Chapter 5: A Love That Never Dies

Note: Sorry for the CAS pictures of the kids. Also, has some mild language and sexual themes (duh).

“Brandon?” I was surprised. “What are you doing here? Why’d you come to see me? Wh-What’s going on??”

“It’s okay, Ariel!” He laughed. “I’m not here to shoot you or anything. But with the way you treated me in High School, I could see how you might think that.”

“Brandon, I’m so, so sorry…” I apologized. “I was horrible in High School. I just… I’m so sorry.”

“Ariel, it’s fine! You had a rough time, no one can blame you for lashing out.” His sparkly brown eyes looked genuinely apologetic. “I heard about Gene, and your baby challenge, and I came here to, well…” He rubbed his neck, looking awkward and adorable. “Help out, I guess.”

“Uh, okay, well…” I replied. “I’m kinda holding off on having any more children right now, I’m focusing on the ones I have now. As soon as the triplets move out, I’ll let you know.”

“But Mom,” Autumn interjected. “Our birthday’s kind of tomorrow…”

“What!?” I screamed, shocked. “Are you serious!?” 

“Uh, yeah…” Autumn said. “I guess you forgot, it’s alright.”

“Oh, good, so I’ll pick you up around 6?” Brandon said.

“Uh, um… Yeah?” I guessed. Everything had happened so fast, I had no time to react. He left, and I turned around to see Danielle laughing.

“Ahaha! That was kind of… Cute.” She said in between giggles.

“What do you mean, ‘cute’?” I questioned her.

“You! And him!” She laughed. “I saw how your face was flustered around him. You liiiikeee hiiimmm.”

“I do not!” I said. “Shut up, Daniel!” I ran upstairs, trying to hide my bright red face from showing, and Danielle followed me.

“It’s okay to like him, you know.” She said. “He is kind of cute.”

“Ahhhh.” I yelled into my pillow that I put on the ground when I lied down, trying to deny my feelings. “I can’t like him, he’s Brandon. He’s Gene’s best friend.”

“C’mon, it’s okay.” Danielle sat on my bed. “I’m sure Gene would want both of you to be happy, even if it’s with each other.”

“Yeah, but…” I said, rolling over. “What’ll that say about me? Dating my dead husband’s best friend?”

“That you can’t help who you love.” Danielle said. “It’s okay, it’ll be okay. No one will think differently of you.”

“Ughh.” I moaned. “But… I still have a challenge to complete! I can’t let my emotions get in the way. I just… Can’t.”

“It’s okay, Ariel.” Danielle comforted me. “Just… Choose what you think is best to do. I’ll support you either way.” She got a text. “Alright, Chase needs me at home. I’ll see you later.”

“See you, Daniel.” That nickname earned me a look, which I stuck out my tongue towards.

“So, I guess I’ve gotta get some clothes ready for this date… and age up the kids…” I said to myself. I chose a nice outfit for the date and set it out for tomorrow. I decided to get the hectic birthdays out of the way, and aged up all the kids. October, Autumn, and Fall moved out of the house, and Autumn took Timothy with him. June and Lily ages into teenagers, and Fantasy, Ricky, and Zachary aged into children.

I went to sleep early so I could wake up early the next morning to get as ready as I can for this date.

When I woke up the next morning, it was 8 o’clock in the morning. “So much for waking up early.” I groaned, as I rolled out of bed. “Greebo!” I yelled “Did the kids get to school okay?”

Greebo appeared in my doorway immediately. “Yes ma’am, they did.” She said.

“Oh, good.” I said. Maybe this robot was a good thing, after all.

I spent the rest of the day perfecting my outfit and doing my hair, and I called Danielle out of nerves and asked her for advice.

“Don’t worry!” She said. “It’ll go fine, I promise. He’s crazy about you, obviously.”

“I guess…” I sighed “But what if it doesn’t go well? What do I do?”

“Don’t worry! It’ll go perfectly!” She said, then the doorbell rang.

“Gotta go, he’s here.” I ran to the door, checked myself in the screen of my phone one last time, and opened the door.

