Baby 70+71 Part 2- Greetings

I’m sat in my seat awaiting the performance of a lifetime. I cannot believe I’m actually sat in Box 5 while watching a performance of Phantom. Paisley is on my left, reading through the last pages of the book (she doesn't believe it’s nothing like the musical yet) and Electra is texting on my right.

Paisley isn't very interested in what’s happening until the first notes of the overture begin, and then she’s pulled into the music. By her reaction to Point of No Return, I suspect that if I’d asked her to have kinky sex with me while Electra watched then she’d have been okay with it at that moment in time. But I didn't  See what a good girlfriend I am? Electra herself was rapt from beginning to end, because she was already familiar with the story and the music, and loved it almost as much as I did.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so after the performance was over, we left our seats and headed to the doors of the theatre. Outside, a light snow was beginning to fall; and the lights and sounds of Bridgeport had died down a little, but there was still a fair few people walking the streets with bags in their hands.

As I look around in wonderment at the snow and the lights around me, Paisley steals a kiss. “You’re bold tonight.” I mutter, and she chuckles into my lips. “Just enjoy the moment.” So I do, and I let myself melt into her, fully prepared to never let the moment end. But it does. 

 She lets go and turns me around, pointing down the street at a family of people with…blue…hair. They’re walking this way, and they’re almost here and it’s strange how much they look like me and HOLY SHIRTS PAISLEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING PUSHING ME INTO THEM? That’s about as much as I can think before I’m bumping into the blue haired girl at the front of the group. “Sorry.” I start to say, “My friend-“but the girl has turned to the woman behind her. She looks to be about forty, and the man with her can’t be much older. “Oh my God.” She says. “Are you Skye Everard?” she asks me, her voice catching. “Ah… yes. Are you fans or something?” I ask. She shakes her head.

“No. I’m your mother.”

I invited the family back to our apartment, but only so we could have somewhere to talk where I could yell at them in private. Funny looks from passing Bridgeportians was not high on my ‘Wonderful things that I love’ list.

And yes. I’m bitchy when I’m annoyed.

“You expect me to believe that? You’re my parents and my two siblings. Because it’s not like you can’t buy blue hair-dye and purple contacts on the Internet nowadays.”

The woman stays silent, and the rest of the family look at her. “As a child you were taken from us, and raised by other people who go by the names of Beef and Destiny. You thought you had a brother named Tobias and a sister named Janee.  When your brother was 18, he shot your parents and ran off. You caught meningitis, and ended up losing your memory of the years up to when you were around twelve.” I look at her, and resist the urge to sneer. “As if you couldn't have gotten that on my blog.” I reply. The woman shrugs. And I realise something. “I never talked about my illness on my blog.”  This is probably not my best plan in the world, accepting it on that alone, but I never did feel like I was part of my family. “None of that is true.” Says my mother. If she even is my mother.

I’m not even going to respond to th- “Whaddyameanitisn’ttrue” I ask, well, so much for not responding. “You were taken from us at age three, we worked for a government agency and we weren't allowed children, so you were taken and given to Beef and Destiny. You came back to us at age twelve for a short time, and were given false memories of them and all that happened to you, hence your memory of your illness, and the gaps in your memory. Your friend Paisley, however, we couldn't get rid of. Which was why when we had to leave you again, you were placed near her, and while you had no memory of her, you would be drawn to her.” I turn away from my parents (Gods above that’s a strange feeling) to stare at the woman I thought was the love of my life. “Is this true?” I ask, quietly. She doesn't say anything. “TELL ME!” I yell, and she bursts into tears. “Yes. I wasn't allowed to tell you anything in case something bad happened.” I can see what she’s trying to say to me. ‘I wanted to tell you.’

I sit down, trying to breathe, but not getting enough air. Electra pats my hand, and takes Paisley up to our room. Finally coming back to myself, “Thank you,” I find enough air to speak. “I need some time to think about all this. And as you can see, the love of my life just had one of the worst moments of her life. So get out please.” Opal makes no move to leave. “GET.OUT. OR I WILL MAKE YOU PAY FOR UPSETTING HER!” I yell, and my mother leaves, following my father and siblings who are already in the elevator. I watch them leave the room, “Why did you come and find me now?” I ask. Sapphire, my sister, steps forward. “ We've been looking for you for the past twenty-some years, sister.”

“You are not my sister.” I say, but deep down, I know she is and there is nothing I can do about it.

I rush up the stairs to our room. There, I find Paisley sat alone. She looks like she was crying, but right now she’s not. I run to her, and dive on her. “I’m sorry.” I say, then again “I’m sorry.” And press a kiss to her lips, fast. Followed by another apology. “I’m sorry. Sorry, sorry.” Paisley leans into me for a minute, resting her head on my shoulder. “Why are you the one that’s sorry? I hid your past from you, kept the truth all along, even when you had to go to therapy, and I could have fixed you. This is all my fault.”

