Chapter 8 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

I watch as Parsley is plodding slowly round the kitchen making himself a hot drink.  The pain he is feeling he wears so visably all over his face and in his eyes which have lost their usual shine.  He glances in my direction for a second and I can see he has tears in his eyes  "Do you want one?"  I shake my head as I look down at the half empty cup sat in front of me.

Parsley understandably hasn't been himself lately, he has felt totally lost since his twin brother faded and Prelude really hasn't been a lot of help, spending most of the time since getting totally wasted at the local dive bar and sleeping it off on one of our couches.  For Parsleys sake they have moved in with us for a while, well at least until Prelude pulls himself together, so I'm getting quite used to seeing my cousin moping about the house all the time.

Prelude in particular has completely lost the plot since Storm faded.  I guessed he would not take losing his son lightly, I even thought that he might be the one to go out and seek revenge, but he didn't instead he hit the bottle and is continuously wasted, and apparently this isn't the first time he's been down this road.  It was really no surprise to my Dad who says he expected him to 'fall off the wagon' .... I didn't even know that Prelude had a drinking problem until now.

Thankfully my parents have managed to keep him sober for the funeral, later today, but I don't doubt he will be totally wasted again before the day is out.

Parsley sits down at the table, plonking his mug down quite loudly, spilling some of its contents because he's not paying attention to what he's doing too busy staring at me.  "Where is Honey?  I thought I saw her earlier."  he says quietly.

"She's up in Corals room, they are fixing their makeup."  I laugh, because for a change they are taking it off, they didn't think, both of them slapped it on this morning neither of them having thought through that wearing make up today is not a very good idea.  "Fixing panda eyes!!"  Girls being girls all they have done this morning is cry. 

"I don't get it?!"  he says suddenly,  I frown at him not quite sure what he is referring to  "You and Honey,  not so long ago you literally threw her at Storm .... what was it you said .... she's my best friend and that's all it will every be .....  you actually sat there, in that very seat,  laughing at the thought of you and Honey being together!!!  So how all of a sudden do you become loves young dream?"  he picks up his mug and takes small sips of his coffee, he is still looking at me suspiciously over the top of his mug.  I stay quiet, puzzled, trying to work out why he should be so  suspicious.

"I hope you are not messing her about!!   This better had be real Tap, you better not be playing her because of the pregnancy scare."  he starts drumming his fingers on the table  "You know how she feels about you - I hope you are not planning to dump her if she isn't pregnant!!"

"No!!!  It's not because of the pregnancy scare ... I was an idiot okay, I didn't see what was right under my nose,  pregnant or not, we are together so get used to it ... although I'm not sure why you are getting so stressy over it?!"

"I like Honey, and you know if you go upsetting her ... Strawberry, you know what she's like ... she will just give me a headache over it all!!!"  He stares at me for a moment then starts to laugh suddenly  "Tapestry, ONLY YOU would be stupid enough to get her pregnant first time!!"

"POSSIBLY pregnant- it's not definite yet!!"  I say to him not really wanting to talk about this topic of conversation just in case I give myself away..  No doubt by the way Honey has us going at it, she will be pregnant by the time she takes that test, they just don't know it, and they must never know what we are up to.

"Has she not told you yet, she's been chucking up for the last few morning - I'd say its looking more than possibly ......maaaan you are such a jerk!!!"  I can't look at him, trying to keep the expression on my face straight, I need to keep the smile off my face that is trying to break out.  I try to think about why she has not told me she has been throwing up, it's what we have been waiting for - why would she not tell me?  "Did you switch off in sex-ed because you obviously weren't listening!!"

"How do you know she's been chucking up?"  I ask him a little confused as to why he would know about it and I don't.

"How do you think ..... Strawberry, they share a room remember."  yeah it would be her, his girlfriend, Honey's twin sister, she doesn't seem to be able to keep her mouth shut about anything!!

Prelude sat down at the table.  "We will be setting off in an hour .... Tap you and Honey can jump in with us there isn't enough room in your Dad's car."

"I should go and get changed."  I say as I start to get up thinking about the horrible dark suit that my Dad was trying to get me to put on this morning that is now lying on my bed waiting for me, but I'm really glad of an excuse to get away from the conversation that me and Parsley are having.

"No need to change, stay as you are, I've just had a row with your Dad over what everyone's wearing, except for your Mother and Affair, I don't want any black or colourless clothes today!!."  he says as he holds his hand out to me  "Your Dad sent me to find you he says you are to take this."  I'm sat looking at a small round tablet that I recognise on the palm of his hand.  I look up at him and shake my head  "Just take it Tapestry, one thing I seriously don't want today is one of your emotional outbursts ..... the mood I'm in I'll probably deck you .... and it's not going to fade you, I've taken one too!!"  he says as he grabs my wrist and puts the pill in the palm of my hand  "Take it!!"

As if it hadn't been bad enough that my Dad woke me up at the crack of dawn this morning just to stand over me to make sure I took my medication.  Now this!!!  I hesitate for a moment, but the look on Preludes face makes me swallow the tablet even thought I really don't want to take it, I know exactly how I am going to be spending the rest of the day - spaced out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Storms funeral was never going to be normal, the police presence at the entrance to the cemetery showed you that straight away.  Whoever heard of security for a funeral and a guest list, if your name isn't on the list you don't get in to pay your last respects, for berry's sake it's ridiculous,  but that is what Storm is getting and all because of his Mother, who is being allowed a few hours release from the prison to attend her sons funeral.

Manderines presence at the funeral has caused a lot of debate and arguments over the past week or so amongst all of the adults.  Most of their 'meetings' have been held at our house, because as usual with our family my Dad is the one who ends up organizing everything, this time mainly because Prelude has fallen apart and has been too wasted and incapable of sorting out his own son's funeral.  So I have got to overhear a lot of what everyone has to say on the matter of Manderine attending the funeral, and most of it has not been very nice, although I can't work out why everyone hates her so much - that part they are definitely keeping to themselves.  

We are standing around in the cemetery now waiting for the infamous Manderine to arrive.  I've got my arms wrapped around Honey, trying to cheer her up because I'm worried all her crying is just going to set me off.  I see my Dad keep nervously watching me, I think he is worried that there could be one of my outbursts coming even though they have given me a sedative to try and keep me calm, I can see he doesn't trust that I won't still go off on one.

He is not the only one who can't take his eyes off us.  Sunny.  Every time I glance in his direction he is staring at us, he's watching every move that me and Honey make together.  I know what his problem is, he doesn't want us together, but until we know the result of the pregnancy test he has promised to leave us alone.

Every time he sees me look at him he scowls at me, and doesn't look away, he doesn't care that I know just how much he hates me.  He is really starting to aggravate me and If we weren't stood in the cemetery because of Storms funeral, I would  have given him a piece of my mind by now just to pee him off, I doubt his opinion of me is ever going to change, so what difference is it going to make.

"Ignore him!!"  Honey whispers in my ear  "You and my Dad have been glaring at each other for the past five minutes, don't wind him up Tap, you'll just give him more of an excuse!!"  I kiss her forehead, then start to wipe away the tears that are still occasionally rolling down her face, then reach down for her hands.

"He is seriously winding me up, he's not taking his eyes off us for a second, I'm finding it really hard to hold my tongue and if we weren't here today I'd give him something to look at!!"  this makes Honey giggle.

