"That sign says we are entering Flagstaff. Is our hotel close to here?" Mariana asked with urgency.

"As a matter of fact, this Holiday Inn seems to be a perfect choice. I bet they have a restroom in their lobby. I will stay in the car with everyone else and just let Mom and Mariana make our reservation."

Stef and Mariana got out and headed into the office. They returned within a few minutes. "They said there is a Hampton Inn up here that has suites that would be easier for us and more cost effective. I guess they sort of work together. Anyway, it is just down the road."

Lena started the car and the family made their way to the next hotel. Stef got out with Callie this time. It took a little longer, but both looked happy on their way out. Stef sent Callie to get into the back of the van so she could ride in the front with her wife again. "Okay, our room is going to be on the other side of the building. We have a bedroom with two big beds and a couch that makes a full size bed in our living room. This also gives us a refrigerator and whole little kitchen area. Therefore we can buy some groceries if you would like…. They also have a complimentary breakfast and a pool."

"And get to the best part, Mom!" Callie said excitedly.

"They are doing some special things for the kids because it is Spring Break. Tonight they are having a special star gazing activity for kids under twelve. All we have to do is drop the kids off in the lobby around six. They will be fed dinner, they will be watching a movie, making a craft, and then using a telescope to look at the stars. Then they will meet us back in the lobby around nine."

"And tomorrow night," Callie said getting Stef to go on.

"Tomorrow night is banana split and board game night for the kids. I signed all of them up for both days. We can have a refund if we are not back in time tomorrow. That means that me and you will be all freed up to have a little date night." Stef said raising her eyebrows.

"Eww, Mom, don't ruin this… Tell Mama how we are going to sleep in our suite!" Callie insisted.

"Well, Bug, it isn't exactly telling her since she would get just as much input as I have. I was just thinking that we would let the kids have the bedroom and we would take the pull-out couch bed. That way the kids can have some fun and have like a slumber party while we have a little space to ourselves as well."

"I love that plan, Stef!" Lena said as she found a spot to park in on the right side of the building. "I am very excited that we can all stay in one suite together! The star gazing party sounds fantastic and right now getting out to stretch sounds just about perfect. Everyone grab a bag on the way out of the car."

Jude attempted to grab the ice chest by himself while all of his siblings grabbed for the smallest item they could find. "You all do realize that you are going to have to make many trips if that is all you are willing to carry, right?" Stef asked watching Mariana only take her pillow and blanket. "Brandon and Jesus, if you two could grab the ice chest from your little brother, it would be helpful. Callie, grab your suitcase. Jude, maybe you could get one of the other bags. Mari, take whatever bag Jude doesn't take."

Lena helped Stef unload the rest of the stuff so they could lock the van. Between the two of them, they were able to get everything else. Callie had let the kids in with the card key she had gotten when they checked in. By the time the moms made it into the room, the kids had piled all of their bags in the doorway and where exploring the room.

"I don't think so, babies!" Lena called. "Come put this stuff away right now, please. And Callie, I want that key."

XXXX

"So, here are my kids." Stef said to a college-age girl in the lobby who seemed to be checking in kids for the activity. "Is there anything else I need to do?"

"Nope. We have all of the information you gave us when you checked in. We will call you if we need anything. Be sure to come back for them around nine."

"One of us will certainly be back for them." Stef told her before turning back to her kids. "Okay, Babies, you all be good and try to learn something tonight. They have my phone number if they need it." She reached over to hug each one a little, but the kids were a little too excited to stop for long.

They all called out their good-byes from the area with the other children who were waiting. Stef shook her head and shrugged her shoulders before heading back to her room to find her wife.

"Are all of those kids your family?" A boy asked Mariana.

"Yes. We have five kids in my family." She answered sitting down next to him on a couch.

"You don't look alike. Well, you look like that boy," he said pointing at Jesus. "But not like the others."

Mariana sighed and rolled her eyes before answering. "My mama says that DNA doesn't make family. That boy is my twin. We were adopted."

"Oh. That's cool! Were you like a baby, or what?"

"No, I just got adopted really, but I have been living there since I was four." Mariana answered. She was happy to be saved from more questions when one of the leaders stepped in to get everyone's attention.

"Welcome to our Star Gazing evening! We are glad all of you are here. Before we get started with our activities, we would like to divide all of you into groups by age. If we could have all of the eleven and twelve year olds step over here, the nine and ten year olds over there, the seven and eight year olds over there and the five and six year olds right next to me."

"How old are you?" The boy asked.