She’s an idiot. A perfect, perfect idiot. 

“No it isn't ” I say, and stand up, stretching out my back. “Now, can we go to sleep? It’s almost 2AM.”  Paisley giggles, and grabs her pyjamas from under her pillow, walking off to the bathroom. “No peeking.” She says over her shoulder to me. I can’t help but laugh. She chooses now to try and flirt?

Yeah. Definitely going with idiot.

The next morning I am woken by the sound of Electra laughing. It’s kind of adorable, something between a giggle and the sound a bird makes. I walk downstairs, and Paisley is stood in the kitchen cooking French toast (must be a Parker family thing) while dancing along to the I-pod. I had no idea that she knew all the moves to Agadoo. I laugh and she waves at me while continuing to dance and cook. Without a word, Electra leans over to the docking station and starts to flick through the songs. With a victorious shout, she presses what I assume to be play- Apple products are beyond me- and we are greeted by the crooning sounds of Rhydian Roberts’ rendition of Bridge over Troubled Water.

When you're weary 

Feeling small 

When tears are in your eyes 

I will dry them all 

I'm on your side 

When times get rough 

And friends just can't be found 

Like a bridge over troubled water 

I will lay me down 

Like a bridge over troubled water 

I will lay me down 

When you're down and out 

When you're on the street 

When evening falls so hard 

I will comfort you 

I'll take your part 

When darkness comes 

And pain is all around 

Like a bridge over troubled water 

I will lay me down 

Like a bridge over troubled water 

I will lay me down 

Sail on Silver Girl, 

Sail on by 

Your time has come to shine 

All your dreams are on their way 

See how they shine 

If you need a friend 

I'm sailing right behind 

Like a bridge over troubled water 

I will ease your mind 

Like a bridge over troubled water 

I will ease your mind

I take Paisley in my arms and we dance around the kitchen. It occurs to me just how much that song fits our relationship. First and foremost, we are friends. We belong to one-another in a way no others do. And we will both follow one another anywhere and do anything or each-other.  “Aww.” Says Electra and I let go of Paisley, but not before she manages to snap a photo of us.

And, of course, something has to come along and ruin the perfect moment. The intercom rings and I grab it, lo and behold, my mother is on the other end. Grudgingly, I let her in, and she spends most of her time apologising to me. The rest of it, she’s telling me all about how I’m going to meet the Avengers and have their babies for SHIELD. I am undoubtedly less certain about the second part, but it’ll be exciting to see what goes on.

She leads me to a small IVF clinic on the borders of town where a man in a rumpled purple shirt is standing, looking pretty worried about something. When he sees me enter, he walks over and offers me his hand. I take it, shaking firmly. “Dr. Bruce Banner.” He says, and I take a step back. I examine him again before replying. “Dr Banner. You’re really here. Skye Everard. Baby Challenge mother. I’m a huge fan of your research and everything you did for the planet.” The doctor laughs lightly, replying

“I like you already.”

A nurse walks through the door and asks if we’re ready to begin the procedure and less than half an hour later, I walk out fully impregnated. Or ya know, that’s the plan. My mother hands me a file containing the details on what is going on with the Avengers, who I can say what to and so on, and then passes me a post-it with her number and those of my family on to call them. Apparently I've forgiven them.

Yeah, right.

Okay. Who am I kidding? These people are my family.

Unfortunately, our time in Bridgeport is over, and it is now time to leave for the sunny shores of Sunlit Tides, or for Electra, wherever the heck she lives nowadays.  The flight back is subdued, and I fall asleep on Paisley’s shoulder while she hums to me. It’s everything I could have ever asked for in a trip, but I’m glad it’s over.

I’m glad when we get back to our house, because I need to throw up, badly. So I make my escape to the bathroom and do what I have to do. I send a text to Paisley, apologising for running off, and she responds with an apologetic looking smiley. The kids saw me arrive, and as soon as I leave my room they’re there. Asking me all kinds of questions. And I eventually have to start explaining about their new Aunt, Uncle and grandparents because they’re really excited about that. And really, I am too.

I call for pizza to be delivered to the house for dinner and then sit back on the sofa until it arrives. Most of my new found family are texting me, and I reply to them with new found gusto. The kids also inform me that Jesse has moved into town, which pleases me a lot. Loki and his room-mate (supposedly that’s all he is) are buying a holiday home out here too, so they’ll be coming to visit. I’m not one to pick favourites, but I might possibly love Loki and Jesse the best.

The pizza arrives, we eat it and then it is time for birthdays. First up are the triplets.

