Gen. 1, Chapter 6: Babies Galore

I texted my family and friends to let them know that the twins, Tahoe and Kristi, were going to arrive soon. "Mommy," Rue climbed up the hospital bed and onto my pregnant stomach, "Where's my brother and sister?"

Derek chuckled, picking Rue up. "They'll be here soon, Rue-Rue. Daddy here is gonna drop you off at the hospital's day-care, okay?" She smiled, "Ok, daddy. Do they have toys there?"

Derek walked out of the room with Rue while my first contractions came and my water broke. Luckily then, the doctor came in and took a seat. "Soo... Your water just broke? Have your contractions started yet?"

 I nod, barely able to stand the pain. Derek came back inside, this time, without Rue. "My poor sweetheart, in so much pain." He softly kissed my lips.

*9 Hours Later*

"1,2,3, push, Ms. Sierra!" The doctor gave clear instructions, "I can see the last baby's head! Push!"

 Derek held the first child, Tahoe, in his arms.

It felt like almost a minute later when I realized I was holding Baby Kristi in my hands.

"Let's bring Rue in." I say. Derek hands me Baby Tahoe and rushes downstairs. He comes back within five minutes with Rue. "Are they my new brother and sister?" Rue babbled on. "Yep!" Derek smiled, "Their names are Tahoe and Kristi." Rue bent down and gave each of them a small kiss.

"I love them." she whispered.
~<3~

Gen. 1, Chapter 5: The Meeting

It's another year passed, and I've got to say, things are going great. Me, Derek, and baby Rue had finally found a nice, studio apartment to live in, which was really nice. And, I recently found out that I was pregnant with Derek again, with boy-girl twins that we have already named Tahoe and Kristi. However, most importantly, today was Rue's first birthday. Derek and I invited some of my relatives to Rue's birthday. "Rue-Rue!" I walk up to Rue's crib to take her out, "Happy Birthday Rue-girl!" I gently picked her up.

 She gave me her teething smile. "Did you know that you're going to have a new brother and sister soon?" Rue squealed, as if she was over-excited. There was a knock on the front door, and Derek opened it. In came grandma Cadence and momma Mikolaj! "HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUEE!!!" They came in with a huge load of balloons and presents, all for little Rue.

 Next came my niece, Love Sierra-Winfield, with her daughter, Natalie.

 "Awh, how cute!" Grandma Cadence picked up little Rue and held her in her soft arms, "What an adorable little girl!"

 My mother came up to me and felt my stomach. "More grandbabies on the way!"

 We sat Rue down on the floor and let her open her presents. She got a Play-Dough table from Great-Grandma Cadence, a blocks set from Grandma Miko, a dollhouse from Love and Natalie, and a toybox from Derek and I. After we had some cake and hung out, the guests left for their own things.

 I set Rue down into her baby swing. "Well." Derek came over, "I guess we threw a pretty good party for Rue."
I smile. "Then I guess we're good parents after all."

~<3~

Gen. 1, Chapter 4: New Parents

**This post takes place eight months after the last post**

"Time I started losing some weight!" I plop my pregnant butt down on a chair, staring at the new, yellow crib which I got from somebody that tossed it to the side of a curb, with a sign that said, "FREE CRIB." We, of course, took it, since our new baby coming up in a few weeks. Derek chuckled, "You're not fat, Yoom, you're pregnant." I patted my stomach, "At least baby is well."

"Yoomee." Derek said, "It's not too late for an abortion, y'know."
"I don't WANT no abortion!" I kick the bookcase next to me, causing some books to fall out.
"Yoomee, I-I-I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry."
"It's fine."
"The problem is," I took a deep breath, "How are we supposed to afford this damn baby?"
"Well, you need to find a damn job and I need a better one!" Derek raised his voice. The occasional, couple arguing just begun.

"WELL I CAN'T GET NO DAMN JOB BECAUSE I'M PREG-" I felt a wet, gooey liquid run down my legs, following a sharp pain in my stomach, where the baby lie. My water broke, and the contractions started. The baby decided to come prematurely.
I take deep breaths, then get down to the floor. "DEREK!" I yell in pain, "THE BABY"S COMING!"

Derek got down on the ground with me to help me through the labor process. Being a past paramedic, he knew what to do. "1...2...3... Push, Yoomee! You can do it!" He gave me words of encouragement to keep going, even when I got exhausted. Cries soon rang through the room when the baby finally came. Derek grabbed the yellow blanket in the crib and a pair of scissors to cut the umbilical cord. We cleaned up the baby and cuddled it in the yellow blanket. "It's a girl." He laughed.
"Perv." I chuckled a bit, "What should we name her?
After a while, we decided to name her Rue, after Rue from the Hunger Games.

