Bebe Populous had been putting aside the money she made from her money trees and the bonuses she gained from her promotions, and finally she was able to afford a second bedroom for her children, which offered them an indoor space to paint, write or simply hang out.  She had also bought a large family dining table so they could all sit round together.  It felt good to be building things that would help keep her family happy.

Gail used the new space to work on her designs for creature-robot hybrids, while Eddie, satisfied with his painting ability, concentrated on refining his writing, and Fitzy worked on both his writing and painting.  he had a very special painting project in mind.  He had felt a little guilty about the novels he’d written about his family when he was younger, particularly as his mother and father seemed solid, and so he had a surprise for them.

He painted Bebe’s portait.  He said he wanted to give it to her for her birthday but he didn’t know when her birthday was, or his dad’s for that matter.  Bebe smiled and said they didn’t celebrate their birthdays but she adored the portrait and was sure Asa would love his as well.

Bebe may have said she didn’t celebrate birthdays, but she could see a few small wrinkles emerging around her eyes, and a handful of grey hairs appearing at the roots, so it was time, she felt, to help reverse the ageing process once more.

As before, the sensation of the ambrosia was like nothing she’d ever encountered.  She could imagine that this stuff could get addictive, if only the ingredients weren’t so rare.

Just as she finished eating, Eddie came into the room.  He glanced curiously at the plate, vapours still rising from it.  Bebe smiled and said it was something she was working on, an experiment in food technology.  Eddie nodded, but he looked sad.  Bebe asked him what was wrong and he replied that he wanted so much to earn a living from his writing, painting and comic books so that  he could sustain himself, but he’d been told by the publishers that his writing wasn’t yet up to the standard of his illustrations, and he would soon be a young adult – he didn’t want to be under his mum and Asa’s feet, he wanted to be his own man, but time was running out to improve his writing.  Bebe looked thoughtfully at her beautiful, sensitive boy and wondered what she could do to help him.

Henry, meanwhile, was developing a keen interest in art just like his big brothers, though he also had a keen ear for music.  Asa had been playing the guitar to the boy and promised to teach him new sequences when he was a teenager and able to hold a full-sized guitar.  Henry couldn’t wait, he just wanted to create beautiful art and beautiful music.  Growing up in a household where music and art were very much part of things had given him a real appreciation for culture and he wanted to create beautiful works to inspire and encourage others, too.

As for Bebe’s two youngest children, it was soon time for their joint birthday party, and Bebe invited her older children over to celebrate as usual.  She was pleased to see them and to see they were all doing well in their chosen fields, but she couldn’t help feeling a little sad that none of them had yet produced children of their own.

Bebe had thought that Brad, the one child in a stable relationship (and the one with the most money and the largest house), would have been the first to have children of his own, but his girlfriend, Autumn, had recently broken up with him and he was rather distraught.

Ian grew up to be a handsome young man.  He looked more like Bebe than his father, but when Bebe looked at him she saw something in him that reminded her of that special time she’d had in France, and it brought an extra-wide smile to her face.

Bebe was also pleased to see her investment in a large dining table had been worth it.  It had been an incredibly expensive purchase, but to see her children and friends of the family seated together chatting and eating was amazing, just what she had hoped for.

After everyone had consumed one piece of cake, it was time for baby Julie to have her first experience of blowing out candles, surrounded by her mum and all her big brothers and sisters.

Bebe didn’t think Julie looked too much like her father, though maybe she would as she aged.  In fact, if you squinted a little, you would say she looked a bit like Asa, which pleased Bebe greatly.

The unusual thing a bout little Julie was her hair, which had grey tips – when Bebe first met Thornton he had started to go grey, but she had never seen premature ageing in one so young.  She would have to do some research at work to see what might be the reason for this.  Julie was instantly adored by her older siblings, though, and Eddie, as the oldest child living at home, made it his special duty to help his little sister out.

As for Bebe’s other daughters, they were having a heart to heart.  Gail told Annalise how much she hated school and hated working at the grocery store; how she was desperate to grow up and pursue her dream.  Annalise told her little sister to slow down, enjoy being young, but Gail wasn’t having any of it.  She had a plan…

While the rest of the family was having a party, Asa was back in the park.  He told Bebe he’d had to stay late after work, but he’d really gone to see if Jennifer was there.  However, when she started flirting with him and telling him what she’d like to do with him, Asa started to get uncomfortable.  He wasn’t interested in the physical side of things as much as the emotional – he wanted love.  He realised this was madness – he was a married man, married to a great woman, being flirted with by another man’s wife.  This could only end badly.  He was stupid to have come to the park, stupid to have thought he would find more happiness with Jennifer than he already had at home.

Asa, flustered, told Jennifer he didn’t want to just have a casual fling – they both had too much to lose, and besides, he couldn’t be intimate with someone he wasn’t in love with.  Jennifer regarded him with curiosity.  This man was slightly insane but he was clearly a romantic soul.  And she would get her way with him… she just had to be more creative in how she approached the matter.

As Asa was leaving the park, he was accosted by Jared Frio, who started joking about how Asa was just like Bebe, sniffing after anything that showed an interest.  Asa was angry, how dare this man cast aspersions on him or his wife?  Just because he had fathered a child with Bebe a long time ago didn’t give him the right to slander her, or Asa.  He shouted at Jared to leave his family alone and stormed off home, not noticing Jared’s smirk as he went.

When he got home, he found Cameron waiting for him.  The boy was nothing like his biological father, except in looks, and Asa was pleased about this.  One firebrand was enough for one day, but Cameron had concerns, too.  He said Bebe had been upset at Asa missing the children’s birthdays, and he knew she was inside, alone, feeling sad.

Asa wondered what on earth he had been doing – why had he gone to see another woman rather than spend time with his wife and children?  Maybe he really was the crazy man everyone had always accused him of being.

So he went into the bedroom, got down on his knees and began to serenade his wife.

Bebe melted as she saw the repentance in her husband’s eyes.  They looked at each other, acknowledging for the first time in a while how much they needed each other, how much they were a unit.

And for that night, Bebe and Asa put all thoughts of others aside and enjoyed each other’s company once more.

—

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24. Taking a risk > >