Baby #16: You've got some explaining to do...

The time flew by and it was soon time to see Charlie and Bellatrix as toddlers.

Ana threw a small family party, inviting Ryder, her sister Grace, Caspian, Gloria, and Chloe.

All of the guests had a great time, even though Charlie and Bella didn't know what was going on.

 Here's our gorgeous little boy Charlie.
He's the first boy to get Ana's hair color!
He also has Ryder's stunning green eyes; a perfect combination of the two.

 Interestingly enough, Charlie's twin Bellatrix was the exact opposite.
She has her father's red-black hair and Ana's sparkly blue eyes.

The silly girl blinked while I was trying to take a picture, so she looks squinty. xD

Ryder stayed the night after his pride and joys' birthday party.

 "I got something for you." Ryder teased.
"Oh come on, what is it?" laughed Ana.

 Ana squealed as he pulled out the vase of a dozen red roses; 11 fake, one real.
"And I'll love you until the last one dies."

- Isn't he perfect? *sigh*

I have to admit, even I teared up a little.

 *~*

Ryder practically moved in after that night.

He was such a good father, and he wanted to be there for Charlie and Bella.

The rules didn't matter anymore.

When they say love conquers all, apparently that means will power (on both Ana's part and mine) as well.

Yes, Ana, I may just have to let you keep this one...

-If I can hold on to him...

 Ryder took so much off of Ana's mind.

Twins were so hard to take care of, but Ryder took the initiative as their father and taught most of their skills to them.

As seen by his first words, Charlie loves animals, from ladybugs ...

 To all the fish in the sea.

Speaking of all the fish in the sea... *cough cough*

Moving on.

 Bella was a complete Daddy's girl.

Frankly, I don't know what she'd do if Ryder wasn't around.

That's just a little cautionary statement to you, Ana...

 Daddy taught his little angel how to talk.
Her first word was "Dada."

 Not to mention walk.
And her first steps were right into his arms.

*~*

Ryder was always an all around family man.

He had been that way since the second Charlie and Bella entered this world.

He taught his kids the essential skills in life.

He read them bedtime stories like it was against his religion not to.

He loved their mother, and never ceased to let her know it.

 For Simgod's sake, he could grill like a pro.

 And look at him. He was just a happy guy in general.

And according to him, that was all because of Ana.

 The supposed woman of his dreams, and the two beautiful children she had given him.

 He learned love in every sense of the word.

 What more could you ask for?

 Ryder and Ana constantly did fun, completely mature grown up activities like playing on the water slide.

- We had to make sure it was safe for the children. *nodnod*

 And every night they retreated to the same bed, always holding each other close.

An unspoken promise to never hurt each other was evident with every look, every touch.

But Ana couldn't take it anymore.

 I'm lying to him. She couldn't help the guilt.

He deserves better. He deserves the truth.

But I CAN'T lose him.

He's the... 22nd best thing to ever happen to me.

(Of course, Ana counted all of her children first!)

I have to tell him. But not now.

When the time is right, Ryder will find out...

And I just hope he can forgive me. 

 I should be getting a move on with this challenge... I need to get pregnant.

Ana rubbed her flat stomach, contemplating this dilemma.

How would the quest for 100 babies, with different fathers, go on?

Would she cheat on the love of her life, just so she wouldn't break any more rules?

-I'm ashamed to even think of it...

I'll just bend the rules. A little wiggle room never hurt anyone.

*~*

 Miss Bellatrix wouldn't be able to stand life without Ryder.

She could barely handle going to bed without him near until her little eyes were shut tight.

Decisions, decisions.

Shortly after putting his baby girl to bed, Ryder went off to bed himself.

He was stuck in this state of blissful unawareness while Ana was toying with the idea of this relationship.

She knew what she wanted - just him, just their kids, forever - and she knew what she set out to do all those years ago. How is one supposed to choose between what felt so right then, and what seems to feel right now?

 Ana couldn't even sleep next to that man without feeling a deep down pang of guilt, until she made her decision final. We know what Ana wants... but how will Ryder react when he finds out Ana's life goal, and her past? The men in her past? Her other children?

Only time will tell.

*~*

Ana was at peace with herself once again, since she decided that no challenge was worth losing one of the most important people in her life. She could still have a hundred babies - that was the basic goal, right?

So what if less than a fifth of them had different fathers?

She was sick of the back and forth anyway. She loved her babies, but not so much with the fathers.

There were a few sleeze balls in there. Now she'd finally snagged a good one.

 "I'm gonna GET YOU!"
Charlie seemed genuinely scared of Ana's crazy faces and claws.

-Ah, he was mortified. It was hilarious.

 "TICKLE MONSTER. The least scary kind!"

