A/N: Finally I've been able to get some writing done! I know it's been months (7 actually) since I decided to write a sequel but it's finally here. A few quick notes: chapters are going to be fairly short with usually only one POV per chapter, updates will probably be once a week, and I hope to make this my summer project (aka finish it before I move back to school in September).

This takes place about 10 months after A Million Reasons. If you haven't read that this might not make much sense. Hope you enjoy it! Remember to review!

Melanie POV

I peeked around the corner to see if Crystal was in the kitchen. I crossed my fingers that she was already at school for the day. It wasn't that I didn't like being around her, she just got on my nerves sometimes. When she first got her body back we had bonded quickly. It was nice to have someone to talk to about being a host that wasn't Lacey. But after awhile she started to get on my nerves.

I knew I shouldn't let it get to me but when was she going to mature? She was still acting like a twelve year old and it had been more than a year since she had been given her body back. We knew that no one had any experience with this so it was all just guessing but we'd hoped that she was going to get to the emotional maturity of a 22 year old sooner rather than later.

I felt kind of bad for her. Everyone was so used to Wanda being in that body and being unbelievably kind and generous that Crystal was a stark contrast most people were not expecting. She whined, complained, and threw tantrums when she didn't get her way. We knew that she was just acting like any twelve year old would but it didn't stop people from expecting her to grow up sooner rather than later. Even Maggie was getting annoyed with her and she was usually the one who was willing to overlook just about every shortcoming of anyone who had ever been a host. I couldn't say that I agreed with that philosophy but it kept her from badgering me so I didn't complain.

Crystal was thankfully absent so I strode into the kitchen to get some clean bottles for Max. I picked up a few and filled them with formula and water then headed to the storage room to get some more diapers. We were going through them faster than I thought that we would; both Jodi and Max would need some soon. We would have to go on a raid in the next couple of weeks.

I headed back to Jared's and my room where Freedom was sitting with Max and Jodi. He was seven now and perfectly capable of being in charge for five minutes, something I praised him about considerably. He was finally starting to warm up to me after five years of being leery in my presence.

I was sick of being stuck with baby-sitting duty but Jeb was content to listen to Jared's ridiculous requests for me to be kept from doing anything strenuous. I thought almost four months of maternity leave was fairly ridiculous but he was adamant. I suggested once that Jared watch the kids while I worked in the fields and he almost fell over. If I had known his views on the woman's role in child rearing I may have reconsidered. Or at least discussed it in advance. This was so boring.

Wanda had talked Ian into letting her go back to normal activities after just a month. Of course technically the body she was in now wasn't the one that had given birth, but that was beside the point. Crystal was still angry about the stretch marks she inherited. Apparently that was 'like the worst thing ever'.

I wanted to be turning fields and doing hard manual labor. I could feel my muscles going soft. I hated being out of shape. I needed to start running, though where I was going to run to was the question. I guess I could run laps around the game room. That might not be such a bad idea. I could set Jodi and Max down on a blanket and keep an eye on them while I ran. Or I could wait until tonight and leave Max with Jared.

I was pretty sure that Jared was terrified to be left alone with the kids. He didn't understand that babies under the age of one couldn't do much that he would be unable to handle. Jodi was crawling but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle, so all he would have to do would be feed and change them. I wasn't leaving him alone with Freedom and Isaiah. It wasn't like he had to find something to entertain them with. All he had to do was make sure they didn't roll into anything sharp. It wasn't exactly rocket science.

Jamie was more comfortable with the babies than Jared was. Jared liked to claim that he was farther removed from being a baby than Jamie was but I saw through it. I was going to have to do something with him before Max was 7 and had never been alone in a room with his father. And I had just the thing.

I was going to run in the game room tonight and Jared was going to be in charge of getting him to sleep. I smirked as I thought of the heated argument we were going to have later. I liked showing him that while he thought he was in charge of me, I held all the power.

I sighed as I sat next to Freedom and pulled Max into my arms. He was getting so big. I was surprised how much bigger he was than Jodi when she was his age. According to Doc he was going to pass her up within the next year.

I hoped that Max wouldn't bully Jodi around just because he was bigger. They were practically brother and sister so I expected some sibling rivalry. I didn't want them to grow up to be like Kyle and Ian. If those two weren't related I think they would have killed each other by now.

I gave Max his bottle and leaned back against the bed, bored out of my mind. Freedom was playing quietly on the floor with some action figures. I thought they were from X-men but I wasn't sure. I knew that Freedom would have no idea. He just thought they looked cool. Sharon had let him out of school early today. She was doing some more advanced stuff with Isaiah and Crystal and didn't want to bore him. So he was sent to Melanie's Day Care Deluxe. Not that I minded him, or the other two for that matter. I just wished that someone else would take a day.

I leaned my head back and looked up at the ceiling studying the holes. I decided to pass the afternoon memorizing the patterns. It would be the most entertainment I had in weeks.