Chapter 17 - Gen 1 - Lilly

~Start of Something Good~



Watching Cosmic and Prelude giggling together like a pair of children makes me smile, it also makes life so much easier with them getting on so well.  Actually Prelude has made our move to Sugar Valley, after school finished, pretty much painless and stress free.  He has looked out for me like a big brother should.

Prelude brought a house with four bedrooms, large enough for us to share, and that was his intentions for us to live with him and Affair.  I was really not very happy with the idea at first, still not sure if I can completely trust him, but really it made a lot of sense and has worked out pretty well for all of us, much better than I ever could have imagined.

I loved Preludes house the minute I saw it which really surprised me.  I had visions of it being decorated in lots of different shades of Purple and only purple and that it would remind me of our parents house and my childhood.  Shockingly this house is decorated in not just purple, but colourless curtains,carpets and furniture are scattered around the house, the whole house is purple and colourless - that I never imagined to see.

My brother surprised me in a lot of ways over the coming months, he is far from the person I thought I once knew.  Like his love for music - where did that come from?  I am not sure if this Prelude has always been there and I have just never seen him because he was always too busy being evil around me, or if this is a new Prelude changed by Affairs birth.

Watching Prelude with Affair he is actually an amazing Dad, I never would have put him down as the parental type.  I worried at first with our arrangement of me child minding while Prelude went to work, I thought I would end up looking after my little nephew permanatly, but I was wrong, yet again he proved me wrong.  His whole life revolves around that little boy and when Prelude is around nobody else can get near Affair.

We had planned on renting somewhere until we could afford to get our own house, but living with Prelude is giving us the chance to save a lot quicker.  Cosmic works at the sports stadium, Prelude works at the theatre, and I stay home full time and look after Affair.  It has worked out pretty well for all of us, Prelude saves on child minding fees and we save on rent and we are all quite happy.

Even Affair is really happy, his life has changed drastically, he is no longer  the quiet wary withdrawn toddler that I first met.  He now has friends of his own age to play with, Crimson and Cherry - Ruby and Sunny's twins, something he has never had before.   Affair is treated just like all the other toddlers in town, here he is just a regular toddler like all the rest.  He will never have to suffer any of what I went through as a child.

Life is pretty good for all of us.

"Lilly do you even know what you are doing??"  Cosmic asked me as he stood watching me struggling with a bowl of cake mix, he already knows I have to be the worlds worst cook, I can't even make a simple cake without something going wrong!!  "If I go jogging you are not going to try and burn the house down again are you?"  He is never going to let me live that down is he!!  Ok so the first time I tried to cook us a meal I set the cooker and half the kitchen on fire.  Really, it was his fault he distracted me, carrying me off upstairs and making me forget I had something cooking in the oven.

Prelude was really not very happy to come home to find fire engines outside and a blackened smoke filled kitchen.  If there ever was a time for him to loose his temper or let his evil side take over - that should have been it, but he didn't he kept his cool surprisingly.

"I'll try not too burn it down!!"  Cosmic just walked off laughing

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     by Cosmic
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I ran out of the house and nearly bumped into a purple boy standing by the front door who looks like he is rooting through his pockets for something that he couldn't find,  muttering under his breath to himself. 

"Got ya!!!!"  he said to himself, he held up a key and smiled at it.  Then he noticed me stood there watching him  "Oh hello ........... are you Cosmic?"  The purple boy asked me, it actually seemed strange to see a pure berry in this town, I have not really seen that many since we arrived here.

"Yes?"  I said and he smiled at me, I didn't have a clue who he might be, probably because I wasn't thinking, I should have known from his hair and eye colour, they are exactly the same as Preludes - of course - I felt pretty stupid when he introduced himself.  My jogging plans had just flown straight out of the window.

"I'm Mulberry, Lilly's brother." Oh boy, is she in for a shock!!  I looked around wandering how he had got here, he explained that Prelude had just dropped him off on his way to collecting Affair from his sleepover at Ruby and Sunny's.  Mulberry said he would be staying here for the school holidays - a surprise for Lilly - she hates surprises, but I think she might not mind this one too much once she has gotten over the initial shock.

