Giving birth to Roger's children was as easy as, well, taking candy from a baby. Jessi was blessed with triplets this time, all of whom advanced into respectable young toddlers smoothly. Finally, Jessi could take the rest she so well deserved - and needed.
Venus was a regular Sleeping Beauty, taking siestas wherever she could get them and earning her nickname "Aurora". Jessi had no doubt that these extended beauty sleeps would turn her little girl into a gorgeous young woman some day. Never once did the child keep her mother up at night with crying, and Jessi couldn't be more grateful.
Kieran was rather quiet as well, but observant. From an early age on he could detect cycles in feeding times and potty breaks, and would bang his fists on any available surface when it came time for a bottle or toilet session. If this sixth sense persisted through his adulthood, perhaps he could become a great doctor or scientist, Jessi hoped.
Where her siblings were silent, Juno made up for them tenfold in laughter. She always had an amused look on her face, and found everything funny. Much to her older half-siblings' chagrin, she found psychical pain to be the most humorous. A competition between Neptune and Marine to see who could amuse the baby the most led to countless injuries inflicted on the innocent and one embarrassing hospital trip that Carlos was forced to partake in. From that day on, the knife drawer was kept tightly locked.
All three children proved to be particularly bright, and teaching them the necessary toddler skills was a breeze.
Walking, babbling, tolieting, you name it, the kids had it down. The next round of birthdays was about to hit the Delilah household.
Juno had developed into quite the tomboy, though Jessi was seriously concerned as to how the "Unstable" and "Daredevil" traits would coincide. As Jessi would unfortunately learn, it led to many surprise taste test contests and a few stifling phone calls from the school home that always ended in the principal trying to hit on her. Unsurprisingly, Juno had developed a Good Sense of Humor. She'd make a great stand up comic.
Venus was overjoyed to be aging up, so much so that she completely forgot to be irritable about being woken up from her nap.
She might have been beautiful, but she wasn't exactly photogenic. Guess the modeling career was out. What a shame - her newly acquired Diva trait would have certainly helped in that career path. Instead, it only led to unnecessary household drama that often found its root in a casual rumor Venus swore she had never started. She still napped excessively, as her teachers would experience firsthand.
Most excited for the change of all was Kieran. He was uncharacteristically loud, hollering as soon as the very first sparkle surrounded him.
Of course, the evolution from toddler to child did leave the young boy a bit cross eyed and dizzy. But he didn't let nausea get the best of him - developing Discipline was already helping him. He continued being insanely observant, often telling household members about habits of theirs that they had never noticed. He also used his new traits to pick up some karate skills at the local dojo after school, turning into a strange psychic-judo hybrid.
Despite their wildly different personalities, the three siblings got along just fine, though Venus did occasionally roll her eyes at Juno's dominating behavior.
"Why must we always play by your rules?"
Fortunately, Kieran was there to mediate.
It was also time for Neptune and Marine to mature. Well, mostly.
The two really hadn't changed much from their childhood days, still discussing plans for future pranks well into their adulthood. They planned to skip college and go straight into the business world, opening up a prank shop in a new town. Jessi had sworn that she had heard this story before somewhere. The twins wanted to make enough money to own a nice boat on which they could fish on their off days to their heart's content.
Alton celebrated alone, but that's just how he liked it. Even he couldn't help but smile at his aging up.
He had aged up into career appropriate clothing. Alton planned on building robots and becoming a regular grease monkey, a stark contrast to his withdrawn, neat childhood self. He felt a wave of confidence roll through him, and before he left for college in a new town, he approached Atticus and Montague. As usual, Montague was harassing his stone-faced brother.
"Here, take this," Alton coughed, his voice dry. It had been so long since he had spoken a full sentence.
"This was my favorite book when I was your age. It's a bit dry in some parts, but I'm sure you'll find Simmon's algorithms to your amusement."
"Wow, gee!" Atticus clapped, excited to get his hands on the book. "Thanks, big brother!"
"And as for you, Montague..."
What transpassed in that little room Alton dragged Montague to was never to be spoken of again in the Delilah household. The two exited the room after what felt like an hour of silence to the outside world, and Montague never attacked Atticus again. He was maybe even a little nicer to him.
Atticus didn't really notice any changes, too invested in his new book. His brother had scribbled notes in the margins, some of which Atticus swore were directed at him. He vowed to one day work his way up to the lab his brother was employed at and work side by side with his half sibling.
He was so invested in his reading that he barely wanted to age up. But he was at least excited to be one step closer to meeting his brother in the laboratory.
Happy birthday, Atticus!
As for Montague, he aged up into a respectable young man, already donned in suit like a regular James Bond villain. He suddenly became very interested in personal hygiene and petting cats.
As her kids learned the building blocks of cooperation, Jessi was learning in the ins and outs of her latest suitor. She had called upon a man named Johnny Bedrock, thinking that the name sounded wildly exotic. When he showed up to her house, however, she was greeted with a barechested brute. Oh, great. He was one of those guys.
"So, uh, what do you do for a living?" she asked cautiously. She was trying to steer the conversation in direction of interior of her home. Preferably her bedroom ASAP, so he could leave sooner. She figured that there wasn't very much she could stand learning about her babies' father.
"I lift things up and put them down." he announced proudly.
"Riiiight. So, uh, wanna go upstairs now?" She was becoming more comfortable in directly asking that question. Fortunately, he was more than willing to oblige, and followed her into the house like a trained puppy.
And she got to work. At least Johnny Bedrock lived up to his last name.
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