"You know, I'm sure Storm wouldn't mind, in fact, he'd be well up for it!!  You know how he used to love to wind up the oldies!!"  she says with a mischievous grin on her face, as she starts kissing me, but she's not happy with just kissing she goes the whole hog, grinding herself against me, her hands wandering like she's about to start tearing off my clothes.  Now what is she doing, only seconds ago she told me not to wind up her Dad, and she goes and does this!!??

That did it, it takes a matter of seconds for him to react, Honey is ripped out of my arms by a furious Sunny.  "Show some respect young lady!!"  he says to his daughter, but it's me he is intensely glaring at  "Girl you are just like your damn mother."  he says half under his breath but loud enough for us to hear as he pulls her by the arm away from me putting plenty of distance between us.  She blows me a kiss as shes dragged away, the hugest grin on her face which makes me laugh for a moment.

She seemed to have gained some pleasure from winding her Dad up, although I wish she hadn't done it, she really is not helping matters between me and Sunny.  If only he knew what we have been doing every day and more than once a day, purposefully trying to get Honey pregnant so that she can escape going to Uni and prevent him from splitting us up, it wouldn't just be Storm we are burying today!!!  I am really not looking forward to his reaction when he find out that she is pregnant.

This reminds me of what Parsley told me earlier, I need to talk to her about it, her throwing up and not telling me, I look over in her direction and she's no longer smiling, Sunny is tearing strips off her, she doesn't look too happy!!  It will have to wait until later.

Now I'm standing alone, my attention wanders over towards the entrance to the cemetery as I watch my Mother putting flowers on two of the newish looking graves, I presume they are newish because they are not overgrown and covered in moss and ivy like a lot of the other ones.  I wander who's graves they are. I carry on watching them oblivious of everything else going on around me, Dad has his arm around Mom and they stand there and talk quietly for a while before they wander off back over to Prelude.

My attention is focused on those graves now, I wish I could read then I would know who's graves they are, but there is no point me even going to try and read what is written on them.  An old woman suddenly walks into my view that I've never seen before, she makes her way to the smaller of the two graves and is putting flowers down next to the ones my Mom placed only minutes ago.  She also has another bunch of flowers in her hand.  What is it with women and flowers?!

I don't really give too much thought to the old woman and her putting flowers on that grave until I see Mulberry make his way over to her, he must know who she is, but I am really surprised when I see him start shouting at her.  I look around confused and notice that Mulberrys shouting at the old woman has attracted almost everyone's attention in particular Prelude who is now marching angrily over to join Mulberry.

Prelude too instantly starts to yell at the old woman, but I am too far away to hear what is being said clearly.  I see Prelude snatch the flowers off the woman and he throws them to the floor, stamping on them as he starts to lose it.  Then my Dad jumps in, at first he tries to pull Prelude away but then he just ends up arguing with the woman too. Who is she?  It is obvious that the three of them know who she is.

My Mother is a short distance from me, she's watching the scene and seems to be as confused as I am.  She starts to walk slowly towards the commotion then she stops suddenly, putting her hands up to her mouth like something has just shocked her.  I presume she has just heard something that has alarmed her, both of her hands cover her face as she starts to cry.  It looks for a moment like her legs are going to give way and she starts to sway - when her arms drop limply down by her sides - I know the signs - she's going.

I automatically run towards her and I reach her at the same time as Mosaic does, we both grab her and keep her on her feet, Mosaic is wincing in pain, his shoulder is still very tender and he probably shouldn't be doing this. Mom is a dead weight that we are trying to hold up because she has blacked out - 'switched off'.  Mosaic shouts Dad who comes running over and lifts her up and carries her off to sit her on the bench.  Me and Mosaic just stand there staring at the old woman who is staring back at us, a look of confusion on her face, she looks at Mosaic and her eyes suddenly widen.  "He has my hair!!"  she says in a shocked voiced.

Prelude explodes at her.  "Now see what you've gone and done to Lilly!!!  Just go, you should never have come here!!!!"  .   

"Son please ........"  Me and Mosaic exchanged a quick shocked glance before we both look back at the old woman ..... she just called Prelude Son!!

"Son?!  Don't you dare!!!!  You lost the right to call me your son years ago!!"  Prelude is now raring at the woman that I now know is 'his Mother', fudge that makes her my Mom's Mother and my Grandmother.  "And you definitely have NO RIGHT thinking you can attend my son's funeral!!  You didn't want to know your Grandson when he was alive, so why now Mother?!  Why now??"  Prelude is almost chocking on his own words as he starts to crack up. 

"Mom you need to leave!!"  Mulberry is saying, he also is looking very upset over his mothers presence  "Don't you think today is hard enough without you doing this to us!!"   I'm not sure that the old woman is even listening to Mulberry she is too busy staring at Coral who has just wandered up carrying Cotton.  Suddenly she mutters  "My she looks just like Lilly!!"

"She would do seeing as she's Lilly's daughter!!"  Prelude snaps at her quite nastily  "Another one of your Grandchildren that you turned your back on - it beats me why you would even want or dare to show your face here today!!!!  Wisteria had no right to bring you here!!!"

"Affair, you remember Affair don't you Mother?!"  Prelude suddenly seemed to spring into his mean mode  "He was the first one you turned your back on because of his colour ...wasn't he Mother?!"  Mulberry put his hand on his brother arm  "Don't do this Prelude - I'll get her out of here."

"No maybe we should introduce her to all of her grandchildren, look they are all here, she might as well get a look at what she's missing before she buts out of all of our lives for good!!"  I almost feel sorry for the old woman standing there in complete silence, tears rolling down her face as she is staring at all of us.  "All of them are here - including her two grandchildren's graves that she has the nerve to come here to put flowers on!!  Maybe the living ones should know why their Grandparents have turned their back on them, all of them except for Wisty because she is the only one who is a pure purple berry!!!"  he says nastily before he shouts Juniper telling her to bring her brother and come join the party.  Party not really being the word I would have used!!

We were all there Affair, Wisty and Parsley are together, I am with Mosaic and Coral who is holding Cotton, Juniper and Blueberry go over to stand with Mulberry.  All nine of her grandchildren stood in front of her.  She just looks at each one of us without saying a word.  We are all looking back at her curiously, all except for Wisty who already seems to know her.

"So where is Dad??!!!"  Prelude looks around him  "Is he lurking around here too??"  he shouts at the old woman.  She shakes her head and says he's at home.  So we have a Grandfather too - another set of grandparents - I didn't know either of them even existed my Mothers parents have never been mentioned and I've never even wandered why because I just presumed they had faded.

"Prelude I'm really sorry, I'm going to have to take Lilly home, she is seriously out for the count!!"  My Dad suddenly appears  "The shock she's had will probably keep her in that thing for hour, if not the rest of the day ... I'm sorry!!"   I can see the pain on Preludes face as he glares at his Mother, as mean as he can get, he leans on my parents for support and I'm not sure how he is going to get through the rest of the day without them being here.

I look over towards the bench, My Mother "switched off" motionless and staring blankly into space, sat on the bench being held by Caramel.  The shock of seeing or finding out that the old lady is her mother must have triggered one of her "black outs"  and there is never any telling how long she is going to be in there.

"What is wrong with Lilly?"  the old woman asks, I hear Prelude laugh sarcastically before he turns on her again.

"Don't you even pretend to care about that girl now!!!"  Prelude shouts at her  "I need my sister here ... now see what you've done!!!!"  he rares at his Mother  "Somebody get her out of here before I bury her with her Grandson!!"  I can see he is starting to get very angry as well as choking back the tears.

