I know this may seem very similar, but we felt the same way as mothers when this happened. Welcome to our crazy, happy, beautiful life.
Casey had just finished feeding the twins and was on her way back into dreamland when she heard sniffles and whispering through one of the baby monitors. Knowing there were only two baby monitors actually on right now and Lennon was the only one in her room, she knew it was coming from Amelia's monitor.
She then heard Amelia's voice a little clearer as she must have moved closer to the monitor and her heart ached and swelled at the same time—Amelia was trying her best to comfort Bella who was clearly crying hence why her heart swelled with the compassion Amelia had and ached for poor little miss Bella Kate.
As Casey got out of bed to go into Amelia's bedroom, the little strawberry blonde continued to try and calm Bella down the best she could and when the mother approached the doorway she heard, "It's okay, accidents happen and we can just get you some new pjs and then sleep down here…"
Casey knew Amelia was talking about the bottom half of her trundle bed as they had lined her bed along with Lennon's with padding for instances like this. Of course Lennon's were truly necessary seeing as she's almost to the point of being fully potty trained at night but they put them on Amelia's bed as well because of the nightmares she occasionally has.
It makes for easy cleaning in the middle of the night because all you truly need to do is wash the sheets and of course the pjs, as the pad gets cleaned with special wipes, new sheets get put on and boom: completely clean and as if nothing ever happened.
They actually have both beds and both trundles triple lined because if Amelia has a nightmare, it's not uncommon for her to have two sometimes three in the same night which means double or triple the sheets. Again, not common anymore, but very useful.
"I'm gon-na be in s-so mu-ch tr-rou-ble," Bella hiccupped out through her tears.
"No you aren't, I promise mommy and momma are so nice and sometimes I still have accidents when I have a nightmare and I've never been in trouble."
Casey could see Amelia struggling to get the sheets off and decided to finally make herself known now that her little one had shared the bit of information to Bella that neither she or Alex would ever be upset—she was so proud of Amelia, she's come so far so quickly and continues to amaze both her mothers and grandparents all the time.
"Hi my babies," Casey said extremely softly.
Amelia instantly looked a bit relieved, even though she was doing an extremely great job of comforting the tiny blonde, while Bella instantly looked fearful. Casey knew that Amelia doesn't really remember a lot of what happens when she has a nightmare and the times Casey has had to physically bring her into a lavender bath to calm her down which is almost a blessing in disguise seeing as the embarrassment is never really there because she doesn't remember—Bella though, she felt so badly that the tiny blonde thought she would really be in trouble.
"It's okay cutie," Casey said, knowing the nickname made her smile earlier. "Accidents happen and guess what? It's perfectly okay—once the sheets are washed it will be as if nothing happened, right?"
Bella still looked a bit fearful but Amelia piped right up. "Yup! The magic machine," she giggled to herself, "…makes sure it's like nothing happened." She looked at Bella while nodding and then back to Casey as if a light bulb went off, "Oh, and mommy I spilt some of my dinner on my shirt tonight too."
"That's what the washing machine is for little one," Casey said to Amelia—she had already added the spot treatment to Amelia's shirt before tossing it in the wash earlier but it was cute she was bringing it up. The strawberry blonde never truly got anything dirty but she's still a little girl, spills and accidents are a part of growing up.
Then she turned to look at Bella—she got on her knees to be at about eye contact with the blonde and took Bella's hands into her own, "Hey cutie, it's perfectly normal to have accidents, especially in a new place. Let's find you some new pjs to change into and get things cleaned up, including you. Sound good?"
Bella looked into Casey's eyes and realized she really wasn't in trouble, and because she was so overwhelmed with everything that has happened in the last 24 hours, the time of night, and just everything in general, she started to cry even more. Casey knew she'd need to get Bella cleaned anyways so she pulled the little blonde into her arms and helped calm her down.
Bella tried to try and pull away at first until she realized she actually felt comfort being in Casey's arms and it seemed as if the redhead didn't mind that she was holding her with wet pjs. Even though she felt comfort, a comfort deeper than what she felt with Nancy and something she couldn't really explain, she couldn't help but continue to cry even though she was feeling better. She heard talking, but didn't really know what was being said because all she could focus on was the fact she was trying to stop crying but couldn't.
