Chapter 277:

Vicki was in the bedroom getting the children dressed for an outing when someone knocked on the door. Carlos looked through the peephole to see who was there. They liked having that there and only opened the door if they knew who it was or were expecting a delivery. They had already been spotted several times while they were down on the beach. They had no way to know if anyone had followed them home and now knew where they lived.

He opened the door and welcomed Brenda in, not surprised to see her. She had told him she'd need to come by and make sure that Amelia was settling in well. It was just part of her job.

She set her briefcase on the table and took out a large yellow envelope and slid some papers out of it.

"Is Vicki here?"

"Yes, I'll get her."

Carlos returned carrying Carlito, followed by Vicki and Amelia. He laid Carlito in his bouncy seat and came back to see what Brenda was here for.

"Hi Miss Brenda. We're going shopping."

"Hello Amelia. That sounds like fun and it is so pretty out with all of the Christmas decorations."

"Mama and Papa say that Santa will be able to find me here at their house."

"I'm very sure he will, Sweetheart."

"Is everything alright?" Vicki asked, always nervous that something will come up that will cause Amelia to be removed from their care.

"I think I'll let you answer that." She said and handed Carlos the papers she'd been holding.

The room was silent as Carlos read through the document. Brenda was struggling to keep any emotion out of her face, not wanting to give anything away. Vicki was waiting not so patiently as Carlos read it.She watched his forehead as he processed what was written and saw him scowl. She wasn't sure if it was because he was reading bad news or that he was translating the English words into Spanish so he could understand it better.

Finally he lowered the papers and looked first at Vicki and down at Amelia. Then he looked to Brenda.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" he said, still afraid to get his hopes up.

"Merry Christmas. You have a daughter. The court date will be set as soon as there's an opening and the adoption will be final. All of the international paperwork has been approved."

Brenda stood back and watched as Carlos and Vicki both broke down and cried in each others arms. Then he lifted Amelia into his arms and hugged her tight.

Amelia placed her hands on the sides of Carlos's face.

"Papa why are you and Mama sad?"

"We are not sad, Mi Amor. We could never be happier. These are very happy tears. Miss Brenda brought the papers that say that you can be our little girl and stay here with us and Carlito."

"Okay bueno. I like to stay here till my Mama and Papa come back to get me."

It had already been decided after several visits to Dr. Jessica that they would not discuss the fact that her parents wouldn't be coming back. In time she would come to accept this as reality and when she got a bit older if she wanted to discuss it then, only then would they get into the specifics with her. For now, she was safe loved and happy and would be part of their family.

"When will we be able to apply for the passport for her?" Vicki asked.

"It's already been done as part of the other documents that are being processed. It will arrive here through the mail."

"Fantastic. We'll be able to take her home and introduce her to the rest of our families."

"Are we going shopping now?" Amelia asked, making everyone laugh.

"Spoken like a normal girl. I'll get out of your way and let you get on with your day."

"Thanks for coming and letting us know. We couldn't have had a better Christmas gift."

"You're welcome Vicki. I'm glad everything worked out."

Carlos opened the door to let Brenda out and stopped her just before she left. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a bone crushing hug, still at a loss for words.

"You're welcome Carlos." she said smiling into his eyes and kissed his wet cheek. "Merry Christmas."

Carlos went and sat on the sofa,trying to get himself together. Vicki sat on the arm and kissed the top of his head, just letting him compose himself. She knew just how emotional this was for him. Since they'd met Amelia, he had been very vocal about how much he wanted her to be their daughter and she had known that if it had gone the other way and they were denied Amelia, that Carlos would have been devastated.

She knew that for now he had put away his emotions when he stood and declared that it was now time to go shopping.

"We need to celebrate." he added as he headed out the door holding his daughter's hand.

*

The news spread quickly, including to Paris and Seb and Lisa both assured Carlos and Vicki that they were very happy for them and were just glad that Amelia would have parents that loved her as much as they did.

Carlos invited Urs, Alex and Mami as well as Dan and Marie over for a celebratory dinner the following evening. And since they would all be doing their own family Christmas happenings, they brought their gifts for the Marin's that would go under their tree. Vicki thanked them all and the packages were all hidden in a closet until Christmas Eve two nights away.

"See our Christmas tree. We put our decorations on it. Carlito couldn't help us yet cuz he's too little. But Papa said maybe he can help us next year." Amelia beamed at everyone.

"It's beautiful, Sweetheart." Dan said as he hugged her.

