Generation 1: Chapter 12

 

Marrick had been wondering where the time had gone. In less than ten years, he got married and had three children with his fourth along the way; he couldn’t believe it. It could be any day now that the whole family would welcome the fourth child and Marrick was actually really excited. Julia Marie was their third child born, a beautiful baby girl with eyes and hair as brown as Marrick’s and he loved how she looked so much like him. Hitomi was in elementary school, going into the 1st grade, Anya was soon going to preschool and Julia was still too young for schooling. After Julia was born, the moment Sadie was able to get pregnant again, she did, even despite their agreement on keeping the kids apart in age by two years. Julia was only a little over one year old and Sadie was about to pop any minute with their fourth baby; Julia and the new baby would most likely get along great since they’re so close in age.

It had taken some time for Hitomi to get used to Anya, but she eventually warmed up to her. Julia, however, was a different story. When she was first born, Hitomi couldn’t stand her. She hated how much Marrick showed his love for her and she hated how he paid most of his recent attention to her just because she was the youngest and she was a spitting image of him. Hitomi was the only child so far that looked up to their father as an idol and she wanted nothing more than to please him and make him proud of her; but with her two little sisters taking his attention, not to mention a fourth on the way any minute, she was starting to feel more lonely the less attention she received. But, Hitomi was slowly getting used to it.. Being a genius meant that she often saw the logical side to things, and although she hated it, she understood why her parents spent so much time with the littler ones..

Hitomi entered the kitchen and noticed Marrick by the sink finishing up washing the bowl and spoon he used for his morning cereal. 

“Hey, Dad,” Hitomi said with a calm tone, Marrick looking over his shoulder and smiling at his eldest daughter.

“Morning, beautiful,” he replied and she smiled warmly, “Want breakfast? I’ll get you cereal,” he insisted and Hitomi took a seat at the table, soon Marrick brought her her breakfast and she began eating it as Marrick continued to finished up washing the dishes.

“Ready for your first day of 1st grade?” Marrick asked, joining Hitomi at the table and wanting to talk to her before school, it had been a while since he could remember when Hitomi and him talked or did anything together. This made Marrick feel guilty and he wanted to do something special for Hitomi, but when would he have the time with two other little girls and yet another addition to their family coming soon? It made him want to make her take school off, but he couldn’t do that for her first day..

“Yeah, I guess. I feel like I should be going into 3rd,” she replied and Marrick smiled, watching her lazily eat her cereal.

“I agree, you’re too smart for this grade, but maybe if you work really hard this year, you’ll be able to skip 2nd and go straight to 3rd?” Marrick added and he could tell she was thinking hard, contemplating his words and slowly beginning to nod her head in agreement.

“That’s true.. That’ll be my goal for this year,” she said with a smile and Marrick kept his, gazing at his first born with adoration and being incredibly proud of how hard of a worker and achiever she was.

“Do you want a ride to school?” Marrick asked, watching as Hitomi shook her head ‘no’ and smiled.

“Nah, John’s mom is picking me and a few others up and taking us, thank though,” she replied and Marrick lost his smile slightly, wondering who this John kid was since Hitomi had never mentioned him before. Hitomi knew the look in Marrick’s eyes when he gave an intimidating vibe and she smirked nervously.

“It’s one of Sara’s friends, I met him over Summer break and he’s really nice, Sara seems to like him a lot,” Hitomi continued and Marrick still didn’t look satisfied, nor pleased. He knew she was pushing Sara into the story, but he could tell that Hitomi liked this boy.

“That’s alright, I suppose,” he replied with a bland tone, causing Hitomi to grow a little discouraged and she stood from the table, going to wash her bowl and spoon at the sink to avoid any more of the conversation. 

Marrick watched her and spoke up once more, “Don’t worry about it, I got it.. Just go get dressed and ready for school, you don’t want to make John’s mom wait for you,” he added and Hitomi shut off the water and left her dishes in the sink, giving Marrick an uneasy smile before leaving the kitchen and going to her room.