"I know baby, but we're going to get cleaned up and then I think like your first night I'm going to bring her in with us," Casey said to Amelia who really didn't like the fact her new sister was upset, and the fact that Bella wasn't going to spend the entire night in her room.
She understood why, but she just wished they could share the trundle part of the bed like they shared the regular part for the beginning of the night. "Can I sleep with you too…please?" Amelia asked.
Even in the room that was only lit up from the hallway light, Casey knew those green eyes were sparkling, her daughters eyelashes were batting and she caved. "Okay little one, go jump in bed with momma and we will be in soon."
"Thanks mommy, I love you!" Amelia said, grabbing her and Bella's blankies and stuffies before quietly running into the 'big bed'.
"Let's get you cleaned up cutie," Casey then said to Bella who was now completely calmed and resting against Casey.
"I'm sorry I messed it all up," Bella said softly.
"You didn't mess anything up baby, it was just an accident. You and Amelia can sleep with us tonight—it's not a big deal and nothing to stress over."
Casey made quick work of stripping the sheets and throwing them into the washer along with Bella's pjs after starting the water of their shower—Alex woke up a bit feeling the bed dip and assuming it was her wife, wrapped an arm around a body much smaller than Casey.
She opened her eyes in confusion and found a very snuggly little one who curled right into her, "Hi momma," Amelia whispered.
"Hi baby, did you have a bad dream," Alex asked sleepily, running her fingers through Amelia's hair.
"No, I think Bella did though. She had an accident but it's okay because accidents happen and mommy is helping her get cleaned up."
Alex nodded along and then realized their bathroom light was on meaning, Casey was in there with Bella. Geez, I can still sleep through so much, Alex thought to herself. "So are you both sleeping with us tonight?" she laughed knowing Amelia must have asked Casey and her wife couldn't say no.
"Mhm, because I wanted to make sure Bella was okay," Amelia said, snuggling further into Alex.
"I'm so proud of you baby, let's go back to sleep—it's," Alex tried to move to look at the clock and realized she couldn't with the way Amelia positioned herself against her "…too early to be awake," she finished, knowing it was still the middle of the night.
Casey was now helping an extremely sleepy Bella quickly wash off along with washing herself, dry them both off, and get them into new pjs so they could go back to bed. When she picked Bella back up, her legs instantly curled around Casey who shut off the lights, briefly checked to make sure the twins were still sleeping and laid Bella on their bed.
She smiled at Alex who opened her eyes essentially asking if they were okay to which Casey nodded—with the twins, it probably wasn't the best idea to have the girls in with them but they would make it work. Amelia and Lennon have ended up in their bed a few times since the twins were born, Lennon never woke when her baby sisters cried to be fed, Amelia only woke once—she wasn't sure about Bella though, time would tell.
Either way, it was better to have them in the 'big bed' just in case—Amelia was extremely cute with comforting Bella but Casey knew she and Alex would be able to provide the comfort of an adult which in cases like this were typically better seeing as Amelia was already sound asleep again.
Bella was on her way into dreamland but Casey could sense her body was still trying to figure it all out. She cradled Bella pretty much the same way Amelia was with Alex and continued to rub her back soothingly while whispering sweet nothings to show not only was the accident not a big deal, but she was safe.
Within about 10 minutes Bella, along with Alex, were sleeping soundly and Casey was able to drift off to sleep too. She knew the twins would be up again in about three hours now instead of four but it was all worth it to make sure Bella was okay and felt safe in her new home.
Plus, the redhead was very used to not sleeping through the night—not only because of the twins, but because even when Lennon started sleeping through the night as a baby, she would continue to wake up just to make sure her baby girl was okay. To put it simply, she was a very paranoid single mother but that's to be expected with everything life threw at her.
The next time the two blondes and strawberry blonde woke up, it was morning. Casey was currently sitting against the headboard feeding the twins, Alex still had a protective arm wrapped around Amelia and Bella had curled back up against Casey after she got herself situated in bed again.
