After Maddie and Noah returned from the ski trip with their grandparents, Jason and Lyla spoke with a fertility specialist to talk about having a third child. The doctors told them their best option would probably be to try IVF/ICSI. Jason and Lyla agreed to start a cycle, and would do three attempts. If none of the three attempts worked, they would count their blessings with Maddie and Noah.

Lyla had to have hormone shots for two weeks to develop her eggs and then the doctors harvested them once they were ripe. Once the fertilization was complete, they had ended up with eight potential embryos. In June of 2016, they transferred one into Lyla. The doctors always tried to start with transferring only one. The other seven were frozen to use for future attempts.

Two weeks later, however, the test proved that the procedure hadn't worked. Lyla wasn't pregnant. They were disappointed, but decided to try again in a couple months.

July 4, 2016

Amid the disappointment of the failed IVF, Jason and Lyla were ready to celebrate Noah's eighth birthday. Noah had been a 4th of July baby, and as a result, they always called him their little firecracker.

"Happy 4th of July, and Happy Birthday, Noah!" Jason, Lyla and Maddie called to him when they woke him up.

"And I am eight years old today," Noah added. "I'm gaining on you," he told Maddie.

"For one month, big deal," said Maddie. "I'll be ten a month from now."

"Now, now," said Jason, trying to sound serious, but was hiding a smile. Maddie and Noah were so competitive over such little things. He wondered if they had inherited his competitive nature.

They planned for the 4th of July festivities to be a combination backyard barbecue and birthday party for Noah. Jason's parents and Lyla's family all came over to celebrate.

"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday, dear Noah..."

"And America!" said Noah.

"Happy Birthday to you!"

Noah blew out the single 8 candle. His cake, like all his previous ones, looked like an American flag. They did this due to him being a 4th of July baby.

After eating the cake, the families watched the fireworks.

"Remember how we used to tell Noah that the fireworks were for him?" Jason asked.

"Yes," said Lyla.

"Which I actually believed until I was five," Noah added.

As Maddie and Noah went down to see the fireworks better, Lyla asked Jason, "When do you want to try again?"

"Let's wait another month after Maddie's birthday," said Jason. Lyla quickly agreed.

***
Maddie turned ten on August 4th, exactly one month after Noah. For her birthday, she had a pool party at the Garritys with a bunch of her school friends. Once Maddie's party was over, Jason and Lyla knew it was time to try again.

This time, they transferred two embryos instead of one. Two weeks later, the blood test showed that Lyla was pregnant. They were excited and couldn't wait to tell Maddie and Noah. However, a few days later, Lyla started to bleed, and a follow-up test was negative. The doctors said Lyla likely had had a very early miscarriage and if they hadn't done IVF, she probably wouldn't have even known she had been pregnant.

That time was even worse than the first one, because they had had brief hope. They would give it one more shot in October.

September 8, 2016

"Maddie, let's get going!" called Jason. The Dillon Panthers were having the ten-year reunion of their 2006 state championship team. Jason was invited, as even though he had barely played, he was still considered part of the team.

"Hang on," called Maddie. "I can't find Brownie! Where is she?" Maddie's guinea pigs had had their annual free time out of the cage, and since they were about to leave, they had to go back in.

"Well, we have to find her!" Lyla called.

"I just don't know where she could-" Maddie began, but then she heard Noah squeal, "Get out of my room, Brownie!"

"Never mind," said Maddie. "We found her." Soon Brownie was back in the cage with Marshmallow, and they were ready to leave.

As the Street family left to go to the high school for the reunion, Jason made a realization. Not only were they celebrating the ten-year reunion of the state title team, but today was also ten years since everything had changed for Jason. His injury had been exactly ten years ago. This realization brought strong emotions to the surface for him. But he kept that in check for the time being as they arrived at the high school.

"Hey, Street!" called a familiar voice. Jason knew immediately who it was.

"Hey, Riggins," Jason called back. "How's it going?"

"Great. I see you brought Maddie and Noah, too."

"Yeah."

"Uncle Tim!" Maddie and Noah called.

"Hey, guys," called Tim.

"Who else is here?" Noah asked.

"Well, 'Smash' arrived a little while ago, and Saracen and Julie just pulled up."

"If they're here, then the Taylors are here too," said Lyla.

"Hard to believe Saracen ended up marrying her," said Tim. "Quarterback and the coach's daughter."

"Hey, I think they actually make a good couple," said Jason. "But you haven't changed a bit, have you, Riggins?"

"You know me too well, Street," said Tim.

Jason then took Maddie and Noah to see Matt.

"So Matt came in after you got hurt?" said Maddie, trying to keep everything straight.

"Sure did," said Jason.

"Street!" called Matt, seeing them. He knew from a distance exactly who they were.

"Hey, Saracen! How have things been going for you?"

"Very well," said Matt. "I'm a new dad. Best feeling in the world."

"Congratulations! Boy or girl?"

