The Travis Family
When Orrin and Evie first got married, their plan was to have a lot of children to fill their backyard and shower them with love. They had married right after Orrin's graduation from college, and for a year they tried to start a family. Evie never got pregnant until after her graduation the following year of her husband's. The young couple was so excited and began planning for their new addition. Friends of theirs from college were also looking forward to their first child as well. Both couples spent many days together and the expecting mothers would talk about names and guess the gender of the unborn babies.
Tragedy struck the Travis's when Evie gave birth to a stillborn. She cried for days afterward, not wanting to eat anything. It had been a boy. She and Orrin had been planning on naming the baby Stephen. Sometimes, Orrin would see his wife in the little room they had made up as the nursery. She would be sitting in the rocking chair with a little stuffed animal or sometimes be holding the tiny onesies
Their friends had given birth to a healthy baby boy the following month. Orrin could see that when Evie saw the happy boy in her friends' arms, she couldn't help feeling the loss of her own child.
Orrin and Evie had been named godparents of baby Josiah. Ruth and Carlos Sanchez were missionaries and often traveled. They had made a will that if anything should happen to them, the Travis would become the legal guardians of Josiah. Ruth always saw the smile that lit up her friend's face when she held Josiah who would grab with tiny hands at her neckless. She couldn't see anyone else caring for her son better.
The dangers of preaching over in Iran which were in a middle of a revolution brought home the sad news to Orrin. Ruth and Carlos had been taken as prisoners with several of the other missionaries and had been declared missing for weeks. Almost a month later, their bodies were discovered with some of the natives of that country. Older men and women and children were also discovered dead.
The four friends had been so close for so long that it was devastating to hear the dreaded news. Josiah had only been three at the time. He didn't really understand all of what was going on. Though Evie and Orrin tried to preserve the memory of their friends in the boy's memory. The three-year-old just couldn't understand. He spent a lot of time with his godparents that he had started to call them mommy and daddy.
The only thing they could do was wait to explain it to him when he was older when he could understand.
Chris had been an open adoption. Orrin and Evie decided that instead of going through the experience of getting pregnant again, that they would be better suited to adopt. Josiah would benefit from having a playmate as well.
Sarah Conley and Adam Larabee were young teenagers who found themselves in a family way after a school party. Sarah grew up in the same church that the Travis family attended. Not wanting to go through an abortion, she decided to give up the baby and found Orrin and Evie happy to adopt their baby.
Chris was a loud baby and cried constantly at night, waking up the whole house.
Orrin had turned his head to look at his wife who had woken up too from the powerful lungs crying in the other room.
"Are you happy?" he teased with a smile.
She smacked him playfully on the arm, "So much so, I don't see why we still can't have our dream."
"You mean you want more?" Orrin asked incredulously.
Nathan was a normal adoption without much knowledge of the parents who died in a house break-in. Nathan was only eight months old at the time. He was a happy baby, doted on by Josiah who took an immediate liking to the new addition and his tiny afro.
Evie would laugh thinking how she had negotiated with her eldest just to take care of changing Nathan's diapers. Josiah was constantly wanting to hold him.
Bucklin was unnamed when they adopted him. The mother, who tragically looked like she didn't even have her driver's license yet, had died from what looked like an overdose. Thankfully the doctors said it looked like she had been clean for the duration of the pregnancy and that the boy was healthy. Orrin and Evie both thought Chris would try to bond with his new baby brother like Josiah did with Nathan when he first arrived, but the one-year-old seemed to be put off by the loud crying and constant drool. Chris, once he wasn't in his teething phase, was much quieter, and preferred the quiet than the chaos of crying infants.
Ezra was three-years-old when he was adopted by the Travis family. His mother had been found negligent by the court and had several other crimes she was being charged with along with her partner. The little boy had no family members willing to take him in. Orrin had been one of the arresting officers and had taken an instant liking to the little boy who looked so sad. He didn't do anything for the longest except sit in his seat until told to do otherwise. There were a few bruises on him from strong hands grabbing him. Getting Ezra to open up and be a three-year-old took a lot of patience.