Then Evita ages up. She wants to stay with her sister, and I’m not one to turn down an extra pair of hands with a house full of toddlers and children, so I’m happy to let her stay. Not to mention it would be like trying to separate me and Paisley, not gonna happen. Victoria also ages into a child. She is very friendly with Evita, and in fact is very friendly with everyone. If I’d been anything like her as a child (who knows, I could have been thanks to my parents) then I’d have had almost as any friends as she has.

Haven ages up next, and she becomes a lovely teen.

I go to bed that night anxious for a new day to rise and more challenges to face. When I wake up, I decide to check my e-mails, since there’s always call for that, and I have a few from various members of the challenge community and one from Jesse.

I respond to the one from Jesse, and make a note to reply to the others later, when I hear a voice from behind me. “Ms Everard.” He says. I turn, and there is nobody there. I frown, “Uh… hello bodiless voice.” I reply, and the baby kicks my ribs. This one’s a kicker then. “Nick Fury. Head of SHIELD. I knew your parents. I’m here to talk to you about your future children.” I suppress a laugh.

“You’re not here at all. You got Stark and JARVIS to hack my speaker systems. But go on.”

“I’m only allowing this to continue on one condition. These children, upon becoming legal adults will be given into SHIELD training, should abilities similar to those of their parents present.”

This is a very sudden decision. Could I lead my children into this, possibly a lifetime of work in something which could kill them? But, should they survive the pension would be great. At the end of the day, I didn't have much of a choice in the matter “Okay.” I say, and the crackling at the other end of the line vanishes. Hm; must have hung up on me.  The baby kicks again, and I stand up. “Okay baby. I’m going. Is it time for breakfast? I think it is. I’m in the mood for oatmeal. The kids have to get to school. What a pity for them. But it’s okay. They get oatmeal before they go.”  I babble away to my growing belly and the child inside kicks with enthusiasm while I do. I could try and justify my complete stupidity, but there isn't one, so Baby-brain will have to do.

I cook the oatmeal, and eat it, before waking Haven and Evita, and getting them ready for school. I wave them off as they leave for the bus, and Carmen stands beside me, looking worried. “She’ll be fine you know. Haven’s there to keep her safe.” I say to the young woman who has grown from my adoptive daughter. She calms down a little, and walks back inside. “I’m off down to the shops!” I yell to her, as I slip my wallet into my pocket.

In truth I don’t need anything from the town, but I wanted to explore a little and see what the area had to offer. I find my way to the grocers and buy a few bits and bobs, before walking around the park. There’s a mother with a young toddler playing there, and I watch her contentedly while munching on one of my apples.

While at the park, I feel the pain of labour beginning. I don’t want to freak anyone out, so I call a cab and head to the hospital. There, I give birth to baby seventy and seventy one,

Banner Everard and Bruce Everard.

 Just ignore the pink blankets on the last picture. I was playing with them in Master Controller and forgot to put them back onto blue before I left. 

Baby 70 Part 1- Thank You.

Annie
I swear, if I have to see my sister sucking faces with another guy, I will come over there and personally sew them together. My name’s Parker Everard, I am the youngest of three triplets, and I’m officially known as the geeky one. My sister Annie is the rebel, and Beckett (the most perfect guy in the universe, to everyone except me) is the boy-wonder.

Right at this moment I’m sat on one end of the couch, while my sister and um…-well we don’t know his name- are on the other end. Beckett is sat on a chair to the left of us. We’re supposed to be watching Love Actually, but Beckett’s texting, and Annie is distracted. Of course, because of this, I can’t concentrate on one of my favourite films. I give it another five minutes before I storm out and go find Haven, or someone who’ll speak to me.

I wander aimlessly around the house for a while, and eventually make my way to the girls’ room. Carmen and Evita are sat on a bed, talking. “Oh. Sorry.” I say. “I’ll leave.” I turn to go, but Carmen jumps up. “Please stay. I’d very much like to talk to you.”

Up until this point, Carmen and her sister (I guess they’re both my sister legally) have kept mostly to themselves. I’m, surprised to notice, now that I’m talking to her properly that she has a slight Italian accent. Of course, with a name like Carmen it must have been obvious. “I wish to do something very special for Skye. It is nearing Christmas, and I want her to enjoy it. Your mother did not have to take me in, and I never expected she would adopt me as she did. What ways are there of showing my gratitude?” 

I think for a while, and Carmen plays with Evita before I click my fingers. “Ah!” I say, clicking my fingers. “She is a challenge mother, so we should give her a day off. She can go and see a show in town. I know Phantom is on at the theatre, it’s her favourite.” Carmen seems to be very excited about this, and grabs me in a bone crushing hug. “Thank you muchly, oh Kind sibling!” she says and she rushes off to arrange everything. I’m left once more to my own devices. What’s the worst that could happen?

