1.5 This is Going to Take a While.

Phil felt that his garden was at the point where he needed some different, more interesting plants. He went out searching for seeds. Somebody had suggested that in the marshy areas on the other side of town may hold some very interesting seeds that could produce fruits or veg that he might not believe existed.

So he spent an entire day searching for new seeds, most of the seeds on the ground he recognised as lettuce or tomato seeds, those ones he left alone. After a few hours he saw a strange seed that he didn't recognise. Excited, he picked it up and examined it, he definitely hadn't seen this before. He couldn't wait to plant them and see what they'd grow into.

The days had flown past and it was time for Bonnie's birthday. Amanda had convinced Katie and Phil that a party wasn't necessary and was so worried that work would make her miss bonnie becoming a toddler.

Luckily she was on an early shift and was home with plenty of time to spare.

She called Katie and Phil over when it was time to blow out the candle on the cake. They all gathered round as Amanda held her little daughter and blew the candles out for her.

The flame went out and everybody cheered.

Bonnie became an incredibly cute toddler, she definitely had Amanda's eyes. But she had the jet-black hair of her father. Amanda tried not to let this be a reminder of her past life, she had changed so much since then, but it didn't mean she loved her daughter any less.

Amanda looked at her daughter and smiled, she couldn't be unhappy when she looked at that smiling, giggling, innocent little girl. Who could?

Amanda knew that there were so many things to teach her daughter while she was young. The first of those things, she decided was to teach Bonnie to talk.

She sat down with her and began. 

"Bonnie? Can you say mummy?"

Bonnie looked blankly up at her mum.

"Mummy." Amanda said again, pointing at herself.

"A-blooh-blah" Was all Bonnie replied.

"This is going to take a while" Amanda said to herself.

She patiently continued with Bonnie. After a while, Bonnie seemed to lose interest and began playing with the doll that was on the floor nearby.

"I guess that's it for today then sweetie." Amanda said getting off the floor.

While Amanda was at work in the mornings, Katie would take care of both Shaun and Bonnie. She fed Shaun as she watched Bonnie play with her toys on the floor. It wouldn't be long until Shaun was up and playing and making noise on the xylophone.

After many hours and painstakingly slow progress, Bonnie finally learned to talk. Many points along the way Amanda had nearly given up but she wasn't the sort of person who gave up that easily. This was something that Bonnie needed, and no matter how frustrated Amanda got, she had to keep going.

Amanda squealed with delight when Bonnie finally said "Mummy." But she knew that it wasn't the end of her lessons. She had to teach her more than just that.

Eventually, Bonnie was able to say "I love mummy." and "I want food" or "I want play!" Amanda was nearly crying with happiness hearing her little girl talking properly for the first time.

"Well done Bonnie, aren't you a clever girl?"

"Bottle! Bottle!"

"Ok, ok, you can have your bottle." Amanda said.

It was not long before Shaun's birthday arrived too. Phil and Katie wanted a small affair instead of a big party. The two of them gathered in the small kitchen, Katie carried Shaun over to his birthday cake, she seemed nervous for some reason.

"What's the matter Katie?" Phil asked

"It's just so soon. What if I'm not ready to look after a toddler?"

"We're both going to look after him, you're not a single mum. You're not Amanda. If she can do it, I think the two of us will be fine."

"You're right." Katie said, "Well, lets get this candle blown out before the wax melts." She leaned over and blew out Shaun's candle.

Shaun grew up into a toddler, he looked so cute and oddly mischievous as he sat there.

Katie seemed to be relieved, it was as though she had been expecting something to be wrong. But there was nothing wrong with Shaun, he was just an adorable little boy.

Phil took to the task of teaching Shaun to walk. Katie wanted to teach him to talk so Phil let her do that. Seeing his little man taking his first few steps warmed his heart. "Come on Shaun, you can do it!" Phil said.

Shaun went to take a step and then fell back down and sat on the floor.

Phil sighed, but picked his son up, and put him back on his feet.

"Come to daddy Shaun!" Phil said.

It looked like Shaun was actually about to walk, but he sat back down.

"This is going to take a while" Phil thought.

Katie had wanted so much to teach little Shaun to talk, but progress was slow.

Like Bonnie, most of Shaun's attempts at talking ended up sounding something similar to "Blah-blooh-debab".

Katie was a very patient, nurturing mother though. She wanted to teach Shaun to talk, and teach she would.

"Say Dadda," She encouraged, "Shaun, say Dadda."

"Bahga. Bloop." Shaun replied.

Katie had been trying for hours, "This is going to take a while." She thought.

