Who Are You?- Baby 58: Part One

Erik aged up into a very charming young man, who decided to move in with Theresa. Still very imaginative, he wants to become a famous artist someday. For now, he works in his garage, painting whatever comes to mind and selling it at the consignment store. He's also made a deal with Skye to "donate to her challenge," since he still thinks she's a very cute girl, and she thinks the same about him (minus the girl part).

Louise's obsession with death never faded as she grew older. Her love of black also didn't disappear, but I must say, she can pull off the gothic look quite well. Jeremy slimmed down, and to my utter amazement, became one of the most gorgeous boys I think I've ever seen. Louise noticed it, too, and made her move, quickly becoming his girlfriend. They're still as insane as ever, but I think they complement each other quite well.

Chloe and Lincoln age up, still best friends. As she got older, Chloe learned to play the piano, and eventually become one of the best that I know. She spends most of her time at school, practicing and at recitals. Lincoln was still a hectic little boy, but I loved that about him. He always found a way to surprise me, whether it was a whoopie cushion, dye in the showerhead or the spraying sink (most of those I don't appreciate).

Molly and Simon are adorable little tots with my dad's red hair and my green eyes. Aside from being a completely different gender, they look exactly the same. In fact, their personalities are quite similar, too. They refuse to be apart from each other, and make a scene when they are until they're reunited. They're handfuls, but it is good that they love each other so much. That isn't always the case with twins. 

*~Louise's Point of View~*

"Lou-Lou?" Chloe squeaked, leading Molly by the hand up to me as I sat at the kitchen table.

"Yeah?" I asked, biting down on a spoonful of cereal. "What is it?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go to the park with us. Mommy says we can't go without someone who is at least old enough to drive, and she's busy right now."

I sighed. I loved my little sisters, but I didn't really want to work to spend time with them. I'm a lazy bum, basically. I pretty much sit around all day with Jeremy on the couches, watching horror movies. He still doesn't like them, but he puts up with them for me. "I guess."

"Yay!" she cheered, jumping up and down with joy. "Did you hear that Molly?" She turned to our little sister and smiled widely. "We're going to the park with Lou-Lou! It's going to be so much fun! We can play on the spring riders, and in the sandbox..." Her voice trailed off as she led Molly back to her room to get ready.

"What are we supposed to do while you're away?" I jumped at the sudden addition of voices.

"Lincoln? What the-- What do you mean? Just... do what you normally do."

"But I don't do anything without Chloe, and Simon doesn't do anything without Molly. We're hopeless without each other," he whined, stomping his tiny foot.

"Well you gotta grow outta that, kid, because clearly Chloe can survive spending the day away from her precious little twin. I've never gotten that "other half" crap. You're two separate people with two separate personalities! Start acting like it!" At the sight of his offended expression, I said, "I'm sorry, Linc, I'm just stressed."

"What about?" His pained expression turned to one of concern.

"Well, school is really making me tired, leaving me barely any time to do homework, or ghost watch, for that matter," I said thoughtfully.

"How about to repay me for taking away my twin today, you bring me to see a ghost some other time?"

I nodded. "Sounds good, twerp." I ruffled his dark hair and walked upstairs to where Chloe was putting small amounts of makeup on Molly's face. "What're you doing?"

"Molly wanted to be like big sister Lou-Lou, so I stole some of your makeup. I think it looks cute on her."

"Stop that," I snapped, grabbing the brush out of her small hand. "You're going to make her a prostitute. She's a baby! She can have makeup when she's older, now let's go." I scooped up Molly and grabbed Chloe's wrist, walking them to the car. "Stay quiet while you're in here. I don't want to crash the car from being distracted and have Mom all over me for it."

"I wanna make a "that's what she said" joke but I feel that's inappropriate," she said as she climbed into the back seat.

"You're right, that is, now shut up until we get there, then you can be as Chloe as you'd like to be." Getting older didn't help my personality problems, such as being a jerk to everyone, including my siblings. But I am their older sister, it comes with the territory. I feel it is my duty to keep them in line with my snarky remarks. Of course, it does get me in trouble with the Baby Police (AKA Mom) but it's worth it in the end. I feel I help them grow as people. Okay, that's bull crap. I'm just a jerk.

