Round Six - King - Crowded House

The King family house is full to bursting now Nathaniel's new wife Petal is expecting a new addition. Will they all cope, or will the constant invasion of personal space finally drive everyone insane?

Liliana may not have been as dedicated a student as her big sister Miranda, but with encouragement and a bit of pressure she started getting A grades. The pride and joy she felt, along with the extra attention, finally convinced her that working hard at school was a good thing (if not for quite the right reasons).

Jace Bhalli frequently stopped by to see his twin sister and his new brother-in-law. It helped that they had been friends for years, so the blow from the fact there was now undeniable evidence that his sister was having sex was cushioned a little.

"Welcome to the expectant fathers club," laughed Jace. "How's Petal coping?"

"Pretty well, actually. I thought she'd be a bit annoyed at having to take time off work but she's all pregnant-glow-joy-hormones or something."

"I think Solveig skipped that phase," said Jace with a tired sigh.



Noriko was very considerate of her daughter-in-law's needs, and didn't even berate her when she burned the morning ommlettes, instead gently asking if she'd like to switch around her jobs on the household rota.



Miranda kept out of everyone's way. She'd never been all that gregarious at the best of times and now all the baby-talk was getting on her nerves. There'd even been talk of her having to share a room with Liliana again so the baby could have its own nursery! She took refuge in trying to build up her butterfly collection.



Of course, insects weren't her only distraction, and Noriko was determined to make sure Sam Darwin didn't manage to get any of his own biology into the situation.

"I hear you've been seeing that Darwin boy," she said firmly to her eldest daughter. "You'd better be careful! I know what teenage boys are like."

"Mom! We're not like that!" Miranda huffed. "I mean, we're still basically just friends. We've kissed a few times."

"You make sure that's all that happens. You're too young to get pregnant."

Miranda certainly had no desire for THAT to happen, but her mother's words still hurt her a little. Despite their requited declarations of their feelings, they still weren't "official". She trusted Sam, but there was a niggling little voice inside her head... especially as Sam would be heading off to university without her.


Petal's due date grew closer and closer, but even though the rest of her family was getting ever more excited about the new arrival Miranda still wasn't convinced. In fact, she spent a lot of time online looking into the idea of early college admission. It would be a two-fold victory, she figured - she wouldn't have to spend her teen years helping look after a squalling toddler, AND she'd get to keep an eye on Sam.



Petal finally gave birth to a little girl who looked almost exactly like her uncle Jace. They named her Athena.

Note: I'm having some (for "some" read "a lot of") trouble with formatting - bear with me! D: