Nathan and Elizabeth were both busier than they had ever been once they returned from the honeymoon. They were each quickly challenged with adjusting from being a single parent with one child to a family of four, with two children nine years apart. Jack was already two and Allie would be turning eleven in April. So the children had very different wants and needs due to their age difference and that was quite the adjustment.

The Saturday of the second weekend after the couple returned from the Bahamas, Elizabeth was out grocery shopping while Nathan was in the newly furnished bedroom he now shared with his wife, unpacking the last of his suitcases, when he heard Allie scream.

"Jack, no! Stop!"

Nathan went running towards the sound of his daughter's voice and found both kids in Allie's new room. Allie had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Jack whose lower lip was quivering. Nathan's detective instincts kicked in and he quickly figured out the source of the problem. A stack of books that Allie kept on the floor next to her bed was now scattered at Jack's feet. It wasn't hard to figure out that the little boy thought it was a tower that he could knock down, just like he was used to doing with his blocks.

"Look at what you did to my books, Jack!"

"Allie!'

"Dad!"

Jack finally started to cry at the sound of Nathan and Allie's loud voices.

An exasperated Nathan looked from one child to the other. Jack lifted his hands in the air and Nathan quickly picked him up.

"It's ok buddy. I know you didn't mean it." Nathan said as he rubbed his new son's back.

Just as he gave the little boy a kiss on the cheek, Allie angrily stomped out of the room and thundered down the stairs.

Nathan looked bewildered as he watched his daughter rush out of the room. Jack was still whimpering and now had his head resting on Nathan's shoulder so Nathan was torn about what to do next. He carefully sat down on the floor with Jack in his lap and looked at the books strewn all over the place.

"Jack, did you knock Allie's books over?" Nathan asked in a firm but gentle voice.

The little boy continued to whimper.

"Jack?"

The toddler slowly nodded his head and sniffled while Nathan continued to comfort him.

"Jack, these are Allie's books. They are not your toys. It's not nice to touch other people's stuff without asking. Did you ask if you could play with her books?"

He slowly shook his head and whimpered again. Nathan kissed his forehead.

"I fix?" Jack asked.

Nathan smiled. "I think Allie would like that, Jack. But first I want you to apologize to your sister. Can you do that?"

"I sawey, Daddy."

Nathan couldn't speak.

"Jack, whaaat did you just call me?"

"Daddy! Awlie daddy. Jack daddy too."

Nathan now had tears in his eyes and hugged his son.

"I love you, Jack."

"I wuv you too."

Nathan then carried Jack downstairs to look for Allie. Instead, he found his wife in the kitchen surrounded by grocery bags.

Elizabeth smiled as soon as she noticed them. "There are my two favorite gentlemen."

"Hi sweetheart. Did you find everything you needed?" Nathan said as he gave his wife a quick kiss and then pulled her into an embrace while still holding Jack.

"I think so. I'm used to shopping for myself and a toddler so time will tell if I bought enough to last all of us for the week. We really have been spoiled since we got home. I wasn't expecting Rosie and Faith to stock our freezer to get us through the first couple weeks." Elizabeth chuckled.

"No worries if you didn't. I can always make a trip to the store after work if needed."

They heard footsteps pounding up the stairs and a few seconds later, a door slammed.

The newlyweds stared at one another.

"Oh my. It seems like I missed a lot while I was out." Elizabeth said as she took in her son's puffy eyes.

"You could say that."

"Care to share?"

"Well, this little guy thought it would be fun to treat Allie's book pile as a stack of blocks."

"Daddy fix with me!" Jack added.

Elizabeth wasn't sure if she was more shocked that Jack had understood that exchange or that Jack had just called Nathan "Daddy".

Nathan smiled. "He does have a point. I told him we would fix the pile once he apologized to Allie for knocking over her pile."

"Yes Jack, you will fix the books." Elizabeth added.

"Yes Mama. Yes Daddy."

"Well, this is a new development." Elizabeth said as she pulled out of Nathan's embrace and started to put away the dairy products.