There Brandon was, standing in my doorway, dressed in a nice suit, and holding a bouquet of flowers. “Hi! I, uh, brought flowers…” He handed them to me, and I invited him inside.

“I’ll go put these flowers in some water.” I said to him, and I went into the bar room and put them in a vase filled with water, and sat on a bar stool. “Uh, so, do you wanna leave now?”

“Sure!” He said. “I’ve got a reservation at a nice restaurant.”

“Oh, that’s nice…” I said. “Let me get my purse, then.”

“No, it’s fine.” He smiled. “It’s on me.”

“Oh, uh…” I had butterflies in my stomach. “Okay, thanks.” I smiled at him. We went outside and went towards his car. He held the door open for me and I got in. “Thanks.” I mumbled awkwardly as I got in to the car. “So, how’s your day been?” I awkwardly tried to come up with a topic as he drove.

“Great!” He beamed.

“What’s been great about it?” I asked curiously.

“I get to see you!” He smiled at me, then looked back to the road, keeping the goofy grin on his face.

I was shocked at this. Could he really like me? Could we really somehow be together?

‘No.’ I thought to myself. ‘He’s just a challenge father, nothing else.’

‘No, he’s more than that.’ Something inside me, my “inner Danielle”, said to me. ‘You like him, and even if you can’t admit it, you have feelings for him.’

I cleared my thoughts of the subject, and tried to make some small talk. “So, what have you done since High School?” I asked.

“I’ve been doing some journalism.” He responds. “I’ve been offered a job to work in Chicago recently as head journalist.”

“Oh!” I said, ecstatic. “Are you gonna take it!?” I asked.

“I don’t think so.” He replied. “I was going to, but then I found a reason to stay here.”

“Really?” I felt a small surge of relief. “What’s the reason?”

“You.” He smiled that goofy smile again, and there went the butterflies, again.

“Oh, uh…” I tried to formulate a response. “But, that’s your job!” I said. “You can’t give up this great opportunity. Especially not for me.”

“It’s okay, Ariel.” He laughed. “I’d much rather be here with you. I mean, I know it’s a bit soon, but I really like you.”

I tried to think of something to say, but we pulled up to the restaurant, sparing me from having to awkwardly reply.

“Wait!” He said, and he ran to the other side to open the door.

“Th-Thanks.” I said, and there were the butterflies again. We went inside, and it was really fancy. “Heh, good thing I over-dressed this time.” I laughed, and so did he, and the workers looked at us like we were idiots, which I replied to with a gruesome face, which succeeded in making both me and Brandon laugh again. They guided us to our table and we ordered our drinks, and they gave us a menu for dinner.

I didn’t get a chance to look around before, but now that I did, I saw that it was very, very nice and must have been expensive. “How can you afford this!?” I asked when I looked at the menu.

“It’s okay, Ariel.” He laughed. “I’m fine. My job pays well.”

“I probably need to get a job. My Mom’s money is starting to run out…” I replied.

“It’s okay, Ariel.” He smiled. “If you ever need anything, just ask.”

“No, Brandon, I couldn’t--” I was interrupted.

“Ariel, it’s fine.” He laughed. “I want to help you, don’t worry. If you ever need anything, just ask.”

I sighed and gave up this argument. “Fine. But I’m not gonna need anything.” The waitor came and took our orders, and we ate and talked a little. Eventually, it was time to leave, and I found myself to be upset about it.

“Here we are.” Brandon said as we pulled up to our driveway. “Wait wait wait!” He said, and ran to open my door for me, again.

“Thanks.” I replied, this time smiling and not ignoring the butterflies in my stomach.

He walked me to the door, and we stood there for a second before saying anything. “Uh, well, I guess this is goodnight.” He laughed that cute, adorable laugh. “I’ll get going no--”

I kissed him. It was the best kiss I have ever had in my life, and it made me feel complete, warm, special. It made me feel a way I have never felt before in my life, not even with Gene. It was a minute before I pulled away, and then he did his big, goofy smile. “That’s the best ‘goodnight’ I’ve ever gotten.” He joked.

I giggled. “Do you, uh, want to come inside?” I asked, and he obviously knew what I was asking.

