Cole's P.O.V.:

After what happened at the treehouse, I thought it would be best to go back home and warn Seliel about everything that happened. We were in the kitchen talking over tea and snacks while the boys were playing upstairs with Kirby.

"Do you think we need to get the boys out of here?" Seliel panicked.

"I don't want to put them through that." I sighed. "They're already so depressed about Allison being gone, I'd hate to stress them out more."

"Yes, but he's been in our house. He's seen our boys." She frowned. "What happens if he comes back?"

"Then we protect them like we always do."

"No you don't get it, I went out to the shed this morning and I noticed a few things were gone."

"I knew he had to be here for something." I said. "What was missing?"

"A lot of my tools, some smoke bombs, one of your old swords and a special project I was testing for Cyrus Borg."

Ever since the new mayor of Ninjago cut off our Ninja Retirement Fund, Seliel had been taking odd jobs to earn us a living. This included jobs like house repairs, deliveries, babysitting for the neighborhood kids or testing out new tech for big companies like Borg Industries. Anything that could make us a quick buck. It wasn't an ideal income by any means, but she's told me multiple times she would much rather go from job to job than move the whole family up to Nom. We both agreed that we wanted the boys to be raised here.

"What was it?" I asked.

"It was a prototype for Borg's Magic Mask. It would match the facial features of a photograph and project them onto the mask using a new holographic projection technology. This allows the wearer to look like anyone they want based off a photograph." Seliel said.

"Are you sure it's not the boys? You know how they like to borrow stuff for their pranks."

"It couldn't have been them. I've searched their room and everywhere else in the house."

"Then whoever the ghost was must've stolen them while we were distracted with the twins." I frowned.

"And I'm an idiot for just realizing this now." Seliel frowned.

"It's ok, we're all a little distracted right now." I said.

She gave me a quick smile and then we heard some feet running down the stairs.

"Daddy!" Both the twins ran into my arms. They seemed upset.

"What's wrong boys?" I asked.

"We had a nightmare." Ben said.

"It was about the ghost." CJ said.

Seliel and I looked at each other. For some reason ever since they were little, whenever they both were focused on the same thing, they would have the exact same dreams. I know it sounds crazy and we can't really explain it, but it happens. It's almost like a superpower they have.

"It's ok kids, it was just a bad dream." I said.

"But it was so real." Ben held his head.

"Ben is your head hurting again?" Seliel looked at it.

He slightly nodded and hugged Seliel's leg. She pulled him into her lap and looked at the where the bump was on his head. I looked at it too and saw it was a bit red, but wasn't throbbing like it was.

"Here slugger, let's put some ice on that. Ok?" Seliel said.

Ben nodded and she picked him up and carried him to the kitchen. I noticed CJ holding his casted wrist and he looked a little uncomfortable.

"Are you ok Junior?" I asked him.

"My cast is tight." He complained.

"Sorry carrot cake, it has to be tight so it heals faster." I frowned. "Is it hurting you?"

"A little."

"Come on, I'll make you some healing tea."

I carried him into the kitchen where Ben was sitting there with Seliel holding an ice pack against his head. I made a cup of tea for both of them.

After a few minutes Kirby came back downstairs. He seemed tired.

"Do you want some healing tea too Kirby?" I asked him.

"No thanks, I'm sorry I just haven't been sleeping much." He sighed and started walking towards the coffee machine.

"Sorry we keep sticking these little munchkins on you." Seliel said rubbing CJ's hair. "There's a lot going on right now, but we definitely appreciate it."

"It's not them, I was up all night listening to the police scanner." He said starting his coffee.

"Why were you doing that?" I asked.

"I was trying to see if they found the guy you were looking for, but the most crime I heard about was a traffic jam caused by a broken stoplight." He sighed.

"Do you think he's going to come back?" Ben asked me.

"No boys, we're safe here. There's nothing we need to worry about ok?" I assured them.

"Ok Daddy." They both said.

"Ok come on boys, let's go get ready for bed." Seliel said.

The boys said their goodnights to us and then made their way upstairs with Seliel. Kirby sat down with me at the table with his coffee. He could barely keep his eyes open.

"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked my brother.

"Yeah, I'm alright, I just need a little break." He yawned.

"We can watch the boys tomorrow if you need to rest." I offered.

"Cole, what you said to the kids, did you mean that?"

"Mean what?"

"That thing about us being safe here."

"I... I'm not sure I did." I frowned. "I was really just trying to calm them down, but I promise that no matter what happens Seliel and I will always be here to protect them."

"Then tell them that, don't lie to them." He frowned. "I've been lied to my entire life and I hate it."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't know who my birth father was until my adoptive father was on his deathbed." He frowned. "If he would've told me sooner he could've actually met him."

"I didn't know I had a brother till you showed up on my doorstep."

"But at least you knew who your father was, I didn't know anything about my parents." He frowned.

"Is this why you're not sleeping?" I asked.

"Part of it is."

"Why didn't you just say so? I have tons of stories about our dad." I said.

"You were so busy dealing with everything, I didn't think you wanted to hear about my silly problems."

"Kirby, the most important thing to me is that my family is safe and happy, and you are part of that family."

"Thanks but can you tell me tomorrow? I'm exhausted." He yawned.

"Sure bro. Have a good sleep."

"Thanks." He said.

He took coffee and started to walk upstairs, but halfway there he dropped to his knees and held his head.

"Kirbs? You ok?" I asked.

