to do anything fun with Dom chaperoning her, oh you know how he is, especially with Lulu" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Right, right, alright you are right" said Lia.
"You know, I thought that you guys would play twister" said Lia as she laughed.
"Twister? Oh no, not at all, I hate that game, I'm not flexible at all" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Well I am" said Lia as Natasha shook her head.
"Rightt, of course Lia, keep on showing off" said Natasha as Lia laughed.
"So how is Dom, and how are the guys?" asked Lia.
"Good, and the same as usual" said Natasha as she smiled.
"Oh I miss you guys" said Lia.
"And we miss you too Lia, especially me, I miss you so much, I miss us talking, face to face you know, because I've been so stressed lately" said Natasha as she sighed.
"Aww sweetie what's wrong?" asked Lia.
"I mean everything… I just have so much on my mind" said Natasha as she sighed.
"Is it uncle?" asked Lia.
"Well my dad is part of it, but I mean, it's a mix of school, and changes, and… well you know" said Natasha as she sighed.
"Sweetie, it won't be a bad idea for you to take a break or something, just take a break from school, put it on hold, go on vacation, why don't you come to stay over here with me, I could use the company" said Lia as she smiled.
"No Lia, I can't, taking a break from school, not an option, I really want to just move through it all, and besides, I can't just go and leave my dad all alone" said Natasha.
"Oh I understand sweetie, so how is uncle?" asked Lia.
"Well he's fine, but I know that he isn't" said Natasha.
"Oh he will be fine sweetie, trust me, life goes on, your dad says that all the time" said Lia as she laughed.
"He does doesn't he?" asked Natasha as she laughed.
"Alright well enough about me, how are you Lia?" asked Natasha as she smiled.
"Oh I am fine sweetie, just fine, in face, I just finished working on a new code, I'm going to send it to you so you can test it for me" said Lia as she giggled.
"Alright Lia, sure" said Natasha as she laughed and she unlocked her phone as she gasped.
"What's wrong?" asked Lia in worry.
"Oh my goodness, it's almost 11am, I have been sleeping for so long, I have to go make breakfast" said Natasha as she hurriedly got out of bed.
"Relax sweetie, you sound like you are about to have a heart attack" said Lia as she sighed in relief, she thought that something very horrible happened.
"Oh Lia, I will call you later" said Natasha as she ended the call.
"Bye" said Lia as she sighed and she shook her head, at this rate, Natasha would become an old woman at the age of twenty.
Natasha walked down the stairs as she was on her way to the kitchen, when she heard voices coming from her father's office, so she went over there as she opened the door.
"And Checkmate" said Larry as his king chess piece moved one block ahead and Nine looked at him in shock.
"How do you do that?" asked Nine as he looked at Larry.
"Nine??" asked Natasha in surprise as she looked at Nine as he looked at her.
"Oh Good morning darling" said Larry as he smiled and he looked at Natasha.
"Good Morning dad" said Natasha as she walked to Larry and she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Nine, what are you doing here?" asked Natasha.
"Playing chess" said Nine.
"Nine over here, reminded me that it's been a while since we played chess, so we decided to play a match" said Larry as he smiled and Natasha nodded.
"A match, this is our third game, and you still beat me" said Nine as he shook his head and Natasha laughed.
"How do you do that Uncle?" asked Nine.
"It's all in the mind Zavi, all the mind" said Larry as Natasha laughed and she shook her head, she didn't like chess, mostly because she always lost to her dad, and he loved it.
"Tasha, how do you feel?" asked Larry as he looked at Natasha.
"Bad, I woke up very late" said Natasha as she sighed.
"I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful" said Larry as he smiled.
"Well you should have dad, I overslept" said Natasha as she laughed.
"Anyway, let me go make breakfast" said Natasha.
"Better make that brunch Tasha" said Larry as he laughed.
"Oh haha dad, very funny" said Natasha in sarcasm as she shook her head.
"Nine what do you want for breakfast?" asked Natasha as she looked at Nine, she assumed that he was going to stay a little longer, he always did.
"My usual" said Nine as he smiled.
"Alright, an omelette it is" said Natasha.
"I will be right back" said Natasha as she smiled and she walked out of Larry's office.
"Best out of 4?" asked Larry as he looked at Nine and Nine just shook his head as he set the board again.
"You just like beating me mercilessly Uncle" said Nine as he sighed.
"Well maybe a little... a little" said Larry as he laughed and Nine smiled.