*My apologies for the picture-light update. Photobucket ate most of my pics, so this is going to be heavy on the writing.*




Maudlin stretched as the lay in her bed. The early morning hours, before the kids woke up were always her favorite time of day. She loved her husband and her kids, but sometimes she felt overwhelmed by their needs. Plus, her career was still simmering on the back burner, and if she kept taking maternity leave she could kiss her career goals good-bye! Dallas, Brooklyn, and Phoenix were all doing quite well in school, and Austin was working hard to reach their academic level. That was one thing to be grateful for. Now, if only she could get the quads potty trained! Manchester, Raleigh, Perth, and Sydney were a handful, but that was to be expected. After all, boys will be boys! 



Even they were tired, though. The whole family was exhausted from trying to deal with the quads. Just the other day, van had been potty training Sydney, and Sydney had fallen asleep right there on the potty!



About the only family member that was easy to deal with was Austin's womrat, Jumbo! Of course, all Jumbo did was eat, sleep, and run on his wheel!



Maudlin and Van were usually so exhausted by the end of the day that they collapsed into bed and were asleep in seconds. On their tenth wedding anniversary, Van's mom agreed to watch the kids while Van and Maudlin went out on the town. Before picking the kids up, they snuck home for a little fun between the sheets! They did it so rarely that when they were finished Maudlin realized that they had forgotten to use protection!



A few weeks later, Maudlin was praying that she had caught a nasty flu virus, stomach bug, or anything besides morning sickness. Her career was just starting to take off, and she really did not want to have to deal with another pregnancy!



It soon became obvious, however, that it had not been the flu or any other illness. Maudlin sadly resigned herself to another 9 months of hell. Van was, of course, thrilled!



Before they knew it, the triplets had reached adolescence! Brooklyn retained her love of the violin, and also became more interested in Popularity as well as Romance. She decided her life's goal was to become a professional party guest. 



Dallas looked more and more like his father every day! He revealed his interests in Fortune and Pleasure, and told his dad that he secretly wanted to become the law.



Phoenix was the more rebellious of the triplets. Breaking out of the mold his family wanted him to conform to, he decided to become the hand of Poseidan in the hopes of advancing his Fortune and helping him provide for a Family! Maudlin was glad that the kids were all growing up with career ambitions, but she was also a bit sad to see them drawing away in their independence. She wondered what the next few years would bring her little family!

Thanks go to [info]brilliantcat for Maudlin and [info]mjo5oh for Van as well as everyone at [info]pixel_trade for their support! 

*The heir will be...Phoenix Doohickey!*