 This, however... just as scary as usual.

Ryder and Ana seemed perfect once again.

Continuing to be the absolute perfect father, Ryder went through a lot of first experiences with his son.

Charlie expressed his deepest desire to go on the springy horse in the back yard.

So, Ryder cautiously agreed.

 He hovered over him the whole time, just to make sure he'd be okay.

-He's such a sweetheart.

 "Did you have a good time buddy?"
Charlie murmured something that sounded like "llama juice" which had been accepted by his parents as an acceptable rendition of the word "yes."

*~*

Ryder always looked at Anastasia and his children like he could barely believe they were all his.

It seemed like a dream, to him.

-Same here...

 In a most seductive strut, Ryder came up to Ana in the nursery.

"What's cookin', good lookin'?"

Why yes, Ryder is extremely corny when it comes to flirting.

- It's something else we have in common! (:

True story. xD
"Oh, SUGAR--"
"Don't worry, I took care of it." Ryder laughed.

You see, Ana really was cooking... and happened to leave the pot of macaroni and cheese on the stove to burn. But Superman here saved the day once again.

 "And on my way home from work I got you these. Purple, because it's your favorite color."
He smiled sheepishly and handed her the bouquet.

 Smelling the flowers, Ana asked him, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

 "I ask myself the same question every day."

 *~*

Soon after, the pair defiled the new treehouse that Ryder built with his bare hands.

Oh, did I forget to mention that he's handy too?

 I can't believe you guys did that.

- We both got splinters from it... but it was worth it.

 Even the rug understands.

*~*

 "Orien's Belt." Ana pointed out. 

They seemed to be having a competition, who could find the most constellations.

 "Ursa Major, Ursa Minor. And the dippers are over there."
Ryder definitely knew his way around the night sky.

"Okay, you win." Ana laughed playfully.
In a humorous tone, Ryder inquired, "What's my prize?"

 "Anything you want."

"I guess I don't get anything. I've got everything I need right here."

*~*

 Ana really wanted to cook Ryder's favorite meal for him after the special night he showed her.

However, these plans were cut short by a rather unpleasant surprise.

 Vomit.

Must be food poisoning, or something.

*~*  

 Oh how very wrong she was.

Well... I didn't MEAN for this to happen.

But I couldn't have asked for anything better.

*~*

 "Oh my SIMOLEONS, it's THE CLAW!"
I think Charlie's face summed up his thoughts on that one.

After surviving the claw, Charlie told Ryder "I wan be pie rat."

"You wanna be a pirate?"
"LLAMA JUICE!"

"I'll see what I can do!"

Ryder's solution was an easy and practical one.

He installed a new springy toy for Charlie's pirate fantasies to come alive.

 And Charlie got his very own pirate ship.

 "Aww yeaaah, whose boy is that? That's MY boy!"

 Ryder even offered a round of applause to the best little pirate he knew.

After the babies were put to bed that night, Ana broke the news to Ryder.

 "Please don't freak out. Not that I think you would, because you're an excellent father, but..."
"Are you going to say what I think you are?" Ryder raised one eyebrow.

"I'm pregnant?" Ana grinned sheepishly.

 "And there it is. It's about time we had another one, Charlie and Bella are getting so big."
Rational Ryder loves the kiddies, now doesn't he.

This news was surely a surprise, but it only bought Ana, Ryder, and their little 

(but getting bigger) family closer together.

Nothing could tear them apart.

Ana had almost completely forgotten about the one part of her life, the past, 

that she had been keeping from Ryder.

Maybe it doesn't matter.

The pair continued to have a strong, COMPLETELY MATURE relationship.

 Seriously, this right here is the most mature couple I've ever seen.

- ;D

 Just one more token of our love.

I can't be with anyone else.

I don't WANT to be with anyone else.

'Til death.

*~*

Weeks later, Ryder asked Ana out to the bistro for a date.

Ana was a bit bummed, since she was pregnant and couldn't fit into any sexy dresses, but she obviously made the best of it, sucked it up, and had a good time.

 Even after they finished eating, the pair stayed at the restaurant and talked for hours.

"We have the babysitter until eleven; why not?" happened to be Ryder's reasoning.

"What do we have here?" Ana tried looking behind Ryder's back.

Maneuvering quickly, blocking the roses from view, Ryder replied, 

"I just want to end tonight perfectly."

 "Ahh, they're gorgeous." She would never get over the smell of roses; 

this man alone had given her so many.

"I'm not done yet, silly."
Ana was dumbfounded, and even more so later...

...when he got down on one knee.

