Four days later…

The night before the babies were to go home, Reyes sat at the kitchen table with a box of stationary and a pen. She'd been released from the hospital three days before, and it had been really difficult to leave without the babies, but the doctors insisted that it was hospital policy that all multiples stay a week, no matter what their weight. There was logic and rationality behind the rule, but it was hard to apply to your own babies, because being a new parent doesn't involve a lot of stoic acceptance.

As anxious as she was to go and get them in the morning, she was a tiny bit grateful for the time she had before they came home and took over the house. Right now she could write the letters she promised; she didn't know when she'd have another chance.

Holding the silver pen Doggett had given her for her birthday the year before, she thought for several minutes with it hovering above the paper. The paper was light blue, with a faint drawing of sunflowers on it, and she distracted herself by thinking about when she'd been given the set by someone she'd barely known in New Orleans. At last ready to put aside meandering thought, she began to write.

Dear Isabella,

I don't think I'm ever going to fully understand why you decided to help me, and I'm grateful that it didn't put your job in jeopardy when you took on that selfless act. Thanks to you, I found out what happened to my mother, and my children will not grow up as ignorant of their biological history as I did.

I'm sure you noticed that I didn't say I found my mother, because sadly, she too is gone, just like my father. Please don't be sad for me, you gave me a great gift- the truth. I don't think anyone else has ever given me something so important, except perhaps my husband giving me our children, and my adopted parents giving me their love.

I told you that I was going to have twins, but that turned out not to be the whole truth. I'm now the mother of triplets, surprise! My two daughters were hiding their brother, and we didn't find out about him until he was born. It's quite a surprise, but it's a blessing too. I guess now my husband and I won't have to try again for a boy. I'm enclosing a picture of them with this letter.

Thanks again. Please don't hesitate to tell me if there's ever anything I can do for you.

Love,

Monica Reyes (Doggett)

Smiling, she folded the pages and put them into the envelope she'd already carefully written the address on. The second letter would be easier, because the other woman was insistent that they keep in touch.

Dear Lillian,

Thank you for your last letter. John and I have surprising news. We didn't have twins as doctors predicted, instead we had triplets, two girls and a boy. Our little surprise was named Landon, because it put my husband in mind of angels. The girls, though, I named with his approval. Jacey we named after my mother; I didn't have an intimate relationship with the woman, so using her first name was too uncomfortable, but we did want to honor her. And Quinn we named after the street where my journey ended; It reminds me that with their birth a new journey entirely has begun.

All three of them are healthy, and they'll be coming home in the morning, so please forgive me for the brevity of the letter; I think my husband and foster child would like to do something tonight before all the feedings and diaperings begin.

I'll write again when I can.

Love,

Monica Reyes (Doggett)

As soon as she'd put the letter in the envelope, she felt a hand on her shoulder, so she looked up and smiled.

" Are you ready to go to the movie?" Doggett asked.

" I didn't know that we decided on a movie. Did you want to see Finding Nemo?"

Doggett shook his head. " No. We're going to spend the next ten years going to Disney movies, let's go see something rated R."

" Something violent." Gibson insisted. " Like 28 Days Later."

" Gibson! I thought you were peace loving." Reyes said in mock-surprise.

" I told you she doesn't pay attention to my video games." Gibson told Doggett with a smirk.

Laughing, they sat down with the paper, and began to argue their cases of what would be the best movie to see on a nice deemed " the last night of freedom."

Homecoming day…

They looked so small. Not that they realized that their bemused parents were looking down at them, since they were each fast asleep, engulfed in baby carriers of a proper size for a newborn. But most newborns were a couple of pounds heavier, so it made the space they didn't take up very noticeable.

Although Doggett and Reyes looked half-panicked about the idea of leaving the safe confines of the hospital, Gibson was calm.

" Which one would you like me to carry?" He asked, indicating the carriers with a casual wave of his hand. A glance at the clock made him wonder who would get to the house sooner, them, or Maria Reyes.

Doggett looked puzzled for a moment, as if he'd been asked why 42 was the meaning of life, but eventually an answer came to him. " Why don't you take Quinn's carrier?"

Gibson grinned and reached for its handle. He knew why Doggett had picked Quinn; she was the heaviest of the three babies and somehow seemed the least fragile. He thought of pointing out to Doggett that his thoughts were wide-open, but he didn't have the heart to.

" So are we ready to go, then?" He asked instead.

Reyes gave a helpless shrug and tentatively reached for Landon's carrier. All of the babies' things were in the van, and they'd been checked out ten minutes before. " I think so."

" Ok, let's do this then. Everything will be fine." He picked up Jacey and made for the door.

It took them fifteen minutes to get out to the car, because they were stopped every few feet by hospital staff who wanted to say good-bye and good luck. They were even talked into letting them take a picture before they left. Gibson asked if they had to keep the hideous teddy bear someone insisted he hold while the picture was taken, but neither Doggett nor Reyes would answer, so he shrugged and threw in the van, where it would spend the next six months before someone found it and threw it out.

At last, though, they strapped the carriers into the van and drove off, heading for home. Reyes turned in her seat so she could look at the babies. Landon was still asleep, his head cocked to one side as he slept through his fist car trip. Jacey was wide-eyed, and sucking hard on the pink pacifier that Doggett had popped in her mouth reflexively when she'd fussed as she was loaded into the van. Quinn looked at her for a moment, but then fixed her gaze on the fists she'd managed to bring into her line of sight.

They were perfect, they were hers, and she couldn't wait to get to the house where they'd immediately get their first lesson on how to be a family.

The End

The story continues in Beyond the Truth: Twinsville and Beyond the Truth: Reopened