Bebe Populous had been given a new challenge from work: to experiment with planting a new plant that was said to produce cheese.  She had been somewhat sceptical, but was amazed to find that the plant did what it promised.  The cheese wasn’t the nicest she’d ever eaten, but it would be fine to melt over burgers or lasagne.

She was thinking about her garden a lot lately.

Ever since Eddie had confided in her about his fears of not getting a publishing deal before he needed to move out, she decided to let him in on one of her secrets – the life fruit that would keep him younger for a few more days and enable him to have some more time to work on his dream.

While Gail Populous was fixing the sink yet again, she overheard her mother talking to Eddie about the life fruit and knew the time was right to ask Bebe something she’d been wanting to raise for a while.

Gail knew that her mother’s work involved messing with genetics in a variety of ways.  She knew her parents were using some kind of experiment to keep young.  Annalise and Brad were developing a few grey hairs and wrinkles, yet  Bebe and Asa looked like frsh-faced eighteen year-olds.  Gail knew that wasn’t through natural means.  If there were ways of keeping people younger, then she felt sure that there were ways of accelerating the ageing process.

She decided to confront her mother and ask her to help her grow up.  She didn’t see any need in staying at home when she could be getting on with her dreams.  If Bebe was reluctant, she would tell her that she knew her secret about staying young.

It worked!  Bebe had been incredibly reluctant to support Gail’s plan.  She didn’t want to put her daughter in danger of harm, and the serum they had at the lab was still in development, but Gail was insistent.  Bebe felt a little sad that her girl wanted to grow up so fast, but she realised she couldn’t stop her.

Bebe told Gail she didn’t have to move out just yet, but Gail was insistent.  She knew the family would miss her, but she promised to visit regularly, and she’d secured employment at the science facility so she would see her mother all the time.

Gail’s leaving was an emotional time for Bebe.  She hoped her other children weren’t so eager to fly the nest so soon.  On top of this, she’d recently discovered that both Connor Frio and Leighton Sekemoto had died.  She had attended Connor’s funeral, for the sake of their son Brad, though she hid at the back, out of the site of Connor’s brother Jared.  She hadn’t dared attend Leighton’s though.  It didn’t feel right.  Poor Leighton had a beautiful daughter that he never knew.  She felt sad for Sam, his son, but also that he never saw how beautiful Gail was, and that that beauty had come from him.  She decided to pay her respects to him privately in the local cemetery.

The cemetery was full of ghosts of those who had perished in the Valley over the years.  Some of them were troubled souls, and Bebe spent the evening reassuring them about the new advances in science and technology that meant maybe, one day, they could be revived.  She thought of Buster, whose resurrection hadn’t quite gone to plan.  But she thought of the sensual, unusual experience of making love to him and the beautiful baby boy they had produced.  She wondered if one day it would be possible to have a similar experience.

As she pondered this, Bebe knew that the thing she most needed right now was someone to love.  She needed a new baby.  She wanted to see if the ghosts might be willing to help her out… but as soon as they had arrived, they vanished into thin air.

The next day, while the children were at school and Asa was at work, Bebe decided to call up some of the men in her phonebook.  She got Eddie to take Julie to the library so that the house was empty.

Nils Blau had been an acquaintance of Bebe’s since he was a young man with beautiful blonde hair.  he was older now, but his striking looks had not diminished.  However, he simply wasn’t interested in Bebe in a romantic sense at all and was somewhat affronted she would think he could be so easily seduced.

Across town, Asa finished his shift at work, changed into his old composing outfit, and made his way to the Martinez household.  Jennifer had called him and asked him to come over, and something inside him just could not resist seeing her again.  His heart was trembling as he made his way through the door.  Her house was so nice, so big, so clean… and so quiet.  He hadn’t been in a home without children for so long that he’d forgotten what it was like.

Jennifer said she’d been hurt when he spurned her in the park the other day.  Asa apologised and said he was scared.  He didn’t want to get involved with anyone he didn’t love… or who didn’t love him.

But, he confessed, he had fallen in love with her, and he didn’t know what to do.  He still loved Bebe.  Morgana had told him it was possible to be in love with more than one person, but was that possible?

Jennifer smiled.  Of course it was possible.  After all, she loved her husband, but she was also in love with Asa.

It was all Asa needed to hear.  He couldn’t resist any longer, and he reached in and kissed her.

Meanwhile, Bebe’s next friend, Mint Greene, visited the house.  Julie was asleep and the boys were busy with their writing and homework, so they should have enough time…

…and as Bebe and Mint embraced each other…

…across town, Asa and Jennifer did the same.

—

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