I wandered why Prelude had gone out really early this morning,  I heard him going out at 5am and thought it strange, he has obviously been to fetch Mulberry..... he didn't tell either of us what he was up to, we weren't expecting Mulberry to visit until the six weeks summer holidays, this holiday is spring break..

I stood in the hallway talking to Mulberry quietly but Lilly must have heard us  "I thought you was going jogging, who are you talking too?"  she shouted from the kitchen


"You need to come out here Lilly, you have a visitor."   she wanted to know who, I could hear her bumping and banging about in the kitchen cussing, I dreaded to think what shape that cake was in now.  Well there is no easy way of doing this so I just came out with it "Your brother, Mulberry."

"WHAT!!!????"   she screamed then we heard a smash   "DAMN!!!!   IVE DROPPED THE CAKE NOW - IDIOT - MIDNIGHT YOU BETTER NOT BE WINDING ME UP!!!!!!"

"That cake would probably have been uneatable anyway, the last one was, if she trys to give you cake, refuse it, look at my chipped tooth - that was her last cake!!."  I whispered to Mulberry pointing at my chipped tooth.  We both started laughing as Lilly carried on screaming about the cake mix being everywhere and If I'm winding her up I am in big trouble. Mango walked in and looked a little distressed at all the shouting coming from the kitchen, I was too busy laughing to explain to him what was going on.

Lilly came storming out of the kitchen covered in cake mix still swearing at herself, I don't think she believed Mulberry was actually here.  She stopped suddenly when she spotted Mulberry stood there grinning at her.

"Midnight I'm gonna throttle you!!"  She only ever calls me Midnight when I'm in trouble, so what did I do now?!.

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     by Lilly
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I really couldn't believe my eyes,  my little brother just standing there in front of me the biggest grin I've ever seen on his face, only he isn't so little any more, he's a teenager.  I really wasn't prepared for this.  Maybe he did remember me after all.

"MULBERRY!!"

Mulberry is still a toddler in my mind, probably because I have never had the imagination to guess how he might look being older than the last time I saw him.  I'm looking at this teenage boy and finding it hard to believe that Mulberry is all grown up and I have missed so much.  I noticed he has Dads hair and eyes like Prelude, and Prelude was right about one thing, Mulberry is the better looking one of the two of them.

Prelude came in laughing, asking if I liked my surprise - It felt strange to be stood there with my two brothers laughing and joking, something I could have staked my life on never happening twelve months ago, but here we are - it just shows how wrong you can be sometimes. I am even beginning to forget how evil Prelude used to be as I see very little signs of it from him now.  Did I dare to even believe finally we were like a proper family - minus our parents of course.

I wandered how long it would be before Mom and Dad were brought up, Prelude was the first one to mention them, they wanted to know when they were going to get to see me, it was even suggested that maybe I could drive back with them when he took Mulberry home so I could visit.

"I think you already know my answer to that Prelude - Never and forget it!!"  I really didn't want to talk about our parents and he knows that already.  I noticed the boys sharing an awkward glance with each other, that made me lose my temper a little - if they wanted to see me so badly they would have done something about it by now - they could have gotten off their backsides and come to see me, even tried to contact me, none of this they have tried to do and I doubt they ever will - it will be left for me to go to them -  and why should I?!.

I told them both if they were going to have any sort of future relationship with me, our parents would definitely not be included in it and if they didn't want to upset me they were not to mention them and definately not push me to have anything to do with them, because that will never be happen.

Maybe it would be a little harder for Mulberry to understand he was only a toddler, he never really saw what it was like for me, but I thought that Prelude should understood where I am coming from, he was there he was a big part of the problem, and since he has walked back into my life we have already had this conversation me and him, he knows exactly how I feel, but still he had to ask.  I get the feeling he thinks he can change my mind over time, but he is sadly mistaken.  I might have forgiven him but I'll never forget, that will always be there between us, I only gave him a second chance because of Affair and he knows that.

 
It felt really strange having Mulberry around, he just fitted in with us all like he had always been here.  I had to keep pinching myself every time I looked at him - seeing him again was the only thing that I ever wanted to do all the time I was at school, now he is here it doesn't seem real somehow.  He is a really nice boy and no trouble, kind and polite, quite the opposite of how Prelude was at his age, it actually surprised me watching Mulberry and Prelude together just how close they are.  It makes me think they must have had a great family life with me out of the way, that hurt.

