Even though the atmosphere in the Darwin household was distinctly awkward, Miranda was doing her best to fit in. Sam helped, of course. For example, one morning Harvey completely blanked Miranda in his search for breakfast after pulling an all-nighter painting. Miranda felt like she was going to cry, but Sam came to her rescue.
Miranda's POV:
The stresses of increasing age and three pregnancies lead to Adele switching careers and starting again from the very bottom, but she wasn't too worried. Yes, being an athlete had suited her well, but the idea of breaking the glass ceiling in politics intrigued her too... even if her dreams did wobble a bit when she saw the wreck she had to car-pool in.
Little Maya was growing up fast and was delighted with her newest toy - a stove of her very own! She was fascinated by the process of cake-making as much as the end result, which was a good thing as at the moment she mostly only managed to burn them. She ate them anyway, though.
She was a friendly little girl - not extremely outgoing, but sweet and playful enough to overcome her shyness easily. She made friends with Liliana King at school.
The "affair" with Esther hadn't gone past a little flirtation but it was still obvious to anyone who cared to notice, the way they looked at each other, the way he always touched her arm when complimenting her.
Harvey couldn't bear it anymore. The moment he shut up shop he walked over to Esther and tried to caress her face - a risk, he knew, since all they'd had was touches that could be construed as friendly... and she rebuffed him, a look of horror on her face.
But her resolve not to be "that kind of girl" couldn't stand up to the pressure - Harvey wore her down and wore her down, and eventually she caved under the pressure. She even though she might be in love... which allowed him to take the next step.
Adele returned home early after finally getting a promotion, in higher spirits than she had been for a long time. Harvey was nowhere to be found, so she headed to the bedroom... and found him instantly, in bed with pretty young Esther.
"HOW COULD YOU?" Adele had never been a violent person but she struck out in a cloud of rage and smacked Harvey across the face, then stormed off.
They tried to keep their anger quiet, but it was impossible. Over the next few weeks they had quite a few fights and arguments, and Sam realised what was going on. One time they had a particular vicious shouting match right in front of him and he ran to his room in tears - he was always a sensitive kid.
Adele sat in her baby girl's room, playing chess and trying to compose her thoughts. Yes, Harvey had hurt her, betrayed her, broken her heart, but she he had three children by him and the youngest was about to hit puberty - was it worth losing all that history? Didn't Maya need a father-figure in her teen years? Although, thinking about it that way... considering how Tom had turned out, maybe not letting Maya think that jerks cheating on her was okay would be a better plan. This was a tricky problem, she mused as she moved the pawns and queens around the board. She'd need time to think.
Verity was getting to the end of her time; she could feel it in her bones. Sometimes when she looked into little Maya's eyes she was sad - she wished she could stay and watch her grow up. But she knew she couldn't avert fate, and soon she would be joining her dear departed husband, Abraham Darwin.
Unfortunately Adele had made a few poor decisions at work (she blamed post-pregnancy hormones) and had lost her job, which meant she was stuck playing housewife until she found a new one. She wasn't a natural - she barely knew how to cook! - and the depression her unemployment had sunk her into made it difficult for her to even bother getting dressed, much to Sam's horror.
The art store was getting more and more popular - so much so they needed to hire new staff. One of the applicants was a sweet young thing called Esther Pasang. She made a good impression on all of them - she was highly skilled at pottery and at sales techniques, just what they needed!
"It's such a relief to have someone to help out!" said Verity. "My old joints can't seem to get used to that cash register... I'm sure you'll have more luck. Do you have a boyfriend? Husband? Children?" Verity may have been getting older but she still hoped Esther could bring more kids over for her to fuss over. Sadly for her, Esther was single and childless, but like Verity she was family-orientated and gladly discussed her dreams for the future.
So Esther got to work, being vaguely capable on the cash register, and Verity got a much needed break to help Maya keep up with her developmental milestones. It wasn't long before she started school, after all!
Maya started school on time. She was adorable, quite shy but very nice and friendly, and was looking forward to making new friends.
Sadly, it was Verity's time. She went out happy, not as blissful as she could have been but ready to join her husband.
Maya was distraught. Verity had been the one who'd brought her up for the most part, her father too busy with the art store and her mother too busy with her own work, and she kept waking up at night and crying about her loss.
Sam was in pieces too, although his mourning turned more to anger.
Esther's sunny demeanour and ability to keep the shop not only running smoothly but getting good reviews in the local paper meant that the house didn't completely fall apart after Verity's passing. She hadn't been bragging about her pottery skills, and soon her work was being displayed side-by-side with Harvey's and some of the canvases Tom had left lying around.
One night, as the shop was readying to close and Harvey was stock-checking, he couldn't help looking at Esther. She really was beautiful. He and Adele hadn't been intimate since before Maya was born, and Esther stirred long-forgotten urges in him, tied up close with the urge to be a free-spirited artist with a muse rather than a husband to a career woman like Adele...
