MANNY©

Chapter 28

The newlyweds concentrated on raising three new little ones, who had to adjust Kaleb's schedule and his autism. Kal had his own adjustments to his new brothers and sister. While Maddy showed how truly selfless she was and helped as much as she could. Her mom and dad made sure to spend quality time with her so she wouldn't feel left out.

Rachael breathed a sigh of relief at having her mother-in-law so close by. And she was so thankful to her girlfriends coming over regularly to hang out, help, or get her away. Speaking of her girlfriends, it seems that they all got bitten by the love bug. Or at least drank the water she and Tyler drank. Because they all had someone now. Bette and Avery were tighter than ever, in fact, they are engaged. Lucy met a guy named Chris, who is one of the top Black male models in the country. He works with Tyler and Avery. Candice began dating Reggie Carter, the bailiff from Maddy's case. Janice made a love connection that day also, when she and Mark Page, the case coordinator hooked up and began to get serious also. 

And ever since he married Tyler and Rachael the first time, Judge Todd Wolf, grew close to Tyler's mom, Alyssa. The two have gotten so serious that he proposed to her and sometime later, got married. Love connections all around for the extended family.

Rachael had difficult moments with Micah. Whenever she took care of him, he fought at first then he shied away. On the next to the last home visit before the finalization and the court date for the adoption, the social worker explained that no one ever truly got close to the kids for them to trust and accept love. But she saw that Tyler and Rachael were the real deal.

A week before the last home visit, Tyler and Rachael had all the kids in the huge jacuzzi sized tub in the bathroom to play before lunch. The couple sat together and watched the kids play in their swimsuits and splashed about. Morgan turned towards Rachael and Tyler and watched them for a minute. "Mama." She smiled, reaching for Rachael. The adults dropped their mouths open and waited for her to speak again. "Mama." She repeated.

Rachael beamed as she grabbed a beach towel and wrapped it around her before picking the baby girl up. "Hi, Morgan." Rachael softly spoke. Morgan then turned towards Tyler and touched his face. "Dada." She told him with joy. Tyler smiled from his lips to his eyes. Soon Mackenzie followed suit. "Mama! Dada! Mama! Dada!" He repeated a few times while he splashed the water. Tyler laughed and grabbed another beach towel and picked him up to dry him off.

Micah just remained quiet watching Tyler and Rachael lovingly hold his little brother and sister. He then noticed that Maddy and Kal got out to dry off. Maddy patted Kal dry before drying herself off. The little boy scratched his wet, blond hair as he looked at the six of them. He stood up and stretched out his arms towards them all. He pursed his lips as he began to speak. "M-m-mama. D-d-dada."

Tyler grabbed him without a towel and brought him close to his body. He and Rachael held him and sighed in relief. They got the kids all dry and into some warm clothes before they headed to the dining room to eat. Kal and Maddy sat down while Tyler held onto the twins. Rachael placed Micah in a booster seat, then Mackenzie in a high chair. Tyler then placed Morgan in the other high chair.

Maddy watched her brothers and her sister so her parents  could go into the open kitchen area, to prepare lunch. Soon it was time to eat with everyone happily eating and chatting about as a complete family.