The Kids Are Alright

While Evaline waddled around enjoying the tiny bladder and big appetite that her fourth pregnancy had saddled her with, Nikolai spent hours out in the paddocks training up Taio and Alabaster until they were rivalling their parents in skill

The kids kept themselves amused the same way their parents had years ago. None of those arcade games or hours of TV babysitters. Instead there were hours of biking and rough-housing and cubby house play.

Okay, so maybe Arabella was caught up with her science gig and Emmett - well, Emmett was wherever Emmett seemed to disappear to - but they always managed to hang out for awhile each night in the cubby house. Sometimes they even had camp outs where laughter and playful messing around could be heard until the wee hours when exhaustion finally caught up with them.

Childhood doesn't come without responsibilities though - like turning up to your ballet recital on time, even if you looked more like a rhino trying to escape capture than a pretty little ballerina doing a dance routine.



Which sometimes means parents have to tell these things called white lies where they - um, well, kind of, sort of, er - LIE about their child's skill and prowess at whatever they pursue. Evaline was far better at praising her clod-hopping, floor stomping daughter's graceful *cough cough* ballet routine than Nikolai was - I mean come on, one bad recital has him chastising a rock?

It can't have been that bad, right?
Okay, so maybe Evaline was barely home twenty minutes before she broke her water and began pulling crazy faces as the contractions hit, but I'm sure that it was totally coincidental.
Totally. 

After three kids, Number Four didn't exactly slip out easily but the speedy delivery almost made up for it. Plus the three day holiday in the hospital had Evaline thinking it had all worked out fine. Until someone told her that health care funding cuts meant that anyone who hadn't pushed a baby out sideways or had a C-section would be discharged as soon as they could walk again.

After the string of curse words that Evaline unleashed on the hospital administrator, it'd be a cold day in Hell before they let her have a baby in that delivery ward again.

*cough cough* Maybe someone should have considered who she was yelling at before she had herself univited from the only hospital in a 25 mile radius? *cough cough*

Ah well, the next baby will be awhile off. She had plenty of time to find a midwife or cook up a batch of cookies to smooth over the administrators ruffled (and now somewhat patchy) feathers.

Baby Number Four - Maximilian

For now, it was time to enjoy baby Number Four - Maximilian! Or as Arabella, Emmett and Drake discovered, it was time to block their ears and escape to the cubby house before Mum handed them a smelly diaper or tried to soothe a screaming baby.

And boy, did that boy scream!

Luckily he stopped long enough to let Evaline watch the miracle of life as her baby twins Arabella and Emmett finally left behind any inkling of childhood and grew into tempestuous teens.

-*-

And for some as-yet-indiscovered reason, Evaline and Nikolai decided to celebrate by taking a moment to procreate! Honestly, they have no self control.

All I can say is that by the sound of that catchy jingle, Evaline might want to get onto making up with that less-than-happy hospital administrator otherwise Nikolai might have to don his gloves and pull the latest Masterton bun from the oven himself!

All Growed Up!

If Arabella and Emmett had Evaline and Nikolai wrapped around their fingers as toddlers, the transition to children only cemented their parents adoration for them. The first lot of A+ report cards helped a little too!

*

So if Evaline let the little treasures *cough* get away with eating cookies for breakfast every once in awhile, so be it ... It didn't make her a bad mother. Right?

Busy with a new baby and tied up chasing two errant foals around a farm, Evaline was run off her feet tending to the kids and keeping the food coming while Nikolai got all hot and sweaty as he toiled away in the stalls mucking out the dirty deeds of the growing foals., day after day.

Something had to give, between their crazy sleep-deprived nights and chaotic days, it was a surprise it took so long. After one naughty session of afternoon delight - Hahahaha! As if! It was more like an hour of exhaustion-induced napping - Evaline and Nikolai smelt something a little off.

And it wasn't coming from the bathroom.

Fortunately, calmly and with an air of fake capability, Evaline - Yes, Evaline - whipped out the fire extinguisher and battled with the fiery blaze, the lives of her family hanging in the balance.



 A good thirty minutes later, when the destructive flames had bwwn reduced to ash and white gloop, the fire truck arrived and stood around uselessly until Evaline's pissed off attitude reared its head. It didn't last long though, with Drake's graduation into toddlerhood stealing the grim frown from her face and replacing it with a proud smile.

What a little cutie!



