I awoke to the smell of blueberry pancakes. I was surprised the smell made it all the way up to my second floor bedroom. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, threw the covers aside, and climbed out of bed.
Holly's wails from the bedroom across the hall caught my attention. I slipped my slippers on and went over to tend to her.
"Morning, my little blue-haired angel." I cooed.
"Mommy, I is hungeeeee!!!" She squealed.
I picked her up out of her crib and tickled her.
"Well, if Mommy is right, Daddy is making blueberry pancakes right this second! Now, whose favorite food is that?" I pretended to forget.
"MINE!" She squealed again.
I laughed and carried her down the stairs.
"Morning!" I greeted Matthew in the kitchen.
"Morning!" He replied with a smile. He flipped another pancake and set it on a plate with what looked like to be a dozen others.
"A little hungry, are we?" I asked.
"The boys asked me to make some." He gestured into the dining room.
I put Holly in her high chair and set a plate of cut up pancake in front of her. I kissed her on the forehead and joined the older kids in the dining room.
"Morning, kids!" I greeted.
"Morning, mom!" They answered in unison with pancake filling each of their mouths. I laughed again and sat down next to Jayden.
Right on cue, Matthew walked in and set a plate right in front of me.
"Thank you!" I replied and picked up my fork. I began shoveling bits of syrup covered pancakes in my mouth.
The noise at the dining room table sounded like many bees buzzing. Everyone was talking about something different. For Elle, it was upcoming prom. Chase, it was his soccer tournament quickly approaching. Jayden's next chess match was nearing. Matthew's new coworker was apparently some big shot from Bridgeport. I smiled to myself. The busy mornings were hectic, but my favorite.
After everyone had finished eating, I yelled after Chase to quickly get dressed before the school bus came. He always made it on time with a second to spare.
"I'm going Mom, geez."
I ruffled his hair just to annoy him and went back upstairs.
It was a nice day out and I threw on a pretty, blue dress. I decided I would be taking Holly on a walk while Matthew went to work and the rest of the kids were in school. I glanced at the picture frame next to my bed and frowned.
Mom I thought. My eyes started to water and I held back tears. It had quite a while since she had died. I let the painful memory flood back.
~*~
We had been all the way back in that cabin in Sunlit Tides when I got the call from my dad. I answered the phone with my usual smile on my face. I was always happy when I got to talk to or see my parents. I appreciated it more now that they lived so far away. That smile while picking up the phone quickly turned to a wince of pain. My mother had died of a sudden heart attack. My dad was speechless. He was practically hysterical on the phone. "She had been so healthy." He said. No one ever would have expected this to happen so soon, let alone happen at all.
I remember being so shocked. I had just seen her at Christmas a few months before. It was like I blinked, and she was gone.
After I had got the call, believe it or not, I didn't shed a single tear. I think it was just the surreality of it all.
Attending the funeral was a blur, too. I left the kids home. I didn't think it was appropriate for them to come, considering they were all so young. Matthew came along and I left them all with Becks (who later told me something I already know: Elle is a mischievous little girl. She apparently glued Becks to one of the dining room chairs.)
My brothers obviously came, who were absolutely distraught. They were the only of us three kids that stayed close to home in Sunset Valley. My dad was very upset about it, too. Probably the most upset out of us all. He could barely say a word. I knew he would have such a hard time living alone now, which is how we all came up with a somewhat better solution.
My mom's side of the family is from Starlight Shores, which is where they all still live. My aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., My dad decided to move there to be closer to family, rather than move far back to France, where his side of the family is from. My brothers made the move, and so did I.
I know I originally was about to move into a house in Sunlit Tides to be closer to Becks and Logan, but, duty calls. I knew I needed to do this for my dad, for my brothers, and for myself. It would be good for me, and for my kids, to be closer to family. So, I uprooted my kids once again, packed my bags, and attempted to enjoy the long flight over.
Alex, once again, came along with us. I couldn't believe how loyal he was to my family and I. It's remarkable how good of a friend he is. He bought a house right down the street from us and stops by regularly. All the kids love him. I don't know how he ever became so good with them.
As much as it was hard to leave Becks and Logan behind, two of the most important people in my life, we found a solution to that, too! A few months after I had moved, the separation was really starting to sink in. I'll admit it, I was getting a bit depressed not having my two best friends around, but there wasn't really anything I could do about it. Nothing I knew of at the time, anyway. I stumbled upon an old elixir shop one day and decided to take a peek inside. I ended up driving away with an extremely heavy LLAMA in the back of my car. Not a llama like an animal, llama as in teleportation device. That's right. I let Becks and Logan know, and they both bought one, too. Now, we have access to each other's houses and it takes seconds to travel. That's great for Becks considering I'm running out of marshmallows again...
And now, here we are, so much later, in a new house, a new town, and the kids are so different.
