And then there was Drake!

While the Masterton family was going crazy with weddings, birthday's and grandbabies, Drake kept himself busy in the background, quietly doing all the things that teenage boys do.

Which for him, mostly consisted of working on his "guns" and checking out the girls at the local gym. All the commotion at home meant that when his birthday rolled around, it somehow got lost in amongst all the other life-changing events, so it was no surprise that he strutted right into adulthood in the confines of his much beloved gym.

And once he finally grew into those muscles, the girls he'd been training with weren't inclined to let him get away too soon either!

Okay, now if I'd known Evaline and Nikolai could produce offspring like this, I might have suggested a 200 baby challenge.

A fully-grown Drake was almost too much for their small town to handle, for many reasons that had nothing to do with half the female population swooning at the sight of him.

Mmm, I wonder why?

*Totally not an excuse to indulge in some Drake spam at all*

Okay, okay. I'm stopping now. Back to the story, I swear.
Once Drake finally broke free of the throng of appreciative female gym go-ers he headed off to school for the last time - a fact that he was incredibly happy about!

Graduation could not have come soon enough in his eyes!



And surprise, surprise, Evaline's tummy was sporting a very familiar bump!

You'd think after the last lot, Nikolai might be a bit "Oh well" about it all, but the memory of the days when they'd thought children would never come to them still lurked in the back of his mind, so each baby was another miracle for him to revel in.

And revel he did!

 

It was celebrations all around when Graduation was over and they headed home, Drake grasping his diploma (with Honours!) from the Community School for the Gifted with an iron grip. Not only had their third born graduated, but little Niamh grew into a full-grown child too!

A very pretty child indeed!

Although her tendency to do the "pee pee" dance made Evaline question the quality of her toilet training techniques.


For every time she questioned their parenting skills, their was another moment that made her sure that they were doing a pretty good job. Little Max's hugs were always one of those good moments, especially for whoever was getting the cutie's cuddles!


Everything seemed to be going so well in the Masterton household - the kids were growing up well, Drake was settling into adulthood pretty happily, Evaline was keeping her impending bundle of joy healthy, and Nikolai was raking in the dough with his horse racing.



Everyone was happy and full of excitement about the future, baby and all!
Of course there were a couple of little mishaps, like Nikolai's determination to perfect the flame jump which often led to a dangerously close call with the Grim Reaper and a very singed behind.

But on the whole, everything was going well. And of course, that was when disaster struck, the dark of night disguising someone with evil intents and itchy devil hands - a stud stealer who spirited away with their beloved horse, Whisper.



Nikolai did everything he could to track down Whisper and the devil who stole her, but the Police had no leads and the private investigator he hired came up empty.

Little Maxi helped his Daddy search high and low for his favourite horse, finding only rocks and gems in place of Whisper.


Their search continued for days, from dawn to dusk. Their commitment was incredible, especially little Maxi's - he even became a teenager one night on the way home!



And Evaline was never one to be shown up by her children, as she proved by going into labour mid-search the next night!


Not surprisingly, the search was cut short that night as a screaming baby boy joined the Masterton brood.

Baby Number Six - Hunter


With a new baby in the house, the searching finally came to an end but the hope that they would one day find Whisper remained strong within Nikolai and Evaline, even as the days passed to become weeks and then months. And even if they never got to see his strong thoroughbred face again, he would always be in their hearts.

And for now, baby Hunter would help to heal the sadness in their Simmy hearts with his cute baby smiles and er - endearing infantile screams, I'm sure.

First Comes Love, Second Comes Marriage

Though Evaline snooped and spied to within an inch of her life when Emmett returned from Graduation, her sneaky endeavours came up empty. There was not a single reference to or picture of any girl in any of his things.

Not even in his diary!

One thing, however, had become vividly clear through her snoopings - Emmett's obsession with this Imaginary Friend, Kisses, had gone on for far too long. Evaline had smiled tightly and whispered to Nikolai, "It's just a phase, he'll grow out of it", many a time when he was a young boy, but now he was a man, and really, photo's of him hugging air were just plain creepy.

Little did she know just how creepy things could get!

While Evaline had been absorbed in investigating her eldest Son's romantic life, her first-born had been delving far more into the realms of scientific fantasy than she could have ever imagined. Arabella had spent every moment of her childhood, teen years, and now adulthood, exploring the secrets of science and alchemy in the hopes of turning her Imaginary Friend, Cuddles, into a real boy *cough cough* person, I mean.

And now, she had the chemical concoction that could finally achieve that dream!

If Cuddles was game enough to actually swallow it. After all, everyone knew it was the guinea pigs that got it first when it came to scientific experimentation!

