I've Seen Better Days- Baby 69

Cho and Ginny both grow up to be beautiful young women. Ginny is engaged to her high school sweet heart, Kenneth. So that she can support her husband and kids in the future, she's decided to become a doctor and is currently going to medical school, and is so far one of the top students. Cho is still reserved, but not to me any longer. Since she's had her son, she's grown to understand me much better as a mother. While she wishes she could stay and have my help with the baby, she moves out so she can try to be independent. After all, she can't live with me for the rest of her life. So for now she has a fairly crappy job at a coffee house, but I suppose that'll do for the time being until she can graduate from college.

Sirius and Minerva are up next. Minerva still loves horses and managed to snag a job at the equestrian center across town from us. She was quickly promoted to assistant manager and spends all of her free time down there, taking care of the beautiful animals and teaching young children how to ride. Of course, Sirius still has a passion for cats, so he takes a job at the pet store so he can be around them at all times. While he's not an assistant manager like his twin sister, he enjoys his work very much and is glad he's doing what he's doing, which is always good.

Fleur and Ron's turn comes up soon after, and while their looks are fairly unique compared to my other children, I love them to bits. They are both seriously bullied at school and neither of them have any friends, so they stick close together and almost never leave each other's sides. I even had to convince the counselors to allow them to switch up their schedule so they could take the same classes as one another. I don't want this to be how the rest of their lives are, but for now it'll have to work so they don't have panic attacks (they both have severe anxiety, stemming from the bullying).

As I had previously predicted, Albus ages up to be quite the canine companion. He and Beans are best friends and do everything together. When he walks down the street with his siblings, he has to stop and pet each puppy that prances by. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that his future career will be based on this serious love for doggies.

James is a giggly, bubbly little baby boy who falls deeply in love with everyone he meets. If you ever see him without a smile on his face, you must be dreaming, because that's never happened before!

Last but not least is Remus! There's not much to say about him, considering he had to move out with Cho before I could really get to know him, but I look forward to my visits to his house. 

Before the girls head out, we snap our regular family photo. I, personally, think it's one of the best. But hey, that's just me. 

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*~Minerva's Point of View~*

"What the hell is that?" Mom shrieked when I walked through the front door. The "that" she was referring to was the newly placed stud in the side of my nose.

"It's a piercing, Mom," I replied casually, making my way towards my room.

"Yeah, I can see that," she snapped, following at my heels. "Why is it there?"

I stopped in my track and turned around. I knew she wasn't going to let me leave without an explanation. "One of my friends told me that I was still too cutesy and girly and that I need to stop acting like such a baby. This was the first thing she suggested I do to look older."

The look on Mom's face went from anger to pity in 0.3 seconds. "Oh, honey," she started sadly.

Damn. I knew what was coming. The "you don't need to change for other people, you're perfect the way you are" speech. Yeah, like I haven't heard that one before.

"Let's just get this straight, Mom. I'm not changing for the sake of somebody else. I don't succumb to peer pressure. I'm not like one of those druggies they show us in health class. I did this for myself. It's not peer pressure just because I followed my friend's suggestion." I tried to keep my tone as even and controlled as I could, but my voice kept breaking and it was obvious I was angry.

I just hated it that Mom thought I couldn't think for myself. I'm sixteen, I have my own mind. I mean, really.

She nodded and ran her hand through her beautiful, orange hair that I had always envied. "I'm sorry, sweetie. I wasn't implying you aren't smart enough to think for yourself or anything. I'm just worried. The reason I started drinking when I was too young was because my friend 'suggested' it. I thought that's all it was, but looking back on it now, I realize she pressured me into it. You can keep the stud in your nose if it really makes you happy, but I just don't want you to do things that you're being forced to do."

"I know," was my simple response. I leaned in to hug her so she knew I wasn't angry anymore and headed to my bedroom. On the short walk there, I decided to find out with Sirius was up to. I rarely saw him since we aged into teenagers and I missed my buddy.

As I had guessed, he was on the floor playing with Mango lazily.

"Hey Sirius," I started, taking a seat on one of the bottom bunks.

He jumped slightly, obviously from not knowing I was there and turned around. "Hey sis. What do you need?"

I shrugged. "I dunno. I was wondering if you wanted to go to a movie or something?"

"Sorry, I can't, I've got a hot date," he said apologetically.

"Lemme guess: Mango?"

"Mango," he confirmed.

I shook my head jokingly. "Alright, just don't enjoy yourself too much. We don't want another teenage pregnancy in this house."

Sirius laughed and gestured towards the door. I took the hint and left his room, not sure what I was going to do for the rest of the day.

