That night,
Livy dressed the triplets in their matching sleepers and popped the pacifiers in their mouths. She tiptoed away from the crib and went to find Matt.
He was in the kitchen, loading the dishwasher and making bottles for the next day.
"Matt?"
"Yeah."
"We need to talk."
"About what?"
"Why you're mad."
"I'm not. Everything is just fine."
"Fine. But I think it's crazy for you to deny something that we both know is true."
She grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and took a long sip.
"I just...I miss you, Livy. I wanted to be out with you and our son. You wanted to come home."
"I've been waiting so long to have them all here with us…." she began but was interrupted by one of the babies crying over the monitor. "I…"
"Its fine." The look on his face didn't convince her but she went upstairs to tend to the crier before they had three criers.
It was Wes. He needed a diaper change so she took care of that and rocked him for a few minutes until he was asleep again. Then she went downstairs to try to talk to Matt again.
He was sitting in the living room, watching an old western movie.
She put the baby monitor handheld on the table and sat next to him. "Will you pause that please?"
He hit the button and sighed.
"Okay. Let's try again." She turned to face him and took his hand in hers. "Matt, I needed today. I needed us all to be together. Having our little family split these past few weeks has been excruciating. You know that."
"I do, but can you try to see that I needed something too? Life is kind of crazy. I just wanted some time as just us."
"Well its not like I don't want that too."
He nodded, staring into her eyes for a long moment. "Okay. I'm sorry, Liv."
"Me too."
"What should we do?" he wondered.
"Give me a week or so as a family. After that, let's plan something special for us."
"How about dinner? Just dinner or lunch out. If that works maybe in a few weeks we try again."
"And if all goes well..." she slowly kissed him. "Maybe a night away once I'm all healed?"
"When you're ready." She leaned forward and kissed him again. "I guess I was feeling less important to you," he admitted.
"You are so important to me, Matt. I'm so sorry you felt that way.. But, like you said, our life is crazy now. We won't lose each other though. Ever."
Ann Arbor, Kayla and Drew's house
"Should I hit submit?" Kayla asked Drew. They were putting their names and profile in for a baby girl, preferably newborn but they weren't strict on that.
"Yeah. Hit it."
She pushed the button on her laptop and smiled. "No turning back now."
"Good," he told her, putting his arm around her shoulders.
"Mooooommmm!" Harlow yelled, whine in her tone.
"Mom's not here right now," she called back.
"You're right there!" Harlow said, her hands on her hips.
"I'm not Mom. Mom needs quiet right now," Kayla said, kissing Drew. "You're up, Daddy."
"Lolo? What's going on?" Drew asked as Kayla headed upstairs to take a bubble bath.
She knew that she was a very fortunate person to have Drew in her life. He always took care of the kids needs when he got home, this time not an exception.
As she was grabbing her robe, she heard feet shuffling into the master. She turned. "Hi, Coley. Are you okay?"
He shrugged and wiped his cheeks.
"Honey, come here and tell me," she said, sitting on the bed. He sat next to her and leaned his head against her arm. "Cole, how can I help you if you don't tell me?"
"Lolo...she put Captain America in a tutu for a tea party and she keeps calling it a doll! Its not, Mom! Its an action figure. And Captain America doesn't do tea parties!"
Kayla kissed the top of his head, trying not to laugh. "Honey, just try your best to go along with it. She's younger than you."
"Its Captain America!"
"I know," she said, fighting the laughter. "Why don't you climb up on the big bed here and watch TV until I get done with my bath?"
"Kung Fu Panda?"
"Sure, babe."
"Thank you, Mom."
She kissed his forehead and handed him the remote. "Enjoy."
Apparently little boys needed a break from their little sisters as much as Moms from their children sometimes.
When she came out from her bubble bath, both kids were asleep in the bed and Drew was watching Big Bang Theory.
"Hey," she whispered.
"Hey. Enjoy your bath?"
"Yeah. Did Harlow tell you what was going on?"
Drew paused the episode. "She said that Cole wouldn't play with her anymore. I asked her why and she shrugged. I asked her again and she admitted to putting a tutu on Cole's doll. Excuse me, action figure."
Kayla giggled. "He said, 'Captain America doesn't do tea parties!'"
Drew laughed quietly. "Think we should move them?"
"No. Let them stay."
She turned off the light and slipped under the covers. "Night, Drew."
He leaned over the kids and kissed her twice. "Night, Kay. Love you."
"Love you too."
1 am
Matt handed Beck and Wes, one at a time, to Livy to nurse. Then he picked up Amber and took her into the kitchen to get her warmed up bottle.
She stared up at him with her big eyes as he popped the nipple in her mouth. "Hi, peanut. Let's fill your tummy. How does that sound?"
She slowly moved her mouth as she ate, keeping her eyes on him. He carried her back into the master when he heard one of the boys start crying.
Matt leaned Amber back on a boppy, placing a receiving blanket on her chest to prop up the bottle so he could assist Livy.
"He was latched on but he stopped eating," she told him, referring to Wes.
"I can help."
After a stressful few minutes, both boys were eating again so he picked Amber up to burp her.
"I understand why they need a schedule," Matt said, "but it seems like feeding everyone all at once is more difficult."