"Come on Shaun. Dah-Dah." She said.

"Blah."

"Maybe we'll take a break." she replied as she got up slowly.

Shaun wasn't paying attention, he was already playing with his toys.

While Amanda was letting Bonnie take a nap, she decided the household needed some upgrades. She had fixed enough toilets to last a lifetime, so it was time to make it unbreakable.

It took quite a bit of configuring and twisting and working the components of the toilet, but eventually she got it down.

Having nobody else to help her teach her daughter to walk, talk and use the potty chair, Amanda was doing everything herself. She dearly hoped that this would be faster than teaching the kid to talk, but apparently the leg muscles were as hard to work as the vocal chords, Bonnie's progress was slow.

She couldn't believe she was thinking it again, but she said "This is going to take a while." to herself.

It was as though saying it let her keep going. She was a very determined person. When she wanted something to happen, it would happen. 

For hours, Bonnie would take a half step, maybe one full step, but then be back where she started.

Amanda encouraged her the whole way. "Go on Bonnie, you can do it!" She would call, holding out her arms towards her daughter, resisting the urge to just carry her everywhere.

D'aaaww isn't that cute? Shaun seemed to prefer the company of his doll "Sky" to any other toy, he would cuddle it, sing to it and play with it for hours while his other toys just sat there.

1.4 Incoming!

It was the middle of the night, Amanda had got up to get herself a glass of water. As she reached up for a glass from the cupboard, a terrible pain hit her. She grabbed the counter for support and took a deep breath hoping it was just one contraction - they happened from time to time at this point in her pregnancy.

Pain shot through her body and she couldn't help but to let out a scream. 

Phil and Katie woke up "Amanda! Are you ok?"

"It's...it's coming!"

"The baby's coming! Oh my god! What do we do?!" Phil was shouting.

"Shut up Phil!" Katie said, "Help me get Amanda in here now."

"Our room?"

"Yes! Now!"

Together they got Amanda into the room, Phil continued to freak out whilst Katie remained calm, she seemed to know exactly what to do.

"Breathe Amanda."

"I AM BREATHING....AAAAGH"

After a rather long labour, Amanda finally gave birth to her child. 

"It's a girl!" Amanda said.

"So what are you going to call her?" Katie asked.

"Bonnie." Amanda said.

"That's a wonderful name isn't it Phil?"

Phil didn't say anything. He just looked at Amanda and Bonnie quietly.

Katie went over to Amanda and whispered, "I think he's in shock."

Both of them giggled.

Amanda needed a moment alone with Bonnie. She couldn't believe she was a parent!

"How am I going to be a good parent to this little girl?" Amanda asked herself. She had never been the best role model. In fact, she believed her sister was amazing to have not let herself be influenced by her when they were younger.

Out of nowhere, Bonnie giggled at her mum. At least it sounded like a giggle. Amanda looked down at her and couldn't help but smile at her beautiful daughter.

"I'm going to do my very best Bonnie," she whispered, "I promise."

As the days passed Amanda did her best to look after Bonnie. She still had a while left on maternity leave and spent as much time as possible with her daughter. When the baby slept in the day she would be working out or working on her handiness skill. But she would drop everything in a second if she could hear Bonnie crying.

Katie seemed to be worried, "Ammy, you don't need to do this by yourself. We are here to help."

"It's fine. Maybe when I go back to work I'll need your help, but the younger years are important. I want to be there for her."

"As long as you're sure."

"Of course I am, besides, you need to prepare for your little one coming along." She smiled at her younger sister's stomach.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Katie smiled back.

It might not have looked like Katie was preparing for her upcoming baby, but in her own way she was. She 

wanted to be able to stop painting for a little while so was getting as many done as she possibly could. Besides, she didn't really know what more she could do but be herself right now. She was eating right and she was getting the nursery ready. What more was really needed?

It was at dinner that the baby came. Amanda had been coming in from giving Bonnie her bottle and she heard Katie say "Phil! My water just broke!"

She ran down the hall and into the living room to help her sister as she went into labour.

Phil of course, was freaking out again. It seemed he was never going to get used to babies being born near him.

"For goodness sake Phil! Don't just stand there waving your arms, help!" Amanda shouted

"Oh, right of course. Push Katie! Breathe Katie!"

"That's not...aaargh...helping!" Katie yelled

"Phil," Amanda said in a calmer voice, "Go get some towels ok?"

Eventually Katie gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

"Awww" Amanda sighed, "What you gonna call him sis?"

