Chapter Seven- The Cut

A/N: Hi, again. I realize it's nearly been four years. 

No, I'm not returning to this challenge. This is actually a post that's been sitting in my drafts for the past few years, one that I had completely forgotten about. It's not finished and it won't ever be, but I found it today and I thought I'd post what little I have left. 

As for why I'm not returning to this- once again, I lost all of my Sims files, which means that Amelia and the kids are gone. I don't have the energy to recreate her, nor do I want to, so this unfinished chapter is the end of Amelia's story. Not to mention that I no longer have any sort of desire to do a 100 baby challenge- that particular passion died years ago. I'll still keep her and Ruby's blogs up of course, but the stories of the Falls' ends here.

Of course, I'm still writing! If you're curious to see where I've ended up, I've added another lengthy author's note to the end of this chapter, which contains a link to my new blog. 

Now, please enjoy this final post from the depths of 2017!

*****

Lilac and Heather age up completely identical, right down to the eye color. Valentine's suggestion to dress them alike has gotten Oliver completely mixed up on who is who. However, it's easy for me to tell the twins apart. 

Although they may look identical, they have very different personalities.  Heather is always looking around, observing the objects around her. Lilac on the other hand, is usually wearing a sullen expression on her face and doesn't like the majority of the family. She's alright with Heather, but she can get downright mean if you annoy her. 

Speaking of Valentine, she's developed a daring new style with a reckless personality to match. She's still the family loving girl that I raised, but I'm constantly finding her doing things like diving down the stairs and doing flips off the swing set. I'm terrified she's going to hurt herself one of these days, but she knows what she's doing. Most of the time.

Oliver keeps his hair short as he ages up. Like Lydia, he's developed the not so wonderful talent of forgetting everything, which I'm sure his teachers are going to enjoy. He's not all that motivated to help around the house or do anything that requires movement. He's perfectly content to nap and watch T.V. all day

William acquires a talent for cooking as he becomes a young adult, most likely do to the microwaved hot dog dinner. He plans to be a chef which is a bit of a shock, since he's so cautious. He adds a little paint to his half finished work and then he's out the door, ready to face the world. His grumpy personality will definitely be missed. 

What we're quickly finding out is that Lilac likes attention. If Valentine's snuggling with Heather, she'll start screaming and crying. But as Valentine picks her up, she'll wriggle around until she's put down. Then she screams again. It's stressful for Valentine, who has devoted so much of her time to keeping both of the twins happy, which is a rare occurrence. She eventually just gave up and left the two to their own devices. 

Microwaved ratatouille is the meal for dinner that evening, which the kids eagerly dig into. It's not either of their favorites, but it seems that it's a meal that they enjoy eating. It's not one of my favorites, but it's still a decent dinner. Lilac is quiet for the first time all day, which is a huge plus.

A clueless look that I'm all too familiar with spreads across Oliver's face as he looks around the room. He looks under the table and is in the process of checking the chairs when I ask him what's he's looking for.

"My homework. Have you seen it?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"My homework. Valentine said I'd start getting homework when I became a child. Where is it?"

"Oliver, you need to go to school before you get homework." I laughed.

"Oh. That makes sense." He paused. "Where are my shoes?"

It's a bit past ten now, the twins are asleep and I can hear the kids heading off to bed as I examine myself in the mirror. My hair has had some nasty split ends for ages and I hadn't had the chance to get them taken care of. I have a stylist appointment tomorrow morning, so the issue will soon be resolved. I'm in bed a few minutes later and I'm out in a matter of moments.

At nine AM sharp, I'm standing at a styling station, a Berry stylist looking over me.

"Oh, I see it." he says, waving a pink hand. "I know exactly what to do."

"Hey, I just need a trim." I laugh. "Not a entire makeover."

"Sure." he says with a nod, but he doesn't look convinced.

He gives me a magazine to read as I sit down in a chair. He pulls out his scissors as I undo the braid and he's quietly snipping at my hair as I read through an article about another celebrity marriage gone wrong. It's a drag, but I don't look up. At least, not until I see the flash of blonde falling to the ground. I lift my head up and look over.

The magazine drops.

I'm out of my chair in an instant, a look of anger quickly spreading across my face.

"I said  a trim!" I shouted, earning a confused look from some of the other customers, but I pay no attention. "Not chop my hair off!"

"Look fine to me." he says offhandedly. "Besides, it's just hair."

