The next few weeks seemed to fly by in the Novak household. The twins were three months old making it August and it was the perfect time for summer fun. Amelia continued to have her friends over for their weekly sleepovers, along with inviting them over multiple times during the week seeing as Liz and Alexander had each taken a week off to help get everything settled and help with the four girls (6 if you include Amelia's friends).

When they say 'it takes a village' it truly does—luckily, Parker and Ayla's parents were absolutely amazing and not only loved helping with the twins but loved staying at the Novak's while the girls played as well. They actually brought their spouses and Parker's siblings over a few times to swim in the pool and jump around on the trampoline before the kids settled in the movie theater room which was really fun for everyone.

It was great having the extra help and four extra sets of hands with the babies—Casey honestly couldn't believe how her life was turning out. She has been through so much and truly thought it would be just her and Lennon forever; now she has three other little babies, a beautiful wife, the best in-laws, and lots of friends who all support them.


Alex decided to take the summer off to spend more time with her family and Branch was completely on board with that—he had a strong feeling Casey wasn't going to come back after her 6 month maternity leave and didn't know where Alex stood on coming back to work yet however, was convinced that she would be lessening her hours for sure if not completely leaving as well.

He would be correct in part of his assessment; Alex and Casey spoke a lot about work and while they weren't in need of money considering the fact they could raise all four girls and continue to live their lavish lifestyle if they wanted to with the money they already had, it would never happen.

Of course all four girls already had their trust funds in place, their house was paid off along with their cars and they had multiple sources of income without continuing to practice law, neither wanted to completely stop working.

Both women truly do love working and agreed they never want to teach their children that you don't need to work to get what you want in life. Even though they really didn't need to work to get everything and anything they wanted, neither was willing to let that happen.

Casey had decided while getting all the information she needed, after maternity leave is up she would be leaving the DA's office and open her center for women, children, and Veterans; she was also going to be more directly involved in her families business and her restaurant knowing she can do that from home.

Alex has decided to work three half days a week, obviously not including when she has a trial, and let the detectives, who the girls (at least Amelia and Lennon as the babies are too little) are actually comfortable with come to her at home now if need be—she was also going to be the one to choose the two people who would be working along side her seeing as they'd need two people full time.

The home office had already been set up for both of them even though they aren't working yet which is great so Alex can really work full days if needed/or wants to, but only spend half the day at the office. She can also be there to help while seeing the twins grow along with continue to be there for Lennon and Amelia which is extremely important to her—not to mention, she can attend all their extra curricular activities.


Today was a big day as the family was going on vacation—the loved taking the girls on vacations and even though Lennon has seen many more vacations than Amelia, they consider their house in the Hamptons a vacation and Amelia has been there many, many times.

On this day though, the Novak family along with the Cabot's were heading to Hawaii meaning this was another big vacation for Amelia just like Disney World was. Amelia still talks about Disney to this day which is so incredibly cute—she also still calls both mothers mommy and momma even though she's now 10, she still has that little girl mindset which the Casey and Alex love because she was never truly able to be a child before living with the Novak's.

The twins were going to be the easiest ones with the flying aspect of the trip seeing as not only do they need to be fed every 3-4 hours and still slept for much longer than either Amelia or Lennon do, they had grandma and grandpa to tend to them the entire flight—another absolutely adorable thing with the littles was the fact they wanted Peyton and Oaklyn to be able to play with them so badly, something Lennon struggled with more than Amelia as she didn't fully understand why they couldn't do everything she could.

Amelia understood much more than Lennon did which meant she lost interest much faster than Amelia who loved to just be around them however, since moving into the new house, Amelia's focus has been on all the fun things they can do there. I mean, there's the pool for one, a trampoline inside and outside, the movie theater room and the playroom. It's better than anything she could ever imagine and something she's still incredibly grateful for—in all honesty, both girls were extremely grateful they just showed it in different ways.


