A new start

[Bee]

Five Years Later.

Declan, in hid mid twenties, yawned and stretched, it was his last shift of work until the christmas break and he was feeling the bubble of hope and excitement rise in his chest as he chanced a look at the clock on his laptop and realized that in just fifteen minutes he'd be free for an entire two weeks.

24 year old Bridget was at home, heavily pregnant and chasing their two year old daughter Anna around whilst India was at her last day of grade one. They had not gotten to build their dream house just yet and were crammed into their small two bedroom apartment. Neither of the pair knew how they would fit their expanding family in this house, as Bridget was pregnant with identical twins, two more girls.

Declan had remarked that although they did not have a bedroom for the twins at least they didnt have to worry about buying any clothes for them as they would just receive all the hand-me-downs from their two older sisters.

Bridget didnt know if this was meant to make her feel any better about it or not, she'd hated it when they were teenagers and could only buy India clothes from the op shop and now her other three daughters would receive these clothes which made her angry that all four of her girls would have to suffer with having hand-me-down op shop clothes.

Declan was never fazed by it though, he knew that the girls wouldnt realize that they were in op shop clothes for years and that they bought India a few new outfits each season anyway.

Speaking of Declan, he's just left the office building for the holidays, as it is 3:30 when he leaves he drives straight to India's school and picks her up.

"Daddy!" India runs up and hugs him, "Has mummy had the babies?".

"No they're not due til January second sweetie" he reminded her for the hundredth time, ever since she'd found out that she was going to have two more sisters she'd asked everyday if her mum had had the babies yet.

"Mr Napier can i have a word?" India's teacher came over and asked, she'd always been disapproving of Declan and Bridget due to their age and she still seemed to have that air of disappointment now as she lead him and India into the classroom.

"India can you go find Mr Clark for me and ask him to clean the art room?" Miss Templeton asked India.

India nodded and skipped away.

"Mr Napier i've noticed something about your daughter" Miss Templeton started, "I'm not sure if i should bring this up without your wife here, but she's very heavily pregnant from what i've heard from India".

"Yes she is" Declan said feeling nervous that India had said something bad about Bridget and himself.

"India is very bright for her age, she does all the maths problems that i set in a matter of minutes and can spell and write far above all other children her age" Miss Templeton told him.

"So what does that mean for Indy?" Declan asked feeling pride in his chest that his daughter was intelligent for her age.

"I want to skip India forward to grade three next year" Miss Templeton said, "I understand that this is a big jump and you'll have to discuss this with your wife and of course India before anything happens but i am going to recommend this to the principal this afternoon".

Declan's face broke into a wide grin, "I'll discuss this with my wife and India tonight and I will get back to you before the new year".

"Here is my number" Miss Templeton wrote it down, "I look forward to hearing from you".

India came in then and smiled, "I found him! he was in the library trying to borrow books for his daughter!".

Declan smiled at his daughter, the spitting image of her mother, "Lets go home Indy, mummy and I have something very special to discuss with you".

"Have the babies come?" India asked.

"No the babies have not come" Declan grabbed her and tickled her, "You will be the first to know when the babies come!".

[sophie]

Wow! four girls and two of them twins! I pity Declan when he has four teenage daughters!
Please update soon!

[Bee]

"Oh thank god you're home can you please entertain her for a while?" Bridget pushed Anna towards Declan who stared down at his daughter who was covered in dirt from head to toe from playing outside.

"Okay come on little miss" Declan picked up Anna, "lets go get your changed into your jarmies then you me and India can play with your toys for a while?".

Anna smiled widely at her dad and allowed him to carry her off to the bedroom to be changed.

"Mummy" India turned to her mother, "Miss Templeton told me to show you this".

Bridget turned around from the broccoli that she'd been cutting up to face her daughter, "Whats that Indy?".

India pushed a story into Bridgets hands.

"I'll have a look at it as soon as i've finished with dinner" Bridget told India.

"Why cant we just have McDonalds like Jimmys family?" India asked.

