Backstory= I, [name_f]Maxine[/name_f] [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_m]McGregor[/name_m], have just married my fiancé [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Dashiell[/name_m] [name_u]Peyton[/name_u]. We met at university and dated for just over two years before marrying the summer I turned 21 and [name_u]James[/name_u] was 23-and-a-half. We live in Worcester, in a cosy three-bed home, where [name_u]James[/name_u] works as a business consultant.
Yr1: [name_u]James[/name_u] and I are thrilled to welcome a baby girl into the world. She is born five days late weighing 7lbs 3oz, we name her [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] [name_f]Mary[/name_f] [name_u]Peyton[/name_u], she has thick dark brown hair and bright blue eyes.
Yr2: With the help of [name_u]James[/name_u]'s mum, a qualified and experienced chef, I set up my own family-friendly restaurant.
Yr3: With [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] having just turned two, [name_u]James[/name_u] and I are excited to give birth to another daughter. Our second child is again late, but only by a day, she weighs 6lbs 12oz boasting fluffy dark brown hair and blue-green eyes. We name her [name_f]Elena[/name_f] [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f] [name_u]Peyton[/name_u].
Yr4: After chatting with the midwife at [name_f]Elena[/name_f]'s eight-month check-up, she encourages me to take a pregnancy test which I’m shocked to see comes back positive! At the hospital, the doctor confirms the pregnancy and dates me at three months already! When our girls are 3 and 1, [name_u]James[/name_u] and I bring home our first son two and a half weeks early. He weighs 6lbs 6oz, is the spitting imagine of mummy with thick medium-dark brown hair and dark hazel eyes, we name him [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] [name_m]Herbert[/name_m] [name_u]Peyton[/name_u].
Yr5: A friend from university calls on us for a favour one day; to film a bit for a TV show in our restaurant. When we meet to discuss the finer details it is at our family home and all the children are around somewhere, as he’s leaving he spies [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] and says she is the perfect little girl for a tiny part he’s yet to cast. [name_u]James[/name_u] and I are unsure at first but [name_f]Taya[/name_f] shows an interest so we support her. Her part, as promised, is small but she enjoys the lights and make-up and we are all very proud of her.
Yr6: This year my life crumbles around me when I am told that my little sister has died in a car crash. [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] was only 24 and meant the world to me. She leaves behind my two nephews and a niece whose guardianship falls on [name_u]James[/name_u] and I as expressed by [name_f]Ellie[/name_f] many times. We waste no time in welcoming [name_m]Greg[/name_m] [name_m]Timothy[/name_m] (5 yrs old), [name_u]Leighton[/name_u] [name_u]Kai[/name_u] (2yrs old) and [name_f]Annalise[/name_f] [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] (12mnths old) into our home.
Yr7: With the addition of three more children, we are bursting out of the seems of our starter home and [name_u]James[/name_u] very sensibly puts plans into place to move us into a more appropriate house. We take this opportunity to move somewhere we’ve always wanted to live, beautiful [name_m]Dorset[/name_m], on the Jurassic Coast. Our new home has six bedrooms with room to expand, a large open-plan kitchen-diner-living space with a cosy family nook hidden away for rainy days and winter evenings, we also furnish a playroom appealing to all of our children but encourage them to run around in our large 2 acre garden as much as possible.
Yr8: Having moved away, my mum feels out of touch with her grandkids and insists on coming to stay… For 5 months! By the fifth day I’m tearing my hair out with her, so after 5 months I am definitely ready to wave goodbye.
Yr9: With the last box unpacked, our adopted nephews and niece comfortable, and everybody settled in the local area, [name_u]James[/name_u] and I decide the time is right to try for another baby. With three boys and three girls we really don’t mind the sex of this child, but to our great surprise (and joy) I find out at 18 weeks that I’m carrying one of each! I have a caesarean to get our twins out at 35weeks, our little girl is the stronger weighing 5lbs 3oz, while her brother is slightly smaller at 4lbs 11oz. We name our fourth daughter [name_f]Willow[/name_f] [name_f]Eleanore[/name_f] [name_u]Peyton[/name_u]; she has fluffy medium brown hair and hazel eyes. Our fourth son we name [name_m]Enzo[/name_m] [name_u]Terry[/name_u] [name_u]Peyton[/name_u]; and he has thick dark brown hair and blue eyes.
Yr10: We get some more devastating news this year as [name_u]James[/name_u]'s 27-year-old sister is diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour and within eight months has passed away. We take in her young son, [name_m]Kaden[/name_m] [name_u]James[/name_u], who is three years old.
Yr11: [name_u]James[/name_u] and I are involved in a car accident while driving on a slippery road one winter’s night. The car rolls down a bank and stops upside down. We’re both trapped inside, hurt but alive, unable to get out. After some wiggling and thrashing I manage to smash the window next to me and crawl out, I go back up onto the road where I flag down help. [name_u]James[/name_u] had both legs trapped and fire crews take four hours to get him out before he’s airlifted to hospital. All in all we are lucky to have escaped with just a few broken bones between us.
