A/N: This is the last chapter; it's a bittersweet feeling. I want to thank everybody one more time for sticking with this story and me, and for supporting and praising it. It all means so much to me, even if I can't tell you all personally. I'm so proud of the way this story came out, and I hope all of you enjoy this last chapter. I will be back soon with the sequel.
~ Chapter Twenty-Five ~
~~ Epilogue ~~
"Are you ready, buddy?" Ezra asked, holding onto his son. The warm sun beat down on his bare back, the cool water lapping around his waist. Liam knelt on top of a body board with a drawing of ferocious shark on it, staring down at it. Every time the board wobbled back and forth, Liam clenched his fists even hard against the board.
"Yeah," Liam answered, looking up at his dad. "I wanna put my hands on your shoulders."
"Ok, go slowly," Ezra instructed him. Liam sat up more, putting his hands on Ezra's shoulders, and then he began to stand up on the board, moving one foot out from under himself one at a time. Soon, the little boy was standing up fully on the board. The board shook once, and Liam gripped Ezra's shoulders tighter. "You got it, Lee?"
"Yeah," Liam said, standing straight again and lot more excitedly. "Mommy, look!" He called to Aria over on the beach, being brave and lifting one hand up to wave at her.
Aria was standing at the water's edge on the beach, her strapless sundress rustling in the cool breeze. She was too self-conscious at six months pregnant to wear just a bathing suit. She smiled and waved at her two favorite boys. "Good job," she called back to her son. "Be careful." She waved one last time, and then rejoined her friends on the beach.
"Move it around, daddy," Liam told Ezra, his wet blue shark bathing suit sticking to him and dripping water. His dark hair stood up crazily, and he shivered once from being out of the water and in the air.
"Are you sure?" Ezra asked him, to be sure. Liam nodded, and Ezra began walking his son around the water. He had only taken a couple steps when Liam leaned forward a little too much and lost his balance. He wobbled, which caused the body board to wobble as well and it shot out from under him. Ezra wrapped his arms around his son to catch him, but they both fell into the water. They came back up, sputtering water and laughing. Ezra made sure Liam was okay amid his laughter.
Then, came an extra set of laughter and it was coming from Isabella. Noel was pulling her around on her own pink dolphin body board, except, unlike Liam, she was lying down on her stomach on the board. Her blonde hair and tie-dye fringe two-piece were still dry, except for where her hands and toes trailed in the water. Isabella was pointing and laughing at them, Noel was chuckling, too.
"Boys always have to do crazy stuff," Isabella quipped, then she spoke directly to Liam. "You fell five times and I didn't fall at all." Everybody could tell she was joking as she stuck her tongue out at him.
Liam didn't like it so much, though. He scrunched up his face in anger and harrumphed, starting to swim over to the older girl. Ezra questioned him of what he was doing, but Liam didn't answer and just kept swimming. Isabella watched him with narrowed eyes, curiously. Liam took a deep breath, and began swimming under the water.
Isabella's eyes grew wide. "Go, go, go!" she exclaimed to Noel, using her hands like paddles to move the board forward in the water. Before they could get far, however, Liam popped back out of the water right next to her and used his hands to push her board up and over. Isabella tumbled into the water with a scream. Liam started laughing, and when Isabella popped back up, spitting water, a water fight commenced between the two of them.
Tyler laughed and giggled from where he sat at the edge of the water, hanging his feet in the water and digging his hands into the wet sand unconsciously. He would occasionally dribble some wet sand onto his black and green Toy Story bathing suit. Toby sat next to him, trying to coax his son into the water.
"Doesn't that look like fun, Ty?" Toby persuaded him, motioning toward Liam and Isabella playing and splashing around in the water. Tyler nodded enviously; he was hooked. Toby continued, "Do you want to go in?"
Tyler shook his head and dug his hands further into the wet sand. It was at that point that Spencer knelt behind the two, holding Eliza. The baby automatically reached out and grabbed a fistful of her daddy's hair, but she didn't pull. Toby leaned his head backward, smiling, making a kissy face and sounds at her. Eliza giggled, touching his face.
Spencer smoothed Tyler's hair back. "How come you don't want to go in the water?" she asked him. "You have your vest on so you won't go under, and daddy will also hold you."
Tyler shook his head again, vehemently. He kept digging his hands into the sand.
