Page 15 of The Wisteria Tree Cottage

‘But we are engaged,’ River said, quickly. ‘We will be married soon.’

‘But you gave Indigo the baby before you got engaged and before she came here to work. How did you give her the baby when she wasn’t here?’ Star asked.

‘We met before she came here,’ River said, honestly, but clearly downplaying the one-night stand that had brought Indigo here, which was a good thing as it turned out, they were clearly head over heels in love with each other.

‘So Bear could give a baby to someone without marrying them?’ Star said.

‘I could,’ Bear said, slowly. ‘But normally, when you’re giving babies away you do that with someone you love.’

Star clearly thought about this and then turned her attention to Meadow. ‘Mummy, you could have Bear’s baby now you are divorced from Daddy. Winnie from school, her mum and dad got divorced and Winnie’s mummy had a baby with her neighbour a few weeks later. Bear could give you his baby to grow in your tummy and, once you laid it, Bear would have a baby too and he wouldn’t be lonely any more.’

The strawberry Meadow had been eating lodged in her throat and she quickly took a big mouthful of tea to wash it down. Good lord. She hadn’t been expecting that kind of conversation this morning. She thought she could hear a pin drop as everyone waited with bated breath to see how she would deal with that question. The thought of being married to Bear and having his babies made her go all gooey inside. But Bear didn’t think of her that way.

‘I don’t think he is lonely, he has us and you and Tierra and lots of friends,’ Meadow tried.

‘But he wants children, he just said,’ Star said. ‘And you two love each other so it’s perfect.’

Meadow glanced at Bear who was watching her, probably waiting for her to explain how they didn’t love each other in that way, but she couldn’t do it, because she did love him like that.

‘You do love Bear, don’t you Mummy?’ Star said.

‘I do,’ Meadow said, buttering her toast, focussing on getting the butter into every corner. ‘Very much.’

‘And do you love Mummy, Bear?’

Bear cleared his throat. ‘Yes I do.’

Meadow looked up at him and he was staring at her. If only she could read what was going through his mind because his face was showing a mixture of emotions.

‘We all love each other,’ Heath tried to explain. ‘In the same way that you and Tierra love each other and Indigo and Meadow love each other because we’re all family. But River and Indigo love each other in a different way to the way Bear and your mummy love each other and that’s the kind of love you need to have a baby.’

‘How is it different?’ Star said.

‘There are lots of different kinds of love,’ Meadow said. ‘You love pizza but you’re not going to marry it. You love living here in Wishing Wood, but you’re not going to marry the wood.’

Star giggled.

‘And you love me and your daddy, but you’re not going to marry us either. When you’re in love with someone you choose to spend all your time with that person. They are your favourite person in the world and so that’s why you choose to marry them.’

‘But I choose to spend all my time with all of you, you are my favourite people,’ Star said.

‘Mine too,’ Tierra said, then waved the photo she was holding in the air. ‘And Olaf.’

Bear leaned forward. ‘When you go to the fair or a theme park, you always like to go on the carousel, that’s your favourite ride, right? It goes round and round and doesn’t really do much more than that, but it’s still your favourite because you love the painted horses. That’s kind of what family love is, it’s constant, always there, unwavering, it never changes. The horses are solid, dependable, just like the way your mummy and daddy love you. But you also love the big rollercoasters, they’re exhilarating, exciting and make you squeal with delight as you go up and down and do the loops. Your stomach does these funny leaps. You feel this wonderful, delicious feeling of anticipation as you go up to the top and then you go over the edge and plummet to the bottom and it almost feels like you’re flying, nothing beats that incredible feeling. And that’s what the love River and Indigo have for each other feels like.’

Meadow’s heart filled with love for him. He had described it perfectly.

Star stared at him with wide eyes. ‘That kind of love does sound wonderful. So you and Mummy don’t feel like that for each other, the rollercoaster love?’

Bear looked at Meadow and she was surprised when he didn’t immediately say no. He was clearly waiting for her to answer and she didn’t know what to make of that. Meadow chose her words carefully.

‘The thing about love, is that it changes. One day chocolate ice cream is your favourite but then you try strawberry somewhere new and then suddenly you love it and it becomes your favourite ever flavour. You can’t go back then. You thought chocolate was your favourite but when you tasted that strawberry you know it will always be your favourite from then on. Maybe one day the love that Bear and I feel for each other might change too.’

Meadow saw River and Indigo exchange glances. Heath was looking confused and Bear didn’t seem able to take his eyes off her.

Star nodded. ‘I never used to like olives but now I do, Daddy said our tastes change as we get older. So when you two are older, you might like the taste of each other more.’

She giggled at her own analogy but then carried on eating her breakfast as if the conversation had come to an end.

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