There wasn't any need for the boys to be introduced to their babysitters, as one of them had met them before and remembered them well, and the other was too little to understand who they were. That made for the rest of the preparations for the night to go by quickly, and the goodbyes from parents to sons to be less tearful than they would have been if these were complete strangers. The only snag in the speediness was when Sierra had to be asked for all of her cameras off of her body before she could be left alone with the children, but that was because she liked to play difficult when it came to getting every last device.

"I should have known that was going to happen," she admitted as soon as the front door was closed and locked after Alejandro and Heather had made their leave. "He always gets me, which I totally understand why he does it, but come on, he knows I'm not going to post pictures of his little ones without permission. He could at least let me take pictures."

"You know you're lucky that you're even allowed in this house," Cody said in response to her comment. "The way you're so obsessed with everything, I'm surprised they let you near their kids without someone watching you." Then he laughed, realizing what he had just said. "No, wait, they do have someone watching you. Me. Because they know if you try and do anything and I'm around, I won't be afraid to get you taken care of."

Sierra sniffled, gaining the attention of not just one of the two kids but a dog as well. "You wouldn't dare do that, would you? I mean, I help you out! I pay half your bills! I give you a place to stay! You wouldn't have me locked up!" Where her voice started hitting higher tones, she got the dog barking at her, something that got her to drop her tone back to normal really quickly. "Whoops, sorry there Sofia. Didn't mean to startle you or something."

"You talked to the dog." His voice was quiet, as he wasn't big on talking to anyone, let alone people he only remembered from his last birthday party, but Andres was looking straight at Sierra when he spoke. "She likes when I talk to her."

"Does she? Oh, that's cool! I didn't know you did that!" Sierra approached the bigger of the two kids, sitting down next to him on the floor. "What else does she like?"

"Games," he replied, shifting his stare from her to where the dog was circling to lay down. "And the cat. And me." His face lit up in a smile when he mentioned himself, looking back to Sierra with those shining green eyes of his. "She likes lots of stuff."

"I bet you'd be able to show me everything she likes, huh? Or maybe you could tell me at some point tonight, I don't know. It's not like we don't have a long time for us to get to know each other better, and for you to tell me all sorts of things about your precious dog." Reaching to ruffle the boy's hair, Sierra was smiling almost as big as he was. "You're going to make tonight the greatest night ever, aren't you?"

He gave a muffled response, as he was laughing at the way her fingers tousled his dark hair and couldn't form the words he wanted. At about that same time, Cody had started looking at the dog, trying to think of something that came to mind when he saw her. "Wait a second, what did you say her name was?" he asked Sierra. "Did you call her the right name, or the wrong one?"

"Obviously the right one," she replied, pulling her hand away from the child's head. "I don't even remember what it was that Heather kept calling her last time we were here. All I know is that we were told repeatedly that her name is Sofia. And so that's what I called her."

"Just checking. Pretty sure that if you called her whatever that other name was, Alejandro would know it and he's not even here." That was when Cody also took a seat, but his place of choice was closer to the other child who was present, except unlike his older brother, he was mostly asleep and not really aware that the person sitting next to him wasn't one of his parents. "Hey, do you think that we're going to have it easy tonight? I mean, Andres is always so good whenever we see him, and the little one's already trying to sleep."

"I am a good boy," Andres said, his voice barely above a whisper as he spoke. "And I will be good now, 'cuz I like being good."

"I think that answers your question, Codykins. As long as it stays like this all night, it's going to be like us being at our place. Well, minus my computer and plus two kids, I guess." Sierra laughed, before getting oddly serious when she spoke again. "I just can't believe that this is real. Can you?"

Cody looked at Sierra with a questioning glance. "Which part? The part where you're actually allowed in this house with only me around, or the part where we're watching these kids on our own?" She laughed a bit more and told him the second choice, and he sighed, mentally wiping his brow for narrowly having to escape having to answer the first one. "I, uh, don't really know how I wouldn't be able to believe this. We're decent people, and we have done nothing but be friendly with their parents, so it makes sense to me that we're here watching these guys."

"That wasn't exactly what I was meaning, but okay." Taking a deep breath to curb her laughter, Sierra tried to make herself serious once more but couldn't quite do it. "I mean, like, I can't believe that these kids exist."