“Not tonight, Ariel.” He said, and I was confused. “Maybe some other time, but not tonight.” He kissed me one more time, and then walked towards his car and drove off. I went inside and erupted into a fit of giggles. I looked at the time. 1 A.M.

“Greebo?” I whispered silently, and sure enough, she appeared. “Are the kids asleep?”

“Yes ma’am.” Greebo replied.

“Good.” I yawned. “I’m going upstairs, I’m tired.” I walked upstairs, trying to be as quiet as I could. I fell in my bed and went to sleep immediately.

I woke up at 7:30 with Greebo screaming in my ear. “Problem! Problem! We have a problem!”

“Agh!” I yelled. “What’s going on!?”

“It’s Lily. She refuses to go to school.” Greebo told me.

“Ugh, what?” I got up, hair a mess and clothes crinkled. “Lily! Come up here!”

“Yeah, what is it?” She shot a rude look at me.

“Why aren’t you at school?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to go. So I’m not.” She leaned on the wall.

“What!?” I yelled. “Young lady, you have to go to school! Now!”

“Yeah, and what? What’s a whore like you gonna do about it!?” She screamed at me.

“Greebo, make sure Lily gets to school, even if it’s by force.” I said, angrily. “Lily, when you get back home, we’re going to have a talk, you understand me? And you are definitely grounded.”

“Alright.” She groaned, and followed Greebo out of the room and off to school.

I was so busy being angry, I didn’t notice that Lily’s words really stung. Tears started to run down my cheeks and I really needing someone to talk to. I pulled out my phone and looked through my contacts. But who should I call? Aria? Kimari? Danielle?

I chose one that I knew would be there for me whenever I needed them.

“Brandon?” I cried.

“Ariel!? What’s wrong, are you okay!?” He asked.

“I-I’m fine.” I said. “I just… Needed someone to talk to.” I spilt the entire story to him, and when it was over, I asked him a question that has been on my mind since I started this challenge. “I’m not a whore, am I?” 

He responded calmly. “I’m on my way.”

It took an hour for Brandon to show up, and when he did he had brought Champaigne for him and I. “Thanks…” I said, wiping tears from my eyes.

“What you said on the phone…” Brandon said. “It’s not true. Don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. What you’re doing, this challenge, I think it’s great. You’re giving lives to children, and they have a good home, a great mother, everything they’d need for a great life. I think it’s wonderful, and so are you.” Brandon kissed me.

And that kiss turned in to something more. But it wasn’t for the challenge. It was for us. For me and him. I loved him, and he loved me, and that’s all there was in this moment. Love. A love that felt so right when it should have been so wrong, it was a love that I never wanted to let go of. Something I hoped that I would have forever.

“I love you, Brandon.”

Chapter 4: Live While We’re Young (Grandbaby 1)

Note: This chapter contains flashbacks and some mature language.

The triplets aged up into teens, the twins aged up into children, and the Winter Triplets aged up into toddlers!

“ding dong!” I was awoken to the sound of the doorbell ringing. I looked at the clock and it said 11 A.M.

“Shit.” I said to myself. “I slept in. Greebo!” I yelled, and the robot appeared immediately. “Are the kids okay?”

“Yes, ma’am. I fed and clothed them, and sent the older ones off to school.” The robot said.

“Alright.” I quickly got dressed and put on my new glasses, as I had grown annoyed with contacts. She ran upstairs and answered the door.

“Good morning~!” Danielle Smores walked in and sang. Two other girls followed her, one with blue hair, and one with black and pink hair. “I thought we’d have a house-warming party, so I brought two of my friends! This is Kimari.” She pointed towards the blue-haired woman. “And this is Aria.” She pointed to the one with black and pink hair. “They’re both challenge mothers.”

“Oh, hello.” I waved casually.

[Age 14.]

“I’m sorry, Ariel.” Justin said to me. He didn’t look sorry, at all. “But, I think we should just end it.”

“But, Justin, why?” I said. “What’s wrong.”

“It’s not you, it’s me.” He said. Yeah, way to be original.

“No, something’s wrong.” I pestered him, asked him repeatedly, and he got annoyed quickly.

