Aging Up Special, Chapter 2.5: Everyone's Aging, Something's Changing

When Mars aged up, Jessi felt as if something was slightly off. His irises had an odd habit of never quite lining up, and his attention span was shorter than Lotus' hair - abnormal even for a toddler of his age. To her best efforts, Jessi tried to teach the little boy how to speak, but he always seemed more interested in his shoes than her constant repetition of "caaaaat, raaaat". Sometimes, he'd stare at her as if he had finally understood, and Jessi half expected for him to get on his legs and say "Well, that was lovely, mother, but can you feed me now?" - but then he would just gurgle and stick his fist in his mouth, leaving Jessi at square one once more.

She knew that it wasn't right to be this frustrated with her gurgling son: after all, he was just a toddler. But she felt as if this process had sped along must faster with her previous three, and wondered if she was doing something wrong. But eventually, Mars got the hang of things, resulting in his growth from toddler to child.

Meanwhile, the triplets faced obstacles of their own.

Petal was facing serious stress at school, where she overexerted herself tremendously to reach the top of her class. Soon, her siblings found her sleeping in the oddest of places, usually the carpet of the living room floor, too burnt out from her workload to drag herself to a proper bed.

She was a regular Sleeping Beauty.

And things could only get worse for her health, as the triplet's teenage years loomed around the corner, meaning high school was now coming into the picture for the three triplets. Before they could age up, however, Jessi insisted on some individual photographs. "You'll thank me when I'm older," she insisted as she forced them into position.

Axel was first on his mother's insistence, always a Momma's boy. He forced a smile, then lumbered back to his easel.

Lotus gave her best, passive smile into the lens. "I wish you'd grow your hair out again, like when you were a toddler." Jessi sighed.

"Leave me alone, mum. I like it this way."

Jessi supposed it was miracle enough she had gotten her to pose for a photo to begin with, and took what she could get.

Last was Petal.

"Babe, are those bags under your eyes?" she asked, worried.

"What? Oh, no. Don't worry." Petal lied, yawning.

Later that night, their transformations started. Jessi could have sworn that the air grew heavier with the addition of raging teen hormones, but she guessed that she couldn't complain: aging meant new sources of income, and as much as she hated relying on her children for money, it was a necessary part of their lifestyle.

Being the oldest, Axel reached teenagehood first.

He was very excited for this event, too much of a Daredevil to be nervous about the turmoil of his teenage years. Though it was doubtful he'd even realize that he was in turmoil once it caught up to him - he was a great artist, sure, but he wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Jessi sometimes worried for his safety, as any good mother is wont to do.

Axel's baby fat carried over from childhood, and his face still retained its childish innocence. While he wouldn't be getting on the honor role soon, he was constantly bringing home artistic and music based awards: age had made him quite the Virtouso, as it proved.

Lotus had made the decision to grow her hair longer, partly to appease her mother and partly to try out something new - it was only by her mother's pleading that she didn't dye it an outrageous color, like orange. Though she still kept the coloring in a secret package, hidden in the bathroom's uppermost cabinet. She at least kept it in a boy-like cut, staying true to her tomboy personality and in an attempt to break out of her shell a little more. People seemed to be drawn to her spunky, yet to-the-point personality, and as she discovered this little by little, it made her want to explore her world more. Large groups still made her uncomfortable, but she soon made friends willing to work around this barrier.

As for Petal, her hair began to reflect her personality: somewhat hidden from the rest of the world. If possible, age had made her even more withdrawn from the family, spending her days either in the backyard or the local library, rarely returning to the inside of the Deliah household until after midnight. Her eyes grew tired and sunken, and her childhood interests largely remained the same.

 

Her tradition of lurking in strange places continued.

All in all, Jessica was pleased with the growth of her children, albeit a bit worried that the day they would have to leave her nest was approaching too close for comfort. But on the bright side, she still had Mars - whom she quickly discovered had picked up the Insane trait, possibly attributing to his eccentric behavior - and an uncountable amount of suitors at her beck and call, so the excitement of her life was far from over.

Just how excited things would get in the Deliah family, however, was unpredictable by even Jessica herself.