"Well, me and Phil have decided to call him Shaun." Katie said

"Shaun? That's a lovely name Kate!"

NOTE: Shaun seems like quite the cheeky one winking his little eye like that.

After so many phone calls, Amanda couldn't take it any more.

She paced up and down the hall talking and talking before she nearly broke.

"Look Bobby, I'm her mother and I'm raising her here. No she won't miss out on having a father, her uncle lives in the same house as her. Besides, we don't have room for any more adults in the house right now."

She paused to listen.

"Marry you?! No way! Look, please just stop calling. I don't want your money and I - Don't - Want - You!"

With that she turned the phone off and sat on the couch.

"Are you okay Amanda?"

Amanda was surprised to see Phil standing at the garden door.

"Look, if you're going to tell me it's my own -" she started.

"Of course not! You made your decision and you should stick to it. Besides, he's a sleazebag anyway."

"Huh?"

"Look, I really am sorry about what I said before, it was wrong. I never properly apologised. But you seem to really be putting your life together right now. Anyway, about before, you had every right to do what you wanted, you're a single gal after all." He said.

"Thanks Phil." Amanda smiled.

1.3 Breaks and Bumps

"Stupid toilet" Amanda muttered under her breath as she went to get the plunger. 

She was the first one up so she was the one who had the lovely job of unclogging the toilet.

Amanda realised that they didn't have much spare money at the moment, but she really did wish they could afford things that wouldn't break all the time. Especially seeing as she was going to be the handy one around the house because she was joining the military it obviously made her the most suitable to fix everything.

She couldn't wait for the day when she could make all this stuff unbreakable, she had heard that it could be done and she wanted to learn. And soon.

When she was finished unclogging the toilet she could hear noises coming from the kitchen, then "Amanda, breakfast's ready."

Phil finished his meal first, but instead of getting up and going out into the garden like he normally did, he just sat and stared at Amanda as she ate her pancakes.

"What?" Amanda asked.

"Huh" Phil said.

"Erm, you were staring at me?"

"Was I?"

"Yes, you were staring at me at that party too, I saw you. Do you have a problem with me Phil? Because if you do, I want to know."

"Oh, I don't have a problem with you." Phil said blankly.

"Then what is it?" She demanded

"I feel sorry for you."

"Phil!" Katie said.

"No it's alright Katie, let him finish." She looked at Phil, waiting for an explanation.

"Since we were teenagers, I've watched you break boy's hearts over and over. You just get what you want from them, then you drop them like they're nothing. I feel sorry for you because nobody could ever love somebody like you." And with that he got up and went out to the garden.

Washing up the dishes from breakfast, Amanda was so angry that she accidentally broke the sink.

"Oh for heaven's sake!" She yelled out in frustration as water sprayed her in the face.

She grabbed the wrench from the cupboard under the sink and began to tighten the valves.

By the time that she was finished her clothes were soaked and she was standing in a massive puddle of water. Sighing, she walked to her bedroom and pulled out a fresh set of clothes before grabbing the mop and starting to clean the kitchen floor.

Katie continued painting as though nothing had happened. Amanda wasn't mad at her, she knew that Katie had no idea what to say to her after what happened. It's just how she was. If she feels awkward about anything, she will just keep her silence until she feels like it has passed.

In the garden, Phil was in a wonderful mood. He had wanted to have a go at Amanda for years but had kept it back. She deserved everything that he had said to her, and in his opinion, she deserved worse than that.

He remembered sitting in the playground, in the canteen, by the athletics track at school; watching her flirt with boys then a few days later break their hearts. Over and over again.

Ever since Katie they got to high school, he knew what sort of girl she was. She had always been into the older boys. The ones on the football team, or (later on) the college kids who had shiny sports cars that their parents had brought for them. She was never with a guy for more than a week. Phil was glad that he'd never been the athletic type, and that he was younger than her. If it hadn't been like that, he'd have probably got his heart broken too. But he wasn't athletic, and he wasn't one of those cool, rich older boys and now he had Katie instead.

Katie still hadn't said a word to Amanda. Amanda couldn't even guess what she was thinking in her head. Did Katie agree with Phil? 

Still full of rage, she put the workout channel on to try and burn some of her anger off. Thoughts just kept flying round in her head.

"Am I really that bad?"

Squats.

"How many hearts have I broken?"

Jumping Jacks

"I have to stop this."

Push-Ups

"What's wrong with me?"

Lunges

"Why can't I just settle down with someone?"

Stretches

"Maybe I should just stay alone."

Nauseous, out of breath and dripping with sweat, she turned the TV off.

