The end isn't near, it's officially here: Baby #100

Sitting on the edge of my bed, I ponder the amount of things that has happened in the past few months after the birth of Wesley and Blaine. Currently, I am at baby #99 in the challenge.  Only one more to go, then the challenge is complete. Just thinking about having one last pregnancy gives me the shivers... What would I do after the challenge?

As my feet touch the ground, I'm reminded of another thing, or to be more specific, a certain someone, that makes me incredibly happy: Alex. He had made the spontaneous move to pop up at my front door with some questions about our previous meeting/date. I realized then and there that I do have feelings for him. All my life I had them, in fact. When we met in kindergarten, he became my best friend. When he left elementary school to go to another town, I cried my eyes out. All because I did, in fact, love him. 

And now, we agreed to take our relationship slow and become reacquainted with each other. Though "slow" with Alex is extremely fast. Already over the last couple of months did he call me almost everyday, and he tried to visit me and the kids whenever possible.

While getting dressed in some cozy, warm clothing, my phone vibrates on my end table, and I scoop it. It's a text message from Calista Smith.

Hey, you crazy lady! 'Grats on getting together with Alex... You're so cute together. ^_^ When you have baby 100, CALL ME.

It's still early, and I always let the toddlers sleep until they wake up themselves, but today I'm feeling bright and chipper, and can't wait to spend some time with them.

Luke, Mei & Sindy

The pink tots turned into beautiful children, and I can't get over the fact of how cute they look, with all their pink clothing! Luke feels a wee bit awkward, sporting pink in his features, but his sisters, Mei and Sindy, love that they have pink in their genes.

Wesley & Blaine

Finally, the curse of the repetitive hair has settled, and I finally have a set of kids who don't all have their father's hair color (given, they do have my hair, but I like my hair color more!). These toddlers are cutie pies, through and through, where Wesley has my deep blue eyes, and Blaine has random grey eyes. 

Nicki has decided to be a lot more playful lately, regularly playing with her new toys, and trying to catch out feet whenever we walk by. As I aim to walk out the door, I notice the four-footed creature lurking under the couch.

"Snickerdoodle, what am I going to do with you?! I swear you're pregnant, with all your mood swings lately...," I grunt. But I'm pretty sure Nicki isn't pregnant, seeing as she never leaves the house.

Breakfast is more festive than ever before, with six kids gathering around the table, each in different costumes. Only Violet refrains from dressing up, as she schemes it's "too childish". Poor Sindy is still stuck at the costume box, trying to find a cool outfit to wear.

"Bow down to my superior awesomeness!" Persia cheers.

"I'm a princess, I don't bow down to anyone!" Sierra grins.

"I'm a princess too; what about me?" Mei interjects.

"Okay! No one bows down to anyone at the moment. Let's all just calm down and have our breakfast...," I try to get the kids to settle down, and for once, they listen.

The day passes extremely quickly, and before we know it, it's already evening. Most of the girls are still downstairs watching TV by the time its 10 ‘o clock, but I find Violet has already crept into bed, with her eyes wide open.

"I can’t sleep," she shrugs, as I peek into the room.

"Oh, honey. Want me to read to you?" she nods and I take a book out of the shelf, taking a seat next to her. It’s a thick book with a lot of fairy tales, but I tell her about "The Princess and the Pea". A few minutes later, Violet’s eyes become droopy, and I kiss her goodnight.

"Wait… Mom… Could we perhaps go to the beach tomorrow? All of us, together, I mean? I feel as though we’re gonna have little time together in the future, and I wanna have some fun before we move out…"

I smile, nodding. "Of course we can, sweetie. I’ll pack a picnic basket tonight."

After packing the basket for the next day’s activities, I get this strange urge to do something crazy… As I lay in bed, with all my normal clothing on still, I know that I won’t be able to shake it off, and I head outside, where I find the time machine I had built a few days ago.

"I know I will probably regret this…," I mutter, while typing in co-ordinations in time. My first destination: the past. 

The time stream pulls me in, and the last thing of me to disappear is my foot.

I surge through time in a multi colored stream, feeling extremely disorientated and still retaining some of my senses. The next thing I know, I’m ejected into the past, falling into a pool of water. "Oh, dammit…" I curse, and climb out of the pond. In front of me lays a cute looking cottage that is oddly familiar. 

As I turn my attention right, I notice kids playing on the playground. Only now I click who they are, and where I am.

Those kids are my sisters! Only much younger… Dwelling in the past is a funny thing.

"Carmen! Grace! Get your booties inside right this instance…! You still have to clean up your rooms. And I’m so NOT doing it." The younger version of my mother yells from the porch. In her arms, she’s carrying…

Me. That’s the reason I don’t remember this place clearly; I was still a toddler when we first came here.

I’ve been warned before not to mess with the time stream, and I don’t plan on doing it… But my mother (of the past) sees me standing there with huge eyes. "'Scuse me, but can I help you?"