Chapter 2: Skills and Strawberry Seeds

(Click on the images to see them larger; a lot of them have been cut short)

Recently, Petal had taken a keen interest in the world around her. She might have been growing, but the world around her had just been getting larger as she read and absorbed more and more of her environment. It was only a matter of time until she noticed the telescope in the backyard, solitary and beckoning to her cause.

While her brothers and sisters played tag in the distance, Petal spent many a day and night staring through her telescope, content to be watching the stars above. She often kept a notebook at her hip, for recording the position of various stars and comets. As much as she enjoyed her new hobby, however, it also made her feel even more removed from her siblings. Axel, who had used to look up to her so dearly, was growing away from Petal and closer to Lotus, and the diversion of their interests only deepened the split between the two.

It had started to take a negative effect on her. Petal would often stand alone in the bathroom, sometimes staring out the window while contemplating several mysteries, things that made her head hurt and wanted to make her scream for reasons even she did not entirely understand. What had happened between her and her brother? Did Axel and Lotus secretly laugh at her behind closed doors? Sometimes, she'd anxiously check on the state of her telescope, half expecting to find her siblings smashing it to the ground just to see the look of hurt on her face. She was prone to constant headaches, and concentration in school became even more difficult. And another ever prevalent question: who was her father? All the other children had them. Why not her? Nothing was fair, and everything hurt. Yes, Petal was developing into quite the Neurotic.

As for Jessi, her preparation for a new baby was underway. Strawberry Lemonade was long gone, even before she had woken up the day after their procreation. She supposed he was too embarrassed to even say goodbye - after, he didn't seem like the type to just walk out on a girl after using her up, or was he? Only having a few hours to get to know the father of your future children was difficult sometimes. Jessi wondered how her mother managed to go through with this tradition so smoothly.

First, Jessi examined the playroom. Against her better judgment and goaded on with the little extra weight in her pocket due to a few successful book releases, she splurged on a little play stove. It would be great to raise a Natural Cook. Or was Strawberry already one? So many questions that she'd never know the answer to.

She then decided to examine the play tables individually. Axel had organized his table neatly, which shocked Jessi, as she recalled Hubert Galatica, her son's father - more specifically, how he had rooted through her fridge without her permission, left the dishes on the counter for her to clean, and then asked rather rudely why she wasn't in bed with him yet. "Hopefully," Jessi sighed to herself, "he won't be inheriting his father's slob trait." After all, there was enough to do without constantly cleaning after her rowdy little boy!

Axel, meanwhile, had began to paint, the easel oddly empty as Lotus refined her Athletic trait to the tune of Kid radio. It was here that he discovered his Artistic trait coming to fruition. The brush had felt just so natural in his hand, almost as if it was specially made for his fist.

And Lotus, valuing her privacy, which was obtained only every so often with two siblings and a nosy mother, was exercising passionately in a half-room.

Jessi often enjoyed watching her children's furious work from afar. "They grow up so fast." she found herself saying. And then regretting, because oh my god, she couldn't have said the most cliched parent line of all time. Her creativity was dying before her eyes! Panic!

Fortunately enough, she didn't have to feel so sentimental, because soon, she could do it all over again. On Monday night, the pains once again started. The babies were coming.

The first contraction had arrived as she made her way to the kitchen, in search of another round of french toast topped with peppers and sauerkraut. At first, she thought that it was a rather cruel baby kick to her spleen. It had only been two days. But as her knees sunk to the linoleum floor, she knew that it had to more, and the rupture of her water only convinced her further. Strawberry's child was rather intent on coming into the world with a bang: sure, child birth was usually painful with no anesthetics or doctor assistance, but this child was practically dragging out Jessi's intestines along with her.

Worried, she turned to the side. All three children weren't home: Axel was most likely off traversing the art museum, Lotus was cleaning off the school's bug cage after school (as punishment for snipping off a girl's hair with a pair of safety scissors during craft time, naughty thing), and Petal, bless her heart, was visiting the home of a school acquaintance - who she largely ignored to do her homework. Well, wouldn't this be a surprise to come home to? Jessi rather liked the idea of giving birth in a quiet home: no anxious children to stress her out.

