Chapter 17

Devon was born, and soon was toddling about, it seemed to Malachi that time had become stuck in fast forward.  His relationship with Holly was icy at best, they were no longer partners, they were roommates.  When he really thought about it though, it seemed they hadn't been partners for a very long time.

He blinked and Elijah was learning to drive, and had a girlfriend, he hated that he was being so serious with one girl.  His own soured love weighed heavily on his mind as he watched his son with her.  He was certain he was going to make the same mistakes.

Blink again and Elijah was graduating, and  Alison was the one learning to drive and flirting with boys.  She seemed much less likely to become too serious as she seemed to have a steady stream of boyfriends that changed each day.  Elijah and his girl however were just as serious as ever, he tried to talk sense into his son, tried to explain he was too young to throw his life away, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears.

Emma was growing too, not the traditional beauty that her sister was, she had her own charm and beauty to share.   She always had a smile for everyone, everyone except her mother.

His Dad didn't understand anything, he just thought because he had a lousy marriage and he married young that they all had to turn out that way.  Elijah knew what he wanted, and he wanted to make his wife.  He was graduated over a month ago, and she would graduate next year, they could make it work, because they wanted to, because they loved each other.

He loved his dad, he really did, but sometimes he was so disgusted by him, he watched as his mother belittled Emma again, and wondered why his dad put up with it, it wasn't fair to any of them, their mother had made it clear to all of them from an early age that she despised them all, she had belittled and been nasty to each of them as they grew up, and yet his dad never did anything about it.

He knew his marriage wouldn't be like that, his would happy, a real partnership. He and Blair had already talked about children, and they both wanted a houseful.  She loved coming over and playing with Devon.  They both had similar interests, both were very concerned with the shape the planet was in and wanted to make a difference.  Elijah planned to do so with his writing skills, and Blair planned to use photography to wake up the world to not only what they were doing to the planet, but what they would miss when it was destroyed. He proposed to her shortly after he had graduated, and they had hid the ring from his family.

 They decided a quiet and quick wedding was the safest best considering how his family felt, and so they bought the appropriate license and went to City Hall and said their vows.  It may not have been traditional, but it was enough for them both.  They hated the thought of wasting resources putting on a fancy wedding, and they hated the thought of having to listen to their parents.  She was 18 years old the day of their wedding, just old enough to sign the papers without her parent's approval.

That night they returned home and told their family what they had done.  Malachi was furious, he told them both they were throwing away their futures, they should have waited and enjoyed single life longer.  They stood there while he ranted, tears welling up in Blair's eyes.

Finally the rant was done and Malachi sighed.  "Well what is done is done, welcome to this crazy family Blair.  I really do hope you two can be happy."

Chapter 16

He found his mother the next morning, still in bed, she looked for all the world to be sleeping peacefully, she even seemed to have a smile on her face. He would always wonder what put the smile on her face.

The Memorial services were held at the house, it was odd, having all his brothers and sisters there and Mom not being present, and he wondered now how he was going to get by without her.  She had been his rock, had done so much for him, and now he felt entirely alone.

Things with Holly hadn't improved any, even with the vasectomy their bedroom life was almost non-existent and she was rarely home anymore.  He had resorted to hiring a babysitter so he could still take jobs.  Emma's birth had made things more hectic in their household then ever.  She was a beautiful little girl but Malachi could see very little of her mom or himself in her, in fact he couldn't see anything of himself in Alison either.  "Maybe it's because they are girls, I just can't see myself as feminine." He kept trying to soothe his mind, to convince it, it didn't know what it thought it knew.

He couldn't ignore the obvious any more, even after years of trying to.  "I had a damn vasectomy Holly, how in Hell's name can you be pregnant? I was checked, there's nothing there to get you knocked up!"  He was furious, he had tried to ignore her cheating for so long, and now here it was , as if she wanted to flaunt it in his face, " Well give me the money and I'll get it taken care of  Malachi!"  She knew how he felt about it, she knew he couldn't stand the thought of her having an abortion, she had him again, and she knew it just as sure as he did.

" I want a divorce, we are over Holly, this marriage is over.  I'll take the kids, I won't even fight you over the stuff, you can have everything we own...except the house, you have nothing to do with the house, it's our family's."  Holly smiled at him, she was tired of his sulking about, since she had got knocked up and he had refused to give her an abortion he had hardly spoke to her, now she was huge, ready to deliver any day, he knew it was safe, she couldn't abort it now.