They were currently boarding the jet and Amelia was holding Casey so tightly the mother was a bit surprised by her strength seeing as she was so little—Lennon was very fussy as it was 4:30am while both twins were very content and luckily sound asleep. Alexander and Liz each had one of the babies however, they were being kept in their car seats because they were already asleep and it would be easier to not disturb them.

Casey and Alex knew both girls would be sound asleep soon after taking off, Lennon may even go back to sleep before takeoff at the rate she was going; Amelia though, she would wait because her anxiety around the jet was still very prominent. The first time she was anxious for a whole number of reasons, today she was just anxious about the length of the flight which was very understandable.

Casey had explained to her many times how she'd most likely sleep for a lot of it, but even when she wakes up mommy and momma along with grandma and grandpa will be right there—she has her iPad for movies/TV shows, everything to color or draw with, books mommy can read to her, her little fidget toys Casey and Alex bought her the first day she was with them and the list goes on from there.


20 minutes into the flight both girls were sound asleep holding their respective stuffy, wrapped in their name blankets and laying down in the bed together. Casey and Alex made their way out into the cabin to check on the twins who they knew wouldn't be up again for another two hours to eat but before Casey could say anything Liz told her she and Alexander would take the next feeding and sent them back to the bedroom to get some sleep.

Casey had pumped plenty of milk so that wasn't an issue, she did feel badly about leaving the grandparents with Peyton and Oaklyn though seeing as they were also up early to go on vacation. They were actually coming to help with the twins because there are certain activities in Hawaii Alex and Casey want to take Amelia and Lennon to that aren't appropriate for babies.

Alex told Casey her parents had absolutely no issue relaxing in the private villa Casey rented out and spending the day with two of their grandbabies which made the redhead feel slightly less guilty; little did Alex know, Casey had booked plenty of fun things for the grandparents while there to off set the downtime. Liz and Alexander were thrilled to go though and Casey was paying for it which they tried to fight, but per usual, lost in the end.


14 hours later the family arrived at their villa with two extremely happy little girls and two fussy babies who needed to be fed. They started to get fussy on the car ride over to the villa which made Alex and Casey feel a bit relieved Amelia and Lennon went willingly in Alexander and Liz's car so they didn't have to hear the screaming—honestly, the babies rarely cried and never screamed the way they were now seeing as the mothers were always there but right now, it made complete sense.

Yes, no matter where they went, if they were bringing extra people and didn't have their cars, they needed two because of all the car seats. Not to mention the amount of luggage needed for four girls, two mothers and a set of grandparents—that's practically a full car in itself. Amelia still used her booster seat due to the nature of her size and the pediatrician told Casey and Alex it would most likely be necessary for at least two more years even with the growth shots she started.


After unloading everything while Casey fed Peyton and Oaklyn and Alex explored the villa with the girls, Liz and Alexander took off to the local market to stock up on groceries. They had scheduled multiple dinner outings but it was always nice to have your own groceries on hand for breakfasts and occasionally some lunches, not to mention loading up on snacks.

Although staying in a villa, they did get an all inclusive package because there were multiple villas that all had their own pools but if you walked a bit further had an entire water park in the resort where meals and drinks were included. Casey loved the privacy the villas provided, the space, and the water park sold the deal knowing Amelia and Lennon would love it. Casey was also happy she wasn't pregnant for this vacation because she wouldn't get so tired so quickly like she did in Disney.

The girls were going to have a blast at the water park; Lennon was a little fish and Amelia, since having the pool in the backyard, has become a bit more of a daredevil. Due to the trampoline and the gymnastics mats, Amelia has gained a lot of confidence which means she has no fear doing crazy tricks off the diving board that Lennon always tries to copy.

Casey was hoping some of her daredevil-ness carried over into the water slides however, she would be perfectly okay with the smaller slides and the lazy river; not to mention the pool right outside the sliding door of their villa. Honestly, Casey just wanted both girls to have fun and be full of smiles because that's always a parents first priority besides keeping them safe which is something the Novak girls never have to worry about.