Once again, I'm completely tongue tied. I clench my fists, but no words come out. None of my retorts sound good in my head. I'm standing there fuming, not saying a word.

Finally I gather enough sense to storm out of the shop, ignoring his insistence that I pay. I hop into the car and drive away as quickly as I can. I'm too angry to cry, I'm in a boiling rage as I arrive home. I don't say hello to the kids, I just go into my room and shut the door.

I can't help but flinch as I look at my reflection. I don't even recognize myself with such short hair. The only time my hair had been this short was when I was a toddler, and I didn't have bangs then. Now my hair was millimeters away from my eyes and it didn't even cover my neck. I looked so far from myself that it was hard not to cringe.

There isn't any way to fix it though. I don't have a super hair growth potion on hand, nor do I want to get extensions. I just had to hope that my hair grew back quickly.

Lilac doesn't seem to notice my new hairstyle, she's still as cranky as ever. I refuse to let her mood bother me, so I pull her up to her feet. Her whines are cut off as she gives me a confused look, but she starts screaming again as I back away.

*****

A/N: And this is how it ends. I wish I could tack on more, but I have no idea where this chapter was supposed to head, since all of my writing was oriented around game play at the time. 

On the off chance that someone is curious- I'm writing SimLit again! After taking a few years off from the Sims 3, I've started up again with a new blog- The Fairwood Legacy. It's located on WordPress, and you can check it out here. I'd like to think that the quality of my writing has improved after four years. 

This blog never gained much traction, but it's been a fun ride regardless. Ruby and Amelia were my first, tentative steps into SimLit, and I'll always treasure the stories I created with them. To everyone who has ever followed, commented on, or even viewed this blog- thank you. You've all inspired me in ways that you cannot possibly imagine. You all have my eternal gratitude. You motivated a tiny, scared teenage girl to put herself and her writing out into the world, and she will always be grateful for that. 

This is the end of Amelia's story, but not the end of mine. If you need me, ask for Abigail Fairwood. She'll know where to find me. 

-Amelia

(Yes, that's my actual name. What a shocker, right?) 

Chapter Five: Finally, we have multiples- Babies Five and Six

The first round of birthdays are Valentine and Oliver. Valentine's smarts are even more evident now that she's a child. It's also evident that she loves her family. She's always hanging around the house, playing and chatting with her siblings. 

Oliver is a heavy sleeper like William. He's also pretty inactive, hardly ever moving around. He's usually laying down, staring at the ceiling. He's not the most interesting of toddlers to say the least. He got his father's hair color, which I'm thrilled about.

William ages up to be quite handsome. While he's still the grumpy and moody boy we all know, he's more respectful of other people. Well, terrified. He gets easily intimidated and keeps his mouth shut more often. He also has issues with being outside late at night.

And finally, Lydia. She keeps her teenage hairstyle and ditches her sweater and jeans for a comfy dress. She's got an interest in fixing things, so she's heading into the Science career to test out her skills. 

It's a tearful goodbye. Valentine clutches Lydia's arm and is nearly impossible to get off. William seems unchanged, just his normal grumpy self. Oliver isn't even in the room, he's in the family room playing with the blocks.

Me? There are tears in my eyes as I hug my eldest goodbye. Lydia smiles and waves goodbye and eagerly dashes out the door, promising to visit on the way out.

The rest of the evening is quite somber. I make some spaghetti while William sculpts upstairs. Valentine is playing Peek-A-Boo with Oliver, much to his delight. It's quiet, other than Oliver's giggles. It's odd not having Lydia around, her blue skin and multicolored hair easily setting her apart from the rest of Twinbrook. 

The phone rings and Valentine dives for it. It's Lydia, letting us know that the move went well and she'll visit soon. It does little to improve the mood, but it's good to know that everything is fine.

 Dinner is mostly quiet, but the few conversations we have is lifting the mood. By the end of it, Valentine is laughing and joking along with William. I watch them with a smile on my face. I'm not in a cheerful mood, but it's nice to see that my children are.

After dinner, the kids finish up their chores and do some last minute activities while I put Oliver to bed. Then, the lights turn off and another day in the Falls' household has gone by. 

Oliver greets me with a giant smile when I take him out of the crib the next morning. I smile back, it's hard not to when his face lights up like that. 

I hear the kids get up and soon, they're heading downstairs for breakfast. The lights turn on in the kitchen and the sounds of two tired kids fill the air. I give Oliver his bottle and go to greet the pair.