"Oh, that's where you were going with that. It's a bit weird to think that people we competed against for a million dollars have kids while we're still young and doing nothing with our lives, but it's their decision." Turning his focus to the child next to him, Cody was a bit surprised when he saw that in the moments he had been looking away, little Sergio had decided that he didn't want to sleep after all, and he was now staring back at Cody with a confused look. And when it clicked in his head that he wasn't in the same house as his dad, there were tears to be shed, but until that realization was met there was time for conversations to go on. "A decision that, honestly, they could have thought out a bit more."

"I think it's super cool that they're having these kids while they're still young. Means that they'll be able to do cool things with them. Or just have a million babies." Sierra shrugged at her own train of thought as the waterworks began over where Cody sat, and since he was the adult male present it was put on him to calm things down. The view of watching scrawny string-bean Cody try and get a child used to a well-built and muscular man to stop crying was fairly hilarious, and Sierra did find herself giggling at the sight. Several times, at that. But what she took from it beyond the hilarity of the situation was something that she made sure to mention when there was less crying happening: "I think I want us to have a million babies too. Just because we're totally pros at taking care of them."

This statement was, of course, said right after Cody had somehow managed to keep a kid from kicking him in the face, elbowing him in the crotch, and overall stop crying. "One, we aren't together, and we're never going to be. Two, even if we were together, I don't think I'd do well raising kids. And three, if we were together and did have kids, I definitely don't think we'd get anywhere close to a million. I don't even think we'd get this far. And no, I don't want to try. Ever."

"But come on, we would make the cutest babies ever!" No sooner did she say that did it hit Sierra that maybe she shouldn't have said it in earshot of a child who was most definitely raised being told that he was the cutest kid on the planet. "Or, um, almost as cute as these guys, probably."

"My mommy says I'm cute." Andres was speaking louder than he had before, to not just let Sierra know what he was saying but Cody as well. "But my daddy says no. Boys are not cute." There was a tone of sadness in the last two sentences, which drove Sierra to grab the boy in a hug and pull him up onto her lap. "I want to be cute. But I have'ta listen to my daddy."

While he hadn't heard the word the first time it was said, Sergio definitely heard the last word his brother used and started crying when he heard it, restarting the whole process of getting him to calm down. This time he was easier to placate, but not because of anything that the person comforting him did; within five seconds of starting to cry, the cat had come in and hopped right up into the equation, curling up right beside the crying child and purring until things got better. "I wasn't aware that cats were miracle workers," Cody remarked, watching the scene unfold next to him. "Either that, or the cat was a distraction that I didn't know I needed."

Just like that, Mr. Chocolate Vanilla Swirl ceased purring, looking up at Cody and hissing before getting up and walking away. "I guess he didn't like being classified as a 'distraction'," Sierra said with a laugh, as the crying started up once more. But rather than just making fun of the situation, she decided she was going to do something to try and make things better, and that meant leaving her spot next to the well-behaved child and going over to where Cody was being beat on, once again, by the crying Sergio. "Okay, let me get a crack at getting him quiet," she said, picking up the child before he had a chance to hit Cody in any painful manner, "because what kind of unofficial auntie to these boys would I be if I didn't try and help out a bit?"

Her idea of helping was to hold the kid up in the air above her head, letting him scream and kick where no one would be getting hurt by it. While it didn't do anything in terms of calming him down right away, after a few minutes of him being up there he at least wasn't crying as much. "You going to explain why you're Lion King-ing him?" Cody asked, chuckling as he did. "Did someone tell you that kids liked that?"

"No, it just seemed fun," Sierra replied, looking up at the small feet dangling down at her. "And it got him to sorta stop, so I'd say it was a good idea."

Watching what was happening with his little brother gave Andres an idea of his own. He looked for where the cat had walked off to, which was to curl up next to the dog, and as quickly as he could, he grabbed the cat and put him up in the air much like Sierra was holding Sergio up. But the cat didn't like it nearly as much as the kid did, and there was a lot of meowing and clawing at nothing that took place—which wouldn't have been a problem, if it didn't get the dog's attention. And even with the cat as high as Andres could hold him, Sofia's head was about level with the cat's when she came up to investigate what was happening to her furry partner in crime.

It was one of those scenes that Cody was equal parts surprised to see happening and wanting to be part of, but not being part of it meant he got to spectate everything as it happened. The only problem was that explaining what, exactly, was happening was not something he was sure he'd be able to do accurately, and taking a photo for proof was out of the question. "Do you think they'd be too mad if I took a picture of this, just to show them what you guys did?" Reaching for his phone, Cody was prepared for either a positive or a negative answer, because either way having his phone not in his pocket was a good plan.

