5.5 Growing into Themselves

Zoysia snuggled Ivy close as friends and family gathered around. The tiny flames of the candles danced happily, yet something in Zoysia’s heart gave a twinge as she prepared herself to be the mother of a school-aged child.

Ivy’s family cheered and clapped as she blew her candles out, but Ivy didn’t seem to feel very festive. Zoysia and Kurtis exchanged a concerned glance, remembering Ivy’s distress at Iris’ death during her infancy. After Ivy chose a wallpaper with black sheep on it for her new bedroom, Zoysia determined to keep a close and caring eye on her eldest child.

One load that had come off Zoysia’s mind was her twin sister Violet’s nighttime activities at the old warehouse. The night that Kale was born, Violet had gathered all the evidence she needed to put the JH gang – (run by one of Rogelio’s younger sisters! can you believe it?) behind bars.

When she took the evidence to the authoritites, they called in the FBI operatives and and an army general who had been carrying out their own investigation. It seems that the gang had been conspiring to steal munitions from military shipments for use in their criminal activities. Impressed with Violet’s determination, stealth, and bravery, the general actively recruited her. Violet toyed with her sash as she thought about the offer.

She finally decided that it would be a nice change to work in the light of day with people who were looking out for each instead of scheming against each other. And the next morning, she reported in crisp new fatigues.

Camellia and Violet settled into an early morning routine of tending the garden before work, and the plants thrived under their care.

Camellia was gaining a reputation around town as a gardening expert and was occasionally invited to speak to groups about planting techniques. At one of these lectures, she was surprised to meet the mother of the heartbreaking Oscar she had once hoped to marry. Unlike her son, Mrs. Huerta proved perfectly pleasant.

With Violet and Camellia out of the house almost every day and Ivy in elementary school, Zoysia found herself spending domestic time with her husband and two younger children.

After Kale’s noon feeding and playtime, she would settle him back in his crib and go downstairs, where Kurtis would play the guitar with Nandina “accompanying” him on her little xylophone. They were adorable, if not always in sync.

Zoysia even found time to get in a few matches of chess, easing back into the competition circuit.

Kurtis was playing with the band now, and almost every evening held a rehearsal or a concert. So while Zoysia enjoyed his company during the day, he was gone most nights. He was usually arriving at work about the same time that Ivy, Camellia and Violet got home.

Ivy always preferred to ride her bike instead of taking the school bus. Zoysia thought it was a little unusual that her daughter didn’t want to be with the other kids, but how could she fault her for getting such good exercise?

What Zoysia didn’t know was that sometimes when Ivy said she was biking around the block or doing her homework in the park, she was really in an entirely different place.

The Foliage home was a busy place in the evenings, and it could be easy to miss the absence of one family member. After all, sometimes Herbert came over for dinner with Violet, and sometimes the garden club came by to admire the glow of the flamefruit bushes.

Zoysia also had her hands full with Nandina and Kale. She loved every minute she spent with them, tickling their little pink toes, giving them a bottle, changing them into their playclothes, but it was draining by the end of the day, especially with Kurtis working in the evenings.

Even on Kurtis’ nights off, there were plenty of parenting responsibilities, and though they both enjoyed them, it was hard to find time to be alone together.

Violet noticed this, and she suggested to Camellia that they give Zoysia and Kurtis an evening’s free babysitting the next night that Kurtis had off.

So the next day that Kurtis didn’t have a rehearsal or a concert, Violet and Camellia both rushed home from work.

They had thought that Zoysia and Kurtis would go out to dinner or to a show while they watched the kids, but apparently, they had other things on their minds…

Meanwhile, Violet watched the kids while Camellia went to pick up some takeout for everybody.

Camellia would never have expected to meet such an interesting supplier while waiting for her food at the diner – after chatting about gardening, he offered her some new seed packets that he said would grow surprising things! Camellia could hardly wait to nestle those seeds in the soil of the Foliage garden!

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