The next father is a man named Dale Delgato. His hair colors are absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to see if our kid(s) get any of his features. I'm still hoping for multiples to speed things along.

All goes well with Dale and I come home pregnant for the fifth time. A new Falls' child is on the way!

The first thing I do is start Oliver on potty training, which is mostly smooth sailing. He's potty trained after an hour, which is a huge relief. No more diapers for a little while longer.

I take a small break to start of the laundry, then head back to Oliver to teach him how to talk. He doesn't catch on that quickly, but he can pronounce a couple words by the time the kids get back home.

Chase brings a friend home, Chase Bayless. It nice to see that William is making friends despite his grumpy attitude about almost everything. Chase seems like a nice person from the brief conversation I had with her. She doesn't stick around long though, I doubt she's having the time of her life with Valentine doing her homework at the other end of the table, trying to start up a conversation with two people who couldn't be less interested.

Repairing the computer is no easy task, even when it's halfway done. The shock of going into labor must have made me hit a few things because the thing is basically back to square one. Cursing under my breath so the kids hopefully won't hear, I begin the repairs with the screwdriver, trying to avoid getting shocked as much as possible. I'm grateful that I tied my long hair back earlier, it makes one thing less of a hassle. It really doesn't help that the only way I've gotten this far is from the WikiHow article pulled up on my phone.

I finally get the repairs done after an hour of shocks and me nearly ripping out my hair. With a sigh of relief, I sag back in the chair for a few moments before heading to the kitchen. However, I pause when I notice the odd look William is giving me.

"Something wrong?" I ask him. 

"Would it kill you to cook something?" William asks. "I'm sick of leftovers."

My temper begins to rise, but I force a smile on my face. "I made the spaghetti just last night, so it should be fresh." 

"I'm sick of it! You cook once and it's leftovers for the next two days!"

"Would you rather let it sit in the refrigerator and go bad?"

"Yes!"

"Then you would complain about the smell and that we're wasting food and on and on." I replied, letting the smile drop. "Your always complaining, would it kill you to be happy sometime?" 

"I am not-"

I cut him off. "Yes, you are. Always complaining about something. You never smile anymore, you just sit and sulk and complain. It's driving me crazy!" My voice is increasing to a yell. In the kitchen, I hear Valentine quickly heading out as fast as she can, but I'm too angry to care.

"Your so over dramatic!" William yells back. "You make a big deal out of everything. Your so annoying mom!" 

I'm positive I'm visibly shaking from rage. William is only slightly red in the face, otherwise he's pretty much composed. 

Your just a whore right?"

At that moment, I don't see William. I see his father, standing before he so smugly, making me feel as small as an ant. The mocking words, his confident grin. 

I want to scream.

It only lasts for a second and William's face comes back into my view. 

"Mom?" he asks, the anger in his voice gone. "Are you okay?"

He's not James.

I take a deep breath. "Do you want fresh food? Fine." I'm still shaking, but not from anger now. "Not now, it's too late. But tomorrow night. You cook." 

I barely get the last words out before the nausea that I had been feeling for the last few hours beginning to force it's way up. William says something in response, but I'm rushing to the bathroom before I can hear his words. 

After I throw up, I lean against the end of the bathtub and slide to the floor, horrified at what had just transpired. Did I really hate James much much? Yes, he called me those names, but did I hate him enough to see our son as him? My grumpy, artistic, cowardly, heavy sleeper son? William, who I had raised him from birth and every moment after? How could I compare him to James? He was quite unpleasant, but nowhere near the awful personality of his father.

Ruby would know what to do.

The thought is sudden and it comes out of nowhere. My stomach clenches at the thought of my red haired aunt. I put my hands in my knees, feeling the tears that had been forming in my eyes spilling over as i began to sob.

Like many times before, I reflected how much of a mess my life was. My mother and father died in a car wreck when I was only a few days old. My aunt, who raised me, took off in the middle of the night a few weeks after I had moved out. Majority of my cousins never spoke to me and I rarely got calls from Skye (Falls) and Aqua. Fifteen cousins and hardly any contact.

Now here I was, barely twenty and sobbing on the floor, mother of four kids and one already moved out. No siblings, no parents. Just me and my kids.

Of course I had Skye (Everard) and Paisley, but that was it. My world was incredibly small, just my four kids and my two friends.

Just us against the rest of the world... 