"She can come with me and wait at ours until Wisty comes to collect her."  I am surprised to hear my Dad say.  He told Coral to take Cotton to the car, there is no point the baby staying if my parents are going home.  It doesn't feel right that my parents are going to have to miss the funeral.  "Maybe you should come too."  he says looking at me.

"NO!!!! I'm staying here!!!"  I snap at him quite nastily.  I can see what he is trying to do, remove me just in case I do have one of my outbursts and he won't be here to sort it out.  When I refuse to go he doesn't argue with me, he just tells Mulberry to keep an eye on me, like I'm a baby, and walks off towards the bench. 

I feel Honey's hand slip into mine as I am watching Dad carry Mom off to the car being followed by Coral and the old lady.  After putting Cotton into her baby seat Coral helps the old lady into the car then heads back slowly in our direction.

As Dad's car pulls away, a police car pull up.  A police officer jumps out of the front of the car and after taking a quick look around he opens the back door.  A woman in handcuffs is helped out of the back of the car.

Manderine has arrived.

She stands there glancing around at the sea of faces in front of her, there is a cold eerie silence as nearly everyone has turned to glare at her, the adults with hatred, the children with curiosity as most of us have never seen her before.  The only two people who seem happy with her presence are Prelude and Parsley.  She is looking around at everyone with quite a blank expression on her face, most of us I doubt she would even know anyway. 

Prelude takes a hold of her and she falls into his arms holding him tightly and starts to cry.  I can see now where Parsley and Jade, especially, get their looks from, they both look a lot like their Mother.

A cold shudder suddenly runs through me - this is the first time that I've ever seen her and I just get this feeling instantly that I really don't like the woman.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Sorry for the delay!!

I am really sorry for the delay in chapters.

Even thought I do actually have the next two chapters written and virtually ready to go - ive hit a technical problem and I don't have any pictures for the chapters.

My game seems to be throwing a wobble at the moment and I can't work out what is causing it.  I had to bodge the last two chapters pictures because for a while my game hasn't liked my pose file and is quite happy to have it removed while I'm playing.  Ive made a new folder and downloaded new copies of the poses that I use but this hasn't helped much.  Ive also scrapped and downloaded new copies of all the mods I use to see if that helps - but it hasn't.

All of my files seem to have gone belly up - strange things are happening like no school buses, pool cars, maids and repairmen don't turn up, and everytime I go into my files the game has messed with family trees - berry knows why but it keeps disconnecting the tree and adding random sims into the mix.  For example - Last night when I opened my rainbow file determined to get some pictures out of it, I gave up straight away because Sunny had strangely become Lillys brother - so I now have Honey and Tapestry showing as cousins and unable to interact romantically - lol - I have to laugh or else I'll cry!!  After putting the family tree straight - neither of their romantic interactions returned - so I'm stuck with my main two characters at the moment broken.  It also keeps messing around with ages - so I'm constantly fighting to put the file straight to play it and it's becoming a total nightmare.

Even though Ive got back ups everywhere - as soon as I put a fresh copy of the back up into the game it messess about with it in one way or another - so at the moment I'm stumped.  So if anyone has any ideas about how to fix all the strangeness - I'd love to hear it!!

So I'm now on a mission to build a completely new rainbow file. (rolls eyes) as I've started a perfect genetics file recently and that file is the only one that the game is leaving alone - so I am guessing something has gone on in my game that has messed up all my existing files and new ones are going to be fine (I HOPE!!)

In the mean time - I'm working on BODGING some pictures together - (so if the pictures don't quite connect to the chapter you'll have to forgive me) just so that I can get the next chapter out sooner rather than later.

Hopefully everything will be back on track very soon!!

Chapter 7 - part 3 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I stir in my sleep because I can feel something tickling and irritating my face.

Still with my eyes tightly closed I swipe at my face trying to knock away whatever is tickling it, so that I can drift back off to sleep.  That's when I hear a quiet giggle.  I open my eyes slowly and I see Honey who is lying in the bed next to me, she's holding her hair in her hand, she smiles at me as she continues to tickle my face with the ends of her hair.  I am relieved to see her smiling at me, she obviously is not mad with me like I thought she might be.

"Morning sleepy head!!"  she says with a big grin on her face  "Well it's not strictly morning, its evening as you've been a sleep all day!!!"  she told me she has been here for hours and is now getting very bored waiting for me to wake up.  "And you snore!!"

"I do not snore!!!!"

"Oh you do quite loudly!!  she laughs as I lie there rubbing my eyes and yawning.  "Do you ever take that damn hat off??"  she smirked at me  "Only I know you only have your boxer shorts on under there"  She starts giggling again as she runs her fingers gently down my bare chest.  I dread to think how she knows what I am and am not wearing.

"You didn't answer your phone, I thought you might be mad with me." 

"Why would I be mad with you??"  her hands are wandering and I try to stop them, she has this strange look on her face that I've never seen before.  She starts pulling on my shorts  "Maybe you should lose these"

"Stop it Honey don't you think we are in enough trouble!!"  she surprises me by giggling as her hand slips inside my shorts  "Stop it, we can't!!"  I grabbed hold of her wrist and pulled her hand out from inside my underwear.  "You do know what we have done don't you ...... we didn't use any precautions  ...... "

"Yeah I know."  she says like it doesn't matter as she comes back at me shuffling closer, wrapping her arm and legs around me then she starts to kiss me.  I'm okay with that until her hand starts wandering again into my shorts, she's making it perfectly obvious what she is planning to do.

I pushed her away  "Honey stop it!!!  What the fudge is wrong with you didn't you hear what I just said to you!!"  I scramble out from under the bed clothes, before I lose control of myself, to get away from her roaming hands that are winding me up.

"What's up with you, have you gone off me already?!" 

"Don't be stupid, I'm worried, you could be pregnant because we didn't use anything and you want to do it again!!!"  she just lies there staring at me  "And I'm supposed to be the idiot that doesn't think - not you!!"

"You don't need to worry - I've just spent hours being grilled and lectured by your Dad,   now I see what you mean about his lectures!!"  she giggles

"He's been round to yours about it already hasn't he!!"  I cringe just imagining him tearing round to Sunny to grass us up - I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see Sunny's reaction - I bet it wasn't good he's never really liked me very much.

"Yeah, you could say that - my Dad is hopping mad!!"  yeah I bet he is, and after my blood!!!  "Your Dad is actually being okay about it, unlike mine who is kicking off proper!!  So you can thank your brother and sister for having blabber mouths!!!  I've already had a go at Strawberry for opening her big mouth!!" 

 
"So what did my Dad say to you?"  I ask nervously remembering that he really was not in a very good mood when he slammed out of here earlier.

"He's not happy with us!!  Especially with me for not taking precautions, he gave me a right lecture after we sorted out my dates and he's put me in charge of being sensible."  she starts grinning as she waves a box in front of my face.  "He says we have to use these until he knows if I'm pregnant or not.  If I'm not pregnant he's putting me on the pill." At first I don't know what the box might be, I'm staring at it while she is waving it around.   I grab her hand to keep it still and take the box off her, I can't read any of the words on the box so I open it.  My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I pull one out, realizing what they are straight away,  I remember seeing them in sex ed and Mosaic has some in his room.  My Dad ..... my Dad gave her condoms for us to use!?  Never!!!  I look at her in disbelief which makes her laugh.

"He NEVER gave you these for us to use!!!!"