Elle is still as mischievous as ever. Another good part of the move was that she was able to begin a new school. I was actually able to persuade her teachers at first that she is a friendly, well-behaved, young girl. Yeah... that lasted about two days. Now I get day to day calls about the mischief she's creating. I'm surprised she hasn't been suspended yet, or worse... expelled. Besides her constant antics, she really is a great teenager. She enjoys painting, just like me, and is practically in love with the pool in the back yard. I'm rarely able to persuade her to get out and find something else to do. I'm surprised her skin isn't permanently wrinkled yet.
Jayden is exceptionally smart and adores playing chess. He gets teased at school quite often for his natural nerdy behavior, but he's still been able to find a few true friends. For a boy he's quite stylish and keeps his room clean. He always helps me around the house with whatever needs to be done. Out of all my kids, I believe he's the most responsible.
Chase on the other hand is the polar opposite of his twin brother. His passion lies within sports, mainly soccer. He's very laid back when it comes to school, constantly gets dirty, and leaves behind a mess wherever he roams. I always have to nag him to put on a clean shirt or finish his homework. Sometimes I question whether it was a good idea to have so many boys so close in age.
Bradley, I'm not even sure about. He's so quiet I can never tell when he's in the same room as I am. He always has a book in his hand and tends to stay in his room. I've never gotten a call from his school, and he keeps his grades up, so I've never really gotten on him for being a bit of a loner. It's good to spend some time alone, but it's good to be around people, too.
Holly is just the cutest little toddler. She's the spitting image of Matthew, and an exact clone of Primrose. When her pale blue hair grew in I was really surprised at just how much she looks like her deceased sister. She's a very bubbly little girl and loves people. She's not the least bit shy and loves attention. I know she's going to be a handful when she's older, but I'm going to enjoy her personality while she's still young.
Besides the kids, even I'm so different. I don't feel different... I just... am.
~*~
"Mama, who's Prim?" Holly asked out of the blue as we were walking out of the house.
I was shocked by her sudden curiosity and wondered where she even heard her sister's name before. My chest tightened and I bit my lip. It had been so long since I had even thought about Prim.
"Where did you hear that name, Holly?" I questioned.
"Elle. She was playing on Daddy's laptop and said he has a picture. I look just like her!" Her little eyes grew wide towards the end of her sentence.
I hesitated. "Prim's your big sister, Holly." I replied.
"Where is she, Mama?"
"She's really far away, sweetheart. She had to leave when she was a little older than you. You'll get to meet her one day, I promise." I smiled down at my young daughter and admired her sincere curiosity. She seemed content with my response and continued toddling down the driveway. I sighed and looked up into the clear, blue sky. Once again, I noticed the flapping of butterfly wings and watched as a bright blue butterfly flew into the sunlight.
I buckled Holly into her stroller and began walking down the street. It really was a beautiful day and I couldn't stand being cooped up indoors all the time. She giggled and pointed to a flock of birds nibbling on bits of bread under the shade of a tree.
"Mommy! Elle is a bird, too!" She exclaimed as she watched them take flight.
"No, Holly. Elle is a fairy! She's not an animal like those birds are." I laughed.
"Am I a fairy, too, Mama?" She asked.
"You're a human, just like me and your Daddy." I tried to explain to her. I took her out of the stroller for a moment and gave her a juice box. Her little brow furrowed.
"Why is Elle a fairy, but I'm not?"
"Elle is a fairy because she gets those genes from her Daddy."
"What do pants have to do with fairies, Mommy?"
I had to keep myself from laughing out loud.
"Not those kinds of jeans, Holly. You'll learn about the genes I'm talking about when you're older." I explained.
"Ok."
I buckled her back into her stroller and continued walking down the street. All of a sudden my cell phone began to ring.
"Faster, Mommy, faster!" Holly squealed.
"Just a moment. It looks like Elle's school is calling."
"Hello?" I answered on my cellphone.
"Is this Ms. Moreau?" The voice on the other end asked.
"Yes, this is her."
"This is Mr. Tomlison from Gooder High School, I'm calling about your daughter, Elle."
I sighed. "What did she do this time?"
"She set all the frogs in her Biology class loose AND toilet-papered the girl's bathroom."
"Wonderful." I responded. I rubbed my temples.
"Would you like me to come pick her up?" I asked.
"Please, do."
I hung up my cell phone and sighed heavily. Why couldn't she just behave?
"Come on, Holly." I said. "We have to cut our little walk short."
~*~
I dropped Holly off at home, climbed into my car, and drove back to Elle's high school. As I closed my car door, I could see her standing across the courtyard, leaning up against a pole.
"What are you doing outside? Don't they keep you waiting in the office?" I asked her.
"They didn't want to leave me alone, and the principal had an important meeting, so they made me come outside..." She replied lightly.
"I don't blame them." I added a bit harshly. I gestured for her to follow me to the car and she brought her backpack with her.
As she buckled herself in, she didn't make a sound. She didn't even try to explain why she got into the trouble she did.
I allowed the silence to continue, until we reached home. I set my car keys on the coffee table and turned towards her.
