The triplets woke up bright and early the morning following their birthday, they were very excited about starting school that morning and, over the course of a game of make-believe, pestered Nia constantly with questions about it.
It seemed no time at all that morning before they were all piling into the bright yellow school bus.
Mira and her parents were quite happy that the triplets were now old enough to go to school, as it left time for Mira and Tamara to concentrate on potty training the twins while Joshua pottered around in his garden.
Of course, potty training wasn't all that Mira needed to get done with the twins, they both needed to be taught how to walk.
And Tamara spoiled them rotten as well once the basic learning was done, reading books to them and playing with them.
Although Dorilys still refused to be parted from the odd toy she'd seemingly found somewhere, no matter how many other toys Mira found to try and distract her with.
With only two toddlers to worry about, Mira even managed to find some time for a bit of exercise, both for body and mind.
When the older children got home from school they all four sat down around the kitchen table and worked on their homework together.
Having got that out of the way, they all scattered to different activities. Kyra was fascinated with inventing stuff and had begun fiddling with scrap metal in an effort to see what she could do with it.
Kariny was equally fascinated with the old chemistry set which had been stored out in the barn - she was convinced she could concoct all sorts of interesting potions with that!
Karal on the other hand didn't feel strongly drawn to any activity so he just played around on the settee.
Nia decided to take the opportunity to tackle her aunt over something that had been bothering her. "Aunt Mira, why do I live with you and Grandma and Granddad? Why don't I live with my mother? And why have I never met my little sister who does live with my mother?"
"I'm afraid Nia that some extremely bad things happened to your mother around the time you were conceived and born. An evil vampire managed to kidnap her and kept her prisoner for some time, you were conceived during that time and although she was rescued before you were born she was very badly affected by the experience and was in no state to look after you so she asked our parents to bring you up for her.
"That said, I think it's about time she got to know you and you certainly should have the chance to meet your little sister."
Their discussion was interrupted by Tamara calling the whole family to the evening meal, and Mira made sure that the topic wasn't revisited during the meal.
Not long after that the children were taken on a field trip to the local theatre
And Mira took advantage of the fact that they wouldn't be home until later than usual to call her sister as soon as she got back from work (her maternity leave had at last run out and she'd had to go back to work).
"Menolly, your older daughter is going to be a teenager very soon. I'm arranging a party at home for her with a few of the kids from school and I want you to come and meet her at last, oh and bring Bobbie, it's shameful that the two of them have never met"
Menolly's initial response wasn't overly keen, but eventually she agreed to come to the party and bring her younger daughter.
Nia wasn't quite sure how she felt about meeting her mother - yes she felt odd never having met her, but at the same time it felt like a bit of an intrusion. After all, if her mother didn't want her then why should she come and interrupt her birthday? Still, she went over and introduced herself because she didn't want to embarrass the family who cared about her and had brought her up.
Fortunately, Menolly and Bobbie had arrived shortly before cake time so Nia was able to distract herself from the awkwardness by blowing out her candles.
She aged up into a lovely, if somewhat dramatic, teenager who resembled her mother to a startling degree.
Menolly didn't stay long at the party, pleading the need to get Bobbie home before her bedtime, but before she left she did invite Nia to join the two of them at a local playpark that weekend. With all the guests gone, the family sat down to eat up the birthday cake together.
Mira's hard work after her maternity leave had impressed her superiors and she'd been offered a promotion, this did however have a downside in that her on-duty hours weren't the only ones she was expected to work - she was also expected to interview townspeople at various times.
Left at home the triplets played together on the blocks table for a while, with three of them working together they were sure they could build a stupendous structure!
Nia spent much of the morning painting, trying to calm her nerves before her meeting with her mother and sister.
And Kyra trekked over to the other side of town to rummage through the junkyard in search of scrap and inspiration.
Nia was very nervous when she showed up at the park to meet with her mother. She was a little surprised to find that Menolly didn't have her latest boyfriend with her as she had expected to meet him this afternoon, but Menolly just shrugged and admitted that she'd dumped Tempest Ocean that morning having become bored with their relationship.
They spend some time awkwardly getting to know one another and when Nia admitted how much she loved art Menolly had a surprising offer to make.
"I know some people who run a really good art school, it's a boarding school and they only accept the best. If you passed their entrance tests I could get you in there if you wanted... If Mira's worried about what might happen then I happen to know that the school is run by a circle of good witches who have it surrounded by layers and layers of protection spells, there's no way any vamps would get at you there. Or if you wanted you could move home with me."
Nia was taken quite aback at this offer, she'd only just met her mother and already the woman was offering to send her to an exclusive boarding school...
"I, I don't know what to say, I mean I love art and I really want to be an artist but going away to boarding school, that's a really big decision. Do you mind if I think about it for a while"
Her thoughts in turmoil, Nia went over to speak to Bobbie, she didn't say much but just listened to the little girl chatter on about life with her mother and the celebrity lifestyle while she tried to work out what she was going to do.
When Bobbie's chatter eventually ran down, Nia sat down with her and helped her with her homework.
Suddenly realising the time, Nia rushed home and managed to make it in time for the twins' birthdays. Dorilys aged up first into an animal loving child.
Followed swiftly by Dyan, who aged into a lazy little boy. 
As the younger children all rushed for slices of cake, Mira called Nia over.
"I know you've only just started to get to know your mother, but now the twins are children I want to take all five of them to China to meet their father. Did you want to come with us? There's a lot of amazing scenery over there to paint and I know Liang would love to see you again, but I don't want to make you come if you'd rather stay here and get to know your mother more."
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about my mother... She's offered to send me off to some exclusive boarding school and I don't know what to do. She also asked if I wanted to move in with her but I know I don't want to do that - you've been more a mother to me than she has!"
"The thing is, I kind of feel like this is a sop to her conscience for having neglected me for so long but at the same time it would be an amazing opportunity and it would be silly of me to miss out just because I resent her behaviour."
Mira's immediate thought was to worry about Nia's safety if she went away to boarding school, but she was interested by what Nia reported Menolly had said about the witches and protection spells.
"Well, you don't have to decide immediately, why don't you come to China with the rest of us, you can have a good think about it while we're there and I can have a chat with Liang and his mother and see if they know anything about this school."
Nia agreed that this seemed sensible and they joined the rest of the family for extra helpings of birthday cake.
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Pet Spam
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Town News
- Adalyn & Fabio Sperie-Sabo have had a baby boy called Grant
- Tyson Marlin and Adamina Sperie started dating, got engaged and then split up
- Pacey & Glimmer Sabo-Harris got married and are expecting a baby
- Boy Crist divorced Danya and started dating Isadora Marlin, they then got married and are expecting a baby
- Tyson Marlin aged to an Adult
- Bobbie Clemetis aged to a child
- Bryan Harris-Crist aged to a toddler
- The Sabos adopted a kitten called Grace
- Adamaris Dennis adopted a puppy called Noodle
- Bernard McKinley aged to a child
- Christy and Antoine Sabo-Harris aged to toddlers
- Menolly Clemetis broke up with Tempest Ocean
- The Sperie family adopted a kitten called CC
- Adabella Sperie and Gary Fields-Vamp are expecting a baby
- Stacia Fields-Vamp adopted a cat called Short-tail
Ooh! A trip to China! Poor Nia. Hopefully she'll get her answer soon.
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