"Honestly he did!!  He said he isn't happy with us doing it and we shouldn't be, but he also said that he knows if they tell us not to we won't listen, especially you, so he would rather we were being safe than taking risks!!."  I'm watching her face as she's speaking and can tell she is not lying to me.  "He's okay your Dad, he's much better than mine, I don't know why you moan about him so much!!"  I just lie there looking at her numb with shock ... my Dad has kind of given us the okay to carry on doing it, which I never would have expected in a million years.

"Are you scared about being pregnant because I am!!" I glance at the expression on her face, she is still smiling, she doesn't seem the slightest bit worried which I don't understand.

"No, actually I hope I am!!"  she says with a serious face

"WHAT!?  Don't be stupid!!  Why would you want to be pregnant??!!"

"There are somethings I need to tell you, that I'm not sure you are going to like."  she says then starts to chew her lip nervously, she is now nervous about something, I dread to think what might be troubling her if she is not bothered about being pregnant .....

"My Dad and Alpine have had their heads together, they have this harebrained scheme about sending me and Cinnamon out of town away to Uni because we look like pure berries, your Uncle Prelude was in on it too - the plan was for Storm to come with us too, but ....... well you know!"  I look at her a little surprised because this is the first I've heard of it.  "The problem with me going to uni is that I will be leaving town and going away for three years ."  I suddenly get a really nasty feeling in my stomach.

"You will come home at weekends and in the holidays right?!"  I ask her

"No - that's the thing - I literally will be away for the whole three years -  the uni they have picked out for us is 3000 miles away, it's a plane ride away and as neither of our parents are loaded and besides the fees they will be paying they plan to rent a house for us to share so they can't afford to keep paying air fare - we might only get to come home once a year for the Christmas holidays if we are lucky!"

I start to feel sick and my head starts going, just the thought of her not being here triggers an emotional overload.  I'm really not sure I can cope with her going away and leaving me, she has always been there, like Storm, he has left me and now she is planning to do the same, I know it's not the same, she isn't fading like Storm has but still she is not going to be here every day for THREE years - I really can not handle that!!!

I roll over on the bed and close my eyes, trying to shut my head off and crawl into my safe space where I don't have to think about it.  I feel her hand on my arm  "Tap?!"

"Leave me alone Honey I can't deal with this right now - you need to get lost NOW!!"  I end up screaming at her, I'm losing it, but it's not like she's never seen it before.  I can feel her behind me and I can hear her picking at her nails which always irritates me.  "Didn't I tell you to get lost, you know where the door is - use it!!"  she stays there and ignores me again she doesn't move so I let her have it verbally.

After I've finished hurling abuse at her and have lay here quietly for about ten minutes shut off in my own little world she speaks to me quietly.  "This is exactly why we didn't tell you - because we knew you would react like this."  she says calmly like I haven't just been downright evil to her, she amazes me, she just takes what I throw at her without retaliating and sits calmly waiting for me to go quiet and always seems to know the right time when it's safe to speak.  She is the only one who can pull me out of my tantrums quickly, not even my Dad has managed to master the art of dealing with me in the right way, he generally can't keep his mouth shut which winds me up and makes them worse and last a lot longer than they should do.

"WE ..... Who is We?!"

"Me and Storm."  

The way she says  'Me and Storm' triggers off a memory of a conversation I'd had with Parsley and Storm - the day that Storm faded - this makes me jump up to face her.

"That's not all you two kept from me ....IS IT!!"  I snap at her quite nastily  "You never told me he liked you, or that he was hassling you ........ you was actually planning to go on a date with him!!!!"  suddenly I felt jealous, the thought of her with Storm, which is what would have happened if he hadn't faded, and I was going to let that happen too - where was my head at??!!   I'm also wandering what other secrets they had together. "So what was the plan for you two to go off and be together at uni and leave me here on my own?!"

"Don't be stupid!!!  I didn't like him that way!!!"  she looks a little irritated  "Anyway why are you getting jealous?? You weren't interested in me were you - remember Fern?!"  she rolls her eyes  "None of that matters now and I don't really want to talk about any of it!!  We have something much more important to talk about!!"

She pushes me down on the bed and hovers above me, I thought she was going to kiss me, but she doesn't.  "We were talking about me going to Uni."  as soon as the word uni leaves her lips, my head starts going again, why did she have to go and remind me, I look away and try to get away from her but she pins me down and has her hand behind my head pulling it towards her  "LOOK AT ME!!"  she shouted quite loudly into my ear which forces me to look at her, she made my hearing aid squeal which always makes my head hurt, and she knows it!!.

"I DO NOT want to go to Uni ......"  I'm kind of surprised and relieved to hear her say that, I actually thought she wants to go to Uni, that she is choosing to leave me.   ".... I plan not too go, my Dad just doesn't know it yet!!  and I need your help to get me out of it!!!"  she smiles at me before she starts kissing me.

When she comes up for air she lies down beside me   "Why wouldn't you want to go to Uni if you have the chance to go?"  I ask her a little puzzled, Mosaic would give anything to go to Uni and resents our parents for making him a mixed berry, which stops him from going.  "Not many people in this town get that luxury."

"Firstly I don't want to leave you, but what is the point of getting a degree - what good will it do me in this town?! It's not like I can go anywhere in the world and get a decent job is it - I have no choice but to come back to this town - I am a mixed berry, my children will probably have red in them as well as yellow - I'm stuck here like the rest of us - my Dad is just being a twat!!"

"So how do you plan to get out of it?"  She started to grin at me mischievously.

"Well if I am pregnant ..... I can't go to uni can I?"  she is still grinning at me, I realize now why she is not actually bothered if she is.

"But you might not be so what are you going to do then?"  I ask too slow to catch onto what might possibly be coming.

She looks at me with that strange look on her face again  "We have to make sure that I am pregnant!!"  I'm a little stunned for a moment.  She's joking, she has to be!!!

"Honey please tell me you are joking!!"  she shakes her head .   I really can't believe she's even thinking this is a good idea  "You want us to make sure you are pregnant just so you can escape going to Uni?!"

"Yes - it's genius - I don't know why I didn't think of it myself, it was something that your Dad said in amongst his lecture that gave me the idea - he was going on at me about how stupid I have been risking the chance of going to University by possibly getting myself pregnant!!"  she smiles at me as her hand starts wandering across my chest.  "So we need to get busy - to change possibly pregnant to definitely pregnant."

I slap her hand to stop it from reaching her intended target.  "You are off your head!!!  I'm not doing it!!"  I am surprised she would even suggest it, I'm not sure she is thinking straight  "I am not capable of looking after a baby, I'm not even allowed to touch my baby sister unless someone is watching me apparantly I can't be trusted, I doubt I'll ever get a decent job either with my problems  ........ and your Dad will probably fade me ..... there has to be another way!!" 

"It is not just university that we have to worry about."  she says then starts biting her lip again,  "It's okay you saying find another way because we probably could if it was just uni that I'm trying to avoid."  she just sits there looking at me for a moment  "There is something else ..... after your Dad finished with me my Dad had his turn ..... my Dad ...... he has basically told me I can not see you anymore, he says I have to break up with you."

"WHAT!!??"  I am shocked  "He doesn't mean it, he's probably really angry right now, I know he doesn't like me much but he wouldn't go that far ....... would he??!!"

"Oh he means it, he said he could just about stomach us being friends, but nothing else, and now because we have crossed that line - he says he is going to split us up, he never wants us to be together - he doesn't like you, you will drag me down with your problems and says I can do better!!"  she puts her arm around me like she thinks it might upset me, but I am actually not surprised that he would say that about me. "If I'm not pregnant then he is not going to let me see you anymore, and he says the minute he finds out I am not pregnant he's going to send me to my Grandparents in Sugar Falls until I go to uni, to make sure we are kept apart."

