The Reason Behind Me

Chapter 8

Mia's POV

I woke up naked with Olivia's bare chest pressed against my back, one arm draped over my waist and the other hand intertwined with mine. 

Flashbacks of last night flooded my mind, I could still feel her breath on my neck, her kisses and her touch. I can't believe we finally got married yesterday. 

I smiled and turned to look at the girl sleeping peacefully behind me, thinking about how lucky I am to have met her on the beach. She snored lightly and I caressed her cheek with my hand. Her nose scrunched up a little and her eyes flutter open, blinking a few times to get used to the sunlight. 

"Good morning M’z." She greeted before shaking her head, "I meant good morning my beautiful wife." 

I chuckled at her words and gave her a peck on the lips, "Did I wake you up?" 

"Nope." She replied popping the 'p'. 

"I'm nervous." I admitted, looking away. 

"Why? Are you worried about the parenting?" She asked, running her fingers through my hair. 

"Yeah." I nodded my head, looking up at her. 

"We've raised Janelle and Melena all by ourselves, let's just say that we have had "training" in this." Olivia replied air-quoting the words. 

"Well, we're adopting a two weeks old baby. This is different. She'll need more attention than Janelle and Melena needed last time."

"That's true." She agreed, "But I'm dire you'll make a good mother like you were to Janelle and Melena." She assured, "Plus we get to have a probation period of one week with the baby. All will be okay." 

I smiled and laid my head on her chest, thinking about the day we have ahead of us.

Olivia's POV

"Are we going to meet Connie today?" Melena asked, tugging at my shirt. 

"Yeah Mel, you'll meet her when we arrive at California later." I smiled, picking her up. 

"How long will that be?" Janelle asked, looking at me innocently. 

"A few hours." I answered, "You'll be there when you wake up." 

"What a way to convince your child to sleep." Amelia said, wrapping her arms around Isabella, "We gotta use that method when Jamie grows older." 

"We don't even know if we'll pass the probation yet." Isabella pouted. 

"We will." Amelia replied, "I can just use my charm." 

"Yeah right." Isabella rolled her eyes. 

"Christian will be the cutest." Charlotte grinned, kissing Dani. 

"Of course!" Dani agreed. 

"Shut up and get on the plane." Mia interrupted, causing us to fall into a fit of laughter.

Mia's POV

Olivia and I sat on the couch at the corner of the room, waiting for the social worker to bring in Connie. Soon, the door opened, and our social worker walked in with our new bundle of joy.

"Here you go." Our social worker Jenny said, "Take some time to bond with her." She smiled and walked out of the room.

"She's perfect." I whispered, tears streaming down my face.

"Just like her two older sisters." Olivia agreed, enveloping Connie and I in her arms, "Wanna show her to Janelle and Melena?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

Olivia stood up and headed towards the door to call the twins whilst I carried Connie who was staring at me

Innocently.

"Hey Con, welcome to the family." I cooed, patting her butt.

"Mami!" The twins screamed as they entered the room.

"Be careful not to scare Connie girls." Olivia reminded, following behind the ecstatic girls.

"Is she Connie?" Melena asked, gently patting Connie's stomach.

"Yeah. She's your new baby sister." I nodded, "Do you guys want to carry her?"

Janelle and Melena nodded fervently, and I chuckled, happy to see their positive reactions to having a new baby sister, "We'll let Janelle carry her first okay?"

Janelle sat beside and opened her arms for me to put Connie in. Janelle cradled Connie gently and sang a lullaby for her, making my heart melt.

"She has brown eyes like me!" Melena squealed excitedly.

"Yeah. Beautiful brown eyes like yours." Olivia grinned, kissing my cheek.

Dani's POV

"Do you think Christian will like us?" I asked, fiddling with my hands.

"Of course, baby." Charlotte assured, "Who wouldn't?" She joked.

I giggled and the door opened, a little blonde hair boy wobbled into the room, followed by a social worker.

"Say hi Christian." The social worker, Mary encouraged. 

Christian babbled a few baby words and walked towards us, climbing onto the empty seat we left for him in between us. 

"Hi Christian." Charlotte cooed, ruffling his hair, "I'm Charlotte." 

Christian giggled and waved his arms around, blabbering things that didn't make sense to us. 

"He loves me." Charlotte laughed, carrying him up to her lap. 

"Yeah right." I rolled my eyes, "Let me carry him."

"Hey there little guy." I grinned kissing his cheek, "What's up?" 

"That's not the way to talk to a baby." 

"A toddler." I corrected, letting Christian wrap his hand around my finger, "He's beautiful." I said. 

"Yeah. Especially his ocean blue eyes." Charlotte agreed.

Amelia's POV

A pair of innocent green eyes stared blankly at us as she sucked on her pacifier. Isabella and I couldn't stop looking at our beautiful baby ever since we saw her. It's two days into our probation period and everything seems to be going well. We don't have a problem with Jamie so far and neither do the other girls with Christian and Connie. 

Life is going to be so complicated when they grow up though, the three of them are actually siblings, Christian and Jamie being fraternal twins and Connie their baby sister. They're going to grow up together but with different mothers. I do wonder if we'll ever explain this to them. 

