Chapter 5: Christmas and the 14th birthday party

I can't believe that my cute little daughters are going to be 14. That year they were born had been tough as Meredith and I were separated I was in DC while she was here with Zola and Bailey. When I quit my job in DC on my way to the airport I could have been killed if I hadn't payed attention to the road a 18 wheeler was driving fast and would have killed me or at least I'd have brain damage but if I was at Dillard I would of died. I'm glad I'm here with my seven children my wife who is expecting our eighth child. I love each and every one of my children as they are my pride and joy. This Christmas we are taking Amtrak to LA where we will get to see Addison, Henry, Jake, and all of Amelia's friends but most importantly we are going to Disney in California as we have been multiple times to Florida. I think in the next few months Zola and I will be taking a trip to California so she can check out UCLA so she can decide where she wants to go.

"Derek did you pack the presents for the children and the birthday items for Lexie, Ellis, and our niece Olivia?" asked my pregnant wife. Having my niece Olivia share her birthday with our daughters is a blessing because we get to have one big get together but this year for Christmas none of our family is going to be in California because last year was awful my mother trying to convince Zola to go to college there when Zola has her own dreams to follow. I am looking forward to this party as I get to spend time with my kids, my wife, and my sister and her family. "Dad can I bring Tommy with us his parents are going away for Christmas and isn't taking him." Asked Luke my youngest son. "Well Luke you might want to run that by mom." I told him. "I did." He said. "What did mommy tell you?" I asked. "She told me no." he told me. "Luke we've talked about this if mommy says no it generally means NO." I told him. My children are funny when they do that but sometimes rules need to be followed especially when they want to bring a friend with us.

When we left Seattle it was raining and when we arrived here it was 78 degrees and wonderful. "Uncle Derek why are mom and dad taking us to see people I can't stand well auntie Addie, and Uncle Jake, Cooper, Charlotte, Mason, Georgia, Caroline, and Rachel are fine but why Addison I think she's annoying how could you of married her many years ago." Asked my youngest niece Megan named after her aunt that at the time was missing in action. "Megan I was a different person then and that was before I met your aunt Meredith." I told her. When we were at the train station Megan Hunt was there waiting for her brother and sister-in-law. "Megan you made it" I said. "Yes I did now is Nathan on that train because I need to talk to him about a major decision." She told me. I knew that her and Nathan had a son named Gary, and a daughter named Annabelle but Megan was always busy and has to report back to Iraq in a few days. "no he isn't do you need us to take Gary and Annabelle home with us?" I asked. "Would you Derek that would be helpful as I have a tour that needs to be done and I love them and I can't just bring them with me." She told me.

At the party the girls were all dressed in their favorite dresses and were excited for the party. I myself was excited as we had the prefect present for Lexie and Ellis which was an IPad, and an IPhone. Meredith and I figured that 14 is the age that they could use a phone other than the cheesy throw away phones we bought for the begging of the school year. The girls loved there presents. When we all celebrated Christmas all the children opened their presents that we bought. Zola's presents were too big for the train so all of her presents were at home, along with Bailey's, Lexie, Ellis's, and Hannah's. Well actually there was one present for each of the older children. Zola, Lexie, Ellis, and Hannah got a best friends for ever necklace along with a bracelet. Zola loves her sisters and they are like her friends because we don't see anyone really come to our house for Zola well it's the same with Ellis but the rest of the children have friends over once or twice a week. Bailey got a T-shirt that had a picture that I recently took of Bailey and Luke at Luke's soccer game. Actually one of the other things that all the children got were a t-shirt that was personalized in different colors for each child and the image was an image of our last family photo taken on Bailey's 16th birthday.

After the children were in bed Meredith and I talked for a while because we decided to not know the sex of our baby due on ground hogs day which could come earlier or late. Don't even have a name for our baby because we just can't decide on a name. Meredith likes Tyler James for a boy and I like Elizabeth Marissa for a girl. Meredith likes Felicity Ann for a girl while I like Mark John. I hope we have another boy but another girl would be nice. I just hope we don't have another set of twins because that would leave us with 9 kids instead of 8. When we returned home we all went back to our normal schedule. The children went back to school, Meredith and I went to work, and life was the way it was before the vacation.

A/N: so here is their Christmas the next chapter is going to be a time jump to ground hogs day. Also I wanted to put Owen's sister in and make her alive with Nathan's kids. Also Nathan and Megan got a divorce so Megan had Custody of Gary and Annabelle but their going to be some drama leading to Nathan having custody of the children I really enjoy this copy.