"McDonalds rots your insides" Bridget told her, "And its only for special occasions, to make them more special!".

India sighed and went in search of her father and sister.

"You're getting to be a big girl arent you?" Declan said to his daughter who was sitting on her bed while he put socks on her, "You're going to be as big as India soon!".

"No she isnt!" India came in, "I'm always going to be the biggest!".

"You never know Indy" Declan smiled at her, "your Aunt Clara is bigger then your mummy and she's only fourteen!".

"Yes but mummy is a midget!" India told him which made him laugh.

"She's not that small!" He smiled, "And anyway you're the spitting image of your mother so maybe you'll turn out to be a midget too!".

India shook her head, "I'm going to be like you daddy!".

"I'm not that tall either" he laughed, "Come on girls lets go play with your toys in the lounge room".

Bridget heard the girls and her husband come back through the bedroom and wondered if they'd ever have a house big enough to accommodate the six of them once the babies are born. She wanted to be able to provide for her four daughters but she had no idea how they would cope, Declan was already working eleven hour days most days and rarely even had the chance to see Anna just to keep up with the growing bills which seemed to multiply every financial year.

It had been a shock to find out that she was pregnant again, they'd decided long ago that two kids was enough so Declan had gone through with a vasectomy, he'd said at the time that he'd never imagined that at twenty-five he'd have had one of those but with their two daughters they thought that their family was complete. But a week later she'd found out that she was pregnant and she did not know how to feel about that, she had felt like a failure purely because they had no room for the baby. It wasnt until they'd gone for their first scan and found out that it was twins that they really started freaking out over it. They had tried to take out loans but no bank would help them in their current financial situation especially as young adults with a seven year old and two year old whom they still needed to find some way to feed.

So they coped in the only way possible, they started buying homebrand everything and did not buy anything that wasnt essential and started to save up a small amount of money which would go towards renting a bigger house. But the chance to rent this larger house never came about as they had never found a house in their price range sadly.

Bridget decided to sit down while Declan played with the girls and give finding a new house one more shot and was surprised to find a house that suited them in the local paper.

"Dec!" She yelled to him.

"Yeah?" he came in holding Anna.

"Listen to this" She began reading out loud, "A family home, a four bedroom two bathroom house for rent, perfect for a young family or a couple who are to start a family, close to schools and shops with a large backyard, $220 a week contact Gene Russell before the new year!".

Declans eyes widened, "$220 a week?! they must be insane to do that for that price! lets go check it out tomorrow!!".

"I'll ring" Bridget grinned at her husband before picking up the phone.

"Hello Gene Russell speaking" A mans voice came.

"Hello my name is Bridget Napier I just saw your house in the paper and i'm wondering if it is still available to rent?" she asked.

"How soon would you move in?" He asked.

"As soon as possible!" Bridget said excitedly.

"Could you move in before the new year?" He asked.

"Of course we can!" Bridget grinned, "We're due to have twins on the second day of next year and we need a bigger house".

"Come to the house at 11am tomorrow and have a look around i'm sure you'll be happy with the set up and location" He said to her, "Thank you so much we need someone renting our house it's been vacant for months!".

Bridget then hung up and moved as fast into the lounge room as her pregnant belly would let her to throw her arms around her husband, "They want us to come have a look tomorrow!".

Declan grinned widely, "You hear that girls, we're moving!".

"Does that mean i get my own room!?" India asked.

"If we get this house then yes!" Bridget grinned at her daughter.

"YES I GET MY OWN ROOM!" India shouted while dancing around the room.

The next morning Bridget and Declan loaded the girls into the car and set off to the house which was on the other side of town to their house.

"It's going to be a big move" Declan sighed, "Getting everything from here to over there is going to be difficult!".

"I'll help you daddy!" India smiled.

"Me too" Anna added.

"Well if i have my girls with me how can I ever fail!" Declan grinned as they pulled into the driveway of the house.

