Tariq the wonder cat! Baby 32!

Bridget and Amy grew up looking nearly identical. The only noticable differences are that Bridget has my hair and slightly lighter skin.

The calls from Charlie didn’t stop and kept becoming more frequent. Every call would start with the same thing, “Are you finally going to agree to see me?” I would of course say no, wanting to avoid him as much as I possibly could. Who knows what he would do if I actually saw him. When I see him, it won’t be voluntarily. It’ll be because I’m visiting my mom or something along those lines.

So for now, he’s just making me do things over the phone. They’re not things I’m proud of doing, but if my mom’s happy and my kids are safe, I’ll do it.

 In other news, we have no idea where Lily went. I woke up one morning to discover she was gone. We’ve made countless phone calls asking if anybody has seen her, hung up signs around the neighborhood, and have gone on search parties. There hasn’t been any success in finding her and now we doubt that she’s ever coming back.

So today, Mike suggested that we go to the pet store to look for another cat because the kids have been missing Lily a lot. And yes, I did say Mike. Mike has actually been coming over very often to get to know Gideon and Esta, which is very different. Normally the challenge fathers don’t make an effort to contact their children, so it’s a nice and welcome change.

We got to the pet store around noon and I hoped that they actually had pets today. Normally the Sunset Valley pet store is… Lacking in the pet department. Maybe since it’s the weekend we’ll have better luck.

And we do end up having luck! Apparently Sunday is dog and cat adoption day. That’s very good to know. We immediately noticed a teal cat with peach, red, yellow, and lilac markings staring at us from its bed.

Gideon and Esta immediately ran over and started stroking its fur. “It’s so soft!” I heard Gideon exclaim.

“Look at his eyes,” Esta cooed. “They’re so light.”

Mike glanced over at me and smiled. “I think we found one.”

“I’d say that’s a safe bet.”

We walked over to the area where the kids were and I noticed that this was definitely a friendly cat. Not only was it purring non stop, but it was rubbing against Esta’s leg affectionately. She giggled, “Hey kitty, that tickles!”

Gideon, noticing that I walked over, looked at me with big eyes. “Mom, can we get this one? Please?”

I smiled. “If that’s the one you guys want then it’s fine by me.”

Mike got the attention of one of the employees and she came over right away. “May I help you?” She asked in a slight Southern accent.

“Yeah,” I said. “We would like to purchase this cat,” I said.

She smiled. “That’s Tariq (Thank you Calista Smith), he’s an excellent choice. Especially for somebody with a large family, like yourself. Of course, you can change his name if you want.”

“Tariq,” I said. The name was interesting to say the least, but it fit. He seemed like a gentle cat and the name seemed very gentle too. Plus, it had a certain ring to it. “That’s actually perfect.”

“How much is he?” I asked, pulling out my wallet.

“Uh uh,” Mike said, gently pushing down my hand. “I’ll pay.”

“No,” I protested. “You really don’t have to do that.”

“Think of it as a gift,” He said.

The leaned over and stage whispered in my ear, “Honey, if an attractive man is offering to pay for your cat, you shouldn’t object.”

Mike raised an eyebrow at me, challenging me to reject his offer. I looked from him, to the cat, and then to the kids. They were looking at me with excitement, just waiting for me to close the deal. “Fine,” I muttered, feeling defeated. “You can buy the cat.”

The kids got up and hugged me, “I love hugging you guys,” I said. “But your dad is the one paying.”

They laughed. “Oh yeah!” Gideon exclaimed as they turned to Mike, giving him a big hug.

“Thank you dad!” They both said with a smile.

Mike went to go pay for Tariq and we headed home directly afterwards. While both sets of twins bonded with the new addition to the family, Mike and I headed into my room and settled down on the couch. “So,” He said. “What are you thinking in terms of this man challenge thing?”

“Well,” I said. “The last guy was a jerk; the first one was gay… I’m hoping something comes up with the next guy too.”