"I'm going to go take a shower." She said to nobody in particular. 

"Oh, ok. See you in a bit." Katie replied.

Amanda almost smiled, Katie was talking again.

Maybe it was the anger, maybe she pushed herself too hard, maybe she worked out too soon after breakfast, either way she felt the need to throw up. Amanda ran the last few steps down the hall and had to be careful not to slam the bathroom door.

Retching, she nearly tripped as she went towards the toilet, but caught herself just in time to throw up in the toilet bowl. When she was done she grabbed her toothbrush and brushed her teeth til her gums were red. Turning around, she headed toward the shower, turned the water on and stripped. 

As she stood under the hot water, memories of her and Bobby came tumbling back. "Oh no. Oh no no no! Please, no!" She shouted, sliding down the wall of the shower to sit at the bottom, head in hands. Was it possible? It was so soon! What if it was Nick's? But it couldn't be Nick's they were safe. It had to be Bobby! 

"Shit!" She gasped.

There was a loud knock at the door, "Amanda! It's me, Kate! Are you ok?"

She turned the water off and called back. "I'm fine Kate."

"I thought I heard shouts."

"No, I was...I was...singing."

"Wow, you're a terrible singer Ammy." Kate laughed and walked away.

Grabbing the towel Amanda stepped out of the shower and dried herself. She was numb, scared, and she sincerely hoped she was wrong.

Nobody spoke at dinner, the silence was nearly too much for Amanda to bear. She had to say something.

"Oh, guys, I forgot to tell you. I got promoted at work yesterday."

Silence

"Yeah, my boss said I was making really good progress and decided to promote me earlier than planned."

Silence

"It's good news right?" 

She looked at Phil and Katie, both were just eating, staring down at their plates.

Silence

"I figure if I work hard enough I can get a place of my own soon. I mean, you guys don't want me here forever right?"

Silence

"I might as well be talking to a brick wall." She muttered.

Phil stood up, took his empty plate and put it on the side. "I'll see you in the bedroom sweetie." He said and kissed Katie on the head.

The moment the bedroom door was closed Amanda looked at Katie and saw tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong Kate?"

"I'm so sorry Amanda, I just didn't know what to say."

"What do you mean? Congratulations would have been fine."

"Well, Phil seemed so angry earlier, I didn't want him angry at me for talking to you."

"Kate, you're an adult, and Phil isn't dad, he can't tell you who to talk to." Amanda put her hand on Kate's and said, "Don't worry, I understand. I'm going to bed now ok?"

"Okay. Good night." Katie said

"Night 'lil sis."

That night, a burglar broke in. In the pitch black of night he sneaked across the front of the house and picked the lock on the front door. The moment the door had closed behind him the alarm screeched. "Oh, shit!" He shouted and tried to open the door again, but it was an auto lock door and he didn't have time to pick the lock again.

Amanda was the first one on the scene, but she was in no mood to fight him. Seconds later Katie and Phil ran out of their bedroom. "What the hell is going on. Get the hell out of my house." Phil shouted.

"Don't worry, the police will be here soon." Amanda yelled back.

"They'd better be, we need to stop this racket!" Phil shouted.

"Can't we turn it off now?" Katie asked

"Not until this scumbag has gone, no!" Phil said

Eventually, the police did arrive and it was only a matter of moments before the burglar began to fight back. After a small fight, the police officer had him pinned on the ground, and, lip bleeding, read him his rights before handcuffing him and escorting him to her car.

"Well, I think that's enough excitement for one night," Phil said, "I'm going back to bed."

"Yeah, me too." Said Katie.

"Umm Kate, can I talk to you for a sec before you go?"

Amanda took Katie to the corner furthest from the master bedroom. 

"What is it?"

"Katie, I don't know what to do."

"What do you mean?" Katie asked

"Well, you remember that guy, Bobby?"

"Yeah, what about him."

"Well...it would seem...I am..."

"Come on Ammy, spit it out."

Amanda sighed and said, "Katie. I'm pregnant."

"What?! Are you serious"

"Unfortunately, yes." Amanda replied.

"Unfor- what are you talking about, this is great! There'll be a kid in the house, we'll be like a proper family!" She clasped her hands together in excitement

"How is this good news? What about my job? My life? I'm going to have to give it up because of this!" Amanda pointed at her stomach.

"No. You won't. Remember, both me and Phil work at home. We can--"

"Katie," Amanda interrupted, "No offence but I can't see Phil helping to raise this baby."

"Then screw him, I'll help you. I can feed it, play with it, whatever you need." Katie seemed honestly excited by the prospect of raising a child.