Yr12: Having fully recovered from last years crash, [name_u]James[/name_u] and I decide to take the children on an aid-mission to South [name_f]Africa[/name_f] to help those less fortunate than ourselves. One of the projects there involves an orphanage-come-school and some of the children really tug at our heartstrings. Two children in particular who make a huge impact on us and our kids are 8 year old Denford Ruan, who has been looking after his three year old little sister, Lilanie Mhambi, since their mum died when she was 18months old. After spending six weeks with them we can’t bear to leave them in [name_f]Africa[/name_f] and talk about the relevant authorities about bringing them home to [name_f]England[/name_f]. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of paperwork, but eventually [name_u]Denny[/name_u] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f] are part of the family.
Yr13: [name_f]Octavia[/name_f] breaks her arm while training for a gymnastics competition. It devastates her because she has to have a cast on for six weeks, putting her out of the competition, but gradually with help from her new siblings, she begins to see that it’s not the end of the world.
Yr14: Running around after 11 children is tiring, so I don’t even notice how ill I’ve been until I collapse while out on a weekly shop and am rushing to hospital before I can get up and insist I’m alright. 13 year old [name_f]Taya[/name_f] and 11 year old [name_f]Lena[/name_f] are with me at the time, they accompany me to hospital and are with me when doctors tell me I’m pregnant… In fact I’m five months pregnant! By another C-section two months later, I welcome a daughter into the world. [name_f]Taya[/name_f] and [name_f]Lena[/name_f] help name her since they were the first to know, together we pick [name_f]Nina[/name_f] Hopeful [name_u]Peyton[/name_u] for our brown-haired, blue-eyed girl, who weighs just 4lbs 7oz.
Yr15: As much as I don’t want to, [name_u]James[/name_u] convinces me to attend a High School reunion, 20 years after I left. It’s not as painful as I thought it would be although I get a lot of shocked looks when I tell people I have twelve beautiful children between the ages of 14 and 12months.
Yr16: I join a local Mum’s club. Not a Mum-and-Child club. [name_m]Just[/name_m] a Mum’s club; where the only rule is that we cannot talk about our children. The club is for us, to indulge in what we enjoy and give ourselves some “me” time. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.
Yr17: Despite saying NO MORE KIDS… [name_u]James[/name_u] and I notice that the children of our neighbours are appearing less and less, and when they do they seem subdued, skinny and even bruised sometimes. We contact social services who investigate and within the week have taken the children into emergency foster care and the parents into custody. We’re asked if we’re interested in taking on the children full time since they have no local family and the eldest has explicitly asked for us. We meet with 7 year old [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] [name_m]Henry[/name_m], 4 year old [name_f]Sapphire[/name_f] [name_f]Georgina[/name_f], and their social worker and soon it is decided that [name_u]James[/name_u] and I will formally adopt both children.
Yr18: 9 year old [name_f]Willow[/name_f] is very interested in drama and acting, she is involved in drama activities both inside and outside of school, and she is thrilled when she is talent spotted during a production of [name_f]Annie[/name_f]. She is interviewed, auditioned and gets a part in the TV series being filmed locally where she is playing the youngest daughter of a man being investigated for murder.
Yr19: I buy a puppy. I insist he is MY puppy and I name him [name_m]Achilles[/name_m]. He is a miniature dapple Dachshund.
Yr20: [name_u]James[/name_u] and I buy a large holiday home in [name_u]Sydney[/name_u], Australia, which we maintain for the meantime with the view to one day retire to.
[name_u]James[/name_u] (45) and [name_u]Max[/name_u] (42) with: [name_f]Taya[/name_f] (20), [name_m]Greg[/name_m] (20), [name_f]Lena[/name_f] (18), [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] (17), [name_u]Denny[/name_u] (17), [name_u]Leighton[/name_u] (17), [name_f]Annie[/name_f] (16), [name_u]Kade[/name_u] (14), [name_f]Willow[/name_f] & [name_m]Enzo[/name_m] (12), [name_f]Lily[/name_f] (12), [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] (11), [name_f]Sapphire[/name_f] (8), and [name_f]Nina[/name_f] (7); plus [name_m]Achilles[/name_m] (2).
Bedrooms:
Mum and Dad = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/311241024225103137/
[name_m]Achilles[/name_m] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/531424824755016523/
[name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_u]Denny[/name_u] and [name_u]Leighton[/name_u] [And [name_m]Greg[/name_m] when he’s home from uni] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/391461392586997360/
[name_f]Lena[/name_f] and [name_f]Annie[/name_f] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/391461392586997352/
[name_u]Kade[/name_u] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/408068416208864427/
[name_f]Willow[/name_f] and [name_f]Lily[/name_f] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/391461392586997280/
[name_m]Enzo[/name_m] and [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/391461392587236671/
[name_f]Nina[/name_f] and [name_f]Sapphire[/name_f] = https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/391461392586997362/
Note: [name_f]Taya[/name_f] moved out when she was 18.