A Clean Slate

Tonight was the night. Quidel Blackhawk was my fourth Baby Daddy, father to Dylan and Dakota. Although I had conceived children with four other men since him, I had never officially broken up with Quidel. I had received a letter from Quidel recently that prompted me to take action. Quidel wrote, “I’ve been too shy to say it in person, but I really care about you a lot. Do you feel something for me?” Clearly, he was still holding out hope for more than I was prepared to offer, and I didn’t want to string him along.

I drove to Quidel’s house and saw that the lights were on. I rang the doorbell, and when Quidel saw it was me, he smiled and invited me inside.

It was a full moon tonight, which made it easier, yet at the same time more difficult, to break up with Quidel. This was the first time I’d seen him in his werewolf form. I didn’t feel the undeniable animal attraction towards him that had been so hard to resist before. I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe that would make it a little easier.

As I looked at Quidel’s transformed features, I recalled how he looked in his human form, and my heart warmed at the memory. Quidel had a ruggedly handsome face and mesmerizing golden eyes. Little did I know when we met that Quidel’s piercing eyes were attributed to his werewolf genes.

As if he could see into my memory, Quidel came closer and smiled. “I wanted to talk with you about the letter you sent me,” I said. He looked at me expectantly, hoping I was there to rekindle an old flame.

I broke the news to Quidel as gently as I could, but he didn’t take it well. He wanted to take our relationship to the next level, not downgrade it to “just friends.”

At this point, I was wishing Quidel was in his human form after all. I’d never angered a werewolf before, and though I knew he wouldn’t hurt me, I had to admit that between Quidel’s fangs and claws, he looked intimidating. Maybe having this conversation on the night of a full moon wasn’t the best idea after all.

But, it was too late for regrets. I had said what I needed to say. I apologized to Quidel for not having this conversation sooner and asked if we could still be friends, if only for the sake of our twins. He said it may take some time for his heart to heal but agreed to try.

I said goodnight to Quidel, got back in my car and drove to Darin’s house with the same goal in mind. Just yesterday, I had received a letter from Darin that said, “Um, I’m not so great at writing these things (and worse at saying them), but maybe you could ask me out sometime? If you wanted to?” It wasn’t the most eloquent letter I’d ever received, but it was sweet and sincere, just like Darin.

When I arrived at Darin’s house, he had just gotten home from work at the theater and was still in his work clothes. After letting me inside, he sauntered towards me with a sly grin on his face that said, I hope this is a booty call.

Before things got complicated, I told Darin I had received his letter and said we needed to talk. I could see Darin becoming defensive, preparing for the worst. I got straight to the point and said that we would no longer be lovers. Darin lashed out, not wanting to hear what he knew was inevitable.

I reminded him that our arrangement was that once I gave birth, we would become “just friends” or part ways.

“That doesn’t make it any easier to hear, Jill,” said Darin. “You know I was hoping you’d change your mind about that. But, I don’t want to lose your friendship, and I want to be able to see Hannah and Hunter without any hard feelings between us. So, OK. I’ll go along with it.” I thanked Darin for being understanding, gave him a hug goodnight and started driving home.

It had been a long night, but I had successfully moved my last two outstanding relationships from the “lovers” to the “friends” column. My mission was complete, and I could start tomorrow unfettered — with a clean slate.

The next morning, the kids got ready for school as usual. Gabrielle was the last one in the shower and missed the bus. Instead of riding her bike like most kids her age, my little witch rode her broom to school. As I watched her from the window, I smiled at the sight of Gabby’s little broom, complete with training wheels.

Meanwhile, Hannah and Hunter had woken up hungry after a good night’s sleep. After getting my morning snuggles from them both, I fed them their usual breakfast.

Then I put Hannah down on the floor to play while I taught Hunter to talk. Hunter seemed to pick up food-related words the most quickly. I guess my little guy has a one track mind.

When the kiddos got home from school, it was time to celebrate a couple of birthdays. We kept the parties low-key, with just our immediate family this time. Gabrielle blew out the candles on her birthday cake. As a child, Gabrielle was a Genius and a Slob who Loves the Outdoors. When she became a teenager, Gabrielle also became Insane. And, she’s a witch. Between Gabrielle and Faith, I’ve got my hands full.

