They only got a few hours of sleep in the wee hours of the morning, what with nurses bustling in and out and Averylin waking up with her first diaper. She hadn't been interested in eating much, but once the sun came up it seemed to be all she wanted to do, and she spent a good hour doing just that. It wasn't the easiest or most comfortable nursing Lindsay had ever experienced, but she was determined to do it and convinced it would get better.

Adam was basically holding his daughter every chance he got, walking her around the room, rocking her slowly in the chair, and standing by the window, looking out on the city and whispering softly to her. Lindsay loved watching them together, intrigued at how different Adam was with Averylin than he was with the boys. He was somehow gentler, softer. She smiled when he sat down next to her, and she reached over to adjust the little cotton hat on Averylin's head.

"Think we should call the boys?" he asked.

"It's kind of early but I bet they're up," Lindsay decided, picking up her phone and calling Austin. Colton answered the phone as if they'd all been sitting there waiting for the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey buddy. Happy birthday."

"Hey yeah, it is my birthday! I forgot because I was so excited for the baby!"
"I'm glad you're excited," she said, pressing a button to put the phone on speaker. "You and the baby have the same birthday now."

"Yes!" he hollered happily.

"And you know what else?"

"What?"

"You got your wish. You have a little sister."

"Really? But I thought it was going to be a brother named Aiken!"

"Well we made a mistake."

"I really got a sister? For real?"

"Yeah for real."

"Yes! Ben, we got a sister!"

"I guess you're pretty happy about that, huh?"

"Yeah! Can we come see her now? Please? Please?"

"Yeah, let me talk to Austin real quick okay?"

"Okay. Bye mama."

He handed the phone back to Austin and Lindsay took it off speaker.

"Hey, did you get much sleep?"

"Nah, just preparing for the big time."

"A friend to us all."

"Can you do me a gigantic favor?"

"Sure."

"I don't have any girl clothes. I have nothing to take her home in and I don't have any clothes for her to wear once I get her home and do you have any I can borrow?"

"Yeah, I grabbed some stuff already. I found the outfit that Isa and Sarah both went home in."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I figure it can be a family tradition."

"I like that idea."

"I'll bring the boys and some clothes down in a little while."

"Bring the rest of the kids too."

"Really?"

"Yes please."

"Okay, I will. Need anything else?"

"No, that's all."

"Alright. We'll be there in a little while."

They hung up the phone and Lindsay looked down at Averylin, grinning as her eyes opened.

"She's so pretty. She's got your eyes."

"You think so?" Adam asked, looking closer.

"Yeah. I hope they stay blue. At least one of our kids should pass on those eyes."

He smiled as his phone rang in his pocket. Carefully handed the baby to Lindsay and answered the phone, walking over to the other side of the room.

"Hi sweet girl," Lindsay whispered, leaning down to kiss her daughter's cheeks. "You have no idea how much I wanted you. I would have been happy with another boy. I would have been so happy. But little girl, you are what I've been dreaming about all my life. And I am so glad I don't have to wait anymore, precious. I'm so glad you're finally here."

Averylin made a little grunting noise and yawned.

"You're going to meet your brothers soon. Are you ready for that? They're a little bit crazy sometimes but they love you so much. You have the best big brothers in the world, and I should know, because brothers are all I've got. You're so lucky Averylin. So, so lucky."

"Someone lift me up there please! I want to see my sister! Daddy? Austin? Danny? Someone please!"

Danny chuckled and lifted Colton onto the bed next to Lindsay.

"Okay, I want to hold my sister now," he said, holding his arms out. "Put her right there please."

Lindsay chuckled and helped him hold the baby. He smiled and cooed at her, even though she was asleep.

"Oh mama, I really love her so much. She is so cute. Do you think she likes me?"

"I think she will."

"Can we take her home now?"

"No, not today. Tomorrow we will."

"I just can't stop loving her so much," he sighed. "I'm so happy she's here."

He continued like that for ten minutes until his arms got tired and it was Ben's turn. He wasn't quite as interested as Colton had been, and was quite content to just sit and look at her rather than hold her. He gave her a few kisses and cuddles, then hopped off the bed to play with Junior.

"Is it my turn?" Austin asked, looking slightly pathetic.

"Yes, it's your turn."

Austin sat down next to her and took the baby in her arms almost gasping at how tiny and alert she was.

"Oh my word. Where did girlfriend get the red hair?"

"From her daddy. His was really red like that as a kid."

"She's so pretty Linds. Can you even handle it?"