And once the stock was accounted for and the customers were ushered out, Harvey made his move. He was cheating on Adele, and Esther was such a sweet girl who deserved more than being someone's bit on the side, but guilt could wait. It could wait forever, if Harvey had his way.
With Adele mostly confined to bed or sitting around reading, and Harvey busy painting and making pottery, a lot of the every-day business of running a shop fell to Verity. Unfortunately she didn't seem to be a natural saleswoman and she kept getting her hand trapped in the till...
Tom couldn't wait to get out of this mad-house full of annoying relatives and left for college with very few goodbyes.
Adele was nearing the end of this arduous third pregnancy and couldn't wait for her due date. No more moping about the house in her PJs, cramming spaghetti into her face... it was bad enough she'd been forbidden from using her exercise machines!
Adele went into labour while tucking little Sam in for the night and was rushed to the maternity ward.
She returned with a little baby girl they named Maya. Adele was enthralled - a daughter! After two sons it would make a pleasant change.
Sam found that now Tom was out of the house and his female relatives were busy with the new baby he had a lot of time to himself that he could use any way he wanted. He discovered a love for nature and spent hours at a time running around the back yard catching bugs.
Maya soon became a toddler. She looked a lot like her mother but with her father's pale skin, a very pretty combination in everyone's minds. She was an easy child to look after, very sweet and friendly and rarely wanting to escape and cause trouble, although she was a little clingy.
Sam was delighted that his baby sister was finally old enough to play with, and spent hours at a time playing peek-a-boo with her. He couldn't wait until she was old enough to go to school! They could talk for hours!
Harvey had barely spent any time with his baby girl - his business always came first. And lately he'd been noticing that a lot of attractive young women stopped by, too... he had a wandering eye.
Harvey had decided to bite the bullet and set up shop in the front room of the family home. Sure, his paintings weren't exactly at masterpiece level yet, but there was time. Plus he could always stock a few wholesale items to get the business up and running while he perfected his skills.
One of the skills he needed to perfect turned out to be operating the cash register.
Tom had better things to do than deal with creaky cash-registers. His brief romance was getting a little too serious for his liking.
Adele was busy trying to advance at work and keep in shape but she still made time for Sam. He was such a sweet, friendly little boy and she hated the idea of him only having his big brother for company... thank goodness for Verity's child-rearing skills. She knew a lost cause when she saw one, and despite her best efforts that was what Tom was in her eyes.
Harvey may have been wrapped up in his new business but he still had enough time to "get physical" - but unfortunately he and Adele were just as careless as ever about taking precautions...
Adele soon found out she was pregnant. AGAIN. She was less than happy. The first person she told was her mother-in-law Verity who was predictably over the moon. She hadn't exactly kept the fact she wanted more grandchildren a secret.
It didn't take long before the pregnancy started to show and Adele had to take maternity leave. She hated being cooped up and even though she'd been feeling extremely fatigued and the doctor had recommended bed-rest she couldn't stand the idea of lying around.
Her body had other ideas, however. After falling asleep in her dinner for the third time she admitted defeat and went back to bed. She'd never wanted a huge family... how had it come to this?!
Sam may have been a bit of a surprise for the Darwin family but that didn't make them love him any less. Adele may have been very driven but a cute little toddler always made an excellent addition to her mind.
Still, given both his parents' obsessions with work, most of the job of actually raising him fell to his grandmother Verity. She didn't mind one bit; in fact, she rather hoped there would be one or two more "happy accidents" for her to take care of in her old age.
Adele threw herself into working out and it wasn't long before she got her lithe, toned pre-pregnancy body back. She felt great.
Unlike some people Adele got on very well with her mother-in-law - possibly better than her own son did. Verity was always there to cheer Adele on through her many promotions ever since she and Harvey had started dating and this hadn't changed with the move to the 'burbs.
Harvey, on the other hand, had yet to get a new job. He was fortune orientated, sure, but he had no desire to be a corporate drone. He wanted to be his own boss, and his first step was making friends around the neighbourhood so his first business venture would be a success.
Unfortunately his talents didn't yet live up to his dreams. He'd gotten very rusty at painting over the years and he was determined to be good enough to make a living selling his art through his own shop, even if he had to ignore everyone else to do it.
Tom was settling in well. He'd already made friends at school - all very pretty and slightly easy girls.
It wasn't long before he got his very first kiss. His schoolwork was suffering considering his lothario ways and the fact that he, like his father, preferred painting to almost everything else, but he was sure he could coast through college.
It wasn't long before Sam was old enough to start school. Unlike his big brother, he was very hardworking and was dedicated to pleasing his mother and grandmother by getting good grades!
