Saving Ma

Summary: After Frank proposed to Natalia, Rafe Ave and Emma team up to help their moms.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and I do not make any profit from this

Chapter 28

Rafe and Ava hung up the phone after talking to their moms. Ava looked to her brother. "Looks like things are going to get more interesting at home little brother."

Rafe chuckled. "Looks that way. Mom said to pull down the roll-away, but this kid has been through so much. I hate to think for him sleeping on that uncomfortable thing. Can you do without me here? I need to run home and prepare for the boys and run a few errands."

Ava waved him off. "Of course. I would go with you but I need to wait for the truck and open the storage for them. Go ahead."

Rafe got up to leave. "I'm going to take the Beacon pick-up and leave you mom's car. Call me when the truck gets here. Jane has Emma up in the suite, I'll take her with me. She can help at the house. If you have a minute we can talk to her before we go."

Ava nodded and they went up to the suite to relieve Jane. Once there and after Jane left they sat her down. Rafe pulled her into his lap. "Hey munchkin, we wanted to talk to you about what happened with Ma and the reading of her sisters will today."

Emma smiled sadly, "Is Ma ok? Is she still sad?"

Ava smiled at her sister's big heart. "She's ok and she will probably be sad for a little while, but we will help her."

Rafe nodded. "Yes we will. We also need to help her with something else. At the will reading she found out that her sister had two sons and that her sister wanted Ma to keep them and take care of them for her."

Emma looked surprised. "Are they coming home with Ma and Mommy now?"

Ava nodded, "Yes, they will be here tonight. Natalio is a baby, he is only 6 months old. Mateo is 11, he is a little different though and will need our help. He is actually Ma and her sister's little brother. Their father was really mean to him and made him hit his head when he was little causing him to have some problems. He went to live with Ma's sister after that. So if he talks funny or says funny things we need to not make fun or make him feel bad."

Emma leaned into Rafe. "Is he going to be ok?"

Rafe smiled, "yes he will be fine. He just needs some special doctors and all the help we can give him to help him learn. He's our brother now, so we need to take care of him and Natalio."

Emma beamed. "We have a new baby brother and I have a new big brother too. But where will they sleep?"

Rafe hugged her to him. "Well, I was thinking that I can take the down stairs room and give Mateo my room and Mom said that Natalio will sleep in a crib in their room for now until we can figure something else out."

Ava placed a hand on his arm. "Rafe, you don't have to give up your room. I can take the down stairs room again."

Rafe shook his head. "No, I have less stuff than you do and you just got settled. Besides I won't need my earbuds as much down stairs." He and Ava shared a laugh.

Ava chuckled again. "That's true. Maybe I'll fight you for it after all."

Rafe smiled and turned back to Emma. "So, I am going to the house to set some things up for Mateo and I have some errands to run. I'm going to take you with me to help and Ava will call us later. A truck with Ma's sister's and Mateo's things will be here later." He turned back to Ava, "I'm going to take a few of the guys that are working to help me move some stuff around at the house. I will call when I need them to meet me out there if you can figure out who is free to help for about an hour or so."

Ava nodded and they stood. Rafe and Emma headed out and Ava went down to find a few of the guys to help Rafe. Rafe and Emma ran his errands and the Beacon guys met him and helped him at the house. After they finished they all headed back to the Beacon, the truck was due to arrive any time now.

After they unloaded the truck and Rafe put some of Mateo's boxes in the pick-up they headed home. Ava cooked dinner, while Emma helped Rafe upstairs. Olivia had called and they were an hour out and would be home by 7:00. That gave her an hour to get dinner on the table and put together the highchair that Rafe had picked up earlier.

Olivia had just dropped Mel off and they were about twenty minutes from home. She looked in her rearview to check on them. "You guys doing ok back there? Were almost home."

Natalia smiled, "yes love. We are doing well. I think Natalio is hungry though. He's starting to get fussy."
Mateo sat up, "I'm hungry. Are we going to eat at my new home?"
Olivia smiled. "Yes buddy, Ava is cooking dinner. It should be ready when we get there or shortly after." He smiled and looked back out the window.

They pulled into the drive and saw their babies coming out of the house to greet them. Olivia looked back to Mateo once she parked. "Those are our other kids buddy. They are all nice and will be good to you." Mateo smiled nodding his head. She turned to Natalia, "ok princess. Let's get these guys inside and see about dinner."

Mateo got out and stood next to Olivia shyly while Natalia got Natalio out of his car seat and came around the car. Ava smiled at them. "Dinner is ready."

Olivia took Mateo's hand and they all walked up to the house. "Mateo, this is Ava, Rafe and Emma. Guys, this is Mateo."
Emma came up to them and stood in front of Mateo. "Hello, I'm Emma. Are you hungry? Ava made dinner and we got ice cream for dessert."

Mateo nodded his head vigorously. "I'm hungry." He looked up to Olivia, "can we eat now mom?"

Olivia ruffed his hair. "Yes we can. I'm hungry too."

Natalia stepped forward. "This my babies is Natalio, and I think he may be like Emma and Rafe and eat us all if we don't feed him soon." They all laughed.

Ava stepped toward her, "can I hold him Ma?" Natalia nodded and she held her hands out to him.

He looked at her quizzically for a moment with his head cocked to the side. He looked at Natalia who just smiled, "its ok. You can go to Ava."