“Fine!” He exploded. “I just DON’T like you! You’re weird, ugly, and the fact that you have two moms is just STRANGE! You’re just a little freak, and that’s all you’ll ever be!”

Strike one.

[Present Day]

“This place gives me the creeps.” Aria said as I led them to the bar room.

“Yeah, it’s really scared the kids since we’ve moved in.” I replied to her. “And the fact that a robot lives here…” I shuddered.

“Heh, you know,” Danielle giggled. “There have been rumors surrounding this house since I was a kid.”

“Yeah, like what?” I laughed.

“Like, that a cult used to live here and used to perform sacrifices.” She laughed really hard and I poured her a drink. “It’s ridiculous.”

“Hahah.” I laughed at that. “That’s pretty creepy, maybe that’s why I got this house so cheap.” All four girls laughed at that joke.

[Age 15]

“Please…” I begged my best friend, Ashley. “Please don’t die…” She had taken a bottle full of pills the night before, and slipped into a coma. The doctors were going to try to do an operation on her, but it only had a 30% chance of succeeding. “Please, I need you here. With me.” Tears rolled down my face, and the doctor came in to take her to the operating room. “I’ll see you when you wake up, okay?” I kissed her on the forehead and walked into the waiting room.

Later that day, after the operation, the doctor came out to break the bad news. Ashley didn’t survive the operation.

“No.” I screamed. “Nonononononono!” I tried running into the operation room, but the doctors held me back.

Strike two.

[Present Day]

The door shuts. “Oh, I think the children are home.” I said to the three girls.

“Oh, do I get to see my grandbabies?” Danielle was excited.

“Let me get them.” I replied. “Fall, Autumn, October!” I yelled through the house. So much for getting them.

Only Autumn came down. “Um, Mom.” She said. “And Grandma Danielle… I have something to tell you.”

“What is it, sweetie?” I smiled.

“I’m pregnant.”

[Age 16]

The schoolgirls giggle as I walk by. “Can you believe it?” One says.

“Yeah, I know, weird right?” Another one. “She’s such a freak.”

“Uh, do you have something to say to me?” I turned around and said to them. Two of them looked shocked, but another looked confident. Bitch.

“Yeah. We wanted to say that the fact that you have two moms is kind of… Freaky.” She laughed. "I bet you're the reason Ashley killed herself."

I smiled. “Why don’t you go back to bed. I’m sure someone’s waiting on you.” I turned around and started to walk away, when she jumped on top of me and started hitting me.

Strike three.

[Present Day]

“You’re… WHAT!?” I yelled. Aria and Kimari were sitting there, awkwardly, but Danielle was furious, too. “How could you be… PREGNANT!?” I asked. “You’re SIXTEEN! I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend!!”

“I’m sorry, we just got caught up in the moment and everything kinda went from there…” She looked like she was about to cry.

“Autumn! Do you know how serious this is!? You aren’t ready for a baby. This could complicate your whole life!” Danielle yelled at her.

“I know. I’m so sorry…” She was crying at this point. “I promise, I’ll take care of this baby. It’ll be okay, I’ll take care of it, I promise.” She sat on the floor and cried.

“It’s okay, Autumn. I’ll help you out. Everything will be fine.” I hugged her. “Everything will be fine.”

A few months later, Autumn gave birth to a perfectly healthy baby boy.

A couple weeks after that, Danielle came over to see her great-gandbaby. We were playing with him when we heard someone ring the doorbell.

“I’ll get it.” I got up and answered the door.

“Hello, Ariel.” The person on the other side said to me.

“Brandon?”

Chapter 3: Walking in a Winter Wonderland (Babies 8, 9, & 10)

First off, Thanks to Aperille Clarke-Oar over at Suddenly Grown-Ups for the father. And thanks to Curtis Paradis for making awesome houses to use!
Enjoy, and have a happy holiday!!
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I woke up to it heavily snowing outside, on the first day of Winter, and Terra teaching Fall his skills.



After I took a shower and got dressed, I decided it'd be a good time to age up the triplets and the new baby twins, as it was almost their birthdays.



