A nervous DJ cuddled her four month old daughter as she waited for the boys to drop their verdict. "So, how do you like your new sister?" she questioned them as Steve wrapped an arm around her.
"I don't think we needed another baby in this house but she's pretty cute," Max conceded, eyeing the baby warily. He was kinda over babies because of Tommy and his cousins.
Steve chuckled. "At least she's not a newborn," he pointed out to his youngest stepson.
"Well, I for one am glad I don't have to put up with another brother." Jackson didn't think he could take any more of their shenanigans.
"Big brother," Tommy muttered in delight. They had been preparing him for months but DJ and Steve had still been worried about the little boy's reaction.
"Big brother," DJ confirmed. Then she looked down at the baby. "How do you feel about your big brothers, Lian? Wait until you meet your aunts and uncles and cousins."
"She's keeping her birth name?" asked a curious Jackson.
Steve nodded. "We want to respect her birth mother and her heritage. Besides, Lian is a beautiful name and we couldn't see her with another one." Lian Chen was now officially Lian Melissa Hale, and they couldn't be more thrilled. Scared too, but Becky and Jesse had paved the way and given them some helpful advice.
Tommy tried to hand Lian one of his toys but she took one look at it and started screaming her head off. "Little too much excitement for one day, I think. Time for a nap. I'll take her upstairs." DJ stood up, kissed her husband, and then headed upstairs, Steve on her heels.
"Can you believe we are now officially a family of six?" Steve questioned as DJ sat down in the chair and began rocking Lian to sleep in hopes it'd work.
DJ grinned. "It's still a little surreal and the house is crowded again but hey, I'm used to that." She missed Stephanie, now living with Jimmy and their daughter in an apartment about ten minutes away (they came over nearly every day). Kimmy was still right next door, however, which was nice.
"Of course you are. I don't think I've ever seen this house quiet but that's what makes it fun." Definitely chaotic but that had always been the life the Tanner family led.
Lian stopped crying and DJ stood up to place her in her crib. Fortunately, she didn't wake up and the two of them turned on the baby monitor before going back downstairs. "I miss my mom," DJ admitted, stopping on the stairs.
"I wish I could have met her, the woman you all adore so much and miss every day." Steve hugged his wife, kissed the top of her head, and then they rejoined the boys.
"Do I have to help take care of her?" Max really didn't want to.
DJ side-eyed her second-born. "Haven't we already gone over this, Max?"
"Yes. Fine, I'll help," he grumbled.
"You'll get used to it," a laughing Jackson told him.
"Don't be so sure." Max glared at him and then stormed into the kitchen to grab something to eat.
"I see her?" Tommy smiled at them, tugging his mother's shirt.
"She's sleeping right now but as soon as she wakes up, you can," DJ promised. Hard to believe that her baby wasn't actually her baby anymore. So much had happened in the past few years that it was still mind-boggling sometimes.
"Okay." Tommy grabbed one of his toys and plopped down on the floor, content with his mother's answer.
"So, how do you feel about our little girl, Doctor Fuller-Hale?" Steve asked his wife.
DJ smirked. "I love her so much I don't know what to do with myself. You?"
"Same here, Deej."
They only had about fifteen minutes before chaos descended on the house (the rest of the family still needed to meet Lian) but neither of them would have it any other way. It was a normal day in the lives of the Tanners, Fullers, Hales, and other assorted family members.