Hitomi made her way upstairs to the new third floor addition to their house; the new baby’s room at the top of the stairs, then the bathroom, and Hitomi’s room was furthest down the hall. She thought to herself as she made her way to her room, Jeez, Dad, it’s only a boy.. He never acted like that whenever I mentioned Sara or any of my other friends.. She thought to herself, wondering what could be bothering him and she wanted to go back and ask, but the look in her fathers eyes told her that he didn’t want to hear about John again, so she continued to her room..

Hitomi’s new room was the largest and most spacious of the children’s, I guess being the first born does have some benefits.. She thought to herself, looking around to her favorite color that was on almost everything. Sadie had even taken the time to get her a complete art set of her own for Hitomi’s last birthday and there was a large corner of her room dedicated to her art. Sadie had also insisted that she try learning the guitar; Sadie had tried her hardest to learn the Cello, but she never could. Hitomi, however, showed potential when they were at a superstore the other day and Hitomi found a keyboard and began playing it as if she was made to make music as well as art. Hitomi was now also a Virtuoso and she couldn’t wait until she learned more of the guitar.

After washing Hitomi’s dishes, Marrick went upstairs to the second floor and found Sadie in the living area with Anya and Julia, causing him to smile instantly as he looked to almost all of his girls. Sadie caught his attention when she spoke. 

“Hey, I have another doctor’s appointment in a little bit. I don’t need a ride, I called a cab so you could stay with the girls. I should be home in a few hours,” she said with a joyous tone, Marrick losing his smile a little and not wanting her to go out by herself, especially since she was so close to having the baby.. But, he knew she would already be at the hospital just in case anything happened, so he felt a little more at ease then.

“I could call a sitter, are you sure you don’t want me to come?” Marrick asked, stepping closer and putting his hands to either side of her waist and looking from Sadie to Anya, combing down Anya’s blonde hair and getting a few strays hairs out of her face. Anya giggled and butted in before Sadie could give him an answer.

“If Daddy goes, me and Julia go, too!” Anya said with a smile and Marrick sighed, knowing that the girls were a huge handful whenever bringing them anywhere, especially when he would be the only one watching them since Sadie would be at her appointment and Hitomi needed to go to school.

“Julia and I,” Marrick corrected Anya with a smile, looking to Sadie then and they both knew and agreed without saying a word that Marrick needed to stay home with them.

“Alright, I’ll see you later then,” Sadie said softly, kissing Marrick’s lips and then kissing Anya’s cheek before handing her off for him to hold. Marrick smiled and accepted Anya, watching Sadie then go to Julia and picked her up to kiss the top of her head and set her back down. A beep from a car came from outside and Hitomi ran downstairs, Marrick assuming her ride was here and he didn’t like the excitement that was on her face, wondering if it was a pleased smile knowing that John was there to get her.

“Hey,” he demanded, Hitomi stopping and looking to him with a slightly worried face, “Don’t run in the house.. Help your mother down the stairs before you knock her over,” he said somewhat intimidatingly and Hitomi didn’t contest, slowing her pace and helping Sadie down the stairs, “Have a good first day,” he added, though Hitomi didn’t look back or acknowledge his last words.

Marrick set down Anya and Julia was already wanting his attention before he was even finished leaning over, causing him to chuckle. He walked over to Julia and her emotional tears soon stopped and she smiled, giggling as Marrick took her hands within his own and stood her up. 

“Is she gunna walk?” Anya asked, Marrick glancing over to her and smiling.

“Hopefully today will be the day, right?” He replied excitedly, watching as Anya clapped for joy. 

“Come on, baby doll, I know you can do it,” Marrick encouraged to Julia, taking a few steps back and holding out his arms for her to come into, “Come on, Julia,” he added, motioning with his fingers for her to start walking and he then watched her fall back on her rump.

Marrick let out a defeated chuckle and Anya let out a happy laugh, “You can do it Julia!” Anya called out, walking up behind her sister and wrapping her arms around her waist, helping her back to her feet like Marrick had done earlier and wanting her to try again. Marrick smiled wide at the sight of Anya’s kindness; she was such a sweetheart, her Good trait always shining through and always wanting to help people and make others smile.