I chuckle a bit at the thought. Skye and Paisley have their own issues, but they always make time for me, no matter what happens. My kids love me and I love them too, no matter how much we argue.

My life sucks and there's a lot of stuff I'd like to change about it, but lately it's been a lot of fun, even with the drama. I'm in a lot better place than I was when Ruby took off a few months ago and I have four wonderful kids, more on the way and two awesome friends to prove it. I've come pretty far in such a short amount of time.

Feeling a little better, I wipe the mascara stained tears off my face, creating small smears of black on my cheeks. I wash my face and stare at myself for a moment. I'm not entirely pleased with my appearance, but Oliver's kicking up a fuss, so I hastily exit the bathroom and try to avoid the looks of Valentine and William.

As tired as he is, it's hard to get him to bed. He's incredibly clingy, which isn't all that fun at eleven P.M. His hand clutches to mine and I don't have the motivation to remove his grip. I let him hold my hand as he sits, whining for me to pick up up, but I can see how tired he is so I leave him. He cries a little, but with a little soothing, he finally closes his eyes and drifts off to sleep. I smile at my orange haired toddler before sighing and turning out the light.

Sleep eludes me when I lay down, despite the late hour, I'm incredibly tired after my emotional evening, but my thoughts are torturing me. Memories of my early days fill my mind and my aunt's smiling face comes into view.

I'm just a toddler, my blonde hair tied back in two neat ribbons on the side of my head. My dress is a light blue-green, hemmed with white lace. It's a bit fancier than the things Skye and Aqua wore, but Ruby did love spoiling me a bit.

She's holding my hands, gently raising me to my feet. "That's it." she says, smiling. "There we have it."

She steadies me and backs away, leaving me to wobble unsteadily. 

"Come on Amelia. Walk to me."

I look at Ruby, then at my feet. Deciding against it, I sit back down, looking at Ruby with a blank expression.

She chuckles a bit and she comes over to me and raises me back to my feet again...

----------

"Ruby!" I call through the house. I'm a child now, just arriving home from school. My hair is loose and rests on my back as I head to the kitchen, where the twins are doing their homework. They're teenagers now. Aqua's blue hair is swept back into a braid while Skye's red brown hair is tossed over her shoulder.

"Where's Ruby?" I ask. "I wanna show her my project!'

"She's out." Skye replies, turning a page in her textbook. "She'll be back soon."

"Finished." Aqua says, closing her book. 

"How?" Skye exclaims. "I'm only on the second page!" 

Aqua just smiles at her before turning to me. "In the meantime, do you wanna play a game?"

I grin at her and reach out for her with my hand. "Your it!" I cry and take off. Aqua is close behind and I hear Skye laugh as we leave her behind. 

"I'm gonna get you Amelia!" she yells as she chases after me. 

"No you aren't!" I reply and run into the living room, nearly crashing into my aunt, who had just walked in with groceries. 

"Sorry Ruby!" I yell as I rush outside, Aqua close behind. 

----------

"I miss Aqua and Skye." I groan, flopping onto the bed. The other beds around me haven't been slept in for ages. I'm the only one who occupies the girl's room now. The boy's room is vacant, it's just Ruby and I in the house now.

"Why'd they have to move out?" I grumble, turning over. "At least I'll be a teenager tomorrow. Then I can drive to their house." 

Ruby is leaning in the doorway, looking at me with an amused expression on her face. "Having fun?" she asks, smiling at me.

I groan in response. "When are your friends coming?" I ask her.

"Skye and Paisley?" Ruby asks. "I'm not sure. They both have kids and I'm not sure when they'll be able to come. They live in Sunlit Tides you know, it's pretty far away." 

I groan again. "Yay." I mutter. 

"Do you wanna go to the movies?" Ruby asks a moment later. 

"Not really." I reply, looking at the ceiling. 

"Suit yourself."

----------

I wake up with a gasp.

I fumble for the light switch and turn on the lights. The sudden brightness make my eyes sting painfully, but I ignore it and flop back onto the bed. My breathing is heavy. I close my eyes for a moment but bolt up a few seconds later, feeling the vomit rise in my throat. I stumble out of bed, memories of my aunt causing tears to run down my checks for a second time as I race to the bathroom.

I barely make it in time, but I bend over the bowl and throw up whatever dinner remained in my stomach. I heave for a few moments after it stops, but after I realize no more vomit is coming up, I unsteadily rise to my feet and flush. I stumble back into bed with tear stained cheeks and fall back to sleep almost instantly.