Nathan placed Jack in his play corner and put his arms around Elizabeth from behind. He placed his chin on her shoulder.

"It is. He must have picked it up from Allie."

"It's no wonder. He already looks up to her. I'm so happy they each have an instant sibling."

Nathan grinned and kissed Elizabeth's shoulder. "Me too."

"I take it that Allie was upset with her brother?"

"Yes. I don't know what's gotten into her. She loves and adores Jack but today she just snapped. And Jack was upset and I didn't know who to comfort first."

"If you don't mind putting away the rest of the groceries, I'll go up and talk to her."

"I was about to do that."

"I know but I think right now it may help her to hear from someone other than you. Let me see if I can find out what's really bothering her."

Nathan looked torn and Elizabeth turned around and rubbed his arm.

"I know you're probably right and I'm grateful to have you by my side. I just promised Allie before we got married that I'd always prioritize her and I feel like I'm failing at that today." Nathan choked out the last of those words.

"Nathan, of course you're going to prioritize Allie. But you also have a wife and a son now and you'll have to manage how to prioritize all of us. Just like I will. We can learn together. Going from one child to two is an adjustment as is co-parenting." Elizabeth smiled and pulled Nathan into a hug while rubbing his back.

"I don't think blending a family is as easy as it sounds but I know we will get through it with love and faith." Elizabeth added.

"Thank you, sweetheart. You always know just what I need to hear. But I do think I should talk to Allie this time if you don't mind. I know we still need to have the adoption talk but I'd like to understand what's bothering her. I can't help but feel it's personal towards me."

Elizabeth sighed. "Ok Nathan. You win. You go talk to Allie and I'll finish up here. And then Jack and I will come and check on you both. I want him to restack the books in front of Allie."

Nathan smiled and leaned down to kiss his wife.

"Thank you again. I love you, Elizabeth."

"And I love you, Nathan."

He kissed Elizabeth one more time and headed upstairs to Allie's room. Nathan knocked.

"Allie, it's me. Can I come in?"

There was no answer.

Nathan knocked again and still no answer. He opened the door slowly and found Allie lying on her side hugging her favorite teddy bear. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Oh Al, what is it sweetheart?" Nathan asked as he hurried over to the bed and sat on the side. He placed his arm on Allie's back.

"Leave me alone, Dad."

"Absolutely not. I'm not leaving you alone when you're upset like this. Are you angry at me?'

Allie took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

"I will take that as a yes."

Once again, Allie didn't say anything.

"Sweetheart, I can't help unless I know what's bothering you. This is very unlike you. What's wrong?"

"Why don't you ask Jack?" Allie asked angrily.

"I don't appreciate the tone, young lady. Why would I ask Jack what's bothering you?"

Allie closed her eyes and silently continued to cry. Nathan sighed and continued to rub her back silently until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to find Elizabeth standing there holding Jack on her hip. She gave her husband a sympathetic smile. Nathan stood up so that Elizabeth could take his place on the bed. She sat down with Jack in her lap and quickly replaced Nathan's hand on the girl's back. Nathan stood so close to Elizabeth that their toes were touching.

"Allie, look at me please." Elizabeth said firmly but gently.

The girl slowly opened her eyes and stared at Elizabeth.

"Thank you Allie. I don't like the way you just spoke to your father. Now what is this all about?"

Allie looked from Elizabeth to Nathan and finally to Jack. The girl finally sat up as Nathan got down on his knees in front of Elizabeth and Allie.

"Jack knocked over my book stack but you two are upset with me as if I did something wrong."

Allie looked at Nathan. "Every night since you've been home from the honeymoon, you've spent time with him after getting home from work and by the time Jack was in bed, you were either too tired for me or you were doing something with Elizabeth. Now Jack is calling you 'Daddy' and you three are just one big happy family."

Nathan was stunned. Allie started to cry again and Elizabeth used her free arm to pull the girl into her arms. Jack remained silent in her lap but after a time, he started rubbing Allie's arm with his little hand. Nathan reached over Elizabeth's lap and took Allie's hands in his.