Casey smiled hearing Lennon and Amelia's voices through the house, little squeals and obvious jumping up and down along with the constant, 'Momma look!' or 'Momma wook!' when the girls saw something so cool or made them super excited.

They had taken the virtual tour many times however, seeing it in person really made all the difference to them. Their internal clocks put them at about 6:30pm back home but it was only 1:30pm in Hawaii so bedtime was going to be a bit difficult—children always have a much harder time adjusting to changes in time zones than adults however, it wasn't always fun for the adults either taking care of those fussy children; either way, Casey and Alex would never complain because it's just a part of traveling to them.


Once Peyton and Oaklyn were fed Casey repositioned them in her arms and got up as she followed the beautiful giggles floating through the house and was greeted by two extremely happy girls who were itching to get into the pool.

Knowing they had slept on the jet for an extended amount of time, even more than they typically would have had they been home due to the fact everyone was up extremely early, along with an additional nap Lennon and even Amelia took willingly, the mothers agreed.

Alexander and Liz would be a bit seeing as they were grabbing some dinner for everyone at a local restaurant before coming back, so they had time—nobody wanted to cook after flying all day so they'd pick up something while the girls got to swim. Another added bonus of having grandma and grandpa there—although, that's not why Casey and Alex asked them to come, it was just helpful that they willingly went grocery shopping and picked something up for dinner.

Alex and Casey looked at each other as if to say 'who's going in with them' but ultimately, Alex was the one who was joining the girls so Casey could tend to the babies if need be. Alex was still trying to do anything and everything she could to help her wife when she could and seeing as Casey breastfed practically all day everyday, Alex thought it was the least she could do. Casey often thought to herself, you'd think I'm still pregnant with the amount of things Alex volunteers to do or does without thinking.

Casey had no problem breastfeeding and doing everything else they typically did with the girls but in situations like this, you need to compromise seeing as they can't leave the babies alone, and once grandma and grandpa get back it will be dinner time before a tubby and bedtime for the girls.

Casey has had plenty of time in the pool with both girls at their house this summer though and knows this vacation will be a great way to spend extra time with them as Liz and Alexander came for, of course all four granddaughters, but specifically to help with Peyton and Oaklyn while being in a beautiful environment.


"Mommy wook at me!" Lennon yelled as she got to the edge of the pool. Due to the fact they were on vacation and both girls were going to start the process of their bodies adjusting to the time difference quite soon, if not already, Lennon was told she needed to wear her swimmies and let Alex put them on without a fight.

This was going to be the case most likely for the entire vacation unless mommy or momma was in the pool with them; Lennon is an amazing swimmer as Casey started her in swim lessons when she was a baby however, sometimes in a new environment all your instincts when you're little go right out the window.

It's also why they brought pull-ups for nighttime and some for the daytime when they went on longer outings—Lennon was great at home about running off to the potty during the day and has even had dry pull-ups at night for the last month which has been amazing but they are still using them just in case. Casey and Alex agreed after three months of dry pull-ups, they will see what happens at night but for now, they stay on which Lennon hasn't objected to.

Again, the new environment throws everyone off along with when Lennon gets extremely excited and when that happens, she doesn't always remember the potty isn't right there like at home. Of course while in their villa the potty is right there but when they are out they will need to find one and instead of risking a potential accident, she'll be fine with the pull-up.

Plus, she may be four but she looks about two and a half now so nobody is going to think twice about it—not that the mothers actually care what anyone else thinks and surprisingly, Lennon doesn't either. She loves the patterns and often tells her mommies that she's a 'big dirl' because her pull-ups have princesses on them while the twins 'diapees just have white not like me' according to the little sass queen.

"I'm watching baby, go ahead—jump to momma," Casey said with a big smile on her face. She loved watching her little fishes have fun together and before Lennon jumped, she took Amelia's hand and brought her closer so they could splash momma at the same time instead of two splashes. This is something they started doing at home and clearly carried here to this pool in Hawaii.

Once both girls came up from their jump Casey smiled even bigger, "Wow babies, you got momma good didn't you?"

