Together is Where We are Meant to Be

Epilogue

December

The scene I saw was too much for words. I was in a familiar place, but I would swear that I was in a foreign land. The Stevens' house has been completely transformed. The house has been painted; there was a fresh coat on the framework too. And there were lots of twinkle lights. This was definitely Paris's definition of winter.

Micah held the door open as I carried in the baby carrier and we were met with lots of hugs and kisses from our siblings and Micah's parents. My son was passed around from Aunt to Aunt and Uncle to Uncle before making his way to the grandparents' arms.

Danny and Aires made googly eyes over my son as Aires hand rested right below her chest on her growing belly. The couple learned the day after they came back from their three week honeymoon in Buenos Aires that they were expecting, but they learned it was twins a few weeks later at their first sonogram. I was excited for them, but nervous to see how their children turned out. Aires was a great Aunt, she sent us things for little MJ (Micah Junior) all the time. But I had no clue how she would handle being a mother, especially to two kids.

Even with how big Aires looked, Paris looked bigger, almost ready to pop. It turns out that she was pregnant when Drew proposed to her at Aires and Danny's wedding in April. She was due any day now and had decided to postpone the wedding until after the baby was born, she could not find a dress to fit the bump that held her unborn child.

Mia and Danny were content being an Aunt and Uncle to all the babies while they studied hard at Hudson University in New York together. They were already on the Dean's list for the first semester of school. We knew that they would wait until they were ready to have kids and get married. They were smarter than the rest of us and they would do it in the right order like Danny and Aires did. If they didn't, Mrs. Stevens' might be tempted to hurt Dallas seeing as Mia was her only blood related daughter. And my baby brother knew that.

As for Micah and I, we were happy to say that our baby boy was healthy although he was born with a condition. It was one that we could work through and so could MJ. Micah was leading the league in points this year and has been injury free all season. I gave up my job as the team photographer officially at the beginning of the season and am doing some freelance with clients every once in a while. Mostly, I take pictures of my precious baby boy when the mood strikes me.

Everyone's lives were going really well in the months that followed Danny and Aires's wedding. It was almost like we were doing exactly what we were supposed to do. I knew that our parents looked down on Dallas, my sisters, and me and smiled. They were happy to see us so happy and content with life. I thought of them often as Micah grew and started doing the amazing things babies did when they grew up and got bigger.

We sat down for Christmas dinner that night that Micah and I arrived. We said grace and began to eat, but things went downhill when Paris announced that her water broke. Drew was helpless as he rushed around his parents' house looking for their packed bag. I ended up finding it first and everyone else helped my sister into the car. Micah drove their car while I drove the rest of the family. We waited until the baby was born to start congratulating the couple. They welcomed a beautiful baby girl who they named Lillian Jean. I looked around for Aires and Danny after getting my chance to hold the beautiful baby girl and could not find them. Micah's phone rang and it was Danny saying that Aires was going into premature labor.

Everyone was nervous then. She was not due for four or so more weeks and it was not a good sign. We sat around; I rocked MJ to calm me down as I waited to hear how my sister was doing. Danny came to inform us hours later that he had two beautiful babies in the nursery and that Aires was doing fine, just exhausted from childbirth much like Paris had been. Everyone sighed in relief and went to meet the newest additions, although we could not hold them.

That Christmas, Micah and I vowed to see our family more often and be apart of our nieces and nephew's lives. I was relieved to hear him say that it was needed too. It was also that Christmas that we decided that we were going to adopt a child because of all the children we saw in the nursery that night that lost their mother to a disease or who simply could not handle a child. We were a family and I was happy with our life.