When I wake up, I barely remember my dream.

I don't particularly care enough to cook myself anything, so I settle for a leftover slice of cake from the birthdays. As I munch on my cake, I think things over. I'm relatively new to the world of the challenge mothers and pretty much unknown. I'd like to meet some new challenge mothers soon. I put that on my mental list of things to do as I finish up the cake. I consider starting up a meal just in case William botches up dinner, but I decide against it. We have cereal, we can survive.

Sitting down is no easy task with the small bump that appears on my belly, but I make the best of it. I make motions with my hands as I slowly speak each word to Oliver, exaggerating each syllable. He doesn't respond right away, but he catches on rather quickly and soon he's able to get a few words out. I owe the early success to Valentine, who had been teaching Oliver some new words the night before. She absolutely adores her little brother and her older one as well.

Learning to walk is the last thing William needs to learn. Oliver's first steps are unsteady, but after a few more times, they are more firm. He falls down a few times, but he hardly reacts, he just gets back up.

The kids get home from school and soon enough, it's time to start dinner. William stands in front of the refrigerator, unsure of what to make.

"Salad?" Valentine suggests.

"Don't want to cut myself on a knife." William replies.

"Spaghetti?"

"Don't want to burn myself."

This continues on for a while until Valentine suggests heating up some hot dogs. William doesn't object, since it's the safest option. He puts them in the microwave and heated them up, although he went way over the cooking time to make sure they wouldn't give us food poisoning. The result was some rather dry hot dogs, but they were alright otherwise.

After dinner, I was putting the dishes in the dishwasher when I saw William heading out into the hall. I left the dishwasher open and went after him, tapping him on the shoulder when I got close enough, which nearly caused him to jump out of his skin. He whirled around and relaxed when he saw it was me.

"I'm sorry about last night. I just got really mad." I apologized before he could even open his mouth.

"Oh, it's fine." William said dismissively. "At least we had some food."

I laugh in response and pull him into a hug, which seems to surprise him. He hugs back after a moment, but which much less enthusiasm. I just hug him tighter in response. 

"Mom, your crushing me." he says weakly.

That's my William. Always complaining.

Though he has a reason to complain this time, the thought still strikes me as funny as I release him. He gives me a weird look and heads over to the computer. I continue to laugh softly at his reaction as I go to check on Oliver, who's playing with the dollhouse in the nursery. He's starting up a fuss, so I scoop him up and put him in his crib.

The next day promises to be quite uneventful. Oliver has learned all of his skills and nothing needs cleaning. The only thing I can think of is maybe doing the laundry. Other than that, I have nothing else to do. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but not all that exciting. 

Wanting something to do, I take Oliver out for a small shopping spree. I've been wanting to learn some new recipes and I had the time to do it. It was nice to get out of the house, but the weather was hardly idea. It was a usual overcast day and the wind was fairly strong. I kept Oliver close as we headed inside the store. I picked out a good bunch of recipes at random. Oliver entertained himself with a picture book before it was time to leave.

When I got home, I put Oliver down in front of the xylophone and settled down in the family room, carrying the bag full of recipes. Some of them were clearly beyond my skill level, but there were a few I knew I could manage. I set to work and started reading the first one, a recipe for cookies. It's a nice way to spend a couple of hours, quiet and restful.

All the recipes pull me into cooking mood, so I pull out the cutting board and start chopping some vegetables. The veggi rolls are quick and easy to make, much to my delight. Not only that, but they're also delicious! The taste is wonderful and it's a big hit with the kids. A must keep recipe for sure! 

My stomach, which hasn't been that big, has grown tremendously overnight. I quickly cross my fingers in hopes of finally having multiples. Single births are relaxing and calm, but it's slow going with only one kid and a bit boring. 

I change my clothes and eat breakfast with my kids, William joining a bit late due to him being in the shower.  It's Saturday, much to the delight of the kids. They plan their day, which involves going to the park and movies. Since today is the day I'm going into labor, the kids will be on their own for most of the day. I know I can trust both of them, so I'm not worried.

William is in the middle of asking if he can go to the beach when the contractions kick in. William instantly freaks out, yelling and screaming at the top of his lungs. I laugh a little and nod. "Just take your sister." I reply and start waddling to the nursery. 

The two leave the house a few moments later and I wait in the nursery as the contractions continue.