"Ok ok, now I need to go and get some rest before it's too late to go back to bed."

"Sure, that's fine."

"Oh and Kate?"

"Yes Ammy."

"Don't tell Phil."

"He's going to figure it out soon Ammy, face it." Then she saw the look on Amanda's face. "Ok, ok I won't tell him for now."

"Thanks sis." Amanda said and headed back to bed.

After breakfast one day, Amanda decided that she needed to know what she had gotten herself into. So she made up some excuse to leave the house and go to the library. Amanda didn't know why she was still trying to hide her growing stomach. It was quite obvious that she was pregnant, her bump might not be huge but she was a rather slim girl and had to change to maternity clothes quite soon into her pregnancy. Regardless of that fact, she didn't want to admit her mistake to Phil. For some reason, it upset her to hear that he thought badly of her.

Once she got to the library, she browsed the shelves for a while, looking at the fiction, avoiding what she had come here to do. Eventually she could procrastinate no longer and found the expecting mothers' shelf. Sighing, she pulled down one of the books and found a comfy chair. She leafed through the pages, it was written by mothers of newborn babies. It detailed every part of their pregnancies, what was the same and different in all of them. By the end of it Amanda still didnt know what to expect. Some pregnant women experience mood swings, others don't. Some experience cravings, others don't. Nearly everything only happens in some women, the only surefire thing was that there was a baby growing inside her and she had to give birth to it. Dazed and confused she went back home.

Phil was rooting through the fridge looking for all the ingredients for his household-favourite stu-surprise when Amanda approached him. "Umm Phil?"

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Well I was wondering. I mean, I know you're planning on cooking Stu surprise tonight, but umm I was wondering if we could have something different."

"What did you have in mind?" he asked. He was being so polite, Amanda wondered if Katie had asked him to be nice.

"Well, I really fancy some mac and cheese tonight."

"Is that so? It's not like you to pass up my stu-surprise for anything. Especially mac and cheese. Are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine, why? Has somebody suggested otherwise?" she looked towards Katie for a minute and then back at Phil.

"No, I just want to know that you're feeling ok" He smiled, "Mac and cheese it is" He rooted around in the fridge and said "ah here we go. Amanda, you might wanna get out the way, there's not much room in here."

"Umm sure, I'll, erm I'll be over there."

"Ok, whatever you want Amanda."

 Amanda sat on the couch, feeling very confused and watched Phil cook dinner.

As they ate their dinner, Amanda felt like it was finally time to bite the bullet and let Phil hear the news. She felt rather foolish as he probably already knew by now, but he should hear it from her at least.

"Um, Phil?"

"Yes, Amanda?"

"There's something you should know."

"Oh, and what might that be."

Amanda was fed up of playing games now. "I'm not moving out." she said "Because, I'm pregnant, and I will need Katie's help raising the baby."

"That's fine." he said, smiling at her.

"What? No 'I told you so'? Or 'You deserved this'?" Amanda was confused.

"Well, I'm glad you got what was coming to you, but a baby is a miraculous thing, and I never truly wanted something bad to happen to you. We have no problem with you living here, and I'm sorry if you felt otherwise" He seemed sincere.

"You were amazing today babe." Katie said.

"Well come on, it was kind of obvious, but the poor girl seemed so scared to say anything to me after that day at breakfast."

"Well, it's all behind us now. Maybe the two of you can become friends. I think what you said has changed her."

"Yeah, maybe." Phil rubbed his face against Katie's neck before kissing her softly.

"Oh, I love it when you kiss me there." Katie moaned.

"I know." he whispered in her ear, then began to kiss her all over, going under the covers and taking her robe off of her.

"Phil!" Katie gasped, "What's got - oh!"

It wasn't too long after that magical night with Phil that Katie had morning sickness too. She had just got to the toilet in time. After a while, there was a tap on the door. "Katie, are you ok in there? You've been in there a while." it was Amanda.

"Come in" Katie said.

"What's wrong Kate?" Amanda said, giving Katie a glass of water.

Katie didn't say anything, just slowly sipped her water.

"Katie?"

"I think I might be pregnant." she said.

"What? Are you sure?" Amanda said, helping her to her feet.

"No, I'm not sure, but I really think I might be."

"Well, if you are that's great right?" Amanda asked.

"I'm not too sure, what with your baby on the way too, it might be too much for us."

"Don't be silly Katie. One baby, two babies. There won't be that much difference."

"Now I see why you were so scared Amanda. It's terrifying." Katie said.