When we got there, Chloe leaped out of the car, leaving me to unstrap Molly and bring her to the spring riders. "Now hurry this up, Binky Breath, I don't want to be seen by the metal horsies. That's just plain embarrassing." She bounced up and down on the horse for five minutes, until I decided that she needed to be done and brought her to the sandbox. "Sit there and eat sand or whatever it is you do." I walked over to the swings and sat down, swinging slightly in the wind.

Chloe walked over a moment later and sat on the swing next to me. "Hey sis," she said quietly.

"Hey. Why aren't you over there playing with your friends?" I pointed to where she had been while I was with Molly, her friends laughing across the park.

She shrugged. "I didn't want to leave you here all alone. It's not fun to not have anyone to talk to."

"What would you know about that? You have Lincoln at all times."

"No, he has me at all times. He really gets on my nerves, but he needs me. He's weaker without me around, I think. His self confidence goes down a lot when I leave, and he always gets bullied at school. I just don't like to leave him alone."

I sighed. "You know, you don't need to constantly be looking out for Linc. He's never gonna learn to be without you if don't teach him to be. It's like what Mom does with us. She separates herself from us as we get older and can fend for ourselves, so we can start learning to live like adults, preparing us for when we move out into the world."

"Yeah, but we're only twelve."

I nodded. "I know, but it's the same concept. He's going to be overly-attached to you for the rest of his life if you don't make him spend time without you. He's gotta learn that even though you don't spend every waking moment with him, you still love him and will always be there to protect him."

"I guess... But I don't want him to hate me."

"He might at first, I'll admit," I said, running a finger through my orange locks, "but that's a chance you're going to have to take. Lincoln will eventually come around and realize that it can be fun to spend some time alone in your room. Although, he better not start having too much fun, because then it just crosses a line--"

"What do you mean?"

"Meh, you'll understand when you get to sex ed in high school," I said, and we swung gently in silence for a while, until Molly started crying and I had to change her diaper and give her a bottle full of chocolate milk.

Soon my phone started vibrating, and I realized that our home line was calling. "Hello?" I said, putting the brick-phone up to my ear.

"Hey Lou-Lou!" Lincoln sounded. "Can I talk to Chloe?"

"Why?"

"I wanted to check up on her!"

"No," I said sternly. "There's no way I'm letting you do that. We've been gone for an hour, Lincoln. She can tell you all about her day when she gets back."

"But she could be drowning in a pit of hot lava--"

"I can assure you that's not happening," I sighed, rubbing my neck in frustration. "I don't think Sunset Valley actually has any hot lava. At least, not in public. And if they do I think they'd be breaking some serious laws."

He groaned. "Just let me talk to her! You could be smothering her with a pillow as we speak! I want confirmation that she's alive!"

"Damn it, Lincoln, why would I be smothering her with a freaking pillow?" I demanded. "I'll admit, that's what I want to be doing to you right this second, but Chloe is--"

A scream echoed out through the park, and I dropped my phone, realizing that it was Chloe who cried out in pain.

"Chloe!?" I shouted, looking in the direction of where the scream originated. There she was, my ginger sister laying in the street, a car a few feet away from her. "Chloe!" I screamed, sprinting over to the road. "You idiot!" I yelled at the driver. "You hit my little sister!" Kneeling down, I started to panic, breathing heavily, shaking her as if that were going to do any good. "Chloe, wake up please!"

Now sobbing, I screamed, "Someone call 9-1-1!" A crowd was starting to form, and multiple people reached for their cell phones and started dialing the same three numbers, all saying the same thing when the operator picked up: "A little girl has been hit by a car!"

I could hear the screeches of Molly behind me as she wobbled over to the street. "Molly, get back!" I shouted, making the motion to get out of there. "Please, don't come any closer sweetie." I think she could hear the panic in my voice, because her sobs became louder and more painful to listen to. I stood up, walked over to her and kneeled down. "Sweetie," I said, in the calmest voice I could muster, "please stop crying. Please? For Lou-Lou? I need you to go onto the sidewalk," I pointed to the concrete, "and sit down and wait for me to finish helping Chloe, okay?" She nodded and did what I said.