Fortunately years of friendship and trust came in handy, and Cuddles downed it without the slightest hesitation.

A quick snap, crackle and pop later and Cuddles left existence as an Imaginary Friend behind and became a real, live boy!

Er, make that girl!



It didn't matter to Arabella one bit. She was so deliriously happy that her bestest friend in the whole wide world was finally real. All the funny looks and crazy hand gestures she'd been on the receiving end of would stop now that Cuddles was real. But most of all, now she could do the one thing she'd been dreaming of every day since she had realised the reason why her heart beat faster and her smiles grew wider whenever Cuddles was by her side.



She was in love!

Betcha didn't see that one coming Evaline!
The surprise announcement of Cuddles actual existence and their daughters discovery of true love  very nearly knocked Nikolai and Evaline to the floor. All their worries about Emmett dropped into the background as they found themselves caught up in Arabella's happiness.

And with one simple three letter word, Cuddles thrust them into flurry of happy activity. Their eldest daughter was finally going to walk down the aisle and start a family of her own!

The planning of a wedding is notoriously difficult and Arabella's and Cuddles was no different to any other. Evaline was run off her feet, her frantic form often found buzzing through the house with one arm holding baby Niamh and the other calling the florist, the caterer, and pretty much any other business that could possibly contribute to her daughter's big day.

So it's no surprise that her concerns for Emmett slipped to the back of her mind. And Emmett, like any self-respecting adult child, took full advantage of his mother's distratcion and sister's scientific skill, and slipped his own Imaginary Friend, Kisses, a little chemical magic.


Ta dah!



Kisses transformation blew Emmett's mind and turned his normally quiet personality into something almost painfully shy.

But it didn't take long for his game to come back, and when it did, boy did he make up for it!


Their first kiss was quickly followed by their first date, which became their "secret" engagement ...


Which then became the venue of their elopement!

All done in typical Emmett style - quietly, with no fuss, and his mother completely none the wiser!


Although if their lip-locking is anything to go by, keeping mum *wink wink* won't be possible for too much longer. Especially considering Kisses ability to live up to her name!

Out of respect for Arabella - and let's be honest, a little fear - they kept the news of Kisses newly established "realness" and their elopement under wraps until the wedding was done and dusted.
While Emmett's easily distracted thoughts were taking a raunchy leap elsewhere, the family watched as Arabella and Cuddles declared their undying love for one another in a beautiful ceremony.

Tears ruined the girls perfect make up and Nikolai nearly crushed Cuddles in a bear hug, and when the wine came out, Evaline spent the best part of the night telling everyone how much she loved them.

Which was a lot. A really, really, lot. Like, this much, see - No, no, bigger. Yeah, like that much.

Logically, Emmett decided that seeing as Arabella and Cuddles had taken off for their honeymoon about three wines ago, it was the right time to let Evaline in on his and Kisses little secret.

Um, Emmett, note to self: Don't tell a woman that her eldest son has dated, proposed and eloped with a girl she doesn't know when she's had enough wine to double her body weight.

Baaad idea!

Once she finished sobbing and started screaming, the party kind of came to an end all by itself but if you excluded the terrified look that overcame the party-goers as they left, it seemed like everyone had a good time.

The next few months were chilly for Emmett and Kisses, to say the least, but fortunately little Maxmilian and Niamh took a little of the spotlight off what "He Who Should Not Be Named" had done to his poor, poor mother *cough*. And yes, that would Evaline.

Little Niamh grew into a beautifully precocious toddler.

While Maximilian became a very smartly dressed young boy!

And just like his eldest brother and sister before him, he had an Imaginary Friend to accompany him every step of the way!

No wonder Evaline's sanity is stretched so thin. And if this is any inclination of what the future holds, it's going to be stretched a whole lot thinner in the next few years.

While the kids were growing up, Domino was growing out and soon enough, another little foal, Tinkerbell joined the family.

Foal Number Three - Tinkerbell

Which meant saying goodbye to Taio and Alabaster as a friendly rancher bought them for his stud at a very princely sum. Evaline didn't have time to shed a tear, but the loss of his first born foals made the manly Nikolai's eyes grow wet.

Not that the sadness lasted too long, with two lots of good news breaking the feud between Evaline and Emmett, and propelling them into new, uncharted ground ...
Soon-to-be-grandparents!

Kisses tummy made it to graduation before she did!
And Arabella's basketball bump made for interesting listening, at least to Cuddles!

