Castoria and her family have moved into their newly built but not fully finished dream home. They took out a large $100,000 loan to finance construction which has mostly been used up. Castoria continues having more children, the latest being a daughter named Wind, bringing their family size to eight. Jacob works on fixing up old cars to resell for profit to help pay down the sizable loan still outstanding on their home.

1. A Round Robin
Legacy
FABULARES
ANIMALIA

2. Welcome back to Fabulares Animalia! Last time we
left Castoria with her newly enlarged family standing
at the edge of a barren lot. Jacob decided not to go to
college due to the family’s lack of funds. Castoria
gave birth to two sets of twins, Chupacabra and
Lechuza, then Rookin and Coyote.

3. I wanted a big house. Big enough for all seven of us.
But our meager savings was only enough to build a
shell of the first floor and the master bedroom of the
second floor. Again I felt like a failure to my family.

4. I made a decision, in retrospect it was not a smart
one. But I desperate to provide for my family. I took
out $100,000 loan. The most I was qualified for.
Somehow I would have to pay it all off. But that was
the least of my worries. I was going to build our
dream home.

5. The loan mostly finished the house. All but the
exterior. Andrew said we should finish the
outside on our own after we pay off the loan. But
the inside was fully furnished.

6. While my beloved got the kids settled in the new
nursery, I headed for the kitchen. The kitchen is the
heart of home. I whipped up a batch of holiday cookies.
They would be perfect for a treat in our new house.

7. Andrew managed to potty train Lechuza in one go.
Things were turning around. At our old home, we were
too busy trying not to trip over each other to potty train
children.

8. We had a little bit of money left, not enough to do
much with. I kept $500 and put the rest toward
paying off the loan. It only brought it down to
$98,000. But it was a start.

9. Jacob grew to adulthood that first night. He decided he
wanted to be a Captain Hero instead of following his
father’s footsteps in the gaming career. I felt bad that
Jacob didn’t end up going to college, but he never
seemed too disappointed.

10. Rookin’s and Coyote’s birthdays were also that night.
I let Jacob take Rookin to the cake, as much as I
wanted to do it myself. Jacob loved his half siblings.

11. The boys grew up in a shower of confetti. Rookin
looked more like me, with my nose. Coyote was more
like Andrew, though he had my jaw.

12. Andrew wasn’t sleepy at all that night. He spent the
night teaching Chupacabra to talk.

13. Not to leave Lechuza behind Jacob taught her to
walk.

14. I brought home a promotion that day. My progress up
the career was slow. To tell the truth my heart wasn’t in
it completely. I would much rather be at home with my
children. But we needed the money.

15. Three of us working still was not enough to pay off the
loan quickly. The first interest charge was tacked on
with our bills. I dug for treasure in the backyard to
pay off the additional $5,000. And we weren’t much
closer to paying off the principal.

16. I put aside my worries to bring my oldest children to
their birthday cakes. It was hard to believe they would
be going to the school the next morning.

17. Chupacabra grew up rather dramatically. My Lechuza
grew into a beautiful young girl. Thankfully she was
too young to start thinking about males and mates. I
fear that I would lose her one day to a dashing young
man.

18. I paid off what little I could of the loan, between my
promotion bonus and digging. I managed to pay off
the interest and another thousand off the original
loan. Despite the large amount left to pay off, I had no
doubts that one day we would be debt free.

19. It was so strange the next day to send the children to
school. Jacob saw them safely to the bus before
heading to work himself.

20. The house was so empty and quiet while Rookin and Coyote were sleeping.
“I want another baby.” I told my husband.
“Now, with the loan to pay off?” He asked.
It was a senisable question and one I should of expected.
“Yes,” I said to himself, “We’re not getting any younger, by the time we pay off the loan
I’ll be too old to have children.”
“Alright.” He agreed.

21. My beloved took a nap while I played with our children.
Coyote was exceptionally clever and quickly learned to
talk. Though he was a stubborn child. I tried to dress
him in normal clothes, but he would take everything off
but his diaper and that silly New Years Ribbon.

22. The afternoon passed quickly. And the older kids
came home drained of energy. They weren’t used to
not getting a nap in the middle of the day.

23. Chupacabra tried to sneak off without doing his
homework. I roused him from Jacob’s bed and helped
him with it. Luckily for the first day it was mostly
handwriting and addition.
My beloved helped Lechuza, she complained she was
too tired. But he got her through. She was very smart
and finished much faster than her brother.

24. My youngest child let itself be known after work the
next day. I hadn’t even been sure I had gotten
pregnant. I had no morning sickness what so ever.
The school bus got home the same time I did.
Chupacabra aced his first math test. Getting another
sibling was not a cool by comparison.

25. All too soon it was Rookin’s and Coyote’s birthday. My
little boys were growing up. I’m all that more thankful
Andrew and I were having another child. I’ll miss
having infants around.

26. They both inherited my chin, Rookin however looked
more like his dad. Coyote looked a lot like me, but
was much more mischievous than I ever was. They
were extremely competitive that first night. Coyote
bragging that he could eat the most cake.