It took a few hours worth of trying and trying more, but Julia was eventually walking sooner than they expected. Anya helped Julia the best that she could and it really paid off; Julia loved Anya and she also was the only one out of the three girls that wanted Marrick’s attention the most. Even Hitomi when she was younger never held Marrick as high in her mind as Julia did, she loved her father with every ounce of her being and everyone knew that Julia was the new ‘daddy’s girl’.

Once Hitomi was old enough for her own room, they built an addition to the home and added another floor, Anya and Julia seemed to get along too well to be separated yet, so Marrick and Sadie simply took Hitomi’s old room and made it for both girls to share. Since Anya and Julia got along so well and they always liked to do everything together, it saved them money by not adding another room to the already crowded house. It was now a 4 bedroom, 3 bath home and if they had any more children, Marrick and Sadie were worried that they would have to buy a new house before adding more to this one. Although the property was large enough, they didn’t want to make it four stories; it would look terrible from the outside, not to mention they didn’t have anywhere else to go but up because of the foundation and they certainly didn’t want one of their kids sleeping in the top of the barn if they decided to add on to the stable..

As the day went on, the girls needed more entertainment and Marrick mentioned a book, something both girls were excited for. The girls picked out a book from their room and ran back into the living area, giving the book to Marrick and sitting around him, waiting for him to begin reading.

It was around 3 in the afternoon when Hitomi got home from school, coming upstairs and greeting the two girls before saying anything to Marrick. “How was your first day?” He asked, watching as Hitomi still didn’t look at him and hugged Anya.

“It was fine, someone at lunch ate worms on their peanut butter and jelly today, it was so gross,” she finally replied to Marrick and he soon smiled, letting out a chuckle and she laughed as well, “That’s about it though.”

“Did you get homework on the first day?” Marrick asked, continuing to watch her pay attention to Anya and he gave a certain look in his eyes at Hitomi, noticing she wasn’t really paying attention to Julia at all. Marrick was slightly aware of Hitomi’s lack of interest towards Julia, but he didn’t know why. He assumed it was because Julia was the youngest, and he hoped she would warm up to Julia eventually when the new baby was born like she had done with Anya.

Hitomi noticed the look Marrick gave her and sighed, going to Julia and giving her attention then as well, “Yeah, I have homework,” she replied. She sat on the ground and played peek-a-boo with her, secretly wishing to herself that whenever her hands would come away from her face, Julia would actually be gone and not sitting in front of her anymore. Marrick watched in silence, a smile soon returning back to his lips as he looked to his daughters, wondering if he was going to soon be the father of four girls or if he was going to have a son. Sadie and Marrick never wanted to know the baby’s gender, they always wanted it to be a surprise, although Marrick was getting a little too curious and he wished the baby was born already so he would finally know if they were done or if Sadie wanted to continue to have more children. Marrick had to admit, he was getting a little exhausted with the pressure of three girls around to take care of, but thank goodness he had Sadie or he would’ve been at a complete loss. She was his angel, his everything and she had taught him everything he should know about dealing with the girls.

Hitomi was quickly done playing with Julia, and Julia began to play with Anya again as Hitomi went to a chair within the living area and sat down. 

“Nothing else happened today?” Marrick asked, trying to make conversation with her and Hitomi smirked and shrugged.

“No.. Not really,” she answered and Marrick could tell she was hiding something.

“Mmhmm..” He let out a unconvinced humming noise, Hitomi knowing that he didn’t believe her but she didn’t continue.

“I said it was nothing,”  she continued, clearly not wanting to talk to him about something and Marrick began to grow a little frustrated, wondering if it had anything to do with the ‘John’ boy she mentioned that morning.

“It? What’s this ‘it‘ that you’re talking about?” Marrick replied, catching her at her own words and Hitomi froze, not realizing she gad given herself away and she somewhat pouted.

“Nothingggg!” Hitomi pressured with an annoying exaggeration.

Marrick then smiled and chuckled, “Fine, fine, if it’s that much of a secret, I’ll stop,” he replied raising his hands briefly and letting her know he was backing off. Marrick and Sadie had a system together; if one of the girls was bothered by something and didn’t tell one of the parents what it was, the other parent was always the one that the child talked to in the end. In this situation, Hitomi was hiding something from Marrick, but he knew that Sadie would eventually get it out of her, so he gave up, knowing he would find out eventually from Sadie.