“And why’s that?” He asked, brushing my hair back from my face.

“Because you’re one of the sweetest, most adorable guys I’ve ever met,” I said, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks.

“You’re so charming when you blush,” He said, which only made me blush harder. “And thank you.”

He leaned over and kissed me. It was gentle at first but as it went on it got a little more passionate; until my phone rang shrilly next to me. We both jumped apart in surprise and I glared at the phone in irritation, grabbing it to see who was calling me at such an inconvenient time. Noticing that it was Charlie, I groaned in annoyance.

“Who is it?” Mike asked curiously, glancing at the screen.

“Nobody,” I said, hastily hanging up and throwing my phone across the room, where it hit the wall and broke almost immediately.

“I don’t know who ‘The Pig’ is, why they were calling you, or why you just threw your phone at the wall, but I have a feeling you’re going to need a new phone after that one,” Mike said.

“Oh yeah,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Um… That’s just this creep, he keeps calling me. Just some obsessed stalker, you know?”

He nodded in understanding. “Sounds like some of my fan girls.”

 Of course I knew that Mike was a famous singer, but for some reason the idea of fan girls swooning over him made me slightly jealous. Sure, they’re just fans, but fans get a little touchy feely sometimes. “I bet,” I muttered, getting up and picking up the pieces of my phone shakily. There wasn’t too much damage; the back had just fallen off, the battery fell out, and there was a brand new crack on the screen.

I just finished putting it back together and turning it on when Mike walked over, helping me up. “You okay?” He asked. “That call seemed to have shaken you up a bit and you didn’t even answer it.”

“Mmm hmm,” I said as I silently stepped into his arms and he rubbed my back soothingly.

“Want me to find this guy and kick his butt for you?”

I giggled. “No, it’s fine, really. I can deal with him.”

He ran his hands through my hair, “Alright, but if he starts getting really bad don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Alright,” I lied. Just then, I got the usual follow up call from Charlie. He would ask why I didn’t answer, I would give him my excuse, and he would be irritated. Typical. Been there, done that. “I’ll uh, be right back.”

I stepped out of our little embrace and into the bathroom. “Hello?” I hissed into the phone.

“Why didn’t you answer the first time?” He demanded. This man is nothing if not predictable.

“Wasn’t near my phone,” I lied. “What do you want?”

“I want you to get over here,” He said.

“I honestly can’t right now,” I said, thinking of Mike in the other room.

“It’s either you come over here or I go over there.”

I sighed. There was obviously no easy way out of this one. I could refuse, but then I would have to make Mike leave and then there was the issue that there are children in the house.

But on the other hand, now Mike thinks that I’m dealing with a stalker. Of course, he didn’t see the caller ID this time around, so I think I might be safe making up some excuse. “Fine,” I said. “I’ll be there in about 15 minutes.”

Hanging up the phone, I rushed out of the bathroom. Mike was sitting in one of the chairs looking at his phone. “Everything okay?” He asked.

“That was actually my mom… Something came up and I have to make a quick run to her house. I hate asking you, but would you mind watching the kids while I’m gone? I’ll pay you if you want.”

“That’s fine,” He said. “I hope everything’s okay, and really, you don’t need to pay me to watch my own kids.”

“Yeah, but only half of them are yours.”

“Details,” He muttered. “Really, it’s fine. Go ahead; I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Thank you so much,” I said, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. “Hopefully I won’t be gone for long.”

I was over at my mom’s house way faster than I had hoped and rang the doorbell nervously. With Charlie, I never knew what to expect. I could only hope that he wouldn’t do anything too bad tonight. Going home to Mike while I wasn’t in the best state of mind didn’t sound very appealing to me. He can probably already tell that I’m hiding something.

Charlie opened the door, grabbed my arm tightly, and pinned me against the door to his bedroom, reaching to open it as he looked me in the eyes. “Your mom and my dad decided to go to Hidden Springs over the weekend to look at possible wedding venues. I thought that maybe we could use the house,” He said, running his hands up and down my body.