Well, of course, that was a calming idea until Axel walked in, home from his trip. She tried to play it off cool, casually wiping away her broken water with a dishtowel Lotus had left on the floor. Maybe it was her Jessi had to worry about developing the slob trait.

Of course, what with a baby or two dripping from her loins, she couldn't exactly keep the facade on for long.

His jaw dropping, Axel immediately panicked. "Oh, God, mom! What do I do? I'm too young to be an older brother!"

Jessi didn't know whether to admire or detest that at a time like this, the only thing Axel was considering was his own wellbeing. Or be worried that her none-too-bright son wasn't exactly making sense. But eventually, she managed to get him to stop crying long enough to walk her to the nursery/guest room, where she gave birth to a healthy baby boy. She named him Mars; it was the most punk rock name she could think of giving him without embarrassing the poor kid for the rest of his life, in memory of his father.

His eyes were a little on the huge side, a trait definitely directly from his father, but at least he hadn't inherited that sickly yellow skin. Only time would tell just how much like his father little Mars was.

Chapter One: Strawberry Lemonade

The frantic knocking of the front door indicated that Jessi's guest had arrived. Already, she could tell that the man was nervous, simply by the uncertain pattern that the knocks had followed. She had heard from her own mother that the men summoned by the Deliahs often were, and supposed that it was a sign that things were unfolding as they should. Drifting into the doorframe, she approached him with a smile. He excreted apprehension.

"Strawberry Lemonade, I'm guessing?"

"Uh, yeah. Hi. Really nice to meet you." He reached out to shake her hand, surprisingly enough a real gentleman.

Jessi twirled her hair softly, examining the strange looking fellow while trying to keep a look of judgment off of her face. Sure, his sense of style was a little strange, and those lip piercings would make giving him signature kisses extraordinarily difficult, but it was easy to tell that beneath his rough, punk interior was a heart of gold. Even if she was positive that those eyelashes weren't his own.

"I like your jacket," she smiled, searching to end the awkward pause that had ensued, "It's very...original."

He flinched as if she had slapped him. "Oh, jeez, I wasn't even thinking!", he apologized. "Should I have dressed up or redone my hair or..."

She shook her head, cutting him off. "No, no. I like seeing who people really are before I...well, you know. I feel like it makes me expect what to look for in my children." She wanted to move things along quickly; all of a sudden, she was feeling rather annoyed. She had no reason to, she knew - Strawberry seemed to be a very kindly man. But the emotion persisted, and she attempted to at least seem polite. "Anyway, shall we go to my guest room? I'd like to get to know your personality a little more."

Strawberry looked at her confusedly. "You mean we're not going to...?"

"Hey, don't I have a right to know about you before we get to the baby making part? It'll make things less awkward." Typical men, always expecting that she was only interested in Woohooing. Well, then again, it was her job. Kind of.

"Right, right." His hands slunk into his pockets, as if he was trying to retreat.

"Follow me."

Meanwhile, the three children of the Deliah household were delightfully unaware of the siblings in their future. Though unaware of it, they were the first of many children to come, their father an obese gas station attendant who proved to be good practice for their mother's flirtation skills.

Lotus Deliah carefully brought her brush across the surface of the canvas her mother had ordered online for her, blissfully unaware that such an expensive gift would be uncommon in the household for quite some time. Recent money issues had forced Jessi to throw herself into novel creation, whose royalties only came once a week. Lotus was deadset on winning her school's art contest, sure that her refreshing, thrilling depiction of her household was sure to win the judges' hearts.

Axel "Pudge" Deliah was busy neglecting his homework for the blocks table. But even sweeping down carefully stacked blocks with the back of his hand over and over again became old hat after a while, and as it got progressively darker he joined his sister Petal on the couch, book in hand.

"Hey, Petal, what's this word say?" Axel asked, motioning to the beginning of a paragraph.

"Giovanni. Gee-oh-von-knee. It's a name." Petal, who was practically born with a book in her hand, far outpaced the two when it came to her ability to read.

"Oh, okay. And what's this one?"

Petal placed her copy of Logic and Bishops to the side, and scooted closer to her brother. "And."

"And this one."