For a birthday gift, Terra gave Fall her old hat. It was kind of adorable.

"Ah, thank you!" Fall said as he shoved it on his head.

Jean gave Autumn her old coat and scarf.

"It's so pretty!" Autumn gasped.

October got a mixture of old clothes from Jean and Terra.

"Thanks!" October was excited, too. She got some gloves and a patchwork coat that Jean and Terra obviously made with their clothes.

June inherited her dad's hair and my eyes, and also was a werewolf, too. Just like her dad.

Fall Spencer, Baby #3



August Spencer, Baby #4



October Spencer, Baby #5



Lily Spencer, Baby #6

June Spencer, Baby #7

I realized the house was getting cramped, so I went ahead and bought a new, bigger home and gave my kids fair warning as to the fact that we'd be moving in a couple of days. As for now, I moved my furniture into a different room and moved theirs into mine, to make space for the new children.

I put the toddlers to bed, to find out that the TV was broken, and that October and Jean were still awake.

"Hey, go to bed!" I told them, and they scurried up to their room, and I cleaned up the kitchen, and went to bed, too tired to do anything else.

I woke up to find that Terra had fed June.



"Oh, hey, mom." she yawned.

"Hey, it's 2 in the morning, go back to bed, honey." I sent her upstairs "I'll take care of this."

"Alright..." She tiredly walked upstairs and went to bed.

I grabbed some cake, and ate, then decided to feed Lily.



It wasn't long before all the other kids came down and ate, too. They seemed disappointed with cake, so I decided I'd fix them breakfast the next morning.

"Hey, guys," I started talking to them. "I've got an idea. Let's skip school and go to the park, today is the Winter Festival! I can call a babysitter for June and Lily, and we can go, how about it?"

"Yeah!" They all screamed in unison.

They didn't realize that school was cancelled because of the snow, and they didn't have to go, anyways.

Terra decided to let her hair down for today, and it was surprisingly long.

"What? I usually hide it in me hat." She replied when I questioned her about it.



We all somehow managed to squeeze into one taxi, although there was a lot of complaining.



When we got to the park, everyone ran out of the taxi, excitedly. Terra ran onto the pond that was frozen, and slipped on the ice.



"Oh, Terra!" I laughed "Are you okay!?"



"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, Mom." She tried to play it off cooly, and it wasn't long before I slipped, too, and Terra laughed at me.

Fall and October started ice skating, but it was obvious they weren't very good at it. Terra and Jean thought they would join them, and they weren't good, either, but they were still having fun.



"Hey, Autumn, let's go snowboarding!" I invited her over to the ramps.

"Uh, will it hurt..?" She was scared of snowboarding.

"Nah, come on, it'll be fun!" I convinced her to go. "Just climb up there..."

She climbed up to the top and look down at me.



"It's okay, it'll be fine!" I encouraged her.



Autumn was actually pretty good. After she was finished, she was really excited. "Didya see me, mom!? Didya, didya!?"

"Yeah, I did, sweetie!" I giggled. "You were great!"

I called the kids over so we could get a family photo taken. The picture didn't turn out well, the only ones that were in the frame were Terra and Fall.

After that, we decided to go back home, and it was time to age up Terra and Jean, again!

They looked at each other. "You ready to do this, Jean?" Terra said.

"Yup." Jean replied. They blew out the candles, and Terra's cake caught fire!

"I got this!!" Terra yelled as she put out the fire.

"Oh well." I said, as I put another cake down. "Let's try this again, shall we?"



She blew her candles out without any problems this time.

They're so grown up!!




Baby #1 Terra Spencer



Baby #2 Jean Spencer

My first two babies have left the house, and I went outside to cry and enjoy the snow. Was it always going to be this hard? I sure hope not, I don't know if I can do this 98 more times.

"Ariel, is that you?" I heard a male voice say behind me.

Maybe it was the fact that my first two children moved out, or that I was crying in the snow, but I answered with a name I never thought I would say again.

"Gene!?"

"Uh, no, sorry." The man said to me. I studied him for a minute, speechless about what I saw. A green-skinned man with red eyes, green and red hair, and green wings, and green and red clothing. He looked quite ridiculous.