After two hours, I welcome Heather Falls into my arms. I swaddle her up and put her in one of the cribs. However, the contractions are still going. It takes me a moment before I realize that I'm not quite done.

Soon, I have another baby in my arms, who I name Lilac. 

A/N I'm rather pleased with how this turned out. The ending is a bit rough, but I really think this is one of the best posts I've typed up.

By the way, can tell me where to get safe custom content? As you can see, I already have some in the game but I would like to get more, specifically maternity wear.

Thanks!

Chapter Four: Moving- Baby Four

William and Lydia age up wonderfully, but the traits they acquire are less than helpful. Lydia has become quite absent-minded, forgetting everything from her homework to her chores.  

William is now a very unpleasant person. He is constantly in a bad mood and is always arguing or sulking. His latest gripe is that there's only one easel, which is in constant use by me, so he can't paint.

Valentine thankfully isn't as much of a hassle as her older siblings. She's the first child to get my blonde hair and got my eyes as well. She hardly resembles her Berry father at all. Like Lydia, she's an active tot, always moving and squirming. She also is very intelligent, picking up on things faster than Lydia or William ever did.

Lydia's love for the trampoline hasn't faded and now that she's older, she's grown the confidence to do flips, which is a bit concerning. William hangs out on the slide a bit farther away, alternating between sliding down and sitting at the top.

I'm not having nearly as much fun as then, I'm too busy trying to negotiate with the builder.

I'm not stupid. As awful wonderful as our house is, it's not going to last long with a household full of eight people. There's only one bathroom, which is a giant hassle when it comes to showers, and the toilet and sink are constantly breaking. However, it's hard to convince someone to build a house for so many people under such short notice, but I want to be out of this cramped house soon.

After a bit more arguing, he lets up. "There's an unfinished house on Savannah Lane that we can fix up for you. But, it's going to be quite costly."

"How much?" I reply.

"Hard to say, but my estimate is around 70,000"

I bite my lip. "I can manage that, but if it goes higher I'm not so sure."

"I'll try and get it reduced." he promises. 

"Thanks-"

William bursts into the front door and instantly begins complaining loudly. "I'm hungry!" he yells, stomping his foot. "Where's dinner?"

"Get some leftovers out of the fridge." I tell him, covering the speaker of the phone with my hand.  

"I don't want leftovers!" he complains, crossing his arms. "I want macaroni!"

"I haven't had time to cook. You'll have to make do with grilled cheese."

"I don't want it!"

"Then starve." I'm not in the mood to deal with William and his tantrums. "Grilled cheese or nothing."

He looks like he's about to yell again, but after a moment, he stomps to the refrigerator, grumbling under his breath. 

Dinner passes quietly, with only a few conversations breaking the silence. It wouldn't have been so uncomfortable if it hadn't been for William glaring at the refrigerator, refusing to move and muttering things. Lydia doesn't seem to notice the tense air, she's happily eating and chatting.

I think over my conversation with the builder as I take another bite. He told me the renovations wouldn't take long, a few days at most. It's going to cutting it rather close to the end of my next pregnancy, which should start tomorrow if all goes well with the next father tomorrow. I'm hoping for multiples this time, it's going rather slow with single births. 

It's hard to get Valentine to sleep that night, she's too busy looking around and playing with her feet to close her eyes for more than a moment. It takes a lot of rocking and singing, but I finally get Valentine to bed around 11. Thankfully William and Lydia had gone to bed earlier, so there's nobody else awake besides me. It doesn't last long though because a few minutes later, I'm slipping under the covers myself.

It's Saturday the next day, so I make some pancakes for breakfast while William and Lydia do various things around the house, like cleaning or watching TV. Lydia gets on an exercise kick and starts up a yoga CD that I had bought ages ago much to the amusement of William. He makes a remark how ridiculous she looks, but other than that he keeps his mouth shut, keeping the amused look on his face.

After breakfast, Lydia and William start arguing about where to spend the day. Lydia insists on going to the gym, but William is having none of it. He demands to go to the art gallery and starts throwing a tantrum when I come in and suggest going to the pool and going to the gallery later. Lydia hesitantly agrees after a  moment, but it takes William a bit of coaxing to accept the idea. They leave the house with Valentine a short while later while I dash off to the next father's house.

His name is Chadd something-or-other and I barely get to know him before I dash out the door. I love his hair color, it sort of reminds me of Paisley's, maybe a few shades darker. Maybe.

