Chapter 2.23 Dress Up and Happiness

"Please, please, please." Alyssa repeated, sighing.

These two minutes seemed to last forever. It seemed like an eternity, and not just one hundred and twenty seconds. She was fairly sure the packet said two minutes, or was it three? It was probably two... Yeah, she remembered seeing the number two on there, she thinks.
She couldn't help but marvel in the irony of it all. The one time in her life she wanted a baby and was ready for one (she did love the children she did already have, but they were all surprises), nothing was happening.
After the two minutes (she thinks), she felt that familiar twang of disappointment when the test came back negative, and she tossed the test in the bin, fed up.

She sighed and sat down on the toilet, irritated. She didn't get why it was taking as long this time. Did it take this long the previous times? Or was it because she wasn't actually expecting it the previous times that it seemed to be taking longer this time around? She frowned, wondering why it wasn't happening right away.

She shook her head slightly, and had to remember that it wasn't like her and Tyler had been trying for a baby for all too long. She was acting crazy right now, expecting it to happen right away. She just hoped that it wouldn't take all too much longer though.
"Mommy!" She heard Melody calling her, and quickly got up and went into her daughter's room.

Alyssa went into Melody's room and saw her youngest daughter making a fuss while in her crib. "Gotta tear down. Tear down!" She chanted, trying to scratch at her crib.
She sighed, and went over and picked Melody up. "You're out, no tearing down needed." She smiled at her. "And you won't have to tear down any cribs any more, Birthday Girl." Alyssa grinned at Melody. It was her's and Ashton's birthday today.

"Cake!" Melody grinned. evidently that was the thing she was most excited about when aging up. "Cake! Cake!" She then giggled, happy.
Alyssa smiled at her, "You'll have to wait a little while before you get your cake though. We have to get dressed first, and Ashton's goes first because he's older." She broke the news gently to Melody, who wasn't all too please.
"Unfair." She grumbled.

Much to Melody's annoyance, Ashton did indeed go first for his birthday. Tyler helped him blow out the candles. Alyssa and Belle cheered for him while Melody sulked over the unfairness of it all.

After Ashton, it was finally Miss Sulky's turn. Melody squealed with delight when she saw the pretty cake and pretty candles. It was so pretty, and didn't have icky bees on it like how Ashton's cake had.

"I want to play a game." Melody said outright, going over to Ashton after cake. "We're going to play dress up, and you get to be the evil dinosaur."
"I uh... I don't really want to." He murmured, standing up for himself and up to her. "Why don't you get Belle to?" He suggested.
"She already is, and what do you suggest instead?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. "Besides, I know you love dinosaurs because there's one on your shirt."
"Maybe video games?" He suggested, smiling. He'd much more prefer that than doing something girly like dress up!

"You're so boring!" She accused. "B-u-r-r-i-n-g! Boring!" She tried her hardest to spell boring. She was fairly sure that was right, sounded right...
"That's not how you spell boring. It's one r and an o." He pointed out, rather cautiously. His sister was usually always the boss of the two of them, but he didn't want to play a silly girls game.
"That spells burong." Melody made a face, clearly not understanding what Ashton meant. "I know that's not right." She huffed, and went off to do her own thing as did he.

"What are we going to do now?" Belle asked, frowning. "We can't have two princesses and no bad guy! That's boring." She sighed. "I'm staying as the princess though. I was born first." She folded her arms, finding that to be a suitable reason, also it wasn't her idea so she should get dibs.
Melody frowned. "Well, I'm not being the evil one, I like being a princess." She huffed. Stupid Ashton. Why couldn't he play with? How very boring!

But then Melody heard Nathaniel playing with the doll house, which gave her an idea. "Wasn't there a bear costume in there?" She asked.
"Yeah, but it's way too small. It would never fit either of us." Belle pointed out, frowning.
Melody grinned. "I know. Get it out, I have an idea."

"I'm not so sure..." Belle mused, pursing her lips and seeing what the subject of the sister's interest looks like on it's own without anything else in the way.

"I like it." Melody smiled. "Seeing as though Ashton's being boring!" She called loud enough for him to hear.

"I'm not playing dress up!" He called back. 

"I think it's an improvement though." Melody smiled, proud of what she's done.