Evaline's smile could only grow wider as the days passed and Arabella and Emmett continued to be the high achievers she'd secretly hoped for. Arabella spent hours every day practicing her ballet moves and slaving over her chemistry set ...



Whilst Emmett - well, no one was ever really sure what Emmett was off doing, but those solid A+'s kept rolling on in so Evaline wasn't about to complain.

Meanwhile, little Drake grew into his budding personality day by day. Sneaky but adorable, he got away with everything that Arabella and Emmett hadn't even dared try.



It took Nikolai hours to find Drake after he snuck off that day. The bunny is now considered officially a Missing Plush Toy.

Fortunately, the foals experienced a much kinder fate - in fact, Taio grew up the very day of  Mr. Bunny's [unconfirmed] demise!


Alabaster followed suit a couple of days later, his hooves beating a steady path between the training posts with a frenzied dedication.



The craziness of the Masterton household should have been enough for Evaline and Nikolai to handle, but the concept of two children and another toddler on his way to childhood had them delving into the depths of a deeper level of insanity - Renovations!

The lounge room just couldn't cope with the two kids they had now. Once Drake joined them, there wouldn't be enough room to play or watch TV together.

It had absolutely nothing to do with Nikolai wanting a bigger TV. Nothing, I tell you!



It took awhile - and a lot of patience with three rambunctious offspring running around - but soon enough, they had a living room to rival all other living rooms!

And it was completed just in time too!
Drake left toddler time behind and stepped into kiddy-hood with the same quiet, sneaky, adorable-ness that had always surrounded him.


Whether it was birthdays or fires, there was always something happening at the Masterton's and now was no different.
The holidays had come around before they knew it, and with kids old enough to count their presents, Evaline and Nikolai went all out.

Luckily, no one saw Mummy kissing Santa Claus this year ...

Come morning, between the presents Evaline and Nikolai had bought their little munchkins and the presents that the jolly, big, bearded man in red brought down the chimney, and they were one spoilt lot!

The magic of the day (and the night before!) must have rubbed off because a couple of months later, Evaline's tummy had joined bumpville and she was sneaking off with watermelon snacks in hope of another pink bundle of joy making an appearance soon.


That crazy gleam in her eye - you're imagining it.  I swear.
After all, any woman who would willingly have 100 babies must be sane.

Sleepless in Lancaster

Sleep. 

The word was a promise and a tease, all in five letters. Evaline and Nikolai had forgotten what it was like to snuggle under the covers of their warm bed and fall into its waiting grasp. Instead they caught snippets of the glorious relief between bottle feeds and diaper changes, colicky cries and happy giggles.

And it wasn’t just the human babies that had them run off their feet! 

 

Foal Number 2 - Alabaster

Yet, no matter how bone tired and bottle weary they got, there was a pure happiness to them that could not be described by words. Although, action’s were a whole different matter!

A couple of lovey-dovey cuddles and bouncy-bounce beneath the bed sheets meant that their lovely little family of four would soon have (at least!) one more!

The months passed quickly, Evaline’s stomach grew heavy and the twins grew into great big balls of toddling energy.

Arabella

Emmett

The spindly-legged foals, Taio and Alabaster, followed suit, finally growing into their legs and finding the sureness of their stride.

Taio

 

Alabaster

No sooner had the farm settled into the short-lived peace of children’s sleep, than Evaline’s contractions started and the newest family member decided to join in the fun.

12 hours and 33 minutes of excruciating pain followed for Nikolai, as Evaline turned the bones of his hand into unrecognisable mush and swore to renege on their vow of a hundred of these giant, pain-wreaking bundles.

A final push and some un-ladylike curse words later, scrawny little Drake Masterton fought his way into the world.

Baby Number Three - Drake Masterton

More bottles and booties and diapers and doo-doo's filled the Masterton house than ever before! The bins reached capacity days before the garbage man came to collect and the twins laughed and cried and giggled until silence became a foreign concept to the two frazzled parents.

Their love for their babies was overwhelming, and even with the new addition of baby Drake, they found time to spoil the twins with some special attention and playtime with Mum and Dad.

And when Mum & Dad were doing diaper duty, the twins Uncle Roger had sent through some special friends to keep them amused ...

And before they knew it, it was time to grow into the adorable little munchkins - or terror's - they were destined to become.

Birthday Party Time!

But you'll have to wait til next time to see the pretty little products!!!