She had news for him, this was a good thing here, and she had no intentions of leaving it. " Oh no, Malachi, we are married and the house belongs to us, so if you want to leave me, well you can leave but I am keeping the kids and the house!"  She hoped to God he wouldn't call her bluff, no way in hell she wanted strapped with all the brats, but there was always boarding school if that was the way the chips fell.

How could she even think of taking the kids away, she didn't even like them! "Holly be reasonable, you don't like children, you have nothing to do with your children, why would any judge give you custody of them?"  Holly smiled over at him, "Malachi, you be reasonable, only one of the kids is even yours, so why would the judge give any of the girls to you? Better yet, why would he give our son to you and split up the children? The girls may not be yours, but they are Elijah's sisters."

She was right and she knew it, so did he. What was he suppose to do?  He couldn't lose his children, even if the girls weren't his, he had raised them as his own and in his heart loved them as much as he loved Elijah.  His children were his world now, everything he did, he did for them. She had him trapped. The best he could hope for was that she would grow tired of it all and leave him.

Chapter 15

He watched his daughter toddle around the house, his heart heavy, he hadn't touched his wife since her birth.  He did everything she had asked, and even though Alison was now sleeping through the night and he had been able to move back into their bed, she still refused his advances.  He promised to use protection, suggested she could take the pill, but she held firm, no vasectomy, no sex.  He just couldn't bring himself to do it.  As much as he hated being a single father, he loved being a dad.  He still held out hope that one day she would want to be a mother and they could raise more children together.

Two years after Alison's birth everything changed, he came home late from a particularly nasty investigation, and found her laying on their bed, wearing one of those skimpy little numbers that are meant for coming off as quickly as they go on. Part of him really wanted to turn her down, to let her feel the knife of rejection she had thrown at him so many times, but alas hormones and need won over vengeance.

A week later he was watching her run to the toilet, for the fifth time that day, it had been going like that for the last couple of days.  He suggested she go see a doctor, an almost fatal mistake it seemed. "I don't need to go to the damn doctor, this is why I asked you to get the damn'e vasectomy, you think I don't know what's going on?  You knocked me up again, that's what!"

He didn't know what to say, but the tiny voice in his head did, that same voice that had been hounding him since he brought his daughter home from the hospital.  It was too soon for her to be sick he thought, how could she be showing up with symptoms only a week later?  It was too bitter of a pill for him to swallow, and in the end he didn't say a word to Holly about it, instead he scheduled his vasectomy for the following month.

Aging sucked in so many ways, Bailey found it harder and harder to get around these days, and some days she actually looked forward to going and being with her husband again.  Despite having her grandchildren around, she was lonely.

The twins had graduated school, Maddison had been married straight out of high school, and had settled in with her new husband.  Both the girls had went on to college.  Maddison had hopes of becoming a news anchor, and Molly had dreams of  becoming a doctor.

Madeline had given Bailey a beautiful granddaughter, and Megan wasn't to be outdone by her sister, gave her twin grand daughters.  She had finally married Cindy.  Both daughters were expecting again, and she expected that soon Maddison would be giving her grandchildren as well.  Her life was full of happiness, and yet without Trevor it felt so empty in so many ways.  "Perhaps," she thought, "this is the way it is, so that when our time comes we are happy to go.  I never thought I would be ok with leaving this world, and yet here I am, ready whenever it's finally time."

Bailey  watched her daughter-in-law stroll  past her,  somehow she had managed to get herself pregnant again. Bailey was shocked at her son's ignorance in the whole affair.  She chuckled at her not so funny joke.  Alison isn't anymore his then this one is, how he can be such a good private eye and miss the sins going on in his own home is a puzzle to me.

She laid down in her bed, determined to help her son face the bitter truth of his marriage, it was over.  "It's high time he cut his losses and find himself a woman who can be a good mama to his boy."  She closed her eyes and drifted off, into the arms of a waiting Trevor.

Chapter 14

Bailey was filled with pride as she watched Malachi and his wife graduate, both with honors.  They had a rough road ahead, but they had a good strong start, and she felt pretty safe in saying she had a hand in making sure they had that start.

How could one little baby disrupt an entire household so thoroughly, Malachi wondered as he walked the floor with his son again.  Elijah seemed to suffer from colic every night, keeping him awake until the wee hours of the morning.  He would finally fall asleep, usually less then an hour before Malachi had to go into work.