Apparently, the worst that could happen is that I could find a now child-aged Haven and be asked if I will play a game of water balloons with her. Across the quickly erected fort, we throw water filled balloons, and more often than not I am the one hit in the face.

The entire time I am out there, I can feel like somebody is watching me, but when I look around nobody is there. It’s so strange and eventually, I tire of being creeped out and return to my bedroom. There, I am left alone to read my book in peace. I am happy to say that I did and Frodo destroys the ring in the end.

Skye

I am sat on my bed watching my favourite musical on DVD when it happens. Carmen and Parker knock on the door, with Haven, Evita and Annie not far behind. Carmen walks in first, followed by Parker and the rest of her siblings. “Mother.” Says Carmen. “We have a gift for you.” And she holds out a pair of tickets. “What are these?” I ask. Annie takes over the speaking role. “Tickets to see Phantom over in Bridgeport. We knew you’d always wanted to, and with Christmas coming up, we figured it would be a good enough reason. Your flight is in about 8 hours, and Paisley and Electra are coming with you.” The motherly part of me is worried about who will look after my kids, but it’s a three day trip, and Carmen is almost 18, easily old enough to take care of her siblings, and there are always the babysitters if they need help. Just how much trouble can they get into? “Thank you. Especially you Carmen, for this wonderful opportunity.” 

Carmen blushes a deep shade of red and Annie and Parker high five. Haven, who has so far been silent, shouts “Woo!” and runs off.

With the plans which have been made for me in mind, I pack up my bags and remove the dye from my hair, bringing it back to a natural blue and we go grab Paisley, who is sat outside her house on her suitcase. “PAISLEY! Isn’t it simply wonderful! “I shout. She raises a brow, but nods all the same and hugs me closely. Beckett drives us to the airport, and soon enough we are on a plane to Bridgeport and curled up beside one another in first class seats.

“Flight 106 to Bridgeport will be landing shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts and prepare for landing.” Says the voice of the flight attendant, waking me from my light sleep. I shake Paisley. “Wha-?” She asks, groggy from the six hour flight and I think a two hour time change. “It’s time to land.” I say, and Paisley reluctantly sits up and tries to look awake. I know how late she was up last night caring for all manner of younglings, so I feel terrible for disturbing her slumber.

We leave the plane and in the airport waiting area we find Electra waiting for us. She rushes up to us and prods me in the face, while Paisley cowers in fear of her life. “Hi. My fellow Brit.” She says. Paisley giggles. “My Avengers are all but Assembled!” I shout, realising how we’re all there. Except for Calista. And Laura. And Natalie. Okay. So the Avengers aren't really assembled, but my Bruce (Paisley) and my Hawkeye was there. I of course, was there and my Avenger was Stark-come-Loki, so you can imagine the problems Electra and I had, with her being the egotistical one. But my being the rich one meant we competed for Stark. But then of course, I was also known for being evil and trying to take over the world, so we had a fair few problems to deal with. 

After our unusual greeting, we hug and make our way back to our apartment for the next two days. The view from the top is wonderful, but after a quick look around, we encounter a problem. There are only two beds in the entire place. “I’ll share with Paisley.” I volunteer, and Electra accepts it, as is her way. Paisley sighs, and I giggle.

That night over dinner, Electra points her fork at me and says, “There’s something different about you.” She pauses for a second to swallow her mouthful. “You seem happier. Paisley does too. I’ve not seen either of you this happy since you were both dating. But you both broke up about…the same… time.” Electra slows. “You and Paisley?” She asks, excited. We nod, and Paisley takes my hand under the table. “EEEEE! I’m so happy. Natalie owes me a tenner!” I put up a hand for her to stop.

“You and Natalie were betting on my and Paisley’s relationship?” I ask. Electra nods. “Yep. Nobody can flirt as much as you and Paisley and not end up dating.” Paisley chokes on a mouthful of her dinner.

“I did NOT flirt with Skye.” This time it’s my turn to do the glare.

“You so did.”

“Didn’t.”

“Did.”

“Shut up! I need all the news. How far have you gone? Can I trust you to share a bed and not have kinky lesbian sex? Who else knows?” She fires questions at us. “Whoa. Slow down Lecci. We kiss, that’s all. It’s a waiting till marriage thing. Of course you can trust us. Paisley’s such a good little… uh…. Christian? Mormon? Atheist? And almost nobody knows. Only her family and my kids.”

After we finish the dinner, and after much interrogation from Lecci, I manage to escape on log on to Skype. It was part of the agreement of our going away, the kids update me every night. Paisley does the same, and Electra will more than likely be chatting to her fiancé, Alex. I say chatting. I kind of think I mean the other thing. 