They giggled and swam over to the edge to jump in all over again—Casey knew they would wear themselves out doing this as they always did but hey, they were two very little active girls and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Casey looked down at the sleeping blondes in her arms and smiled as she reconsidered putting the girls down at their normal bedtime. It may be better to keep them awake a bit longer so that way they won't be up at 3am or some ridiculous hour when their bodies would typically be awake if they were back home.

She'd have to talk to Alex about it once she got out of the pool but Casey was onto something. Thank goodness they have Alexander and Liz here with them because she already knows the babies won't realize anything different and will still demand their feedings every three-four hours throughout the night.

She's also assuming Amelia and Lennon will end up in their bed tonight because Amelia won't do well in a new place and Lennon just might follow suit. Lennon typically did better with new places than Amelia, with good reason, however sometimes she doesn't adjust the best either without mommy or momma there to guide her.
Either way, life was just so beautiful and Casey couldn't help but smile.


When Liz and Alexander got back from the store they had groceries and take-out in hand. Casey had now put the twins in their portable bassinettes after changing them and Alex was attempting to get the girls out of the pool. Attempting because neither wanted to go inside even though the mother could hear both of their tummies rumbling and see their energy wearing off.

"Are they sleeping," Liz whispered to Casey, gently smacking Alexander's arm as he started to unload the groceries so he would know to be quieter. Men are so loud, she thought to herself.

"Yes, although I'm not sure how long they will be down for—I have a feeling all four of the girls are going to be off until they adjust to the time difference." Casey saw Liz nodding along to her assessment and then asked, "Do you mind keeping an eye on them while I help Alex get the girls inside for dinner? Neither of them want to get out of the pool."

"Of course honey, we'll plate up dinner for everyone as well. Go get those little fishes and tell them grandma picked out their favorites along with some ice cream for dessert."

"Will do," Casey said, smiling at them both knowing even though all four of their girls were considered underweight, Amelia and Lennon especially, the mothers typically only gave them ice cream on special occasions and stuck with popsicles every night or some yogurt and fruit for dessert.

They weren't worried about them gaining weight seeing as Amelia had started her growth injections already and knew Lennon would be once she turned ten too, they just didn't like them having all that sugar before bedtime. That being said, they were in Hawaii and vacation means most things like that no longer mattered. Thinking back to Disney and all the churros and Mickey Mouse ice creams they had, this was nothing.


Casey walked out and saw all three of them still in the pool meaning Alex had made zero progress which caused the redhead to laugh. "Alright babies, grandma and grandpa are back and guess what?"

"WHAT?" Lennon squealed, wanting to know right away as her little impatient self always tends to.

"They bought ice cream for you two," Casey whispered preparing herself for the squeals of excitement to follow and the eye roll from Alex. After the squeals, Casey continued, "But you can't have ice cream unless you two get out of the pool and come eat your dinner first."

And just like that, Amelia and Lennon were out of the pool—Lennon struggling but trying her best to get her swimmies off in lightening speed as Amelia wrapped herself in a towel. Casey went over to help Lennon and once they were off, wrapped her in a towel as well. Alex was the last one out, not worrying about the pool toys left in there because it didn't matter here like it did at home.

Once everyone was dried off, Alex went to change while Lennon and Amelia stayed in their towels until Alex came back with two little cover-ups to keep them warm. It was warm inside and outside for that matter so they would be just fine. No use in dirtying a clean outfit when they would be going in for a tubby after dinner.


Once dinner was completed Alexander took care of the dishes, Liz kept an eye on the twins, Casey had Amelia in one tub while Alex had Lennon in the other. Amelia was at the age where sometimes it was fine to take a tubby with Lennon while other times she just didn't want to. Completely understandable to the mothers, Lennon on the other hand was a hit or miss not really understanding why.

Sometimes she would scream for Amelia, while other times she was content with her tubby toys and it didn't matter. Seeing as they were both on the verge of getting cranky, or a possible meltdown, they had quick tubbies and Casey got them settled in their bed where she had Netflix playing on one of the iPads while Alex showered.

