Eighteen months later, a few days before Christmas, Indian River
"Come on guys, coats and mittens," Livy told the triplets as they ran every which way, away from the coats and mittens. She reached out and grabbed Wes as he ran past. "Freeze, Wesley!" He giggled and squirmed. She struggled, but she finally got him ready for Matt to take to the van. Once he was handed off, she grabbed Beckett.
"No, no, no," he said, shaking his head and laughing.
"Yes, yes, yes, Beckett. We are going to see Papa and Grammy, remember?"
"Gammy, Gammy," Amber sang as she ran past. Livy's "Mommy arms" grabbed her too.
"Now, stop. Coats and mittens," she told them again.
Matt came back in for them. "I'll be right out," she told him, rushing off the opposite direction.
She hit the bathroom again, turned off the lights on her way through and grabbed the cooler of juice and snacks for the trip south. It was only four, almost five hours but the kids would need stuff.
"Ready?" Matt asked, turning on the movie in the back for the kids.
"Yep."
Ann Arbor, Kayla and Drew's house
Kayla stood in the doorway of the second bedroom in the addition. This was where Matt, Livy and the triplets would stay and it had to be perfect.
There were two cribs and a queen in there and it was fully childproofed, which was completely necessary with three two year olds running around.
Then she wandered into the bedroom across the hall. It was a delightful light yellow color with white, sheer curtains on the windows. The crib was also white and just waiting for it's new resident to be born. Another girl. And it happened to be Aubrie's half-sister. Francine had contacted Terri when she found out she was pregnant again. She wanted to make sure that Aubrie and this little one grew up together.
Of course, Drew and Kayla agreed and started the adoption process right away. Now, Francine was at her due date and it was just a waiting game for little Aria Charlotte.
During the day, Cole and Lolo were both in school. Kayla loved staying home with Aubrie who was now eighteen months old and thriving. She was learning her "abc's" and counted to five. She learned to walk at ten months and hadn't stopped moving since.
"Mom!" Five and a half year old Harlow yelled from the other part of the house.
"Lolo, your sister is sleeping. Please be a little quieter," she told her when she found her in the kitchen.
"I didn't know where you were."
"So, come find me. Don't yell." She kissed the top of her head.
"Sorry, Mama."
"What did you need?"
Harlow looked at her and frowned. "I can't remember."
"She wanted juice," eight year old Cole told her.
"Oh yeah. Can I have some?"
"May I," she corrected.
"Sure, you can have some too," Harlow said with a shrug.
Kayla smiled and Cole giggled. "Yes, you can have juice, Harlow. Thank you for asking me."
"You're welcome."
Aubrie ran by in just her diaper, Drew following behind her. "What are you doing, husband?" Kayla asked, laughter in her eyes and on her lips.
"Trying to catch your daughter."
"My daughter?"
"Yep. She's all yours when she's misbehaving."
"You do know that your legs are longer than she is tall? You can easily catch her."
"You would think. But she's quick."
Kayla went and scooped her up and handed her to Drew. "Here you go."
"Thanks."
Livy and Matt were on their way so Kayla got started on lunch for everyone. Chicken nuggets and fries for the kids and salads for her and Drew.
Across town at the duplex,
Ava cleaned up Kinsey and the twins from lunch and put them down for a nap so she could have a few moments of peace before her parents showed up. Ben was working so it was just her and the kids during the day, Monday-Friday. She honestly loved it.
She closed the door to the nursery and sighed, walking downstairs to start a load of laundry and the dishwasher as well. Then she cleaned the high chairs and the counters and picked up all the toys from the living room, placing them in the decorative boxes that slid nicely into the entertainment center.
When she was done with that, she put the chicken in the oven for dinner.
"Babe?" Ben called.
"Shhhh," she said gently, kissing him hello. "Everyone is sleeping now."
"Sorry." He pulled her into a hug and held her tight. "So that means we are officially alone for the next what, five minutes?"
She laughed. "More or less."
"You have a class tonight, right?" he asked.
"Yeah and then Christmas break." She had been taking night classes to finish up her degree in Marine Biology. She had one more semester to go and she would be done.
He nodded. She could see he wanted to say something.
"Ben? Tell me."
"I miss you. We've been so busy and….we need to go on a date."
"Or have a date night here."
"Yeah."
"Maybe your parents can watch the kids soon. They would love that."
"I'll ask them." She stopped him from texting right then.
"My parents will be here in like thirty minutes and the kids are still asleep…."
"True but you do realize that anytime we try to plan something, the kids wake up."
"Maybe they won't this time." She took his hand and led him upstairs. "Let's see."
All Ben could think about while he gave the kids baths and gave them their evening cups of formula and read to them was Ava. He felt like a newlywed the way he just wanted her near him. Right now.
But she wasn't. She was across the city at her class and wouldn't be home for another hour.
He was very proud of her. After the twins were about nine months old, they had talked and decided that it was a good time for her to start taking classes again. She really wanted her degree. She wanted to start working when they were in school.
They had also decided that when he and she were thirty, they'd try for one more baby. Kinsey would be about ten and the twins, nine. It seemed perfect.
Ben wandered downstairs after the "babies" were all in bed and started cleaning the kitchen. Ava strongly disliked a messy kitchen in the morning so they'd always done dishes and put away everything at night.
"Lee?" He was sitting at the island, his head in his hands.
"Hey, Ben."
"What can I get you?"
