Dream Big (Sequel to Dreamer)

Chapter Two

Tia's POV

I held Desiree on my hip, and Chandler held Jackson on his. Violet was standing between between us, holding a sign with Jax and Lexie's names on it. A flight attendant approached us, a thirteen year old boy and an eleven year old girl trailing behind with another flight attendant pushing a large cart covered in suitcases. I place Desiree down, rushing over to the two kids. I embrace the two children, kissing their heads. "I doubt the two of you remember me, but I promise you, I remember the two of you." I told them, and they clung to me. "I missed you both." I tell them, pulling away. The flight attendant cleared her throat, and I pull my wallet out. I give her my ID, she checks it, I sign a paper, and my other three children rush over. "Jax, Lexie, do you still go by those nicknames?" I ask them, and they nod. I put my arms around their shoulders, and introduce them. "Desiree, Jackson, Violet, these are your new siblings, Jax and Lexie. Jax, Lexie, these are your new siblings. The youngest two are Desiree and Jackson, and they're twins. The older girl is Violet. The man holding Jackson is Chandler. He's my husband, and their dad." I introduce everyone, but the two kids didn't say anything. Chandler puts down Jackson, and he takes the cart from the other flight attendant, and we make eye contact. "How about we head to the car?" I suggest, and that's where we go. Desiree looks at Lexie, smiling at her. "Can I hold your hand?" She asks Lexie, and Lexie hesitates, but nods. Desiree takes her hand, and Violet grabs Jackson's hand, then the cart. I had a small herd it seemed. We quickly made it to the mini van, and we loaded the bags into the back. Chandler and I got the twins buckled into their car seats, and the older three buckled themselves in obediently. Chandler climbed into the driver's seat, and then I got in the passenger's seat. "Jax, Lexie, do you want to go back to the house, or do you want to go pick out some furniture?" I asked them, looking at them in the rear view mirror. They paused for a minute. Then Jax answered, "I'd like to get the furniture, if that's okay." The freckled face teen requests, and I smile. "That's great with us. What about you, Lexie?" I asked. "Um, the furniture, I guess." She says meekly. "Spillers?" I asked Chandler, and he nodded. We left the airport, and then head to Spillers Furniture. When we get there and pick out their furniture we leave with two night stands, two full beds with mattresses and comforter sets, two dressers, and paint. They were all being delivered to our house tonight. When we got home we let Jax and Lexie pick out which room they wanted, and then had each set of furniture sent to that room. Jax has dark oak furniture, and Lexie had all white. Jax's room would be painted navy. Lexie's room would be painted turquoise. Jax's comforter set was blue plaid, and Lexie's was turquoise and decorated with the Eiffel Tower and French quotes, all of which was in silver and purple. We would paint tomorrow, but until then we had to get the furniture built and the beds made so they could sleep. Chandler got the three younger ones ready for bed and asleep for me while I put the older two kids' beds together and made. Jax and Lexie showered while I did it. Once that was done I sat them down, getting out my photo album that I got my parents to send me. I opened the first page and they immediately gasped, yelling her name in unison, "Annika!" And I nodded. "My best friend from sixth grade and onward." I tell them, and they look at me. "I told you I remembered the two of you." I mused, smirking. I slowly flipped through a few pages, watching their reactions as they saw how silly their late older sister was. I especially watched Jax. He was just barely old enough to remember her. He seemed to find the pictures bitter sweet. I then flipped to the pages I had of the three of us from when they were little. They cringed at the sight, but laughed none-the-less. Especially when they saw how more times than not they were on my hip or in my lap. Then an idea popped in my head when I saw the picture of us on the church bus. "Welcome...to... Gravity Falls..." I started, and they smiled at me. "Where an ancient mystery lies... come on let's go and find it..." Lexie joined in. "I know we will succeed... With Bill Cipher watching me... we have to... break the cure... trust no one discovering the secrets. Of. Gravity... Falls!" Well all three sang, and I let the two kids finish it. This was their part they later added. "Bill!" They shouted, and I laughed lightly. "Tia, do you think people will be nice to us because you're friends with Shawn Mendes?" Lexie asked, and I smiled at her. "Some people will be, but others will be nice to you because you're nice." I tell her, and she nods. "I believe we all need to go to bed. Tomorrow while Chandler is painting your rooms we can go pick up decorations and unpack." I tell them, standing up. They agree, and Jax stands up too. We were in Lexie's room. "I know this is a lot to take in, but I'm here if you need to talk. I know both of you miss your friends, and your parents, but I don't want you thinking you'll never see them again. We'll visit, I promise. We fly to Atlanta all the time, at least once a month. We stay for about a week every time during the summer. During the school year we fly over after school and come back Sunday night. We'll start going every other week so that you can see your friends and visit your parents graves, and AJ's too." I assure them, and nod with tears in your eyes. I pull them into one more hug. "I'll talk to Chandler about getting the two of you phones, that way you can call and text them." I assure them once more, rocking them in my arms. I give them a squeeze, and then let go of them. "Jax, if you want to go change I'll be in there in a minute." I say, heaving one of Lexie's suitcases onto