"Stop doing that," Spencer scolded him, gently, swatting at his hands. "You're getting sand all over you."
"Ok, if Tyler doesn't want to go in the water, than I guess I'm going to have to take peanut in with me," Toby goaded his son, playfully. He turned slightly and reached for his daughter, even though she wore a navy blue baby romper with pink bows at the straps instead of a swimsuit. "You want to go in, don't you, peanut?" he said to her.
Spencer handed over the baby reluctantly, but she didn't have to worry about her daughter going in the water. Tyler was watching his daddy take his baby sister with wide eyes. "No, wait, I wanna go!" Tyler exclaimed, clapping the sand off of his hands and jumping up.
Spencer and Toby laughed, as Toby handed Eliza back to Spencer before Tyler could launch himself at him and hurt his sister. He caught his son as soon as his daughter left his hands. Toby leaned toward Spencer and whispered, "I knew that would work." Spencer laughed.
Toby got to his feet with Tyler and ran into the water, causing the little boy to laugh out loud. Spencer smiled when she watched them, and then turned with her baby and walked back to her friends. She passed Molly and Mackenzie, who were arguing over who would carry the bucket of water in both of their hands and sloshing everywhere. They each wore a one-piece Hello Kitty bathing suit; Molly's was light and dark pink polka dots with Hello Kitty on it and Mackenzie's was black and white polka dots with Hello Kitty on it.
"Girls, don't fight. You can both carry it," Emily called to the twins, as Spencer sat down on a beach blanket with her daughter. Molly and Mackenzie looked at each other, then each one dropped one hand from the bucket and carried it between the two of them.
"I've never really seen them fight," Hanna noted, referring to the twins. Hailey was next to her on the blanket. The baby rolled over onto her belly, which caused her purple stretch pants to scrunch up her legs and her white tank top to flip up, and, with a proud smile, reached for the apple baby snacks in Hanna's hand. Hanna smiled amazingly at her, and handed one snack piece to her daughter. Hailey took it and immediately popped it into her mouth, continuing to suck on it for a long time.
"They don't really," Emily explained, setting her soda can down after taking a sip. "But when they do, it's brutal. Biting, pinching,...it's horrible."
"Well, we all know girls can be mean to each other," Hanna added. She looked down at Hailey and smiled. "It's a good thing Leslie is so nice to you," she cooed.
Spencer smiled, "Be careful, that boy you want might change things up a bit." She sat Eliza down beside her and handed her a toy to play with. She took it in two hands and waved it up and down, giggling and laughing. The other girls laughed.
Hanna looked out at the water, where Liam and Tyler were now sitting on their daddies' shoulders trying to push each other off. Hanna looked back at her friends. "Nah, I don't think so," she replied.
Spencer raised her eyebrows doubtfully, a knowing smile on her lips. She turned to Aria, who was sitting in a beach chair so that she didn't have to sit on the ground. "So, you and Ezra are have a little girl?"
Aria smiled, placing her hand on her belly. "Yeah, we're excited," she said, "Ezra named her Madison, Maddie for short."
"Awww, that's cute," Hanna complimented, lifting Hailey onto her lap. The baby reached for more snacks, but Hanna didn't see her.
"How are you feeling?" Emily asked. As she did genuinely want to know how Aria was doing with her pregnancy because she cared about her, Emily would also store it away for later as future advice.
Aria rubbed her belly thoughtfully. "Well, if I compare it to last time, which I don't really remember—only certain parts-," she explained, "I don't feel that bad, no discomfort or sickness. The only thing reminding me that I'm pregnant is this belly...and when she moves." She joked, holding her belly in both hands.
"Just wait," both Hanna and Spencer said in unison to her. Everybody laughed, then Hanna continued. "The end is the worst part, I think," she said. "All the waiting for her to come, you're not comfortable, you have to pee all the time, and you drive everybody else crazy because of it."
"Wow, Hanna, and you want another one?" Spencer quipped, an eyebrow raised, and chuckling.
"Hey, I only said the end was horrible," Hanna reiterated, matching Spencer's tone and laughter. "Everything else is wonderful." She proved it by cuddling Hailey closer to her. Spencer smiled down at Eliza teething on her toy.