Like a zombie I walk over to where she is, with a nervous smile. I don’t know how to explain my appearance here, so I do the best thing I can; fake a English accent and pretend I’m lost.

"Uh, hi… yes, you can help me, please. I’m sorry to disturb, but I’m a bit lost. The taxi I drove in dropped me off here, but I have no reason why!"

It’s then that my father (of the past, of course) sees me, and yells out triumphantly:

"Cousin Liz! Is that really you? Oh my gosh, it’s so good to see you again!"

I have to sift through a lot of memories, but I finally remember who my dad is talking about; Liz was the younger (much younger) cousin of my father. She was working as an architect in England, until she was in a car crash with a drunk driver. She died at the time I became a child. My dad always told me I reminded him of Liz, so maybe, just maybe, I could pull this ruse off…

"Darling! So you still recognize me after all these years!" I laugh nervously. "Good to see you, Justin." He comes over and gives me a warm hug, squeezing the air from my lungs.

Five minutes later, after I give a crappy explanation as to why I’m (still pretending to be Liz) here, my dad invites me inside, and my mom goes off to prepare lunch. Justin can’t stop talking about how much "cousin Liz" has changed, and I seriously start to feel more and more guilty with each passing second. We’re interrupted by a sharp scream from the kitchen. "JUSTIN! I JUST CUT MY FINGER; HELP!!!"

My dad passes me an apologetic look, and stands up. "I’m sorry. My wife is good as a business woman… Not so well at being a chef." He places the toddler version of me on the bench, leaving us two alone, together.

As I look at the cute girl curiously peeking at me from under her long lashes, I can’t resist picking her… well, me actually, up.

"I can’t believe this is what I looked like…," I smile. I can’t believe how everyone looked like, to be precise. My mom, still young and struggling to be a mother. My dad, still handsome with all his looks, with only a hint of grey hair. And after this realization, I feel the time stream tugging at me. With a sorrowful heart, I place the younger me on the ground, and get sucked into the stream once again.

At the next destination I’m so rudely ejected into, I have no trouble recognizing where I am; Bridgeport. Peeking over the bushes, I make out the shape of Duncan, and see my past self and Ariel in the swimming pool. I know exactly what day that was as well; the day we chose to move back to Sunset Valley, where I grew up and previously lived. I can't help but grin as I see Duncan and Ariel as teenagers again. 

Yet again, the time portal opens and I have no choice but to jump back into it.

The journey through the stream takes seconds longer than before, and I end up in a place I don’t recognize at all. Though it looks very country-ish, and could perhaps be the future. As I struggle through the overgrowth with high heels, I notice some people down near the lake. Funny how they’re in wedding clothing, and looking much more fancy than the environment. I’m still giggling at the thought of how ridiculous they look, when I figure out who they actually are…

Dwayne. And. Me.

Dwayne slides the finger on Destiny of the future’s finger, and they smile at each other with bright eyes. I gag. Finally, the happy couple leave in a old looking car, and my heart beat calms down. How in the world do I end up marrying Dwayne in the near future?!

Grass rustles behind me, and I quickly turn around to see where the noise comes from.

"Too nervous to go through with the wedding, hey, Dessie? I knew you two could never be together…" There, walking towards me, is Dwayne’s brother, Brian; one of the many siblings he has. He was one of the family members that was turned into a vampire… So does this mean Dwayne cured his family?

"I’m her sister, Grace," I lie. "I look a lot like her; I had surgery done. We look like two peas in a pond."

"Ah… Grace. My love." Wait, WHAT? I think, my eyes widening. "It’s been too long since I’ve seen you. You never called me back after that crazy night we had together!"

Brian takes my face into his hands, and moves into kiss me… For the last time, I faze away with no re-collection of what happened after that touch and back into the time stream.

The time machine doors open, and I land on my booty flat on the ground. I spend a second complaining about the pain. It’s just distraction so I won’t think about everything I saw.

Standing up, I still feel a ghostly touch around my shoulders, and I try to brush it off, but of course, that doesn’t help. Concentrating very hard, I focus on the memories that happened after Brian touched me, but they don’t come. Only when I feel a little kick in my womb do I know what actually happened; I somehow got pregnant with Brian’s baby.

"How in the world did I hook up with that player…," I keep muttering to myself, as I wash my hands. Brian aside, I can’t believe how I end up with Dwayne in the future. The guy who’s mother almost ate me for dinner.

"The future is not set in stone, the future is not set in stone," I repeat. "I will NOT end up with Dwayne. I do not choose him. You hear me! We will never be together." As I look at myself in the mirror, I start to freak out of the possibility of me marrying him - why can't he just stay in my past?

I knew it was a bad idea to use the time machine...

Sierra, Persia & Violet

The triplet girls are as stubborn as always, and refuse to go and have fun with us, if they don't age up (so they can actually have a chance to talk to a older guy that's hot...). They age up beautifully, each dressed in their own choice of style. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Violet will get along better with Sierra, now that she's a bit more mature.