"I'm fine, just dizzy." He frowned.

I went up next to him and helped him up the stairs and into his room. He almost immediately passed out on the bed. I felt bad for him because he was always watching the boys for us while we were trying to figure out where our daughter was. We definitely had to take over tomorrow and give him a well deserved break.

I went in the boys' room and gave them a kiss on their foreheads good night. I would do anything to protect my family, I just hoped I was prepared for it.

Liv's P.O.V.:

"Hi, I'm Liv. I'm an alcoholic." I said to the room.

"Hi Liv." They all said.

"So, I saw my bio daughter for the first time this week since she was born. I must admit it was a bit hard to see her, but it was also a relief to know the two people I chose to raise my daughter did such a good job. She has grown up to be the sweetest little girl I've ever met, and I thought that she would hate me for giving her up, but she didn't, she seemed happy, excited even. They kept my daughter safe, and that's all I could ask for, especially right now. Even though I have to share my daughter, knowing that she's safe and gets to see me helps me stay sober, and even the parents I chose were completely supportive and that's all the support I need. Thank you."

Everyone clapped and as I went back to my seat, I saw someone sitting in the back row with a hoodie on. He was twitching and looking down at the floor. This wasn't anything new, often times newcomers come in and decide to just observe meetings see if it's for them or not, but there was something off about him.

I continued back to my seat next to my sponsor Gia. She was an older lady with gray hair and brown eyes. She patted me on the back and smiled. We waited until the meeting was dismissed and we dispersed to the back of the room for coffee and snacks.

"That was a great share honey." Gia smiled.

"Yeah, it really helped me get things off my chest." I sighed.

"What's on your mind sweetie?" She asked.

"Sometimes I don't feel like I made the right decision. You know, giving her up."

"But you said you couldn't afford to keep her."

"I couldn't when I was hopeless drunk living in a friend's apartment, but I can now."

"This isn't something you can change your mind on, I told you that when you were considering adoption."

"I know there's no turning back now, but I've just been so lonely ever since she left." I sighed. "I know we both can visit whenever we want, but Jay and Nya have a lot going on right now."

"Maybe you need to focus that energy on someone else." She gestured towards the newcomer sitting in the corner.

"Wait, you think I'm ready to... sponsor someone?"

"You're coming up on five years Sober, that's when I started." Gia winked at me. "It's easy, just use your own experiences to guide them in the right direction."

"Thanks Gia." I smiled and hugged her.

I took a deep breath and walked over to the newcomer in the corner. I tapped on his shoulder but he didn't look up at me. I wasn't surprised.

"What do you want?" He asked in a deep voice.

"I just wanted to talk." I said. "What did you think of your first meeting?"

"Meh, I don't think it's my thing." He shrugged.

"I said that about my first time too, but then my sponsor took me out for coffee and I started to understand the program better." I said. "Do you wanna go for some? I'll pay."

"No thanks."

"Why don't you give it a real try before you reject it." I suggested. "Come on, I'll even drive you."

"Ok, I guess it wouldn't hurt." He said taking off his hood.

"That's the spirit." I smiled. "I'm Liv, what's your name?"

"Umm... Joey." He shook my hand.

As Joey was following me to my car, I noticed he was limping a little. He opened the door and I saw him leaning on the railing on the porch. He was keeping his leg off the ground.

"Are you ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I just pulled a muscle in my leg the other day. No big deal." He said.

"My sponsor is an ER nurse. I could have her look at it."

"No!" He yelled. "I mean uhh... no thank you. I'll just walk it off."

"Ok, if you say so."

We continued walking until we got in and I drove him to a local cafe. We got seated at a table and ordered our coffee.

"So, why were you there today?" I asked.

"I was only there because I was court ordered after a DUI I got. I only have to sit through two more meetings and then I'll be home free." He explained.

"So you don't actually want to get sober?"

"Not really. Just doing this to keep me out of jail." He shrugged.

"You know, I was just like you." I said. "At first I was only doing this because I got pregnant and wanted the baby to be healthy. My plan was to start drinking again as soon as I got her into her adoptive family, but then everyone in AA helped me realize how much better my life got after I put the bottle down for good. Now I have almost 5 years on me."

"Great story, but I don't think that's going to work for me." Joey frowned.

"There has to be someone in your life worth staying sober for."

"There was someone a long time ago, but she's gone now." He frowned. "Alcohol is the only thing that makes it all go away."

"If I had a nickel for every time I said that." I sighed. "You need to see that alcohol only works temporarily. If you want to truly move on you have to face with grief with courage and dignity."

"Where did you get that from? A fortune cookie?" He gagged.

"No, it's something my sponsor said actually." I told him.

Joey then checked his watch and looked at it panicked.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I'm late for something important. I have to go." He said.

He grabbed his things and fled the restaurant. This wasn't surprising considering a lot of newcomers do this.

I shrugged it off and walked up to the counter to pay the bill for our coffees. Then I walked back to my car and got in it. I cranked it up and started going home. As I went down the steep hill, I tried my brakes but they didn't work and I kept rolling. My engine ran face first into the ground where the car was on its nose. I hit my head on the steering wheel and passed out...

To be continued...

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Hey guys, so I know I've been focusing on the grownups a lot, but the next one will focus on the kids on the island. I know that means you'll have to wait longer to see the outcome of this chapter, but you'll why in a few chapters.

Also for those of you who congratulated me on my engagement, I'd like to say thank you and Stay Awesome! See you next time.