Alison stood up to get a drink from the cooler, stopping next to Aria first and putting her hand on her shoulder. "It's okay if you only remember the important things from you're first pregnancy, it was a long time ago," Ali told her. "I couldn't tell you about every day of mine, but I do remember certain things as well. Like when she kicked for the first time..." Alison stared at her daughter as she spoke, watching as Isabella fell from Noel's shoulders backwards into the water. She came back up a second later.
"You always remember your first one, no matter how it turned out," Hanna added, glancing over at Leslie in the sand. The little girl wore a purple Sofia The First one-piece bathing suit, with a purple ruffle skirt at the hips. "I remember everything from those precious six months..." she murmured, mostly to herself. Hanna hugged Hailey again, resting her chin on the baby's small shoulder. Hailey smiled, and pointed, waving her hand. Hanna smiled at her, gasping playfully. "What's Lesy doing? She's playing with daddy..."
"Good job, princess, now pat it down hard," Caleb instructed his daughter. He sat in the sand with Leslie in front of him, building a big sand castle. They had just upended a bucket full of sand to make the last turret of the castle. He tapped gently on the bucket, showing Leslie how to do it. She copied him, mostly hitting his hands instead of the bucket. "Is it ready?"
"Yeah," Leslie said, sitting back. Then, she leaned forward again to put her hands on top of Caleb's as he lifted the bucket up slowly. The castle turret came out intact and perfect. "Yay!" Leslie exclaimed, clapping. She held up the last shell from her pile.
"Yeah, go ahead, put it on top," Caleb told her, smiling at her excitement. Leslie reached out to put the shell on top of the turret, her little tongue peeking out the corner of her mouth as she did it. The little girl clapped again when it was done. "You did it! Good job!" he praised her. Leslie smiled, and jumped toward her daddy, falling into a hug.
"We got more water," Molly and Mackenzie announced, walking back up to Caleb and Leslie and the castle. The twins set down the bucket of water next to another full bucket of water. "Let's make the moat now."
"Ok, you girls start digging on that side, and Leslie and I will dig on this side," Caleb told them. Molly and Mackenzie picked up their shovels, and, flopping down into the sand, started digging the moat. Caleb turned to Leslie. "Want to help me dig?" he asked her, handing her a pink plastic shovel.
Leslie took the shovel. "I dig wit girls," she said. Caleb gaped at her and Leslie giggled, as he tried to tickle her for not wanting to help him. She scooted over to the twins hurriedly. A minute into the digging, the twins were showing and telling Leslie how to dig the moat. Leslie kept on trying, mostly flinging sand everywhere. After another minute, Molly was still demonstrating and Kenzie had her hand over Leslie's hand on the shovel, helping her.
Emily and Maya watched their daughters helping Leslie. Emily reached over and took Maya's hand. They looked at each other, sharing a secret smile. Molly and Mackenzie would be great big sisters to a little brother or sister, and they would be so excited if and when it finally happened. However, their secret interlude was soon interrupted.
"What are you two smiling about?" Hanna asked, looking up from her baby and catching Emily's and Maya's secret smiles.
Emily turned back to Maya. "Should we tell them?" she asked.
"Well, nothing is definite," Maya replied, in a whisper. "But it will, hopefully, happen soon, so why not tell them."
"Tell us what?" Alison asked, curiously. Isabella had come out of the water a minute ago because of too much water in her nose and eyes. Ali finished helping her dry her face off, and then Bella wandered over to the other little girls to see their sand castle. Isabella had originally been helping them, until she had gotten too hot and wanted a swim.
"Ok," Emily agreed, turning her smile from Maya to her friends. "Maya and I have decided to have a baby. I'm going to get pregnant." She held Maya's hand happily and excitedly.
The rest of the girls reacted in surprise, but all of their words were overwhelmingly good and encouraging. "We're still in the beginning stages," Emily explained. "We haven't started IVF yet. I'm supposed to go in for an exam next week, just to check to make sure everything is alright and we can proceed without any problems."
"Have you picked out a donor yet?" Aria asked, leaning back in her chair. She stretched her legs out in front of her.
"Not yet," Emily answered, feeling grateful for all of her friends' love and support. Though, she knew they wouldn't say anything but all of that. "But we're looking at a list of possible donors."
"So, wait, how are you two going to choose a donor? Are you going to pick one that matches Maya or what?" Hanna questioned.
Emily glanced at Maya, then back to her friends. "Well, we don't really know yet," she admitted, slowly. "I guess it depends on what we like in each person we read about."
