"Mar is busy stealing snuggles. You're the eldest. I think you deserve first dibs, don't you?" Johnny asked, practically shoving the newborn into her arms. "She likes the warmth, but not too hot," he warned her, knowing she had similar abilities to himself. He didn't bother to mention that the baby might exhibit talents of her own one day, as they'd cross that bridge when they reached it. "Go on. She won't bite," he assured her.

"No, she'll just drown me in drool," Fliss drawled, but obligingly let her father put Bess into her arms, glad now she was sitting down. And something very odd happened to her. For months, Fliss had been worrying that maybe she wouldn't like the new baby as much as she liked Maria and Alex; that she might even hate the new baby for not being adopted like the rest of them; that the new baby wouldn't feel like family. But now, looking down at the tiny girl in her arms, Fliss found herself biting her lip, absolutely certain that this was her baby sister. "Oh, Dad, she's beautiful," she whispered, a little awestruck by the little life she was holding.

All three of their adopted children could easily pass for their natural offspring, but that wasn't why they'd been adopted. They'd been adopted because each of them had special needs that only a home with a special family could provide, and Johnny and Liv provided that home and that family. Whether they were adopted or not didn't matter to the Storms - all of their children were theirs, whether they'd been born to them or not, and even Lucas was quickly becoming part of that equation. "Isn't she" I wish we'd found you sooner, but I'm glad you're part of this family, Fliss." He leaned close to whisper a secret in her ear. "You're always gonna be my best and my brightest," he told her, though he loved each of his children equally.

Alex and Maria exchanged knowing glances that were years above their age in maturity, content to cuddle with their mother for now and wait their turn with their baby sister, knowing somehow that Fliss needed this more than they did.

"She's so little," Lucas remarked, clearly in awe of the littlest Storm, remembering when his brother had been born all those years ago.

Touched by Johnny's soft whisper, Fliss sniffled a little, leaning her head onto his shoulder as he hugged her. "Thank you, Daddy," she whispered back to him, hugging her baby sister just a little bit tighter. Lucas' voice brought her back to the moment, awkwardly rubbing her nose on her own shoulder as she looked down at Bess once again. "I didn't even notice that," she admitted with a quiet giggle. "I thought newborns were all supposed to look grumpy, but she's not at all."

"No, she's a happy baby," Johnny pointed out with a proud smile. "That's because she knows that we love her," he said, looking at each of them in succession starting with Fliss. "That's what being a family is all about," he added. "It's about loving each other and being there for one another. I want you all to remember that and remember that you were all chosen - even baby Bess - because we love you, and we always will. We take care of each other." He hadn't planned on making a speech, but that was sort of how it came out.

A few weeks ago, Lucas might have excused himself from the room, feeling awkward and left out and not part of this little family, but he didn't. He remained where he was, right beside Fliss. Whether he was a Storm or not, he was part of this family, too, and belonged right by her side.

Small hands rose to draw attention to Maria as she signed to them. "And we chose you," she added on the end of Johnny's unexpected little speech. "So we look after you, too."

Fliss grinned. "She's right," she agreed with her little sister, nodding. "So no arguing when we cook or clean or tell you sit down or go and have a nap. We can handle it. It's what being a family is all about," she echoed Johnny's sentiment with a cheeky cast to her smile, making Liv snort with laughter.

"I may be taking you all up on the promise of naptime for Mummy," she warned them, but she had already promised to go and see a healer when they got back to Rhy'Din. At least her tiredness would then just be tiredness, and not soreness on top of everything else.

Johnny chuckled as his lecture was turned back around on his and he held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. I give! We're outnumbered now, boys, and there's no winning an argument with a woman, no matter how old or young." He looked over at Maria and signed back at her, "That means you, too, little missy." Blue eyes sparkled with happiness, as they nearly always did when he was with his family. This was what had been missing from his life and what he had craved for so long - to be part of a family, to belong to someone.

"I'm not sure I count," Lucas piped up, though thankfully, he was smiling.

"Dude, if you were a woman, we wouldn't be dating," Fliss pointed out to Lucas with a cheeky little chuckle, nudging him. The movement jostled Bess, who stretched in her blanket and yawned, blinking open newborn blue eyes to peer up at the new person holding her.