her bed. I open it to find some of her clothes, luckily it was her pajamas. I let Lexie pick them out and Jax and I step out for her to change. "You don't have to tuck me in, you know." Jax tells me, and I chuckle. "I know, and I wasn't going to. I was going to talk to you away from Lexie. I was going to do the same for Lexie. Some times it's easier to talk to someone when it's just the two of you." I tell him, ruffling his hair. "You're not five anymore. I get that." I assure him, smiling at him. "Are you one of those cool moms...?" He asks me hesitantly, and I shrug. "Depends on what it is. If you're asking my permission to go do drugs and drink and participate in certain activities, then no. You're too young right now. Ask again in a few years." I tell him, and he turns fire truck red and his eyes go wide. "Not what I meant! I was talking about going out with friends, dating, that sort of thing." Jax exclaims, but still trying to keep his voice down. "As long as I know who you're with, where you are, when to expect you back, and you aren't doing anything illegal I don't care." I inform him, and he relaxes. "I'll be there in a few minutes, alright? I'm gonna talk to Lexie now." I assure him, and he nods. Jax walks off, and I knock on Lexie's door. "Come in." She says softly, and I open the door. Lexie was zipping up her bag, already in a knee length pink night gown. I walk over, helping her place the suitcase on the floor. Lexie thanks me, moving to crawl on to the bed. Her long blonde hair went half way down her back, and her eyes still shined bright blue. Unlike her brother, she didn't have a single freckle on her face. Her and Jax shared the same colored eyes, but Jax's hair was a chestnut brown. "Tia?" Lexie asked, and I hummed in response. "How come I don't remember you?" She asked me, and I sighed. "You were really little when I moved to LA. You were four years old, and you can't really remember things very well until you're five." I explain, helping her get adjusted. "Who's your favorite singer?" I asked, smiling at her. "Shawn!" She giggled, and I smiled. "Lucky you, he's coming over Saturday. He's bringing his son, Carter, with him. Desiree and Jackson are best friends with Carter." I tell her, and she beams. "I get to meet Shawn?" She squeals, and I laugh. "You not only get to meet him, but you'll see him every week." I tell her happily. "Really?" She asks, even more excited that before. "Really." I confirm, smiling. "Okay, who's your favorite actor?" I ask her, and she pauses to think. "My favorite actress is Katelyn Naccon, and my favorite actor is Freddie Tomlinson." She says happily. She's definitely a fan girl. "Katelyn is coming over tomorrow, she's actually my best girl friend." I tell her, and Lexie's jaw drops. "Two celebrities in one week?" She squeals, and I giggle. "Three, actually. You'll be officially enrolled at your new school tomorrow, and Freddie is in your grade. I'm friends with Louis, and we made sure you and Freddie had the same classes so you could have at least one friend." I explain, and she looks as though she might faint. "Freddie's gonna be here Wednesday morning so I can drop you both off." I tell her, and she smiles wildly. "Why don't you get some sleep? You and I can talk more about this tomorrow." I tell her, smiling. We hug one more time, and say goodnight. I walk out of the room, cracking the door. I walk a three doors down, and knock. Jax opens the door, and he's wearing red and black flannel pajama bottoms, that's it. I don't say anything. Then he grabs a shirt from his bed, a black t-shirt, and puts it on. "I know Lexie isn't ready to talk about it. I just asked her a few questions about her favorite celebrities." I inform him, testing the waters a little. He doesn't say anything. "I don't think you are either." I say, walking closer. Jax gets into bed, and I sit down on the edge. "What are some things that interest you?" I ask him, trying to figure him out. "I like swimming, and I've always thought surfing was cool." He says, shrugging his shoulders. "We'll go to the beach Friday after school." I tell him, and he smiles. "If you want, Shawn can teach you how to surf. He learned how about two years ago." I inform him, and Jax smiles at me. "I'd like that." I smile back, knowing he's gonna be okay. "I'll talk to him Saturday. He's bringing his son over so the twins and him can play." I state, and Jax smiles again. I stand up, hugging him. "Goodnight, Jax." I say softly. "Goodnight, Tia." He replies, and then I pull away. I walk towards the door, walking out. I crack it, then head down the hall towards Chandler and I's room. I open the door, shutting it behind me once I walk in. Chandler was looking through his clothes for pajamas. He looks over his shoulder to see who had just walked in. "It's just me." I whisper, walking over to him. I open the drawer next to his, grabbing my pajamas. I didn't really care what they were. I quickly changed clothes, crawling on to my side of the bed. "I think Jax and Lexie are settling in well." I inform him, and he knew I was going to ask for something. "What is it, babe?" He asked me, chuckling. "I was thinking they needed phones, that way they don't lose their old friends from Alabama." I told him, and Chandler crawled in bed next to me. "Well, we can definitely afford it, and I don't think they should lose contact with them, so I agree." Chandler says, and I squeal. "They're gonna be glad." I tell him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He wraps his arms around my waist, and I smile. Then I frown. "You know I'm gonna have to have surgery soon." I say, and he sighs. "You won't be down for long." Chandler says, and I nod. "Once all five kids are at school Wednesday I'll call the doctor for an appointment." I tell him, and then we lay down to go to sleep. "Goodnight, Chandler, I love you." I say. "Goodnight, Tia, I love you." He responds.