"Elle, why? Why can't you just behave? Why is that so hard?" I began.
She looked at me for a while and responded. "Why does it matter, Mom? It's none of your business anyway!"
"None of my business? Of course it's my business! I get a call on a weekly basis about your behavior in school. It affects me, too! I have to stop what I'm doing to deal with the unnecessary trouble you're causing. It's unacceptable, Elle."
"I don't care!" She shouted.
"You should care! Don't think that you're getting off so easy this time. I've had it with your behavior in school. There's absolutely no reason for it!"
Her response surprised me. She began to cry.
"It's not my fault." She whimpered, the tears streaming down her cheeks. I stood there, dumbfounded by her reaction. "You don't understand, mom. Nobody likes me. I'm pretty much the freak of my grade. I get made fun of for my pink skin and hair everyday. I hate it. Don't even get me started on my wings. Some kid in the hallway the other day pushed me over and said, 'What are you going to do about it, Tinkerbell?' The only way people actually like me is when I play pranks. They think it's funny and they pay attention to me, not like they normally do. Everyone usually ignores me. I eat lunch by myself in the corner of the cafeteria. YOU DON'T GET IT!" She sobbed.
My eyes began to water and I pulled her close to me.
"I didn't know, Elle. I'm so sorry. I didn't know..." I stroked her wavy, pink hair and closed my eyes. I couldn't believe how oblivious I had been. How didn't I notice this sooner?
I sent her up to her room to lie down and called the school. Things needed to change.
~*~
After I hung up with Elle's principal, who assured me the issue would be solved properly, the boys barged through the front door.
"I'll be outside playing soccer, Mom!" Chase shouted as he ran down the hallway.
"Homework first! I called after him. He screeched to a halt and reluctantly sat down at the dining room table.
I called Jayden over. "How was your chess match today, buddy?"
"I won!" He beamed.
I kissed him on the top of his head. "I'm so proud of you."
"Mom, can I join boy scouts?" Bradley asked a bit hesitantly.
"Of course!" I may have seemed a bit overenthusiastic, but I was happy my little boy was finally taking an interest in the outside world.
He smiled. "Thanks, Mom!" I watched as he ran off to finish his homework with his brothers.
I started making dinner when I began feeling a bit nauseous. Wonderful. Morning sickness is finally sinking in I thought. I swallowed and continued cutting up the vegetables. A few minutes later my stomach churned and I knew I would be losing my lunch very soon, so I quickly ran to the bathroom.
One part of pregnancy I would never get used to. I wiped a bit of saliva from my lip and rinsed my mouth out. I splashed some cold water on my face and returned to the kitchen.
The next father in my challenge is named Shane Weathers. He has bright, blue eyes with blond and purple hair. He's a typical jock who loves sports and girls, but he was extremely nice when I met him, so I decided to let him join my challenge. I was excited to see what the baby would look like.
After the kids had been fed, brushed their teeth, and went to bed, I went on a mad search for Holly who I found hiding in the hamper.
She began to cry. "I don't wanna go to bed!!" She screeched. "I wanna stay up and watch TV with Daddy!"
"You can watch TV tomorrow morning with Daddy, Holly. You have to go to bed now."
"But I'm not even tired!" She protested. She proceeded to rub her eyes and yawn and I couldn't help but chuckle to myself a bit.
"I'll make you a deal, my little, blue-haired girl. If you let me put you to bed now, I'll make you blueberry pancakes tomorrow for breakfast!" I bribed her.
"Ok!" Her little padded feet scurried down the hallway and I found her waiting by her crib once I was able to catch up. I picked her up, put her in her crib, kissed her goodnight, and left the door open a crack. I stood in the hallway for a few minutes until I heard her snores.
I turned the lights off and headed to my own room where Matthew was already asleep. His loud snores made me giggle. At least I know where Holly gets hers! I silently changed into my pajamas and let my hair down. I glanced at the clock. 11:00pm. I sighed to myself and slipped under the covers. I stared at the ceiling in deep thought. Not thinking about anything in particular, just, well, everything. I felt Matthew roll over and he put his arms around me.
"I thought you were asleep?" I whispered.
"I'm a very good actor if I do say so myself." He replied. "I could be the next Leonardo Di Caprio."
I snickered. "In your dreams."
He smiled back at me. "Speaking of dreams, have some sweet ones." He kissed my cheek and settled into a more comfortable position.
"Goodnight." I replied. A few minutes later I heard him snoring again. For real this time.
I continued staring off into space and thinking about this new town I was supposed to call home. Maybe, just maybe, I could get used to living here. After all, it was very nice. I smiled to myself and let sleep consume me.
~*~
I'M FINALLY BACK! :D
Thank you for reading this chapter of Chloe Moreau's 100 Baby Challenge! I'm so SO sorry it's been forever since my last post. I promise I'll be posting more frequently from now on, especially since summer is quickly approaching!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post, and please leave a comment! ^_^
