Chapter 8: What makes a family

“I am a failure….”

Eira was taking her fertility malfunction very badly. They were trying for baby so hard it was almost exhausting, but it was not working. She felt miserably all the time and she just couldn’t stop thinking about the unfairness of the whole situation. There are hundreds of careless women who got pregnant by accident or “per incuriam” while she, the woman whom only dream is to have a big happy family, is struggling to do so. The world is full of unwanted children and yet, she can’t get a child she wants so bad. Why, just… why?

And in that exact moment, the thought hit her like a train. Of course. She can’t get pregnant because destiny (or Watcher or whatever) wants her to take care of the baby who was already born! And is waiting for her somewhere out there in the orphanage.

She was losing no time and contacted local adoption agency.

‘Gotta adopt them all!

Adrian was very supportive. He wanted more children, too, and he didn’t really care how they come to the family.
And in the blink of an eye, paperwork was over and everything was ready.

“New baby, but no new stretch marks? That’s what I call a win-win situation!”

Adrian and Eira are now proud parents of a bouncing baby boy. They named him Damon (means “to tame” and it’s a name from classical greek myth about Damon and Phytias. Phytias was sentenced to death but he needed to settle some affairs so Damon took his place in prison. If Phytias didn’t return, Damon would be executed instead of him. But Phytias did return and the king was so impressed with the loyalty and power of their friendship that he let them both go free.) Let’s hope our baby boy will grow to be as loyal as the man he was named after.

“Hey, little man, welcome home.”

Adrian was deeply impressed with his new son and the feelings Damon has induced in him. It was not only about a joy of becoming a parent once again. It was about providing a home for an abandoned child in need, about giving him a chance to have a life worth living. It was about turning an unwanted child to a child that was very much wanted and loved. And that was incredibly overwhelming.

Damon: ‘Wee! Mom is fun!’

Eira was astonished how rewarding it felt to be an adoptive mother. Having baby Damon around has made her heart grows in ways she didn’t even know were possible.

But not everyone in the family was over the moon. Castor felt like this whole situation is a mess. He didn’t understand why his parents wanted to have this new boy around. He wasn’t even a real baby, Mom just bought it somewhere and brought it home! And besides, they already had a boy, him! Why did they need another?

“They should have bought a TV instead….”

It’s hard to share parents’ attention. Eira tried her best not to neglect her older children. Melia didn’t mind the new sibling (it seemed to me she didn’t even notice 😀 ) but Castor felt neglected no matter what.

E: “You should explain to your brother that he is not being replaced…”                                                        M:”He won’t listen to me, mom. He’ll say that I am a traitor who joined enemy’s forces.”

“I shouldn’t let him read all those sci-fi,” Eira sighed in despair. She was feeling really bad about it, but she found on SimParentForum that jealousy is completely normal when younger child joins the family. So she decided to let it go and hoped it would pass eventually.

But later that day, another thing happened and it added to Eira’s parenting worries.

“A morning sickness?? Could this be?”

Looks like those fertility issues are over! Maybe Eira didn’t have like… somatic problems, maybe she was just too stressed of the vision of never having another child after all those failed attempts. And it was tough for her so she ended up trying too hard.
But with Damon’s arrival, she relaxed a bit and everything seems to be working now!
She didn’t wait with sharing the news.

“Guess what! We’re having another baby!”

Adrian was thrilled. He finally had an appropriate, excited reaction (he shrugged his shoulders when Eira annouced she was pregnant with Castor, remember? 😀 )

“Eira, that’s GREAT! I can’t believe it!”

But after the initial joy, he got all serious and said: “But you’re telling Castor….”
This part worried Eira, too. Castor was already devastated from having Damon around. It’s gonna be hard for him.

“Listen, Castor, you are going to be a big brother again!”

“What?! Another baby?”

“Oh, come on, Castor. You are a big boy now. Siblings are great! Don’t you like having Melia around?” Eira really wanted to cheer him up.
“I do, but…”
“Listen to me,” she continued, “I have always dreamed of having siblings when I was a kid. Being an only child is lonely, my love. I was all alone all my childhood. I was so alone, I had to talk to pidgeons and wild animals, can you imagine? It’s a great blessing to have a loving family, Castor.”

“No matter how many babies we have, we’ll always love you the same.”

“I know, mom, I’m sorry,” Castor said, “I hope this new baby will like my favourite captain, you know. Everyone else is obssessed with Picard and…”
As soon as Castor started with his (more or less) monologue about captains, Eira knew his crisis was over and he’s her little geek again.

“Everything is back to perfect!”