"I don't think so, Codykins. You know how they are, all super protective of letting people know what these cuties look like." Before he could even try and take the picture anyway (which, he wasn't going to, but that was the action Sierra herself would have taken), she was bringing Sergio back down to cradling-in-arms level, and next to her Andres did the same with the cat. "And that means no pictures. Didn't you see that Alejandro wouldn't even leave until he had all my cameras?"

"I saw, don't worry. Was just asking because I figured they'd like to know we could handle watching their boys for them." Cody fiddled with his phone a bit as he spoke, checking the time and seeing that, for as long as it felt they had been there already, it had been barely twenty minutes, and they were going to be there for several hours. He sighed when he saw that, putting his phone back into its sleep mode and shaking his head. "Hopefully nothing worse than a little crying happens tonight. We can at least handle that."

"Don't be so darn negative! We've got this all under control, and there's nothing that could ruin that!" To make her eat those words right after she said them, Sierra was treated to the lovely surprise of the child she was holding deciding that right then was a perfect time to throw up on himself. She saw it and, her eyes widening in horror, gagged a bit. "Okay, nope, changed my mind. This could ruin that."

As neither of them were trained in the way of cleaning up a child, especially one that didn't seem to like them to begin with, it was a lot longer of an ordeal than it had needed to be. Thankfully, to assist them with finding replacement clothes and whatnot, there was a little helper around who proved to be vital to getting things taken care of without too much trouble. In return for his help, once his brother was nice and clean, and falling back asleep like he had been before, all Andres asked for was to be allowed to play with Sierra's hair, and for her to play with his. It seemed like a strange request—and, really, it was—but when he explained himself, there was no way that she could deny him it. "Mommy lets me touch her hair," he said, his voice quiet to make absolute sure he wasn't heard by his brother. "But I'm not s'posed to. Daddy says so."

"He says a lot of things, but you know what you should do when he says them?" Sierra was undoing her hair so that the child could play with it to his content, and so she didn't quite notice the slight head-tilt he was giving her, wanting her to explain what she meant. That was okay, though, because she answered her own question at the same time she was shaking her head to let her hair hang loose and free. "You should tell him that he should stop being such a jerk. He's not being very nice if he's telling you what you can't do."

"I'm pretty sure that's the entire point of being a parent," Cody inputted, earning himself a bit of a scoff from Sierra. "No, being serious here. You can't tell a kid to tell his dad to not be a jerk, even if the guy is one of the biggest jerks on the planet. There's some things that parents are just going to do, and we have to tell the kid to respect that, not try and fight it."

"So you want me to let him think that it's normal for kids to not get to follow their interests? That's so uncool! I mean, I'm down for following some of the rules, but not all of them. And this is one rule I'm not following. He's allowed to play with my hair whenever I'm around, and that's that." A smile on her lips, Sierra soon found that letting a four-year-old play with her hair was one of the dumber decisions she had ever made in her life, as he was tugging it and trying to style it in ways that were resulting in knots, but he seemed so cheerful and out of his quiet shell when he was doing it. She couldn't deny him that sort of fun.

After a good half-hour of that (which was noted by Cody as he kept checking his phone, dreading that something was going to happen), the kid grew bored of Sierra's hair and politely asked her if she would do something with his instead. If she hadn't been able to deny him the fun of playing with her hair, there was no way she was going to turn down his request. There wasn't much she could do with the dark, shaggy hair on his head except put it into small bunches, but it was enough to get him laughing and enjoying the moment. When he laughed, it was enough to get Sierra laughing, and there was something about hearing her snort-laugh alongside the gleeful and pure laughter of a child that made Cody smile.

Even if the moment was ruined by his phone that he had been fidgeting with starting to ring, alerting them to an event that, by all means should have been expected. There wasn't much they could do about it, except realize that they weren't just babysitting for a few hours like they had been told, but were instead going to be in it for the overnight, to make sure that in the morning after the dust had settled, the kids were alive and able to go visit their parents as well as their new baby brother.

No matter how things ended up, life in that house over the following few months was a giant mess as it happened. Living in a home with one child that knew the basics of how to do things, one child who was slowly starting to learn how to do anything that wasn't be obnoxious or run away from everyone, and one baby who definitely couldn't do anything was a challenge in itself, but somehow they all managed. Even if managing meant that, at times, there was nothing but animosity between the two adults in charge. How else were they supposed to handle the life that they had chosen for themselves, aside from be rude and hateful to one another? There were many other ways, sure, but rude was just the way that they preferred.