Gavin was up next to blow out his candles. As a child, Gavin was Artistic, Excitable and an avid Angler. As a teenager, Gavin became a Daredevil. His father Dante’s signature reddish-brown hair is even more apparent now.

The next morning, I awoke to slurping sounds and was stunned to see Faith licking a plate near my bedside. It must’ve been left on the nightstand overnight by one of the kids who had a slice of birthday cake and didn’t clean up after themselves. When I asked Faith what she was doing, she replied, “Having breakfast, Mom.” I told her it was a disgusting habit and that she had better knock it off or she’d find herself in time out.

Faith just flashed an evil grin and left the room with the plate in hand. I guess evil teenagers don’t scare easily. I could hear her cackle and shuddered at the thought of the child I loved so dearly becoming completely out of control.

I walked out of the bedroom just in time to see Faith targeting poor, sweet Hunter with one of her dastardly tricks. She motioned to Hunter like she was going to pick him up, to which he eagerly responded by raising his arms towards his big sister.

Then, as she’d done to Hannah just days before, she stole Hunter’s candy. Stealing candy from a baby — that’s no way to treat your little brother.

Of course, Hunter was despondent and cried his little eyes out until I scooped him up and comforted him. Faith just smiled and licked her lollipop. I hated to admit it, but Faith intimidated me with her lack of compassion and complete disregard for the consequences of her actions. Nothing I said or did to her, no punishments she received ever seemed to make a difference.

Still, there’s a lot of joy in our family. The rest of the kiddos are a lot of fun to be around. Even as a teenager, Emma still loves to do the smustle, and I catch her dancing anywhere there’s music. Her favorite place is the backyard since she loves the outdoors.

Actually, both my fairy teens love to dance. I guess it’s in their DNA. And, the faces that Evan pulls are just as precious as Emma’s.

Gabrielle joined her siblings outside to practice her magic. She’s still a novice witch with much to learn, but she was thrilled when I bought her a wand for her birthday and has been practicing with it ever since.

After he finished his homework, Gavin offered to help finish teaching Hunter to walk. I gladly accepted the help.

Trying to distract Faith from any more evil deeds, I asked if she’d help teach Hannah to walk in the backyard, and she agreed. I felt better about leaving Hannah in Faith’s hands with Evan and Emma nearby just in case.

I didn’t know how much longer the summer festival would be in town and decided it would be a good time to check it out while the kids were all occupied. When I entered the park, I saw a couple people competing in a hot dog eating contest. As I looked a little closer, I realized the man was Garret Jones, one of the guys I’d seen when creating my online dating profile upon arriving in town. Strangely enough, I hadn’t run into him until now. Then again, with seven kids, I don’t get out very often.

Garret lost the contest to his opponent and started heading over towards the skating rink. I caught up to him and introduced myself. We chatted a bit, and Garret said, “Hey, behind us … isn’t that Marco Hernandez? I heard a rumor that you and he were…” Before Garret could finish, I told him about the 100 Baby Challenge and explained why he may have heard rumors about me and several men in town. He nodded his head and said he understood now.

From the corner of my eye, I could see that Marco had finished skating and was standing nearby, watching me talk with Garret. When I turned around a few minutes later, Marco was gone.

Garret and I walked over to get snow cones and continued our conversation as late afternoon turned into evening. I asked Garret if he was single, and he replied with a smile that he was. I said, “Me, too.” Garret said he had to run but asked me for my number and said he’d call me. I said, “I’d like that, Garret.”

As I was heading out of the park, I ran into Marco. He was in a much better mood than the last time I saw him. Marco asked how his son Benjamin and my other kids were doing. I told him Benjamin had moved out quite a while ago and was doing well. I also told Marco that things were a lot more complicated now that I had seven kids at home, including one who’s evil and another who’s insane. There was genuine concern in his eyes.

After we chatted a bit, it was time for me to get home. I gave Marco a hug and said, “Goodnight. It was so nice to see you again. Please stay in touch.”

As I drove home that night, I thought about how great it felt to be able to meet someone new guilt free. There was no other man in town who still considered me his girlfriend, lover or significant other. It was time for me to find a new Baby Daddy. Will it be Garret, or will someone else make a move before he gets the chance? Timing is everything, and my biological clock is ticking.