Competition

Rorion was accepted into the household instantly. Elvaran and Delenmir were excited to have another brother since it meant there were three girls and three boys, excluding me naturally. When it comes to these kinds of counts my gender becomes completely irrelevant for whatever reason. Due to Linnatiel and Rorion practically being another set of twins for me to take care of I haven't been able to keep up with Niphredil, Elvaran, Analinde, and Delenmir as much as I would like. They don't mind, because it means they can get away with playing more video games and delaying their homework.

I had hoped to take a little break from having children after Linnatiel was born, but it is alright if things are this way. Chaos is something I'm quite used to.

And chaos is what it has been in this household. The children didn't think my workload was hard enough for Elvaran, Analinde, and Delenmir all brought a friend over on the same say after they got back from school. It was also Niphredil's prom night. That meant I had six children and two toddlers to look after all by myself. I prayed multiple times to the Goddess that night that I could come out of the chaos alive.

I survived better than I expected. I got worried when one of the visiting children dressed up as a dinosaur and started stomping around. The last thing I needed was another incident like what happened with Mike. Thankfully, the girl had no intention of crushing any of our toys to pieces. She instead stood in front of the window, and I'm assuming used it as a mirror so she could see herself roaring.

Niphredil came home from prom beaming. It was late and I was tired, but she was so ecstatically happy that I stayed up so she could tell me all about it. She said there was stiff competition, but Niphredil managed to win the prom queen title and crown instead of this supposed really popular girl. Some other girl tried to steal the gorgeous crown. She had said something about the crown being an alien device. Niphredil came not to mind the girl's actions. That is because a young man named Jay Alfred helped her out with chasing the delusional girl off.

It turned out that Niphredil has liked this boy for some time now. They spent the night together after that. Jay even admitted that he liked Niphredil too. They hadn't said they would date yet, but it was clear Niphredil wanted to go out with him. I congratulated her. However, I gave Niphredil that all too important talk. She promised me nothing inappropriate will happen.

As always, the birthdays we had came all around the same time. They're rarely spaced out nicely. Linnatiel's birthday was especially exciting though because she turned out so much like Christopher. I was happy as I had already been able to tell she would have his hair given the little tufts she had had when she was an infant.

Following her birthday was the twin's special day. Elvaran and Analinde retain a spark of their impish tendencies, but otherwise it's amazing to see how far they've come from being the children who were terrified of being more than five feet away from each other. In fact, it's rather the opposite way now. They rarely spend any time together with them being busy with other things. Elvaran and Analinde are as closer as ever though. There's no getting rid of their bond.

And at last, there was Rorion's birthday. I found him that night a little after midnight, and he was already a couple hours old. That is how I was able to be sure his birthday was indeed his birthday. I want to say that he looks familiar, but I know it's my mind only making up what I want to see. I've asked around, but no one has any ideas as to who the mother could be. In the letter she said she had been watching me for a little bit. You would have thought someone would have spotted her at some point.

I would say that it's clear Rorion is not related to the rest of us, but the rest of my children have such different physical appearances. Rorion really doesn't stick out that much. I hope his birth mother keeps her promise to never come to try and take him back, but at the same time I really want to meet her someday. Rorion will eventually have lots of questions that I won't be able to answer.

Linnatiel so quickly learned everything I wanted to teach her that I was left dumbfounded. Even Lothirien, who learned incredibly fast, didn't learn as quickly as my youngest daughter has. I asked Niphredil, Elvaran, and Analinde if they had been working with Linnatiel without me noticing, but they all said they had not helped her at all. When I told Christopher, he revealed he was the same way when he was young. He began bragging about himself after that. He at least has talents to back up his words. Despite his slightly immature attitude, he's actually a very hard-working and intelligent person. He's a good father for Linnatiel to look up to.

Niphredil, Elvaran, and Analinde decided to have a competition. Analinde suggested it since Niphredil and Elvaran's grades were slipping. They would all work as hard as they could in school to get the best grades possible. Whoever had the highest grades when winter break started would get a present of their choice from me. I agreed to the idea as long as the desired gift was not a ridiculous or overly expensive demand.

My agreement caused my three teens to go all out. Now all they do is study. It's even gotten to the point where they're constantly fighting over who is studying longer or more effectively. I wonder why I haven't tried this before with my children.

The alarm nearly blasted my eardrums out once again. Other recent thieves have taken to running away from the house as fast as they can once the alarm goes off. They are always long gone before the police can arrive. However, the thief that night decided to try her luck by stealing stuff even with the alarm going off. She vastly underestimated the speed of the police response. A policeman ran in and tackled her before she knew what was happening. We got the lamp back that she took, although I honestly wouldn't be losing any sleep over it tonight if we hadn't gotten it back.

The policeman was a man named Mr. Garett Whatley. He stuck around for a little while after the other officers took the thief to the precinct. He wanted to make sure nothing else had been taken. I chatted with him while he walked around to inspect the rooms. Then we plain just talked once we confirmed everything was in place. I found Mr. Whatley attractive. Flirting and seducing has become such second-nature to me I didn't notice I was doing it without it being intentional.

What was more surprising that Mr. Whatley proved receptive to my flirting. I didn't actually want to get pregnant at that current point in time, but I decided to go along with the opportunity anyway. However, Mr. Whatley stood by his own reservations. He apologized and said he just couldn't right now as soon as we entered the bedroom. I told him it was alright. He departed quickly. I went to sleep having accepted the rejection easily enough. It was most likely for the best that I didn't end up sleeping with him.

I was indeed very grateful the next morning that we didn't do anything. None of us have been able to get a full night's sleep recently because of all the work to be done. We thought the previous night would be the night when we could all rest without worry, but obviously the robbery ruined it. Linnatiel and Rorion were so horribly cranky the next morning. I had a massive headache of my own. I wanted to cry myself. There was no way I would be able to handle another child right now.

We've had a rather moderate winter this year, which I'm liking greatly. It's cold and there's snow, but many of the days are very sunny and bright. If you ask me, this is the best kind of winter to have. It's a happy medium. Niphredil, Elvaran, and Analinde took a break from their hard work to go ice skating at a pond near the scenic cliffs and waterfall. Delenmir tagged along as well. None of them were all that good, but they used those couples hours before dinner to really improve. They wanted me to come the next time so they could show me how skilled they had gotten.

Winter break rolled around, and that meant it was time to check everyone's grades. It was much harder than I anticipated to look at the good grades they all worked hard for and pick a lone winner. Niphredil, Elvaran, and Analinde all deserved a present. I almost lied that they had tied, but they were adamant about only winner so I had no choice but to reveal Niphredil had done the best. Elvaran and Analinde were downhearted.

In the spirit of the holiday season, Niphredil decided that her present was going to be something all three of them wanted and could enjoy. Niphredil, Elvaran, and Analinde had a fun time arguing and debating on what they should get. They finally agreed upon a fancy dartboard. I bought the overnight shipping so that we could set it up in the older children's room the following morning. Niphredil, Elvaran, and Analinde enjoyed their present so much I didn't see much of them that day.

I never heard any screams of pain, so I was comforted that they were having fun while managing not to accidentally stab each other's eyes out......