Lydia seems to take to Valentine quite well, which is nice to see considering William is attempting to get on everyone's last nerve. However, I take Valentine back after the ever forgetful Lydia left her in the women's bathroom for twenty minutes. 

"How do you forget that your sister is in the bathroom?" I exclaimed, picking up Valentine.

"It just sort of happened." Lydia says with a sigh.

I give her an irritated look before heading outside. Lydia doesn't say anything else, just hops in the pool. In a few moments, she's yelling at William for splashing her, seemingly already forgetting the conversation.

As the pool fills up with people, I teach Valentine how to walk. We're going to need as much time as possible before the move to get everything ready. We're selling a majority of the furniture, but a few things are going with us, the trampoline, the dishes, stuff like that. 

Lydia is visibly getting uncomfortable with all the people around, so around three, I suggest heading to the gallery. Lydia doesn't complain, she hastily gets out of the pool after William, who is brimming with excitement.  She doesn't relax until we pile into the car and head down the street. I can only imagine how hard school is for someone so introverted. 

William nearly knocks Lydia over in his excitement, a smile on his face for once. I tell him to slow down at least five times, but he pays no attention to me until he's right in front of a beautiful painting of sunflowers.

"I wish I could paint like that." he sighed.

"Have you ever actually painted?" I asked him, shifting Valentine to my hip.

"No, but..."

"You just need some practice." I said.

"Well, if someone wasn't constantly using the easel, I could try it out." William responded.

I rolled my eyes. "When we move, you'll have an easel to use. Just hold out until then."

William's eyes grew wide. "We're moving?!"

Oops.

"We're moving?!" William yelled again, as if I hadn't heard him to first time.

Hadn't I told them at breakfast? I thought I had, but with all the activity, I must have forgotten. It only had been final last night, so I just hadn't a chance.

"Lydia!" William screeched, running down the hall to his blue skinned sister. I followed him as fast as I could, but it was hard to run carrying a toddler.

"We're moving!" William yelled as Lydia came into view.

Lydia turned around, a confused look on her face. "Huh?"

"We're moving!"

"William, will you calm down?" I asked, sighing.

"We're gonna leave our school and our toys and-"

"William." I said firmly, cutting him off. "It's still going to be in Twinbrook. It's just a bigger house."

"What about our toys?" William asked.

"They're going with us. And we'll be getting a computer."

Lydia's eye grew wide.

"A computer?" she squealed. "An actual, real computer?"

I nodded, a slight smile coming to my lips.

"Oh mom, thank you!" Lydia threw her arms around me, nearly knocking me over.

William crossed her arms. "I don't want to go!" he announced, a large frown on his face.

"Sorry bud, but it's all final. We'll be moving in a few days."

"I like our house!" he yelled, stomping his foot.


'Like it or not, we're going to be leaving. You can cry and pout all you want, but it's not changing." I said sharply. "Got it?"

I half expected a snappy response back, but with a sullen look, he closed his mouth. However, he was grumpy for the rest of the time and his moodiness carried over into dinner. However, I'm in no mood to scold him, so I just send him to bed and end it with that.

Breakfast is a bit tense with William refusing to talk to me and hardly speaking to Lydia. She doesn't seem to mind, she just sits quietly and eats her waffles. I'm quite irritated, but I don't say anything, I just ignore it. If he wants to grumpy, fine. I'm not going to get myself worked up over him being difficult, as always.

He does brighten up a little when he sees the empty easel. He makes a beeline for it and begins mixing up some paint. He's painting in a matter of minutes, eagerly putting down colors as fast as he can. He's not being particularly neat about it, he's getting paint all over his pants. It's washable though, so there's no reason to freak out.

Lydia chooses to spend some time alone in the playhouse. She's up there for over an hour before she climbs down and heads to the trampoline. William joins her soon after and they jump up and down together, occasionally doing flips.

I'm watching them from the window as I coax Valentine to walk towards me. She's doing well, she's only fallen one or twice since we started this morning.

A small bump appears on my stomach as we finish up. I smile, feeling the stirrings of new life inside of me. I'm quite excited for another baby. I cannot wait to have a house brimming with children and I cannot wait to hold a new baby in my arms.

However, I have three children to take care of now. I sit down on the floor in front of Valentine and start teaching her to talk, going over dinner plans in my mind.