“No,” I muttered, trying to break free of his grasp, fully understanding what he was intending to do with me in this empty house.

“And why not, sweet pea?” He whispered in my ear as he reached for the zipper on the back of my dress.

“You’re going to be my brother,” I said as I tried, but failed, to get him away from me.

“That doesn’t matter,” He said as he finally managed to get the zipper down. “It’s not like we’re blood related.”

Deciding to take a chance, I kneed him in the crotch; it was the only self defense method I really knew, so I really hoped it would work. “Still creepy,” I said in a rush as he instinctively hunched over in pain.

I gladly made a run for it as I zipped up my dress, only to get dragged back, this time into his room. Shit. It was obvious he was much stronger than I was, so why did I even try? He unzipped the dress once again, yanking it down when he was done.

He carelessly flung me onto the bed like a ragdoll. “I see you’re being difficult tonight,” He said as he stepped towards me, removing his pants and shirt. “You see, you’ll learn quickly that if you’d just cooperate, this whole thing would be a lot faster and less painful for you.”

Before going home, I decided to make a stop at the local Walgreen’s to pick up a few things; the morning after pill (After all, the new guy was coming tomorrow and some issues might arise if I was pregnant before he got there.), chocolate, and some liquid foundation.

Getting in the car, I of course devoured the chocolate first. It seemed like a suitable thing to do in this situation. Next up I took the pills as instructed and discovered that the liquid foundation did in fact help to cover up the bruises that were slowly forming on my arms.

Once I made sure I was all composed, it was time for the hardest part; staying composed and trying not to make it obvious what happened when I got home. While driving, I tried to think of happy things, like puppies and rainbows. It worked well; no tears were shed on that car ride.

When I got home, all of the kids were asleep and Mike was with Tariq on the couch, petting him absent mindedly. “Hey,” I said.

He got up, looking relieved. “Hey,” He said. “How did everything go?”

“Oh, everything’s good now. My mom was just having trouble with wedding stuff and needed me to help her out. She sounded a lot more panicked on the phone.”

He laughed, “I guess some women just get like that when they plan their weddings. Probably just nervous.”

“Definitely,” I nodded. “How did things go over here?”

“Pretty well, we had hot dogs for dinner, the kids did their homework, and now everybody is asleep.”

I smiled. “Thank you so much. I’m sorry that I had to go so unexpectedly.”

“Psh, it’s fine,” He said, walking over to me and kissing my forehead. “I have no problem with watching the kids whenever you need me to.

“I appreciate it,” I said, getting up on my tip toes to give him a small peck on the lips. Deciding that wasn’t enough, he chuckled and leaned down to give me a deeper kiss, which I gladly accepted. Despite just being raped by my future step brother, Mike somehow made me still feel comfortable. His presence in general made things better, but this was just icing on the cake.

All too soon, he pulled away and looked down at me. “I should go,” He said.

“No,” I said, surprising both of us. “I mean, stay here for the night, it’s late and there are probably a lot of drunks on the road or something…”

He shrugged, “Okay, but uh… I don’t have any pajamas or anything so…”

“You’re a male; it’s acceptable for you to sleep in your underwear, and you could always sleep in your tee shirt.”

He raised an eyebrow while trying to think of something to say that would throw me off. “What if I told you I wasn’t wearing underwear right now?”

I laughed and playfully smacked him. “That would be extremely creepy.”

“Relax, I was just kidding. But if I wasn’t, what would you do?”

“Simple, I’d make you sleep in your jeans.”

“Damn… Not sleep in the nude with me? I thought we were tight.”

“Nah, I just keep you around for the perks. You know, like paying for cats and babysitting my children for free,” I joked.

“Well I could think of another perk,” He said wagging his eyebrows.

“Not tonight, buddy.”

Mike and I made sure he was out of the house before the next guy got here at around 9:00. His name was Brian Lange and I have to admit, he did fascinate me. When he first introduced himself to me he seemed mysterious, like there was a lot hiding underneath the surface that I had yet to discover.

