As Katey and Javier walked hand in hand into the living room, they noticed Jeannie and Bert sitting on the couch, glowing. Susie stood next to Pat, her smile huge.
"What's going on guys?" Katey asked, a suspicious smile coming over her face.
"I'm pregnant!" Susie exclaimed, placing her hand on her stomach.
"Congratulations," Katey said, hugging her sister. "Javier just proposed to me, and I accepted."
"That's great," Susie, Jeannie, Bert, and Pat said at the same time.
Tomas and Jen were standing in the other room, eagerly listening to the conversation of the adults while trying to manage the younger children at the same time. They smiled and looked at each other. Jen and Tomas had become fast friends and wanted to be brother and sister. Although Jen liked being the oldest in her family, she thought a big brother (by two years) would be nice. Four more younger siblings though… Jen wasn't sure she could deal with the three she had, let alone seven. She gave Tomas a hug as she heard exclamations of congrats for Susie's baby and Katey's engagement.
Jen picked up Kerri and Tomas picked up Javi. They told the other kids to follow. As the ten children (Javier's kids, Katey's kids, and Rachel) headed into the living room, Susie and Katey turned to them.
"Congrats, Mom and Aunt Susie," Jen said, putting Kerri down and hugging her mom, then Susie.
"Good job, Papa," Tomas said, beaming as he hugged Javier.
Javier took Javi in his arms and gathered up Adrianna, Sam, and Rachel on his lap after he plopped on the couch. Surprisingly, Katey's kids and Rachel had taken a strong liking to Javier. It was as if they were ready to accept him as their father, sort of like they forgot about Robb. Sometimes this ran through Jen's head. She often thought that her mom didn't mourn his death long enough. She just kind of bounced back and was all of a sudden in love with Javier as soon as she saw him. Maybe Katey never did love Robb at all. Jen was glad they had a relationship though. If they didn't, she wouldn't be alive, along with Miles, Sam, and Kerri.
New life was invading the family. Susie's baby, the upcoming wedding, new siblings…but it was all so exciting.