"You know that this changes nothing Carlos. We will still consider Amelia as one of our Grandchildren." Marie assured him.

"A child can never have too many people who love her and I know that you do."

"Have you told David and Grace?" Alex asked Vicki.

"Yes, we spoke to them yesterday. They are splitting their time between Denver and New York until the guys have to meet up."

Later after the children were sleeping and the adults were still talking, Urs's phone rang.

"Ja."

"Hi It's David. Are you at home?"

"No, we're here at Carlos and Vicki's with Mom and Dad and Mami."

"Oh good. Put me on the speaker phone."

David was talking a mile a minute so Urs knew that something big was going on.

"Okay it's on. What's up?"

"Grace is here with me."

"Hi Grace." everyone said at once.

"Hi Everyone. Merry Christmas." she answered, then they heard her giggling.

"OH sorry guys. We called because we have some news."

"Well, spit it out David." Urs said grinning because he could hear the excitement in David's voice.

"Okay, Well it'll be a while before it happens. But well,"

"DAVID!!!!" everyone said at the same time, including Grace."

"Sorry, Anyway, I asked Grace to marry me and she said yes."

"That's wonderful"

"Congratulations!"

"It's about time"

Everyone was speaking at once giving their congratulations and well wishes. Then the phone was passed around so everyone could speak to them personally. Finally they said goodbye and hung up. Carlos went to get another bottle of wine to have a toast to David and Grace's engagement and they partied late into the evening. Everyone having so much to celebrate.

*

Christmas Eve in Paris was a very exciting day for the children. They knew that tomorrow when they woke up it would be Christmas with gifts and lots of good food to eat.

Maman and Aunt Cecile had come and help to do a lot of the early preparations over the last few days. There were plenty of Christmas treats to eat and the Christmas meal preparations were well under way.

Seb and Lisa decided to take the family to an earlier service than the midnight mass because there was no way the children would make it that late.

Once they were home, they began getting the excited children ready for bed. They were still singing parts of the Christmas carols that they remembered, sometimes singing the same parts over and over because that's all they could remember of the words.


"Papa, we can't forget to put the hay and carrots in our shoes for Santa's reindeer and cookies for Santa." Sammy reminded him.

"No we can't forget that."

So while Lisa got the two babies ready for bed, he took the others and they began their new ritual of not only setting out the cookies and milk for Santa but also the hay and carrots for the reindeer. He let them each have one more cookie and a glass of milk before he ushered them upstairs to brush their teeth.

Seb got his guitar and they all gathered in the girls' room since both Kayti and Holly looked like they weren't going to make it much longer. He helped them sing a few carols and then Lisa got out her Bible and turned to the book of Luke and read the Christmas story to them. All four of the older children were listening intently as she read of the baby born and placed in a manger in the stable.

Just as she finished reading, Kayti's eyelids began to close. Lisa and Seb kissed the girls goodnight and took the boys to their room.

"Mommy can we stay up and see Santa when he comes?"

"No Sammy, Santa wants all of the children to be sound asleep before he comes to their house."

"Okay." He looked a bit disappointed but wasn't going to argue because he wanted to be sure Santa would come.

When Seb and Lisa peeked in at them a few minutes later, they were all sound asleep.

Maman arrived and helped them to get everything put under the tree. Seb found a package with his name on it and shook it close to his ear.

"Sebastien Izambard, put that down right now. You are just as bad as the children." Lisa scolded him but with a grin on her face.

"I am just a big kid you know. I can't help it. I love Christmas."

He pulled her down into his lap and kissed her senseless. He held her close to him and blazed a trail over her face and captured her lips in a searing kiss that told her that this was no child.

"Why don't you two go to bed if you're finished here. The children will be awake before you know it." Maman said reminding them that she was sitting there.

"Yup, Good idea." Seb said as he jumped up and took Lisa's hand to help her up.

"Good night Maman, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas both of you. I'm so glad you're here."

They slowly made their way upstairs since Sebastien insisted on continuing his kisses as they climbed the stairs. Lisa had to stifle her giggles. She didn't want to wake the children.

"How about I give you an early Christmas present." he asked her once they had climbed into bed, whispereing so the babies wouldn't wake up.

"Sure." she said lighting up, letting him know that she was no less excited about Christmas than he was.

He sat up, letting the covers fall away, revealing his naked form.

"Here I am. I'm all yours. Merry Christmas." he said with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Oh you." she whispered back and smacked him with her pillow, but allowed herself to be drawn into his arms where they both gave each other the first Christmas gifts of the day since it was now after midnight.