“I’m going to do my homework, I’ll be upstairs,” Hitomi announced, standing from the seat and walking upstairs.

“Alright, I’ll let you know when dinner is ready. Your mom should be back from the doctor anytime now,” Marrick replied and Hitomi nodded, making her way up the stairs more.

Man.. Why is he always so pushy? He always wants to know everything, it’s so annoying! Hitomi began to think as she walked to her room, glancing over to the baby’s new, unfinished room and sighing. Now there’s going to be another kid walking around, taking up their time and attention? Are they ever going to stop having kids? She continued, wondering if she would eventually be going off to college and Marrick and Sadie would each be holding a baby or another toddler as they waved her goodbye. I hope they stop… Soon.

While Hitomi went to her room to begin her homework, Marrick got up from the couch and went to Anya and Julia, spending a little more time with them before needing to put them down for a nap. He heard the front door open and close from downstairs and judging by Archor’s excited barks full of joy, he assumed Sadie had just gotten home and he smiled. 

“Sadie?” He called out and he heard her greet him in return.

“Yeah, it’s me! Everything went great, the doctor said I had maybe only a week left before the baby comes, isn’t that exciting!?” Sadie called back and he laughed, always loving her enthusiasm.

“Wonderful,” he answered back, hearing her then asking what he wanted for dinner and he didn’t know, deciding to ask Hitomi what she wanted first before he gave Sadie an answer. 

He tickled Anya in his arms, “Your new baby brother or sister is almost here,” he said proudly, watching as Anya laughed and he looked down to Julia, seeing tears already building up in her eyes at his lack of attention towards her first and he only laughed more. 

“Julia, sweetie,” he said with a worried tone though holding his smile, bending down to pick her up as well and she clung to him as he walked them to their bedroom.

Julia and Anya yawned the entire time he changed them into pajamas, wanting them to take a nap while Marrick, Sadie and Hitomi ate dinner. Julia was in her crib first, almost instantly falling asleep since she hadn’t been old enough yet like Anya to train herself to stay up a little longer than she should. 

Anya yawned, but she was still awake as Marrick bid her a good sleep, “I’m so proud of you, you helped me so much today with Julia. Thank you,” he said with a soft tone, laying her down and she smiled at him in return.

“It was fun. Hitomi helped teach me, so, I wanted to help Julia,” she said with another yawn and a smile, Marrick nodding and covering her with her blanket.

“You’re such a big help and such a good girl.. Now, go to sleep, maybe we’ll watch a movie later or something together,” Marrick said quietly, not wanting to wake Julia since she was such a light sleeper; the moment she would hear Marrick’s voice while she was sleeping, if he was close enough, she would always wake up and demand and cry for him. Anya soon drifted to sleep and Marrick silently made his way out of their room successfully without waking Julia.

Marrick went upstairs, deciding to check on Hitomi and also to see what she wanted for dinner. He knocked lightly on her door, but Hitomi always could tell the difference on which parent was at the door just by how they knocked. 

“Come in,” she called out, her tone not filled with any certain emotion as Marrick walked in and looked around her room, soon noticing her on the bed. His first glance always went to her art corner; she was almost always there painting whenever he would pay her room a visit.

“Did you finish your homework?” Marrick asked first, seeing her rolls her eyes gently and she sighed.

“Yeesss, Daaaad,” she dragged out and he smirked slightly at her sarcasm.

“Have anything in mind you want for dinner? And before you ask, no, your Mom’s making something, so no pizza again,” he added and Hitomi went sarcastically discouraged as if that was exactly what she was going to ask for, joking now with her father.

“Oh, I don’t care.. Whatever Mom wants to make, she’s the one that’s so picky when she’s pregnant,” she said with a giggle, causing Marrick to reluctantly agree with her.

“Well, yeah.. Can’t argue with you. I just thought I’d ask,” he said with a smirk, Hitomi now giving him a look as if saying, ‘uhh, is that it or is there more you want?’ Marrick caught on to her expression rather quickly, feeling slightly awkward now but still remaining within the room.