The call processes for a minute, before loading and I get a shot of Haven waving at me. “Hi mommy!” She says. “Guys! Mom’s on the computer!” She shouts, and her siblings come running. They all give me their greetings, before wandering off, and leaving Carmen to talk to me.

Carmen- Hey Skye. Mom. Whatever… I’ve got loads of news. Strictly speaking, you left us two days ago.

Skye- That’s great Car. How is everyone?

Carmen- Just fine. Haven dressed herself. Initially, she wanted to be a pirate. Then she was an American Indian, and now she’s a pirate again. She says that’s what she wants to be when she grows up. And we’re doing our chores. I fed the fish. Parker brushed Slender. Merda. Gotta go Skye. Mom. Uh, yeah. Stuff is… happening.

Part one is done! I can’t be bothered writing any more right now, and it’ll probably be in three parts. There’s a lot to happen. Laters readers!

A Present For A Parker and Baby 69

First of all, ;)

the important people know what I mean. 

Second- Happy start of Advent Everyone, and um... happy Decembeard. And stuff. 

The first thing I did when I woke up that morning was talk to Carmen. She had loosened up considerably over the night and was much more willing to speak to me. I learnt that she had been living on the streets since she was thirteen, which was about when her little sister was born and both her parents had been murdered. Because the police never found the bodies of her family, they never looked for her, and she had been left to end for herself. 

"Would you like to stay with me full time, and for me to adopt you?" I ask. Carmen nods strongly, and hugs me, before quickly pulling away, looking like she had thought that wasn't allowed. Trying to calm her fears, I hugged her myself, and then went on my day-to-day business.  Most importantly of that was packing up so that I could move to Sunlit tides when Paisley went back. After that came laundry, food, kids, and skills for Evita and Haven. 

I was pretty occupied for most of the morning, until Baldur came running into the garage, looking like he might cry if anything too drastic happened. "Mom!" he shouts, and I raise my eyebrows at him. "IheardweweremovingandIdn'twannagobecauseIjuststartedgoingoutwithAmeliaandI'llhavetoleaveherandgotoHawaiiandIdon'twannago." The words come out in such a jumble that I have no idea what he's actually saying, so I get him to slow down and say it again. "I don't want to move to Hawaii and leave Amelia all alone."

So, before we leave, I agree to allow him to age up and move out. Here he is:

Then, to help with the moving, I age up the triplets. 


Annie grows up to be very rebellious. Everything she used to do willingly for me she now protests until I threaten her with punishment, except caring for her younger sister Haven. She loves that child like no other. 

Parker is just as quiet and bookish as she was before. She has to wear glasses now, but in my opinion it really fits her new look. Her favourite thing to do is play with the new dog. She nicknamed him Slender because he's always following her around. 

And Beckett. Hes the most unusual of all. On the outside he's the typical jock. He is very athletic and sporty, and he's trying out for the all teams at Sunlit Tides high school, but he's also very smart. His school work is excellent and he always gets A's and does his homework. And he is dating one of the more unpopular girls, a testament to his kind heart and ability to see beauty everywhere. But my favourite part about Beckett is that he is so very loving towards me still. 

When all that is finished, and packing is done, we jump on a plane, Paisley beside me in the front seat and jet off down the country to Hawaii. As soon as we get there the heat is sweltering, and while I would never tell Paisley this, I hate the heat. I am instantly glad of my tank top and cropped trousers, which at least allow some heat out of my body. Carmen and Evita seem to enjoy it though, and straight away she is happy and cheerful. I may never know her past, but at least I can help her enjoy her future in a very sunny place. 

After we arrive at our house I leave the kids to explore and get used to the new rooms, and Paisley and I make a little trip to the AI clinic, where I am inseminated by this guy:

After our trip, Paisley returns home over the street to her house, and I return to mine. When I'm there, the children are nowhere to be seen. I look around for a while, however and find them in their special room, which I nicknamed 'The Crib'. When they see me come in, Beckett and Annie grin and continue to dance.

Safe in the knowledge that I know where my teens are, I decide to go and find Haven. It is the perfect time to teach her to walk and talk. With that in mind I walk into the nursery grab her and walk outside to the area by the pool. Here, I sit her down and teach her to walk, and talk. Thankfully she has already been potty trained.

I wonder if Evita has been taught these things, because she did not seem to be very vocal when I last saw her, and this leads me to wondering where she is. I text Parker to tell her that I'm going out, and set off looking for my adoptive child. I find her not long later at the beach closest to our property, she is sat down, while the younger is a short way off playing in the sand. I sit down next to Carmen, and we remain in companionable silence for a little while. "She love the beach." says Carmen. "My mother. It was always her favourite place. I had a picture of her sat in the sand in one of those big hats on my mirror. Then I had to leave, and I never got to get it back." she continues. A silent tear trickles down her face, and I slip an arm around her.