"It'll be alright. I promise." Amanda hugged her sister, "We'll have to be completely sure before we let Phil know."

"I know, I know. Thankyou Ammy."

Amanda decided she needed to approach Katie about her health. If she really was going to be having a baby, she needed to be a lot healthier.

"I just don't get how you do it." Katie complained.

"What do you mean?" Amanda said.

"Well, I don't understand how you stand in front of that tv and work out every single day."

"It's just about getting off of that couch and moving."

"But even the thought of exercise makes me tired." Katie moaned

"Well what if we all went to the gym together? Would that help you?"

"Maybe, but what will we do?"

"I don't know, we'll see what we can do once we get there."

"So Amanda, explain again what we're doing?" Phil said when they got to the gym.

"We're all going to do a workout together of course." Amanda said.

"Yeah, I got that. But why?" Phil sounded annoyed.

"Because I want you guys to come to the gym with me every now and again."

From behind Phil, Katie smiled and mouthed "thank you".

Amanda smiled.

"Oh for goodness sake! Ok. What do you want me to do then?"

"Right, I'll go and do some floor exercises here and you guys hop on the treadmills." Amanda said.

"Why is it you aren't actually training us again?" Phil demanded, "If I'm going to be doing this I want to know that I am doing it properly."

"I'm not qualified to be a personal trainer." Amanda said, "And besides all you have to do is run, it's not that hard."

"Fine. Whatever." Phil said climbing onto the treadmill next to where his wife had already started jogging.

It was as though Phil was scared of the treadmill. He treated it so tentatively, he barely got past a walk in the first twenty minutes.

After a trip to the gym, Katie decided to announce what she now knew for sure. 

"Guys, I have something to tell you."

"What is it honey?" Phil asked.

"I'm pregnant too."

1.2 Getting to Know the Neighbours

Katie just couldn't be separated from her easel. It seemed every waking moment she was painting, only stopping when it was time to eat or go to bed. She would paint and paint for hours on end, seemingly lost in her own little world.

"You know Kate, we really should build a study or something, the smell of paint in the kitchen isn't the most appetizing thing." Phil said to her one day.

"Well when we have the money we will build one," Kate smiled, "Don't want to contaminate your delicious meals with the taste of paint now do we?"

Phil put his hands on her waist from behind. 

"Hey hey!" Kate yelled, "You'll make me ruin my painting!"

It seemed that all that Kate was interested in was painting, nobody, not even her husband could stop her.

Amanda looked at her phone, "For crying out loud, this is the fifth call from him today, why can't he just leave me alone?" She complained.

Annoyed, she hit the accept call button, ignoring the calls wouldn't make him go away.

"What is it Nick?" She sighed.

...

"No Nick, I thought I made it clear, it was a one time thing!" Why couldn't he understand

...

"Yes it was fun, but --"

...

"No, Nick, I'm not in love with you. Stay with your wife, it's pointless you ruining your family's life. I don't want to be with you."

...

"Goodbye Nick. Maybe I'll talk to you when you've come to your senses!" She hit the end call button.

"Ammy, you do realise that he's coming to the party right?" Katie asked.

"What? What party?"

"I invited a few of the neighbours round to get to know them."

"Why did you invite him?! Didn't you realise it would be awkward??"

"I...I thought you liked him." Katie said.

Amanda groaned, "I'm gonna go get showered and changed."

The party had started, everybody was chatting, dancing, eating and generally getting along well. 

Nick continually tried to approach Amanda, and it was getting on her nerves. She decided to act.

She chose one of the best looking guys she could find, Bobby Sargeant.

"Hi, I'm Amanda." She said, oh so sweetly.

"Hey, my name's Bobby. Welcome to the neighbourhood."

"Thanks, so what do you do for fun around here?" She asked

"Oh, there's quite a bit to do, maybe I can show you one time." He said, obviously not catching what she had meant.

"Oh I bet you can show me a few fun things." She said in her sexiest voice. She briefly glanced around and saw that both Nick and Phil were looking at her with a look of shock mixed with disgust. She didn't care what Phil thought of her, he wasn't important here, but her plan seemed to be working concerning Nick.

Amanda and Bobby continued to flirt together and eventually the rest of the world was completely drowned out to Amanda. 

Phil went over to Nick and said in a quiet voice, "I feel like I should have warned you, Amanda's a bit of a heartbreaker."

Nick looked at him, "You sound like you're talking from experience."

"Me and Amanda? Oh no, nothing ever happened between us."

"But?"

"Nothing, I was just saying I've seen other guys fall for her just like you did."