Briefly, I thought about how Mom would never trust me with my little siblings again, how she would sob at the hospital when her daughter laid in the white bed, fighting for her life. Don't think like that, Louise! Focus on the problem at hand!

Minutes later, an ambulance pulled up, sirens blaring, put Chloe on a stretcher and slid her into the red and white vehicle. I grabbed Molly and jumped in the back, reaching for my cell phone. When I remembered that I dropped it in the park, I groaned, frustrated. "Is she going to be okay?" I asked the paramedic as he frantically tended to my sister.

"I'm not sure right now, miss, but I'll let you know. Do you have a parent you can call?" he asked, not completely focused on our conversation. Not that I minded.

"Erm... Yeah, but I dropped my cell phone back at the park."

"That's fine, you can use the hospital's phone when we get there." I nodded gratefully and tried to calm down little Molly, who started screaming helplessly once again when the sirens were in our hearing range.

When we got to the hospital, they ran Chloe to the emergency room, still trying to revive her while they did so. I walked to the phone, bouncing crying Molly up and down. I quickly dialed the ten numbers of my mom's cell phone, and she answered immediately. "Hello?"

"Mom?" I bawled into the phone, reaching my breaking point and starting to sob.

"Louise?" she exclaimed, starting to worry at the sound of two of her daughter's cries. "What's wrong? Are you okay? Is someone hurt?"

"Mommy?"

"Yes honey? Calm down, what happened?"

"C-Chloe was hit by a car! We're at the hospital, and Molly won't calm down, and I'm starting to have a panic attack a-and I c-can't--"

"Oh my-- Lou, calm down. I'll be right there," she said, followed shortly by a click and then silence. I sat down on the bench connected to the wall and rocked Molly back and forth.

"It's okay little angel," I cooed in the sweetest voice I could manage, "just go to sleep. Big sissy is going to be fine. Both of your big sissies." She closed her eyes as I sang "Hush Little Baby" and rubbed her back.

Mom arrived within minutes, tears streaming down her face. "Is she alright?"

"I don't know," I admitted, trying not to wake Molly. "They rushed her back and I don't have any idea what's going on." Mom sighed and walked to the reception desk.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked, completely oblivious to the fact that a panic stricken mother was in front of her.

"Um... What's going on with Chloe Parker? She was hit by a car."

"Relation?" she asked, flipping the page of her magazine.

"I'm her mother."

"One moment," she drawled, picked up the phone and said, "What's happening with Chloe Parker? Her mother wants to know." Someone on the other line babbled for a moment, and the receptionist turned to Mom and said, "She's in critical condition. They'll send a doctor out in a few minutes to talk to you, but first they have to stabilize her."

Mom nodded, her orange hair bouncing slightly, and sat down next to me.  We sat in silence for about fifteen minutes, until a man in a white coat strutted out, blood soaked, worry lines creasing his aged face. "Miss Parker?" he asked.

"Yes?"

He walked over to Mom and sat down to be at eye-level. "Chloe is in the ICU, and should be there for a while. She broke several of her bones, and has a minor concussion," he explained.

"When can we see her?" I asked what was probably on both of our minds.

He sighed sadly. "Not until she gets a little better, unfortunately. We just don't want her to crash while you're visiting her. For now, how about you go home and try to get your mind off it? We'll call you when you can see her." He offered us a warm smile, which Mom returned with a glare. I couldn't blame her, though, because I knew that it must have been a pretty rough day.

When he went back through the double doors he emerged from minutes before, Mom said, "Let's go," and led Molly and I out the door to the car.

I started to cry silently. "M-Mom, I'm so sorry!" I bawled as I strapped myself into the seat.

"It's fine honey, it's not your fault," she assured me, obviously preoccupied. "It could've happened on anyone's time. Although I'd prefer if it would've been mine to keep you from feeling responsible."