As if to interrupt our gathering, Evita toddles over (she can walk, clearly) and pulls on her sister's hair. "Sissy. I wanna go back." she says. Carmen glances at me, and I nod. "C'mon then short stuff." she says, jokingly to her younger sibling. We set off on the short walk home and arrive not long afterwards at our new homestead.
Almost immediately, I am met by Beckett, to ask if we can put up the Christmas tree before dinner. I agree, and the next hour is spent singing along to various Christmas songs while younglings dart about left, right and centre. And if I may say so, the house ends up looking pretty good.

I'm interrupted just before dinner with a sudden urge to vomit, and rush to the bathroom just in time to avoid getting puke on the new carpets. I can just imagine my face had I done this. Then, as if on queue, the baby bump appears.

I prepare dinner without anybody noticing, and then we sit down to a simple fare of pasta and meatballs. It is a nice meal, punctuated with occasional conversation, focused primarily on our new home. And following dinner, after a long day we all prepare to bed down for the night.

The next two days pass as standard. Paisley and her kids visit a couple of times, I sleep a lot, and watch some TV. Then, around 10AM on the third day, I go into labour and give birth to Baby 69- Victoria Viven Everard.

Sorry this is so short. I sort of... petered out at the end. But new children, yay!

Baby 67+68- Surprise, have a street-child.

Two days ago Paisley had shown up at my door out of the blue. I didn't mind, because let’s be honest, she's my best friend and I haven't seen her in a long time. But not only that, she is more than that. She's my rock, my girlfriend and the one person I can count on not to do something too crazy when I call on them in the middle of the night.

Except, now Paisley was the one doing the calling upon. "Skye!" she shouts, and leaps into my arms. From the smell of her, she's been drinking. This is unlike her and my main cause of concern. Not that I'm not concerned that she appeared in town from several hundred miles away. "Paisley." I say, with only half enthusiasm. "What are you doing here? At..." I glance at the clock behind me. "Three AM?"

Paisley ignores the question and strides towards my bedroom. Thankfully she knows where she is going and doesn't walk into anything. "Skye, ravage my body! Take me here and now and do with me as you will" she says, theatrically before leaning against the wall and sliding down it slowly. Her eyes close, and I walk over to her slowly. When she doesn't move, I prod her in the face. Nothing.  So much for her plans.

I pick Paisley up and put her on my shoulder. Trying to think of a place to put her, I eventually decide on the couch in my bedroom.

I glance at the clock on the opposite wall. 3:15. It was almost time for Haven's feed. Leaving Paisley on the sofa, I creep up the stairs in my slippers and into the nursery. In the two months since I'd given birth to her, Haven hadn't changed much. She was still as small and adorable as the day she arrived. But her siblings had aged up into children. And of course, in a feat worthy of Peter Pan I had insisted they leave the nursery. Because there's only cribs in there, and no room for beds. Because of that I decided it was safe to wake up Haven, and then feed her. I did this quietly; and then left back downstairs.

The next thing I knew I was being woken up to "GIVE IT HERE!" being shouted above me. "NO! It's MINE." comes the equally loud reply. I sigh. It seems Parker and Annie have woken up. Those two had done nothing but fight since they grew up. Not that that stopped them as toddlers. Many a time I'd had to chastise Parker for biting her younger

sister and Annie for stealing toys from the other. It was a lot to prevent, especially since I'm all alone most of the time. 

I get out of bed and begin walking upstairs, but Baldur and Fenrir come to the rescue before I get there. "Will you two cut it out? I swear, if you two fighting annoys Mum one more time so that we can't age up, I will personally murder you." I hear Baldur shout across the hallway.

"Bal, don't murder your siblings. I need the slave labour." I say, and I can almost hear him roll his eyes. Yes. I use my children for slave labour.

Fenrir pokes his head out of the door and looks at me. "Mom, can we-" I interrupt him with a "Yes." before he finishes the sentence. He puts his head back into the room, cheering and I hear Baldur cheer too. It seems I just made two of my kids very, very happy. 

I walk back downstairs and when I get into my room, Paisley is just waking up. "Hey you." I say, and she jumps. When she realizes it's just me, she calms down a bit before frowning. "Last night did we, I mean did you? I mean I told you to..." I cut her off with a kiss.

"Spoilers." I say, winking. "Now I'm off to get dressed and take a shower. You know where everything is if you want to get changed."

I skip off into the bathroom humming. The next half hour of my life is spent cleaning my body and singing various bits of, "If you wanna be my lover."

When I leave the bathroom, Paisley is curled up on my couch, staring out the window. "Your hair's green now." she says, not looking at me. "Yes. It is." I reply. Finally, she turns to look at me.