On the bed, Maria grinned back at Johnny, crawling out of Liv's lap to settle in his and get a better look at Bess now she'd had her Mummy cuddles.

"We called her Elizabeth Margaret," Liv told them all softly. "For Peggy."

"Peggy was with us yesterday, I think," Johnny murmured quietly, mostly to himself, as he opened his arms to Maria, letting her crawl onto his lap.

Alex seemed a little bit shy, but belatedly slid off the bed to join the small circle forming around his new baby sister. "I thought her name is Bess," he said, uncertainly, maintaining a small distance as if he was almost afraid of her, as curious as he was.

"Bess is a nickname for Elizabeth," Johnny explained. "Like Alex and Mar and Fliss are nicknames."

"Elizabeth is a very grown up name," Liv added, sliding to the edge of the bed with Alex. "So while she's little, we'll call her Bess, and she can decide what she'd like to be called when she's bigger." Her hand gently stroked his back as he peered at the baby. "Would you like to hold her, Alex?" she asked him softly, casting a smile over to Maria. As impatient as the little girl was, she was a little like Liv in this regard, holding back until everyone else was comfortable and happy before taking her turn.

"Me?" Alex exclaimed, looking a little shocked at the idea of holding something so small and wiggly and delicate and helpless. She wasn't a puppy, after all, but a little tiny person. "I-I'm not sure," he replied, a worried frown on his face, afraid if he held her, he might break her or something.

Lucas hadn't been asked yet, but he was content to watch beside Fliss and assumed he'd get his turn eventually. He was the only one among them that had any experience with a sibling that young, including Liv and Johnny.

Everyone would get their turn with the baby eventually, as often as they'd like over the days and months to come. Liv smiled at her son. "How about you sit with me, and we'll hold her together?" she suggested, understanding that fear of somehow breaking the baby. She and Johnny had been terrified when they'd first been entrusted with Emily, but that fear was easily overcome with practice.

Alex seemed to consider that a moment before finally nodding his head in agreement. "Okay, Mama," he replied, moving back to the bed to take his place near her side, content to remain there as long as she liked.

"So, he never gets to see his family again just because he's different?" Alex continued, trying to understand. "Why did they send him away' Why didn't they come with him?" he asked, looking up at Liv with a puzzled expression on his face. "You would never send me away, would you, Mama?"

"Oh, no, my darling, I would never send you away," she rushed to reassure him, hoping he would forget his whys as she cuddled him close and kissed his cheek. She didn't want to influence Alex's opinion of Lucas' family by sharing her suspicions about those whys. "We will never send any of you away. But we can say that, because we live in Rhy'Din, where everyone is different and no one will make you a victim, just because you're different. We have that choice. But some people on other worlds, they don't have that choice, and they have to make painful decisions."

"Is Lucas an orphan, like us, then?" Alex asked further, his questions nearly at an end, as his arms went around her neck. It was no secret how much he adored his mother and how devoted he was to her, despite his youth.

While he and Liv discussed Lucas, Johnny and Maria cuddled with Bess, having their own little silent conversation, with their fingers.

Liv shook her head sadly. "No, he isn't," she explained to her little boy, glad that Maria and Johnny were entertaining themselves for the time being. "That's what makes him so sad. He has a mother and a father, and a little brother. But that's why we invited to live with us, sweetheart, so he could feel like he's a part of a family again."

"But ..." Alex started, his eyes filling with tears now. There wasn't a selfish bone in his body but to know he wasn't Lucas' little brother and could never be Lucas' little brother almost broke his young heart. "I always wanted a big brother and ....he already has a little brother of his own." Not quite so little as Alex, though he didn't know that yet.

"Oh, now ..." She cuddled him in closer, stroking his hair. "He's as much your big brother as you are Bess' big brother. And you never know, if he and Fliss stay together long enough, they might get married someday, and then he really will be your big brother." She smiled gently, smoothing his hair. "There's no rule that says you can't love him like a big brother, sweetie. I'm sure he feels the same way about you. Just because he already has a little brother, it doesn't mean he doesn't think of you as another little brother."

