Gen 1.15 One thing and another and time passes.

In between conducting her research, raising a baby, Hazel's scouts activities, and Juniper's young artist program the year flew by. Ash was a lovely baby who was always being cooed at by someone and always smiling and laughing at his big sisters. He was a good sleeper and didn't cry very much at all. When he began pulling himself up to cruise and walk he didn't get into much mischief either. Suddenly, and without much fanfare he was a babbling, stumbling toddler.

Juniper and Kathryn were holed up in Juniper's room reading magazines and giggling. Hazel lurked in the hallway listening to them talk, “Did you see his muscles?! OMG, Anthony is getting so hot!”

“Too bad he's such a jerk! What?! I'm allowed to say that! He's my cousin! Besides, he

always pulled my hair and called me 'Frizzy' until the eighth grade!”

“Did you see the way that Britney was throwing herself at him?”

“Ugh! Pathetic! Like she's never seen a boy before!”

“Gee, Anthony,” Juniper began in a mocking sultry voice, “You're so strong! Can you help me carry my books? To class?!” The girls let out peals of laughter. After the laughter had died down, Juniper asked, “So, how was your date?”

There was some rustling as Kathryn shifted and moved a bit. Then, “No! You didn't! Did your mom see?! No wonder you're wearing a scarf!” Hazel decided that teenagers were boring and that climbing trees was interesting and went running off to her favorite one. She stopped spying on her sister after overhearing a few conversations like that, though she did wonder why Guy was spending so much time in Juniper's room when Aunt Leah and Uncle Elliot came over. Were they doing that too?

They were not doing that, though not for lack of trying on Guy's part. Juniper was equal parts uninterested and oblivious. Guy was not the most clear in his signalling either, preferring to talk about schoolwork, his part time job, and his family.

When Leah and her family came over Hazel usually played ball outside with Joe. When he was a jerk, which was often because he was a boy, she called him by his full name, Giovanni, which he hated. Sometimes they jumped on the trampoline making up rhymes about each other's names. Hazel's favorite went, “Giovanni, Giovanni, you are a bunny!” Giovanni's went “Hazy Hazy, you drive me crazy!”

Lupe was proceeding with caution regarding her mother, brother, and niece. Florita had started up with another pyramid scheme, this time selling spa products. Mike and Lupe were studiously avoiding the topic and also her free samples, but at least she was living on her own for the moment. Maya was a sturdy four year old to Hazel's seven and was pretty happy to do whatever it was her older cousin wanted to do. Hazel taught Maya to play tag, catch, hopscotch, and how to do forward rolls on the trampoline.

Ash was a charming toddler. He spent most of his time cuddling his bear and putting it to bed. He also enjoyed building block towers and having bear knock them down and then crying because why would Pan-Pan do that? Fish was cautiously interested in him and would crouch down watching him and come up behind him to sniff his head and give it a lick. This attention delighted Ash who would wave his hands and shout with laughter, scaring the cat. He then spent a lot of time tracking the elusive feline down and trying to pet him. Fish learned that the high road was best for avoiding inquisitive small humans.

Lewis was filling up his photo albums with pictures of Ash playing with Pan-Pan. He took pictures of Lupe holding both of Ash's hands as he toddled around the living room. He took pictures of the cat investigating the baby. He also cut out the birth announcement and put it opposite the picture of Lupe holding Ash in the science lab. Lupe didn't find out about this until after Lewis had died. Lewis was in his mid seventies when Ash was born and while he was in decent health, he was also old and lonely. His assistant said that when she left one night, he told her he was going to be working late and when she came in the next morning he was sprawled out over the desk, cold. Lewis was as good as his word, and left enough in trust for Ash to cover his expenses, pay for college, and buy a starter home if they were frugal.

Lupe grieved for him deeply. She knew he was old and that his age was the whole reason why they'd embarked on the odyssey of cloning him, but she'd gotten to know a side of him that no one else saw. The funeral was about the shrewd politician and great philanthropist who left endowments for the hospital, the local elementary school, and donated his family's private collection to the art museum after letting them have it on loan for decades. It didn't touch on the man who's heart had begun opening to Lupe and her children. They didn't talk about the way he'd encouraged Juniper towards reading the classics and illustrating key passages of Homer's Odyssey. They didn't mention how he'd talk baseball and sports with Hazel, patiently explaining the mechanics of sport in a way that her father and uncles didn't. She cried and she cried and she turned to Shane in her grief. She thought of telling him about Ash and his true parentage, but she looked at him toddling around and playing and didn't have the heart for his status to become common knowledge.

She was in a fog for years when, she suddenly woke up, looked around and realized that Juniper was graduating high school, Hazel would be entering it shortly, and that Ash was a child. She wasn't getting any younger and she wanted more time with her children before they flew the coop. She wanted more memories to fill those albums of Lewis'. With these thoughts swirling in her brain she got online and booked a week long trip to France for the family.

Author's Note: I kind of fell down on the job with taking pictures and Juniper's Teen years and Hazel's Child years were really low key. Besides, I kind of feel like this story needs to be about Lupe and her finding her way as an adult. There just aren't enough stories about mothers/with mothers as the viewpoint character. Needless to say, here's a gratuitous picture of Ash, asleep on the floor.