“I just.. Wanted to let you know that you can talk to me, about anything, anything at all. If anything is ever bothering you, I’ll always help you, if you need it..” He said with a smirk, watching as Hitomi smiled and nodded.

“I know, Dad.. Thanks,” she replied, Marrick now at ease that he had finally said what he had been wanting to tell her for a while now.

“Marrick! Marrick!” Sadie called throughout the house, her tone sounding quick but excited. Marrick instantly looked to the door when he heard her, but before he could leave Hitomi’s room, Sadie was already walking in with a huge smile on her face.

“The baby is kicking so much! Feel, feel!” She said, grabbing his hand and placing it on her large tummy, watching as his expression lit up and smiled, causing her to let out an excited giggle, “They can’t wait to get here!” She continued. 

Sadie looked to Hitomi and continued her glowing, happy expression, “Come here, hurry!” She said quickly, watching as Hitomi ran from off her bed and put her hand on her mother’s tummy just in time, feeling the baby kick against her hand only a couple times before stopping.

“Whooaa,” Hitomi let out, Sadie giggling more and Marrick put his arm around her, pulling her in for a triumphant kiss and Hitomi backed off instantly, “Come onnn, not in my room!” She said with slight irritation, causing Marrick and Sadie to smile during the kiss.

Sadie suddenly pulled away from Marrick and he looked to her quickly, his expression changing to worried in an instant, “Are you alright?” He asked, watching as Sadie’s face went pained and her hands went among her stomach.

Sadie let out a pained moan and Marrick’s eyes widened, “What great timing, I leave the hospital and the baby decides to come out when I get home!” Sadie said through her pain, letting out more aching moans and Marrick began to panic.

“It’s coming now? Like, right now?” He asked in a panic, watching then Sadie’s water break and his question was answered, “Holy shit!” He called out, “What do I do? Tell me what to do!”

“Yes it’s coming now! I’m going to the car.. You need to grab that bag that’s in the baby’s room and bring it with you,” Sadie continued through her pain, Marrick going to her and helping her out of Hitomi’s room but stopping to talk to Hitomi quickly.

“Hitomi! Watch your sisters, we have to go right now!” Marrick said, still in a slight panic and Hitomi grew nervous.

“What!? I can’t watch them, they can’t be tamed if they’re awake without you guys there to greet them!” She replied quickly, panicking as well.

Marrick bent to his knee and took her hands within his, “Hitomi, they won’t wake up, they’re sound asleep and should be for another hour or two.. I need you to stay here right now and just make sure they’re okay. If we’re not there when they wake up, they’ll live. We’ll be back soon, okay? I need you to take over for a little bit, you’re a strong girl,” he said hurriedly, worry in his eyes and Hitomi’s expression soon went brave and she nodded, agreeing to his request. 

“Don’t worry, if you need anything, there’s my number along with other emergency numbers on the fridge. I’ll come straight back the first chance I get,” he assured her and pecked her cheek and quickly making it to the stairs.

“Dad, the bag!” Hitomi reminded Marrick’s scattered mind of Sadie’s words and Marrick nodded and ran to the baby’s room to grab the bag and rushed back downstairs. Hitomi sighed heavily and followed downstairs, going to the living area not far from Anya and Julia’s room so she could hear if they woke up or not and needed her, hoping for her parents to return soon.

Marrick helped Sadie in the car and threw the bag in, rushing to the hospital and speeding the entire way, breaking through yellow lights that were about to turn red at every intersection. Within minutes they reached the hospital and there were residents there to greet them, Marrick pulling the car up and the residents rushed to the car.

“She’s in labor!” He called out and they quickly helped her out of the car, “I’ll be right behind you,” Marrick assured Sadie with a smile and she weakly smiled in return, breathing heavily as she was assisted into a wheelchair and rushed inside. Marrick parked the car like a maniac, taking up almost three spots and he rushed into the hospital, the receptionist pointing where they had just taken Sadie judging by his fatherly panic of a mother in labor and he continued to rush to catch up with Sadie and the doctors in the birthing room.

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Original chapter written and posted on March 27, 2013