"Sweetheart, I had no idea you felt this way. I wish you had said something sooner before getting upset like this. I'm sorry if it has felt like I was ignoring you. That was not my intention."

Allie sighed. "I know that, Dad. I know you love me. I just haven't felt your presence since the wedding. It seems like you give all the time you used to give to me to Jack."

Nathan and Elizabeth exchanged a glance.

"Oh Allie. This has been a time of adjustment for all of us. Your Dad and I have each gone from one child to two very quickly and we both have full time jobs and other responsibilities too. So we are both learning how to manage our time. I promise you that neither of us is ignoring you."

"Elizabeth is right, Al. This has been an adjustment and we will continue to adjust as our family blends into one." Nathan sighed. "Neither of us is perfect so there will be mistakes that we need to learn from. I think this is the first one. I've been trying to bond with Jack so that he trusts me the same way that he trusts Elizabeth. I want him to see me as his parent and not just as a regular visitor. I'm really sorry if it has felt like I've been neglecting you. That has not been my intention at all. Jack is younger and more dependent than you are so I thought giving you some more space was the right thing to do. I was wrong. Can you forgive me?"

Allie finally pulled away from Elizabeth and smiled. "Of course I forgive you. And I don't want you to stop spending time with Jack. He's your son now. And he needs to know what an awesome Dad he now has."

"Daddy!" Jack screamed as he practically jumped off the bed to Nathan. Luckily, Nathan caught him and held him on his knees. The family chuckled.

"Allie, I will do a better job of being mindful of how much time I spend with you and Jack separately. But I also want us to all spend time together as a family. I know we have meals together but I want us to start doing some after dinner activities together too. Maybe you can help figure out what those could be?"

"Sure Dad."

"And Allie, had you not ran out of here earlier, you would have known that I spoke with Jack about why what he did was wrong."

"Jack, what do you say to Allie?" Nathan asked.

"I wuv you, Awlie."

"I love you too, buddy.'

"Jack, remember we talked about the books that you knocked over." Nathan turned so that the little boy could see the books thrown on the floor.

"What do you say to Allie?

"I sawey Awlie. I fix."

"With that Jack clamored off Nathan's lap and started to stack the books again.

Elizabeth, Nathan, and Allie laughed as they watched the toddler scurry around the books.

"Allie, you know you've brought up a good point about your Dad and Jack spending time together. I'd like to spend more time with you as well."

"Really?"

"Yes really! You are my child now too and I want to get to know you better and I want you to know that you can always count on me for anything. Do you not already feel that way?"

"It's just Dad is adopting Jack so you two will legally be his parents. Dad is still my only legal parent. Why does Jack get adopted and I don't?"

Allie started to cry again and this time Nathan sat next to Elizabeth on the bed and pulled Allie onto his lap, facing Elizabeth. She quickly rested her head against his chest.

"Sweetie, would you like for Elizabeth to adopt you and be your legal mother?"

"Yes."

Nathan and Elizabeth smiled.

"Allie, I would love to adopt you. The only reason we mentioned Jack's adoption first is because he's too young to understand. But in your case, we wanted you to be part of the decision process. And things have been so hectic since we got back that we just hadn't had the chance to talk to you yet. Your Dad and I decided we wanted to adopt both of you on our honeymoon. I don't want to replace Colleen but I do very much want to be your mom."

"Allie-girl, you're lucky that you'll grow up having two moms. Just like Jack has two dads."

The girl leaned over and hugged Elizabeth.

"Mom?"

Elizabeth had tears in her eyes and gave Allie a kiss on the forehead. "I love the sound of that, sweet girl. You know I think your Dad had a great idea about family time in the evenings. I think we should also set aside Sundays as our family day for the four of us and on weekends when your dad is working, the three of us will still have a family day. We will still have our bagel breakfast with the Coulters and we will still go to church but after that, we can do something together as a family. What do you think?"

"Cool."

"Lizbeth, I think our girl is back."

"Daaaad"

Nathan and Elizabeth laughed again as Jack climbed up on the bed and sat down in his sister's lap.