Casey looked down and smiled at Bella who was rubbing her blanket against her face the same way Lennon still does to this day and Amelia does when she's extra tired. Seeing as the twins were propped up by the boppy pillow, she ran her fingers through Bella's hair and watched as Alex continued to snuggle Amelia further.
She knew for sure Lennon wasn't up yet—there had yet to be any noise come through her baby monitor and when the sass queen woke up, she made herself very known. But she too had a long day yesterday so Casey knew she'd be asleep for a bit longer.
"Good morning my babies, and good morning beautiful," Casey said.
"Good morn," Alex got halfway through before a big yawn came preventing her from finishing all at once. "…ing babe, and good morning to you too my littles," she finished.
Amelia giggled at Alex's expense, and even more when Alex started tickling her—Bella joined the giggles when Alex reached over to tickle her too as they all heard the sweet cooing once the twins stopped nursing.
"We have a bed full of silly monkeys, don't we momma?" Casey said to Alex with a huge smile on her face as she stopped some tiny flying arms from hitting one another in the face.
The twins were at the age of discovering their bodies more and more meaning, they occasionally caught a flying hand in the face if the mothers weren't right next to them and they were on the same play mat or so close in proximity as they were now.
"That we do," Alex agreed, before continuing, "…and I love it!"
She didn't truly know what happened last night besides the fact Bella had an accident causing the girls to end up in their bed but when Bella heard, 'I love it', she visibly relaxed feeling much better about the fact she and Amelia didn't stay in Amelia's room all night and she had an accident.
Bella is going to learn very quickly the mothers never stress over something so simple in nature—Casey more so than Alex just because she lived through a lot of trauma knew all about accidents, nightmares, and anxiety meaning she had this extra patience and understanding that only she and unfortunately Amelia and now Bella knew about.
Alex though, she picked up a lot of patience and understanding just by being married to Casey, hearing and occasionally 'experiencing' what her wife deals with—not actually, but she is there to comfort her when Casey does break down and has always supported and comforted Amelia and Lennon if they had a nightmare as well.
Lennon doesn't really have nightmares, although she did go through about two, two and a half weeks of nightmares where she thought there was someone under her 'big dirl' bed when they moved into their new house; besides that, the only time Lennon needs extra support and comfort is when she's sick but Alex will never forget the crash course she got with Lennon before she and Casey were married and the baby had a double ear infection.
Needless to say, Casey and Alex don't truly stress over much at all when it comes to the girls. Of course they worry and such but when it's something like an accident that is easy to clean, or the few things broken by mistake here and there, it's not a big deal.
If you were to ask Amelia, she's never seen mommy stress over anything even though Casey has felt a lot of stress in regards to Amelia—not because of her, but for her or certain situations; when the kids were mean to her at school Casey felt a lot of stress Amelia never knew about, when they fly because Casey feels so terrible her little one gets so nervous about it, things like that.
Lennon, Casey has spent a lot more times stressed about but that's purely because she was a single mother for the first two years of her life and there are a lot of things to stress about with your first child especially when raising the child alone.
In regards to Alex, Amelia can confidently say she remembers momma being 'super duper stressed out' when Casey went into early labor. Amelia remembers a lot from the day her sisters were born but the funniest part about the day to her was how momma kept saying 'it's too early' and she thought it was funny.
They were lucky Peyton and Oaklyn were completely healthy and able to be taken home the following day because a lot of premature babies aren't so lucky—Amelia doesn't know that part which played into the stress Alex was experiencing however, most of it was because of the fact she truly thought her calendar would work down to the timing she had played out in her head as well.
All in all, Bella truly doesn't have anything to worry about in terms of her new mommies ever getting upset with her over something like what happened last night or anything else for that matter.
Seeing the girls so snuggly and the babies so content, Alex got up to go get a sleeping Lennon from her bed and brought her into the 'big bed' as well so she wouldn't feel left out when she did fully wake up while Casey put on a movie for the girls to watch before changing the twins.
Alex laid Lennon down next to Amelia and then went to help Casey who was able to fill her in on everything that happened the night before. They quickly brushed their teeth and washed their faces as well and then snuggled back into bed with their girls the best they could with a baby in their arms.