But while one of them could let the demeaning comments thrown at him roll off his shoulders, it wasn't quite as easy for the other to do so, mostly because the way they insulted each other was so different. While she was great at shooting him nasty looks and saying things that she didn't mean, he wasn't as fond of telling her lies to get back at her. In fact, he made sure that every single thing he said to her when they'd be bickering would dig at her, get under her skin, and make her rethink their entire situation.

It was one thing for them to go at each other and then laugh it off, even if the insults stung a bit. It was a completely different thing when he'd say something and then leave for the day, leaving her alone with three kids to dwell on what he had brought up. Some days, the sight of those kids would put Heather in tears, because she knew that they were the reason that everything was going as it was. If it weren't for them existing, there would be nothing that would keep Alejandro away all the time, because the only reason he had so much as bothered actually trying to make himself into a working man was to be able to say he was supporting his family. Which there was no denying that he was doing that, as they were doing much more than simply surviving with what they had.

But at what cost? He seemed more interested in making sure that the boys all had what they needed than he did making sure she was happy. And was she happy? It depended on the day and what sort of argument they had to start, but most of the time she was right in a neutral spot. She loved her sons (even if there was still that desire inside of her to add a daughter to the mix, despite how terrible of an idea it might actually be), and she was fairly certain she still loved the man she had married (even if he was able to hurt her with his fighting words), but she hated herself more than she could ever love someone else.

It was a form of hatred that was thrust upon her from others, at that; sure, being teased about this-or-that was hurtful, but at the end of the day Heather knew that whatever bickering there was between her and Alejandro, it wasn't serious. They knew that they had gotten themselves into this mess, and it was hard to handle but they were doing it, and if getting frustrations out on each other through the use of arguing was how they were going to handle it, so be it. It didn't help at all that he'd criticize her for things out of her control, or, at least, things that he was just as responsible for as she was.

There was one day in particular that things got worse than usual, although there was no real reason for that being the case. The day started the same, with an early wake-up call courtesy of three kids who all wanted something: Andres needed to make sure that he'd be getting to his little school thing on time, Sergio was just done with sleeping and needed one of his parents to get him ready for his day, and baby Ryden just spent most of his time crying for attention. But with only two adults and three kids who needed things, someone had to do two things at once, and that was where all the troubles found their root cause. "You know, taking care of this would be easier if you were willing to help more," Alejandro said, realizing that he was going to, as usual, be the one who handled most of the issues. "Or, possibly, it would be easier if you chose to not push everything off on me."

"Oh, whatever. You and I both know that if I try to do anything, they'll just be more upset. Can't help it that they're spoiled into loving you more." To try and keep there from being any more arguing on the matter, much like she did every morning, Heather simply covered her face with a pillow and hoped he'd take the hint and walk away. Like usual, he didn't, uncovering her and giving her a stern look that she rolled her eyes at. "Okay, fine, I'll do something. But I'm not getting cried on this early in the day. That's what I get when you're not here."

"You act like you want to be the one who makes the money in this family, by the way that sounded. Is that what you want?" His look maintained its sternness, even as she got herself out of bed and prepared herself for what was coming. "I can tell you that it certainly is not what you want, judging by the way you look."

All the effort she was putting into getting ready came to a grinding halt. "What was that?" she asked, through gritted teeth. "Repeat yourself, now."

"There is no reason for me to repeat myself, mi amor, especially since you already know what I said. If you were not content with what you do every day, I am positive that you would have made some sort of effort to make yourself more presentable." She turned to look at him, her eyes narrowed into an icy-cold glare. "Do not look so displeased with what I said. You and I both know I am speaking the truth."

"Even if it was the truth, which it wasn't, I don't think I need you trying to police my appearance, thank you very much." At that, she didn't speak to him again until after everything was taken care of with the children, and even then, all she said to him was that she hoped he'd have a decent day off at work. He did try to apologize, like he did every time he'd make comments of the sort, but she wanted nothing of it, and once he was gone she was breaking down into tears that she had made sure to keep hidden from him.

It wasn't her fault that having three kids had done her body no favors, and she was done with hearing him go off on her about how she didn't look presentable. He was just being completely unrealistic with the idea that she should still look like she had when they met—even though she would have loved to have been able to do just that. But the thing with having children was that once it happened, there was no erasing the damage they'd done, no matter how much anyone would say otherwise. If there was a way for her to get back to her absolutely tiny size from back when they had first gotten married, she would have done it in a heartbeat, but that was impossible and she was just going to have to embrace what she had.

