“Wow,” I said to Hetal when we had a chance to talk to each other with all the feedings and diaper changes. “This is a lot of work!”

But I made sure that Hetal knew that I didn’t expect her to quit her job or anything.

With her mom around to do free child care, there wasn’t any reason for either of us to stop working.

Hetal really did step up to the plate, though.

I guess actually being pregnant and giving birth was what she needed to really accept being a mother.

And not a moment too soon, because we sure had a lot of kids all of a sudden

Jin was still really into her job as nanny. In fact, sometimes I think she resented it when Hetal and I tried to care for our own kids.

She also almost single-handedly keep the house clean. She certainly earned her keep.

Three kids was a lot, and they pretty much never let her sleep. I’m sure glad Hetal and I weren’t the ones with three screaming kids in our room.

Hetal seemed to appreciate having Jin around the most.

Though sometimes she’d get this strange look on her face, and i could only imagine what she was thinking.

The holidays were coming! We made some time to decorate the house. I just love sparkling lights.

Zoe Durwood stopped by to talk about the snow. She’s really more Jin’s kind of person.

Dinah was looking pretty smug these days. She must have been eating a lot too because she was gaining weight so fast!

Jin was really starting to crack. One day, she got a call from Jules MacDuff, asking her out on a date.

I can’t remember when she last had a day off, so we hired a babysitter, and off she went.

The babysitter was kind of a moron.

I don’t know what she was doing while Hetal and I were at work, but we came home to a bunch of screaming hungry kids with putrid diapers.

I’m going to report her to the babysitting service.

Jules invited Jin out to the graveyard for a hot date.

Then he stood her up!

That guy is such a jerk. I can’t see what either of the Anjali women ever saw in him.

I got to put out another fire!

It was a nice toasty one for such a cold day.

Hetal got promoted at work!

She finally got a work uniform and stopped having to go to the courthouse in her graduation robes.

Jin spent the night in the graveyard. Apparently she was too embarrassed to come home and tell us Jules stood her up.

When Jin finally came home, Dinah started yowling outside! We all ran out to see what was the matter.

And we saw a little head peeking out of the snow!

Dinah headed inside and left her bundle of joy for us to deal with.

I dug him out of the snow. What an amazing little guy!

Meet Peanut Wonderland. Isn’t he the cutest little kitty you ever saw? Well, except for his parents of course.

I don’t know if it was Jules being such a douche or all that nonstop child care, but Jin was starting to act a bit wrong in the head.

We moved her bed to the garage.

Finally she could get some sleep

I certainly hope that helps.

———-

So much for Jin’s much-needed day off. At least she got rid of her Stir Crazy moodlet.

Jin spent most of the day napping on park benches and returned home about as exhausted as she was when she left. Now, I supposed concrete park benches in the snow are not terribly good places to get rest, but I am displeased by how little rest you get from naps to begin with. I may mod this.

The babysitter did glitch or something, and she just stood there for three hours while all the kids screamed in their cribs. I sent Allison home from work early to get rescue them. ARGH.

And I couldn’t be happier with Peanut! What a great combination of his parents. I can’t wait to see him grow up.

Winter settled into the Wonderland house.

I was getting promotions at work and getting to spend more time with really big fires!

Hetal was still a Podium Polisher, but she was really good at it.

Jin was the best live-in nanny you could imagine. She worked really hard to be sure that Branden had everything he needed while his mommies were away.

She just couldn’t get enough of him. Maybe part of it was that there was such a close family resemblance.

Just between you and me, I’m not sure that part was such a great thing. No offense to Jin or anything, but her face could turn you to stone.

Great big noses aside, Branden was just amazing. I never tired of watching him explore and learn.

And he had that special way with his toys. I think he gets it from Hetal’s side of the family.

Dinah and Cheshire were so adorable. I’m blessed every day by having my kitties in my life.

I’m a pretty good momma if I do say so myself! After a busy day of work, I always made time to spend with my little boy.

Jin made sure that Hetal and I got a bit of precious time to spend together, even if it was just a bit of conversation at the dinner table.

I got my first solo call to a really big fire! The kitchen at the Mome Rath Cafe caught fire.

Don’t worry, weird Chinese guy, I’m here to save you!

At the end of the day, I was victorious. Like the cowboys of old, I rode off on my WooWoo 10000 into the setting sun.

And I got a promotion!

All that woowooing can be hard on your ears, though.

Then the big surprise came! Hetal was pregnant!

She’s still having trouble with her responsibilities toward Branden. I hope she comes to her senses soon.

She sure is sexy when she’s expecting, though.

With a new baby on the way and me spending long hours at work, Jin really picked up the slack for us.

Hetal still worked hard to keep us all fed.

But with all those hormones raging, she was kind of off her game.

There days when she was so sick from the pregnancy that I almost had to carry her to the kitchen to make me breakfast.

When she couldn’t do it, I tried to help out.

Then at last the moment came!

The baby was on its way!

I have to say that I did a bit better at being the support parent than Hetal did when she was in my shoes. I stayed with her and hailed a cab for us to go to the hospital together.

No wonder Hetal’s pregnancy was rough! We walked out of the hospital with not one, but two bundles of joy. Two!

Introducing Christof in the blue and Caitlin in the green.

Now life is going to get VERY interesting.

———-

BOTH OF THEM HAVE ALLISON’S SKIN! ARRRGH!

I did not do anything to stimulate twins on purpose. They don’t even have a radio or a television. I figured tracking two toddlers at the same time would be eye-crossing. But it happened anyway, so I’ll take the points!

Christof is a non-witch who is Friendly and Athletic. Caitlin is a witch who is Good and Insane. I’m going to try to focus on getting Christof trained so that he can get Insane. There’s no way they’ll both get all their skills.

And yes, that does mean that both of the witches are Good. I swear I didn’t choose that.