"He can't do that!!!  He's only doing that because he knows I can't leave this town because of my eyes!!!"  I can feel myself getting a little irritated and starting to panic  "What about if you ARE pregnant - what is he going to do - still send you away and ban me from the baby as well as you!!??"

"No, he says if I am then because the baby will probably be mixed colours, he'll have to leave us alone, not that he wants to, but he says he's not sorting your mess out and he said I'll have made my bed so I can lie in it -  but he says he doesn't think you'll do the right thing anyway, he thinks you'll do a runner and dump me in it!!  Giving him the result he wants anyway - us two apart"

"Run?!  Where too - the other side of town??"   I snap at her  "He REALLY doesn't like me does he!! .... well he can get lost, he's not splitting us up .... in a few years he won't be able to tell us what to do anyway - he can't tell you what to do after you graduate!!"

"I know but what about the in between - remember he said he's going to send me away to my Grandparents and that could be only about 3 weeks away.  The minute he finds out I am not pregnant my bags are packed and I'm gone!!"

"Fudge!!!!"  my head starts swimming again

"You don't want me to go to Uni or be sent away to my Grandparents do you?"

"No of course I don't!!"

"You don't want us to be split up do you?!"

"No!!!"

"Well don't you see ..... me being pregnant is the only way we can be together!! ..... I have been waiting so long for you to wake up and notice me, and now you have, I'm not letting my Dad split us up now!!!! ..... We have to do this Tap." she says as she throws the box across the room  "Sod their being careful .... I need to get pregnant!!"

She came at me then and starts to kiss me, and my head is all over the place, my brain is struggling to process everything that she has said.

My head is fighting with itself, it is telling me don't do it, but it is also screaming at me because I'm scared if I don't do it I'm going to lose her.  Sunny will send her away and that will be it - I couldn't bare her not being here everyday - I've already lost Storm I can't lose her too.  Without her I would be lost - I'd have nobody and nothing!!  I have no choice but to do what she wants.

Her hands have started to wander again, rapidly making me lose the ability to think straight, and I don't stop her.  I think she knows I am going to do this when I start to open the zip running down her back and gently pull her dress off over her head.

If I don't want to lose her .... I have to trust her when she says .... this is the only way!!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 7 - part 2 - Gen 2 - Tapestry

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sit stewing for ages after Dad slams out of the room.

The possibility of Honey getting pregnant has never even crossed my mind .... I wander if it has crossed hers??   I really don't know how I am supposed to feel about it.  It's not like I've really had too much time to think about what we did or how stupid we were,  the shock of it even happening in the first place is yet to hit me.   Being dragged away straight after to the meadow, then I was locked up for the night,  I haven't had the time to think or the chance to speak to Honey since.

She could be on the pill for all I know ..... Dad could be making all this fuss for nothing!!  Oh Berry, he is Honey's doctor, so he would know if she is on the pill or not wouldn't he?! ..... and he wouldn't be acting like this if she was!!

It was just once ...... it's not likely is it?! ....... Dad's over reacting again isn't he!?  I really need to speak to Honey.

I try to phone Honey but her phone just keeps ringing and eventually goes onto answer machine without her answering it, which is very unusual.  I wander for a moment if she is avoiding my call, she wouldn't would she?  I wander if she is now upset by what we did - oh fudge I hope not!!!  I did kind of run out on her straight after to go to the meadow and I haven't spoken to her since.  I really hope I haven't upset her!!

I try again but my second call results in exactly the same - me not getting to speak to Honey.  I leave a message on her answer machine and tell her to phone me.   I wander if my Dad is round at Honey's already - I wouldn't put it past him to be round there stirring up the trouble!!

I'm grounded and I can't go out to find her, not that I normally listen to "your grounded", but I'm really too tired to do anything or worry about everything right now.

I strip off my T shirt and crawl into my bed, the minute my head hits the pillow I close my eyes and fall straight off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As soon as Sunny opened his front door, I think the look on my face worries him.  "What's up Mango, you look troubled, don't tell me there is more trouble with those Freeze kids?!"  he says as he shows me in.

"No it's our kids this time - Tapestry and Honey, we might have a problem."  he frowns at me, there is no point beating about the bush, I just have to tell him, even though I'm not looking forward to his reaction, it's one thing finding out your son is sexually active, but when it comes to your daughter, that is totally different.  "They have been having unprotected sex."  

"WHAT!?"  he looks stunned with shock for a moment before he starts to get angry  "I'm going to FADE him!!  Where is he wait till I get my hands on him!!"  he goes to walk past me in the direction of the front door and I have to put out my arm to stop him.  I should have guessed that he would just blame Tapestry for it, he's never been Tapestry's biggest fan and while the rest of us, including Ruby, have laughed at Honey's mad infatuation with Tapestry and his blindness too it, Sunny has never been very amused about his daughters feelings for him.

"Sunny calm down - it takes two - this is not just Tapestry's fault Honey was there too, she could have said no - but she didn't - she is just as much to blame for this!!"

"Don't you start to shift blame onto my daughter and make excuses for that boy of yours Mango, he's at the root of most of the problems we have and you know it -  you should have called him Trouble not Tapestry!! and here we go again!!!   Honey is a good girl, she only ever gets into any trouble when she is knocking about with that boy of yours!!!  I guarantee this is all down to him!!!"

 
His eyes widen and he starts to look very worried  "Hang on, you are her doctor - please tell me you are not here to tell me she's pregnant!!"

"No but you know there might be a possibility she could be, with them not using any precautions - hopefully she won't be, but I'm more worried right now about making sure they are properly protected from now on, just in case she isn't pregnant."

"Oh don't you worry, they won't be doing it again, I'll make sure of that!!!"  He looks at me in disbelief that I would even suggest that we would let them carry on sleeping together.  "I don't believe you would let them carry on doing it!!  You!!!  I remember the way you used to carry on to us at school - you was a right prude!!"

"Yes, and I was right wasn't I, the mess you and Ruby got yourselves into, you wouldn't stop or listen - maybe you should cast your mind back for a minute before you say anything else!!!  What they are doing is no different to what you and Ruby were doing!!!"  Sunny stood there running his hand through his hair looking stressed out and like he might be about to have a right go at me for the dig I just had.  "Do you think if we shout at them and tell them they can't do it - do you think they will listen - no they won't - they are going to carry on doing it whether we want them to or not, they are at that age, and don't pretend like all of our other kids aren't doing it because I'm sure you know they are - they just haven't been caught yet!!!"   I bite my tongue for a moment, I really shouldn't have said that, being most of their doctors I know which of Sunny's and Alpine's girls are on the pill and that includes my own daughter, but because of patient confidentiality I can not say anything. 

"So what are you saying exactly?"  

"You are right when you say Tapestry is trouble, he is, I don't worry about any of our other kids not being sensible, but Tapestry with all of his problems I do worry about.  He definitely hasn't listened to my 'don't do it and if you do make sure you take precautions' lectures, I've tried to drum it into him because of his problems and condition and he's ignored all my warnings.  So we need to speak to Honey, to make sure she is being sensible when they sleep together because I know Tapestry sure as hell won't be!!"

