Chapter 26
John, Marlena, and Belle are in the kitchen with Martha. Martha has been trying to get Brady and Frank out of the den so they can all sit down to dinner.
Martha has a baby monitor in the kitchen so they can hear if the twins cry.
Belle sits down in her chair and puts her napkin in her lap. Marlena pushes Belle's chair in for her.
"Are you settled in sweetie?"
Belle looks up at her mom.
"Yes, momma."
Marlena smiles at her daughter and kisses her forehead as she heads to her seat to sit down in her chair.
Brady and Frank come thundering in from the den, chattering away about the show they were just watching on TV.
"It's about time you two got in here; I have been calling you for the last 20 minutes."
"Sorry, Grandma. Grandpa and I wanted to finish the movie we were watching."
"Okay, but don't let it happen again." Martha looks at Brady and then at Frank.
"Yes, ma'am." (In unison)
They both get settled in their chairs as Martha finishes placing the food on the table and sits down herself. Frank says grace to bless the food and then they all dig in.
About 15 minutes into the meal one of the twins starts crying so Marlena has to excuse herself from the table to check on them.
"I will be right back." Marlena tells everyone.
When Marlena gets upstairs into the nursery she realizes that it's Marlee who is fussy. She takes her out of her crib to check to see if she has a wet or soiled diaper but her diaper is fine so she sits down in the rocker to see if Marlee is hungry. As soon as Marlena helps Marlee find her breast to begin feeding, she clamps on and begins sucking away.
"So that's what was wrong, you were just hungry. You eat so much, sweetie. I might run out of milk between you and your brother eating so much." Marlena tells her baby daughter jokingly.
Marlee just looks up at her mom with her big, beautiful eyes. It's still hard to tell whose eye color she will have since she is only a week old so right now her eyes are dark blue almost black still. Her hair is so light and fine as well.
Marlee's eyes begin to flutter and close; a sign that she is done feeding and ready to go back to sleep so Marlena unlatches Marlee from her breast, fixes her bra, pulls her shirt down and then stands up and takes Marlee back to her crib and lays her on her back. She barely stirs as she continues to sleep.
Marlena looks in on Jonathan who is awake but content. He's babbling away, discovering his fingers and toes for the first time with a huge grin on his face.
"What are those, Jonathan? Huh? Aren't they neat, honey?" Marlena whispers to her baby son as she rubs his tummy and smiles at him. Marlena decides to give him his pacifier so he will have something to keep him content so she can go finish her dinner and then come and check on him again later.
"I will see you later, big boy. Mama loves you." She caresses his head for a minute and then heads back downstairs to finish dinner.

Meanwhile in the kitchen...
Frank and Brady are talking to each other while they are eating, forgetting that their are other people at the table.
Belle and John are talking to each other. Belle is laughing at her dad and almost spits food out all over the table.
"Daddy, stop making me laugh, I am trying to eat." Belle reprimands her dad.
"Sorry, Izzy. I just love seeing your beautiful smile and sweet laugh. It's been too long, you know. Look at that missing tooth of yours. My little jack o lantern daughter."
"Daddy, stop it!" Belle tells her father between bites of food and giggles.
Martha is just observing with a smile on her face as she eats. Marlena finally comes back downstairs and sees what's going on and can't help but smile as she starts to tear up. She heads to her chair and sits down as she continues to smile; a stray tear runs down her cheek unchecked. Belle notices and stops what she is doing.
"Momma are you okay?"
Marlena looks at her daughter with tears in her eyes; smiling.
"Yes, Belle. I am just fine. I am happy to see everyone happy and getting along so well. I have a great family." She hugs Belle and kisses her curls on the side of her head.
Belle smiles as John touches Marlena's hand with his and smiles at his wife never wanting this to end.

Chapter 27 coming soon...