Casey knew Liz and Alexander would be fine with the twins so getting the girls to sleep now was her top priority seeing as it was about 9:45pm at home which was well past the girls bedtime. By the time Alex finished her quick shower and got dressed, the girls were nearly asleep so Casey shut off the movie and grabbed the book she had already taken out for Alex to read.

Another nightly change—Casey and Alex used to switch off who read the book each night once Amelia came into their lives because with Lennon, she was pretty used to Alex reading while Casey gave her a bottle but Amelia wanted to switch it up which was absolutely fine. Things seemed to change after Alex showed Amelia her journal from when she was a little girl and now momma read every night and tonight, both girls had some warm milk.

Amelia doesn't typically have warm milk at bedtime however, when she has a nightmare or is feeling extra anxious before bed the mothers have found warm milk with some anxiety drops do the trick. They also have baby sleep drops which they put in the milk as well—they never used them except for situations like this where their sleep could be thrown off by excitement, time change, or anxiety.

Casey also knew Peyton and Oaklyn would wake up every 3-4 hours and didn't want the littles to wake up with them. One quick book and song later, the girls were sound asleep. It was now 10:15 at home so Casey was hoping they'd sleep most of the night and wake up at a somewhat 'normal' time seeing as it was only 5:15pm in Hawaii.


A kiss to each of the girls temple and the mothers were off into the living room. They ran into Alexander on the way who was carrying their luggage into the room they would be staying in after stating he toured the villa and thought it was absolutely breathtaking. Alexander felt so lucky to be able to come with them, he didn't care if he was 'bound' to the villa with two of his granddaughters the entire time—I mean, come on the place itself was beautiful just from the view they had.

Little does he know, Casey had already booked a lot of extra special time for he and Liz as an additional thank you for helping seeing as they were probably a bit crazy thinking they could handle four daughters on a vacation when two of them are only three months old. Nothing stops the Novak's though, look at Disney…Casey was 20 weeks pregnant with twins and they had a blast.

When they entered the living room they saw Liz standing at the slider that was open with the baby monitor in hand even though it wasn't necessary as the girls were right there sound asleep a few feet away while she was looking at the view.

"Mom," Alex said quietly so she didn't scare her.

Liz turned around and smiled at her girls—Alex and Casey were both her girls and have been for a long time now. "It is so beautiful here, I can already tell the sunset is going to be magical."

Alex just laughed—courtroom Liz and mother/grandma Liz were two completely different people and it showed, drastically.

"What's so funny Lexie?"

"Nothing mom, you're right the sunsets will be beautiful. Were the babies okay?"

Liz scoffed, "Of course they were—you two have four perfect children."

It was time for the mothers to scoff, "Tell that to little miss sassy when she's told she can't have the entire bag of bath toys, or the twins when they are screaming bloody murder for their feedings, or…"

Alex was cut off by Liz who repeated herself, "My granddaughters are perfect, end of story."

Casey and Alex shook their heads as Liz was now looking back out at the sky and laughed a little knowing they weren't always perfect but that's any child. Tantrums, tears, meltdowns are all a part of growing up and even with all of Lennon's sass which is honestly too cute for words 99 percent of the time, neither woman would change a thing about their children.


The four adults and two milk drunk happy babies watched the sunset in awe before Casey and Alex excused themselves with the twins for the night. Knowing they'd be up again in a few hours, they wanted to try and get as much sleep as they could before all four of the kids were up.

Alexander and Liz offered to take the twins knowing Casey has been doing a lot of pumping to prepare for the few scheduled outings they are taking the girls on but they declined at least for tonight knowing it will be rough.

The grandparents didn't stay up much longer before heading off to bed themselves. Because the villa was so large they were each able to shower at the same time in separate parts of the villa without disturbing Casey, Alex and the girls and off to bed they went.