"What, the one next to 'his'? Brothers."

"And the next one."

"Bonded."

"Okay, okay, and this one?"

"Why don't I just read this to you, okay?"

In the meantime, things had steadily progressed between Strawberry and Jessi, who were doing a little "bonding" of their own.

"Are you ready?" she teased, draping a finger across Strawberry's shoulder and giving him a smoldering stare. Strawberry's face merely turned into the exact shade of the fruit in response to the question. God, she felt a ridiculous prick. This entire flirting business was something she would never be able to get down. Anyway, her donor had changed into something a little more comfortable, and she intended to get him out of it as quickly as possible.

"I'll take your silence as a yes. Let's begin, okay? Nice and slow."

A few hours later, Jessi excused herself for the bathroom, making it just  in time. She was an absolute mess, her lips pursed in an unladylike shape and her eyes dark. It was beginning.

~*~*~

NOTE) Since it was pretty difficult to get a good look at Strawberry's face (stupid punk hair), here's a facial shot.

Prologue: The Beginning

~* Backstory *~ 

Jessi Deliah's entire situation had begun with the supposed looting of the small farming village by a greedy pirate, whose real name was long lost to lore, one thousand years prior. This was the reason she could not leave her house. This was the reason men of all colors and sorts found their way to her doorstep, and why the beds upstairs were constantly in use, why the pitter patter of tiny feet was ever present, it all came down to that pirate and her ancestor: the stupid lore, the even stupider traditions that accompanied it. But if she was to put the blame on someone entirely, it would have to fall upon that nosy goddess, for continuing her bloodline to begin with.

She knew, of course, that the legend was most likely a fabrication of the times to offer explanation for those affected with the fertility curse. Even today, doctors were unable to explain how her children were able to develop with merely three days in the womb, no less why she was constantly prone to healthy twins and triplets. But she couldn't shake the feeling that there were parts of the tale that really were true, that maybe the town really was ransacked by an evil pirate who captured all of the women living in the town. Maybe Jessi’s ancestor really was an avid worshiper of the town’s patron mother goddess, who visited her aboard the ship in all of her celestial glory and bestowed upon her the gift of fertility. And after some “nightly visits” with the previously mentioned pirate, said ancestor could have successfully birthed ten female children, all of whom she trained to rise against the captain on their sixteenth birthdays and turned the ship back home. Truth be told, she just wanted to believe that at some point, the Deliah women were schemers, adventurers: not just a hook for tourists.

In some ways, the idea of having a child with every man in the village was nice. Everyone in the community was connected in some way, like an extended family. Even better for them was the fact that Jessi took care of the children in her own home until they were eighteen, and then they could live out their lives, with their father or not. And she truly did love her children, every one of them. But the thought of living out her days as a slave to the town’s income, her home attracting curious tourists, rubbed Jessi the wrong way. She supposed she couldn't blame her visitors. The idea that someone, somewhere in this great vast word could produce healthy children in merely three days, all while never leaving their property (another part of the tradition: it is said that the original cursed woman upon returning home was in such despair to discover that her husband had died in her leave that she never left her home again), paired with the fact that the entire village was in on the entire scheme was something to be gawked at. And anyway, was there really anything holding her back from leaving? She supposed not, but the feeling of guilt at abandoning her bloodline held her back. After all, this is what she had been raised to do, right? And it made everyone in the town so happy, and the economy rich. Someone had to do it.

But now was not the time to be dwelling on regrets. Now was the time to make more children. First, she showered and changed out of her dirty clothing. If who Jessi was calling was to come upon his summoning, she was sure he'd appreciate the effort. Grabbing her glasses and stepping outside for a better signal, she pulled out her phone, containing the numbers of every man she had not procreated with yet. She closed her eyes and scrolled back and forth at random, finally stopping to rest her finger on a single name.

"Strawberry Lemonade, huh?" She called the number, waiting for the ringing to stop.

"Hello?" an apathetic voice answered.

"Hey, is this Strawberry Lemonade? It’s time." Obviously, she couldn't tell over the phone, but she could have sworn she felt him smile. This was the call he had been waiting for. This was the call that all young men waited for.