When I heard Banner whinny, that's when I knew what poor soul would entertain me until it was time for school the next day. Pulling on my cowboy boots and grabbing the reins, I leapt down the porch steps and sprinted over to my horse.

"Hey boy," I cooed, rubbing him on his soft spot behind the ears, making him whinny with happiness. "Yeah, I know, I'm awesome, huh?"

Banner nuzzled his head against my chest, allowing me to know he wanted to run. Or he could be letting me know he's a giant perv. I usually took it the first way.

After tacking him up and pulling myself on, I kicked him up to a trot and made our way around the house a couple times to warm him up. Patting him on the neck to let him know he was doing a good job, I nudged him into a gallop and we were off. I didn't know where we were off to, but it didn't matter, as long as we were going fast.

My favorite part about riding Banner was the wind in my hair and the feeling of absolute freedom and being completely in sync with the horse. That's just not something you can get anywhere else.

When it was beginning to near eight o' clock, I turned Banner around and headed back home. I didn't see anybody roaming the house, so I just went straight to bed after changing into something more suitable for sleep.

I drifted off peacefully within moments and dreams overtook my mind.

*~Paisley's Point of View~*

I was awoken by the desperate screams of my toddler at four in the morning. Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to fall asleep again after that, I prepared myself mentally for the rest of the day. After rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I headed to the nursery to feed and change James, then went to the kitchen to make breakfast for when the kids woke up for school.

Stirring the pancake mix, I yawned and scratched the side of my arm. I could already tell it was going to be a very long day.

"Mom?" Minerva squeaked, coming around the corner into the kitchen and rubbing her eyes tiredly. "What's going on?"

"Making breakfast."

"At four thirty in the morning?"

"I'll put it in the fridge and you guys can heat it up later. I know it'll be gross but I'm not really all that bothered by that in my current state of mind."

She shrugged and said, "I don't really mind. As long as my stomach's full, and I know the other's feel the same way."

"What are you doing up?" I inquired.

She shook her head as if she didn't know. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Stuff." I knew I wasn't going to get much more out of her than that simple response, so I let it drop. I was starting to become an expert at knowing when to pester and when to shut my mouth. If she wanted to talk about whatever it was, she'd come to me eventually.

I eventually convinced Minerva to go to sleep and decided to take a nap on the couch after finishing their breakfast half-heartedly. Recently I hadn't cared as much about stuff I usually did. I felt awful for even thinking this, but one of those things was my kids.

Of course I still love them and would absolutely die inside if something happened to them, but I no longer put my best effort into their problems. I gave them lazy advice, cooked dull meals and allowed them to go to bed when they felt like it.

I thought about taking it to Skye, but didn't like the reaction I played over and over again in my head.

When I woke up from my nap, the kids had already gone off to school, so I fed the animals and headed outside to groom Banner. Even though I absolutely didn't give a crap about him as of then, I knew I had to at least keep him healthy.

God, what's wrong with me?

Halfway through the grooming, I burst into tears, burrowing my head into Banner's fur.

"Paisley?" I whipped around, not expecting a strong, male voice to boom from behind me.

Jesse?

"O-oh my God..."

"Hey, Pais," my first serious boyfriend said gently. "Why're you crying?"

Not even thinking, partly from exhaustion and partly from depression, I ran into his arms, bawling. 

"I'm so sorry. I am so sorry."

"Paisley, what's going on?"

I didn't even know how to answer that. What was I supposed to say?

I just said the first thing that came to mind: "What are you doing here?"

He pushed me slightly away from him so he could look at my face, then looked away, ashamed. "I just wanted to check on you. Okay, no, that's a lie. I can't stop thinking about you and wanted to see what you were up to. You know, if you were single still."

I sighed. "No, actually, I'm dating your mother."

His eyes widened. "What!?"

"Skye didn't tell you?"

"Absolutely not!"

I shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know what to tell you." I said this jokingly, and for the first time in a few weeks, I giggled. "I'm so sorry, Jess, I don't know what's wrong with me. I guess I should be more sensitive, but I've bugged out recently."

He allowed the subject to drop and looked at me, concerned. "What's up?"

I opened my mouth to give him a small explanation, like "I've been tired," but instead everything, all of my problems, everything that had been bothering me since he had left, came spilling out. We stood there for at least forty-five minutes, just talking, and by the end of it, I felt like myself again. 

Hell, I was even excited to go inside and clean the kitchen.

"Thank you so much for listening," I said, attempting to end our conversation, because as much as 

I loved seeing him, and as confused as I was of his presence, it was all still so awkward.