Amelia would typically be asking to hold one of her sisters but right now she was content watching the movie and holding Bella's hand—it was just too cute seeing how amazing she was with Bella already. The way kids react to each other is something so special, a lot of times connecting with each other much easier than an adult in certain situations.
Casey and Alex both know Bella will need the same extra support they gave Amelia at first along with support in another way because Nancy is still alive but neither were worried—they had plenty of love to give and Amelia clearly does as well.
When Lennon wakes up, she will also love playing with Bella especially seeing as they will need to do another round of shopping which involves going to the toy store where she loves to pick out gifts for others—they will also get a chance to bond too.
That being said, it's great to see Bella so taken with Amelia and Casey already knows because Lennon was the same way with Amelia that soon enough, Bella and Lennon will be inseparable as well.
As the morning progressed, banana cream pancakes were in five bellies, two babies were down for their first nap and the girls were playing in the playroom. Bella was full of smiles with not only Amelia but Lennon as well as the mothers once again filled an online cart of the essentials that they know Bella will need multiple of before taking her away from playing.
"Hey Bell-Bell, can you come over here for a minute please cutie?" Casey asked and couldn't help but smile seeing the cutest blush appear on Bella's cheeks. She saw it when she called her cutie the day before but it was even deeper now and the mother assumed it had to do with the fact she threw in a nickname too.
From the smiles the mothers were giving, Bella didn't think she was in trouble but she was still waiting for them to be upset she wet the bed. Little does she know, she's going to be waiting forever to hear anything about it because the mothers have no plan on bringing it up unless she wants to talk about it.
Bella made her way over to the couch where Casey and Alex were sitting with one of their laptops out and Alex pulled Bella into her lap as Casey asked, "How do you feel about dresses and skirts? Do you like them or prefer pants and shorts? We're making sure you have the essentials before heading to the store but I didn't want to add anything to your closet that you don't like."
"I get to pick?" Bella asked. When she lived with Nancy she didn't get to pick anything besides her birthday dinner which was a homemade meal—a lot of it had to do with the fact she was so little when Nancy and Bill first took her in and then it had to do with budget so this was all new to her the same way it was new to Amelia.
"You do honey, we would never force you to wear something you don't like or fill your closet with something you won't ever wear. If you prefer pants and shorts that's what we will get but if you like them all, we will make sure you have all the options."
"Umm, I've never really had skirts but I have some dresses that I like to wear..."
Casey knew this seeing as she unloaded the bags Nancy packed for her but because she only saw a few dresses she didn't know if it was because Bella didn't like them or if she truly just didn't have many.
"We can pick out some special ones that you like when we go to the store, I'm just getting the essentials now—things you can never have too many of," Casey smiled and showed Bella the cart so far.
Bella's eyes went wide seeing how many things were in the cart, she didn't know you were allowed to buy so many things at one time and then remembered Casey said they were going to get more, she really didn't know what to think.
Amelia had kind of explained what today would look like but she didn't think it would really happen or if it did, she didn't really know what to expect—clearly Amelia was right because when she said, 'mommy and momma are gonna get you like, everything' she really meant it.
The three of them spoke for a little longer before they sent her off to play again; the women were enjoying seeing the three littles interact and have so much fun together—they truly didn't want to take away from play time and realized it would be better to let the girls have fun and go out around lunch time to get everything.
After a yummy meal at one of their favorites, where Bella was surprised once again seeing as they just ate out the night before, they were off to shop. At nine, Casey got Amelia a phone immediately because she felt safer with her having it even though she knew the schools always let kids call their parents.
At six, Alex had no idea and Casey once again said she'd feel safer knowing Bella had one too seeing as she too would be starting a new school—with the parental controls they have these days, she knew programming their numbers and eventually the grandparents and squad like Amelia has made Casey feel better getting it for when the girls went off to school.
They would need another iPad seeing as Lennon and Amelia both have one and the mothers agreed to grab Bella a laptop while there because Amelia has used hers often for schoolwork and wanted Bella to have one as well seeing as they are going to the same school—even though they aren't in the same grade, a laptop will be needed eventually so why not get it now?