"So because your son is a disobedient idiot, you expect me to let my daughter think I'm giving her the green light to carry on sleeping with him  ...... you are off your head Mango!!"  he is now getting very angry

"Like I said they are doing it whether we like it or not even though they know they shouldn't be."  he rolls his eyes at me  "Tapestry can't be trusted to be sensible, but honey can be trusted and I sure as hell don't want to become a grandparent just yet!!"

"No I'm not having it Mango, you are too soft, I bet you've hardly said anything to that boy of yours, but when I've finished with them both they will be too scared to do it again!!"

"You reckon??!!  You should think back to when you were their age Sunny - you and Ruby  were the perfect examples of hormonal teenagers!!!  Just telling them NO is not going to work and you know it!!!"  he cut his eyes at me   "What would you rather - do nothing but shout at them, then a few months down the line we find out she's pregnant because they didn't listen, or would you rather make sure they are taking the right precautions so they don't get themselves into that situation until they are old enough to handle it?"

"I'd much rather we keep them apart and ban them from seeing each other from now on!!"  he says angrily  "They have crossed that line now and I never wanted them to get together in the first place!!"

"That's a little harsh don't you think!!"  I am slightly stunned, that's one thing I never expected him to say "Why would you want to keep them apart?"

"I've been quite happy that your son has been too stupid to see how Honey feels about him, but now I find this out, it is  time I step in to make sure they stop seeing each other, I've never wanted them to get together Mango."  he put his hand on my shoulder  "No disrespect to you or Lilly, because you know I love you both, if it was Mosaic that Honey was infatuated with you know I'd be over the moon, but Tapestry - he is trouble Mango, you have said it yourself, he is only ever going to drag Honey down with his problems and I definitely don't want that for my daughter!!  Tapestry is no good for her and I'm not having it!!"

I'm speechless and stare at him without saying a word 

"Honey is a bright girl, her school grades are good enough to get her into University, she is to the eye a pure berry so she has the opportunity to leave this town temporarily and go to Uni - she has the chance to do something with her life."  he starts to rub his neck nervously  "I am also hoping that when she goes to uni two or three years away from home will get Tapestry out of her system, that she will meet other people and she will get over this silly infatuation that she has with him, find herself a decent boyfriend who isn't going to be a burden - Berry help him if he has messed up her chances of going to uni - they are going to be locking me up!!"

"I didn't realize you felt this way!!"  we just stand there staring at each other, I'm pretty stunned knowing that he feels this way.  I don't understand how he can be so flippant about his daughters feelings,  "silly infatuation"  he wants to hope for his sake that is all it is.  I never dreamed he would look at Tapestry in the way he does either, especially after he can accept that Strawberry and Parsley are together, he can be happy and accept that his other daughter is dating Lime's son, but he can't accept Tapestry?!  That hurts a little, actually it hurt a lot!!  "Well I'm happy they are together, Honey is good for him, she understands him unlike most, they have been best friends since they were toddlers, he would be lost without her and I'm scared if you do split them up that will just push him over the edge and probably back towards Fern."

"That really isn't my problem is it Mango, you need to worry about your son and I'll do what I know is best for my daughter."

"I hate to say this, you know yourself how long this 'silly infactuation' as you call it has been going on with Honey, since they were about five or six, I'm sure if she was going to get it out of her system she would have done it by now, and don't even tell me she's not old enough to know her own mind - think back to us at her age you with ruby, me with Lilly, Alpine and Caramel - we knew didn't we!!!  you want to watch you are not about to break your daughter's heart and be the reason why she becomes a single parent - is that really doing the best thing for her?!"

"She'll get over it eventually!!! Just like Lilly got over Cosmic!!"  I nearly punched him, there really was no need for him to say that!!  "And of course I don't want her to become a single parent!!"  he snapped at me quite nastily  "Your son shouldn't have put her in this situation in the first place, he needs to learn to keep it in his trousers or put something on the end of it, and definitely keep it well away from my daughter!!!"   Hypocrite!! ......... Says he who got the school bike knocked up at about the same age!!  He is starting to make me very angry.


"You know you need to start remembering Honey played her part in this too, quit blaming Tapestry for everything, for Berry's sake you are making it sound like he raped her!!!   Your daughter she is not quite the angel you are trying to make her out to be, and Tapestry has an excuse for being an irresponsible idiot - what exactly is Honey's excuse?!"  I am finding it very hard to hold my tongue, he has really pushed my buttons  "Tapestry is not as mentally mature as the other kids his age, I never expected him to become sexually active until he was older ..... you know how your daughter feels about him, now she is mature for her age ..... and if she is anything like her mother, its more likely your daughter who has corrupted my son, not the other way round like you are trying to make out!!!!" 

Sunny gave me a really nasty filthy look, things are beginning to get a little nasty, we are starting to trade cheap digs, this I never expected,  I guessed he wouldn't be happy, fudge I'm not happy about it either,  but I really didn't think we would end up acting like this, and I'm not sure he even knows how much he's hurt me by what he has been saying about Tapestry.  "Okay, so I guess I have to wait at least until we find out - but be prepared - if she is not pregnant, I'm telling you now, I'm going to be doing everything in my power to split them up and keep them apart permanently!!"

"Fine if that's what you think you have to do, you do it, but don't expect me to help you .....  and until we find out, we are doing it my way!!!"  I'm now not in the mood to discuss this with him any longer so I start telling him  "You leave them alone until we know for sure, if I find out you've been having a go at my son you and me will be falling out, it takes two and whatever Tapestry has done Honey was doing it with him!!!"  he went to say something but I didn't give him a chance to speak.   "While your daughter is being very irresponsible she is in danger of putting my son into a situation that he really is not capable of coping with, so as I'm her doctor I am going to give her contraception and talk to her about being sensible to prevent the situation that you obviously NEVER want.   I'll do the necessary tests when I've worked out her dates and the minute I know I'll let you know, probably three weeks at the most - then you can do what the fudge you think you have to do and I suppose I'll have to be there to pick up the pieces when it all blows up your face!!!"

"Have you quite finished?!" he snapped at me

"Not really but I doubt you would want to hear about how much you have hurt my feelings!!"  he frowned at me and I was not going to say anything, but what the hell, he has wound me up!  "It baffles me how my son, who, if you had actually bothered to take the time to get to know is actually a really nice boy underneath all of his disabilities - his disabilities being obviously the only things you do see, unlike your daughter who actually does look past his problems.   My son is not good enough for your daughter, yet for your other daughter - Lime's son is!!"  he glares at me for a moment then his face seems to start softening as he starts to realize what I am getting at.

"Mango I ......"

"Forget it Sunny .... it's too late!!" 

There is a sudden awkwardness between us that has never been there before.  I am glad when I see Honey, she walks into the hallway carrying a load of dirty washing, I'm sure if me and Sunny had been left alone together for much longer one of us would have been saying something we would only regret later and the last thing I want to do is fall out with him.

"Honey leave that washing, Mango needs a word with you, its important."  Sunny didn't even look at her, I'm not sure he could bring himself too, he carries on looking at me.

I watch Honey look from Sunny to me then back again, both of us wearing sullen faces, she started to look worried as she drops the washing onto the floor.  "Is Tapestry okay, is something wrong?!"  she asks, this makes Sunny roll his eyes.

"Unfortunately he's fine, but there will be something wrong with him when I get my hands on him!!"  Sunny says sarcastically, I know this is aimed more towards me than Honey; as he never once takes his eyes off me.  "Mango take her into the kitchen, you're her doctor you sort it out, I need to speak to Ruby, that damn woman is out shopping again."

"You're not coming?!"  I ask him a little puzzled that he would leave me alone with his daughter after everything he has just said.