The past almost-hour had gone by so fast, and time wasn't about to slow down, because he leaned in, crashing his lips against mine.

I didn't even have time to react before he heaved me into his arms and sprinted into the house, barely even shutting the front door behind him.

So many emotions passed over me: shame, confusion, regret, happiness, anger, I couldn't even really decipher them all.

Before he could set me on my bed, I slapped his face. That may have been a bit extreme, but hey, this whole day had been fairly extreme.

Rubbing his cheek where I had hit him, he half-whined, "Ow, what was that for?"

I raised an eyebrow and he nodded.

"Yeah, I know what that was for."

That was it.

That was all he said before grazing my cheek with his lips, turning around and leaving.

I sat on the bed, completely confused, not knowing what to do next.

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After collecting myself and mentally repeating that the whole Jesse encounter had never happened, I walked out of my room and into the kitchen. By that time, the kids were already home from school, so Minerva and Sirius sat at the counter doing their homework.

"Hey Mom," Sirius greeted without even looking up from his notebook. Since he was obviously busy, I didn't reply, left the house and headed to the sperm bank. Maybe knowing I was close to having my next baby would take my mind off of everything.

The father's name was Andy Sheath, with blonde hair and dark brown eyes that I was hoping the baby would inherit. 

After doing what needed to be done, I headed home and collapsed onto my bed, falling into a deep, depressing sleep for the rest of the day and all through the night.

When I awoke, I already had a teeny stomach poking out as the doorbell rang. Looking at the clock, I was informed that it was almost twelve in the afternoon, so I speed-walked to the front door and creaked it open, peeking out to see who it was. "Cassie?" I said in awe, looking my older sister up and down.

Her hair was back to its natural brown color, long for the first time in a long time, and there was finally a happiness in her eyes that had disappeared after the loss of her husband and daughter. She had also gained a bit of weight, which was a good thing, because she had been skin and bones when I left Sunset Valley. All in all, she looked great.

"Hey Pais," she greeted, lifting her hand in a pathetic wave. "I see you're expecting. Again."

I nodded and smiled shyly at her, opening the door all the way to admit her. "You're looking great."

Cassie smiled widely. "Thanks. You too. I like your hair. Weren't different enough, huh?" she joked.

I shook my head and pulled her into a hug. After releasing her, she walked inside, allowing me to shut the door and lead her to my living room. "So what are you doing here?"

"Oh, not excited to see our older sister, are we?"

"No, I'm very excited, I just wasn't expecting you, is all. How've you been?"

We sat down on some chairs and I looked at her expectantly as she shrugged. "I've been better. But 

I'm not here to talk about me, I'm here to talk about you."

"What do you mean?" I inquired suspiciously.

"Nobody has seen or heard from you in months. We've all tried calling, but you never answered, then we came to your house, but you had moved. Who moves without telling their family, Paisley? That wasn't fair to any of us. We've been so worried about you. I had to go to that damn girlfriend of yours and pry out the information before I could finally find you.

"What was the point of it all, hm? You packed up your house and children and just... left. Mom was beyond furious when I told her what had happened to you, and Dad's been an absolute mess since we lost contact with you. You've done a lot of stupid things in your day, but this was by far the worst." Cassie was breathing heavily and her face was red with anger.

"I'm so sorry, Cass, I never even thought about what it did to you guys."

"That's right, you don't think and you never have. You didn't think it through when you ditched us, when you became an alcoholic as a teenager, when you started this idiotic challenge, when you started dating that stupid British girl, when you ran away from home the second you got the chance: You don't think, Paisley. You--"

"Is that all you came here to do, Cassie? Yell at me?" There was no way I was going to let her come into my house and treat me that way. "Because if it is, you can leave. I have done a lot of stupid things in my life, but they've made me who I am today. I started this challenge as an irresponsible little hell-child, and now I'm a mature adult who has taken on a lot more than you could ever handle. I'm ridiculed for attempting to have a hundred kids, being a lesbian, almost my entire life. I don't need one of the most important people in my life to turn into somebody I hate."

She looked sad for a brief second, then stood up and stormed out of my house, leaving me behind, utterly shocked.

"Mom?" Fleur piped up, peeking around the corner of the living room. "Who was that?"

I turned around in my chair to look at her, my eyes starting to tear up at the encounter with my sister. "Nobody, sweetie. Everything's fine."

I wasn't sure what was going to happen next, whether I'd ever really speak to Cassie again or what, but I knew for that moment, I had to go back to my life and take care of my kids.