"This is amazing!" Bridget looked at the brown brick home, "How can anyone ever refuse this house?".

"Maybe theres a spooky catch?" Declan said in a ghost voice.

"You wish there was" Bridget smirked as they took their daughters out of the car.

"Hi I'm Gene, this is my wife Lilian and our daughter Cassie" Gene held out his hand which Declan shook, "Want to come see the house?".

They nodded and allowed Gene to show them around the house.

"Well what do you think?" Gene asked as they stood in the master bedroom.

"It's perfect!" Bridget smiled at Declan.

"Yes we'll take it" Declan told him.

Genes eyes widened, "Really?".

"Yes when can we move in?" Declan asked, "I want to get everything settled for when the babies come".

"You can start tomorrow if you want, thank you so much!" Gene grinned.

[sophie]

Ooh...I wonder if there is a catch!

[Bee]

"He sounds too keen Declan" Rebecca told her son later as she came to pick up the girls so that they could have time to pack themselves.

"I dont care if he's too keen he's giving us a house!" Declan grinned at his wife, "Girls are you ready?" he called over to their bedroom.

"Coming daddy!" India came running out holding Anna, "We just had to put our matching tops on!".

Bridget and Declan looked at each other and laughed, it had been an ongoing thing that their daughters liked to match when they went out, neither Bridget nor Declan had pushed this on the girls they did it themselves.

"Oh you two look beautiful, twins just five years apart!" Rebecca smiled at her two granddaughters, come on anyway Grandpa Paul is also looking after Chloe and Jye!".

"YAY BYE MUMMY BYE DADDY!" India ran over and hugged and kissed both her parents, Anna copied her movements and they followed their grandmother out of the house.

"Well what do you think Mrs Napier, shall we start packing?" Declan grinned at Bridget.

"Well we cant do anything else while the balloon his here" Bridget pointed at her stomach.

Declan laughed and they went about packing books away from the bookcase.

"Oh my god remember this?!" Bridget pulled out a book from the back of the shelf, "Dec it's your 21st book!".

Declan looked over and saw the book which she meant, it had a photo of Declan and Bridget kissing a 2 year old India on her cheeks and the words 'Happy 21st Birthday to the best son, brother, husband, father and friend in the world'.

"Who made that?" Declan asked coming over, "It was Donna and Ringo wasnt it?".

"Yep, this is amazing Dec look at what they wrote" Bridget laughed.

'To the crim that turned into my best mate, you are one truly amazing person Dec, dont ever stop telling yourself that, you stuck by Bridget and India when they needed you and you are the best father i know, i am going to aspire to be exactly like you when my baby is born, and i hope that i turn out half as good at it as you did! cant wait to see you at your 30th! - Ringo'.

"He was really looking forward to that baby..." Didge put her arms around Declan, "Its such a same, Jye never got to meet him...".

Declan frowned, the pain of loosing his best mate crashed down on him again, it had been Steph who had run him over and killed him in a motorcycle accident two days before Jye was born, Donna had gone into labour at seven months after finding out and had given birth to Jye who had spend his first forty days in intensive care.

"Look at this one" Bridget pointed at the message from Oliver.

'Dec, my little Bro, I didnt know you for the first sixteen years of your life but you are definitely the missing spot that used to always be there, you filled it mate, I hope you have the best 21st tonight, dont party too hard! remember you still have a daughter to wake up to in the morning! and i doubt you'll get any sympathy from Bridget, I'm so very proud of you and how you've handled fatherhood so far, you're a strong man and you prove that just by the time that you spend with India and Bridget, I hope you have an awesome 21st again, we love you Declan and Uncle Declan, Oliver, Carmella and Chloe x'.

"He was so proud of you even then!" Bridget smiled at him.

"Yeah, if i'm ever glad of anything it'd be meeting my brother, life would not be the same without him!" Declan smiled, "Lets get packing though".

Bridget nodded knowing that eventually she'd be finding more and more treasures during that day.

[sophie]

That was sweet!