"Girl," said Matt. "Lauren Taylor Saracen."

"Where is she?" asked Noah.

"She's over there with Julie and Gracie." Gracie, Coach Taylor and Tami's younger daughter, was now nine. After the Streets talked to the Taylors, they went back to Matt. Jason suggested that the group form a square to toss the football to each other. "Saracen throws it to Maddie, who tosses it to Noah, who throws it to me, and then I throw it back to Saracen."

"Gotcha," said Maddie.

"Are you sure?" asked Matt.

"Hey, my legs may be useless, but my arms are still as strong as ever," said Jason with a grin. As they tossed the ball around for a little bit, they were impressed by Noah's throwing.

"Wow," said Matt. "I think Noah really takes after you."

"Yeah, I taught him to throw," said Jason. After the throw-session ended, Jason told Noah to go find Lyla. And then the realization hit him all over again.

"Are you okay, Dad?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah," said Jason. "It's just that when we left, I realized that today is ten years since I got hurt."

"Really?" asked Maddie.

"Yeah," said Jason. "And I still remember when I found out just how bad it was. The next day was rough. You and I, though, had our first real father-daughter talk together. Remember?" Maddie gave Jason a look, and Jason said, "What was I thinking? Of course you don't remember. You were only six weeks old. But I really got to talk to you that day."

September 14, 2006

"Could you give me a moment alone with Maddie?" Jason asked Lyla. A day earlier, Jason had received the news that the spine injury he had suffered in the game the week before would leave his legs permanently paralyzed. Lyla had heard him singing "Over the Rainbow" and this had led to them having a conversation about how Jason, in time, would come to accept his condition, but in the meantime, he had a loving family and community to support him. But now he wanted to talk to Maddie.

"Sure," said Lyla. "Do you want me to just leave her in the carseat, or..."

"That's fine," said Jason. Lyla did so, and Jason began.

"Well, Maddie, this past week, I've been doing a lot of thinking," said Jason. With a weak smile, he added, " 'Cause let's face it, I can't do much else. I don't know how much I'll be able to do again. If I'll be able to be the dad you need. But I do know this: No matter what I can or can't do, I know I love you. You know, I was scared about having you at first. I didn't know what to think. But I think this is why you're here. To help me through this."

Jason then paused. Just talking was enough to wear him out. Then he continued, "My first thoughts right after the accident were about you and Mommy. I thought about what would happen to the two of you if something happened to me? Lying there on the field, numb, I thought, 'I must be dying. This must be what death feels like.' And I was scared. Scared for me, and for you and Mommy. I know you both need me."

Jason paused again. He had truly thought he might be dying when he had first made the hit and went completely numb. The doctors had told him he had been lucky that no one had tried to move him or pick him up before the medics got to him, or he probably would have died. The experience had been even more harrowing knowing that he indeed had possibly been inches away from death. He continued his talk with Maddie as he said, "You know, Maddie, this accident has really got me thinking about life. About appreciating it. I took a lot of things for granted. I will never do that again. I may not be able to do much of anything again. I don't know. But I do know that I'm still your daddy, and nothing can take that away from me."

Just then, Lyla came back in. "Finish your little talk?"

"Sure did," said Jason. "I just needed some father-daughter time.

"No problem," said Lyla as she gave Jason a kiss and took Maddie to give him a break.

"Sounds like we had a heart-to-heart," said Maddie with a smile.

"Yes, we did," said Jason. Just then, Lyla and Noah came back, and they were ready to head home.

***
Toward the end of October, Jason and Lyla decided to do the final IVF attempt. Since the single-embryo and two-embryo transfers had not worked, they told the doctors to just go ahead and transfer the remaining five. Plus, they wanted to actually use all the embryos, and not waste them. They wouldn't feel right about not using them all.

Two weeks later, the test showed that the final attempt had been successful. Maddie and Noah were very excited when Jason and Lyla told them. And the numbers came back looking very strong for this pregnancy.

A couple weeks after learning that the IVF had worked. Lyla got a call from the doctor, who told her, "Based on some of the numbers, we think there may be more than one baby." Lyla was scheduled to have a sonogram to determine how many there were.

The day of the sonogram, they went into the office. Maddie and Noah had already been dropped off at school. Jason and Lyla waited until they were called back in.

"Lyla Street."

When they went back into the sonogram room, the doctor told Lyla, "We're going to do the sonogram and determine how many there are."

"Okay," said Lyla. She had been feeling sick, which she really hadn't gotten with Maddie or Noah. So she had a feeling there could be more than one.

"Here we go," said the doctor, as she turned on the ultrasound.

As the image came up, Lyla gasped. Jason, who couldn't see the screen from where he was, immediately panicked. "Is something wrong?"

"Come here, Jason," said Lyla. Jason wheeled over to where he could see the screen. He immediately gasped as well. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Neither could Lyla. But he knew that's what it was.

"You mean...?" asked Jason.

"Yes," said the doctor. "There's four."