"Uh, Hi." I said, trying not to sound wierded out. "Who are you?"

"The name's Oberon." He replied. "I heard you were operating a 100 Baby Challenge, and I'd like to participate."

"Alright, well, would you like to come inside?" I invited.



"No need." Oberon said. He snapped his fingers, and an igloo was built right in front of my eyes.

"Woah, how'd you...!?" I was shocked about this.

"I'm a winter fairy." He said. We got in the igloo, and afterwords, he turned into a small, pixie-like being, and flew away.

"Well, that was odd. I wonder if my children will be able to do that." I said to myself, and walked inside of the house.

It was time to move to the new house, so I called the movers and we moved to our new home.



As we got there, I saw the house looked more like a haunted mansion than a family home. I looked to my kids and saw that they were scared, too.

"Mommy, it doesn't look very nice..." August said to me

"It's okay. It's only a house." I replied, trying to comfort her.

When they got there, they got out of the cab and walked up to the driveway, and a bronze, humanoid, robotic contraption wearing what appeared to be sewn-together, old, used wash towels and jewelry made of scrap metal greeted them.

"Hello, my name is Greebo" she said robotically.



"Uh... Why are you here?" I asked her.

"It's my duty to help anyone who visits this house." She answered. "I'm glad it's you, Ms. Spencer!"

I was sorta creeped out, but carried on with moving in. Fall was working on building a snowman, so I thought I'd help him.



"Hey buddy." I said to the snowman Fall and I created together.



Soon, it was time for everyone to sleep. I told them to get to bed early to get situated in the new house, so they did. I converted the attic into a large room for all of the kids, there were small rooms, but I decided to have the kids room together.

Since it was early, I thought I would teach June her skills while the other kids head to sleep, as I had time, but before I could, the morning sickness set in.

I put all the kids to bed, fed and changed Lily, then put her back to bed, too.

But, of course, nothing goes to plan and all the kids are awake because of Lily's screaming and whining.

I fell asleep at 6 in the morning, and let the kids go to school themselves.

Crap, I thought, it's Saturday.
So, I tried to get in as much sleep as I could before my kids woke up and, consequently, woke me up.

I soon realized that the children couldn't sleep with the toddlers, so I rearranged the rooms to give the toddlers their own nursery, and let the kids take up the smaller rooms scattered around the house.





After everyone was situated, I bought a nice van so we wouldn't be stuck in a cab.

I went to my room, and tried to go to sleep, but was interrupted by June and Lily crying, so I went and fed them.

By the time I was done, my triplets were awake and in the dining room.



"Go to bed, guys!" I told them.

"But we aren't tired." October whined.

"Now." I glared at them.

"Okay." October mumbled as they scurried to their rooms.

After everyone was asleep, I went back to my room and fell asleep.

But, the nausea came back and I ran to the bathroom to throw up.

"Ugh, am I really gonna have to do this 93 more times?"

After I threw up, I went to the nursery and fed the toddlers, then started to teach June her skills
.


And my baby appeared.

Outside the room, Autumn was keeping Lily preoccupied.





I took June downstairs to teach her her skills and October was there, talking to what seemed to be her Imaginary Friend.



When I finished with June's skills, I moved on to Lily, having to deal with a dirty diaper the entire time. Gross.



I put Lily and June to bed, failing to teach her her skills, and went to bed myself.

I woke up and fed Lily, and Greebo had made food for me and the children. "Uh, thanks, I guess." I said. It was kind of wierd, but oh well.

Autumn was in the kitchen, playing with her doll. It was kind of sweet, so I let her be.



I decided to teach Lily her skills, now, so I went into the kitchen where she was playing with her doll and started teacher her to talk.



I put Lily and June to bed, after teaching Lily to talk, and went to bed myself.



I woke up about 10 PM fully refreshed, fed Lily and then taught her her remaining skills. After I was finished with that, I ate some leftover birthday cake, and then went into Labor.



I drove myself to the hospital in my new van, and when I got there gave birth to three beautiful babies. Two boys, Zachary and Ricky, and one girl, Fantasy
.



~