"Really?" he asked, sniffling, eyes filled with tears.

"Maybe you could be his honorary little brother," Johnny suggested, from where he sat snuggling Maria and Bess. "His brother by choice, just like you are our children by choice."

"Really," Liv nodded, gently wiping Alex's eyes as Johnny made his own suggestion. "I think that's a wonderful idea. Maybe you could make it a part of your Christmas present to Lucas. We could make a little certificate or something like that, promising to always be his brother."

Alex nodded again, smiling through his tears. "Da, Mama. Do you think he'd like that?" he asked, his heart yearning for the love of a big brother, as well as that of the sisters and parents he knew he already had. Johnny said nothing more. Liv had a way with Alex and a connection that only a mother could have. He felt the same thing with Fliss and Maria - it was something only fathers and daughters or mothers and sons understood.

"I think he would treasure that, and the person it came from," Liv smiled at her little boy, cuddling him close once again. "Now then, no more tears, okay' It's your baby sister's first day ever!" She raised her smile to Johnny and Maria. Like Johnny, she didn't begrudge the special connection he felt with their daughters any more than he begrudged the special connection she felt with Alexei and, to some extent, Lucas, too. They were a family, that was all that mattered.

"Does that mean we can have pizza later?" Alex asked, the tears quickly fading now that he understood things better. Pizza was only one of the many ways the Storm family celebrated special events with their children.

Johnny laughed. "I'm not sure we can have pizza tonight, but as soon as Fliss and Lucas get back, we're going to have a picnic. Maybe pizza should wait until we bring Bessie home. How's that sound?"

Alex beamed a smile at his father and nodded, slipping off Liv's lap to scuttle over near both his younger sisters. "I promise to be the best big brother ever," he told them both, hugging his arms around Maria and touching a kiss to Bess' cheek.

Liv watched as Maria wrapped her free arm around Alexei's neck to plant a kiss on her brother's cheek as he cuddled with his little sisters, relieved that they had managed to explain that little bump in the road without too many hiccups. Her eyes met Johnny's, fighting to keep her mouth shut - thanks to Lucy's intervention (and probably S.H.I.E.L.D.'s, too), the doctor was going to check on Liv and Bess this afternoon. If they were both fit and healthy, they'd be able to go home tonight. "Yes, you can't have pizza without me," she pointed out teasingly. "Who'll eat your mushrooms if I'm not there?"

Alex giggled at his mother's question, before replying, "Bella!"

Johnny met Liv's gaze, sensing there was something she knew that he didn't, but he wasn't sure what that was yet. He would have tickled the boy for his pertinent answer, but his arms were too full of daughters to do that at the moment. "Bella eats popcorn and mushrooms now?" he asked with a grin.

"If Bella eats mushrooms, you can clean up her poop!" Liv informed her son with a chuckle, meeting Maria's eyes as the little girl looked back and forth between them. Something unspoken passed between mother and daughter for a moment, some gentle reassurance, and the two smile at one another before Maria nestled back into Johnny's arms once again.

Alex only giggled again at his mother's threat. "That's Fliss' chore!" he pointed out helpfully. He had not yet graduated to such chores as canine care, except to occasionally feed Bella, refill her water dish, and play with her. Johnny didn't notice the glance between Liv and Maria, too enchanted with his new daughter's skill at blowing bubbles.

"What's Fliss' chore?" a familiar voice demanded from the doorway, where the big sister in question had returned with Lucas, each of them weighed down with a selection of sandwiches and snacks that ended up spread over the bed between everyone.

"Cleaning up Bella's poop!" Alex replied a little too cheerily. Fliss and Lucas had no sooner set the food down on the bed when Alex scurried over to the older boy and hugged his around the waist. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, Lucas, and I'm sorry I said the popcorn made you fart. You're the best big brother ever!"

Lucas looked a little abashed by the sudden attention, though he was happy enough to hug Alex back. "It's okay. You're a good little brother, too," he said, tossing a confused look at Liv and Johnny, wondering what exactly he'd missed while they'd been off fetching lunch.