#valeree

"Strawberries are small, red, sweet fruit covered in seed. They grow in spring and are quite unusual to be found." Dalton whispered. Although he wanted to help Begonia, they both knew that talking loudly scared the fish away. "Tomato is a big, red fruit. A fruit, not a vegetable! They grow in summer and are also quite unusual to be found… what about autumn? Can you think of anything that grows in autumn?"

Begonia tried and tried to think about anything... anything that grew in the fall…

"Grapes! They are purple orb fruits. Very juicy and extremely common in Valeree."

The girl was so excited that she answered the question almost by singing so loudly that probably all the fish and birds heard it.

"Snowdrop grows in winter… it's quite unusual because it's one of the only flowers that survives the cold."

Begonia started to pull in her fishing rod as soon as she felt resistance. Unfortunately, her screaming scared off all the big fish.

The knock on the door that day came as a surprise to Gustav Morris, who had not expected a visit from Henrique Deon to the property.

"Good afternoon Mr. Deon. What a pleasant surprise. Dulce is at the Nakamura' farm so I won't be able to serve you something to eat"

"Don't worry about it, Morris. Our talk will be really quick, I have a lot of work to do before the day is out."

"How can I help? Oh, be careful not to step on Stella, her noise will wake up Alexander."

"I see married life has suited you well, Mr Morris."

"Dulce, Alexander and even Stella have provided me with beautiful days, Mr. Deon"

"Glad to hear. I'm here to propose a building before the museum. I think we should do a forest park where everyone can visit, children can play and it would be a beautiful setting for future weddings. Something close to the founders' house."

"Sounds like a good idea, a pretty quick idea to complete actually. I'm going to start working on it."

Life at the Hancock' cabin was starting to become predictable, and to Dulce Morris's surprise, predictable was good. The young woman got up shortly after the sun woke up after having spent the whole night going to feed Alexander. She cooks breakfast for her husband Gustav Morris and they sit at the table to talk. Dulce starts her journey of cleaning the cabin and feeding the newborn while Gustav plays and feeds the cat Stella.

When Gustav went out into the forest in search of food and raw materials for his buildings, Dulce took advantage of the little moment of peace to venture into knitting.

Returning from the forest, when Dulce had already stopped her knitting four times to feed Alexander, Gustav started his work in the construction while Dulce prepared the food, where both met at the table once more.

The predictable was comfortable and hopeful. How long would the young redhead will be happy with the predictable?

Dulce was increasingly interested in knitting. Now that the wedding was close, she wanted to make her own dress. The ceremony would not be grand, nor memorable. It would just be Dulce and Gustav exchanging vows in front of the lake. No one would participate, and yet, the young redhead was excited.

She had also been trying to work on her relationship with Alexander Hancock. Her heart still had that part where she rejected her son, but an ever-growing part loving him. Alexander would not inherit the Morris surname, Dulce had promised that no one would ever know who her child's father was, and although Gustav was more than willing to play the role of little Alex's father, he would still be a Hancock. Not that the young woman was going to say it out loud, and maybe she just didn't realize it yet, but her whole heart hoped that Alex would bring much more pride to the Hancocks than the previous three generations.

A meeting was organized in Dulce's small house. All seven founders gathered to meet the new inhabitant of Valeree. Alexander was not planned, not expected but would henceforth be very, very loved.

As the day dawned, Dulce decided to clear her mind by cooking one of her favorite foods. It was very smart of the young woman to have collected food on the way to her new home, now with luck, she wouldn't need to go the forest looking for food until the birth of the bastard. One less worry in the sea of worries.

The young woman did not expect to receive a visit from Gustav Morris that afternoon, but she should have known that Mr. Morris is a complete gentleman. Gustav prowled the perimeter making sure the young redhead was safe, and brought firewood to keep her warm during the dead of winter.

Gustav would be a great husband one day… and Dulce couldn't understand what that feeling in her belly was. Something that rose through her body and brought warmth and comfort to her heart.

Dulce was on the way to the forest. It was her duty to look for food and she would enjoy the company of Henrique who would go get firewood. That way, she wouldn't give them any more reasons to want her away and she'd spend a pleasant moment with Mr. Dion.

Pleasant enough for him to reconsider her stay. Not so pleasant though. She was willing to try to be a lady.

"Can we talk for a minute? I promise I won't make you late."

"What else do we have to talk about, Edwards?"

Kylie took a deep breath. This had to end. It was costing her her mental health and turning her into a person she wasn't. Kylie was good and she desperately needed to be reminded of that.

"We were friends before all this, Dulce. I still have my convictions and you have yours. I still think we need rules or this place will turn into a lawless land. It's ok while we're only seven, but what about when we're a hundred? Respect my convictions and we can live in peace. At least respect each other, while we are forced to share the same space."

That was good news. Dulce Hancock thought that her name would definitely be out of the question during the founders' meeting… poor girl, didn't she realize that the wind wasn't blowing? She'll soon find out that she never needed Kylie to have her life screwed up.

She will be able to screwed up her life herself.