I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

He was neutral when it came to kids. I don’t think he’s really a kid person, but he tolerates them at least, which I guess I could work with if he really woos me later on. At least he was willing to try and bond with them and teach them new skills.

The day ends up being pretty uneventful and as I headed out the barn to make sure Mocha’s stall was cleaned out for the night I saw Brian leaning against the wall by the front door. Or maybe I should say that I smelled him first. “Are you smoking?” I asked in shock.

He glanced down nonchalantly at the cigarette resting in his lips. He looked at me as he flicked ashes onto the ground. “It appears so.”

“Well…” I said, sounding as flustered as I felt. “Stop.”

He laughed, “Why? None of the kids are up, so it’s not like I’m setting a bad example.”

“B-b-because,” I stuttered. “It’s bad for you.”

He rolled his eyes at me as he took another puff. “You need to loosen up,” He muttered. “I have seriously never seen anybody as tense and frigid as you.”

I glared at him, “Sorry, I have a few issues I’m dealing with right now,” I said without thinking.

He chuckled, “I used to be just like you, letting all of the issues stress me out. Smoking, it calms you, you know.”

He held out the cigarette, daring me to take it. “No,” I said. “Absolutely not.”

A look of understanding flashed across his face. “You’re a pot person, aren’t you? You just don’t have time to get any right now, so you’re more stressed than usual.”

“Absolutely not—!” I screamed at him.

“You sure? I know a guy; he sells me some great stuff. That shit makes you hungry though, so make sure you have plenty of food around first.”

I rubbed my temples in annoyance. “I don’t want any of your pot or cigarettes,” I muttered.

“Booze? I could run and get some real quick if you want.”

I had never been a huge drinker, but why the hell not? One night of drinking wouldn’t hurt you too much. “Get something strong,” I muttered in irritation.

With a satisfied grin, Brian hopped in the car and drove off. I took that as my opportunity to go clean out Mocha’s stall and make sure she was settled for the night.

Brian was back ten minutes later, setting a bottle of vodka on the table along with various sodas and juices. “Crap…” I muttered, staring at the bottle in terror. “I don’t think we needed that much.”

“Eh,” He muttered. “Anything we don’t drink tonight we can drink later if you want. What do you want to mix with it?”

“I don’t know,” I muttered. I didn’t realize drinking actually required decision making nowadays. “Just give me whatever you’re having.”

“You seem like a citrus kind of girl. I’ll start you off easy with orange juice, okay?”

“Knock yourself out,” I sighed, leaning back in my chair and waiting for him to mix the drink.

He set his concoction in front of me and I stared at it warily. “Don’t worry, I didn’t slip any Roofies in there, if I wanted you in bed I would certainly make it known.”

“Nice to know,” I muttered irritably, shooting him a death glare, and taking the drink and downing it in about thirty seconds. “That was like, all orange juice. What the hell?”

“Yikes,” He said taken aback. “Apparently joking about rape and giving you booze makes you feisty. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Yeah well, rape is a sensitive subject for me.”

“Damn,” He muttered to himself. “I’m stupid, I’m sorry… I didn’t realize.”

“It’s fine,” I muttered as I got up from my chair. “I’m going to go to bed. See you in the morning.”

“Okay…”

To be honest, I don’t know what made me angry. Maybe it was the fact that Charlie is already stressing me out then adding to that, who wouldn’t be flustered if their house guest was trying to get them to do things they don’t want to do? Okay, I was willing to drink, but the smoking was uncalled for.

Maybe I just need to sleep it off. After all, sleeping does make everything better.

After hopelessly tossing and turning for most of the night, I gave up at about 5:30 in the morning and crawled miserably out of bed. The issues over the past couple of weeks with Charlie have left me irritable and I think my brain has been thoroughly fried from thinking about them too much.