Nathaniel was rather confused about what was going on, and he wasn't all too keen on the bear head on his head. He didn't like the shoes neither, hence why he refused to wear them. Apart from that, it wasn't so bad. It was warm and snug in the costume though. He liked it too.

"Well, Princess Belle." Melody started, putting on her best princess voice. "I am not so sure what to do with the bad, town wrecking bear."

"Neither am I, Princess Melody." Belle agreed, putting on her princess voice. "I think we should be nice to him and let him go but make him promise to not destroy the village again." Belle smiled softly.

Nathaniel gave his best scary growl, just like how a bear really would.

Princess Melody laughed at what her sister had said. "You can not be serious. That is the opposite of what we must do! Off with his head I say! Off with it!" She announced, wafting her hand in the air.

Belle frowned. "That's not very-"

"But Princess Melody, surely you can not do that!" Melody put on a different voice, and then she scoffed. "Why, of course I can. For I am your princess!" She spoke normally again, and Belle narrowed her eyes. It was as if her sister was talking and playing all on her own, without her nor Nathaniel.

Belle watched as her little sister walked off. How weird. Did Melody not want to play for real? She seemed too wrapped up in her own world to even notice her and Nathaniel anymore.

"I must protect Melotopia! And every single Melotopian out there!" She announced to her adoring crowd, even though there was no one actually there.

Belle narrowed her eyes at Melody. She's weird.

Alyssa looked at Tyler doubtfully. "Can you even see any stars in the daylight?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Well, besides the sun, of course." She murmured, correcting herself.

"Kinda." He seemed mostly focused on the telescope, not fully taking in her presence, even though she was only a few feet away from him. "The brighter and closer ones, yeah, but not so much the further away stars." He pulled away from the telescope, and went over to her. "So, did you come out here specifically to say that?" He asked, his hands brushing over her hips.

"So what if I did?" She teased, grinning. She laughed lightly, "It wasn't though. I just wanted to spend a little time with you." She shrugged simply. "That, and it's going to be autumn soon and I don't want to waste it when the weather's warm." 

"Are you sure the kids being on their own is a good idea though?" He asked, glancing at the back door.

"They're literally a few feet away. The fireplace hasn't been working for years, the oven's off and they know to stay away. They're all occupied doing their own things too. There is absolutely nothing to worry about." She smiled. 

"So, your all mine?" He grinned at her, his hands moving from her hips to around her waist.

"I'm all yours, at least until any of them start arguing." Alyssa had her money on Melody being in the fight. She was certainly the most headstrong of all of her children. 

"So I have you for all of five minutes?" He joked. 

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head and smiling. "Ha ha. They're not that bad, you know." She grinned. 

It partly did amaze her how she still sometimes got butterflies whenever she spoke to him. Wait, was it butterflies? It didn't really feel like it. It felt like something completely different now she thought about it. She quickly pulled out of the embrace, a hand going over her mouth. Definitely not butterflies. She considered the bathroom, but quickly ruled it out. She went to the edge of the porch and leaned over the side of the fence, and threw up. 

Tyler honestly felt rather awkward when she was throwing up. He would have held her hair back, if the day before she didn't snap at him for touching her. He had learned the hard way that an angry Alyssa was a scary Alyssa. He couldn't help but wonder though, "Are you sure the test was negative?" He asked. What else could have caused her sickness?

"Pretty sure." She grumbled in response, and winced when she pulled away from the fence. Wasn't pretty what she did. She turned to face him, but still kept a slight distance. "Kinda sure at least." 

Tyler narrowed his eyes."Kinda sure?" He asked, wondering how she could only be kinda sure. "Why only kinda sure?"

"Well, I couldn't remember if I had to wait two minutes or three." She looked up while trying to remember. "I think it was two, or was it three...? I'm pretty sure it was two, I only waited two." She trailed off, mumbling.

He shook his head slightly, finding it amusing how ditsy Alyssa could be sometimes despite how clever she was. "How about you take another one? And this time remembering how long you have to wait."

She couldn't help but feel a little  bit more optimistic this time around. It probably was just a bad idea, in case it was negative yet again. Still, she did think that there was something different this time around.