"So you've known Amanda for how long?"

"Since we were kids. I met her through Katie, me and Katie were in the same class at school."

"And you chose Katie? Why?" Nick stopped himself suddenly "No offence, I just don't get it."

"I love Katie, she's nothing like her sister." Phil said.

"Yes...yes I can see that. I'm gonna go mingle somewhere else. Nothing to do with you."

"I understand"

Amanda hadn't even realised that Nick wasn't watching any more. Phil watched the heartbroken man walk away.

"You know Bobby, you're incredibly handsome." Amanda said.

"And you're shockingly beautiful. It's a shame I'm already married." Bobby replied.

"You mean, you don't want to..." Amanda asked, pouting.

"Oh I do, I will. I was just saying, it can only be once ok? I don't want you falling in love with me."

Amanda smiled, "I think that you understand me entirely, Bobby. I'm just looking for some fun. Nothing more."

"Perfect. Is it ok if I stay over tonight then?" He asked, "I'll tell Scout, I didn't want to walk home after the party so crashed on the couch or something."

"I don't care what you tell her. But it's fine with me if you stay. Now, enough talking." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply.

"Shall we take this somewhere else." Bobby asked.

So they headed down the corridor and when nobody was looking sneaked into the bathroom. Amanda went over to the shower and turned it on.

"I'm not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting the shower to be your first choice."

"Well, I want something fun, fun and different."

"This is certainly going to be...different." He smiled.

"Are we just going to stand around here talking?" Amanda asked

"No, I have much better plans for you." Bobby smiled, taking his clothes off.

"Oh my, you look even better than I imagined." Amanda said.

"Shhhh" Bobby said, his finger brushed her lips and then his kissed her and began to remove her clothes too.

1.1 Settling in to Routine

Phil and Katie Wheeler had just arrived in Twinbrook after their honeymoon. They had decided to move away from their hometown looking for a more wholesome place to raise their family.

"Katie, were finally here. And I couldn't be happier because I'm here with you." Phil said.

"Guys! You're here!" Amanda jogged down the road towards them. "I got here last week but have been staying in a hotel. I didn't want to unpack everything and put it in the wrong place. It's your house after all. Besides, I'd probably end up accidentally picking your bedroom or something anyway. So yeah, I thought I'd let you guys go in first and unpack with me." She barely paused for breath.

"Amanda, slow down!" Katie said. "We're happy to have you here with us. Aren't we Phil?"

Phil looked shocked at being brought into the conversation. "Erm, yes. Very happy." He looked towards the house. "We should probably..."

"Oh My God! I can't believe you two are married!" Amanda said gleefully, "You are probably the first two from our high school, probably the only couple who actually stayed together after graduation too. Oh I am so happy for you."

"Thanks sis," Katie said, "It meant so much to have you as my bridesmaid."

"It was no problem really. I enjoyed it." She replied, "Now, you..." she lowered her voice to a whisper, "Have to tell me everything about your honeymoon."

Katie laughed "Maybe later."

"Girls!" Said Phil, "If you two are done with your giggling and whispering maybe we can actually get inside?" He threw a look at Amanda and headed towards the front door.

"Hey sis, what's Phil's problem with me anyway?" Amanda said, feeling kinda hurt, "He's never seemed to like me."

"Oh, don't worry about him. I think he wanted it to be just me and him moving here, I don't think he expected you to move with us." Katie said, "but don't worry, he'll get over it. Besides, it won't be too long before you find yourself another gorgeous guy, like the boyfriends you had back home and you can move out then." Katie turned to head inside as well.

"Like that'll ever happen. None of my relationships work out long term." Amanda muttered under her breath. She didn't know why but as soon as her relationships hinted towards being serious, they tended to just...end.

"Amanda!" Katie yelled "Are you gonna come and help unpack or what?"

"Yeah, just coming now Kate!" Amanda shouted back, and headed down the walkway. 

A couple of hours later and everything was unpacked and put into place. Katie had found her paints and canvas to use on her new easel and nobody could stop her now that she had taken out her paintbrush.

Amanda smiled as she watched her sister paint. "Hey Kate, is it ok with you if I put this new cardio dvd I brought on?"

"Hmm? Sorry, did you say something Am?" Katie said as though coming out of a daze.

"Oh sorry Kate, didn't mean to pull you of of your zone. I was just wondering if I could put the TV on without it distracting you, but I can tell that nothing can distract you from your painting."

"Oh no problem, go ahead. Do what you want, it's your house too." Katie turned back to her painting.