Come 6am, much later than the mothers thought it would be, Amelia and Lennon were ready for the day. Amelia helped make sure Lennon put on her bathing suit the right way and they patiently waited for mommy and momma to get the babies into their matching swimsuits that were an extremely similar version to their big sisters before getting their hair done.

The twins have been in the pool at home a few times, not for an extended amount of time but they honestly already love water just like Lennon did at their age. The twins only woke up twice during the night which was surprising but Casey attributed it to the fact their bodies were quite possibly adjusting as well.

"I wanna have mewmaid hair mommy pease," Lennon said after waiting for what felt like forever for mommy to get ready after putting Oaklyn in a bathing suit while Alex got Peyton in hers. Still to this day, Casey was designated to doing the girls hair—momma couldn't go near it because she 'messed it all up' according to Lennon and 'doesn't do it right' according to Amelia.

"Mermaid hair? Hmm, what do you mean baby?"

"Wike a mewmaid mommy," Lennon said in her 'duh' voice.

"Well I'm sure mermaids wear their hair all different ways bug, I'm trying to figure out which way is best so it doesn't get super tangled in the pool."

"I think she means braids mommy," Amelia piped up, "Remember how Ariel has one fishtail braid in the movie?"

"Wike dat mommy!" Lennon repeated. "Amelia knowed it."

The mothers laughed and Casey started the fishtails on Lennon then turned to Amelia, "And what do you want little one?"

"She want the same wike me mommy!" Lennon voiced once again in her 'duh' voice.

"Amelia can make her own choices bug, remember?" There were a lot of benefits in the mothers eyes for Amelia having a four year old little sister—it taught her how to be a kid, how to love playing with toys, doing normal child activities and not worrying about adult things…but there were also times like this where Lennon thought making decisions for her big sister was the only way to do it.

They were working on that with Lennon—and truthfully, it's only recently become more of a 'problem' per say because when Amelia first came to live with them, she didn't mind Lennon choosing. Now realizing she can and will always have a voice and say in the matter, Amelia knows she doesn't always have to do what Lennon wants…whether that's playing with the same toys, watching the same movie, wearing matching outfits or hairstyles, etc.

"Umm," Amelia was watching Casey intensely seeing how the fishtails came out—to her, it felt like mommy knew how to do every single hair style possible which sometimes made it harder to chose everyday. "Actually I kinda want fishtails too because we're already matching today."

Casey winked at Amelia and once finishing putting the elastic on Lennon's second braid said, "Sounds great little one, come here." Lennon and Amelia switched places and instead of staying in the bedroom with her mommies and sisters, Lennon took off screaming, "G'amma, g'ampa where are you? Me ready!"

The mothers just shook their heads and Alex decided to take the twins and follow after Lennon because she didn't know if her parents were actually ready for the day like they were. Today they were heading to the water park—between the fact they had two strollers, one for the littles and one for the babies that completely covered them with the little shades, everyone was going to go.

The all inclusive part of their package would be utilized today and Casey was telling Amelia what that meant while doing her hair. Amelia was so excited to learn what all inclusive meant, she thought it was so cool and was also super excited to go to the water park itself. She knew there were some big slides there which she wasn't completely sold on yet, but mommy told her just because Lennon goes on one of the slides doesn't mean she has to.


Once at the water park, Amelia learned even the big slides weren't scary at all because they required mommy or momma to go with her; some of them were even made so mommy, momma and Lennon went down with her in one big tube. The girls were having such an amazing time and due to the cabana their villa came with for the water park, Liz and Alexander enjoyed some yummy food before taking the twins into one of the lazy rivers.

Seeing as you sit in a tube, there weren't any waterfalls in this specific lazy river, along with the fact Peyton and Oaklyn were covered they knew it would be okay. In fact, after their third lap in the lazy river, they were met with the rest of their family—Lennon was in a tube with Casey while Alex and Amelia had their own tube. Lennon was small enough where she could go in a tube with her mommies or sister as well but chose to go with mommy for now.