Alyssa obviously couldn't help but grin when it came back positive. She knew that this would probably be her last baby. Five seemed like a good number of kids to have.

She heard Tyler knock on the bathroom door. "Lyss? Is everything alright? You know that if it's negative we can still just keep trying." She then grinned at the thought of telling him. She left the bathroom, and kissed him deeply.

"It was positive." She explained briefly, smiling widely.

He returned the broad smile. "Positive?" He asked, making sure he did hear right.

She nodded in response."We're having a baby." She was still beaming, and he kissed her  once again. 

Both of them were extremely happy about this, of course.

It seemed as if happiness was just a general theme going over Dragon Valley that day, and the following night. Melancholia wasn't sure whether is was because of the waxing gibbon, and the approaching full moon, or whether it was because the last piece of her plan (that was in her control) was put into action.

"Are you sure this is wise?" She heard that annoying brat ask behind her, and she simply rolled her eyes at his incompetence. 

\In appearance, there was  no difference in their ages. But she was much older, and in more power than he could even dream of having. She sighed softly, "Do you think I've not thought this through, Worm?" She asked, turning to him.

"I-I'm not suggesting that at all, Queen." He tried to defend himself,

"Really? Because it sounds like you are." She approached him, glaring. One of her nails went under his chin, tilting his head up as she judged his weakness. She let go, smiling cruelly at her pathetic henchman. She really should have chose someone else... "You know that your doubt upsets me."

Her hand swiftly moved to slap him. her face clearly not amused. "Pathetic. The fact you even dare to challenge me is foolish, and you can't even commit to the follow through. How very pathetic, and spineless. Like a worm." She smiled slightly, getting the connection. No smile ever made by Melancholia was ever a nice one though. "Your doubt also makes me wonder if you even care about your own kind. Maybe I should rip those puke coloured wings off your back, slowly and painfully." She grinned, picturing it. Suffering was something that pleased her truly. There was nothing better than the screams of a worm who very much so deserved it. She walked back to where she was, not wanting to bother looking at the worm much longer.

Melancholia sighed. "Besides, it's not like anyone is going to stop me. We all want the same thing. We all want our revenge, don't we? Against that little witch." Her blood boiled just thinking of it. That witch that killed one of her own. One of her best followers, one that she taught through and through. It almost made her feel sad to think of her dear friend Elli's death. 

"So, what are your plans?" The worm asked quietly, and Melancholia grinned. She knew why he was quieter this time. Fear. Fear was her greatest tool, her perfect and preferred tool.

She laughed lightly, "I don't go telling my plans to everyone, but seeing as though you're a special little worm, I'll tell you."

"At first, I considered drowning. A witches death for a witch. That, or a hanging. But then, apart from the fact I would be pulling too much attention to myself, it wasn't right. It wouldn't hurt her enough. I want that damn bitch to hurt." She growled, glaring at the body of water in front of her. She dug her nails into her arms to keep her anger at least under some control. She didn't want to go rogue yet. She knew it would be more rewarding when her plan was in it's full action.

"Then it hit me. The bitch has a family. She has her own kids, and a husband and a sister and brother." Pesky mortals and their love of families. Melancholia never saw the purpose. Why teach little snot-nose brats a new skill when you could easily just take one with the skill already? "Anyway, I figured it would hurt more to hurt a loved one. Wouldn't it? I mean, what would you do if something happened to me? Your Queen?"

"Worst thing in the world." The worm answered, rehearsed of course to him, but Melancholia was too wrapped up in her own plans and her own thoughts. She barely noticed it was there.

"Exactly. An extreme tragedy. No one would ever get over it, and we're superior. But all the others are simply just too weak to even deal with grief. Witches particularly are bad at it. So, I'm not going to hit her, I'm going to hit her precious family. But then I remembered her husband and spawn are all vampires." She sighed. They were easily the most powerful of all the supernaturals. "So, I'll aim for her family in particular. I was thinking the sister." She smiled wickedly at her plans.

"I won't tell you everything worm. That'll just be boring. I'll paint you a word picture though. Grief, breakup, bad dreams, guilt, strain, divorce, suicide." She listed the words, playing out her plan in her head. Of course, Melancholia knew she'd have to do a little bit of work in it, but her cards should fall once placed in order.

