A week later….

"AAAAAACHEW!" Livy moaned as she sneezed. She felt hot and exhausted and cold, all at the same time. On top of that, her stomach was queasy.

"Babe?" Matt said, sitting up. "You okay?"

"I'm sick. My throat hurts and I'm hot and…ugh."

Matt kissed her forehead. "Babe, you are sick."

"That's what I said." As if they could sense she couldn't get them right then, all three babies started jabbering to each other and whimpering.

"I'll get them," Matt said. "I will let my boss know that I can't come in."

"No, I'll be fine. Rosie can help."

"Babe, Rosie is down helping Ava and Ben."

"Oh…I forgot." She covered herself back up, shivering.

Matt got up and said good morning to the babies as he called his boss.

"Mike? Hey, yeah. I'm not going to be able to come in for a few days. My wife is sick and our person that helps her with the babies is out of town. I'm thinking that I'll just be out until Monday. That should be enough time."

"Okay. Thanks for calling, Matt. See you Monday."

It was Friday and he hoped that not only Livy was better by Monday but also that he and the babies stayed well.

Matt dropped his phone on the ground and proceeded to change each diaper and then lay them in their boppy pillows, handing them each a toy to hold on to. "I will be right back with your bottles, guys."

He heard Wes start crying, proud of himself for knowing it was Wes. The bottles were almost ready.

"Hang on, buddy," he said to himself. Then Amber started wailing. "Guys…patience." Could he expect six month old babies to be patient? Probably not.

He ran back up the stairs and into the master to find all three babies crying and in various stages of trying to roll over. Livy, on the other hand, was coughing and moaning.

He sat on the floor and put the bottles in their little holder thingies and sighed as the babies all quieted.

He was tired already but he knew the next few days were going to wear him out.

"Livy? Do you need anything?"

She got up and rushed past him to the bathroom where she promptly got sick.

"Okay, babies, Daddy is going to need some help here. Mommy is sick and you all can't catch it. So we are going to be moving to the nursery. You'll like it in there," he told them. All of them stared at him, Amber giving him a smile and pushing the bottle out of her mouth with her tongue.

"Hi, pretty girl. I love you so much."

When she came back out and got in bed, she moaned. "Matt, the babies have an appointment at 2pm."

"Maybe I can reschedule it."

"No, hon, I had to schedule it a few months ago. It will take forever to get them back in."

"Okay. Well, I can handle it."

She went to laugh but that made her cough. "Sorry. Okay, yes. I'm sure you can."

"I can. I'll show Mommy," he told the babies. "We had a talk, Liv. The babies promised to be on their best behavior today."

It was his turn to laugh. She had fallen asleep and was now snoring.

"I got this," he told himself, although he knew he didn't really have a choice.

Ann Arbor, Ava and Ben's house

Ben heard the babies and Kenzie starting to wake up so he got out of bed and got dressed so that he could grab bottles for everyone. He picked up Kinsey from her crib and took her downstairs.

"Oh, Rosie," he said, surprised. His mother-in-law was in the kitchen starting coffee. Who knew she knew how to do that? They had a French chef, for pete's sake.

"Hey, bottles are ready," she gestured to the bottles all lined up on the counter.

"Thanks! Do you mind watching Kinze while I get the twins eating?"

"Of course! Come here, my sweet little Kinsey." She took her from Ben and handed her the bottle.

Ben ran up the stairs and one by one, took the babies out of their crib and changed their diapers. "Hi, Britt. Hey, Brodey. How are you this morning?"

Ava sighed in the bed and slowly sat up. Her incisions were still pretty tender but all in all, she was good.

The hard part was she couldn't lift Kinsey. That made things very difficult.

"Morning, sweetie," she said to Ben.

"Good morning, babe. How are you feeling?"

"I'm not sure yet. I need to use the bathroom." She swung her legs over and got up slowly, supporting her tummy as she did, trying not to yell out.

"I'll get your medicine for you when I get your breakfast," Ben said, noticing everything.

"Thank you."

Ben sat on the bed with the twins on his lap, feeding them. It was a new experience for him, feeding two. But it was possible. They were so tiny so they fit and didn't try to crawl away yet.

The tricky part was burping them, but Ava usually helped him with that part.

As Ava rejoined him, he handed her Britton and he kept Brodey to burp him. "I'm glad your mom is here. We are outnumbered," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah. We are," she said, patting Britton's back. "But, I kind of love it. I mean, these are our babies, Ben. Our family. We are going to raise them to be their own people and teach them and love them so much they will never doubt it."

Ben leaned over and gave her a kiss. "I love you, Ava Thornton."

"I love you too."

Rosie brought Kinsey in for a diaper change. "Good morning, everybody. Miss Kinsey needs a clean-up."

"Morning, Mom," Ava said with a smile.

"Mamamama," Kinsey gurgled, reaching for Ava.

"Hang on, sweet pea. Let Mimi change you. Then I'll hold you."

The rest of the day was similar. It was mostly just learning how to juggle responsibilities and being willing to do whatever needed to be done. Ben was. His wife was right. This was their family and he needed to help as much and in any way he could.