Casey was very happy to see the babies smiling, cooing, and content while Liz and Alexander were able to enjoy themselves too. They weren't completely sure about Liz, but Alex knew her dad would go on any slide with the girls and because of the double tubes and fact that Lennon could sit in any lap while Amelia sat in the front part of the double tube, he could do that alone with the girls if he wanted to.

Liz on the other hand would be more than happy to go into the little play areas with the girls, but the slides were another story. She preferred to watch her family have a ton of fun however, the little splash pads and play areas would be right up her alley knowing Amelia and Lennon would have a bunch of fun there.

Alex was right on the money—after the girls digested their lunch, Alexander took them on a bunch of different slides and then Liz and Alexander played with the girls in the play area while Alex and Casey tended to Peyton and Oaklyn, enjoying a cocktail and mocktail for Casey due to breastfeeding. Alex felt badly but Casey said there was nothing to feel badly about—it reminded her a lot of the beginning of their relationship when she was still breastfeeding Lennon. Either way, it didn't bother her.


The next few days were filled with so much fun for everyone—Liz and Alexander enjoyed the dinner cruises the entire family went on every night along with being able to go into town and explore, a couples massage, and enjoy the fun activities with their granddaughters. To be honest, the amount of activities Peyton and Oaklyn were 'allowed' to attend was surprising to the grandparents who assumed they would spend a lot more time exploring the villa alone with the twins.

They even went with the family to see the dolphins and while they didn't actually get to go in the water the first time with Alex, Casey, Amelia and Lennon, the redhead made sure to surprise them with a second round where they got to do a meet and greet with the dolphins with Amelia and Lennon to not only experience the dolphins first hand, but see the expressions on their granddaughters faces and the excitement radiating off of them.

Casey made sure to buy the photo packages for both sessions so Liz and Alexander could have plenty of professional pictures with Amelia and Lennon seeing as Alex was doing her best taking pictures but it's not the easiest with a baby in your arms.


To say Hawaii was absolutely incredible would be the understatement of the year—everyone enjoyed themselves more than they thought was possible. The girls had the best time, the grandparents got to experience much more than spending most of the time in the villa (even though that would have been completely fine with them) and the mothers were able to relax while enjoy seeing the pure joy on their daughters faces.

It isn't often parents actually get to relax while on vacation with their kids but Casey and Alex were beyond lucky to have Liz and Alexander there who made sure everyone was relaxed and always having an amazing time.

Nobody had one bad thing to say about the vacation—it was the perfect amount of time away from home, not too long not too short, nobody was fussy or in tears (besides the twins when waking up in the middle of the night to be fed) everyone was able to participate in all the activities which was unexpected for Liz and Alexander—it was just an absolutely perfect vacation.

After 8 days away from home, everyone was happy to be back in New York. Vacations are a wonderful thing, but being home is also great after being away for an extended amount of time. Liz and Alexander spent the next two days at the Novak home even though it wasn't necessary, they wanted to make sure everyone was settled.

It actually ended up being a truly amazing thing that they were there because the second day the family was home, Casey received a phone call from Sophie who not only helped expedite Amelia's adoption as she works for children's services and is in family law, but is a close friend of Casey's from law school.

The phone call was something that needed a lot of thought, yet at the same time, required no thought at all seeing as it was Casey who had the biggest heart in the world according to her wife. Casey hung up with Sophie and spoke with Alex who gave it a bit more thought than Casey and then they decided to talk with Amelia and Lennon.

Yes, this was more of an adult conversation, but seeing as it would directly effect them as well, it was necessary. The last time they had this conversation, Lennon was barely three years old so they weren't sure she'd remember—if anything, this would be something Amelia would be effected by more so than Lennon even though it would truly effect the entire family.


When Casey and Alex sat them down while Liz and Alexander remained in the other room with the babies, Amelia immediately got nervous which Casey noticed right away. She pulled the little girl into her arms while Alex did the same with Lennon as Casey whispered, "It's nothing bad baby," to settle Amelia's racing mind.