[Bee]

"Mummy when are we going home?" India asked Bridget a week later as she cooked dinner in their brand new kitchen.

"We are home sweetie, this is our home" Bridget told her.

"No its not, we live at 6 Ocean grove" India told her.

Bridget was surprised that her seven year old daughter had remember their old address, "No sweetie we moved out of that house, that's why all your stuff is here".

"Oh..." India looked saddened, "Can Jimmy still come over?".

"Yeah but his mummy might have to drive him now" Bridget said.

Jimmy had been India's best friend from when they were two years old, because they lived in the same row of apartments and Jimmy's room backed on to India's so they'd spend many nights knocking on the walls to each other in secret codes that they had made up during the day. Jimmy's mum was younger then Bridget was when she had Jimmy and his father had not stuck around being only fifteen himself when the baby was born. It made Bridget thankful that she'd had Declan there with her all the way through the pregnancy and that she was now a married woman with her third and fourth children on the way and not struggling with funds as Jimmy's mum was still doing.

"His mummy's car got stolen by his daddy" India informed her.

"His daddy?" Bridget asked, "Dont you mean his mummy's boyfriend?".

"No he met his daddy last week" India told her, "And his daddy stole his mummy's car".

Bridget tried to register this shock, "When did he tell you this?".

"At school today" India told her, "His nanna had to drive him to school".

Bridget thought about calling Jimmy's mum to ask if she needed any assistance but decided on checking her facebook later to see if anything had been written about it.

"How are my beautiful girls?" Declan came in smiling.

"Hey Dec!" Bridget smiled as India ran up to give her daddy a hug.

"One, Two..." Declan started counting first pointing to India then to Bridget then to Bridgets stomach "Three, Four...We seem to be missing one girl?".

Bridget and India both laughed, "Anna's at your mothers house for the night" Bridget told him.

"I wanted to go too but mummy said that i had school in the morning!" India said outraged, "But grandma says i can go there on saturday night".

"Can she take Anna too?" Declan sent a flirtatious look at Bridget.

"Dec i can barely move with this" Bridget pointed at her huge belly.

Declan laughed "I know i know".

"Are we moving again?" India asked.

"No why?" Declan asked her.

"Because you wanted grandma to take me and Anna and mummy said that she can barely move with the babies there" India said.

Declan and Bridget laughed, "No we arent moving Indypants" Declan grinned at her, "Do you want to verse your old man at Wii Bowling now though?".

India seemed satisfied with that and they left for the lounge room to give Bridget an opportunity to cook the rest of dinner. But just as she was putting vegies onto the plates she heard a pop followed by the sound of gushing water.

"DEC" Bridget yelled looking down at the puddle on the floor, "I think i might have either wet myself or...".

Declan bolted in, "Oh my god, oh my god".

"Do you want to help your wife out to the car or something?" Bridget asked him.

Declan took her hand and lead her out calling for India to go find the overnight bag in their bedroom.

"Is this it daddy?" India came out to the car holding a bag.

"Yes that's in, get in the car and seatbelts on i'm going to take you to grandma's house" Declan told her.

"But its a school night" India said.

"Your mummy's having the babies" Declan told her.

"Cant i come? i want to see my sisters!" India moaned in the backseat.

"they might not be born for ages Indy, even a day but you need to get to bed early so that you can go to school tomorrow" Declan told her.

"I dont want to go to school i want to be with mummy!" India started to cry in the backseat.

"You're not being very big sisterly like right now" Declan told her.

India pouted and glared at her father, this glare did not leave her face as they said goodbye to her at her grandma's house or as they left to go to the hospital.

"She'll be fine" Declan said as they drove into the hospital, "And of course she doesnt want to see what happens when a baby is actually born...".

"No she doesnt" Bridget gritted her teeth through a contraction.

"I didnt even want to see it" Declan muttered low enough so that Bridget couldnt hear him.

[sophie]

Haha, love it! I don't blame Dec, but I would definitely make my husband be in the room with me whether he wanted to or not!