Holly had taken very little interest in their son, she seemed extremely detached from the whole parenting process and spent many hours each day out, leaving Bailey to care for her new grandchild.  Bailey didn't say much about it, but she wondered if perhaps Holly suffered a bit from Postpartum Depression. She didn't mind caring for her grandson, but she knew a child needed his mother.

Mason moved out shortly after Elijah's birth, seemed a baby in the house was more then he wanted to deal with, Malachi missed having his brother around, and a part of him also envied him, he was free to date whom ever he wanted, go where ever he pleased, his life stretched out in front of him, the pages still unwritten.  Malachi couldn't say the same for his, it seemed his life was already written, his path chosen.

Malachi watched as Elijah took his first steps towards him, he couldn't believe their little baby was one already!  Holly took no more interest in him then she had when he was born, some days he wondered if she even realized she was a mother.

Malachi was finally achieving his dream of being a Private Investigator, but it took time, and even though he was married, he might as well have been a single dad.  He didn't know what he would do if it weren't for his mother helping.

Holly had thrown herself into her new job in the architecture department, she worked long hours, often staying past midnight to put finishing touches on her newest project.  Malachi could feel the distance between them growing larger by the day and he wondered if their marriage was doomed to be one of the failures.

Elijah had just turned four when Holly came home early from work one day, she was pale as a ghost.  Malachi rushed to her side, "What is it Holly, what's wrong?"  She stuttered for a bit before finally bursting into one of her rages she blurted it all out, "I'm pregnant Malachi!  Pregnant! I don't have time for another kid, I don't want another one! I won't have another one, Elijah is more then I can handle!"

Malachi choked, she couldn't be serious, she didn't handle Elijah, she hardly even spoke to him!  " It's going to be fine Holly, we will handle it together, besides my mom will help, she already does help a lot!"   Holly glared at him, "You aren't hearing me Malachi, I'm having an abortion, I am not having another baby!"

Malachi  swallowed the urge to slap his beautiful wife, he wondered how on God's green earth he was going to look at her if she killed his child.  " Holly, I know you don't want to do this, but please, don't kill our baby, I'm begging you, I will do anything you want if it will change your mind."  

A week later, Holly came up to him, "I'll have it, but there are conditions.  It's my body that has to go through carrying this thing, and if I'm going to go through with it, you are going to take care of it, all the time, I don't want it in my room, I don't want it waking me up, ever.  Also, you will quit nagging me about being gone so much, if I want to work late, it's my business. I'll eat what I want while I'm carrying this thing, it will not stop me from doing anything, understand, and it's all yours when it's born, you take the responsibility for them both.  Oh and one more thing... unless you never want to sleep with me again, you will get a vasectomy, immediately!"

Malachi was trapped, if he didn't give her what she wanted, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would end the pregnancy, "Anything you want Holly, it's yours, just have the baby."

The pregnancy was picture perfect, as far as he could tell, although he hardly saw his wife in the months leading up to their child's birth.  When Holly went into labor, Malachi panicked, memories of Elijah's quick entrance into the world flooding his mine.  He was frozen as she screamed with each contraction, not sure what he should do.

"Malachi, take your wife to the hospital, it's time to have your baby!"  Bailey was the picture of calm, in fact she found the scene just a little on the sitcom funny side.  Her son quickly snapped out of his panic and looked over at his mom, "The baby's coming, what if we don't make it?"  She grinned at him, if only she had been so lucky with her children's births to have them come so quickly, "You need to leave now, I'll watch Elijah, now go!"  She watched them both leave the house, wondering if she was to have a granddaughter or grandson this time.

The baby was healthy, his wife in perfect shape for any woman who had just passed a watermelon.  They were able to bring Alison home two days later.  When they arrived, Holly hit him with her latest demand.  "I ordered a bed set up in the nursery, that way the brats won't wake me up, you can sleep in there."  

Chapter 13

It wasn't real, that was all she could think when she saw him laying there in a heap on the ground.  He's going to get up and laugh and tell us he was just kidding.  He didn't, he never got up again.  Trevor was gone, it was so unfair, if they had just hired a repairman he would still be there with her, but he wanted to do it himself.

Her children all came for the memorial service, and it was comforting in an odd way to have all those little parts of Trevor gathered around her, she could feel him there watching over them.

