Becoming a family of 4

[justagirl4fun]

Brent and Molly McCann strolled through the airport, Molly cradling their new daughter in her arms as the tiny girl slept. Sadie had been absolutely miserable on the long flight from China, but had fallen asleep just minutes into their hour-and-a-half wait to get through immigration. Now that they were cleared, they were heading to baggage claim to pick up their luggage and meet Molly's parents, who had kept their 18-month-old daughter, Elise for the three weeks they were gone. Suddenly they heard a sweet little voice calling "Mama! Mama!" and before Molly knew it Elise was barreling towards them, her wispy, white-blonde pigtails bouncing, and flung herself at Molly's legs.

[Shy-Diapers]

I'd be willing to do this one with you. If you don't want me to that's fine too.

[justagirl4fun]

Of course you can. How old do you want Sadie to be? Like I said, she can be 2.5 - 3.5 years old.

[Shy-Diapers]

I say three and a half. Just so I know, how much, if any, English does she speak? Either way I'm fine I just wanna know.

[justagirl4fun]

Not much. Maybe a few words...mama, dada, baba, eat...simple things like that.

[Shy-Diapers]

Okay. I just wanted to see what you had in mind. Anything else I should know?

[justagirl4fun]

I think that's it.

[Shy-Diapers]

Bret picked his daughter up hoping to satisfy her for now.

[justagirl4fun]

Molly groaned. "It was a rough flight, not gonna lie. This one didn't sleep at all," she said, moving away from Brent as Elise repeatedly tried to fling herself out of her father's arms. "Elise, stop it. Sadie's sleeping. Mom! You can't just take her! We went over this before we left!" she scolded as Ellen reached for her new granddaughter. Molly and Brent planned on cocooning with Sadie - meaning that no visitors would be allowed at first and even once they were only Brent and Molly could hold Sadie and care for her for at least a few months, or until they felt she had bonded with them and accepted them as her primary caregivers.

[Shy-Diapers]

"Elise please stop." Bret begged, being tired from the flight. "Sadie is sleeping and you don't wanna wake her up. How about we go find our bags? Can you help me like a big girl."

Sadie fussed a little, but soon went right back to sleep with Molly holding her.

[justagirl4fun]

"No. Wan' mama," Elise protested tearfully, but rested her head on Brent's shoulder as he headed for baggage claim with Ellen walking next to him.

[Shy-Diapers]

"It was rough the first few nights. She missed you a lot but we had fun. She gave me and your mother a real work out." Molly's father laughed. "We may have indulged her requests for sweets a little more than what you suggested though."

"How was it with grandma and grandpa?" Bret asked Ellie.

[justagirl4fun]

"Well, I suppose it could be worse," Molly said with a chuckle. "That girl does have a sweet tooth, just like her mama."

"Nana take paci," Elise said pitifully and stuck out her lower lip. It was already past naptime and she was starting to get cranky. "Wan' paci. Pease, dada?"

[Shy-Diapers]

Bret sighed. They had let Ellie keep her paci longer than they should've. It was going to be hard especially since Sadie still used one occasionally. It kept her quiet for short amounts of time. "No baby. I'm sorry

[justagirl4fun]

"No! Wan' paci!" Elise demanded. Within seconds she was full-out crying.

"What? I told mom not to take the pacifier away yet! Why does she always think she knows better than me?" Molly fumed. She saw nothing wrong with a toddler, not yet two years old, using a pacifier and had told Ellen to mind her own business when the woman suggested taking it away. "The next few months are going to be hard enough, why take away the one thing she uses to soothe herself?"

[Shy-Diapers]

"Okay okay." Bret said giving in. He dug in his coat pocket and popped a pacifier in his daughter's mouth. He sighed when it calmed her down.

[justagirl4fun]

"Brent! You can't do that! It took me three weeks to get her to go to sleep without that thing, and you just three all my guard work right out the window!" Ellen snapped as she put her hands on her hips and glared at her son-in-law.

Molly shook her head. "No, we can't just give it back after three weeks. It'll just make it harder to take it away later on. I just...I just wish she'd listen to me! These are MY kids, not hers." She shifted Sadie to her other leg and realized how wet the girl's diaper was. "I better get her changed. She'll never make it home without leaking. Tell Brent we went to the bathroom if he gets back before we do."

[Shy-Diapers]

"It makes her happy and I'm sure she'll give it up when she's ready." Brent snapped back. He was tired. He got the bags and dragged them over to his in-laws.

[justagirl4fun]

"Shh, it's okay Sadie. Mama's just going to change your diaper, okay sweetie?" Molly cooed as she set Sadie down on the changing table. She talked to Sadie all the time even though she knew the girl didn't understand much at this point. "Mama's going to clean you up, then we'll get in the car and go home." She handed Sadie a pacifier and a toy from the diaper bag and got to work.

[Shy-Diapers]

Sadie started to calm down after having the pacifier and toy. It kept her quiet and distracted.

[justagirl4fun]

"Okay Sadie, all better! Let's go find dada!" Molly said cheerfully as she grabbed the bag and put Sadie on her hip. She frowned when she found Elise asleep in Brent's arms with a pacifier in her mouth. "Okay, what's going on here? I thought mom took that away?" she asked him quietly through clenched teeth. Her parents were sitting a few yards away, and she could tell her mother was fuming.

[Shy-Diapers]

"She broke into tears and was yelling. She's not going to see it being fair when she sees Sadie uses one and she's more than twice her age." Brent said firmly. "It's gonna be hard enough to get the two happy together without the pacifier issue."

[justagirl4fun]

"No, of course it wouldn't be fair to let Sadie have one and not her. I just wish mom would have minded her own business like I told her to," Molly said as she brushed a stray lock of hair from Elise's face and kissed her forehead. "I missed that squishy little face. She looks bigger, don't you think? I swear she grew while we were away," she rambled, suddenly feeling overrun with guilt over leaving her baby for so long, especially since it seemed like the girl probably hadn't had the greatest time.

[Shy-Diapers]

"I don't think so. But you never know. She does grow fast." Brent smiled and kissed his wife and Ellie, knowing not to go near Sadie yet. "Let's get going. We have a long road ahead of us. Who knows how long she'll nap for and if Sadie will tolerate the car."

[justagirl4fun]

Molly chuckled. Of course Elise was still a little peanut. She'd been born 12 weeks early and was still small for her age - though she'd caught up in every other area and was a typical 18-month-old in every way - but she suddenly looked so much bigger next to Sadie who, though she was 2 years older, was only an inch or two taller and a good 5 pounds lighter. "Yes, let's get going. I can't wait to get out of these clothes and take a shower." They quickly made their way to the car and she started getting Sadie in her car seat as Brent and Edward loaded in their bags. Elise slept through it all.