He opened Brooke's present and it was a picture of a castle with a dragon and another picture of a king and queen.
"I colored them myself and I stayed in the lines." said Brooke proudly.
"Thank you very much, Brooke." said Stefan smiling.
He hugged the little girl and kissed the top of her head.
"My last gift comes from Ned and Alexis." said Stefan.
He opened it and saw old pictures. He started to look through them.
"I had all of the pictures that Ned and I found in Grispona copied and with the help of mom we labeled them on the back to tell us who it was, where, how old, and what year." said Alexis.
Then he found a stack of envelopes tied together.
"What are these?" asked Stefan.
"The other half of the letters which we copied and we also made copies of the letters you had." said Alexis.
"So now all of us have the pictures of us and the loveletters our parents wrote?" asked Stefan.
"Mm-hmm. Mom gets to keep the originals and we get the copies. You should really thank Ned for this." said Alexis.
"Why?" asked Stefan.
"He took me to our mother's house where I found those pictures and letters." said Alexis.
"Well, I would like to thank you both." said Stefan.
"You're welcome." said Alexis.
The party started to wind down and the guests started to leave.
"Thank you for coming, Lucky, Elizabeth, and Emily." said Stefan.
Nikolas started to walk them to the launch.
"Well, we better get going." said Bobbie.
Stefan knelt down and Lucas hugged him. Then he stood up and kissed Bobbie goodbye.
"I will see you soon." said Stefan as they left.
"Come on, Brooke, it's time to go." said Alexis.
Brooke got up and Alexis picked her up.
"It was nice to meet you and thank you for the present." said Stefan smiling.
"You're welcome." said Brooke.
She gave him a kiss on the cheek and Alexis hugged him.
"We'll look at the pictures some other time together." said Alexis.
"Thank you." said Stefan.
She kissed him on both cheeks as they left. Stefan turned to his mother. He hugged and kissed her.
"Thank you for everything." said Stefan.
"You're welcome." said Kristen.
Then she left the room as Nikolas walked in.
"Thank you, son. This was the best birthday I ever had." said Stefan smiling.
"You're welcome, dad." said Nikolas.
Then he left the room as Stefan looked around the room. He was very happy now. He went upstairs and decided to go to bed early.
~*~*~*~
In the car Brooke was asleep in her car seat and Alexis was nodding off trying to stay awake as Ned drove.
"She had a lot of fun today. I didn't think she would like my brother. Ususally kids run away from him screaming." said Alexis smiling.
"Brooke is just like her mom. She likes everybody until you really upset her." said Ned.
"Then I'll try to not to upset Lois or Brooke." she said.
She yawned and closed her eyes falling asleep. He smiled as he glanced in his mirror at his daughter and then at Alexis. He finally had the family he always dreamed of.
~*~*~*~
Emily arrived home and saw her grandmother waiting for her in the living room.
"I got your message, dear." said Lila.
Emily shut the doors behind her.
"Lois and Brooke are back for good and they're living in Brenda's cottage next door to Ned and Alexis. Alexis suggested that the two of us go over to her house and surprise Lois." said Emily.
"What a wonderful idea. When should we visit?" asked Lila.
"Next week." said Emily.
Lila smiled as Emily kissed her on the cheek goodnight and then went to bed.
~*~*~*~
Lois was sitting on the couch anxiously waiting for Ned, Alexis, and Brooke to arrive. They were late and she was hoping nothing bad had happened. Then a pair of headlights streamed through the window and she knew it was them. Ned carried Brooke up to the house and knocked on the door. Lois opened it and took Brooke into her arms.
"Did she have fun?" asked Lois.
"Yes, she did that she pooped out Alexis." said Ned.
"Thanks for taking her. I'll see you two tomorrow." she said.
"See ya. Goodnight." he said.
"Night." she said.
She closed the door and carried Brooke upstairs to her room. Ned pulled into their driveway and carried Alexis into the house. He closed the door with his foot and carried her upstairs to their room. He carefully laid her on the bed and started to get undressed. He put on some sweatpants and laid down next to her. He kissed her cheek and kissed her expanding stomach. Then he fell asleep.