"No if I have to sit and listen to the details, I won't be able to help myself, I'll be tearing round to yours and swinging for your son!!"  He really is not taking this well, which kind of amuses me thinking back to how he used to be at school.

"When Mango's finished with you young lady, you and me are having words!!"  he says as he takes his phone out of his pocket and walks off into the living room.

Leaving a very confused Honey standing there staring at me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 7 - Gen 2 - part 1 - Tapestry

~~~~~~~~~

My Mother always laughs at me, she says I'm just like my Dad, I take my moods out on the piano keys, and I suppose that is exactly what I'm doing right now.  I need something to take my frustration out on after the night I've just had to endure.  I'm playing with anger and the piano keys are taking quite a bashing.

After a very long night in a police cell with no sleep, having to listen to drunks yelling and cell doors clanking shut over and over all night long, Forrest in a nearby cell shouting abuse at me until they moved him to I don't know where.  The cell itself was awful, for company all I had was just a thin smelly mattress on a metal frame that they called a bed and a toilet that smelt like it hadn't been cleaned in months.  I spent the whole night sitting on the cold floor staring at the door, while I listened to the none stop racket, waiting for it to open and for them to let me out.  The whole experience was awful and I really don't want to have to go through that again.

What made it worse was knowing that after only a few hours Sunny had been and collected Maize and Carmine, Alpine had collected Cinnamon, but me, I was just left there all night by my parents.  Left to rot for all they cared, while I worried myself silly over Mosaic and Strawberry, not knowing how they were, that was the most frustrating part of it all.

If leaving me there all night was Dad's way of teaching me a lesson I'm really not sure what lesson he is expecting me to learn from it!!

I knew it wouldn't take long before my piano playing caught his attention, I heard the door open but I don't look up because I know exactly who it is going to be.

"So they let you out of the cells then!!"  I heard Dad's voice behind me "Have they charge you with anything??"  I ignore him and carry on playing hitting the keys a little harder than I was before. 

"Tapestry stop that!!"  when I carry on ignoring him, he grabs my arm pulling my one hand away from the piano keys.  "You are going to hurt yourself if you don't break the piano first!!"

"Like you care if I hurt myself!!!!"  I shout at him as I stand up, knocking the piano stool flying.  Without another word I walk out of the room slamming the door behind me.

I went up to the kitchen to make myself a drink.  I am a little surprised that the house seems to be empty, I can't hear or see anyone else around and I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised that I wouldn't be alone for long and that Dad would follow me.  I just know I have another one of his stupid long lectures coming!!!   He made himself a drink and sat down oposite me at the table, at first he didn't say anything he just sat there looking at me over the top of his mug as he drank his coffee.

"Why did you just leave me there all night?!"  I asked him angrily  "Sunny and Alpine collected their sons - so why didn't you??"

"Besides being in theatre trying to clean up your mess - I'm done making excuses for you Tapestry, I'm tired of trying to protect you when you never listen."  he says as he puts his mug down on the table.  "Its about time you start to suffer the consequences of your own actions, I thought a night in the cells might make you think a little!!"  He crossed his arms across his chest and sat there looking at me, I'm not sure if he is waiting for me to respond, but I don't  "You obviously don't want to listen to anything we tell you, which is only ever for your own good - maybe the only way that you will ever learn is the hard way!!"

He picked up his cup and started drinking again, I don't say anything, I don't trust myself to.   "You know you are damn lucky you are not in the same boat as Forrest right now, you fractured Pines skull with that rock, you made a right mess of his head, you smashed his skull like an eggshell, I know I was the one in theatre who had to fix it!!!  You are very lucky it didn't fade him, a head injury like that would have finished many people off!!!!"   I look up at him, fudge!!  I didn't think I'd hit him that hard - did I?!   Well I hope his head hurts, payback for stabbing Mosaic!!  "and you haven't even bothered to ask how your brother is!!"

"I know how he is, he's fine!!"  I replied without looking at him   "I spoke to Coral earlier, she told me they removed the knife in surgery and he will have no lasting damage other than a nasty scar ...... happy now??!!"

"No I'm not happy ..... I'm far from happy ..... you shouldn't have put your brother and everyone else in that situation in the first place!!!"

"ME!!!  It wasn't my idea, I hope Mosaic told you the meadow was his and Carmines brain storm, not mine!!  I didn't want to do it - I only went because he was so dead set on going with or without me - I couldn't stop him!!"

He knew all this, he knows that for once I was not the ring leader, Mosaic was,  he knows that I prevented Coral, Juniper and Honey from getting involved, but still that doesn't get me off the hook ..... he still blames me for it.

The revenge attack yesterday I could have stopped it, I am the only one who knew first hand just how dangerous the Freeze kids could be, I was there with Storm, I knew they would possibly have knives, I knew what kind of people they are and how they fight - but still I let my brother and 'friends' all go ahead and walk into a very dangerous situation that none of them were prepared for - a situation that could have ended in another fatality - if I'd hit Pine just a little bit harder - if one of Strawberry's broken ribs had punctured a lung - if that knife had gone into Mosaic a few inches to the left or lower, it could be a whole different story today, it might not have been just Storm we were mourning ......

..... and why was any of this happening in the first place ..... because of me ..... because of my inability to listen.  Stay away from Fern, that's all that they asked of me - but I didn't.

All of this boils down to me and my actions - and while everyone around me gets hurt or worse - I walk away unharmed and I am still none the wiser to all the problems that my actions cause.

"Go take your medication, there is something else we need to talk about!!"  he says as he stands up, picking up both of our mugs then starts to wash them in the sink. "You also need to take a shower - you stink!!"

Walking out of the kitchen I only get as far as the top of the basement stairs.  That's when I heard the strange crying noise, at first I don't know what the noise is, it sounded a little like a cat, but the noise is coming from inside the house and I'm curious to know what it is so I followed it.

As I get closer to it I realized it sounded like a baby crying.  As soon as I walk into the nursery, which is where I follow the noise to, I can see the tiny baby lying in one of the cots.  I didn't even know that Cotton has come home - I wander when that happened?

She keeps on crying and nobody seems to be coming.  I know that Dad is in the bathroom and I have no idea where anyone else is, I suspect that there is only me and Dad home because the house seems pretty quiet and deserted, I guess they might be at the hospital with Mosaic.

Dad is busy so that only leaves me, I pick Cotton up out of her cot.  Even though I'm holding her she still carries on crying, at first I'm a little nervous, I've never held a baby before, a little scared that I might drop her, she's so tiny I'm also scared I might hurt her if I hold her wrong.  After a few minutes of holding her close to me she stops crying.

I hold my little sister up to look at her as I bounce her up and down, I remember watching Uncle Mulberry doing that to my cousin Blueberry when he was a baby.  Suddenly she let out a really loud belch which makes me laugh.

"Ewww somebody has got no manners!!!"  I say out loud which makes Cotton laugh, well I think it is a laugh, it is a funny baby noise anyway.  "You don't want Dad to hear you belching like that - I'll let you into a little secret shall I, he's a bit of stuffed shirt as you will find out!!"  she seems to like me talking to her, she keeps letting out what sound like little giggles.

I start to feel very tired, remembering I've had no sleep all night, I needed to sit down at least.  I look down at the baby in my arms who seems to be smiling back at me, she seems quite happy for me to be holding her, I'm just about to put her back into the cot when it suddenly doesn't feel right to just put her back in that big cot and leave her in here all on her own, so I decided to take her with me down to my room..