Orrin had an idea, though he had to ask his wife what she thought of adopting another child. She absolutely loved Ezra when she came into the station to meet him. He was polite even at three but didn't say much.
"Why don't we try introducing him to one of the boys, so he'll be more comfortable?" suggested Orrin.
"I think Chris would be perfect," Evie said. Chris was now five and understood things a little better. He understood now that he was an older brother and needed to protect his younger siblings. Though Buck constantly got on his nerves, he did try. He just needed someone who wasn't going to try his patience while he learned.
Chris was excited to have a new brother, one it would seem was quiet like him. His legs swung out, kicking the passenger seat in front of him as he looked out the van window, on his way to meet him.
Evie was curious as to why Chris had brought his baby blanket with him. Blankie never left Chris's bed. Ever!
The adults introduced the two children and stood a little way back to let them try and talk.
Chris kept his blankie secreted away behind his back as he looked Ezra over as if checking him out. Ezra's head remained lowered, looking at his feet.
The five-year-old grinned and suddenly wrapped his arms around the little boy, "You'll do! Mommy, I wanna keep him!"
Chris pulled back long enough to wrap his blankie around Ezra and then pulled, or rather drag, Ezra to a place where he could sit down with him.
Ezra's eyes were big as saucers as he just let the other boy steer him around. Chris had asked his mom to bring some of his toys with him just in case he could play with the boy. He showed Ezra each toy and how he'd play with them. Ezra watched with rapt attention but flinched slightly away when Chris tried to hand him one of his action figures.
"It's okay, baby. You play with these okay. Just do what I do," Chris said.
Evie wondered if she should tell Chris that Ezra wasn't exactly a baby but a toddler. That if he was a baby, handing him stuff that he could potentially stick in his mouth and choke on would've eliminated over half of the things Chris brought.
Chris was throwing his first tantrum when Orrin said Ezra couldn't come home with him. He stomped his foot hard on the ground, balled his fist and screamed for the first time since he was a baby. He wrapped his arms tightly around Ezra, not willing to let him go.
"I want him! He's mine! I won't leave if he's not coming!" Chris said determinedly.
Orrin bent down and patted both boys' heads.
"Don't worry Chris, we'll do what we can to bring Ezra home, but until then you have to be patient. Okay, bud?"
"No! Now! I'm not leaving him here! He'll cry if he's alone. The bad people might hurt him," Chris stomped his foot again.
Orrin rose an eyebrow, "What do you mean hurt him?"
Sighing loudly as if his daddy was asking a dumb question and should already know, Chris showed him what he found earlier. Without asking first, Chris lifted the three-year-old's shirt up to reveal more bruises on his back. He even pulled the boy's pants down and diaper. More bruises.
Ezra began to panic and cry. Chris pulled the boy's clothes up and then held him tighter.
"No one is going to hurt little Ezra here, Chris. He's going to be just fine," Orrin reassured, already thinking about what he would need to do with what his son just discovered while the adults seemed to have missed.
Peeling Chris away from Ezra was heartbreaking to do and witness, though it was only a temporary goodbye. Ezra tried to give the blankie back that was still wrapped around him. Chris only put it back on him.
"This is yours. It's my promise that I'll be there for you as your big brother," Chris smiled.
Mom and son went back to visit almost every day to see Ezra, and their bond grew. Chris was more than willing to share information about his brothers. The rest of the boys were introduced later, and almost a month later, they were able to take Ezra home.
The first couple of nights were a hard transition for the boy, to be surrounded by constant noise and children. He stuck close to Chris, carrying the blankie around, which turned into his Whoopi.
At night, Ezra would sleep in the nursery with Buck and Nathan. He'd climb out of his cradle and sneak into Chris and Josiah's room, crawling into bed with Chris.
Chris wouldn't be fazed by it but pulled the little boy close to him.