I sighed. "I know it's not my fault, but if I would've kept my eye on her for just a few seconds longer, maybe--"

"Maybe nothing," she snapped, pulling into our driveway. "The simple truth is you didn't keep your eye on her for a few seconds more. You cannot change what happened, and as unfortunate as that is, we have to live with what we get. Chloe will get better, come home and everything will go back to normal."

"But what if it doesn't? What if she dies--"

"Don't you dare say that!" she screeched, stopping the car and pulling out the keys, causing me to jump. "Chloe will be fine. She'll--She'll be fine!" She broke down, sobbing into her hands.

"Mom... I'm sorry," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "I really am. I'm sorry I even exist!"

She snapped her head up and gave me a curious look. "What does that mean? Why do you say that?"

"I'm a bitchy freak who everyone hates. If I weren't here, Chloe would still be walking!"

To my surprise, Mom started to laugh... hysterically.

"Mom?"

When she finally caught her breath, she said, "Dear, don't you dare say that. If you weren't here, I'm fairly sure Chloe wouldn't be here either, nor would Lincoln, Molly or Simon. Truth is, if she does die, which hopefully she won't, there's nothing I can do about it. She was lucky enough to live at all, to be surrounded by her loving family and amazing big sister." She flashed me a toothy grin. "There's nothing you could've done differently. What's done is done."

I gaped. She was reacting to this whole thing with a surprisingly casual attitude. I expected her to be sobbing in the corner of the house or something, not laughing and smiling, telling me if she dies she dies! "Who are you and what have you done with my mother!?"

"Calm down, Louise, I just have hope that she'll be okay." She smiled at me once more, giving me some hope, too, and we walked into the house.

*~Paisley's Point of View~*

While I waited for the doctors to call to tell me that Chloe was fine enough for me to visit, I searched through my challenge father request emails to get my mind off of it. I came across another male version of a challenge mother: Chris Moren. It appeared it was Chloe Moreau's turn, since he looked exactly like her, only he was a man.

I ran down to the sperm bank and picked up his contribution. On my way back, I spotted a familiar face: William Johnson. I slowed down to a halt in front of the grocery store and shouted out his name, causing him to swing around. When he saw it was me, he smiled widely and walked over to the window. "Hey Paisley. It's nice to see you. How've you been?"

I smiled weakly. "I've been better. Hey, I have a lot going on in my life right now, and I'd really like to take you up on that offer to go out to dinner. That is, if you'll still have me." He grinned widely and nodded.

"Why the sudden change of heart?"

I shrugged. "I just really need a distraction, and I've been thinking about it recently: I really have no excuse not to date during my challenge. Everyone else does it, and they all seem really happy. Maybe the past few times just haven't been the right guys. Maybe this time it'll be different?"

He smirked. "Maybe. I'm glad you decided to come out with me. How about I call you later to make plans?"

I nodded. "Okay, sure. It was really great to see you. You better call me, mister!" I said playfully, rolled up my window and drove off. When I got home, I was bombarded by Louise, who was smiling like a loon.

"Mom, Mom, Mom! Guess what, guess what, guess what!?"

"W-what?" I asked, shocked.

"Chloe is awake and we can go visit her now! So, let's gooooo!" she sang, pulling me to the car. We were at the hospital in a matter of minutes, excited to see our red haired little fighter. "Hello!" Louise greeted the receptionist. "We're here to see Chloe Parker!"

The receptionist, a different, more efficient one, smiled up at us. "Okay, lemme see here..." she said, scanning through her computer. "Ah yes, she's in room 305. It's on the third floor. Just take that elevator right there." She pointed to the aforementioned elevator, we climbed on and zipped up to the top.

"Do you think Chloe will be happy to see us?" Louise asked as we walked.

I nodded. "I sure hope so! I bet she'll be quite confused. Ah, here it is. Room 305." We opened the door and were greeted with the sight of Chloe, bruised and hooked up to many machines, laying in her hospital bed. "Chloe?" I said gently, walking up to her. "Hey honey."

She looked up at me with her big eyes and cocked her head.

"How are you feeling honey?"

She narrowed her eyes.

"Doing any better?"

At that question, she furrowed her eyebrows, as if she were thinking, and said, to my complete surprise, 

"Who are you?"