I sat down in the rocking chair with her and we start rocking.  She seemed to like it, she lay there quite happily gurgling away so I carried on rocking the chair and I let my mind wander.  Chewing over in my head what Dad had been saying, then I start to think about Storm and his funeral that is coming up at the end of the week that I'm really not looking forward to.  I am still waiting for someone to actually stand up and point the finger at me and say that Storm faded because of me, it's my fault he's gone, he faded trying to protect me ....

Suddenly the door burst open and Dad came in looking very panicked.  He stood there just staring at me for a moment as the expression on his face changed from panic to anger.

"Now What the Fudge do you think you are playing at??!!"  My Dad shouts at me, he looks pretty pissed!!  Berry - I just heard him swear, I've never heard him swear before, at least not directly at me.  "What are you doing with Cotton??!!"  he snapped.  I didn't like the way he is looking at me its like he doesn't trust me with her, I wouldn't even put it past him to think that I might intentionally hurt her.

"We were just rocking, she likes it - she was crying so I picked her up."  He took her out of my arms carefully and started walking out of my room with her  "You ...... come with me!!"  he said as he got to the door, so I followed him, wandering what has got his knickers in a knot now!!??

We didn't go far, I follow him into the music room, next door to my room and he placed Cotton in the cot that has always lived in the corner of the room.  My old cot, as apparently the music room used to be my room when I was a toddler.  I noticed that the cot has had all new sheets put on it, for as long as I can remember it has only ever had a bare plastic mattress in it.

After settling Cotton down he turned on me.

"I don't want you touching her again, do you hear me!!"   he shouts at me quite angrily "She is not a doll that you can just pick up, take off and play with!!"

"I do know ..... I'm not stupid!!"  I snapped back at him

"You can't just take off with her without telling anyone!!!" boy he really is mad  "She was supposed to be in her cot in the nursery, I look and she's vanished, what do you think that did to me?!  You scared me half to death I thought someone had snatched her!!"

"Sorry, I didn't think."

"No you never do think .. do you Tapestry ... that's your problem ... you do what you want, when you want, you never think about how it might affect other people!!!"

 I had scared him half to death, he had gone to use the bathroom and when he went to check on Cotton she was gone.   After everything that has been going on lately, he thought the worst, he even went as far as to think that one of the Freeze kids might have come in and snatched her.  He also thinks I'm not responsible enough to look after her and especially not wander around the house with her, he thinks I'll put her down somewhere get distracted and forget about her.

"Just another perfect example of what I was saying to you only 10 minutes ago, you just picked her up and wandered off with her without even thinking ........ and didn't I tell you to get a shower and take your medication!!!"  he is now getting really angry

"I forgot!!"  and I had, I'd been distracted by Cotton crying, that's how easy it is for me to forget what I'm supposed to be doing .... and I suppose I can see his point when he says I am not responsible enough to be wandering around with the baby.  He took me by the arm and marched me too the bathroom door.  "Now get a shower, and hurry up, I haven't finished with you yet!!"

When I walk back into my room I didn't expect Dad to already be in there, dressed and stood holding my medication tub in his hand.  "You've been in my bag!!"  I snap at him, he knows I hate it, so why does he always keep on doing it?!

"Don't even go there with that one again Tapestry!!"  he says as he thrusts the tub in my hand looking a little irritated.  "Now take them - I'm going to spend the rest of my life baby sitting you - aren't I!!"

"What's going on with you and Fern??"  he asked as I went to fetch some water.  I told him that we had broke up so he could keep his hair on, that I wouldn't be seeing her anymore.  "Good I suppose that's one thing, as long as you stick to it, and I hope you do for Honey's sake!!"  I frown at him, wandering why he should mention Honey, would he know already that Honey is now my girlfriend instead of Fern?! 

"How old are you??"  he asked me, I nearly choked on the tablets I'm trying to swallow - what sort of question is that to ask me - he's my Dad - he should know!!

"You know how old I am!!"

"Yes I do - not old enough or mature enough to be getting "naked and horizontal" with Honey!!!"  Fudge!!  Now I'm in for it!!!  How on earth would he even know what me and Honey have done?  I'm spitting water everywhere as I'm choking, the tablets getting stuck in my throat.  "I take it I'm not misunderstanding what you kids mean by "naked and horizontal!!"  I could deny it but what is the point, he'll just go on until he gets the truth out of me and I don't know how he found out, I shake my head as I try to sort myself out.

"How do you know?"  I snap at him, I'm already on the defensive because I know he's going to be angry and I'm waiting for him to explode.  "Who told you?!"

"They didn't know I was stood behind them, at the hospital, I over heard your brother and sister having a right giggle about it - although I don't find it the least bit funny!!"  Yeah I bet you don't!!!  "I doubt Sunny will find it funny either!!"  OH NO!!!

"You can't tell him - Dad Please don't - he'll fade me!!!"  I remember watching Sunny chasing Parsley round for hours because he had caught Strawberry and Parsley doing things he said they shouldn't have been.  Sunny is very protective over his daughters. 

"I might have to tell him ..... it depends ..... on if you've been taking precautions or not."

Fudge!! ......... precautions!!  My mind starts spinning ....... we didn't.

"Well did you?"

"I .....errr ........"  he's going to kill me!!!  I stay silent and just look down, the word 'no' is stuck to my tongue, I'm too scared to let it out.  It isn't like we planned to do it, it just happened and taking precautions was the last thing on my mind, in fact, it never even crossed my mind, before or since.

"I take it by your silence you didn't take any precautions!"  I just shook my head  "Oh Tapestry!!"  he put his head in his hands  "You didn't take precautions - why does that not surprise me?! .... this is just exactly what you would do!!  Sod the consequences!!!  Just proving you are not mature enough to be playing adult games!!"

I sit silently saying nothing - what can I say?!  I am actually amazed that he is keeping calm, I would have expected him to have gone off on one by now.

"How many times have you and me had this particular conversation about taking precautions?"  he asks me, I shrug my shoulders  "Too many times and obviously you haven't listened to one of them!!  Have you!!??"  I couldn't look at him, my head is spinning  "You I would expect it from, but Honey, I'm surprised at Honey, I thought she was a sensible girl!!"

"So who have you been sleeping with? Is this just Honey or Fern too?"

"Just Honey and I doubt anything will happen it was just once."

"Once is all it takes ..... you idiot ..... have you not listened to anything I've said to you!!"

That is when he started going off on one.  Yelling at me - I knew he wouldn't be able to keep calm forever.  I shut my head off to his yelling like I usually do, it's the only way that I can cope without retaliating.

"You are an idiot!!"  he slapped me around the head bringing me back to listening to what he is saying  "....... For berry sake you can't even look after yourself - how on berry's earth do you think you are going to look after a baby - there is no hope!!  Its a disaster waiting to happen with your condition and problems, how many times have I tried to drum this into your stupid head??!!"

"You really want to hope Honey isn't pregnant!!"  he says as he stands up just before he walks out of the room  "Because that is going to be one mess that I can't and won't tidy up for you!!" he put his hand on the door  "I said earlier you are going to have to learn the hard way, the same applies to this - don't ask me for any help - because you won't be getting any!!"

He walked out of the room slamming the door pretty hard. 

Honey - Pregnant??!!

Something else that has not even crossed my mind.

Oh Fudge!!!

The door opens and Dad's angry face looks around it   "Oh and you are grounded for the rest of your life!!" he said just before he slams the door again.

~~~~~~~~~