The clothing stores were super quick and easy—the mothers ordered so much online that they really didn't need to get much else; they did make sure to let Bella pick out plenty of clothes that she particularly liked and weren't phased in the least seeing how much pink was chosen but there was a fair amount of pastel yellow too. Amelia was similar with her pink and peach, Lennon had mostly pink and a good amount of green to match her 'pwetty eyes'.
Next they picked out plenty of shoes for Bella along with dancewear so she'd have it before they even signed her up. The dance studio was so great and they were friends with the entire staff so neither was worried about getting Bella in classes immediately.
Once they entered the toy store, the mothers decided to do things the same way they did when only having two littles in total—now here they are walking into the store with Alex pushing a stroller containing two sleeping babies, Lennon squirming to get out of Casey's arms and two littles holding hands right in front of them.
Oh how life has changed—only for the better though with three additional Novaks'.
The amount of 'wow, you have your hands full' the mothers received before Bella felt like it was never ending—add one more and you'd think they added another four with the extra looks and comments. Most were comments on how adorable the girls were, how sweet the family was, how beautiful everyone was, but there will forever be: wow, you have your hands full.
Casey was now carrying Lennon and pushing the stroller with the two littles in front of her as Alex went to grab a cart and she went right back to the section she was in the first night with Amelia and felt a very strong sense of déjà vu.
Because this now left Casey alone with the five girls, she was very thankful Amelia and Bella felt so confident holding each others hands and knew to stay close to her. If she put Lennon down, there was no telling how many different ways she'd need to chase her which meant staying in mommy's arms.
Casey already knew they were going to need to look at another stroller while here—Amelia often finds herself standing on the back of the sit/stand stroller they have for she and Lennon but there wasn't enough room for two and Bella was still small enough where she could benefit on the walks they took to actually be sitting with Lennon.
It would also be beneficial for vacations which they love to go on and when Bella was big enough to be in the standing part, Amelia would be able to walk any and everywhere without getting too tired like she does now.
It would be an investment that would get much use seeing as by the time the twins can be put in the normal part of the stroller without their car seats, Lennon would be able to stand where Amelia does now meaning Bella and Amelia would be big enough to walk.
While Casey started easy in the book section, Alex was feeling even more déjà vu putting an additional baby monitor, booster seat, and matching cups/plates that they have for the girls in the cart. Even though Lennon doesn't eat as much as her big sister, she has refused to used the smaller version of the plates they have for Amelia since the twins were born.
It was a huge part of her 'big dirl' phase which included so much it was hard to keep up with in the mothers eyes who, even with the twins, still saw the littles as their babies too. Amelia came to them as a nine year old but she was still so little and they couldn't help but see her as their baby as well.
Needless to say, Alex stocked up on more plates and then got all three girls a bunch of matching cups that were Lennon tested meaning, both spill and the occasional throw proof—of course she didn't throw the cup on purpose, sometimes in all her excitement it just went flying out of her little hand and the mothers were happily surprised when there wasn't a mess to clean up the first time it happened.
They spoke to Bella about how the littles often matched and she seemed to really like the idea meaning Casey added plenty of matching outfits into the cart before getting to the store and they picked out more once there too—it's easy to see why the twins always matched, but she was happy to learn she could match too and it wasn't just for pictures which she saw all over the house.
When looking at them, Casey was quick to reassure her she'd be in them soon enough—she actually already made a call to Rachel who has watched the family grow in size over the years. She took Lennon's newborn pictures and about 2 and half months ago took newborn pictures of Peyton and Oaklyn then loaded up on pictures of the girls, the babies, and the family together.
Learning about another little one coming into the Novak's life didn't surprise her at all—actually, everyone who knows wasn't the least bit surprised by the fact little Miss Bella Kate was now a Novak. She doesn't know it yet, the mothers wanted to do something super special to celebrate and they wanted to talk with Nancy to see if she would like to be included as well.
Toy shopping with Bella was very similar to toy shopping with Amelia—Lennon, per usual, broke the ice and made it that much easier for Bella however, it was still something she felt very thrown off about. With Amelia, it took a few different times of coming to the toy store and a lot of online shopping; also, because Bella's birthday is coming up, Casey was getting tons of ideas and would make sure the matching toy shelves they got for her would be filled.