"Melia, can you get me the milk bottle?" Isabella asked, shuffling into the kitchen we have in our temporary apartment here in sunny California. 

"Sure." I replied and carried Jamie in one arm as I took out her milk bottle and handed it to Ally, "Here." 

"Thanks babe." She smiled and pecked my cheek. 

"Anytime." I grinned and sat on the kitchen counter with Jamie in my lap, "Are we ever going to tell them that they're actually siblings?" I asked. 

"Well, we have to. We can't have them falling in love with each other, can we?" Ally chuckled. 

"You watch too much tv." I shook my head.

"But that really did happen between a pair of twins separated at birth. Things go really complicated." Ally said. 

"True that." I nodded, feeding Jamie with the milk that Isabella had made. 

"When though?" I asked again. 

"You have a lot of questions." Isabella muttered, taking my lips in hers, "But I like it." She added, "Maybe when they're old enough to understand I guess."

Reader’s POV

Mia and Olivia have always felt blessed to be able to adopt Connie into their little family. Connie had always brought joy to them, creating laughter in the household. 

However, Mia and Olivia noticed some abnormality in their little baby girl. Connie rarely ever made eye contact with anyone and barely responded to her name or a familiar voice. 

They thought that Connie was just a little shy and introverted, but they were wrong. Very wrong. 

Every parent would've experienced the happiness of listening to their child baby talk for the first time when their child is nearly a year old. Things were different for the Hudson-Macpherson family. 

By 12 months, Connie never said a single baby word which in turn cause Mia and Olivia to worry a lot. They drove her to the doctor’s, but he dismissed it as delayed development which is common in premature babies. He assured them that their baby would be "talking" and doing back and forth gestures by the end of two months, but she never did. 

((Connie is 4 years old. Janelle and Melena are 12 years old.)) 

Mia's POV

"Do you want syrup on your pancakes?" I asked Connie who was sitting on her highchair by the kitchen island. 

"A little bit." Connie nodded. 

"Okay." I smiled and started pouring syrup on her pancakes, "Is this enough?" 

"A bit more." She replied, not taking her eyes away from her pancakes. 

"No! That's too much!" She screamed the minute I poured more syrup on her pancakes. 

"I'm so sorry baby girl." I apologized, "I'll just scoop up some of the syrup okay?" 

I took a spoon and started taking out some of her syrup, I jumped in shock when Connie started screaming again, "No! You're doing it all wrong! This is wrong!" 

"What's going on?" Olivia asked, walking into the kitchen. 

"She said I poured too much syrup, so I took out some and she screamed that I was doing it all wrong." I sighed, "I don't know what she wants." 

"Let me help you babe, go take a rest." She said kissing my lips. 

Olivia's POV

"What's wrong Con?" I asked, sitting next to Connie who had crossed her arms. 

"I don't like Mami." She frowned, "She does everything wrongly." 

"Don't use that word Con, it'll hurt Mami's feelings." I said, bringing her onto my lap, "We're all humans, we make mistakes." 

"But she doesn't understand what I want." She replied, "Nobody understands." 

"Who’s that?" I said, encouraging her to go on.

"Nobody thinks the way I do. Sometimes Mel understands." She answers, fiddling with her hands. 

"Mel!" I called out. 

"Yes Mama?" She asked, running down the stairs. 

"Will you take care of Con for a while? I need to talk to your Mama." I explained, handing Connie over to her. 

"Sure Mama." She smiled, carrying Connie away.

Melena has always been the more sensible and independent one among the children. She takes care of the little ones in the house including Christian and Jamie. She never complains a single bit. 

"M’z?" I said, walking over to Mia who was curled up at the end of the couch, "Baby?" 

Mia was shivering and I managed to get her inside my embrace as I wiped her tears away, "Are you okay babe?" 

"S..she hates m..me." She stuttered. 

"No, she doesn't." I assured, "She just doesn't know how to express how she feels. I think we should bring her to the doctor." 

"Why?" Mia asked, looking up at me with res puffy eyes, making my heart break. 

"I think she has some psychological disability. I studied this when I was in high school." I said, running my fingers through her hair. 

Mia nodded, "Okay." 

"Don't worry about it M’z, we'll get through this. I love you." 

"I love you too Oli." 

The comfortable silence was broken by a scream upstairs, a scream that belongs to Connie, followed by a shout by Melena, "Mama! Mami!"

Melena's POV

"Can I play with you?" Christian asked walking into the room. 

"Of course, Chris." I smiled, letting him join us. 

"No." Connie said abruptly, "No sharing of toys." 

"Why?" I asked, "Sharing is caring Con." 

"No." She said again. 

"Please?" Christian pleaded, sitting down beside her. 

"I said no!" She screamed and feel to the ground instantly. 

She was in a weird contorted position and she didn't seem to be in control of her actions. 

"Mama! Mami!" I shouted, as I carried a frightened Christian into my arms as I waited for my mothers. 

"Call the ambulance." Mami said immediately after she saw Connie on the ground.