Mango never got to carry out his threat of not having anything to do with me after school.   He is around here quite often with Sunny and Alpine, I'm the only one that will put up with the boys constantly playing x-box,  Ruby and Caramel just give them ear ache, so here is where they tend to hang out the most.  At first Mango tried to keep his distance, but the other boys constantly nagged him about the distance he was putting between them, until I think he gave up.  Not even Cosmic knew about the conversation that me and Mango had when he told me he couldn't be friends with me after school anymore.

Even though Mango does spend a lot of time here, he spends more time with Cosmic than me.  He has placed a brick wall between the two of us and if he can avoid talking to me he will.

"Where is Ruby?"  I heard Cosmic asking Sunny as I made my way across the living room to sit down.

"Can't you hear her - she's in the bathroom throwing up - I don't know why she has to be so loud when she's puking!!"

"Oh, I thought that was Lilly, they must have the same stomach bug, it must be catching!!"   Cosmic said quite innocently, Sunny and Mango started laughing they found it highly amusing, obviously they knew something we didn't  "What's so funny Sunshine?"

"Morning sickness, Ruby is pregnant again"  he started laughing again and so did Mango "Is Lilly pregnant??"  Only Sunny is laughing now, Mango has suddenly gone very quiet, I noticed him quickly glance over at me with a troubled look on his face.

"NO!! I'm not pregnant, i think it's something I ate!!!"  I snapped at him.  I have been sick for a few days on and off, but I couldn't be pregnant we are being doubly careful, I would be pretty damn stupid getting pregnant right now.

We are getting married in seven months time and the last thing I want is to have a huge stomach on my wedding day.  Why the wait?  Prelude!!  We had planned to get married straight after graduation but Prelude really was not happy with it.  We are too young, it's too soon - he came over like the over protective brother, even threatened to drag Mom and Dad into the argument.  Like it is any of their business anyway, as far as I am concerned they gave up any rights they had over me years ago!!  After the only argument we have actually had since he's walked back into my life, we came to a compromise 18 months and we would be getting married whether he liked it or not.

Our quiet quick wedding has turned into a big affair, the wedding chapel, the dress, the cake, the reception,  the works - which has been a nightmare in the planning and a big dent on Preludes pockets as he offered to pay for it all to compensate the wait.  Secretly I'm getting the fairytale wedding that I always wanted but never expected would every happen to me - so in the end the wait has not been so bad.

Ruby and Sunny got married straight after graduation, Caramel and Alpine got married about a month ago, they all thought we would be the first to get married and so did we until Prelude stuck his big foot down. We have talked about children and both want them but decided to wait until after we got married, it would really be nice to have our own place before any babies arrive.

I have only eaten a small plate of salad and already I could feel it coming back up.  I had to run off to the toilet because I know I am not keeping it down.  I really hated being sick and I have done too much of it over the past few days, but the strange thing is I don't actually feel ill, a little tireder than normal maybe but I just don't seem to be able to keep any food down.  I haven't even considered that I might be pregnant until now - I really hope I'm not, that is the last thing I need right now.

"Maybe you should let me run some tests?"  Mango stood waiting for me to come out of the bathroom.  Always the Doctor, he grabbed my wrist feeling for my pulse, then he felt my forehead with the back of his hand.

"I'll be fine, it's nothing really, I'm sure it will pass."  He's pulling down my bottom eyelid and is peering at it while I'm trying to talk.  He fusses so much the minute any of us are ill, like his parents he decided on a medical career, he surprised us all by how quickly he became a qualified doctor, all those years of swatting his parents medical books certainly paid off for him.

"Think about Affair if not for yourself you can never be too careful around young children - Ruby and Caramel are both pregnant remember if you do have a stomach bug ......"

"Ok Ok, you can run some tests"  I know there is no point arguing with him he won't shut up until he gets his own way.  He said he would pick me up tomorrow after dinner and take me in for some tests.

An awkward silence fell between us.  I hated it, I wished we could just go back to the way we used to be, I really missed him, but I know that isn't possible.  Looking at his face I suddenly realized how drawn he looks and how thin he has become, he actually looks ill, I wandered if he has been working too hard, I know being a doctor is a very tiring job and knowing Mango he probably over does it, he gives everything 110% so no doubt he is no different with his job.