We all walk over to the beach just after 6 AM, with the toddlers safely secured in strollers. I expect that most of the kids will go off in their separate, but I'm wrong, as both the triplet sets come sit by us, eating, chatting or just relaxing.

"I knew it was a good idea to come here early...," Violet smiles, while watching the sunrise.

Sierra mentions she feels like doing something crazy, and whips out a tube which has the word "FIREWORKS. CAUTION" written over it. My eyes widen as she lights it up...

"EUREKA! Look at it, it's so awesome!" she cries out. We all look up at the sky, and emotional me can't help shedding a tear at the sight of it. Those fireworks actually signal the first day of my pregnancy.

Violet finally scrounged up the courage and confronted her sister Persia. They talk in hushed tones for a few minutes, and end up playing with a baseball. Whatever problems they had, it was sorted now.

"Did I ever tell you... You suck at throwing a ball!" Persia laughs.

"Hey, it's not my fault you can't catch the freakin' baseball!" Violet replies.

The two fall flat in the sand and laugh for an entire minute. I almost think their giggle fits will never end. 

It's a shame, but I can't keep up with the amount of energy the kids have, and I start to doze off, with the toddlers at my feet, and Chica standing guard. Bless your little heart, you cute dog.

When I finally wake up from my short nap, I see on my phone that it's just past one o'clock. "Crap!" I shout. Where were the kids? Back at home? Or did they sneak off? Chica is faithfully waiting by my side, with a wagging tail behind her.

"Aw, Chica. Did you perhaps see where everyone disappeared to?" I ask the terrier, not really expecting an answer.

Chica's head whips to the side, motioning to the house across the street.\

"Thank you, you cutie...," I whisper, and shake her paw, one of the tricks the kids had taught her.

Persia helps me most of the afternoon, with teaching the toddlers some of their skills. Unfortunately, Persia can't stop talking about the cute boy in her class, and Blaine actually learns the word "cutie pie" from her. I sigh, and continue to try and teach Wesley some more educational things.

As Wesley is being incredibly energetic for a toddler, I have no trouble teaching him the mechanics of walking. He really seems to want to walk, which is good.

"Mwe run around, pwease...?" Wesley whimpers. 

"Later, Wes, later! When you can actually walk then."

With the promise of being to walk the next day, Wesley just won't go to sleep that night. Even placing him in the swinging chair doesn't help, and he screams louder than before.

Little Wesley keeps the entire family up with his cries that won't seem to stop, and Sierra has pretty much had enough.

"You know, I can always go sleep over at a friend's house...," she suggests. "Or at least thrust something in that baby's mouth, 'cause we're trying to watch TV!"

After giving Wesley a chewing toy, he finally stops, and just after a few minutes of playing, he starts to snore lightly, then drops to the floor, exhausted.

Mei and Sindy actually ran out of the house to escape the cries of their younger brother. But even after Wesley settles down, the girls spend a great deal of time outside, enjoying the sunset view from the jungle gym.

The following day, Monday, is just chaos. The kids all rush to get some last minute homework done they had "forgotten" about. I hand them all packages in with some food to get them through the day. After the morning rush, everything is quiet in the house. I take the time to get some housework done, starting off at the girls' room, which has the most laundry.

With the garden overflowing lately with fruit and other kinds of rare delicacies, I make sure to pick some plums from the trees, to use in one of my pancake recipes.

"You never know what kind of flavor you want...," I muse out loud.

Exhausted from all the things I have done this morning, I relax for a few minutes against the railings of the upstairs balcony, casting a restful eye across the ocean. My eyes fall upon a familiar figure down at the pavement, and I smile, waving at him. Alex. My heart beat speed increases just by looking at him. With a equally wide smile, he waves back at me.

I can't make out his face in detail, but he seems to freeze, smile fading. After that, he speaks out loudly, pointing to his hand, but his words are lost in the wind.

"Wait, what?! I can't hear you properly, Alex!" I yell, self conscious that people  might think I'm a lunatic.

"Destiny! Will you....-ry me... Please?" Alex stands there awkwardly, but yet again I can't make out much of what he said. I think through all the signals he made, and the way he rounded his mouth when talking...

Somewhere, I must have made a mistake. Because the answer I just came to can't be right; did Alex just ask me to marry him?

I don't have time to think about it any further, as the familiar pain in my abdomen starts, and convulsions follow... Labor has such unfortunate timing.

Baby #100 turns out to be a little girl. As I cuddle this cute, new addition to the house, I realize I don't have a clue what to name her. Pondering this for a moment, I finally come to a conclusion: 'Destiny' will be her name. Well, for one, she's named after me. But my destiny ended up being to complete a 100 baby challenge... And it feels right to give her that name. But of course, she won't share the same mission as I did; Destiny will have to find her own destiny...

Baby #100

Destiny Rose Jr.

"I wanted a perfect ending, now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't have rhymes, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next..."

~♥~

*Cannot manage an appropriate speech at this point*

I'm done with the challenge. That's all I can manage to say at this point.

...

And that's all, folks.

:)