It was nearing lunch time, so I walked to the backyard and fired up the grill, starting some burgers. After a few minutes, Sirius, Minerva, Ron, Albus and Fleur walked out and headed to the bit of ocean behind our house and began to swim around in the water. Eventually, James waddled out with a toy boat in hand and decided to play with it by my feet, saying things like, "Ahoy, Cap'n!" and "Land ho!"

By the time I was nearly finished with the food, Skye waltzed into my backyard with a grin on her face and something behind her back. "Hey Parker," she greeted. "I have a surprise for you. My cats had babies, and I can't keep all of them, so I decided to give one to you." She pulled a cat out from behind her back, and he was literally the cutest thing I've ever seen. He had purple and orange fur and beautiful, big blue eyes.

"His name is Michael, and he's all yours," she said, then leaned down to rub my belly for a moment. "That's all I came here for, although I wish I could stay longer, but I need to get back to the kids." I nodded and she pulled me into a kiss before leaving once again.

I pet Michael for a moment, then set him on the ground, where he decided to sit next to James while I finished the hamburgers. He looked rather confused, but I was confident he'd adjust to his new surroundings eventually.

After a few more minutes, the food was finally done so I dished it up and shouted, "Kids! Lunch!" towards the ocean. They all came sprinting to the outside table at once and dug in immediately. 

"Hungry, much?"

I wasn't even sure Ron was chewing, and Minerva was just forking it down her throat without hesitation.

"I'm not taking you to the hospital when you start choking," I joked. They gave me slight recognition then went back to eating like pigs.

When we were all finished, I joined them in the ocean, dividing up my time to please them all. At first, I was a mermaid with Fleur, then a submarine captain with Ron, then a water alien with Albus, then I allowed Sirius to dunk me repeatedly since Minerva wouldn't have any of it, and lastly I allowed Minerva to talk to me about her life.

When we got sick of the water, we headed indoors to take showers and play with the new cat. The kids chased him around the house for a bit, then dispersed to do their own thing, leaving Michael to taunt James.

By the time we were all in our pajamas and warm by the fireplace, it was nearly time for bed, so I sent them to their rooms to finish getting ready and chilled with Michael while I watched Doctor Who for a bit.

It had been a tiring day, but well worth the effort. I decided to put the encounter with Cassie to the side, as well as the one with Jesse, so that I could enjoy the rest of my night, then I would deal with everything when I had the energy to.

I eventually fell asleep on the couch as the episode ended, and before I knew it, it was morning again. Sighing, I pushed myself up, now with a fairly large belly, and began my daily chores. The kids had already left for school, so I didn't need to worry about making breakfast, so when I finished my work I sat back down on the couch. I may sound like a lazy slob, but being pregnant definitely tires you out.

A few hours later, my water broke, startling me. I wasn't supposed to be going into labor for another day!

I rushed to the hospital, terrified. What was going to happen to the baby now?

When I got there, they immediately ran me to a room and I miraculously began to push only about ten minutes later. Since the baby was so teeny, it was one of the quickest births I had ever gone through. I wasn't even allowed to look at her before they took her to the NICU, so I started to panic.

"Is she going to be alright?" I squeaked fairly loudly.

The only nurse in the room looked at me and sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't know. We'll do all we can, but she's so premature, it'll take a lot of work to keep her healthy."

 My heart started to beat quickly and sweat dripped down my face and onto the bed. The nurse dabbed my forehead and attempted to comfort me, but it wasn't working very well.

She then gave me a sleeping pill to relax me, and told me when I woke up the next morning, I would be able to go to the NICU to see her. Before I fell asleep, I managed to let her know to call the kids so they wouldn't worry about me, and the last thing I saw was her picking up the phone and dialing the house number.

When I awoke, one of the nurses led me to where the baby was recuperating, allowing me to look at her. "What will you name her?" she asked sweetly.

"Sarah." 

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Hello! I'm so sorry about how long it's taken to get this post out, and I'm also really sorry about how fast paced and confusing it is. And now I'm gonna do a bit of advertising because I like to be annoying:

It's be awesome if you'd follow my personal tumblr! You can find that here. 

And my simblr. I post Sims pictures and links to my Sims updates and everything Sims. That's here.

Aaaaaaaand Skye and I have a website called Peanut Sims, where we make Sims, poses, lots, pets, everything. Our blogger is here and our tumblr is here. Oh and our facebook page is here.

My twitter, which is here 

Okay and last but not least is my rainbowcy. That's here.

Okay sorry for being an annoying butt with all my advertising but it had to be done somewhere. Hope you enjoyed the post!