She grinned. She was going to get her revenge for Elli's death.

Chapter 2.22 Discussion                                                                               

Chapter 2.24 Hide No Seek

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AN: Ah, I remember how much I love writing Antagonists. I made Melancholia look all pretty mostly because of the irony of her being evil. I considered making her dark and twisted out an in, but why not have poison in a pretty pink wrapper? ;) Her worm is one of the Dragon Valley people turned fairy. I think I'm going to keep her worm as a fairy, just in case I need him again.

Also, I think I should say the last two rolls. Alyssa's number of children was 5, and the fifth one is going to be heir. Also, the other secondary help is Freelance Scientist, which was why Tyler was stargazing during the day. According to google, it is actually possible to see stars if the telescope is good enough. But still, night is better.

I've almost ignored what's happened in the rest of this chapter, whoops. Melody has the insane trait, which is why she's talking to herself, and seems to almost live and constantly refer to her world (Melotopia).

Thanks for reading, and I hope you like my brand new antagonist. I happen to absolutely adore her name (I wanted to call Melody Melancholia, but it was too dark and dreary for Alyssa's tastes.)

Chapter 2.22 Discussion

"A baby of our own?" Tyler asked, honestly not so sure what to think.

It wasn't like he didn't want his own family at some point or another, he did really want that and being around Alyssa's children honestly made him want that more, but he was unsure about the timing of it all. "Are you sure it's a good idea?" He asked, while shifting the way he was sat. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin his relationship with Alyssa.

"Don't you want kids someday though?" She asked, crossing her legs and looking at him. "Why not make someday even sooner?" She smiled slightly. "We're good together, and we're not getting into any arguments." She pointed out, and couldn't help but recall how with Damon, their relationship almost fell apart as soon as the twins were born. Her and Damon didn't work all too well together, yet her and Tyler are actually getting along more with each other and the kids too.

"Are you sure that it's not too soon though?" He asked, "We've only just started dating." He sighed slightly. "It's not like I don't want kids, I do want them, I just think we should wait a while. Why rush things?" He spoke almost cautiously, worried an argument would break out.
"Why wait though?" She countered. "The only thing that's going to be different if we wait is that the kids will be older and it'll be colder outside." She shrugged simply, partially holding back the real reason why she didn't want to wait all too much longer.

"A lot of other things could be different too, Lyss." He sighed, realizing he was getting off topic. "I still think we should wait."
Alyssa sighed, and her hand went over his. Her eyes only stayed on where her hand was though. "I just don't want to wait too long though. I want all of my kids to be at least kind of similar ages." She murmured.

It wasn't like she didn't love Rosie and Connor, but it got a little lonely sometimes being so much younger than them. She felt like an only child sometimes because of it. The two of them grew up together, and were already really close. She knew it was never the case, but she sometimes felt as if she was intruding. She swore to herself that she didn't want her children's ages as far spread as her's and Rosie's and Connor's. It didn't seem like it now, but Rosie had already moved out before Alyssa was even a teenager, and on Connor's last day of high school, it was her first.

He couldn't help but feel awful when he noticed she was rather upset. He didn't mean to hurt her feelings. He just didn't want what they had to end so soon. "I'm sorry Lyss." He murmured, feeling as if he needed to apologize.
She shook her head slightly. "It's fine, I get it." She sighed lightly. It was a rather bizarre thing to think of now she was actually thinking about it. Her and Tyler hadn't been dating all too long, and it honestly didn't seem like the smart thing to do. Then again, leaving it until later didn't exactly seem like the smart thing to do either.

"But, if we do wait, it could take longer than we originally thought to have a baby, and we'd have to wait even longer." She shook her head, sighing and resting her head in her hand. "I don't want to be about the same age my parents were when they had me." She made that certain.
He stayed quiet for a little while, before asking. "Is that why you're insistent on having a baby so soon?" And she nodded softly in reply. She wanted another child, but didn't want to wait until she was older. Losing her parents before she had even graduated high school was really rough on her.

She tried not to dawn on the thought all too often, but sometimes the thoughts just hit her. She'd remember when she graduated high school, and only her brother and sister were there. She'd remember how painfully empty the house felt. She never wanted her house to feel so empty and loveless like that ever again which was also part of the reason why she wanted such a big family.
She managed to keep all of that back again, knowing that the last thing her parents would want to see was her upset.

