I have a second, and then a third, in quick succession. Instinct tells me this is not prodromal. There's no denying that this is real labor. Not having seen or experienced this before, my firstborn freaks out, while the three littles continue to play with the strange dolls a distant relative sent them.
“Addie, honey,” I tell her between contractions, “I know it seems scary, but it’s entirely normal. I’m going to labor in the bedroom, and you can finish your homework and watch your siblings. I’ll call you in once the baby arrives.”
She nods solemnly, taking the responsibility of watching her siblings seriously, and I head to the other room. The contractions are on top of each other. Transition. Not much longer now.
Sure enough, what feels like minutes later, I deliver a baby boy. Time to move onto the B names. He looks like a Boden, I think, when I’m hit with another strong contraction. Again?
The second baby is a girl, and I know immediately I will call her Bellatrix. I wait, expecting more contractions, but breathe a sigh of relief. Twins this time. After triplets, twins seem like a cakewalk.
Boden, my adventurous, absent minded second son, with his father's hair and electric blue eyes...
... and his twin sister, Bellatrix, an adventurous couch potato, the first of my children to inherit my eyes, though she also ended up with I-have-no-idea-whose hair. An adventurous couch potato? Sounds like an oxymoron. But she's gorgeous, and she's mine.
I felt terrible—I never did make that special dinner. But Addie didn’t mind, because she received two new siblings, and it was birthday time. And we all know birthdays mean cake. Times four!
My firstborn became a teenager, adding the Natural Performer trait. These were the years I had been dreading. Not that I worried so much about her behavior, but because it meant soon enough she’d leave the nest. But for now, it meant joining afternoon Study Club. She begged me to let her join the Drama Club, but I told her she needed to focus on her education. I couldn’t even teach her to drive—we were still too poor to buy a car.
Okay, so maybe that wasn't entirely true, especially since Boden was baby #5 and that meant my first $50K in cash. Truth was, I was saving every cent possible to move. I already had my eye on a gorgeous farm house on the other side of town. It wasn't on the market, but I could be convincing if I tried. The current owner was elderly, on her own, and the home was just too much for one person.
In comparison to this place, it was a palace. Two stories, with three bedrooms, two full baths, a kitchen and dining room, and a large living area. Even better, the exterior was my favorite color--yellow! The garage was a converted loft, and the yard was enormous. A fenced garden to grow my vegetables, and plenty of space for the kids. Eventually we'd be able to create a playground.
Good, because now that these three had aged up, I would need plenty to occupy them!
Aurelia added the Hot-headed trait. Watch out for those tween and teen years!
And August rolled Rebellious. See what I mean about needing the playground equipment to exhaust them? The only way I'm going to survive these three is to keep them as exhausted as possible.
* * *
It didn't take long to experience the hormone swings and accompanying teen angst. According to Adelaide, I'm a terrible mother. I let Aurelia and Arden sign up for ballet, and August for scouts, but she has to be a part of study club, with all the nerds. All her friends' parents had let them join whatever clubs they'd wanted.
Yeah, and I bet they also made them get jobs, too.
Wait a minute, are we sure she didn't roll the diva or dramatic traits? Because she's sure sounding like a drama queen.
The next week, the trips started school. They were all nervous, but already the girls were ganging up on poor August.
The next week, the trips started school. They were all nervous, but already the girls were ganging up on poor August.
The girls called him a chicken for sitting next to Addie, but today at least, she was kind enough to let him. I waved them off and headed back inside to start working on toddler skills with Bella and Boden.
My twins were opposites. Boden potty trained in a flash (and here I thought girls were supposedly easier to train), and Bella was definitely the faster of the two to learn how to talk.
Bella also picked up walking quickly. Though after she peed all over me (twice!), I decided to skip pants altogether.
Boden, however, wanted nothing to do with it, so I persuaded (read bribed) Addie to teach him. She was his favorite person, at least when she wasn't having one of her moods.
I started to think maybe we'd both survive the teenage years with minimal scars, until I received a call from the school.
It would appear my daughter had skipped three Study Club classes in the past week. Worried sick, I packed up the twins and set out to find her. I was nauseated, thinking of all the things that could have happened to her. And furious. Especially when I found her.
Outside the stadium. Doing this.
No wonder the little minx had been sweet as pie when I'd asked her to work on Boden's walking. She had a boyfriend.
It wasn't the boy I was worried about--every girl should have the opportunity to fall in love. I wanted that for my kids. I wanted them to have everything I hadn't had and wouldn't have. It was the fact she'd lied. I wouldn't embarrass her now, in front of him. I'd wait until she came home, but boy would she get a talking to. And I was sure of one thing. If I wanted her to understand that I would not tolerate dishonesty, I'd have to teach her a lesson. I didn't want to, but I couldn't afford to be soft, either. I'd have to ground her.
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