That night, Jason and Lyla got a more thorough assessment of each of the babies and learned how they were doing. They found out that Caleb and Austin were clearly doing the best. They were both breathing on their own and only needed help maintaining their temperature and learning to eat. Once they got the hang of that and grew some more, they would be able to come home.

Shea needed a little bit of oxygen supplementation, but the doctors told them that her requirements were low and that they would hopefully decrease and then she would learn how to eat and then be able to come home.

Ryan was having the hardest time. Not that he was doing horribly, just not quite as well as his brothers and sister. He needed CPAP and the incubator and was nowhere near ready to learn to eat yet. He was also the smallest of the four, which may have been why he was having a bit of a harder time than the others. The doctors were quick to assure Jason and Lyla, though, that Ryan would be fine. It would just take a little more time.

As the next few weeks went by, Jason, Lyla, Maddie and Noah visited the babies frequently and got to see them progress. Caleb and Austin got to start eating from a bottle. Maddie and Noah each got to give them one and were very proud to do so. Shea's oxygen requirements continued to lower. Ryan finally came off CPAP and they finally got to fully see his face. The entire family was very proud to see how the babies were all progressing.

June 19, 2017

"Here we go," said Jason, as they all went to the hospital. It was three weeks after the babies had been born, and it was a big day. Caleb was coming home.

"Are you excited to be bringing your brother home?" Lyla asked Maddie and Noah.

"Yes!"

Once they went into the hospital, Maddie and Noah were eager to find Caleb and bring him home.

"This is it, Caleb," said Jason, as a nurse handed him to Lyla. Caleb yawned.

"Aww!" Maddie exclaimed. "He's so cute!"

"I like my brother!" said Noah. As they strapped Caleb into the carseat, he briefly opened his eyes.

"Look," said Lyla. "I think he's trying to tell his big sister and brother hi!"

Caleb slept the entire car ride home. And once they arrived home, Noah said "Caleb, this is where you're going to live from now on."

"What do you think of that?" asked Maddie. Caleb hiccuped.

"I think he likes it," Maddie declared.

"Welcome home, Caleb," said Jason.

"One down, three to go," finished Lyla.

***
Bringing Caleb home got Jason and Lyla back into the routine of having a new baby in the house. They got adjusted to the waking up at night, the diapers, the bottles, etc. Two days after Caleb came home, they got to bring home Austin. So it was nice for them to have a couple nights of getting used to having a baby in the house before bringing home a second one.

When Austin came home, he and Caleb immediately had seemed calmed by the other's presence. Lyla thought they had known of each other's presence in the womb and were happy to be reunited.

With two babies now at home, Jason and Lyla started figuring out how to manage dealing with more than one baby. Thankfully, Maddie and Noah were always eager to help.

One week after Austin's homecoming, it was Shea's turn. Now things were starting to get interesting-and crowded-in the Street house. Only Ryan was still in the hospital.

***
July 4, 2017

"Happy Birthday, Noah!" Jason, Lyla, and Maddie called. Each of them was holding a baby as they woke Noah up. Noah was now nine years old.

"Thanks, Mom! Thanks, Dad! Thanks, Maddie! Thanks, Caleb! Thanks, Shea! Thanks, Austin!" Noah told them all.

"They can't understand you yet," said Jason, laughing.

"I know," said Noah. "But I still want to thank them."

"How does it feel to be nine years old?" Lyla asked him.

"Fine!" said Noah, with a smile.

Although they had fun celebrating Noah's birthday and the Fourth of July, there was one little thing that kept it from being completely perfect. Ryan was still not home yet. He was making a lot of progress, and was no longer in an incubator, but they still just wanted him home with them. The doctors told them it would probably be another week or two. Jason and Lyla just chose to be grateful that they had three of the babies home by this point and they knew that Ryan would get there soon enough.

***
July 10, 2017

"I'm so excited!" said Lyla, as the family walked into the hospital. Ryan was finally coming home, six weeks after the delivery. The drive to the hospital had flown by. They were so eager to finally have all of the babies home and not have to go back and forth to the hospital.

Ryan's homecoming was a big celebration. It marked the end of their NICU stint and was the culmination of their journey that had started sixteen months earlier. Once Ryan was carried into the Street house, Jason said, "Lyla, last March, when you told me that you were ready to have a third child, did you ever imagine that we would be here, today, with six?"

"No," said Lyla. "What a journey the past sixteen months have been!"

"Forget about the past sixteen months, what about the past eleven years?" pointed out Jason.

"You're right," said Lyla, remembering.

"Hey, Lyla," said Jason.

"What?"

"I've been thinking..." said Jason. "Over the years, I've thought about writing a book about my journey. It could serve to help others in the same situation."

"I think that would be a great idea," agreed Lyla. "You certainly have a lot to tell."

"I do, don't I?" said Jason. "Plus, it will help give all the kids an idea of who I was before my injury. I've always felt my story is book-worthy."

"Me, too," said Lyla.

"I'd totally read a book about you," said Maddie.

"And so would I," Noah agreed.

Jason knew it was settled. Once the babies were a few months older, he would get started on his next phase of sharing his story with others. He hoped he could help a lot of other people by sharing his story and his journey with the world.