Bailey watched as they said their vows.  She had hoped for so much more for Malachi, but this was what he had settled for. She wanted him to be happy, but in her heart she knew that a marriage this young was bound to have a lot of rough patches. She had told the couple they could live with them as long as they needed and she meant it, she wanted her son to have a chance to fulfill his dreams of becoming a private investigator, and she was willing to do whatever it took to help him get there.

Holly was huge, it worried Bailey to see the teenager so large and miserable, she could only pray that everything went ok.  Memories of her delivery of Madeline at the same age played through her mind, keeping her awake at nights.  She might not like Holly much, but she didn't want to see any girl go through what she went through.  She knew it would be much longer before her first grandchild made his or her appearance, she just hoped the parents were ready for it.

 She went into labor in the middle of the night, she wasn't sure what was going on, so she didn't wake anyone else up at first, then her water broke, and the realization of what was happening dawned on her, she woke up Malachi, but there wasn't time to do anything else, the baby was coming and all she could do was pant and push.  Five minutes later a  still groggy Malachi stood at the foot of their bed holding their new daughter, and wondering what they should do next.

Bailey heard her son yelling, bringing her out of the most wonderful dream, she ran into their bedroom and saw him standing there, her new grandchild in his arms, his wife laying on the bed.  "The baby, it came out! Mom what am I suppose to do now?"

She helped her son get the umbilical cord cut and tied, and cleaned up a tired Holly.  After she lay her grandson in it's bassinet she looked over at Malachi, "You're a dad now, he's your responsibility son, he needs you, and Holly to take care of him."

 Malachi looked down at his sleeping son the full weight of what they had taken on pressing across his shoulders, "Mom, how did you do it?  I'm so scared I won't do something right, he's so tiny and breakable."  Bailey laughed, "Not as breakable as you think, I did it the best I could, one day at a time.  Trust your gut and always think of him first, and you will do just fine."

Chapter 12

* Unfortunately for this chapter, my computer messed up, and I didn't realize it until it was too late, most of the photos I thought I was taking, were not taken, so forgive me for this chapter not being very photo intense.  I wasn't able to go back and get the photos I needed because the sims had already passed those stages.*

They say when you leave your youth behind time begins barreling past you, but it's not true, not completely true. It picks up speed when you leave your youth, but having children, that's what causes time to barrel on past.  It was doing just that to Bailey, she closed her eyes for a second and the twins were walking, talking, and she was back to potty training.

Madeline had would soon graduate high school , Bailey still wasn't sure how it happened, but her first born was almost old enough to leave the nest. It  didn't seem that long ago that she was laying in her arms for the first time still wet from the birth, and now she was changing into a young woman before Bailey's eyes.

Megan didn't seem to have an interest yet in boys, and for that Bailey was grateful, she knew it would come soon enough. She preferred to hang out with her best friends, and had recently declared herself a vegetarian.  Bailey smiled at the announcement, she was certain it was just a stage that she would outgrow, meanwhile it wouldn't hurt to indulge her daughter a bit.

Malachi and  Mason were both doing well in school, although for Malachi it came a bit harder.  He spent hours each night struggling over his homework, and was often envious of his Irish Twin who was done within minutes of starting.

Malachi had developed an interest in all things police, he had begun watching all the cop shows he could get his hands on, specifically ones like NCIS, and CSI.  Bailey wondered if her first born son would choose a career with the Men in Blue.  She didn't really care for that thought, knowing the danger he would be in each day, but still she knew she would be proud of a son that chose to serve his community and protect the innocent.

Bailey Blinked again and the twins were in grade school, Madeline and Megan  had graduated from high school.  Madeline had fallen in love and married her high school sweetheart during a wild weekend to Vegas, and she discovered that Megan would never have an interest in boys.  The last had been a bit of a shock to her, but she only wanted her children to be happy, so when Megan brought home her girlfriend, she had her parent's blessings and good wishes for a happy and fulfilling life, and a love that would last through it's many ups and downs.

Malachi had also fallen in love at the ripe old age of 17.  He declared Holly his true soul mate.  His parents knew that she was the just first of many, at least Bailey hoped so, she didn't much care for Holly.  The girl was beautiful, there was no doubt about that, but she was as rude as she was gorgeous.

It came as quite a shock when a few months later they announced they wanted to be married, and there was little argument against it for Bailey, Holly was pregnant with her grandchild.  They moved the girl into their home, and began making arrangements.  Bailey told the both of  them that there wasn't going to be a grand wedding, they would be married quietly and before the baby was born.