Rue Nova Sierra.
~<3~

Gen. 1 Chapter 3: Confessions

Derek and I have been living as roomies in our home at the junkyard, and life has been going great for us. Derek worked at the local graveyard as I stayed home to make sure the people who came to the junkyard didn't rob us. Life treated us much better since we finally had everything we needed in one area, not across town. One evening, Derek and I had a chat.
"Yoomee...." Derek shook, "I've been meaning to say this for a long time, but..."
"...Yes?"
"I've had feelings for  you for awhile now... Do you wanna, er... go on a date sometime?"
My face lit up. He knew what I've been wanting to say since the night we met. "Sure!"

He took my hand and led me to the Bogaard Overlook for our date.  Derek had previously bought a pack of tofu dogs a few hours ago and cooked them on the Overlook's grill. He sat the freshly cooked tofu dogs down on the picnic table and we chowed down.
"So..." he asked, "What do you think of this date so far?"
"Its lovely." I nearly choke on the tofu dog.
"You fine?"
"Yea."
Derek started shaking again, "I was wondering.... If you could be my girlfriend?"
I lean in and kiss him on the lips. We took that as a "yes".
"And... I was wondering.." He smiled, "If you wanted to... y'know..... have-"
"YES," I scream. I knew what he was going to say.

**********

The next morning, I felt sick to my stomach, and I missed my expected period. "Derek..." I came up to Derek.
"I might be pregnant."
He got up from his chair, "What? What do you mean you're pregnant?! We can't afford a child yet!"
"Well, we forgot about protection last night!"
"Oh..." Derek hung his head, "I guess we're stuck with an unwanted child..."
"Not if we give it up for adoption."
"I really don't want to do that, though..."
"Maybe you should start working overtime once I know for sure that I am pregnant."

I went to the bathroom and took out the pregnancy test I bought a while ago. I took the test and read it.
"POSITIVE" it said, in large letters.
A smile came to my face.
"Derek..." I called him inside the bathroom, "Read this." I threw him the test strip.
He smiled the widest he ever had and laughed, "We're gonna have a baby!"
He threw his arms around me.

Our family would soon be complete.
~<3~

Gen. 1 Chapter 2: Hard Knock Life

We walked back to the alley where Derek and I first met. "So.... What happened to leave you homeless?" he asked, once we got there.

"Oh.... just a fire from an explosion in my apartment building....  Lost all my money and family...."

"Really? Well...... I used to be addicted to drugs.... I lost my job, and I went to jail. I used all of the money I had to pay for bail. Lost everything, but at least I just gave up one day and I'm happy to be out of that death trap."

"Really.... That's so sad."

"I just wanted to start my life over.... It was depressing."

"Well.... Maybe we can start over together... As roomates, though."

I didn't want to confess my love at first sight to Derek yet, because I barely know him. But he was nice enough to save my life and offer me to come into his home.

"Yoomee, I want to know.."

"Yes. What would you like to know?"

"Well... Just how old are you?"

"Only ninteen. I moved out of my mom's house about a year and a half ago."

"Same."

"Derrick." I say, "One of us needs to get a job so we can get a roof under our heads."

"I would be lucky to get a job FLIPPING BURGERS. Nobody would hire a man with a druggie past."

"Can you at least try to get a job?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

I went down to the gas station that afternoon to use Derrick's last fifty cents to buy a newspaper for the jobs. The rack of potato chips caught my eye and made me realize just how hungry I was. I watched the cashier at the counter as he was busy helping a customer. Helping myself, I snatched two bags of chips and ran away giddily, hoping to not get caught.

I managed to run away all of the way back to the park and not be questioned about the chips. "I'VE GOT FOOD, DEREK!" I scream. But he was nowhere to be seen. "Derrick?" "GUESS WHO GOT A JOB?!?!?!?!" Someone screamed behind me. I turned around to find that it was Derek. "Where?" I ask, hugging him.

 "I'm a grounds keeper at the graveyard. Its not the best...... but at least it'll put food on the table. Where'd you get the chips?" he asked. "Ohh....." I say, "I...er.. coincidently stole them while geting the newspaper.... I hope your not mad." "Ohh girl," he began, "As long as you aren't caught, your in my book." I just giggled. "On my way home from the interview..." Derek began, "I found a little place at the junkyard that we could stay in. Let's go."

We ran off from our old home in an alley to a decent, inhabitable area at the junkyard. "So..." I say, "We finally got a roof over our heads." We walked into the junkyard area and salvaged us some stuff for our new "home".

Sometimes I'm glad that this fire started, the one that ruined my life.

~<3~