"So, if we do have a baby soon, what about it's room? I doubt any of the kids would be all too happy about sharing." He pointed out, biting his lower lip slightly.
She smiled slightly, "That's simple. There's beams outside on the porch which would support a room being above it. I think my dad was at some point planning on an extension of either my old room, or Rosie's old room but he never got around to it, so there is room for another room." She shrugged.

"So, you're saying that there was space for another room?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her. "Because when you said I could stay here, I recall you saying that there wasn't."
"What can I say? I hate a half empty bed. It's called a double for a reason, right?" She smiled innocently, moving over to him.

He wrapped his arm around her when she moved closer. "It is called a double for a reason, liar." He nicknamed her teasingly.
She laughed, "It's only a little white lie, besides, it got you away from Spirit." She smiled at him.
He sighed, and shook his head slightly. "Don't remind me." He murmured, more out of regret. He and Spirit... Well, it was alright between the two of them before she got insanely jealous. He could kind of understand where her jealous came from though, based on right now his arm was around the woman his ex girlfriend was so jealous of.
She turned slightly, her hands going through his hair. "I'll make sure you don't remember her." She grinned, and kissed him softly.

He moved his hands to her upper back, and broke away from the kiss for a little while. "At the risk of ruining the mood, when do you want to start trying for a baby?" He asked.
Alyssa simply smirked, and kissed him again, which answered his question.

She gently pulled him down on top of her, not breaking the kiss. It was now less about talking about it, and actually doing it. She let his hands roam while her heel teased with the top of his trousers before she murmured. "I think we should take it up to the bedroom."

Chapter 2.21 Loonies in a Lift                                                    

Chapter 2.23 Dress Up and Happiness

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AN: Ick! I hate writing ever close to that kind of stuff. *Shudders* not good at it, nor do I like writing it. It's just always an awkwardness sundae with an extra helping of "oh dear, why?" on top with some "Just stop" sprinkles and a cringe cherry on top.

Aaaand now I want ice cream.

This is a lot shorter than most of my regular chapters, but this is purely just them talking about babies, then... Yeah. (Carrie's very awkward when it comes to that.)

Alyssa's thoughts were a little more darker and depressing in this chapter. Whether my mood of late reflected on my writing or whether or not I just got carried away on a brooding cycle... *shrugs* I'm fine with it though.

Maya also sleeps adorably <3

Just look at the cute little-big doggie though! Squee! I don't like being near big dogs in real life, but in the game where my laptop screen protects me from being bit (also the fact that she's a bundle of pixels) they're so cute! 

Chapter 2.21 Loonies in a Lift

"Are you excited, my little birthday boy?" 

"I think you are." Alyssa cooed, grinning at Nathaniel. He was creating a fuss just a few moments ago, but it just seemed like he was in need of a cuddle. It made her smile to see him happy again. "I think you're excited to be a toddler." She grinned.

"Mommy wishes she could just spend the whole day having cuddles." She murmured, more to herself than to Nathaniel. "But she has to go into work for about an hour." She sighed, feeling dread about going back there. She hasn't spoke to Adrian since she told him about her pregnancy. Obviously, it had been a while since they spoke, and she was honestly quite nervous in case she ran into him. "But, before she goes off, someone has to have their birthday." She tried to put the dread of going into work out of her mind and hopefully Nathaniel's birthday should help with that a little bit.

Alyssa helped Nathaniel blow out the candles on his first birthday cake, and it honestly scared her a little bit how quickly her kids were growing up. The next birthday would be for the twins becoming children, and soon enough Belle would be a teenager! That made her feel old thinking that her eldest daughter was soon a teenager. Most of the family celebrated Nathaniel's birthday.

The twins however were more fascinated by the doll house. Melody was rambling on about her own world Melotopia and how all the dolls were her villagers, whereas Ashton just played quietly and made sure to not get in his sister's way.

Nathaniel didn't mind all too much though, and fairly soon went off to join in with his older brother and sister. Meanwhile, Alyssa was getting ready to go into work for about an hour or two.