"No, I can't."

"Did you settle on a name?"

"Yeah. Averylin."

"That's pretty. Are you going to call her by her full name?"

"I don't know. Whatever comes out probably."

"Who's she named after?" she asked, knowing the kids were always named after someone.

"Me, with the Lin. And you."

"Me?"

"Her middle name is Grace."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. We put it on all the paperwork."

"She's named after me? For real?"

"Yes. It was important to us that she have your name because… you've been there. For so long you and Danny have been the only people in the world that we can rely on, no matter what. And you've been there for me, you don't even know how much. And we just want her to look up to you and learn from you and we want her to have your heart."

Austin's green eyes swam with tears as she looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms.

"I hope I can be all that for her."

"You already are, Austin."

"You're making me blubber like a wimp."

Lindsay chuckled and reached over to tuck the blanket closer around her daughter.

"Can I see her now?" Sarah asked softly as she and Isa stood next to the bed.

"Yeah. Get someone to lift you up."

They both looked over at Danny and he chuckled, lifting them both onto the bed. Sarah crawled over to Austin and fawned over the baby while Isa snuggled into Lindsay's side quietly.

"Hey Indy?"

"Yeah?"

"You got your own girl for reals now. So does that mean I'm not your girl anymore?"

"Of course not. Are you still Isabeth Grace Messer?"

"Yeah."

"Then you're still my girl."

"Okay," Isa giggled.

They all sat there for a while, looking down at the baby and planning different outfits for her, complete with bows and frills and pink in every shade imaginable. Isa and Sarah were totally prepared to dress their younger counterpart up in tiny clothes and teach her how to dance.

"Hey, do I get to hold that baby anytime soon?" Danny asked, crossing his arms and looking at his daughters.

"You're a boy daddy. You don't know how to hold a baby!"

"Well then how did I hold you?"

Isa looked at him with a scowl as he lifted the baby into his arms.

"Adam, looks like you've got a mini Montana on your hands. You got a stick to beat the boys off with?"

"Yeah, they make them down at the gift shop. I had it engraved."

"Nice."

Lindsay and Austin rolled their eyes as the guys continued to talk about raising daughters and the appropriate age to let said daughters date, in which fifty-four was agreed upon. They all spent a little more time together, until Averylin made it known that she was not happy and needed food immediately. Everyone left after that, Adam keeping Ben and Colton with them, as he would take them home later to sleep. For now, he figured a walk around the hospital would help expend some of their energy, so he took them out of the room.

Lindsay was left with her screaming daughter who didn't want to have anything to do with eating, even though she was hungry.

"Come on sweetheart, you did this once before."

She just continued crying and Lindsay tried to swaddle her better, wondering if she had just been overly stimulated with all the visitors. She held the baby securely and shushed her for a while until the cries lessened and she could eat.

"See, mama's always right. You're going to hate that when you get older, but we'll deal with that when it comes."

She smiled at the little eating noises, the involuntary arm and leg movements, the long blinks and tiny sighs. She'd missed these quiet times a lot. Her mind was suddenly blank of all memories of the newborn stage with the boys and she looked down at her daughter, amazed that she got to do it again.

"Are you done sweetie?" she said after a while. "Let's see if you can blow your brother's burping record. Make daddy proud. Okay, well that left a little to be desired, but we can work on it. Now, should we change you into some warmer clothes? I don't think this shirt is all that comfortable. Let's see what Austin brought you."

She leaned over and grabbed the bag of clothes that were sitting on the chair, rifling through them with a smile.

"Daddy picked this out for Isabeth after she was born," she said pulling out an "I'm a princess" onesie. "She threw up on it the second Austin put it on her. And this was one that Stella got for Sarah. See the tutu on it? I'm surprised it's still intact, actually. Don't worry, we'll get you some clothes of your own, but I think sharing is okay for now."

"Hey, how're our girls doing?" Adam asked as he and the boys came back into the room.

"We're just shopping. She's got the eye of the tiger already."

"Do I want to know what that means?"

"Hide your credit card."

"Mama, what are you doing?"

"I'm going to change your sister into some regular clothes."

"Oh. Can I help?"

"Can you see if there's socks in that bag?"

Colton nodded and rooted through the bag, finding a pair of yellow socks.

"Here mama. How come she keeps her arms all curled up like that?"

"Because she was in my belly so long that she hasn't learned how to stretch out yet."

"Oh. Could I teach her?" he asked, climbing onto the bottom rungs of the bed and grabbing Averylin's hand.

