Disclaimer – These characters and the concept of Hairspray does not belong to me.
A/N – I will say right off the bat that this fic has glaring errors with canon. I know that Jelly Babies were not around in America in the 60's, but I had this image in my head that would not leave me alone. So I had to write it. Please just take this fic for what it was intended, a bit of light entertainment. It is not intended to be serious.
For those who don't know, Jelly babies are a type of soft confectionery that look like little babies in a variety of colours. They are very popular in the United Kingdom, hence why I know of them. There are mainly six different flavours of jelly babies; Strawberry, Lemon, Raspberry, Lime, Blackcurrant and Orange.
Penny Pingleton had always loved jelly babies. Especially the purple ones. She wasn't allowed to eat the purple ones though. No, when she was younger and had been especially good, she was always allowed a treat, jelly babies. But whenever she was allowed to pick one from the bag, there was only five colours; red, yellow, pink, green and orange. So for most of her young life she never knew purple jelly babies had ever existed.
This all changed after she met her best friend Tracy Turnblad. Tracy was allowed to eat jelly babies whenever she wanted to and would often appear with a bag of those delicious jelly sweets in hand. She would immediately share these with Penny, since she knew her friend only had them on special occasions and she was her best friend.
Of course, the first time this happened, Penny noticed that there was six colours in Tracy's bag, not the usual five she was used to. She immediately asked the shorter girl about this new coloured jelly baby and was shocked when she was told there had always been purple jelly babies. Why had there never been any in her bags though. It made no sense to her young mind.
This mystery was solved only a few days later. It was nearing Penny's bedtime and she was about to enter the kitchen to ask her mother if she could be read a story before she went to sleep instead of the usual bible verse, when an unusual sight greeted her eyes making her pause at the door. Her mother was sat at the kitchen table with a pile of jelly babies in front of her and the empty bag in her hand.
She was putting the sweets back in the bag one at a time, and Penny could hear her mumbling something every time she picked up one of the purple ones before dropping them in the bin which was sat at her side. Silently entering the room, she tip-toed up to where her mother was sat, stopping to watch the unusual activity once more. She could hear exactly what her mother was saying from here and it just confused her more.
"Devil Baby..." Her mother would say before scowling at the purple coloured sweet in front of her before disposing of it.
Penny watched this for a moment longer before she moved so her mother could see her. "Mommy? What are you doing?"
Prudy Pingleton slowly lifted her eyes from the pile of sweets in front of her to the angelic face of her daughter. She let her level gaze linger for a moment before returning to her task as she answered. "I am ridding the bag of the sinful coloured ones." She said matter-of-factly. "Isn't it time for you to go to bed, young lady? Do I need to lock you in your room tonight?"
Hearing this threat, Penny quickly bade her mother goodnight before scurrying up the stairs. That night, as she drifted off to sleep, she gave herself a secret task. She would save all those poor purple jelly babies from the stinky bin. She knew they were no different from the other colours. In fact they were the nicest flavour of all, so they shouldn't be subjected to life on a trash heap.
Over the next few years, Penny kept her word. After her mother retired for the night, she would sneak into the kitchen and rescue the jelly babies from the bin. She would then sneak back to her room where she would wash them clean in her bathroom before hiding them away for consumption later. She relished every mouthful of those purple jelly babies.
Even more so after that time in the detention room when she had first met Seaweed. As soon as she had seen him she had fallen. He was her purple jelly baby. The forbidden sweet which she adored so much. Penny Pingleton had always loved jelly babies. Especially the purple ones, whose flavour was blackcurrant.
The End.