He looked at Ava again and held out his arms. She took him and hugged him close. He lay his head on her chest and sighed. Ava smiled a little teary eyed, "I think he likes me." Natalia smiled rubbing her back and they all moved inside.

Upon entering Olivia noticed the highchair. "Hey, where did that come from?"

Ava saw what she was looking at first. "Rafe picked it up this afternoon when you said you'd be home for dinner."
Rafe smiled. "Yep. It's the Cadillac highchair that adjusts to his size until he can sit in a regular chair. It even matched the color of the table."

Natalia kissed him. "Thank you Mijo. This is great."

They all settled at the table with Olivia and Natalia at the heads, Ava and Rafe on one side and Emma and Mateo on the other. Mateo next to Olivia and Natalio in his highchair by Natalia.

Ava set out the food and handed three small bowls to Natalia. "I figured you had baby food for him but I took the potatoes, green beans and carrots and put them in the food processor for him."

Natalia beamed at her. "Thank you sweetie. I bet he likes this a whole lot better than the jar stuff. That stuff is gross. I always did this for Rafe too. He ate it better."

They all sat and Mateo looked to Olivia. "Can I say grace mom?"

Olivia smiled at him, "Of course you can buddy."
They all held hands and bowed their heads. "Thank you lord for this food and thank you for my old Ma that gived me a new Ma and mom and anuder brother and sisters. Amen."

"Amen" the all said and tucked into their dinner.

They talked about a little of everything during dinner like always. Mateo joined the conversation a few times but mostly just listened and watched the people around him. Natalio devoured the food Ava had prepared for him. After dinner Ava and Emma cleaned up and the others headed out to unpack the SUV. Ava cleaned off Natalio's tray and gave him a few toys out of his bag to keep him occupied while Olivia, Rafe, Natalia and Mateo took things upstairs.

Natalia and Mateo were setting up the porta crib so Rafe pulled Olivia out of the room. "Hey, I uh… I did something and I hope I didn't overstep, but I didn't want him to have to sleep on that roll-away."

He opened the door to his room and led Olivia inside. Once they were through the door Olivia saw a new twin bed with a comforter that was covered in cars and trucks. There was a book shelf and dresser that had been in the down stairs bedroom in the room, as well as a chest at the foot of the bed.

She turned to Rafe shocked. "Son? Where are your things?"

Rafe shrugged. "I had some guys from the Beacon come out and help me move some furniture around. My room is now set up down stairs. I bought the bed and blankets this afternoon when I got the highchair. Mateo's toys that were in the truck are in the chest, and the boxes with his clothes are stacked in the closet. That's why the Beacon pick-up is outside. I wanted him to feel at home."

Olivia hugged him. "You didn't have to do this. Thank you sweetheart. You are truly a wonderful young man and I am proud to call my son."

Rafe beamed as she released him. "I was glad to do it. That boy has been through so much. The extra bed from downstairs is in the attic now. I wasn't sure what to do with it. I still need to finish up in my room but it's mostly done."

Olivia hugged him again as Natalia and Mateo walked in the room. "What's all this?" She asked looking around in surprise.

Olivia walked over and put an arm around her waist. "Rafe set the room up for Mateo. He moved his things to the down stairs bedroom."

Rafe walked Mateo over to the chest and opened it. Mateo let out a squeal. "My toys. Thank you Rafe." He pulled out a bear and sat on the bed. "Is this my room?"

Rafe knelt in front of him. "Yes it is buddy. Tomorrow night we can finish unpacking your boxes. I just wanted you to have your toys and a bed of your own."

Mateo smiled and hugged him. "You're a good brother Rafe." Rafe beamed, a small tear in his eyes as the boy hugged him tight.

Olivia and Natalia watched them with watery eyes. Natalia wiped her eyes and went to them. "Yes he is, but it's time to get a bath, brush your teeth, get into jammies and get ready for bed. Once you are ready one of us can read you a story if you want before you go to sleep."

Emma and Ava came up and got Emma into the bathtub in the hall while Mateo opted to take a shower in Olivia and Natalia's bathroom. Natalia bathed the baby in the sink down stairs. Once they were all bathed and in jammies Mateo wanted to listen to the story Natalia was reading to Emma so they lay on her bed. They were both asleep before the first chapter was over. Rafe picked up Mateo and tucked him into his own bed. Natalia set up a baby monitor in his room so they could hear if he needed them. Ava had taken Natalio and rocked him in the recliner in the living room with a bottle and took him up to his porta crib once he was asleep.

Olivia and Natalia came into their room as Ava was covering him with a sad smile. Olivia pulled her into her arms. "You ok baby?"

Ava pulled back and nodded. "Yes, he's so sweet. It just brings it back. I'm ok though." She turned to Natalia, "he looks just like you Ma but with green eyes."

Natalia smiled a sad smile of her own. "My sister and I looked a lot alike. When we were growing up some people thought we were twins. My Aunt told me his father had green eyes. He's beautiful."

They bid Ava good night with kisses and hugs and settled together in bed. Natalia kissed Olivia's neck. "Thank you for today. I know this is a lot to take on. I never even asked you if you wanted this."
Olivia hugged her tightly. "You're my wife. These boys are our family. There was never a doubt of what we should do."

Natalia leaned up and kissed her softly but thoroughly. "I love you so much. Thank you for loving me."

Olivia kissed her nose, "it is entirely my pleasure princess. You and our family are my life. I would do anything for you."

Natalia snuggled down with a contented sigh and they fell asleep holding each other like always.