by Treanna

 

Part I

The helicopter flew as low as possible over Manor House. The pilot, the lone occupant, pushed the button several times to take pictures from all angles. The helicopter then flew over towards Crabapple Farm. The pilot smiled when he saw two women stood outside. They were both photographed before the helicopter flew away.

"That was strange," Trixie said to Honey. "I wonder what a helicopter is doing around here?"

"It is not something we see everyday."

"I am sure that I something flash a few times. I wonder if the pilot was taking photos?"

"Maybe something Dad has organised. I know he has been talking getting some aerial photos of the game preserve."

Trixie watched as the helicopter hovered over Ten Acres for a moment, before disappearing over the horizon. She turned back to her friend and smiled. "Are you going to help me get the babies out of the car?"

Honey smiled and walked over to Trixie’s car. She opened the door and took Matthew out of his seat. Trixie walked to the other side and got out Katie.

"So how are you, handsome?" Honey smiled as she kissed his neck. He chuckled delightedly.

"They are both fine, Auntie Honey, and looking forward to their party."

"Can you believe our babies are six months old today?"

Trixie grabbed a nappy bag and shut the door. She walked over to her friend. "It seems like yesterday your husband was telling me that there was another baby coming."

"You always did everything with twice as much energy as the rest of us Bob-Whites, even having two babies to our one."

Trixie laughed. "Between work and looking after the babies, I don’t have much time for anything else."

"It’s good Spider let us time-share our job. I would not have been able to work full time."

"Me neither." Trixie smiled. "So where is Maddy?"

"She is inside with little Petey. They have been cooing at each other."

Trixie laughed. "Jim should be here soon so we can eat. I am starving."

Helen Belden walked outside. "My last two grandbabies are here." She smiled as she took Matthew from Honey. "I was wondering where you where."

"I was a little late leaving work today and then Master Frayne here decided to present me with a lovely diaper just as we were about ready to leave."

Moms laughed. "I remember a little girl that loved to do that to me as well."

Just then another car drove up. A tall redhead got out and smiled.  "Just in time, I see."

Trixie smiled as he walked over to her. "Hi baby, how was your day?"

He reached down and kissed her. "Tiring, but I am glad to be here. I am starving. When can we eat?"

"As soon as we get inside."

A large playpen had been set up in the living room and Trixie and Moms put the babies in there.

Trixie looked down at the four babies and smiled. They were different yet so alike.

Brianna smiled up at her, a dark thatch of hair on her head, her tiny body dressed in a white satin dress. Peter Belden lay on his stomach, his head containing a small amount of blond curls. He was chewing delightedly on a pretend chicken leg. Trixie laughed.

And then she smiled down at her two babies.

Matthew was lay on his back, his eyes on his mother. His head adorned with a thatch of red curly hair. And then there was Katie. She was on her hands and knees, rocking forward and backward. She then lunged forward to grab a toy, chuckling delightedly when she had reached it, her blond curls bouncing.

A pair of arms slid around Trixie’s waist.

"She is going to be just like her mother."

"And Matty is going to be just like his father, strong, dependable, and totally gorgeous."

Jim's arms tightened around her. "He also takes totally gorgeous from his mother."

"Do you think you two could tear yourselves away long enough from the babies so we could eat? I am starving."

Trixie smiled at her brother. Even though he did not use large words as much as he did as a child, his appetite had not diminished.

"So you would rather eat than look at your son?"

Mart walked over and smiled at his son. He then noticed what he was doing and laughed. His son looked up at him and grinned, before resuming his ‘chicken leg meal’.

"Well, he has the appetite of his old man," Mart laughed as they headed into the kitchen.

"I thought we would share a meal together before we bring in the babies for the cake," Moms told everyone.

Trixie looked around the table that had been extended to include Honey's parents and Di's parents.

Peter Belden said grace and then smiled down the table. "A couple of years ago, if someone had told me I would be sitting at this table celebrating the fact that three of my children had their children on the same day, I would have thought they were mad. But I know that Trixie, Honey, and Di have always done everything together, so why not delivering their babies on the same day?"

Everyone laughed as they began to eat.

"Dad?" Honey asked, as they were eating. "Did you hire a helicopter to do some photographs?"

Her father shook his head. "I saw the helicopter, too, Honey, but it wasn’t from me."

"It hovered over Ten Acres as well and I thought I saw the flash of a camera," Jim commented.

"Probably someone from a newspaper doing a story," Brian told them.

Mart nodded. "That is what I thought when I saw it."

Trixie looked over at Honey. She wasn’t sure that was the reason.

"Uh-oh," Jim smiled. "I think the Frayne-Belden detective agency is already on the case.

Trixie looked over at her husband. "It just seems--"

"Mysterious!" Everyone at the table said the word at the same time and the room erupted with laughter.

Moms smiled at her daughter. "How about we clear the table and then we can have the cake?"

Ten minutes later they were all seated at the table; four babies had joined them.

"I consider myself the luckiest man around here," Peter Belden told the room.

"The Lynches have one grandchild, the Wheelers have three." He pounded his chest. "But I have all four."

Everyone laughed.

He raised his glass. "To the next generation of Bob-Whites. May they be as much of a challenge and a blessing as the original Bob-Whites were."

And as the celebrations continued, photographs were being developed.

A pair of hands held a photo of Trixie and Honey.

"Soon, we will be together again. Soon."

To Be Continued

And thankyou to my new friend, my perfectly perfect Trixie fan. Thankyou for you encouragement to start this new story.