Round Five - King - We Are Young

Petal Bhalli has graduated university and left her family home in order to live with her fiancé Nathaniel King. Unfortunately, this is a package deal including him, his parents and his two little sisters... still, they're not going to let it get in their way.



"I'm sorry about this," said Nathaniel wearily. "I'd have liked it if we could get a place of our own, but..."

"Don't be silly." Petal squeezed his hands. "I'll get used to it. Hey, it might even be fun. I've never had a big family before, it was always just me, mom and Jace. And after university... I think I can handle being around your family. They're a lot more stable than, say, Tom Darwin!"


It was a good thing that Petal was okay with living with her in-laws, as they wouldn't leave her alone.

"I hear you graduated Magna Cum Laude," said Noriko, full of pride at having such a smart prospective daughter-in-law. "Even better grades than my little Nathaniel! You'll have such clever babies."


Noriko wasn't the only one. Outgoing little Liliana was fascinated by Petal and always wanted to talk to her. She was so grown up! Liliana couldn't wait to be a grown-up and be able to do fun things like go to university and make a lot of friends.


Liliana also loved pestering the big brother she'd never gotten to bond with. "Can we go and play? Please? Pleeeeease? PLEAAASE?"

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "Aren't you getting a bit big to be swung around?"

"Never!"


After a while, life settled into a comfortable routine. Petal got a job in a construction company, the first step towards her dream career of becoming a respected architect. Unfortunately the household chores seemed to always get in the way of things.


Nathaniel wasn't slacking either - he'd always been a sports freak and now he was playing professionally! Awesome.


Of course, this meant he had to work on his fitness a whole lot more. He wasn't convinced by the yoga routine his coach had suggested.


Miranda reached her teens and continued to stay out of everyone else's way. She wanted to be rich and independent but her love of nature still overruled everything else. A job in the conservation field would suit her nicely...


All in all, things were going great. Nathaniel and Petal couldn't have been more in love and began to make plans for a nice, quiet courthouse wedding - as quickly as possible, considering the fact they'd gotten pregnant.