Paper Hearts
Part XXIV
6 years afterward

Wow, it is difficult for me to believe this story is over. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope you enjoyed reading it, and I hope you like this ending. A sequel is extremely unlikely because I am focusing on my other stories, but I am writing lots more Addek!

Whatever you say or do, life changes. New becomes worn, young becomes old, and the people we thought we were are discarded for newer, shinier, supposedly improved models. We go on, hoping that with time life improves, but we do not always realize it is the people and not the events that make all the difference in the world.

Griffin

Seven year old Griffin Shepherd gazed up at the brilliant turquoise sky as he fought his way through the knee high emerald grass. The boy made it to a small creek and hopped carefully over, his dark red curls flying.

"Hurry up!" he called back over his shoulder to six year old Maya Bennett and five year old Hailey Sloan. "Grandma said to be back by 4 o'clock and it's already 3:59!"

"But Griffie, we found a frog!" Hailey called happily, holding up a handful of green.

"Yuck, it has warts, put it down, Hailey!" Maya squealed.

"No, those are toads, Maya," Griffin corrected. "But we have to come on or Grandma Carolyn will leave without us!"

The three children resumed running through the Seattle forest, their long, flying limbs collecting small cuts and scratches as they went. Griffin was the fastest, he far outstripped the other two girls, but they raced until they reached the shiny sliding glass door of Griffin's porch.

"4:04!" he panted. "We're four minutes late!"

"Griffin!" Carolyn Shepherd sang. "Come on, silly boy. Don't you want to see your parents?" She held open the door of Addison's SUV and the three sweaty kids climbed in. Griffin tapped his feet against the inside of the leather interior impatiently, occasionally throwing glances out the window as they headed to SeaTac. Hailey absentmindedly chewed her hair, which was dark as a starless night, until Carolyn reprimanded her and her hazel eyes grew wide.

"Are we there yet?" Maya wanted to know five minutes into the ride.

"No, honey, twenty more minutes," Carolyn promised.

"I can't wait anymore," Griffin moaned. "Mom and Dad have been gone for like ten years! I can hardly remember what they look like anymore."

"No, they've been gone for only three weeks. My Daddy said so," Hailey corrected in a superior voice.

"Smarty pants," Maya commented.

"Well, my Daddy is the best doctor in the world and he said so!" Hailey retorted.

"No, my Dad is the best doctor in the world!" Griffin argued.

"No, my Dad is!" Maya shrieked.

"My Daddy fixes people's faces," Hailey bragged. "And my Mommy fixes people's bones."

"Well mine fixes people's brains!" Griffin shouted. "And my Mom saves babies."

"My Dad helps people all over their body," Maya told them. "And my Mom makes people have babies."

"Ew!" Griffin said. "That's yucky."

"Why?" Hailey asked, eyes wide.

"Don't you two know how babies are made?" Griffin asked.

"Griffin!" Carolyn said warningly.

"Storks bring them," Maya sighed happily. "Storks are big white pretty birds."

"No, they're made by magic. Not birds," said Hailey. "My dad said when a mommy and daddy love each other very much, something magical happens."

"Well, I know how they're really made, and it's gross," Griffin said, wrinkling his nose.

"All right, that's quite enough!" Carolyn said from the front of the car, and the kids were silent until they reached the bustling airport, lit up in the dusky sky. Griffin craned his head impatiently when they entered; staring through the crowds of people, looking for his parents, while Maya and Hailey walked more serenely.

"Grandma, how far away is Thailand?" Griffin wanted to know.

"Very far away," she answered. "It's in Asia. They've probably been on a plane for about fifteen hours now."

"With the babies?" Griffin wanted to know. "Are babies in Thailand made the same way as babies here?"

"Yes and yes," Carolyn said patiently. "Look, that's their plane right there," she said, pointing out the window at a plane near the gate they were at. "They'll be out in a minute; they have to get their stuff for the babies."