Perhaps Brian is right; maybe I do need to loosen up a little bit. The thing is, I don’t want to damage my body or my future children by “loosening up,” so what do I do? Become an adrenaline junkie? No, definitely not that. No bungee jumping or zip lining for me, thank you very much. I’d much rather stay in my protected little bubble.

I decided to try martial arts, and it actually ended up working. Not only does it take my mind of things, but I get to hit stuff while doing it. To be completely honest, I imagine that whatever I’m hitting is Charlie; it helps tremendously. 

It took a couple of days, but my mood did improve and soon enough, Brian felt like he could come up and talk to me without me snapping at him. “I’m sorry,” He instantly said. “I need to watch what I say more.”

“It’s fine, really,” I assured him. “There’s just a lot of other… stuff going on right now and when I get stressed sometimes I get flustered very easily.”

He smiled. “It happens to the best of us. Care to talk about it?”

I bit my lip hesitantly, “Let’s just say that my future step brother isn’t the nicest person and leave it at that.” 

He nodded, “Family issues; I totally get it.”

I sighed, may as well bring it up now. “So speaking of family…”

“Uh oh,” He said, a faint smile playing around his lips. “I have a feeling I know where this is going.”

“Possibly,” I said. “You know we uh have to… Have a kid together for this, right?”

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I know.”

I waited for him to say more, but apparently he was waiting for me to bring it up. “We should probably get to that then. You know, just to get it out of the way.”

“Yeah right,” He laughed. “You just want to see my junk.”

“Nuh uh! I do not…” He raised an eyebrow at me, as if daring me to say more. “I just want to… No… I don’t know how to argue against that without sounding more awkward.”

He chuckled, “I was just kidding, you know.”

I crossed my arms as the blood rushed to my cheeks. “You’re a cruel man.”

“Trust me dear, I’ve said much worse.”

“Like what?” I challenged.

“You really don’t want to know.”

“Fine. So are you going to sleep with me or not?” I asked, deciding to be blunt.

He shrugged. “Hey, if you’re offering I’m not going to refuse.”

Gideon and Esta aged up into teenagers that night. These two love everything about music. Every day after they do their homework you can find them practicing one of the instruments. Esta typically prefers the piano, whereas Gideon likes the bass more. 

 Tariq is probably the most playful cat I have ever seen. This guy is like a big fluff ball of energy, which is great... Unless you're trying to get some sleep. Then he meows until you get your lazy, sleepy butt out of bed and play with him.

 To help him release some of his pent up energy, I invested in this cat jungle gym. Hopefully he enjoys it at least a little bit. This thing wasn't exactly cheap.

 The little guy ends up loving it and while he plays, I actually get to take a nap in the lawn chair.

That is, until Tariq comes up to me in a tizzy, meowing because he has fleas all over his body. So I gave him a flea bath and he seemed satisfied.

 This cat... I swear, he's either really protective, or plotting to kill me. As I was writing a book for some extra money he hid under the bed and just watched me. I'm just going to hope he was being a protective kitty.

Of course if he was, he didn't necessarily protect me from the numerous Skype calls that Charlie tried, but failed to make. How he got my Skype name? I'll never know, but I do know that I'm not signing on for quite a while.

The pregnancy ended up going by much faster than I thought and I gave birth to baby 32, Rory Johanson (Thank you Skye Everard!)

Thanks for reading everybody! I hope that you enjoyed this post. I actually tried something different this time and wrote the stuff before the pregnancy before getting the pictures and I really liked it. Sorry for the HUGE block of text when they were getting Tariq the wonder cat though. There wasn't really much I could do picture wise at that point. :(

Name suggestions and challenge father suggestions are ALWAYS welcome, so feel free to comment if you have any.

Also, I'm actually going to be starting a legacy soon! I will of course continue with Laura's challenge, but I thought it would be a fun thing to do over the summer. If you guys would like to read it I will be posting a link on this blog either tomorrow or Thursday.

Have a lovely day/afternoon/evening/night! (Heck, I dunno when you're reading this!)