"Yeah but I'm sure we will get better at it. Honestly, I don't think we'd survive without a schedule. We'd never sleep and never have time to eat ourselves."
"Yeah. True."
The triplets were almost six weeks old now and seemed to be doing well. Livy scheduled a doctor visit for the end of the week. Since they were in the nicu and multiples, they needed to see doctors more regularly. Rosie was going to go with her which was definitely a blessing.
"Honey? Can you assemble the new stroller before our doctor appointment on Friday?" she asked him.
"Yep. I'll do it after work tomorrow."
"Thank you. The boys need to burp." Matt laid the now sleeping Amber in the crib and took Beck from Livy. "Hi, little guy. Time to burp."
About fifteen minutes later, all three were asleep and Livy and Matt were on their way.
Hope Hills, Coulter's house
"Lee, I've been thinking about our housing situation."
"What housing situation?" he asked, peering over the top of his glasses.
"Well, us getting a house down in Ann Arbor."
"Right. Well, I don't really see a need to buy a house down there."
"Of course there's a need, Lee Coulter. Our three grandchildren live there!"
"Yes, but…"
"And their guest room is Kinsey's nursery. Oh and that brings up their housing situation too."
"They have a housing situation too? Must be contagious."
"They don't have enough room for three kids. They need another bedroom. And maybe a playroom."
"Rosie…"
"They can't afford to move or add on. We can afford to help them out."
Lee sighed. That was true. They had the money and resources. "On one condition."
"What?"
"We add a bedroom and a playroom/guest room. Where we can stay when we visit. That way we don't need to spend money on a second home of our own."
"Deal, but add on a bath too."
Lee just chuckled. "I'll make the arrangements and let Jack and Elizabeth know too."
A few weeks later Elizabeth had her outpatient surgery to remove her gallbladder. All went well and she was home the same afternoon.
The week after that, Ava and Ben went to find out the genders of the babies.
On their way home, they couldn't stop smiling. "Let's go to the store, Ben. I'd like to get the ingredients for the gender reveal cake."
"Sure."
The next weekend, they were going to do the reveal at Jack and Elizabeth's. Kayla, Drew and their kids were coming over and everyone else was going to be watching over FaceTime.
The day before though, as Ben was leaving work, his phone rang.
"Dude! It's Caden Yost. How are you?"
"Caden! Wow, its been a long time. Almost three years."
"Much too long, bro. We need to get together. Maybe we could double. My girl has a best friend. She's pretty hot."
Ben laughed. It had been a long time. "Cade, I'm married."
"What? You're joking."
"No, Ava and I got married and we have a ten month old daughter and twins on the way."
"You and Ava Coulter? Wow."
"Yeah. We're living in Ann Arbor. Where are you living?"
"I'm in Lansing."
"How's junior year?"
"I'm sure its fine for some people. Just not me. You know me and school."
"Oh, so what are you up to?"
"I'm sorta in between jobs right now. What are you doing?"
"I work for Arbor Accounting as a Financial Clerk. I'm also going to night school for my bachelor's."
"Wow. All that and married with three kids. You're an adult."
"Yeah. Dude, we are almost twenty one."
"Yeah. Well, I got a date. Talk again soon?"
"Sure. We should get together sometime."
"Yeah. I'll let you know."
Ben heard the silence and knew Caden had hung up.
When Ben got home, he was deep in thought about Caden. He seemed lost. Not going to school. Not working. Just dating some girl.
Yes, Ben was young and married with three kids, almost, but he was happy.
"Dadada!" Kinsey yelled when she saw him walk in.
"Hi, honey bunny," he said, waving to his daughter. She was walking around in a mobile seat thing. She enjoyed it and it kept her contained so that Ava could get things done.
Ava peeked out of the kitchen. She was wearing an apron with "wife" printed on it. She looked adorable wearing that around her baby bump. "Hey, Ben."
"Hi there." He gave her a kiss and then went for a second one. "You're beautiful, you know?"
"Thank you." And when she blushed, that pretty pink color, she was even more so.
"And I'm so grateful for our life."
"Me too." She saw the tears fill his eyes and disappear as he blinked. "What's on your mind, honey?"
"Caden Yost...he called me today."
"Oh yeah? How's he doing?"
"The only way I can really describe him as….is lost. He's not in school and he's in between jobs. I got the feeling he was calling to make sure I was in the same boat or something."
"I know our life is stressful and that we are young," Ava mentioned, tasting the chili and then adding more pepper.
"Yeah, but its our life. We chose this and I wouldn't trade it for what he's going through."
"You sure? I mean, what if we hadn't gotten pregnant and then married at nineteen?"
"We wouldn't have Kinsey. I'm not good with that thought."
Ava nodded and started spooning cooked broccoli into a bowl. "Will you take this to the table and get Kinze in her chair, please?"
He touched her back and looked in her eyes. "I love you, Ava. I love Kinsey. I love these babies," he told her, his free hand on her belly. "I wouldn't trade it. I promise."
"I love you too. Thank you for telling me."
He kissed her again and took the bowl of broccoli to the table and then put Kinsey in her chair with a bib around her neck.
Nope not one bit of it.