"Awesome thanks Kate." Amanda said. "I'm gonna get changed ok?"

"Hm?" Katie said before continuing with her  painting.

Amanda quickly got changed and put in the DVD so she could start her workout.

Phil had headed out as soon as they had finished unpacking. "Where are you going hun?" Katie asked.

"Oh, just got a few things to pick up in town. I'll be back soon." He gave her a quick kiss before heading out.

He wondered around town for a bit before finding the grocery store. "Perfect." He said. and headed inside.

He had gone to find some fruit and veg that he could plant in the back yard. He loved gardening just as much as he loved cooking, and he couldn't wait to have his own garden giving him fresh ingredients for his recipes.

When he got to the checkout the boy working behind the till said, "Hey I haven't seen you before, you new to Twinbrook?"

"Yes, me and my wife just moved in to the little cottage that was for sale. Well, us and her sister." He replied.

"Well I won't keep you any longer, here's your change and welcome to Twinbrook...."

"My name's Phil, Phil Wheeler."

"Well, welcome to Twinbrook, Phil. See you around"

Phil left the store thinking that him and Katie had made a very good decision moving here, everybody was so nice.

As soon as he got home he went straight to the back garden to plant his new riches.

He was out there for a good couple of hours making sure everything was perfect, and that everything was watered right. He wished he knew how to add fertiliser to his plants, but he had only just started. Maybe after this set of plants could be harvested he would know how to fertilise.

He dreamed of the day when he had a garden absolutely full of perfect fruit and veg. People truly underestimated the value of good ingredients.

After lunch, Amanda decided to look in the newspaper for a job. She was convinced that Phil thought that she was just going to lay about the house and sponge off of them for the rest of her life. Maybe that's why he didn't like her.

Then she saw it, her dream job. She'd always wanted to be in the military, she was kind of a fitness nut and loved the idea of helping her country.

"Kate! You gotta see this!" She said, pointing at the newspaper.

"What is it?"

"There's a job opening at the military base, I'm thinking of going for it."

"Ooh lets have a look!" She took the newspaper from Amanda. "Ammy, you do realise this is for a toilet cleaner right?" She screwed up her face at the thought.

"So? A job's a job. And besides, I have no problem cleaning. And everybody starts somewhere."

"Well, if it's what you want. Besides, we could do with some extra money, my paintings aren't exactly going to make us millionaires any time soon." She laughed

That evening, a few people came over to welcome them to the neighbourhood. Amanda really liked the look of one of the guys, Nick. She started flirting and they hit it off almost immediately.

"So, Nick. Is there anybody special in your life?" She asked.

"Well, right now? There's definitely you." He replied, smiling at her with his nearly perfect teeth.

"Aww you're so sweet." She said, batting her eyelids and giggling like a little school girl.

"And you...you are very very cute." He said.

"Thank you," she said twirling her finger through her hair, "I was wondering if you wanted to stay over tonight. I mean I would really like to get to know you better."

"I'd like that too." He said, definitely implying something.

"Hey!" Phil said, "You too are blocking the TV, Nick, can't you go flirting with her somewhere else. I might vomit." He sounded annoyed at Nick. Maybe too annoyed.

Amanda leaned in and whispered in Nick's ear "Don't listen to Phil, I don't".

It looked like she was about to back away, but she smiled at him, looking all shy and leaned in for a quick kiss. If he had been implying what she thought she had, he wouldn't mind a little kiss.

"You know," Nick whispered, "I think Phil is right, we should go somewhere else where nobody can see us."

"If you're sure." She said.

"Definitely," Nick replied, then raised his voice so that Phil could hear. "Besides, if he's going to throw up because of what he's hearing now, then he might have to go to hospital if he sees what I'm gonna do next."

Phil looked shocked and muttered "Sleazebag." under his breath.

"Okay," Amanda said, smiling, "We can go to my room if you'd like."

The next morning, Amanda was nearly late for work. She had enough time to pull on her new uniform and wolf down a bowl of cereal before sprinting down the front garden to catch the carpool.

About an hour later, Phil and Katie were having their breakfast, but Phil was barely touching his. He was just looking at it on his fork.

"What's wrong sweetheart"? Katie asked, "You're barely touching your breakfast."

"Sorry, I just don't have much of an appetite this morning. Didn't sleep well last night." He sighed.

"Look, you'll get used to the new house soon. I know our bed is kinda cheap but we'll get a new, more comfortable one soon."

"Yeah, I guess that's it. It's taking me a while to get used to the new house is all." He looked at her and smiled, then started to eat his breakfast.