When Ezra had his first nightmare from his past, he accidentally wet Chris's bed. Orrin and Evie didn't understand why Ezra was in diapers when they first met him. Apparently, the three-year-old hadn't been potty-trained correctly and would still have problems. The bruises on his bottom must've been punishments because of his accidents. Ezra panicked the first time and crawled under Chris's bed. Chris had been annoyed and disgusted at being woken up to pee all over him, but he didn't hurt Ezra because of it. He just peeked his head under the bed and talked the little boy into coming out, promising him that no one would be allowed to hurt him, not even his parents.
"I won't let them," Chris promised.
Ezra clutched his Whoopi in one hand and Chris's hand in the other as they walked to their parents' bedroom to explain what happened.
The boys were given a bath and the covers changed and mattress washed. The boys slept in their parents' bed between them.
Evie spent the next few days ensuring Ezra was on a potty schedule to prevent accidents and offered little awards when he went by himself. His confidence began to grow, and he was no longer silent and shy. Evie wondered how Chris would react, to know the silent little boy he fell in love with was now giggling in a high pitch and goofing off more. Chris, however, didn't stop playing with Ezra though. He seemed delighted to be the cause of the three-year-old's laughter, and often tried to make him smile.
It seemed that Ezra was the one to make Chris more sociable.
Vin and JD followed a couple years after, and like Josiah, Buck and Nathan's parents, they were dead. Both were open adoptions. Adopted as infants and knew no other love than the love from their mommy and daddy who were Evie and Orrin. Both of the biological mothers were teenagers who were about to get abortions but decided to carry the babies to full term or at least intended to. Janie Dunne had been a raped victim. She ran away from home after her parents wanted nothing to do with her, not believing her story. She was close to ending her life when she met Evie and was introduced to the church. Missy Richardson had gotten married right after high school to her sweetheart. He had been a couple years older, waiting for them both to be legal adults in the state they lived in. He had enlisted in the rangers. He was killed on duty about a month ahead of time Vin was to be born. Complications began when she went into labor early due to stress. Vin was a premature baby and was in NICU for the first two months of his life. He fought for his life as best as he could, but he had no one there to cheer him on until the Travis couple. Missy was too distraught with her loss and wanted to give up the baby. With his medical bills piling up because of his early delivery, she said she wasn't in a position in her life to take care of a baby alone with no job.
Chris again was interested in one of the new additions. Vin was so tiny that Chris would go around finding places the baby could fit in. Evie had to stop him when she saw him put Vin inside the dresser about to close it. Besides his fascination with not seeing such a tiny baby before, Chris found he enjoyed being an older brother, now that he thought he succeeded with Ezra.
That resolve and confidence lasted about a week before Chris was tired of crying infants. He retreated outside.
JD was Buck's favorite. He was a plump baby with jet black straight hair that stood on end, who loved to laugh. Buck, now four and thinking he was alright not being the youngest since 'the invasion of Ezra' as he no doubt thought it at the time. He loved playing especially with the baby's chubby cheeks.
"Are you happy?" asked Orrin a couple of years later, right after putting Vin and JD to bed. They had requested several bedtime stories to be read to them.
"Yes. Thank you," she kissed him on the lips as he got under the covers.
"What for?"
"For helping to make my wish come true."
"Our wish. Anything you desire is what I inspire to achieve," he kissed her this time.
"How did I ever get so lucky to end up marrying such a great man?"
"I think, it was me who is the lucky one. I never thought you'd settle for a guy like me," Orrin gave a toothy grin.
"A guy like you huh?" Evie kissed him again.
"Yeah," they rolled over in bed, laughing like newlyweds.
A/N: Now I'm not a professional when it comes to adoptions. I tried to glean information that I could from one of my classes. Open adoptions (From what I understand) is the most plausible way for the Travis family to adopt all of them at their ages. No child abuse intended or neglect on the Travis's part. A cute chubby JD and preemie Vin just happened suddenly.
