Upgrade U

Round 7 - May 2040

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Marshal White is 44, Shamella is 41, Evan and Ethan are 4 (Joe Carr is 44, Ariel is 38, Kayden is 10, Javion is 8, Layla and Lauren are 1)

I can do for you what Martin did for the people

Ran by the men but the women keep the tempo

It's very seldom that you're blessed to find your equal

Still play my part and let you take the lead role, believe me

Let me upgrade you

Beyonce

Marshal had left the choice of which house to buy in Talum Heights up to his wife and sister. He had given them the price range and set them loose, a very dangerous thing to do when Ariel was involved........ And though he hated to admit it, they did a pretty wonderful job........

Ethan and Evan were excited that their cousins were coming over. Marshal and Shamella decided to throw a house warming party to start the summer off right. They had only invited Marshal's sister Ariel and her husband Joe and their four kids: Kayden, Javion, Lauren, and Layla.

Ariel and Joe were still as disgustingly sweet to one another as the always had been, despite being married now for almost a decade. Marshal was sure that Ariel's new look was the reason for most of their PDA now. His sister was and had always been a diva. He couldn't wait to see if her twin daughters took after her. Oh how he hoped they would............

Shamella had a feeling that at least one of the twins would be like Ariel. All her efforts to play with little Layla were met with lots of fussy rejection......It seemed that Layla wasn't really in a partying mood!

Ethan seemed to have a bit more luck with Lauren who was enjoying their game of peek-a-boo. Both boys had been bugging Shamella and Marshal lately about having a little brother or sister. Both adults quickly shot down the request as neither of them was interested in starting over with another baby now that the boys were in school.

"It must be so great having little sisters!" Evan said.
"No! All they do is cry and whine all the time! Trust me, you don't want to go messing with a good thing. I miss the days when it was just me and Kayden..........now we can't go hardly anywhere all together because Layla and Lauren are too little!" Javion said.
"Oh......but they'll grow up and then you can play with them," Evan said.
"Yea.......but they'll want to play with dolls. And wear make up and dresses and do all that girly stuff like my mom does. Trust me, it's better without them."
"If you say so........" Evan said.

Evan still wasn't convinced, but he dropped the subject just in time for dinner. He wanted to be a big brother, and since he and Ethan were twins, he'd never get that chance. And technically, Ethan was his big brother because he was older by 4 minutes. It just wasn't fair........

Shamella was eventually able to win Layla over, though Ariel warned her that the little lady could be a bit unpredictable and just because she was cooperating now, didn't mean she would continue to do so. Shamella wondered where Layla could have possibly gotten that kind of temperament from.............

Tragedy almost struck when Marshal decided to throw a few ribs on the grill after they ran out of food. He was so engrossed in a conversation that he completely forgot to check on the food! The result was a burst of flames as the entire grill caught fire!

"Awwwww man, the ribs are ruined!" Marshal said.
"The ribs? You almost burned down our new house!" Shamella said laughing.
"Looks like life in surburbia is going to be more dangerous than life in the city for 'ol Marshal," Joe said also laughing.
"It was a simple mistake, no harm no foul," Marshal said.
"Hmmmmmm, let's not push it ok babe? Really, we're all full we don't need anymore food," Shamella said laughing.
"I'll never live this down will I?" he asked.
"Nah!" they all said in unison.

"You ever think about us having another baby?" Shamella asked once everything had settled down.
"No, and you shouldn't be thinking it either," Marshal said laughing.
"Oh, I'm not! We're much too old to start over!"
"Old? Speak for yourself!" Marshal said laughing.
"You're even older than me!"
"Hey if you guys start missing having babies around the house, feel free to borrow the twins," Joe said laughing.
"And take you away from spending time with your diva daughters? Never happen!" Marshal said.

So what if he didn't get to be a big brother.......he'd always be older than Layla and Lauren. And if they had another baby, he and Ethan would have to share a room again.........no, Evan figured things were perfect just the way they were!

* I love playing Marshal and his sister Ariel. They're really very close and it's fun to see their kids interact with one another. 

* I really had planned for Marshal and Shamella to have another baby, but time got away from me. They are both now in their forties and neither of them have the want for another child.


* I also love how much Evan looks like his cousins. He and Kayden and Javion could be brothers! Ethan looks just like Marshal. I'm excited to see their personalities develop, I think they are going to be very different from one another given their personality stats.

* It was time for Marshal and his family to get a home of their own. That apartment was just too small for the four of them. So they took out a loan and now live across the street from the Fosters. And here is their first family portrait in their new home:

Such a beautiful family :)