"Hold the baby, would you?" Alyssa passed Baby Lauren to Taylor, who was already balancing a baby bag on one shoulder and two large suitcases in the opposite hand.
"Sure, I don't have anything to carry already," he muttered, but he still managed to tickle his baby daughter and make her laugh.
Alyssa was on a mission. Two-year old Jordan Jr. had a dirty diaper, and she refused to enter her mother in law's house with either of her children smelling like the back dumpster. Jay, as they had begun affectionately calling him, looked more than a little annoyed at being sprawled in the backseat of a car while snow was beginning to fall outside.
"What are you guys doing outside?" Jaime, who had arrived earlier for the reunion, poked her head out the front door.
"Fweezin' my butt off!" Jay squealed loudly.
Satisfied her son was clean, Alyssa passed him into Taylor's last baby-free arm. "We need to keep this one away from his Uncle Zac."
With that, she grabbed her purse and left Taylor to struggle his way to the door with both of his children and all the suitcases.
"Shouldn't someone help him?" Jessi asked, after giving her sister in law a big hug.
Alyssa shook her head. "Nah. He's known me for ten years. He can juggle by now."
Everyone laughed and turned away just in time to miss Jay squirming his way out of his father's arms, causing a mild suitcase avalanche. Taylor survived however, because he had learned how to juggle in the four years he had been married to Alyssa.
Several female relatives met him at the doorway, disappearing with his daughter and leaving him with the suitcases, which he abandoned in the hallway. He followed the sound of of Zac's unmistakable laugh into the kitchen.
There Zac and Jaime sat, gazing at each other over the kitchen table. Lizzy had been right, Zac had figured out what was up. It had taken him awhile though, and the two had only recently married.
The two brothers greeted one another with few words and a manly hug, Jaime chuckling the whole time.
"Where's Isaac?"Jaime asked, helping herself to a soda. "I thought he was coming with you and Alyssa."
Taylor shook his head. "Nope, but he is coming. He's just bringing a friend."
The doorbell rang, just as he was saying this. Zac and Taylor headed to see what it was, just in time to see their mother open the door to Isaac, three little girls, and one very familiar looking woman.
Jaime was the first to recodnize her. "Mitzi!" she shreiked, running to throw her arms around her friend.
Isaac and Mitzi spent much of the evening telling everyone their story, how Mitzi had recently divorced, leaving her with three children under the age of five, and how she had bumped into Isaac at the supermarket of all places.
No one was surprised, least of all Lizzy, proud that once and for all, her sister's dying wish had been realized.
Isaac was happy.