 "Do you remember the first time we came here together? When we first met, and had our first date? Well, after that night, I had this all planned out. Anastasia Marie Vanderbilt, I love you," Ryder said in his most sincere, heartfelt tone, as Ana clapped her hands over her mouth in disbelief;
"Would you do me the honor of being my wife?"

 She jumped up and down and nodded emphatically, on the verge of happy tears.

 The words were slow at forming, but Ana eventually found them.

 "I thought you'd never ask."

 She of course agreed, and Ryder slipped the small diamond ring on her finger.

 Ana just stared in disbelief.

She never foresaw herself becoming a married woman until much later in life.

Not until her challenge was over.

She never thought she'd meet her soul mate.

Well, not until her challenge was over.

 But this was what we hoped to be the beginning of a happily ever after.

 It was perfection.

 But Ana knew she had to tell him.

About the challenge, about how she's completely ready to give up all the other men for him.

About the other children, besides the three (well, five including his own) he already knows of.

 When the time was right.

*~*

 I'm pretty sure this is why Ana loves Ryder. 

Look at those pink zebra stripe boxers.

- Yum-my.

 Mama's growing fairly quickly again!

The toddler days of the twins passed so quickly.

It was time for Charlie and Bellatrix to enter childhood.

 And don't you know it, Daddy's his biggest fan.

 "Big breath!"

Charlie was already an expert at blowing out candles.

 Guess who's most excited...
Yup.

Ryder.

 Bella still needs some help with her candles. Awh.

 Charlie is quite the handsome little man, don't you think?
- He's perfection in a small package. c:

 Bellatrix also had to be one of the prettiest little girls I have ever seen.

- I'm gonna say it... It's all Ryder. There's so much of him in her.

Whoa. For once, you aren't taking credit for your pretty children?

Well then, he's changing her.

*~*

 With the twins as children, having their first day at school the next day,

Ana was so ready for this baby to come.

Ana was making Bella's bed after she left for school when she received a phone call from Caspian.

"Hey Mom!" Caspian seemed chipper this morning.
"Hey, what's up?"
"I was just wondering if you wanted to come hang out with Aunt Grace, Gloria and I today."

"Duh! I'll be right over!" Ana would never pass up a chance to hang out with her first son.

She would be bringing her new fiancee, of course, not that Caspian needed to hear that. ;D

 "I have something to tell you all."

Ana was excited to announce her engagement to her sister and children.

She looked at Ryder and smiled wide.

"Well, uh... Ryder asked me to marry him..."
She let it hang in the air, sink in...
"And I said yes."
All three of her family members' jaws dropped concurrently.

 "Uh, Ana?" Grace was the first one to speak out.
"What?" Ana saw no issue!
"You're not allowed to get married!"  shrieked Caspian.
"The challenge, Mom. How can you continue if you're married?" Gloria posed the question much more eloquently than Grace or Caspian could have mustered.

Ryder looked at Ana, eyebrows raised.
"Challenge? What are they talking about?"
Caspian facepalmed. 

"She didn't even tell him. The 100 baby challenge, dude. Where mothers go around trying to have 100 kids with as many different guys as possible. Gloria and I are one and two? Your babies are technically the 20th, and 21st?"

If Ryder had been drinking anything, there would have been a major spit take going on there.

He slowly turned his entire body toward this woman. Anastasia.

He thought he knew her. He... he loved her.

"You have... 21 kids? With different dads?"
Ana was on the verge of tears... and not the happy kind this time.
"I was going to tell you. I swear I was. It just wasn't the time-"
"Wasn't the TIME? It wasn't the time when we started dating? When I proposed? When WOULD have been the time? When you cheated on me? When you had another guy's baby?!"
"I was... going to give it all up... for you..."

He wasn't listening anymore.
"But you didn't even give me the DIGNITY of knowing who you rea--"

 Ryder's angry voice was replaced by Ana's labor pains.

"We'll talk about this later." His tone turned cold.

Ryder helped Ana to the car without another word.

 He kept a slight bit of distance, since he was still fuming mad.

But he was never far enough that he wouldn't be there to help out Ana.

*~*

 Let's pause at this dramatic part of the story and look at the interesting array of things going on outside of the hospital.

One woman in labor: check.

One guy freaking out: check.
Baby daddy starving to death: got it.

... Evil chick? Alright.

*~*

Ryder did end up going into the delivery room with Ana.

No matter how mad he was at her, he sure as hell wasn't going to miss the birth of another baby of his.

 Ryder and Ana rode home in painful silence with a baby boy...
Shane Vanderbilt, the official baby #16.

*~*

Thanks for reading! I really appreciate every comment and follower. It really motivates me to keep cranking out the posts to please you guys. Please leave any names you have in mind or possible fathers you would like me to use in a comment below or on Facebook. I hope you enjoy!