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I was surprise when I came down the next morning to find Mango and Cosmic sat eating pancakes in just shorts and trainers, I thought Mango might have stayed over, I went to bed early because of being  really tired and the boys were still playing x-box.

"No I've had him out with me this morning, jogging, we need to get some meat on him, he's like a matchstick."  Cosmic started laughing  "That girlfriend of his is going to snap him in half if she's not careful"  Mango had stopped eating and was just sat staring at the wall.

"Girlfriend?"  I couldn't  help it and I bet they heard the shock in my voice,  I didn't even know he had a girlfriend, he had said nothing about it to me, but then why should he, he hardly talks to me these days.

He stood up suddenly ignoring my question and leaving his pancakes "I'd better get changed she'll be hear to pick me up in a minute"  he took off out of the kitchen and ran up the stairs

Apparently this is not his first girl friend, they don't seem to last very long, this one he has been seeing for a few weeks, and Cosmic thought I knew.  Mango certainly has kept that quiet and I've not heard him mention her, isn't it normal for men to  talk  moan about their girlfriends, Alpine and Sunny never shut up about Caramel and Ruby, but I've never heard Mango say one word about his.

Cosmic thinks its a good thing, at least he might stop pining after me and he is trying to get on with his life without causing us any problems which he thought he might do.  Finding out he has a girl friend kind of makes me feel strange.

I am still eating my pancakes, very slowly, I'm finding them hard to swallow.  Cosmic had shot off to the gym and Mango came back into the kitchen to clean up his plate.  I heard the doorbell ring and Mulberry answered the door, I heard a woman asking for Mango and Mulberry told her to go into the kitchen.

I really don't know what I expected Mango's girlfriend to look like, but she definitely wasn't it.  She wasn't quite orange it was a strange colour like a dark terracotta and she has purple hair - she is actually quite pretty too.

"Lilly this is Lavender."  Mango said as she walked into the kitchen.  I turned and looked at her, she is just stood there glaring at me and not in a nice way either,  it kind of shocked me, it has been quite a while since anyone has looked at me in the wrong way - I wandered what her problem was.  I instantly took a disliking to her, just her name Lavender, the same as my mothers, was enough for me not to like her.  Pathetic - I know!!!

I really don't know what came over me, standing up to put away my plate I saw Mango hugging her, I had to look away -  it felt like a punch to the stomach, a shock to the system - I didn't like it one little bit - I know there is no reason for me to feel that way but I did.  To me she is another brick in that wall he is building between us, is she the one who is going to take my best friend away from me completed.  I hated her already and I hadn't even given her a chance.

"Lilly I'll be back after dinner to pick you up for your tests - don't forget!!"  I said ok as I ran to the bathroom to throw up the pancakes.

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A few days later my phone started ringing, Mango's name flashed up on my screen.  "Lilly I've got your test results."  so cold and clinical, no friendly hello, it really hurt me.   "Health wise you are fine but you're ...... Pregnant"  he hesitated before he said the word pregnant - I just felt another brick go into that wall between us.  Pregnant!?  He just said Pregnant!!

"NO!!! Please tell me you're joking - I can't be!!"  All I could think about - my wedding dress, and how in 7 months time it is not going to fit me.

"I've made you an anti natal appointment, Monday 1pm, if its not convenient you can phone up and change it."  The tone of his voice cut me up and I can't concentrate on what he is telling me.  "I've got to shoot."  The call cut off abruptly.  I just stood there staring at my phone for a few minutes, my head swimming - why is he being so rude all of a sudden?

"Fudge ....... Fudge!!!"  Then it finally hit me - a baby - I'm having a baby  "Oh Berry!!!!"

Lilly, what's wrong??"

"Midnight - you're in big trouble!!"   he looked at me a little confused  "I'm pregnant."

"Really!!??  That's great!!"  he picked me up and swung me round obviously he is happy about the pregnancy - then he suddenly dropped me back onto my feet  "Hang on why am I in trouble exactly?"

"My wedding dress it's not going to fit me now!!"  He started to laugh at me

"Sod your wedding dress, we'll just have to get you a new one!!"

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Song:  "Start of something Good" by Daughtry