"No sweetie, don't pull on her."

"Oh! I'm sorry."

"It's okay, she's not bothered."

"Then why is she makin' that mad face?" he asked, right before the baby displayed her full lung power. Ben took one look at her and tipped his head back, letting out a cry of his own. It wasn't clear if he was scared or sympathizing and Colton looked from one sibling to the other, utterly confused as to who he should comfort first.

Lindsay half laughed and picked the baby up, cuddling her close and trying to calm her down while Adam assured Ben that it was normal for babies to cry and there was nothing wrong with his sister.

"Wow, she sure is loud," Colton said, gently folding a pair of pajamas. "Can she wear these?"

"Yeah she can. Will you put her socks on her?"

Colton nodded and concentrated hard, finally figuring out what he was doing. He was so proud of himself he looked as if he could burst.

"Can I hold her now that she's dressed, mama? Please?"

"Maybe in a little bit. Daddy hasn't held her in a while."

"But neither have I!" Colton whined, crossing his arms. "And it's my birthday!"

"Well then you're old enough to be patient. Did you finish your homework from last night?"

"No, we forgot about it."

"That's okay. Would you like me to help you with it right now?"

"Yeah!"

He dumped his backpack onto the bed and climbed up with her while she pulled the bed tray over so he had something to write on.

"My teacher says I am really good at math," he said proudly. "I can do some adding now without using my fingers. See look, three and three is six!"

"Did you memorize that or do you figure it out every time?"

"Mostly I remember it. Ask me one mama!"

"Do you know two plus three?"

He scrunched his forehead up and thought for a minute.

"Well two plus two is four and three is one more than two so does that mean it's five?"

"Yes it is."

"I really like math, mama. It only has one answer."

"You're right, it does. And you're going to use a lot of math if you want to be a doctor. Lots of math and science."

"We don't do much science in school. But we do a lot of reading. Me and Isa are both good at reading. I forgot to tell you that my teacher said that at Christmas time when we take a vacation from school, she's is going to give us all some books to try to read. She said we might need some help on long words but I think I can figure it out because I know all the letter sounds."

"Does that mean daddy and I can't spell things out to keep them secret from you anymore?"

"No, you could still do that. I will just know the secrets."

She chuckled and looked down at the homework he had spread before him. The block letters on triple lined paper, the large numbers practiced over and over again. A colored picture of what appeared to be Christopher Columbus with the date 1492 written underneath it.

"Mama, we learned about a mystery! I forgot to tell you! It was a mystery about Roanoke! And there were people there and they disappeared. And nobody knows what happened to them. And it's been a mystery for as long as we have had our country."

"It is a pretty good mystery. What do you think happened to them?"

"I think they moved away somewhere else in the winter and I think they couldn't find food and they died."

"That's plausible."

"But it did happen a long time ago and maybe it's supposed to be a mystery forever."

"Maybe so," Lindsay agreed, surprised at the wisdom he displayed.

"I still like learning about everything though. Can you tell me how to spell Averylin's name? I want to draw her on my family picture. And I want to hang it on the wall in her room so she will not feel sad when she has to sleep in there by herself."

"That's nice of you. Do you have the picture?"

"Maybe I will make a new one. I have some crayons in my backpack," he said, pulling out the supplies and setting them on the hard surface.

"Ben color?"

"Yeah, I got lots of paper in here and we can share crayons but don't break them okay?"

Ben nodded and moved a chair over to climb onto the bed. He pushed his glasses up and worked diligently on his own scribbles while Colton was careful to depict his stick family just right. He drew them all as he had so many times before but added a blob at the end, with red hair and pink lips. He wrote their names underneath, painstakingly writing his sister's name, as it was a lot longer and had more obscure letters than the rest.

"There! I drawed all of us! One, two, three, four, five. That's a big family. And even we have Chewy and Qwerty too."

"Yeah, we do."

He nodded and held up the picture to show Adam.

"See daddy? There's you and mama holdin' hands, and me with my doctor bag and Ben with glasses on, and Averylin sleepin'!"

"That's a good picture. Thanks for drawing me so skinny."

"Well you're not like Santa Claus daddy."

"I'm glad," Adam chuckled, sitting down in the chair that Ben had used to climb up on the bed. "I think our family looks pretty good like that. What do you think?"

"Well, we cover a whole page," he said. "I think it looks very good."

"Ben did! Color pretty," Ben reported, holding up a picture of scribbles. "Baby sissy."

"Do you like your sister?"

