The Wood Family Legacy

The morning after her sisters are born, Evangeline drowns her sorrow in a plate of leftover waffles. Gage doesn’t approve of her eating habits, but Evangeline couldn’t care less. She considers making a snide remark about his own habits, but declines.

Delaney remains at home for a few days with Mallory, Miranda and Madeline. Raising three babies, a toddler, a child, and a teenager is almost impossible, and no one is getting much sleep these days, but Delaney is thrilled that her dream of having five children came true – plus one!

A friend named Jeremiah Crumplebottom comes home with Evangeline after school. Instead of running around playing tag like her older brother did in his day, Evangeline decides to mooch some food off of Jeremiah. Something tells me this isn’t the best way to make friends, Evangeline.

Meanwhile Theo, the perfect son, works on teaching Benjamin how to walk. It seems he’s paying more attention to his little brother than he did to his sister, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Later that evening, Evangeline plays with her dollhouse and imagines her family in the tiny rooms. She yells at Benjamin and Theodore for leaving her out, and at her mom for spending too much time with the triplets. She’s not exactly the happiest of children.

But it’s not all fun and games for Theodore, either. As the oldest of six children, he’s given a lot of work to do around the house. When he’d rather be at the park with Alexandria, he’s scrubbing the waffle gunk off the counter tops and calling the repairman to fix the broken dishwasher.

School is where Theo finds the time to break free of his crazy family. After class he calls Alexandria and brightens her day a bit before asking her to meet him at the park.

He spends some time flirting with Alexandria. In fact, it’s all he’s been thinking about for days. The distance between them lessens until they’re almost touching, and then . . .

Theodore and Alexandria are holding each other. Alex looks completely at ease and Theo can’t believe his good luck. Only time will tell if their friendship becomes more, but Theodore feels hopeful that it will. He goes home to his brooding sister, his smart little brother and the crying triplets with a little more bounce in his step. Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . .

Delaney and Gage have been pushed to the limit with three crying babies, one crying toddler, and a troubled kid. They barely sleep a few hours every night, and they both find themselves passing out within moments of one another, truly exhausted from their daily life. How long does the baby stage last?

One day after school, Evangeline corners one of Theo’s friends and gossips with the girl about her brother. Theodore isn’t happy when he hears of this but, being as good as he is, he doesn’t take it up with his sister. Anyway, there are more important things when it comes to siblings – like three birthdays at once!

The three girls aren’t exactly identical, with different facial features and eye colors, but they all share Gage’s blonde hair. (Theo seems to be the odd man out with Delaney’s dark hair, but he wouldn’t complain!) Miranda’s face is warm and open, Mallory’s eyes are stunning, and Madeline is going to have quite the strong jaw. Delaney is proud of her beautiful little girls.

Mama spends her own birthday enjoying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in honor of her husband’s favorite food. As she reflects on her adult life, she can’t help but feel extremely lucky. Sure, having six kids is difficult sometimes, but she has Gage to back her up.

Delaney is more than excited to grow into an elder which is a testament to her excitable nature. Evangeline watches on, confused (she doesn’t think she’ll ever understand her mom) while Gage celebrates more than you think a man would at watching his wife go gray. Before she knows it, Delaney has grown from an adult into an old woman.

Delaney doesn’t look too bad for an old lady. She remains active in her job as an Anonymous Source Handler and dreams of seeing all of her children grow into teenagedom. She keeps her cutting-edge hairstyle to remind herself of where she came from.

Evangeline is invited to a friend’s house after school and she takes him up on the offer immediately. His house is about twenty times the size of hers, and he has one of the most amazing contraptions ever made to man.

Evangeline plops herself down in front of the family TV, not even bothering to play with her friend. Instead, she mooches off of his hospitality and uses his entertainment.

Back at home, Delaney’s age is shown when she holds little Benjamin or cares for the triplets. She knows her days are numbered now, and her wish of seeing five of her children grow into teenagers bears heavily on her mind.

Evangeline, on the other hand, spends her time thinking not of her future, but of money. Maybe she wants a TV of her own? She attempts to mooch a large amount of money off of one of her friend’s housemates to no avail. The little girl returns home empty-handed and maybe just a little more disappointed than she was when she left.

Evangeline returns home to a very excited Gage. It’s his turn now to get some more wrinkles, and he’s a lot more enthusastic about it than he should be. After a few minutes of cheering, the time has come to join his wife as an elder.

Gage makes quite the nice grandfather type as an elder, and he falls right into his role as an old man before you can say ‘dentures.’

He heads to the bookstore on his day off and finds a new book on handiness to study for his job. Enjoying the lovely weather, he is pleased with his decision to splurge on a babysitter for the afternoon so he can finally get some peace and quiet.

The babysitter, however, is not so pleased.

Benjamin seems restless that night, and I think I know why. It’s time for another birthday! Soon he’s joining his sister as a child. Let’s see how the gene pool is treating him, shall we?

Lookin’ good, Ben! Those eyes’ll get you far with the ladies, I fear, as will that lucky trait you’ve gotten. But no sooner does Ben become a child than does his sister decide to celebrate her birthday, as well.

With her brothers looking on and cheering, Evangeline can’t help but remember her last birthday, right after the triplets were born. Maybe it wasn’t their fault that she had such a rotten childhood. Maybe she just never let them in. Evangeline begins to realize that maybe she’s been a little unfair to these boys.

Evangeline begins to get into the spirit of the festivities, wondering finally about her future. She can’t wait to be a teenager, with more freedom, more friends, more adventures! Maybe it will be the chance she’s been waiting for to turn her life around. As she feels her body begin to change, however, the back of her mind wonders if maybe the worst is yet to come . . .