Maya nodded, "Yeah, DNA or likeness doesn't really matter to me. If he or she is part of Emily, I'll love him or her just the same." She smiled at Emily, squeezing her hand. Emily leaned in to peck Maya on the lips.
The girls continued talking about ordinary things. It was about twenty minutes later when Toby, Ezra, Caleb, and Noel came out of the water with Liam and Isabella trailing behind them. Both kids had knowing, suspicious expressions on their faces. The younger four kids also followed, merely out of curiosity. With everybody walking over to them, the girls weren't sure if they were up to something or something was wrong. None of the kids were crying or upset, though.
"Daddy gonna git you, mommy!" Leslie warned. Hanna looked at her curiously, but before anybody could react, the guys grabbed the girls to pull them up and throw them in the water. They said it was the kids' idea.
It soon became the mommies vs. the daddies, as the girls tried not to be wrestled into the water. Molly and Mackenzie were a little hesitant when they realized there was no daddy to push their mommies into the water. They forgot about that, however, when they saw how much fun everybody was having. They pushed their mommies from behind, being determined little things. Emily and Maya laughed, and then Maya tripped and fell into the water. As a result, Kenzie lost her balance and fell as well. She fell into Molly, who started to fall, too. Emily went to catch them, but they all toppled into the water together, next to Maya. They all laughed together.
Toby had his arms around Spencer, pushing her forward gently. Spencer held Eliza in her arms, and the baby watched Toby inquisitively. Tyler pulled Spencer from the front. The little boy was laughing and squealing so hard that it was hard to understand him. Then, Spencer lost her balance from being pushed and pulled, and fell into the water. Toby took Eliza before she could land in the water, only a few droplets of water landed on her face and she blinked in surprise. Tyler laughed and jumped on his mommy. Toby knelt down, letting his daughter feel the water and tried to get her to splash. The family of four laughed and had fun together.
Ezra stopped when the water was about knee length on Aria, but Liam didn't stop. He kept pulling on her hand, even when Ezra told him that was enough. Then, Aria pulled her son closer to her and whispered something in his ear. He grinned, mischievously, and nodded. Ezra watched them curiously. Hoping to catch him off guard, Liam threw all of his weight at his dad and tried to push him down into the water. Ezra grabbed his son, and together, they both fell into the water, creating a big splash. Aria laughed as she watched them, rubbing her hand over her belly.
Caleb had scooped up Hanna right away, running with her to the water. He dumped her into the water, as their daughters watched from the sand. Leslie giggled, and Hailey pushed up on her arms, trying to figure out what happened so fast around her. Hanna called out for Leslie to help her. Leslie walked down to the water's edge, and, somehow, Caleb managed to convince his princess to help him instead. Hanna gasped in shock and protest as they both piled on top of her, splashing and laughing. Hailey called out from the beach, and Caleb went to get her. Their little angel joined them in the shallow water and their game turned into a calm one as they all acclimated Hailey to the water.
The beach trip wound down after that, as most of the kids started to get tired. Tyler stepped on something hard in the sand, and, even though he was fine, he wouldn't stop whining and complaining about it. Leslie was getting tired and kept rubbing her eyes. Also, Leslie, Molly, and Mackenzie started complaining about sand in their bathing suits. All in all, it was a very good outing and everybody had fun.
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They all returned to Emily's house after the beach trip to unwind and relax. It was late afternoon, and the adults sat up on the porch while the kids played in the yard. The three little girls wore clean, sand-free bathing suits now. Leslie had napped on the way back from the beach, so she was all good now. Eliza and Hailey were in a playpen on the porch; they were playing together or as much as two babies can play with each other. Though, Hailey kept taking Eliza's toy from her. The kids had already finished most of their dinner.
"Ok, ready, everybody?" Liam called to the other kids. "Here, you hold this. I'll show them how to do it." He shoved the hose into Isabella's hand, forcing her to take it.
"I still get a turn, right?" Isabella asked.
"Maybe," Liam answered. Isabella glared at him, but still held up the hose over the inflatable pool and moved her finger over the nozzle so that the water fanned out in a spray instead of a stream. Liam turned back to the other kids, who were quickly losing interest. "Now, you have to jump through the hose and land in the pool. I'll show you," he said.