"Nine. I will be ten in May, but not yet."

"Oh, I am eleven. I guess we won't be together today." The boy stood up and joined the group Brandon and Callie were already in. Mariana joined Jesus.

Jude looked longingly at his siblings and started to tear up a little. Brandon noticed first. "Can my little brother come with us? He isn't used to being alone like this."

"I think he will be okay, but if he isn't in a little while, you can change groups then. Does that sound okay?" One of the leaders asked getting on Jude's level. Brandon nodded and Jude tried to wipe away his tears. "Can you be big kid for us for the next couple of hours?" This time Jude nodded a little. Callie breathed a sigh of relief.

When the older kids got to the room where they would start making their craft, one of the leaders with a clipboard moved over to Callie's table. "I am Ashley and I am a graduate student in Child Psychology. I noticed you when your family came in tonight and I have a few questions for you. I think your family is a little bit like mine."

"Really?" Callie asked thinking that she knew very few family's like hers other than Matthew's family who had moved.

"Really. I have five siblings. On my mom's side, I have a step brother, a half-brother and a half-sister. On my dad's side, I have two adopted sisters. So, at my mom's house where I usually lived I was the second oldest of four, when I saw my dad on weekends I was the oldest of three. I am guessing that is a little what your family is like. Tell my about your family and your parents."

Callie looked at the young adult with interest. Her moms were against her ever saying that some of her siblings were not real, but had not really mentioned much about calling them step and half-siblings. Lena just that morning had referred to her brother being a half, so perhaps these terms were acceptable. "Yeah, we are kind of like that. My parents got married after Jude was born. I guess that makes him my half-brother. My mom already had Brandon, so I guess he is a step brother. The twins were adopted, just like you said. Brandon gets to visit his dad sometimes, but I don't have another house to go to."

"Oh, so you call Brandon's mom your mom? I never got along well with my stepmom. It always seemed like I was in the way of her kids. I stopped visiting on weekends when I was just a little older than you because it was like being grounded every time I was there. Is it like that for you, too?"

"Not really. I mean, Stef has always liked me to call her mom just like everyone else. I guess I hadn't thought about the fact she would be called a stepmom before. They got married when Brandon and I were only four. She adopted me after the wedding. Stef has always been a great mom for me."

"And I guess she was around almost a year before then… Was it hard for you and Brandon to adjust to each other and to having a second parent?"

"I only met Stef the summer before Jude was born. I don't think she was around much before then." Callie said thinking back. "Brandon and I were friends from the very start. Really, I liked Stef from the first day, too. It just seemed right. Brandon was more into it that I was."

"When did you start calling Stef your mom?"

"The night she moved in."

"Do you feel like your parents have favorite kids? Like does Stef favor Brandon or Jude as her actual sons?"

This started the gears turning in Callie's head a little. "No, I don't think so. I think I am her favorite, actually. She always says that I am just like what she was at my age. She loves all of us, though."

"And what happened to your birth mom?" She asked taking notes.

"Well, my first mom died and I guess, Gretchen would have been my second mom. It didn't work out because she was not a good person. She was never really officially my mom anyway and that's why we moved to California."

"Interesting. My research project is about blended families. Did your dad marry that Gretchen woman?" The girl asked.

Callie looked at her funny for a moment not knowing what to say. Her biological father certainly didn't even know Gretchen. "No, I don't think so."

"Well, thanks for answering my questions. I think overall, you are one of the lucky ones. Many kids in blended families always think that their stepparents do not treat them like their own. Your dad made a good choice in marrying Stef. If it is alright, I would like to meet your parents. Do you think they would have a minute when they come pick you up?"

Callie looked a little shocked. Never had she said anything about her dad, but now she realized that this lady had no idea that she had two moms and no dad. She was thinking back to whether she had lied to the lady, but could not come up with anything. She was unsure what to do. "Um, I am not sure. I think we have to go to bed really quickly after this because we are going to the Grand Canyon in the morning. So, tonight might not be good."

"Well, maybe I could just talk to one of them? I will asked when it is time to go. Thanks for giving me your time!"

Callie hoped that Stef would come for the kids alone.

XXXXX

"Yes, we were adopted." Jesus answered for his sister who seemed tired of being asked the same question over and over by different people. The twins didn't get these questions as much since most people they talked to everyday already knew.

"I always wanted to be adopted!" The kid replied looking excited. "So, do you remember your life before? I have a friend who was adopted and he was born in India. He doesn't remember much, but he showed us pictures. What about you guys?"