"I like it, but it's not you." I nod sadly. My new hair was going to go soon, I couldn't be bothered with the maintenance of green hair, and my roots were going to start showing eventually. Instead of telling her this I just say, "Waffles?" She nods enthusiastically, and I spend the next little while cooking, while her hand dips into the mixture occasionally, to steal some of the raw batter. There's enough left to pour into a waffle maker though, so we eat waffles for breakfast before the upcoming birthday party.

Fenrir ages up into a handsome young adult, and moves in with his friend, Sugar Free, a berry sim. She's got a boyfriend, his only other friend (so there's no worry of him leading her astray)

Baldur becomes a very enterprising teen. He takes his inventions down to the consignment store to sell them, but he has a lot of other outlets and business... companions as well. I even heard him on the phone later talking to one Miss Potts (like the Miss Potts.)

Of course his sisters are grumpy about not getting to grow up as well, but thy hug Fenrir as he leaves and I even see a tear in Annie's eye. They were very close when they were younger, but I'm sure they'll keep in contact.

After Fen, it's time for Haven to age up. She grows up into the most adorable toddler I have ever seen and I just want to snuggle her to death.

But, according to the law snuggling to death is illegal. I turn towards my bedroom, I need to go pee, and everyone has aged up that needs to and walk in. There, I see Paisley, her hair pushed back behind her ears, and putting in a pair of contacts. I shut the door and walk a little closer to her when she jumps and turns around to see me. To my surprise, one eye is yellow and the other is green. I assume the one she was putting the contact in is the yellow, but what eludes me is why. "Why are you putting yellow contacts in?" I ask. Paisley replies, "I'm putting green ones in actually. I have something I need to talk to you about." So Paisley launches into a tale of how she's now an elf (stranger things have happened) and her eyes are yellow and Ginny, Cho and some of her other kids are now elves.

I don't realize how long this takes until Annie knocks on the door and walks in. "Auntie Paisley?" she asks, quietly, "Can we go to the park please?" Paisley looks from my daughter to me, and back again. "Ask your mom." Annie's eyes flick to me, and I nod enthusiastically. "I'll go make some sandwiches or something." I say, and stand up. Annie jumps up and down and runs off to tell her siblings the news.

I hear a very male groan from Baldur, until I say, "We'll call in at KFC on the way home as well." to which he perks up considerably. The packing finished, Beckett jumps on Paisley's back, Parker on mine, and Annie takes control of the picnic basket for the short walk to the park.

Baldur strolls on ahead of us until he sees one of his friends from his elementary school, whom has also aged into a teenager. It also just so happens that this friend is female, and rather pretty. He glances back at me and I make a pushing gesture, and they stroll off towards the park together.

Baldur

I have liked Amelia since we first met as children at school. The first time I saw her, we were on the see-saw together, and she fell off and hurt her knee. I picked her up and took her to Miss Lace, who was her mother and teacher. Of course, I had to explain to her what had happened, and when Miss Lace started yelling at me, Amelia took my side. From that moment on I liked her, and I never got the courage to make a move yet.

As we walk to the park down the road, Amelia is talking excitedly about the book she is writing, about a female detective called Melody Malone and her time travelling husband. I listen, avidly for a moment, until the sound of a car catches me and I turn to look at it. The vehicle speeds past us, not knowing or caring about the trials of being a teenage boy, and I turn back to face Amelia.  “Bal, if you only had a day to live, how would you spend it?” she asks me, suddenly serious. We have arrived at the park by then, so I lead her to a bench to sit down. I think for a minute, and then respond. “I would do everything I had ever wanted to, and spend it with the people I loved the most.”

She nods, slowly, before turning to face me. Slowly, she brings a hand to my face, and looks at me. Then, a butterfly’s kiss on my lips. Amelia leans back from me, looking scared. “I’m sorry-“she starts to say, but then my lips are on hers. She’s warm and soft and everything a girl is supposed to be. The kiss itself is passionate, full of years of unsaid feelings and suppressed love. If this moment could go on forever, it would not be long enough.

As she pulls away, I swear I can see tears in her eyes, but it could just be the light. “Amelia,” I say, a sudden burst of courage surrounding me, “Will you marry me?” she gawks at me incredulously. “Not now obviously. Once we’re adults, and stuff. And I have a ring, and a proper proposal.” Amelia continues to look at me, and this time she does cry. “Yes.” She says, simply, before throwing her arms around me and hugging me tight.

It is then that Mum and Paisley arrive at the park, Mum shoots me a glance, at Amelia’s tight hold on me, but Paisley takes her hand and turns her away from us. I make a mental note to thank her later. But for now, Amelia.

Skye

I have to admit, when Annie and Parker first asked about going to the park, it seemed like a terrible idea, but now, sat here in Paisley’s arms while my children play and enjoy themselves in the final throes of summer, I cannot find a reason to fault it. It is the perfect picture of bliss I had always dreamed of, and the perfect person to enjoy it beside me.