27. There wasn’t enough beds for all of us. With the loan
hanging over our heads, I couldn’t convert the nursery
into the boys room. Jacob offered them his bed and
slept on the couch. I began to worry that Jacob would
feel that he has to move out. I didn’t want to force
him, but I didn’t want him to have to stay here forever.

28. I had more on my mind to worry about too. I entered
the final trimester. I hoped to have twins again. Both
sets were deeply bonded to each other. I would hate
for my latest child to feel left out.

29. Not to say that they didn’t have other friends. Coyote
brought a friend home of school his very first day. I
can’t remember poor boy’s name. He and Coyote spent
hours playing upstairs on Andrew’s pinball machine.

30. Our home life was pretty chaotic, but every once in
awhile I made dinner for the family. It was a rare
night that most of us were home to eat it. Poor
Andrew was working that night.

31. Jacob had a great idea to help with the loan
payments. Despite three working adults, our wages
were only enough to pay of the interest. He used our
limited funds to buy a driveway and an old wreck of a
car. He worked on it all day Saturday, it was hard to
keep the younger kids away from it. Although Jacob
seemed to enjoy all the questions they asked.

32. Andrew left for work and Jacob made steady progress
on the car. I started writing articles for the
newspaper. I couldn’t get promotions while on
maternity leave, but I could earned a little extra
writing articles about housework and physics for the
Riverblossom Gazette. I even learned a few things too.

33. I had just emailed off an article when familiar pain
shot up my spine. I was in labor!

34. “Mom are you okay?” Rookin asked in a tiny voice
from behind the couches.
“Yes dear, come say hello to your sister.” I smiled.
Just one this time, despite my hopes for twins. I
named her Wind.

35. The first thing my beloved did when he got home that
night was pick up wind from her crib. The sight of him
gently cradling our youngest made my heart ache. I
knew we would have at least one more. I wasn’t ready
to stop having babies just yet.

36. I couldn’t sleep being so excited, Andrew had gone to
bed after feeding our daughter. I knew I shouldn’t
wake him. I applied my energy to the car outside. I
wasn’t as mechanically inclined as my step son, but I
knew one end of a wrench from the other.

37. I finished the car and painted it blue. I sold it for over
$5,000. Pretty good since it was and $800 piece of
junk when we got it.

38. I used part of the money to start converting the
nursery into Rookin’s and Coyote’s room. Wind was
still asleep in her crib. I didn’t have the heart to wake
her and move her into the crib in the playroom.

39. I bought another junker. Jacob was brilliant, took a lot
of work to fix up the car. But it definitely paid off.

40. Sunday I took the kids to the park. Andrew wanted to
try fishing. We left Jacob at home with Wind, he said
he wasn’t feeling up to the park.

41. “I’m gonna catch the most fish!” Coyote called from
the top of a hill.
“Nuh uh.” Rookin and Chupacabra protested in unison.
I smiled to myself, were my brothers that competitive
with each other, I couldn’t remember.

42. In the end Rookin caught the most fish. He was
named after a shark, Andrew thought it was fitting. I
agreed, but he didn’t show any interest in wanting to
eat the fish that he caught.

43. Darkness fell and I realized we had been gone all day.
“Come on kids, let’s go back home.” I said.
“Do we have too?” Coyote pleaded.
“Yeah Mom we’re having so much fun.” Lechuza
chimed in.
“Yes, it’s getting cold and we have left Jacob with
Wind all day, he needs a break.”

44. They like fishing so much. As soon as the pond out
back thawed they ran for their fishing gear. I worried
about them in the cold all day, but ooh and aah
accordingly when they showed me their catches.

45. Andrew finished another car, this time painting black.
It sold well and we were able to get the loan down to
$73,000. A little more than a quarter paid off.

46. Wind’s birthday came quickly. It felt like it had barely
been a day since she was born.

47. She grew so seriously and she had a bit of a mean
streak. The first thing she did was tug my hair. Ouch!

48. “Andrew, I want one more.”
“Are you sure, we not getting in younger.” He said seriously, “It might be
risky. You might actually morning sickness and you’ll have to give up all
the spicy foods you love.”
“I don’t want Wind to feel left out, since she’s not a twin.”
“Well I can’t argue with that.” Andrew chuckled, “Get over here.”

49. Yay! I finished another chapter without a huge long wait. *blows noise
maker*
Anyway. All Castoria’s kids are very unique looking I’m surprise that I
didn’t end up the FBE with the long time in between pregnancy. It’s so
hard to pick a favorite in the bunch. I wanted Wind to be a twin because
of her legend namesake. I should of just chosen twins but I couldn’t
resist hitting the random button. It’s always more fun with the risk of
quads.
Wind is named after a Lipan Apache myth. I don’t know if this is a
actual real myth/legend or if some writer just made it up for their
book. But I was getting a little desperate on finding local legendary
creatures. Anyhow according to the myth Wind and Thunder were
arguing about who was more important when it came to taking care of
the earth. Wind thought it was most important, but Thunder thought
they were equally important. Wind said some mean things and drove
Thunder away. Wind tried to take of the Earth itself by blowing as hard
as it could. By the Earth was parched and dry without rain. Wind
admitted its mistake and apologized to Thunder. This myth came from
a book called Texas Indian Myths and Legends by Jane Archer. She
wrote it a lot better than I did, but you get the jist of things.