The Number Seven

Prologue

My parents were married on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The date was April 25th, 1993. They got married in a Catholic Church and the reception was held on a Malibu beach. From the stories I have been told, the night was filled with laughter, happy tears, dancing, good music, and friends and family. My mother was one of those women who had a crazy side to her. My dad brought out the calm in her. They were polar opposites, but they were completely and utterly perfect for each other. They still are now. They were in complete and utter love with each other. They still are now. They went off on their honeymoon to tour Europe and a few islands for two weeks. After that, they returned to Los Angeles, California and both started their careers. three years later, Mom had put out two very successful lines of designer clothes and Dad had been working with NASA for the last year and a half and was loving it. He had started as an engineer's assistant and was being promoted to a full-blown engineer. They were also pregnant with their first child, well children. It was twins! During this pregnancy, Mom explored yoga and meditation. Soon enough the twins were born and they turned out to be girls! Mom took two years off work to raise the girls. This was when she went full-blown yogi master! She started going to yoga every morning, meditated once a day while the twins were napping, learned about incense and bought a whole crate full, started buying only organic food, and started making her own baby food. 

After the two year break was up, the girls started going to day care and mom got back to designing. A year later, mom was asked to move to New York City for her job. Soon enough, dad had the go-ahead to move as well. They packed up all their belongings and moved halfway across the country to the east coast. They lived in a town house in the city and absolutely adored it! After about three months, mom found out she was pregnant again! She and Dad couldn't have been happier! Mom loved being a mother and was excited to start designing the baby's room. After a few months, she was huge and looked like she was already about to pop. But she was only on her fourth month! They brought this up to the gynecologist and that was when they realized they were having not one, not two, not even three, but SEVEN children! Mom soon got very sick and was put on bed rest. She designed from her bed and tried to stretch as much as she could. By the time she was close to her due date she was 3 times her original size and was frustrated to the moon and back! Mom went into labor on November 7th, 2001 at 3:30 a.m. We were all born by 10 p.m. the next day. Mom and Dad's lives changed forever from that day forward. They went from a family of four to a family of eleven within a day. Mom and Dad had been doing so well that they had been able to move into the 3rd biggest penthouse in New York City. They had also been rising in fame due to Mom's success in the clothing industry and Dad's big work for NASA. After a few weeks of having nine children, seven of which were newborns and the only surviving septuplets in the world, Mom and Dad realized they were going to need more help than just their mothers. So, they hired Jared. He became their nanny for the rest of their lives. He helped around the house, helped feed and burp the babies, entertained the twins when they needed some attention, and was just a joy to be with! Jared was twenty three when He was hired on and he quickly became great friends with Mom and Dad who were only a few years older than him. 

Soon, the sevens where turning one and were doing great. The youngest of the seven, Oliver, had just been diagnosed with severe autism and would only be held by his mother. He started going to therapy and doctors appointments. Other than that, Mom and Dad felt like they were back to a rhythm after a crazy year. Mom was designing again and they were able to move again. This time to a real house where they would stay for the rest of their life. It was right outside of the city. They were still able to send the twins to a private grade school within the city and go to work in the city whenever they needed. They weren't planning on getting pregnant again, but yet again the pregnancy test had two definite, pink lines. They were pregnant again. Once again mom was growing rapidly. Soon they figured out they were having triplets! Soon, those babies were born and even though Mom and Dad couldn't believe they had so many children, they were beyond excited about the new bundles of joy God had given them. After that, their lives were hectic with little children! Running to baseball games, soccer games, lacrosse games, swim meets, academic decathlons, show choir performances, runway shows with little children, and other premieres they had been invited too. 

The twins enter high school and the Septuplets hit puberty. Oliver would through fits and only his septuplet siblings could calm him down. Mom was still going to yoga every morning and she had even opened her own yoga studio and started her own yoga clothing line. To say the Marin's life was crazy was an understatement. But the parents wouldn't change a thing because this was their large, happy family and they loved each other unconditionally.