Generation Three- Pearflower: Chapter 12

“Make a wish!” Sunglo called as the girls blew out their candles. It was Ruby Red, Rosemary and Anastasia-Blossom’s fifth birthdays; Kobi wanted to do the honors of bringing each of them to their cakes-which was totally fine by me. He was such a good big brother.

They all grew up beautifully, each keeping their own features but still managing to look the same. I horded them together for a picture, but poor Ruby Red seemed like she was having sight problems; she thought Sunglo was me and looked at her, instead of the camera. Sunglo’s birthday was yet a few months away; Kobi’s was the farthest off.

Interrupting my train of thought, Maroon came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered in my ear, planting kisses along my neck, bringing his mouth to my ear. “They’re getting older. Won’t be long until our own birthdays, you know.” Maroon’s words sounded in my ear, wispy and sly.

“I know…let’s not think about that for the time being,” I replied, smiling and spinning around.

“I love you.” Maroon grinned warmly at me, bringing his own lips to mine, wrapping his dry, soft hand around my own.

“I love you t-”

“Grooooooooooooooss! Get a room, you guys!” Sunglo yelped, giggling insanely before running back to her sisters. The whole family was engrossed in a game of tag- from what I could tell Kobi was it.

“I’m going to get you, Ruby!” he shouted, chasing after poor little Ruby Red. Her legs were nimble and didn’t hold her up too well all the time. She stumbled over her own two feet-I swear, she had been born with two left ones- and became “it.”

Turning back to my husband, I laughed lightly and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

“Love you too, Maroo.”

I became intensely sick the following week-no food I consumed stayed down for longer than ten minutes. Migraines were my worst enemy. I had a feeling I knew what was wrong, but didn’t let anyone else know. One hasty trip to the supermarket, and a small stop in our home bathroom later, my suspicions were confirmed- I was pregnant again.

With my growing age, it was a huge surprise to me; and the father of this child remained a mystery to me. The matter of who was the father of the baby gnawed at my mind- how would I know? Cinna was red, Maroon was red, and if the kid was yellow then we were all screwed.

*****

Maroon’s sister, Vanillia’s wedding occurred a few weeks later-unfortunately, on a day my insides decided, “Oh, let’s be super duper sick today!” Needless to say, I wasn’t feeling my best. I gently asked my husband if I could go home, and after a small, unemphatic argument he relented. I kissed his cheek and took off with the girls to home.

It was a long drive, at least that was how the fourteen miles felt; Rosemary just couldn’t “stop being annoying!” and Sunglo was “being such a brat!” and all I heard was, “Mom! An’s blah blah blah!”, “Mooooom! Rose is bluh bluh bluh!” “Moooom! Ruby is toodly-ootin’!”

My fists tightened around the steering wheel, knuckles fading to white with the tension. I plastered a tight smile on my face but it lost its happiness within a few moments, dissipating into a grimace.  When we finally got home, a huge game of Cops and Poppers ensued. Gesturing for Sunglo to come here, I put a hand to my head and smiled meekly.

“Yeah, Mom?”

“Try to keep them entertained, please? I know it’s not your job but Mom’s not feeling good…”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Sunny. I’ll take you out for a strictly ‘us’ day, sometime soon, mmkay?”

“Yay!”

I spent the next I-don’t-know-how-many hours lying in bed, occasionally sleeping, mostly thinking. What would I do if it wasn’t Maroon’s kid? He definitely wouldn’t like that. I felt so guilty-from what I had heard, his own mother had done the same to his father. Looking at them now, you would never be able to tell Marzipan had been unfaithful…would we be like that?

And if it was Maroon’s child, what would be the point in admitting to an affair? What would I tell Cinna, if I even saw him again? A man should know if he had a child, right? The guilt was eating at me, but in the end I decided to confess, no matter how much it hurt.

I moved into the living room, hoping television could take my mind off things. Maroon and Kobi returned only half an hour or so later, huge smiles plastered on their faces. I took it they had had a good time at the wedding; I was going to ruin that, wasn’t I?

“I love you!” I exclaimed, wrapping my arms around his warm, relaxed torso.

“What did you want to tell me?” he asked, right off the bat, that huge smile still there. I paused a moment, trying to figure out a way to say it so it didn’t sound as bad.

“Well-um-I kind of slept with someone else…” He hesitated, and I do believe those were the hardest ten seconds I had ever ensued.

“You what?!”

“I was mad at you for saying those awful things about me, and I-I met Cinna again…”

“Cinna? That sounds like a girl’s name-What do you mean, again!?”

“It’s not a girl’s name! And he was my best friend in elementary school…I wasn’t expecting it to go that way! I trusted him as a friend and the next morning I-I woke up next to him. I hoped so much that it was you but it wasn’t. And I think he’s married, too-his house had a lady’s touch.”

“Pearflower Chiffon Frosting!”