Five babies and three foals and two grandbabies makes for a very happy Evaline and Nikolai, and an even happier Emmett - apparently a knocked up wife makes up for a speedy courtship and elopement in Evaline's eyes.
Let's just hope the other 98 kids don't follow his lead and send her down the path of true madness - on second thought, taking on 100 babies and 50 foals in one lifetime ... I think she's already halfway there!

This Messy Business of Growing Up

Anyone that's ever inhabited the same house as a teenager knows just how crazy those hormonally charged years can be. Evaline and Nikolai's dreams of friendly bonding with Arabella and Emmett were thrown out the window five seconds after their patience ran out the door.

Emmett's disappearing acts drove his parents crazy with worry - Where was he and what exactly was he doing? Nightmares of a grandbaby before their own babies had even grown up tortured those brief moments of sleep that they caught.

But where rules had failed, only one thing would prevail. 

Bribery.

Come on, now don't judge them like that. It's not their fault that it works so well.

$1,200 and a grumbling Nikolai later, Evaline was confident that Emmett's whereabouts would no longer be in question.

Some call it mother's intuition, others call it economy of choice, Evaline didn't give one hoot because it worked darn well. The fact that she could lord it over Nikolai was just an added bonus.

The only thing she didn't forsee was the direct correlation between Emmett's increasingly impressive physique and the rise in teenage girls calling the house phone to flirt with him.

Oh well, you can't win them all.

As for Arabella, you never had to worry about her disappearing on you unless it was as an unfortunate by-product of one of her experiments going awry.

Which they did. A lot.

When she blew a hole in the barn roof, Nikolai had to put his foot down and dole out some serious consequences - three months cleaning the horses stalls.

He tried to pull the stern father routine, but after ten minutes watching his germ-o-phobic daughter cringe amidst the horsies doo-doo, he had to escape before gave himself a hernia  from  his desperately restrained laughter!

Aside from potentially setting the house or barn on fire, Evaline and Nikolai had only one worry when it came to Arabella - her tendency to play with her Imaginary Friend, Cuddles.

Which wouldn't have been a problem, had she not been, well, Imaginary. It was remarkably disconcerting to watch your daughter spar with thin air. It down right freaked Evaline out.

Fortunately there were enough kids running about the house to keep Evaline's mind elsewhere most days. Although were exactly it went was another question, especially considering her somewhat questionable decision to take Maximilian on a driving lesson with Emmett.

Luckily enough, Nikolai had noticed her - er, silly headed-ness - and gave the horses a little more freedom so that he could spend some quality time with his pretty wife, sweet little boy and the burgeoning bump.

If there was one thing he loved it was his family, and the feel of another little heart ready to join it made him the happiest man on Earth.

Eager to catch up to his siblings, Maximilian grew bigger and bulkier by the day until toddlerhood was but a second away. His proud Mum and Dad watched on, proud as their little baby boy grew into the next phase of kiddy-hood.


Mmm, the cross-eyed look is a little funny but he's still a genuine cutie!

With so many family members, it's no suprise that barely a day passed before they were celebrating another birthday - or two!

First up was Arabella, her teenaged eagerness to enter the adult world was almost sweet, providing you weren't Evaline, whose contractions chose that exact moment to make themselves known.

Arabella was less than impressed at the new little Masterton's timing, but it gave her a good excuse to get back to her mysterious potion making while her parents rushed off to the hospital. Thank God the administrator had a weakness for  Evaline's chocolate chip cookies.

Soon enough Evaline and Nikolai returned home with the newest Masterton baby - Niamh!

Baby Number Five - Niamh

With the new baby all snuggled up in her cot, Emmett finally felt ready to join his twin in the treacherous depths of adulthood.

Obviously his Imaginary Friend Kisses was more than impressed by the back view. The front view required a little work though, so after a quick trip to the salon for a cut and the mall for some clothes, Emmett was finally presentable.

Mmm ... Now that's a shade of green that I like *wink wink*

The next few days in the Masterton household were insane as the twins prepared for Graduation, while Niamh gave the walls a good shaking with her determined set of lungs.

Never the less, time rolled on and the gowns were donned and smiles of excitement (and relief!) were worn all around.

And mere hours later, they emerged as fully fledged graduates of the Community School for the Gifted, diploma's in hand!

Their diploma's were not the only awards they walked away with. According to their classmates, Arabella won the Most Likely to Take Over The World award, while Emmett won the Most Likely to Get Married award.

Hmm, curiouser and curiouser. Maybe that's why he's been so hard to keep a track of.

And from the height of Evaline's eyebrows, I'd say we'll be meeting the lucky *cough cough* lady soon.

Now this is one interrogation that I'm looking forward to!