Alyssa was happy when she got to go. Luckily, she didn't run into Adrian. She was honestly thankful that she didn't run into him, she had no clue how she would react if she did. However, she soon learned how exactly she would react.

Her initial instinct was to run. She froze, unsure of whether or not to just wait for the lift to go down then come back up. But she was better than that, and she was more mature than that. It was a simple ride on the lift that would last about thirty seconds at most. She sighed, and stepped on. She looked away from him though. She may have been mature enough to get in the lift with him, but she sure as hell didn't plan on talking to him.

The tension and discomfort was obvious. The atmosphere was awful, and neither of them could wait until they didn't have to see each other nor be in the same space.
It was as if someone had just decided that bad things would happen to Alyssa. The lift juddered to a stop, and there was the sound of snapping and metal chains clattering against the roof of the lift. Before either of them knew it, the lift fell down.

The falling wasn't necessarily the bad part, it felt like she was weightless when the lift was falling. It was the impact that hurt, and both of them ended up tumbling over it, Alyssa falling right on top of him.
She hated to admit that she had to stay there for a while, just laid on top of him. She needed it. Her heart was pounding from the drop, and part of her honestly just wanted to stay with his arms around her. She hated to admit that it felt safe to her with muscular arms around her. She was a little puzzled by where his arms were. Perhaps somewhere, he did actually care about her?
It also amused her to think of such bizarre things like that.

He sat up slightly, breaking her train of thought and causing her to do the same. "I know you've probably sexually frustrated but can you please get off me?" And like that, the illusion of him actually giving a damn about her was broken.
"I am not-" She started, furious and then sighed angrily, getting off of him. "You know, I almost forgot how much of a narcissistic ass you really are." She stood up, dusting herself off.
He stood up too, and rolled his eyes. "And I forgot what good manners you do have." He spoke sarcastically.

She honestly couldn't believe she once felt something for him. He was so smug, and an egotistical doucebag. She hated him, and wanted nothing more than to get away from him. "Just shut up. We're not going to get anywhere by arguing and name calling." She sighed, irritated.
"So what do you suggest, Gingie?" He smirked, teasing her. "Climb up the broken cables?"
"Not ginger, strawberry blonde. There's a difference, but I'll excuse it this time, a modern neanderthal such as yourself can't comprehend things like hair colours or not being an ass." She smirked.
"That's a lot of big talk from a girl that didn't even go to college." He pointed out, "And you didn't answer my question. What do you suggest we do? Yelling for someone to help is kind of out of the option because hardly anyone's here today."

She sighed, "I don't know, okay? Funnily enough, I've never been in a situation like this." She looked around the lift, and saw alarm button. She pressed it then shrugged. "I guess just wait for someone to help."
He laughed out of disbelief, "What a great plan." He grumbled, but then again he didn't really have anything to add. Any of the things they did in movies could easily end badly, so cable climbing and taking out the ceiling tiles were out of the question. That, and there weren't any lights on outside of the lift, so it was fair to assume that they weren't actually on a floor.
She glared at him, "Look, I'm really not in the mood for you. Arguing isn't going to help anything." She frowned, folding her arms.
"Then how about we both just shut up and don't talk while we're in here?" He suggested.
She half smiled at him, bitterly. "Best idea you've ever had."

The two of them sat in rather awkward silence for a long time. Every so often, Alyssa pressed the little alarm bell out of hope. She was mostly thinking about her family and Tyler.
In her paranoid mind, she couldn't help but wonder about what if she never got out? She honestly hoped that someone would come along sooner or later, otherwise what would happen to her family? Who would get custody of her kids if the worst did happen? Would Tyler get custody? It seems like it would be best because Rosie and Connor already had their hands full with their own kids, and there's no way she would want her kids going to live with Damon. He was a good guy and all but she knew Melody would probably end up being just like Tawni; a younger version of bitchy Vicky, maybe even Belle too... No, Belle wouldn't end up that way, but Melody was still impressionable.
She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts, she hardly even heard Adrian ask, "So, how have you been?"

"I thought there was a no talking rule." Alyssa murmured. "That was the part I liked the most." She sighed, figuring she had to talk to him now.
"I'm revoking the rule." He said simply, shrugging. He hesitated before asking, "How did everything go with the... You know?"He felt rather stupid asking that, and the fact he actually had to ask. He knew that he really wasn't cut out to be a dad though. He was probably the least fatherly guy in the whole world.