“I am so, so sorry. I didn’t want to tell you, but I just couldn’t hide this from you forever! The guilt was too much for me. I was going to keep it from you and act like it never happened-if this baby wasn’t yours, you would have no idea! I didn’t want you to hate me…so I had to tell you!”

“Everything was fine, and you had to ruin it, Pear.”

I grabbed him in a tight hug, trying not to cry, saying, “Please, don’t hate me, Maroo! I am sorry! I didn’t mean to do this!”

“Pear!” He shoved himself away from me, burying his face in his hands; his anger was clearly evident. “I can’t believe you would do this to me-to our family!”

Running his hand through his soft burgundy hair, he turned away from me. Tears prickled at my eyes; I inhaled deeply. I thought what would happen to us-what could happen to us.

Were we over?

—

Okay, so normally I’d end a chapter here, but since I made you guys wait so long [21 days. =.=], I’ll put the next chapter up too. Enjoy! ^_^

“Okay, Sunglo, smile for the camera!”

“Nuh-uh!”

“Sunglo..”

“Wook, Daddy! Momma got da cam-ah-wa!”

“Yup, she does.”

“I wanna howd it! I wanna howd it!”

“Okay, darling, one second.”

“Yay!”

“Hey, guys, it’s Maroon here.”

Pear, too.

“And Pear. We just wanted to say, we hope you’re still together and that hopefully you’re happy.”

Why wouldn’t we be?

“Good question.”

“Daddy, who awe you tawking to?”

“Well, Glo, I’m talking to the us of the future. We’re going to watch this in a few years.”

“But woo won’t be awive then!”

“Why is that?”

“Cuz you’re ollllld!”

“Hahaha. I guess so.”

Well, Daddy’s old. I’m still young, right?

“Mommy stiww young! Mommy pwetty! Daddy owd.”

“Okay then, enough teasing. You, little girl, need to take a nap. And you, Pear…”

“I love you.”

I love you too. See you guys later!

A gentle smile tugged at the corners of his mouth; Maroon remembered that day. He had wanted to make home videos so that he could watch them in his later years and remember what their lives used to be like: simple and happy, not nearly as distraught and complicated as they now were.

A soft click sounded from the direction of the door; light footsteps plodded into the room and found their way to the worn-out couch. She stood silently behind the alligator-skin couch, folding her arms together. He kept his eyes on the still image on the television, not acknowledging her presence.

“You ready to go?”

“Give me a second.”

“Alright.” Flicking the T.V. off, Maroon stood up, sliding his feet into his shoes. Glancing at his daughter, still sitting on the couch, he motioned that he was ready to leave.

“Let’s get this over with, Glo.”

Arriving at the family and birth section of the hospital, Maroon and Sunglo made their way to the room his wife was in. Sunglo put a finger to her mouth, silently telling Maroon that Pear was asleep. He nodded. They stepped into the room, Sunglo slowly pressing the door behind them shut.

She slept peacefully, her chest rising and falling rhythmically with her every slow breath. The heart monitor beeped steadily, forming a mountain of a green line on its screen. A tired smile was stretched across her face in her sleep; Maroon thought of how beautiful his wife had always been.

Grinning, he stood next to her bed, timidly placing his hand over hers and kissing her forehead. Sunglo smiled happily in the corner, crossing her arms. Pear’s eyelids flickered a tiny bit in recognition that someone had taken her hand, and snapped open. Realizing it was her husband, she beamed up at his familiar red face.

“He’s so beautiful, Maroo…”

A nurse knocked on the door, inaudibly opening it with one hand. In her other hand she carried a precious baby boy, swathed in a tangerine-tinged blanket. He had yellow skin and a small tuft of orange colored hair on his head. Maroon took the newborn from the nurse’s arms; the little boy felt so right in his arms. He smiled and excused the nurse, turning back to Pear.

“He’s adorable.”

“His name’s Razzmatazz,” Pear whispered wearily.

“Hi, Tazzmatazz!” Maroon cooed, tickling the child’s stomach. He gurgled, reaching his tiny arms up to Maroon’s face. Sunglo, who had witnessed this all, smiled and strode across the compact room to her dad.

“Can I hold him, Dad?”

“Of course.” He gently handed the boy to Sunglo, then, making sure she wouldn’t drop him, strolled back over to his wife.

“Is he mine?” he said, under his breath. Pear’s smile faded diminutively. She looked into Maroon’s eyes, losing herself in them once more, as she always had. Wordlessly he accepted that she had no answer.

“Well, we’ll see then.”

“I’m so sorry…I really do hope he’s yours-”

“Hey, now. It’s alright Pear. I love you!”

“I love you…” Pear’s heartbeat pitched. She took a small breath, falling back into the timeless routine of sleep; Maroon smiled, touching his lips to her forehead. Marriage counseling had been good to them. After all, all bad things happen for a reason, right?