He nodded and leaned over to look at her.

"Ben hold?"

"Yeah you can hold her."

"But I asked first!" Colton reminded them, suddenly indignant.

"You can hold her when you finish your homework, okay?"

"Oh alright. Be careful Ben and don't drop her."

"Ben not drop sissy. Ben hold."

He cradled Averylin against him as best he could, whispering to her quietly and rubbing his nose against her cheek.

"Mama, sissy soft. Ben love."

"I'm glad you love her."

"Look! Sissy 'wake! Hi! Sissy pretty," he said, grinning as he looked at her.

"Hon, will you be okay with all three of them here for a bit?" Adam asked quietly.

"Where are you going?"

"I thought I would go down to the y-r-e-k-a-b and get a e-k-a-c for someone's y-a-d-t-h-r-i-b."

Lindsay looked at him funny until she realized he was spelling the words backwards.

"Yeah, as long as you don't take too long. Do you want to take one of them with you?"

"Maybe. Ben, do you want to go with me?"

"Okay. Cole hold sissy."

"Yay!" Colton said softly as they placed his sister into his arms.

"Back soon," Adam said, zipping up Ben's coat and leaning down to kiss Lindsay. "Love you."

"Love you too."

Adam and Ben left the room quietly and Colton sighed.

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"How do I be a good big brother?"

"You already are a good big brother."

"Well I am a good brother to Ben, but we like to fight and wrestle a lot. I can't wrestle my sister. She's too little. She will break."

"Now she would but if you wait a few years she'll be bigger and you can all play together then."

"Okay."

"When you have a little sister one of the main things you've got to remember is to always protect her. Always stick up for her and always, always love her, no matter what."

"I can do that mama. Cinchy."

"Where did you learn that word?"

"Just at school. It means easy peasy lemon squeezie."

"And everyone thinks I have too many weird phrases."

"Like when daddy says he will make dinner and then he burns it and we have to get pizza and you tell him his cooking is knocked up into a cocked hat? And then he says there's a reason womens are s'posed to be in the kitchen and you say to him to go boil his shirt? Like that kind of weird phrases?"

"Yeah, exactly like that."

After one small slice of cake each and a trip to the bathroom the boys were exhausted and not even interested in holding their sister anymore, and just wanted Lindsay to hold them and read them a story. Adam was going to take them home to sleep and didn't really want them to fall asleep here, but it was looking like they would all be spending the night together.

Adam rocked Averylin next to the window, not willing to put her down even though she was sound asleep. He couldn't get enough of looking at her, taking in her delicate features, the way she breathed, how she was almost a clone of her mama. It was an indescribable feeling really, and he tried to think back to how it had been with the boys. There had been so much pride with them, his boys, his little men, his sons. This was somehow different. There was still pride of course, but there was a stirring in his soul that he hadn't felt just like this before.

"… until neither the plain nor the star-bellies knew, whether this one was that one or that one was this one, or which one was what one, or what one was who."

Adam smiled at Lindsay's soft voice, noticing how she was slowing down as the boys fell into sleep. They were both half draped over her sleeping peacefully, and she maneuvered carefully, putting the book on the side table and taking Ben's glasses off.

"Mama?"

"Go back to sleep honey."

"I love you mama."

"I love you too Colton. Happy birthday."

She kissed his head and stroked his hair back until he finally fell into a real sleep. Adam stood up from his chair and handed the baby to Lindsay, then took the boys one at a time to the cot the nurses had brought in for them. He tucked them in tightly and kissed them both before returning to the bed.

"Are you as exhausted as I am or exponentially more?"

"That last one."

He chuckled and brushed her hair back, staring into her eyes for a moment, simply because it seemed so long since he had. She smiled slowly and he kissed her, giving her a moment to try to speak, before tiredness took over and she was rendered speechless.

"Ready for bed?"

"Can I hold her and sleep at the same time?"

"No."

"Okay. Goodnight chickabiddy," she said, kissing the baby's cheek. "I love you."

Adam took the pink snoozing bundle from her and as much as he hated it, placed her in the plastic bassinette. She didn't seem to mind being left alone, but he wheeled the tiny bed closer to the rest of them anyway.

Lindsay was fighting sleep so hard she had tears in her eyes, and he smiled, laying down next to her. There were so many words to say but they didn't have then energy to say them, so they simply lay there quietly for several minutes.

"Lindsay."

"Adam."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He held her closer and watched as she fell asleep, joining her in a few moments, happy to have their whole family all together.