Speaking of which, her birthday was eight days away meaning they needed to figure out a theme and who they would be inviting. To be honest, Casey has a feeling it's just going to be their family along with the Cabot's, Sophie and Nancy if she wants to come because eight days isn't enough to get Bella acclimated with everyone in their lives, that takes time.
They have been so busy today that Sophie has done a lot of the talking with Nancy that the mothers really wanted to be a part of or do themselves but knew with now five children including two babies, it wasn't as easy as it was for Sophie.
The mothers and Bella would be extremely excited to learn Nancy would love nothing more than to come to Bella's party and see the wonderful family that is going to continue to raise her. She and her husband did the best they could but she knows Bella will be better off in a house full of kids living the life the Novak's can provide her.
She agreed that she would visit while she was well, but would prefer Bella not come to the assisted living home she was in because she didn't want her having that image in her head. She already had to deal with the death of Nancy's husband and the older woman wanted only the best for Bella.
Even Alex could tell the girls were hitting their breaking point in terms of having enough with the mall and shopping—even in a toy store, Lennon was pretty much asleep in Casey's arms with Bella leaning against the redhead as well and Amelia was lazily holding the stroller while leaning against Alex as they stood in the checkout line.
At four, Lennon still took her naps like clockwork and seeing as the girls didn't get a full nights rest, they'd most likely be asleep the minute they got everyone in the car. Once again, they had so much in their cart because of the new stroller, booster seat and everything else that an employee helped them load up the car.
And as the mothers expected, before the trunk was closed, four out of the five were sound asleep—Bella was trying so hard to keep her eyes open until Casey clipped Oaklyn's car seat in and then gently moved a piece of hair out of Bella's face and said, "Sleep cutie, rest those beautiful eyes for me Bell-Bell."
Five sleeping girls meant it was Alex's turn to make the run to Apple while Casey stayed in the air conditioned car with their babies. She didn't mind in the least seeing as she actually knew what to get this time whereas, when it was Amelia, she felt very out of her element.
This time, Alex felt much more prepared for everything to come. She may not have woken up last night when there was something she could actually help with, unlike nursing which she can't do, she felt ready and completely able unlike before.
Maybe I have more of that motherly instinct then I give myself credit for. Casey always tell me I have it, but I just don't feel it; clearly it's in there somewhere because I know what I'm doing and… Alex's mental dialogue was cut off by the Apple store worker asking what he could help her with and she instantly blanked on what she was in here for.
So much for that motherly instinct she thought to herself after remembering and relaying why she was in there to begin with—if only Alex knew a huge part of motherhood was forgetting things: constantly. Alex thought it strictly had to do with pregnancy brain and because she's never been pregnant, she thought her mother's intuition and instinct were essentially 'broken'.
While Alex was getting the final things on their list, only because Bella's birthday was right around the corner which meant she would be getting a lot more, Casey couldn't help but stare at the five beautiful angels she was privileged enough to call her daughters.
She could see each twins little face in their mirrors and could see Amelia holding both Bella and Lennon's hands even while sleeping soundly. Lennon could never part with both her hands because Raffy had to be in one when asleep, Ellie was in Bella's other hand but Amelia just had Rocky in her lap while holding her sisters hands.
Casey couldn't help but feel so much love in her heart right now—never in her wildest dreams did she ever think her life would turn out the way it did and even though she misses her brother and parents daily, she truly is happy. And to be honest, it all started with her first baby girl, Lennon.
Even though Lennon, Peyton and Oaklyn share a part of her, she didn't feel closer to them because of biology. She can't lie though, Lennon will forever hold an extra special place in her heart; because of her, Casey kept fighting, met the love of her life, and now has four other gorgeous babies.
They each hold a piece of her heart, all six of them including Alex but Lennon truly made it all possible; it was her and Lennon for 22 months before their lives forever changed. It's not favoritism, it's just an extra special bond in the grand scheme of things and everything they did as just the two of them before Alex, Amelia, Peyton, Oaklyn and Bella; that being said, Casey has always treated the girls equally and forever will.
Biology is a great thing, but it's not what truly makes a family—love is what makes a family.
Up next, Bell's birthday.