"You mean the baby?" She asked, and he nodded in reply. "It's not a poisonous word, you can say it you know." She teased lightly. "And he's fine, and healthy, It was actually his toddler birthday today;  he looks a lot like you."
"It's a boy?" He asked, a little dumbfounded. He never really pictured the baby as having a gender, To be perfectly honest he only really saw it as a nuisance he would possibly think about every now and then, he never actually thought of it as a child (as weird as it may sound.)
She smiled, and nodded. "I called him Nathaniel. I thought it was a sweet name."

He half smiled. "It is a sweet name." He murmured, then sighed. "I know you probably think that I'm an ass for reacting the way I did, but I just couldn't deal with it." He frowned. "I'm not the dad type. I'm not reliable and I'm not good with kids like how you are."
She shook her head slightly. "I get why you were freaked out. It's a scary thing." She half smiled softly at him. "Besides, it's not like I'm exactly struggling, and it's not like I'm alone."
"Your fiance forgave you?" He asked, honestly rather shocked. He recalled that before she was saying they were having problems.

Alyssa shook her head. "I told him I cheated and he left, and then it turned out he cheated on me too. That ship sank fast." She murmured, "One of my old friends came to stay with me and help out with the kids." She smiled. "We've recently started dating again." She spoke almost cautiously, feeling a little uncomfortable telling Adrian about Tyler, but it wasn't like there was anything between her and Adrian anymore. "He's really good with the kids too." She smiled slightly, and it only just dawned on her that Tyler didn't have any of his own kids. She couldn't help but wonder if he ever did want any of his own... Surely he did; he was rather family-oriented.

Then again, what if she never got out of this damn lift? "Someone will come along sooner or later, right?" She murmured, scared out of her mind as she went back to thinking about what would happen. She couldn't help but think of the worst.
He hesitated before murmuring. "Hopefully, because being in here su-" He stopped abruptly, then asked. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" She asked, and scoffed. "I think you're losing it already." She teased, making fun of him.
"No, seriously." Adrian muttered, trying to listen again.
Alyssa was rather sure he had lost his mind after being in here, but then she heard something too. It sounded like barking. "Is that a dog?" She asked, puzzled. "Great, two loonies trapped in a lift." She murmured, barely audible.

"It is, which means we have to be on the floor that keeps animals." He got up, and went over to the lift doors. "The lights are turned off if no ones in there, and someone must have left one of the cage doors open."
Alyssa scoffed, disgusted. "You do realize how wrong it is, keeping animals for experiments. For a start, it's barbaric and secondly our DNA isn't even similar-"
"Save it for the Peta protests, alright? Most of the animals are gone, last time I checked there were only a few animals left and looking for re-homing. That's a tangent though. The main thing is, we're on a proper floor, and if we can get the doors open, we can get out."

He turned to face her, "But we don't have anything to pry them apart with." He sighed, realizing they were just as stuck as they were before the discovery.
"What about my shoes? The heel could work like a crowbar does." She suggested, grinning.
He looked at her doubtfully. "I think that's possibly the worst idea you've had."
"Got a better idea?" She challenged, and he didn't answer. Smirking at her victory, she leaned on him and took off one of her shoes and handed it to him. "Careful with them." She warned.
He took the shoe. "No promises." Going up to the door, he shoved the heel into the small gap between the lift doors and tried to pry them apart. Alyssa winced at the sight of her shoes being mistreated, but she knew she would much rather get out of the damn lift.
So much so, she honest to God felt like kissing him when he managed to get the doors open. It was just through the double doors after the lift and they were away from that damn lift for good.

Once out, she certainly gave the dog her appreciation though. "Aren't you a good-" She leaned back a little, so she could see what gender the dog was "-girl?" She continued, cooing. "You're a good girl, aren't you?" She kissed the dog on the top of it's nose, grinning. She really has missed having a dog around.

"Be careful around her Alyssa. She's an Alsatian. Those dogs are known for being violent." Adrian kept his distance from the dog, mostly because of that reason.