Beckett runs over to us, and asks me to push him on the swings. I jump up immediately; determined to make the best of our time together. Beckett is normally a very independent child, and insists on doing everything himself (including opening jam jars, don’t get me STARTED on Beckett and his jam) so it’s not often that we get to do something together.

As I push my child on the swings I take the moment to look around at everything else around me. There are other mothers with toddlers in prams; Paisley is on the see-saw with Parker; Bal and Amy are over under the willow tree talking. Everything is so perfect. And in the blink of an eye, this could all be gone and my challenge will be over.

Beckett

I turn behind me on the swing to look at Mom. She looks sad. Mom looks sad a lot now. I don’t know why. But when she looks at Aunty Paisley she looks happy again, and I think it’s going to be all right. When she stops pushing me, and looks around at the park, I jump off the swing. 

She doesn't notice me, so I hug her tightly and that gets her attention. “What was that for, honey?” she asks. I shrug, but Momma doesn't buy it. “I don’t want you to be sad any more Momma. I hope whatever it is, it goes away so you can come back and play with us more.” 

I must have said something wrong, because Momma starts to cry and runs away quickly to the gazebrabo or whatever it’s called, and sits down on a bench. I start to follow you, but Baldur and Amelia come up behind me and stop me. “Don’t,” he says, “Let Paisley go to her. Paisley will know what to do.”  

Skye

What Beckett had said had made me realise that I was sad a lot, and I had no cause to be. I had a better life than most people on the street did, and a huge, loving family to care for and be cared by. I had to reason to be sad, and I resolved not to be any longer.

Paisley was walking up the stairs to the gazebo when I calmed down. “Hey.” She says, quietly. “Hi.” I respond.

“Are you feeling better?” Paisley asks. I nod. “It’s getting  little late, we should go home.” I say. Paisley agrees with me, and we gather everybody up. I ask Amelia if she wants to come to KFC with us as well, but she declines and explains that she has to go home.

We enter the fast food place and order some… I hesitate to call it food, but I don’t have much of a choice here. The next half hour is spent jovially, laughing. I take a bite of chicken, and say, “Are you trying to poison me?” which merits a roar of laughter from everyone. Eventually, we leave and set off home.

By the side of the building is a young girl, no more than fifteen huddled up with a toddler clasped to her chest. “Excuse me, are you alright?” I ask. The girl says nothing, but shivers again in the rapidly cooling night. “Do you have anywhere to go?” I ask.

She shakes her head, and the toddler in her jacket cries. I take her hand and pull her up. “My name’s Skye. I’m going to take you somewhere safe.” I tell her. The girl nods her assent, and starts to walk. Paisley ushers the kids off, and I pick up the girl and her child (I assume) in my arms. “Carmen, and Evita.” She whispers. “We’re Carmen and Evita.”

I carry her for the short walk up the hill to my home, and set her down inside. “Do you want something to eat” I ask. Carmen nods and I walk to the fridge and grab some leftover waffles from breakfast. She immediately sets upon them, and I pick up the young child. Closer up, I can see that she has beautiful blue eyes, and her hair is a dark black colour, under a layer of grime. I take the toddler to the kitchen and grab a bottle of formula milk for her. The toddler drinks just as eagerly as the other girl did, and yawns soon afterwards.

I look over to the older girl and she is talking quietly to Beckett. He takes one of her hands and examines it. I don’t want to interrupt their conversation, but I venture over, Evita in my arms. “She’s tired. If it’s okay with you I’m going to put her to bed and let her sleep. Then you can have a bath.” I tell Carmen. She seems to be okay with this and nods.

I take Evita upstairs and put her in one of the cots. Then, realising they probably won’t want to be separated in a stranger’s home; I set up a sleeping bag on the floor for Carmen and walk downstairs to run the bath. When this is done, I call her in and she changes out of her muddy clothes behind a screen. When she comes out, I realise just how skinny she is. She gets into the bath and starts to wash off some of the dirt on her body, while I go sit on the toilet behind the screen to give her some privacy.

I hear her get out not long after, and I grab a towel for her and take her upstairs to the nursery where she snuggles into the sleeping bag and falls asleep almost instantly.

Not long after, I go to bed myself and find Paisley sat reading a book. “That was a nice thing you did. Taking in a homeless girl.” So, the unspoken truth is realised aloud, I’m going to keep and care for the child. “She needed somewhere, and I can offer her care. If you really need me to justify it, she and the kid can count towards my challenge.” I tell her. I realise how callous that could have sounded, but Paisley doesn’t care.

I slip under the covers beside her, and fall into a dreamless sleep in Paisley’s arms. Life is good.