Griffin slumped in a chair impatiently, his tolerance completely worn out after three weeks. He didn't want to look like a baby in front of Maya and Hailey, but he had really missed them. Grandma Carolyn gave him more ice cream, but his mother gave better hugs and his father wasn't too old to play real baseball with him. Griffin sighed dejectedly.

"I brought your sign for them," Carolyn said softly, ruffling his head of curls, and Griffin took the blue construction paper with the words 'Welcome Home, Mom and Dad!' and some of Hailey's glitter glue and held it in limp hands.

"What if Mom and Dad like the babies better than me?" he wanted to know. "What if they can't play with me anymore?" he worried.

"They'll play with you," Carolyn promised. "Look, this looks like them. Hold up your sign!"

Griffin set the sign on top of his head and stood on his tiptoes, but he was too short to see much of anything. He continued looking diligently, however, until he felt a tap on his shoulder. "Mom!" he shouted, the sign falling forgotten from his hands as he launched himself at her.

"Hey, buddy! Careful," she said as she adjusted the baby resting in her arms. "Did you miss me?"

"So much! Never leave again," he said. "Next time we can just adopt some babies from down the street or something," he told her, and she laughed. "I wish I could have gone to Thailand. What's it like?"

"Wet. Humid. Lots of jungle," she said. "We have pictures. Maybe you can go next time, if we take the twins back to see it in a few years. Now, do you want to meet your sister?" She pulled a small pink bundle away from her chest and inside it he saw a dark haired, caramel skinned baby, with large chocolate colored eyes and tiny fists. It surprised him, but there was something special about the baby girl in all her tiny perfection.

"She's all right, I suppose," he said gruffly, but he suspected she saw right through him when she kissed his forehead. "What's her name?"

"Malee," Addison answered. "It means flower. She looks like a little flower, huh?" Malee Shepherd yawned, stretching teenie, thin limbs, her berry lips parting to reveal a miniscule pink tongue. "You want to hold her?" Addison asked.

"Will I break her?" Griffin asked.

"No, she's three months old. You won't break her," Addison promised, and then set the baby in his arms, tucking her in like a football. Her puff of dark hair tickled his chin, and Addison smoothed down her pink onesie, which was gathered around her stomach. Malee's eyes were slightly slanted and her cheeks were endearingly chubby. She couldn't have looked different than him, but he felt a sort of kinship with her even though they weren't truly related.

"What do you think?" a voice asked behind him, and Derek stepped around him, carrying a blue blanket. Griffin grinned widely and his father gave him a one armed squeeze and touched Malee's nose softly.

"I guess she was worth having you gone in Thailand for three weeks," Griffin admitted grudgingly. "Now can I see my brother?"

Derek knelt and held the baby boy up by his sister. They looked almost exactly identical, except that Malee had tiny diamond earrings. "His name is Aran, it means forest in Thai," Derek told him as one of Aran's soft little hands brushed Griffin's chin. He had the same onesie as his sister, but in blue.

"Malee Addison Shepherd and Aran Derek Shepherd. It sounds vain, huh?" Addison joked, running a hand under her baby son's tiny chin.

"Hey," said Griffin. "You have children named after a magical creature, a flower and a bunch of trees. You're weird."

"You can name the next one," Addison promised.

"The next one that we're not getting for at least five years," Derek added firmly.

"Well, we better get these babies home, eh, big brother?" Addison asked, bumping his shoulder playfully and then scooping his little sister out of his arms.

"I always wanted to be a brother," Griffin admitted as they left. "But I didn't know you were going to adopt such teenie children."

"All babies are this size," Derek told him.

"I wasn't. I was really big," Griffin argued.

"No, you weren't, because I was the one who almost had to push you out of my –"

"Okay, Mom!" Griffin said quickly. "I didn't need to hear that.

"All right, all right," Addison laughed, trying to juggle Malee and the diaper bag in her arms. Together the little family left the airport, Griffin explaining all the games he wanted to play with Malee and Aran while Addison and Derek explained that they were too little to play all the games. It was difficult to believe that so much love and so much utter happiness were born of a single question asked eight years ago.

The End