"She's so sweet though. She's friendly." She smiled, and noticed she was the only one left. Alyssa asked, "Is she the last one that still needs a home?" She recalled that Melody really wanted a dog, and Belle, Ashton and Nathaniel would probably love a dog too. She had to talk to Tyler before, but it's not like the house wasn't ready for a dog. There was still a dog bed, and a dog house outside and a food bowl and toys. 

"Well, there's no other dogs or cats here so I presume she is." He shrugged, still uneasy about the dog.

She smiled, "I think I may have found a home for her." She grinned. 

"Hey Tyler, it's me." She spoke while making kissy faces at the dog, which she had decided to call Maya, hoping that she could keep her.

"Alyssa? Are you alright? You called about an hour ago saying that you were on your way home." He sounded a mix of worried and relieved. 

"Something happened at work, just a little mishap." She chose not to tell him the exact truth, it would only worry him further. "There's a place here at work where they used to keep animals, and there's this dog-" 

"You want to keep the dog, don't you?" He asked.

"I've already called her Maya, and she's really cute and friendly. Melody also told me that she really wanted a dog, and I bet the Belle, Ash and Nathaniel will love her too." She grinned, feeling that she had rather good reasons for keeping Maya.

"Maya? If you want to keep her, we can. I'm just glad you're alright. I was worried something had happened."

She grinned. "Good, because I don't want to leave her here. She's the last dog without a home." She frowned, them recalled what she was thinking about in the lift. "There's something I want to talk to you about as well when I get home."

"You know, I think you forgot to mention that Maya wasn't just a little dog." He pointed out, glancing over at where Maya was sniffing Ashton.

Alyssa shrugged. "She's harmless, and she's really friendly. If anything, the kids are more dangerous than her." She laughed a little, and looked over and sighed at Melody who was scratching up the sofa. "And at least Maya hasn't yet destroyed the furniture." She shook her head. 

"It's just who she is. Anyway," He changed the subject. "What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked,

"Can it wait until the kids are asleep? I want us to be able to talk without any interruptions." She smiled at him, as he raised an eyebrow at her."It's not that long until it's their bedtime." She grinned, and kissed him softly before seeing to Melody and making sure she stopped scratching the sofa.

So, after the kids were asleep, Alyssa and Tyler sat down on the couch to talk. "So, what was it you wanted to talk about?" He asked, and couldn't help but glance at Maya who was fast asleep on the other couch. To say that she had only been in the house a few hours, she certainly made herself feel at home.

"I wanted to talk about kids." She spoke hesitantly, not so sure how he'd react to this conversation. 

"What about them? Aren't they asleep anyway?" He wondered why she wanted to talk about her kids, or what she wanted to say about them.

She shook her head. "Not my own kids. I wanted to talk about the possibility of our own." She spoke rather cautiously, and knew this would probably be a long conversation.

Chapter 2.20 Daydreamer                                                                                  

Chapter 2.22 Discussion

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Remind me to never shoot in a lift again. That was quite a pain in the butt.

I know a lift falling is quite unlikely, but still a chance. That, and I wanted a way for Alyssa and Adrian to talk, and I figured that neither of them would voluntarily talk to each other. Also, I was planning on getting them another dog (even back when Toby was alive) so two birds with one stone :)

Also, something rather interesting happened at Nathaniel's toddler birthday...

Birthday cake fire! It's my first ever birthday cake fire, and I got rather panicked. I made Tyler put it out because Alyssa was still holding Nathaniel. She didn't freak out or anything. She just looked off into the distance of the kitchen area. Belle was the only one who was freaking out. The twins were still playing with the doll house, and then Tyler almost got burned to death (but I managed to put the flames out.) and when the firefighter did come, she just watched the now okay Tyler put out the flames while Alyssa was outside and just looking into the window while Belle was still freaking out.

And then my game crashed. I've got to say, it was quite a way to crash by starting a fire.

So, luckily it was as if it never happened :3 apart from this one picture I have, and I think I may have one of the firewoman watching Tyler put out the fire.

Heh. Silly firewoman just watching. I might as well have not even blooming called as the fire was almost taken care of before she got there.

Last note on this very long AN, is that I love Alsatian dogs <3 They're also called German Shepard dogs but Alsatian is a better name for them I think.