"Do you remember Sophie," Casey asked, mostly looking at Amelia as she wasn't sure Lennon would remember her—even though Sophie and Casey were friends, they didn't often see each other—their friendship was more so over the phone, through texts, with the occasional passing at work.

Casey felt Amelia tense in her arms and knew why, "Hey, it's okay honey—you aren't going anywhere, I'm just asking if you remember her."
Amelia's little body relaxed and she nodded as Lennon piped up, "She mommy's fwiend."

Alex and Casey laughed a little bit, "That's right bug, she is mommy's friend."

Before Casey continued, Amelia asked, "Is that who you were on the phone with?" Knowing Casey stepped out of the playroom when her phone rang before momma left the playroom too to talk to mommy.

"Yes. Momma and I had something we wanted to talk to you two about…" Casey honestly couldn't believe she was having this conversation with the littles after she and Alex made their decision—they have four daughters, two of which were only three months old but as Alex said, repeating Casey's words, 'never enough right?'

"Is Sophie gonna come pway with us?" Lennon asked.

Casey and Alex laughed again, "No bug, Sophie isn't coming over. Momma and I wanted to ask you two something very important though. There's a little girl…"

"Me and Amelia big dirls," Lennon said, cutting her mother off again.

Lennon was still convinced she was a big girl even though in retrospect, she wasn't even close—but that's okay, she's allowed to have her opinion.

"Is she scared and sad like I was mommy," Amelia whispered, essentially bringing up how she always felt before becoming a Novak and her life drastically changing for the better.

It's not that Amelia doesn't remember Sarah, or what she had to do for her father—she does, and occasionally still has nightmares about it although those are few and far between now; but in all honesty, when thinking back about everything, she just remembers always feeling scared and sad.

It made both mothers feel all sorts of emotions thinking back to how terrified Amelia was and everything she's had to deal with in her little life—unfortunately, it will always be a part of her however, her life is so much better now that she's happy and more importantly, safe.

"Yes little one, she is," Casey nodded. She knew Lennon wasn't going to completely understand because she was so little when Amelia came into their lives—plus, she didn't know everything about her big sister and what happened before she came to live with them.

"Why she sad mommy," Lennon asked.

That was a tough question to answer and something neither mother wanted to get into so they carefully skirted around it knowing Amelia would understand more than Lennon. After answering that to the best of her ability, Casey continued, "She needs somewhere to live and a family who will love her…"

It seems like nowadays, the mothers could never truly finish a thought without being interrupted by one of their littles—not that it truly mattered because when they were having discussions like this, it was completely normal for them to have many thoughts and questions.

Alex and Casey have always made sure their girls know any and all thoughts and feelings are valid, okay to voice and perfectly normal to experience—their home was always a safe place where no one would ever be judged or get in trouble for expressing themselves unless it wasn't nice. Luckily for the mothers, they have two very appreciative, respectful littles; the twins were obviously too young right now.

Not to say Lennon didn't get her sassy little self into a tiny bit of 'trouble' sometimes—if anything, it was more of a little warning which Lennon knew meant she needed to tone down the sass.

Both littles agreed they have lots of love to give and lots of toys to share which in itself was just too adorable—they didn't even know this little girls name and they were already ready for her to 'come over'. Casey explained this little girl wouldn't 'come over' like Amelia's friends did and then go home, she would live with them and be another sister.

Lennon immediately agreed and surprisingly, instead of being shy, Amelia was very intrigued to know more about her new sister. She loves Lennon, Peyton and Oaklyn more than anything however, when Amelia learned this little girl was 6 (almost 7) it made her extremely excited. Amelia loves playing with Lennon and being able to has truly let Amelia experience what it's like to be a little kid but having someone closer to her age made her extra excited.

Alex looked at Casey and they conveyed all their thoughts without words before Casey reiterated, "Never enough, right?"

"Let's be crazy together," Alex smiled and both of them pressed a kiss to the temple of the little in their arms.

It was official, they were now going to have five daughters.

Novak, party of seven here they come.


And this is how we became a family of seven...more to come!