Mariana suddenly thought about the fact that she would probably never see these people again. "We were born in South America. Our mom is a cop. She was on a trip down there and she found us on the street and she brought us back here to live." Jesus looked shocked for a moment, but recovered grinning a little.

"My friend just came from an orphanage! I didn't know that people could just go down to South America and find kids! That's cool! So, what do you remember from there?"

"Our dad was really, really rich, and we had everything we wanted. Then, he got his head cut off by the mafia. Blood was everywhere. That's why we were on the street; our house was messed up. Then Stef came along and brought us to the United States and adopted us."

The boy looked at them strangely. "Where was your mom? Why did she let someone just take you?"

"She was sad, so she told Stef it would be okay. She signed us over." Mariana said hoping they could still get out of this.

"Oh. Do you still get to see her sometimes?" He asked.

"Not really. Cuba is really far from here." Jesus answered and Mariana elbowed him. "Ow! Hey, be careful! Remember that I fought off the mafia to keep you alive!"

"Cuba isn't in South America. We are from Brazil, idiot." Mariana said whispering the last word.

XXXX

"I wonder how the kids are…" Lena asked glancing once again at her phone.

"We have no kids." Stef said swiping the phone. "Tonight, I am out on the town with my beautiful, childless wife. After dinner, I am taking you back to the hotel room where it will still just be the two of us…"

Lena grinned and leaned across the table to kiss her wife. "Do you realize we have not had an evening to ourselves in months? The last time we had a date planned, you were called in for overtime. The time before I had to go to an emergency board meeting."

"And before that we had a sick… well, since we don't have kids, I guess we had a sick pet." Stef finished lamely.

"I mean we have had time together, just not a whole evening like now. I am so glad you talked me into coming on a quick vacation. This is wonderful. I do sort of wonder, though…"

"The kids we will have someday are doing great. If they were not, we would already know it. We have no kids so get them out of your mind. It is just us."

"You are right. Go ahead and order a drink if you want. I'll drive us back to the hotel when we are done." Lena said knowing the Stef would want to be cautious, but would like to have a drink from the bar.

"That's okay. I made arrangements with the hotel to have some wine delivered to our room. I got your favorite actually. So, we can savor our moments eating and then rush back to the hotel. We should have time for everything before the kids will be done."

Lena laughed. "Kids? I thought you said we had no kids. Although, if it had not been for our kids we would have never met…"

"That's true. For tonight, though, we are putting them out of our minds."

XXXX

All of the kids met back up for dinner. "So, if anyone asks, I accidently told the lady with the clipboard that my dad married Brandon's mom. It was sort of an accident, but I think we should just go with it." Callie said looking at her siblings.

"Okay." Mariana agreed. "As long as you confirm that Jesus and I are from Brazil. Mom found us on the street."

Brandon looked at his sisters with confusion. "What are you guys going to do if Mama picks us up? You know she probably will because she is probably watching the time already to know when it is time to get us. Moms have no fun without us."

"Seriously, B?" Callie said raising her eyebrows. "Mom took Mama on a hot date tonight and they are probably having doing it right now in our hotel room. We will be lucky if either of them remember to come back for us."

"Ewww!" The older three said looking disgusted.

Jude looked perplexed. "Doing what?"

"Doing what they always do when they think we are gone or sleeping." Jesus explained. "You know when they are kissing and then they close their bedroom door and we hear…."

"Stop it!" Mariana said putting a hand over his mouth. "That is gross. Quit licking my hand!"

Jesus pried her hand away from his mouth. "I wouldn't lick your hand if you would keep it away from my mouth!"

"Is there a problem over here?" One of the adults asked seeing the commotion.

"No." They all answered.

"Okay, well please leave your hands to yourself in that case." She said walking away.

"Why would Moms go on a date anyway?" Callie wondered out loud. "For one thing they are married, for another, they go on dates all the time. When I get married I won't do that kind of thing."

"Going grocery shopping doesn't count as a date." Mariana said rolling her eyes. "I think it is very romantic. I hope my husband someday is rich so that we can leave our kids with a nanny and we can go out anytime."

"I am never taking my wife anywhere." Jesus finally said. "I am going to work as a spy and I won't have time for her or the kids."

"So, you are going to get divorced?" Brandon asked.

Jesus shrugged. "Maybe, but I won't be taking her on dates or spending time with her like the moms do."

"Maybe you shouldn't bother getting married at all." Mariana said. "It doesn't seem like it would work out to well."