Across town, Drew and Kayla's house

Kayla was a patient person. That being said, she was ready for their house to be just her, Drew and the kids. As much as she loved Carson and Faith and Drew's sister Sophie, it was a lot to have them staying with them in their tiny three bedroom house. Sophie bunked with Harlow, which worked out fine. But then Carson and Faith had to stay in Cole's room and Cole got pushed to the master floor.

This meant that every time Aubrie woke up, which was like three times a night, Cole woke up. Then in the morning, he was grumpier than ever.

Like right now, he was on the stairs in a time out, bawling his little eyes out.

It was only a few minutes but to a seven year old, it was torture.

"Mooooooooooommmmmm," he wailed, now just being dramatic.

"Cole William, please behave."

"This isn't fair."

"No it isn't. You haven't been quiet more than one minute since Daddy put you there. Be quiet for a few minutes and I will let you up."

"You're mean!"

"Five more minutes, bud. Then I expect an apology."

Faith could tell Kayla was on her last nerve. She nudged Carson who was dozing on the sofa, even with all the noise.

"Dear, we need to get going home tomorrow," she whispered to him.

"Hm?" he said, sitting up.

"Home. Tomorrow. We need to go tomorrow. Kayla and Drew and the kids need to be with just themselves."

"Okay, Faith. Whatever you want."

"I don't want to go home," Sophie said. She was having a lot of fun playing with Harlow.

"I know, Soph but it's time."

So, the next morning, they started their trek back home and Kayla could finally breathe. Cole was back in his room, Harlow was back to having only herself in her room and Kayla and Drew could attend to Aubrie.

Kayla was laying on the sofa that evening while Drew fed Aubrie in his recliner. "Babe, I don't think we have enough room in this house," she told him.

"Sure we do. Harlow is super excited to have Aubrie in her room next year. Right Lolo?" he asked.

Harlow looked up from her spot on the floor. "Yep!"

"Great, but we have nowhere to put guests."

"We survived," he told her in a tone that suggested that it was normal to be busting at the seams.

"Drew…"

"We can talk about it later maybe," he mentioned.

"Yes please."

"Cole, bath please. Harlow, you too. You can use your bathroom and Cole, ours," Drew told them.

"I hate baths," Cole announced, throwing a pillow up in the air.

"Oh well. Scoot," Kayla said, backing Drew up.

Once the older kids were upstairs, Drew looked at Kayla as he burped Aubrie. "I spoke with Lee yesterday, Kay. He is going to start drawing up blue prints for an addition. Two more bedrooms and a bathroom."

"He is?"

"Yeah. I could see how tight quarters was getting to you."

She got up and gave him a kiss. "Thank you, hon. I love you."

"Because I'm getting you a bigger house?"

"That and because you are hot!"

He laughed and pulled her down with him and Aubrie on the recliner. "You are the hot one," he said, his hand on her hip.

"MOOOOOOOOOM!" Cole yelled from the bathroom just as their lips met.

"Seriously? The kid doesn't need me to help him with the bath."

"I'll go," Drew told her, kissing her once more. She got up, he handed the baby to her and then he walked away.

"We are lucky girls, baby cakes," she said to Aubrie. "Daddy is amazing."

Back up north, Matt and Livy's cabin

Matt laid back on the bed with a sigh, late that night. "I have never been this tired," he whispered, not sure if Livy was awake or not.

"I have." She coughed and then blew her nose.

He sat up and then stood. "I need a shower. I'll be back."

"I'm going to go make tea."

"I'll make it for you and then I'll shower."

"Are you sure?" she asked, sneezing again.

"Yep."

Ten minutes later, he was standing under a hot shower, letting the steam soothe his tired muscles. Yes, he worked in construction, but three six month olds used muscles he didn't imagine they would.

Up and down, off the floor, bending to pick them up. Up and down the stairs to get bottles. Stooping over them to change their diapers…etc.

Matt was barely thirty but he felt a lot older than that. As he tied a towel around his waist, he heard Amber cry over the monitor from the nursery.

"No….baby, go back to sleep," he whispered, hoping she would just do it. She didn't and if he didn't get her soon, Wes and Beck would be awake too.

When he came out, he dressed quickly and rushed in there. "Okay, Amber…what's happening, sweet pea?"

He picked her up and checked her diaper. Dry. He had just fed her so it wasn't that.

"Are you just lonely? Your brothers aren't enough company tonight, huh?"

Matt sat in the rocking chair and hummed, running his fingers through her wispy hair. "I sure love you, sweet pea. And your brothers and your Mama." He loved this cabin too. A lot. He had remodeled it which he knew would help a lot once he called the Realtor to put it up for sale. That was happening Monday.

Then, he and Livy, once she was better, needed to get working on a house in Indian River. He was starting his new position August 1st, so he had about nine weeks to get everything done.

It would be a bit bittersweet to leave the place that Livy had sold him when he first returned to town. The place where they fell in love, where their babies have spent the last five months of their life. But it was time to move forward and not be stuck in one place.

One more chapter left, everyone! Thank you for your support in this journey! Enjoy