Gen 2- Chapter 12: Cherry Blossom

It was only an hour before we were to leave for the party. I went to Peach puff’s room, tears sat just on the edge of my eyes. I picked her up and sang her our favorite lullaby. I took those last few moments I had with her as baby and imprinted the memory in my mind.

“I don’t want to be selfish my love, and I know you are going to be a beautiful young lady. Now lets get to that party.”

“Party!”

By the time we arrived, some of the guests were already there. Auntie Shiraz and Auntie Mango were busy discussing the lovely venue and its amazing designer Judy. She was quite famous around these parts. Judy had no last name, or if she did no body knew it. She was quite the interior designer to say the least. We were lucky to even get the booking we got. I happened to call on a day they had a cancellation. Talk about luck!

I asked Auntie Shiraz if she would like to do the honors of taking Peach Puff to the cake. She was more than excited to do it. So we all watched as our little angel blew out the candles.

The party was so much fun and my little sweetheart had grown into a beautiful young girl.

After the main event we all scattered around the park checking out all the cool things it provided. Misty of course found a easel and she was right to work on painting the beautiful horizon that could be seen from the one corner of the property.

The kids found the jungle gym and we didn’t see them again until it was time to go home. To my enjoyment. it seemed that Peach Puff and Peche Jr. were still best buds.

I hung out with the boys inside while I enjoyed some cake. I don’t know what it was about that cake, but it was so good! I am not usually a huge fan of cake , but this time I had 2 slices and was ready for more. I cut myself off after 2, but I really wanted about 5.

When we all got back home, I was feeling extremely worn out from the days activities, and nice hot bath sounded really good. So I grabbed my lavender oil and filled the bath. When the water was ready, I dipped one toe into the water to make sure temp was ok. It was perfect, I slowly eased into the tub, and I could feel all my tension melting away.  *ahhhh*

Afterward I went to check on Misty to see how she was doing on her repair work in my master bathroom. Just as I was getting ready to leave I felt really sick, luckily I was right next to the toilet, because I threw up all that cake. I apologized to poor Misty for puking in front of her.

“I’ts alright sis, but I am gonna go now ok?”

Seeing that this would be pregnancy#4, I had no doubts, and soon I was beginning to show. We were not really considering another baby honestly. I was on the pill, and I thought that would be good enough, obviously it wasn’t. Regardless of the facts, now that I was expecting again, it didn’t take long and I was again filled with that excited glow.

One afternoon while I was on my way to the painting room, I got a phone call from Peach Puff’s school.

“Hello?”

“Hi yes is this Mrs. Chiffon?”

“Yes it is.”

“Hi Mrs. Chiffon, we are calling about Peach Puff. It seems that she came to school today with no shoes. We have a strict policy here at Strawberry Shortcake. Shoes must be worn at all times.”

“But she had them when she left this morning, I made sure of it.”

“Well she doesn’t have them now. She will be in the office, until you come pick her up.”

When we got home I did my best to reason with her.  I pleaded.

“Sweetheart, its the only time you have to wear them I promise…Please? She wasn’t having it.

When that failed I got more serious. “Look Missy if you don’t wear them, I am going to ground you. Needless to say my threats didn’t work and after a few months the school and I gave up. I was sent a waiver to sign that would release the school from liability, if she were to injure herself while on the school grounds. I had no idea where she got her stubborn streak from.

My mom had told me about the revolving birthdays, from our younger years, but I didn’t really believe her. She wasn’t kidding though. It was just one birthday right after another. Soon it was Peche Jr.s turn and he was looking forward his party, even though he really didn’t have any good friends to invite. So we invited the entire family. Everyone showed up except for Tea, she had to stay home with her little Amanda, who had caught a bug.

Another fun party, wonderfully documented by Misty! Thanks Misty!

Nikisha invited a friend of hers to the party. Her name was Thistle and she and I hit it off immediately. I just knew we were gonna be fast friends. I already had plans to introduce her to Mango, so we could all hang out together. Yay for more friends!

Peach Puff took some time to hang out with her Auntie Nika and Cousin Dana. It was amazing, he was like a mini Roz. He looked just like the old photos I had seen of Roz at that age, except he had his Mammas hair color, a handsome boy none the less. I just hoped he would be a lot little nicer than his father was.

Later that night i went over to Tea and Dax’s to visit with my little niece. I hadn’t acutally gotten to see her yet. I was kinda disappointed when they didn’t make it to the party. She was so incredibly cute. She had this amazingly gorgeous hair color. I found out later, that is was the same color as Amanda’s grandmother Maui Punch.

Just as I was getting ready to leave, I started to feel woozy. I was just about to call for to Tea who had stepped on to the porch, but it was too late.

I passed out right there on the carpet. I wasn’t exactly sure how long I was out. All I remembered was Tea calling my name and slightly slapping my cheek to try and wake me. Finally the cold wash cloth she had wetted and placed on my forehead brought me back. She offered to take me to the hospital, but I had an appointment the next day anyway, so I just went home and went straight to bed.

Well the doctors told me that I had pregnancy induced high blood pressure and I was placed on bed rest until the birth. Stuck in bed, I read like 100 books and I missed my easel terribly.

The only time I was allowed to be up and about was for dinner. Just like my pregnancy with the twins, I had a really weak stomach. More sorbet please!

It was quite lonely during my bed rest. Peach Puff quickly picked up on that fact and she spent as much time as she could hanging with me. We would chat and read for hours. She enjoyed reading my pregnancy books immensely. I was so grateful to have her there.

Finally my bed rest sentence came to a close and seeing that Peche and I were seasoned pros now, we calmly grabbed our things and headed to the hospital.

After a long and tiring delivery, Apricot Bloom finally arrived. At first we had thought about putting her up in Peach Puff’s room, but then we decided that was not very fair to a young growing girl, so instead we had a room built for her up stairs. As I took her to her room and I felt that same adoration setting in. Welcome to the family little one.