I'm not in the mood to cook anything fancy, so I pull out some bread along with several other random ingredients and start making sandwiches for everyone. Lydia is hanging out with Valentine and William is somewhere in the backyard, his painting on the easel. I call him for dinner a few minutes later and he comes in with a grin on his face. He breaks his silence to talk nonstop about his first painting and continues on and on about it throughout the entire meal. Art seems to be the only thing to get him out of his grumpy moods these days.

I'm just about to put Valentine to bed when my phone begins to ring. With a yawn, I answer it, not bothering to check the caller I.D.

"Hello Ms. Falls!" The voice of the builder greets me and I wince a bit at his overenthusiastic greeting. "The house is fixed up, your family can move in tonight if you hurry."

"Great!" I reply, thinking over what he said. The kids have school tomorrow and I don't want to make Monday mornings more of a hassle than it already is. But heading out this late would keep us up past midnight. Majority of the furniture is already gone, but unpacking the few boxes we had and putting them away would take over an hour. But I want to be in the house before the the baby arrives, so I don't have much of a choice.

"We'll head over as soon as we can."

The kids are surprised when I announce that we're leaving and that I need everything together as quickly as possible. I'm expecting William to put up a fight, but he follows my instructions and piles into the taxi with the rest of us. Lydia carried Valentine, something my achy back was grateful for.

Nobody said anything as we drove away from our old home. We were all tired and Valentine was kicking up a fuss, whining in muddled baby talk that she wanted to sleep.

The kids didn't seem to overly excited about our new home, they just wanted Valentine to go bed. We didn't get a good look at our new home until Valentine fell asleep in the nursery.

View when you first walk in.

Our family room, which has an easel, much to the delight of William.

The kitchen, which also doubles as the dining room.

The bathroom for everyone.

 The nursery, which contains five cribs, three potty chairs, and a dollhouse.

My room, which isn't much bigger than before.

The bathroom connected to my room.

Upstairs, you have the kid's rooms. This is the girl's room.

The girl's bathroom.

The boy's room.

The boy's bathroom

Laundry area. I haven't had any of this stuff before, so it should be pretty interesting.

It was no secret that Lydia was thrilled about the computer. The moment everything was settled, she made a beeline towards it and started up a game. She only played for a few minutes before I kicked her off, due to it being close to midnight. This was met with complaints, but I finally pried her off and got her to bed.

Lydia and I enjoyed the first meal in our new house together. William was in an especially bad mood and got up late, so he only had time for a few mouthfuls before hopping on the bus. I wasn't too impressed, but I couldn't help but feel that school was a part of his bad mood.

After I finished teaching valentine to talk, it was time for the first load of laundry. It took me over an hour to figure out what buttons to press to make it work and one near accident with the bleach before I got it started. Nothing was more relieving than hearing the washer start. Then it was another battle with the dryer. But finally, there was a clean load of laundry in my hands. However, my joy was interrupted when I realized that I would have to do this over and over again.

You can imagine how well that improved my mood.

After the mess with the laundry, I decided to try out the new sculpting station we had bought. I had no idea what I was doing for majority of the project, I was just shaving away clay and hoping it came out nice. I do come out with a chair, but it's quickly sold off.

I have some down time after dinner, so I take the opportunity to relax. Soon, my thoughts start to wander and I'm thinking about the baby, who's due to arrive tomorrow. It also means that the other kids will age up.

And that means Lydia's going to move out.

The thought stops my train of thought right in it's tracks. I hadn't thought of that. Of course I knew Lydia would move out, but I never really put much thought into it. But now, it was all I could think about. 

I didn't want Lydia to leave. She was my first born, so energetic and introverted. She was forgetful and loved computers. How could I let her go?

I decide to call up Skye on the issue and she points out that she's only moving out, not dying, which somehow makes me feel better. Still, the thought is heavy on my mind when I fall asleep that night.

The next day starts off with leftover pancakes for the kids and a PB and J for me. It's a nice way to start off the morning, a nice chat with my children. I take the time to talk to Lydia as much as I can. But soon, the bus honks and the kids head off to school, leaving Valentine and I alone.

There's no time to brood however, the house needs to be cleaned. I make the beds and wash the dishes before heading downstairs to fix the computer, which has been used a grand total of two times since we moved. Stupid appliances.

The repair is cut short by the arrival of contractions. I'm getting used to the sudden pain now, but it's still a surprise when I feel the burst of pain. I waddle as quickly as I can to the nursery.

It's a long labor, over three hours, but I finally give birth to a baby boy, who I name Oliver.