History Repeated

It was bittersweet that the day had to come, but Renia's birthday did come. I still haven't seen Penn's clean face. It's hard to say exactly what he looks like when he has his make-up on. One thing is for sure though, he helped me to make one gorgeous daughter. Even as an adult, Renia hasn't picked up her father's wacky tendencies. Not that I was expecting she would. They've always been so different. Renia has become a bit more a couch potato since she graduated, which worries me that she might have burned herself out a little too much. She picked up many excellent writing skills at her part-time job though, and she has decided to become a full-time writer. It was hard having her go, but it was also nice to have a proper bed to sleep in again.

Melui and Cethiel are making the most out of having a nice, big yard. They spent one particular weekend going outside every spare second they had. They trampled down all the pretty snow making their snow angels, igloo, and snowmen while having snowball fights in between. I had to call them inside multiple times to warm them up so they would get frostbite, but they snuck back outside without fail a half hour later each time when I took my eyes off of them.

I had just laid down for a quick nap when Arnin needed a dozen things at once. She always seems to know when to start crying to make me feel the most frustrated. It was silent, and then she started crying her head off like crazy. She is certainly the loudest infant I have had in some time.

In some ways, I'm actually starting to like our little house. It forces me to proceed with the task at a much slower pace since it's so small. I don't have to feel guilty for spending so much time with my children, and not being constantly pregnant. The old routine has become just that- old. Most of the magic of carrying a child has been lost, and I miss my days of freedom to do what I want with my body. Do not get me wrong, I love having my children. The constant weight gain, sore muscles, and strange bodily functions do take a toll on a person though.

Anyway, I have said before and I will probably say again that the thing I love most is the yard. Sind noticed that I had quite the collection of festival tickets saved up. I never thought to use them. He, Melui, and Cethiel went to the festival to see what we could get. You might imagine my great surprise when some men showed up a couple days later to install our own private ice skating rink! That's how many tickets I had. Enough to purchase our own private rink. If only those tickets had been money instead. The rink allowed me to keep my promise to Melui about me teaching her how to skate properly. Now she's outside even more.

Her birthday came too soon for my liking. I thought it was sad that it had to be on a Monday, but then I checked the weather channel early in the morning to discover the heavy snowfall during the night had caused a snow day. We had as big a celebration as we could afford just for the heck of it. Melui truly becomes prettier each time she ages. As it turns out, she has indeed stopped needing sleep. So, I guess...

I guess that means it has, a bit unfortunately, become that time to pick up the old routine again. With the space now available, there's very legitimate excuses for me holding back on having another baby.

I had a little time before I needed to really act though. For that moment, I enjoyed knowing my children loved their day off. Sind, Melui, and Cethiel did not go to the festival as I anticipated they would. They instead went to the more isolated beach to do some fishing. The heavy snow stopped falling so they had a marvelous view. They even caught a couple fish!

I blinked, and it was sweet Arnin's birthday. I say "sweet" sarcastically. She's so young, but she already has such an attitude on her. Thankfully, Arnin is easy to teach. I will simply have to keep an eye on her as she gets older. Arnin has my hair, but Garett's beautiful blue eyes. They remind me of Lar's in a way in that they sometimes appear a purple shade when the light hits them at a certain angle.

I couldn't delay too much longer. I had to have another baby at some point. Sind was also going to graduate before too long as well. There really was not a single excuse left for me to use. To achieve my aim, I invited over a man named Mr. Gilberto Gordon. He was a young man bright in intelligence and personality. His appearance reminded me of Norris. I do so hope our child to come inherits his unique coloring unlike how Renduil and Rion failed to inherit their father's coloring.

I thought the days were merely passing by without me paying attention, but no. I was showing rather profoundly much sooner than I normally do. There really could only be one conclusion. I was most likely carrying multiples again. I hoped if this was indeed true that it was only twins. Even twins will be hard enough to deal with in this situation that our family is in. I also am not fond of the idea of having to expand the house in order to fit more children. It will be a step back to returning to our house. I worry everyday though I can usually forget that worry somewhat during my writing. I've almost hit 60 novels if you can believe that.

Sind and Melui had a school field trip to the fancy bistro. I wish I could have gone. If I had known ahead of time that I could have signed up as a chaperone I definitely would have taken the opportunity. Sind and Melui told me all about the amazing food they got to eat and make. What they had certainly sounded better than the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches Cethiel and I had for dinner.

Sind also ran into Renia after the field trip was over. She had managed to save up to purchase a cheap car so she agreed to teach Sind how to drive. Renia told me later that he did a good job though there was some troubles going up the steep, icy hills.

Cethiel has become good friends with her niece, Jessica Allerd. Jessica is Niphredil and her husband Jay's daughter. Besides Jessica, Niphredil and Jay have four other children- Trey, Clara, Cedric, and Atone. Cedric is the only one of them who has gotten Carlton's nice brown and pink hair.

I was always curious how Anondil restored the "brain power" he said he needed instead of sleep. Being such an introverted boy, he never did the process when others were around. Melui, however, doesn't care about that. To her, restoring her power is as natural as sleeping. Though she does have that alien-like appearance, most days I completely forget she's different from the rest of us. Then I see what she can do, and I am left astounded. There are some things out there that I am never going to be able to understand.

With Sind, Melui, and Cethiel having yet another snow day, we spent the day more somberly since we went to visit Elioviel and Morti.

At the cemetery. The two of them finally passed away recently after what felt like an eternity. The snow was so deep Morti's tombstone was almost completely buried. My heart ached something awful standing there, but I took comfort in knowing I have never seen a relationship quite like what my daughter and that quirky boy had. I could let them go peacefully knowing my little girl had such amazing life. Besides, with their five children and five grandchildren coming to visit us often I still get to see Elioviel and Morti in a way.

The pain was excruciating. When my labor started I nearly collapsed to my knees from the sheer agony I was suddenly in. It was a miracle I could even pull myself onto the bed. For pretty much the first time, I wanted to be taken to the hospital. However, there was no way there. I don't know what would have happened without Melui there to help. She used both her knowledge she had learned in school, and her alien abilities to assist me through the labor. Obviously, I had no choice but to lie there and push while I watched history repeat itself.

With the help of my teenage daughter, I gave birth to triplets in a house too small to hold them with barely enough money to support them. I was out of it for hours. Melui had to throw away the bedsheets since my blood had stained them. And yet, many hours passed and I recovered enough to feel somewhat well. It was then that I stood there in amazement as Sind, Melui, and I happily held the newest additions to the family- Lomenia, Lithaldoren, and Lueth......