He'd have to learn to embrace it too, and that was going to be a challenge that would take a lot of time and effort to succeed with. Was that worth it? Did he really need to accept the fact that his family's stupid "curse" combined with her strong desire to have a female child was the reason that she looked the way she did? Or did he just need to realize that he didn't have a say in how she looked, and that his mean comments on the matter were enough to drive her to crying? Either way, something had to change, and that something was not going to be the impossible. There was no chance at all that she'd fully get rid of her new curves or the marks etched into her skin, and he would have to understand that, just like she had.

And in accepting that these physical flaws were now a permanent part of herself, the realization hit Heather that the only person who really needed to accept these things was indeed herself. If Alejandro wanted to have a problem with it (which he clearly did have), she was just going to have to tell him that he needed to realize that she had earned what she looked like by having three of his kids, and if he was still going to have a problem, then she would just leave. No sooner did she think about the mere possibility of leaving did she start to question why she hadn't thought of that sooner. It was a good way out, if only even for a little bit, and it would teach him to not dig at her and her insecurities.

But then the reality of the situation was driven home with the silence-breaking screaming of a lonely child, because hearing that scream reminded her that she couldn't just leave, no matter how much doing so would teach Alejandro a thing or two about appreciating her for everything she was. There was something comforting in hearing the sound of a child in distress, though, and that was that it meant that at least someone wanted her around as she was. Sure, it also meant that she had to do something other than sit and feel sorry for herself, but maybe actually taking part in her parenting duties would be of help to turning her thoughts from the negative to the positive. She collected herself the best she could and went to see what the damage was, only to find that the screams weren't exactly happening because the baby was lonely, or because he was in distress.

They were happening because the other kid who was currently at the house had climbed up into the crib and was squashing his little brother's legs underneath him. Some may say that laughter is the best kind of medicine there is, and those people may just have to be considered to be right, because nothing could top the rush of happiness that overtook her as she saw what was causing all the screaming, and when she started to laugh it got both boys laughing as well, which only made her happier. Typically she was only able to get Andres to laugh or even smile, as he was the one who loved her most, but he wasn't there and yet she had both Sergio and Ryden both giggling madly.

The scene couldn't last forever, though, not with someone being sat on, and so the fun came to an end when the bigger kid was put out on the floor and the baby was picked up to be held and have some quality time spent with. If there was one thing that bothered Heather more about the whole "parenting" thing than the fact that her partner didn't appreciate her for the sacrifices she had made, it was that neither of the two kids present seemed to like her very much. It was one of those weird quirks in life, and she hated it more than anything else involving them.

"Surprised you're not crying at me right now," she softly said to the child in her arms, who didn't seem to even notice that he was being spoken to. "Funny how the one of you kids who's named after your dad likes me more, the one who was just given some old promised family name likes him more, and then you…" All traces of the laughter that had happened moments before was gone, not replaced with sadness but rather with disappointment, and she shook her head. "I finally get a say in a name and the kid I give it to hates me."

While very much still too young to be capable of even the most basic of speech, Ryden was able to give his reply in a facial expression dear to his mom's heart: a near-perfect replica of her own pout. It was every bit as sweet as getting him to laugh ever could have been.

The more things changed, the more they tended to stay the same. While there was no denying that something had to happen in terms of how they treated each other, it was clear that either there was going to be some respect learned, or this family was going to be torn in half. Thankfully for everyone involved, it was the first option that was acted on, and while there was no way that they'd be able to teach the kids to love both parents equally, it was completely possible for the only fighting that happened between Heather and Alejandro to be playful and not at all attacking.

Unless, of course, it dealt with the one topic they would never see eye-to-eye on, and then all bets were off in terms of playfulness. Even after he had been proven right three times, she still wanted to have things fall in her favor, and the only way for that to possibly happen was for them to have another child. Adding a fourth kid into the mix, especially right away, was seen as a bad idea, so for a good many months they were allowed to fight back and forth about when they'd get their next chance to see if there was any change to the luck of the family. It was about two years after the day of the then-littlest one showing off his pout (a habit that he never dropped, at that) that it was once again proven that there was something in the gene pool that prevented any girls to be born into the family.

That meant four sons, no daughters, and a whole lot of masculinity taking over in Heather's life for the far foreseeable future—or until a day that everyone who could remember it would like to forget.

A/N: This chapter kind of marks the end of the "first half" of the fic. Starting with chapter 5, things get less explain-y and more immerse-y into events. Why? Because I had a lot I needed to set up, and sometimes showing rather than being a part of it is the way to go. Anyway, come back next week (hopefully) for another thrilling installment! :D