"Nothing. You don't have to wait on me."
"I'd be happy to. Or I could just listen...if you had something on your mind."
Lee looked up and into Ben's eyes. "Did Ava ever tell you about my parents?"
"Yes, let's see. Your mom passed when you were a teenager. Carol, right? And your dad lives in New Mexico? Edward."
"Yeah. My brother Scott lives near him and...he just told me that Dad…"
Lee's voice broke and a tear slid down his face.
"Lee? Did something happen?"
"Dad had a stroke."
Ben sat next to his father-in-law and put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. Are you going to go see him?"
"Its Christmas and Rosie...she wants to be near Ava and the grandkids...but I feel like I need to be with my Dad. He's 82. What if he doesn't make it? I haven't seen him in a long time."
"Then you should go."
"Lee? Your dad is sick?" Rosie said from the doorway. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Ben got up and patted his back. "I'll be upstairs."
"Lee? I can't believe you didn't talk to me about this."
"Are you kidding? All you've talked about for months is coming to see Ava and the babies. I wasn't going to stop you from doing that. You'd never forgive me."
"Is that what you honestly think? That I'm so selfish I can't let anyone else do anything?"
Lee took her hand and brought her close so she was standing between his knees. "You're putting words in my mouth, dear. I didn't say you were selfish. I just wanted you to see them. I wanted you to be happy."
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Make the arrangements, Lee. We will fly to Albuquerque tomorrow."
"Tomorrow is Christmas Eve."
"Yes and I'm sure Ava and Ben wouldn't object to celebrating before we leave."
He nodded, pulling back. She stayed close though. "Dear, what is it?"
"What if he doesn't make it? I should have visited him a lot more. I shouldn't have been working so much. Rosie, he's family."
"Hindsight, Lee. All you can do is try to make better decisions that you can live with in the future."
"You could stay here," he told her.
"Lee Coulter, I am your wife," she scolded gently. "I belong with you. I'm going."
And she did. Lee and Rosemary stayed until the next morning at 11, after opening gifts and eating pancakes and sausage.
Then the house felt empty to Ava. Good thing was, they were heading over to Drew and Kayla's for Christmas Eve dinner that night and everyone would be there.
Later..
"Okay, everyone, before we eat this amazing dinner prepared by the women, let's go around and say what we are thankful for. I know its not Thanksgiving but we are absolutely thankful every day, right?" Jack asked, knowing the answer. "Drew and Kayla, do you want to go first?"
Drew took Kayla's hand and squeezed. "I'm thankful that we are all here together and that Kayla and I have been blessed with Cole and Lolo and Aubrie."
Kayla smiled and picked up Aubrie who was standing in front of her. "Also, we are thankful that Francine is in labor right this minute and soon baby Aria will be home with us."
Everyone gasped and clapped, congratulating them.
"That's wonderful," Jack told them.
"Livy? Do you and Matt want to go next?"
Livy nodded at Matt who held a very sleepy Amber in his arms. "I'm going to echo Drew's sentiment and say that we are so very thankful for all of you and for our three little monkeys. I'm also thankful for my job in Indian River so that we can be closer to all of you."
Livy swayed back and forth with Beckett in her arms. She then looked at Elizabeth and smiled. Wes was content in her arms.
"I'd like to add to that as well," she said quietly. "I'm thankful that in about seven months, we are going to add a new baby to our family."
Matt's jaw dropped. "Just one, right?" he asked, making everyone laugh.
"Yes, sweetheart. Just one."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I wasn't sure. I got a call yesterday from the doctor to confirm."
Matt adjusted his daughter in his arms and gave Livy a hug. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, babe."
Next was Ben and Ava. "I'm thankful for family and our kids too. Its been a whirlwind the last few years and we really appreciate everyone's support as we got our bearings. Especially Mom and Dad. Thank you."
Ava put Britton and Brodey's pacifiers in their mouths and handed Kinsey her sippy cup. "I'm thankful for my wonderful husband. He is truly my best friend and I couldn't think of a better husband or father for our kids. Thank you, babe, for picking up the slack so I could finish school. It means the world to me."
Ben knelt in front of her and squeezed her hand. "You mean the world to me. I want you to be happy."
Ava gave him a kiss. "Ben, I know I'm finishing school so I can work next year and I really would like to, but that's going to have to wait."
"Why's that?"
"Because, I'm pregnant too."
"What? We were going to wait. I…"
"Things happen for a reason, Ben. I'll finish up my degree before the baby comes. Then maybe, I can work and you can stay home." She shrugged. "Either way, I am happy."
Ben kissed her and gave her a big hug, forgetting everyone else was still watching.
Jack now sat next to Elizabeth on the love seat. "Well, everyone, we also want to say we are thankful for all of you. We are so proud of all of you. We also have a bit of news, but its not that your mom is pregnant." Everyone laughed. "Grandma Charlotte and Pops are going to be moving here. We are going to be adding on to our part of the house so they can live here."
Tom was closing in on 80 and Charlotte wasn't far behind. Since Jack and Elizabeth weren't able to live there, they were moving them to Michigan.
"When will they be coming?" Drew asked, curious.
"Hopefully by Spring."
Everybody agreed it was a good idea and then sat down to Christmas Eve dinner.
As Jack looked around at their ever growing family, he was overwhelmed with gratitude. "Thank you," he prayed. "Thank you so much for this life you've given us."
THE END
I hope u all enjoyed this final chapter!