However, before Liam could demonstrate it, Tyler ran in front of him and jumped into the pool first with a splash. Liam wasn't amused. "Tyler! I was going first!" he exclaimed, stomping over to the side of the pool. Tyler just sat in the water, smiling and giggling, moving his hands back and forth in the water.
Liam huffed, and turned in the direction of the porch. "Mommy, Tyler took my turn and nobody is listening to me," the six year old tattled.
The girls snickered at Liam losing control over the other kids. "Lee, you can't expect little kids to listen to you and wait for a long time," Aria told her son. "You have to start the game."
"Fiiine," Liam sighed. He turned back around and squealed again. "Heeeyy!"
Isabella had turned away from the pool with the hose. She and the twins had started to play water tag; Bella sprayed the twins as they darted here and there, escaping the water. Bella looked at Liam when she heard him exclaim. "We got bored," she told him. "We're playing this game now. …. I see you, Kenzie!" She laughed as she sprayed the hose in the little girl's direction. Kenzie squealed and ran.
"Fine, then me and Tyler are playing with the pool," Liam replied. He walked over to the pool, where Tyler was splashing around with a couple of Molly's and Kenzie's toys; a plastic whale and a pink My Little Pony. Liam lowered his goggles over his eyes and used the side of the pool as leverage to heave himself into the water.
Leslie walked over to the pool. She watched the boys playing and then she saw another blue My Little Pony lying in the grass. She smiled big and picked it up. Then, Leslie placed her hands on the edge of the pool and started to lift her leg over the side. Liam came up from under the water, shaking his head.
"No, Leslie, you go play with the girls," Liam told her. "This is for the boys."
Leslie stopped, but didn't back away. Tyler crawled over to her and slapped his hands on hers over and over again. "No girls, no girls!" he shouted. "Go away!"
Leslie dropped her hands from the pool, the pony falling to the ground. Her eyes filled with tears and her lip started to tremble. Tyler quickly turned away and started playing again. Liam floated on his back, and mumbled to the younger boy, "Why'd you do that? That was mean."
Leslie walked away, about to start crying. The other little girls came over to her, to try to make her feel better. Caleb happened to glance over from the porch, and saw his daughter upset. He leaned on the porch railing.
"Leslie, what's wrong?" Caleb called down to her. Leslie looked up at him and started crying. "Come here," he said, starting to go to her himself.
"I'll bring her," Isabella volunteered. She picked Leslie up, and started carrying her to her father. She met Caleb at the steps. Caleb stepped down halfway and lifted Leslie from Isabella, not wanting to have to make the seven year old carry Leslie up the stairs. "Tyler hit her and yelled at her," Bella explained to him. Caleb thanked the little girl.
"Are you okay, princess?" Caleb asked her, softly. He wiped some tears from her cheek.
"He hit me," Leslie cried, holding out her hand, sniffling.
In the next second, Spencer called Tyler out of the pool and up onto the porch. Tyler was hesitant, but then he climbed out of the pool. He walked sullenly up to the porch, his eyes cast downward, taking one step at a time. Spencer motioned him over with a finger, and Tyler trudged over to her side, dripping water on deck.
"Did you hit Leslie?" Spencer asked him, directly.
"I go like this," Tyler explained, acting out what he did.
"Ok, well, we don't hit someone in a mean way," Spencer corrected him. "Why?"
Tyler pushed out his lip, feeling guilty and sorry. " 'cause they get hurt and I hurt they feelings. It's not nice," he answered, not liking being in trouble.
Spencer nodded, proud that he knows what he did wrong and doesn't want to do it again. "Now, do you have something to say to Leslie?" she said, turning him around.
Caleb set Leslie down on her feet, but she still stayed close to him, playing with her lip. Tyler walked up to her. Leslie whimpered and looked up at her daddy. Caleb nodded, telling her it was okay.
"I sorry, Lesy," Tyler apologized. He glanced back at his mommy, then he hugged Leslie tightly. Leslie hugged him back. It was touching moment between the two children and all of the adults felt it.
Maya smiled and turned to look at Emily. "Are you sure you're ready for more of this?" she asked.
Emily chuckled, smiling as she turned to face her. She reached over and took Maya's hand, interlacing their fingers. Emily nodded.
"Yeah. I'm ready for our next chapter."
A/N: There you have it. The End. I hope you guys all liked it and it ended well for all of you. I'll try to get the next sequel to you guys as soon as I can. Until then, leave me one last review for this story. Thank you all so much.