Two Months Later

"Sam, our daughter locked herself in the room, and refuses to come out," Jack informs his wife while juggling Leah, who always turns into an octopus when she wants to be put down.

"Which daughter?" she asks.

Jack gives a glare.

"You're right, that is a pretty stupid question. I'll go talk to Meg."

Sam knocks on the door. "Go away!" a voice says from within.

Sam opens the door. Her daughter is buried under a blanket on her bed. "It's Christmas, come to dinner."

Meg doesn't respond.

Sam pulls the blanket down. "Honey, what's going on? Are there just too many people here?"

"They act like they know me."

"Hon, you have talked on the phone or e-mailed all of these people. Jack and I have been bragging you up even since before you came to live with us. These people do know you. They are family."

"Jordan and I got lucky with you and Jack," the girl whispers.

Sam's stomach clenches, "Are you worried our families are going to hurt you?"

She shrugs.

"Well, I vouch for every single one of them. I wouldn't have invited them to our house for Christmas unless I thought that my kids were going to be safe with them," she assures the little girl.

"I'm not worried about them like physically hurting me," she whispers.

"Well Meg, I'm not going to say that I've never got my feelings hurt by these people. I've had some problems with both my father and my brother in the past. I will say that they are going to love you, and not ignore you. If they hurt your feelings, your father and I will tell them off, if you let us know. I also know that you can't spend the rest of your life hiding away from the world so you don't get hurt. Your heart is strong, kid. You're stronger than you think you are."

"Can we cuddle a little bit before we go out there?" Meg asks nervously.

"Of course," Sam says, crawling into bed behind her to spoon her.

-0-

"Hey, is this my little granddaughter?" Jacob asks when Meg and Sam emerge from her bedroom.

"Hello, sir," she says, extending her hand.

"Is there a ban on hugs?" Jacob asks.

Meg giggles, and then hugs the older man.

Jordan signs a comforting phrase over the man's shoulder.

"Dada!" Leah screams.

"Which one?" Jack asks with a sigh, already knowing that the kid can't be referring to him, because she is in his arms. "Dada" is the only word the kid knows, and she uses it to ask for anyone.

Leah points to Sam, and then moves her arms like she's swimming through the air in an effort to get to her.

"I'm Mama," Sam tells the nine-month old.

"Dada," Leah corrects with an incredulous voice.

"Of course, how ridiculous. You're completely correct," Sam teases.

Mark and his daughter enter the room. Lisa looks up Meg and decides that the three years that are between them are not too much, "Do you want to play?"

Jordan signs, "Yes," behind her which is like turning your wrist into a little nodding head. He nods so frantically that he hurts his wrist. He grabs onto it.

"Sure," Meg says, and the two head to her room.

Leah's arms and legs wiggle frantically. "Hey, let's do the sign language for this," Sam says pointing down. The baby does, and Sam puts her down. She begins crawling toward the tree, and Sam keeps an eye on her as she turns to her brother to talk.

"Motherhood becomes you," he says with a smile.

"You sound surprised," she says

"I am, a little. I don't mean it as an insult. It's just that you've been good at everything you did your entire life. I didn't really expect you to be good at this, as well. But you are," he says.

By now, Leah has made it over to the presents and is trying to rip the presents open with her thumb nail. Sam starts to go and get her, but Jordan is closer and he scoops the girl up and hands her back to her mother.

"Soon you'll have two babies to hold," Jordan warns in sign language. Jordan adds a new word he just learned, "Mother?", only he messes up the sign for 'mother'.

She laughs, and gives her son a quick lesson. She holds up an open hand, and places a hand on her forehead saying the word "father" then on her chin "mother", exaggerating the word, then she does the sign that her son did, putting a hand on her nose, "swear word".

His eyes go wide, "Sorry," he says, with his hand rooming around his stomach a really long time showing how sorry he is.

"It's fine, son," she says, giving him a quick hug.

"Dada!" the baby demands.

"Honey, if I knew what you wanted, I'd give it to you," his mother tells him.

"Dada," the baby demands again.

"Point, love," she urges. The baby points to her uncle, and then before either adult can react, she leaps into the man's arms.

Mark is a father, so he catches the baby, "Everyone's your Daddy, huh?"

"Dada," the baby agrees.

"You have a lot of opinions for just that one word," Sam says.

"Mom, can we go play outside?" Meg asks.

Sam turns to her with a tear in the corner of her eye. "Megan!" she says, hugging her.

"Jeez, don't make a federal case out of it!" she exclaims.

"Yes, go play, frolic," Jack says, pulling his wife away from his daughter.

"She called me mom," Sam says, as if her husband must not have understood that.

"Yes, she did, and we want her to live long enough to say it again," he cajoles.

"Thanks, dad," she says, and soon Sam is prying her out of her Jack's arms. "By the way, that's your Christmas present," Meg quips.

"I should have thought of that," Jordan mutters.

"All right, everyone between eight and sixteen outside," Jacob says with authority, herding them out of the room with his arms.

"God, I love our kids," Sam says, leaning against her husband.

"Mama?" Leah asks, extending her hands to her father.