Bebe Populous awoke to find that the final mysterious plants she had in her garden had developed fruit.  She was thrilled to see the two plants bearing the haloed yellow pears – these must be the rare life fruit plants she’d heard about from the others at the lab.  It had long been a local legend that such fruit could prolong people’s lives, and that if you had enough of them, you could stay young, for ever.  Bebe dearly hoped this would be true.  She bit into one, it tasted delicious – silky smooth, like honeyed fruit.  She felt a small tingle pulse through her body, though whether this would have any significant age-defying effects, she could not yet tell.  Along with the trees that were bearing small sacks of money and those that provided a fruit Brad had nicknamed ‘flame fruit’ because they kept you warm, Bebe’s garden was proving even more of a delight than usual.

Her children were starting to really take on strong personalities and a sense of responsibility, as well as an eagerness to learn skills, just as she’d hoped.  She bought Brad a toy oven after he’d pestered her for one, and he kept making muffins for her and for baby Cameron.  Bebe had to explain that baby Cameron was still too small for real food, but Brad said he was getting practice in for when his little brother was old enough for solids.

Annalise still spent a lot of her time fishing, and Bebe had had a small pond built at the front of the house so Annalise could catch fish while she was under curfew if she so chose.  Bebe took a very keen interest in the different species of fish her daughter found.  She’d heard rumours of several types of unusual fish that had been sighted in the Valley and was longing to see if some of these rumours were true.

Annalise was also a great help around the house, washing up, mending things and taking care of the boys.  She even offered to babysit so Bebe could go to the pictures with her best friend for a rare night out.

Unfortunately, Bebe and Xander didn’t really enjoy the film that much… but they found other ways to amuse themselves in the cinema instead…

The next day, Bebe had another visit from Asa.  He was a young man already – she couldn’t believe how quickly time had flown!  As they talked it was clear they each had things on their mind, things they hoped the other could provide.

Bebe considered Asa for a while.  He had been a friend of the family for so long now, this was practically his home.  The children needed a male role model who was more consistent than their biological fathers.  She needed help around the house – and seeing as Asa was already there so often, there was a logical next step.

Bebe asked Asa if he would like to join her family permanently; if he would marry her.  But he politely said no.

Bebe was shocked that he’d turn down her proposal.  She realised that perhaps he needed a little persuasion.

Holding the former paperboy in her arms as if he were a lover felt strange to Bebe initially.  He had always been the kid from the neighbourhood who hung out at hers, but as she touched him and looked into his eyes, she saw for the first time that he was an attractive young man.  Asa asked if they were officially boyfriend and girlfriend, and Bebe agreed that they were.  She felt strange to be saying those words.  She was a strong independent woman, she had never felt any burning desire for a ‘soulmate’ – and if she had, she wouldn’t have considered Asa to be it.  But if she was to marry him, then she supposed a period of courtship was an inevitability.

Suddenly, a roar erupted from Bebe’s stomach.  She wondered if it was the nerves she felt at where her relationship with Asa was going… or whether it was that old familiar rumbling that suggested her body was about to change again.

Asa came in to the bathroom, and watched her vomit.  He didn’t ask her why she was feeling sick, not that she was ready to tell him.  She felt a little unnerved by his presence.  Surely watching someone vomit was a little odd, even if it was your girlfriend.  She asked him to go home for the night as she wasn’t feeling well.

In truth, she was still feeling very strange about being Asa’s girlfriend.  Yes, she wanted him as her husband – she wanted a man to help her out with the home and the children and to bring in a second income to the family, and Asa seemed a great choice given how well he knew the children and how comfortable he felt in her home.  But the thought of being a couple still seemed strange.  Still, he really had grown to be attractive.  Maybe she could get used to it.

After Asa left, Bebe went to tend her pride and joy, the garden, when her body confirmed what she had been suspecting.  She was delighted that her fourth child was on the way, though the cost in terms of money, time and energy of an extra mouth to feed made it seem even more pressing that she marry Asa.

She went out for a walk to collect her thoughts… and to check on her latest experiment. In the experimental garden behind the lab, they had been growing a rare type of plant they nicknamed the ‘omni plant’. The plant was capable of reproducing anything fed to it, and they’d been experimenting with using it to grow extra apples and grapes. But Bebe had decided there was a more interesting purpose for it. Now she need never run out of her precious life fruit. Now, maybe, she need never grow old… and if she never grew old, then the plans she was making for herself, her children and her town had suddenly grown much, much bigger…

—

< < 6. Starting a fire

8. Seeing a ghost > >