Disclaimer: I own Baby Wonka...and absolutely nothing else in this story!
A/n: Well, I'm finally posting another chapter! As promised, this one has nowhere near the drama of the last one! While there ARE a few slightly darker moments, it's overall a very "light" chapter. Also, this chapter is slightly differently than the others in that our main protagonists (Willy and Ronnie) don't appear at all until the second half of the chapter. The first half of the chapter focuses instead on Willy's father and Ronnie's mother. Hopefully I did an okay job with that and you enjoy getting a bit more insight into their characters! A big thank you goes to my one reviewer as always, and of course you know that reviews are like chocolate for me in that I can't enough of them! ;)
Dr. Wonka pondered his bitter exchange with Willy as he watched the younger man storm off. Although he realized that it probably hadn't been right of him to stick his nose in his son's business, he still felt resentment toward the chocolatier. Wondering why it was that Willy refused to understand his rationale, he nearly jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wilbur?" a gentle, familiar female voice spoke. The dentist turned in the direction of the voice and found himself looking into the kindly blue eyes of Sylvia Wells. "I suppose you heard the whole argument?" he inquired.
"Yes, and most likely so did everyone else. You weren't exactly quiet about it," Sylvia pointed out. "I wasn't exactly quiet about it? Willy was the one who was doing all the yelling, not me" Dr. Wonka responded. "Wilbur, it doesn't really matter who did what. The point is that you were both very loud," Sylvia said firmly. "Why won't he understand?" Dr. Wonka burst out. "I understand your frustration, but I don't think this is the best place to discuss it," Sylvia told him, indicating the tables that were set up just a few feet away. "I see your point," Dr. Wonka said. "We need to go somewhere a little more private to talk, and I know just the place," Sylvia replied, motioning for Dr. Wonka to follow her.
Not more than a few minutes later, Sylvia and Dr. Wonka were sitting in a quiet, secluded area of the Chocolate Room not far from the waterfall (while it was quite loud by day, the Oompa Loompas switched it to a much slower, "resting" flow rate at night, making it a rather tranquil area to relax in the evenings). "Honestly, Sylvia, sometimes I just don't get my son. What's his problem, anyway?" Dr. Wonka confided to his friend. "I'll agree that Willy could have handled things a bit better, but I don't think he's the one with the problem, Wilbur," Sylvia said gently. "So basically, what you're saying is that I'M the one who has the problem," Dr. Wonka said, feeling somewhat annoyed.
"I wouldn't have put it so bluntly, but yes, basically. Wilbur, be honest. You've been feeling somewhat resentful of Willy, and to a certain extent Ronnie, ever since they announced that they're going to be parents," Sylvia insisted. "Why would I resent my son and daughter-in-law for having a baby together? That's ridiculous!" Dr. Wonka exclaimed. Sylvia realized then that her hunch had been right. Dr. Wonka did not want to admit the true reason behind his less-than-warm feelings toward Willy and Ronnie even to himself. "You're resentful of them because watching them go through this pregnancy together reminds you of another happy, loving couple who, some thirty-six odd years ago, were preparing to welcome THEIR first child. Only that couple's story didn't have a happy ending, and as a result those memories are painful for you," she said gently.
Dr. Wonka looked at his friend, his expression one of both sadness and defeat. "You're speaking of Mina and me, aren't you?" he asked. Sylvia nodded affirmatively. Much as Dr. Wonka wanted to say that his friend was wrong, that he wasn't feeling resentful of Willy and Ronnie because seeing them together made him miss his wife, he knew she was right. He had loved Wilhelmina Wonka more than life itself ever since he first met her. They were apart so rarely that their neighbors joked that they ought to just glue themselves together. To say that Wilhelmina's death hit her husband hard was an understatement. Dr. Wonka had been heartbroken, and even the tincture of time hadn't completely healed the pain of losing her. As he sat there contemplating all this, he was surprised to find a memory suddenly popping into his mind. It was a memory of a day several years ago, when he and his beloved Mina had been talking excitedly about their unborn child's future...
Wilhelmina Wonka sighed happily. She and Dr. Wonka were sitting on the patio behind their house taking advantage of a beautiful spring day. It was May, and Mina (as her husband and friends called her) couldn't have been happier. Spring was gradually giving way to summer (which was always her favorite time of year), she was with the man she loved, and she was due to give birth to their first child in just two months' time. There was no doubt about it, life couldn't get much better than this. Resting her hand on her extremely round, protruding midsection, she smiled and let out another contented sigh.
"What are you thinking about, dear?" Dr. Wonka asked, noticing the peaceful, contented expression on his wife's face. "Oh, just how happy I am right now. I love this time of year, and this year it's even more special because we have our little munchkin on the way," Mina replied. Dr. Wonka smiled. "Why does it seem that these last two months are the longest so far?" he wondered aloud. "Well, for me it's probably because I've got a watermelon inside me that likes to sit on my bladder and kick up a storm. Not to mention the fact that even walking is a bit of a challenge when you're about the size of a blimp and can't even see your feet! For you it's probably because you've got a crazy, hormonal woman for a wife right now," Mina joked.
Dr. Wonka laughed. "You've got a point. Usually I only need to deal with that once a month," he teased. "Wilbur! That's not very nice!" Mina chided, playfully bopping her husband on the shoulder. Realizing he'd probably better not push his luck, Dr. Wonka opted to change the subject. "You know, I've been thinking. You were born on May 14th and I on June 15th. Wouldn't it be something if our baby was born on July 16th?" he pondered. "That WOULD be quite the coincidence," Mina agreed. Then she decided to bring up something SHE'D been thinking about. "What do you suppose our baby will be like?" she mused.
"I don't know...but he or she will definitely have good teeth. I'll make sure of that," Dr. Wonka said. "I'm sure you will," Mina responded, rolling her eyes. "Well, it wouldn't be very good for a dentist's child to have bad teeth now, would it?" Dr. Wonka pointed out. Mina groaned in exasperation. She loved her husband dearly, but that didn't mean that she liked or agreed with his obsession with perfect teeth! While she agreed that keeping one's teeth healthy was important, she didn't believe in, for example, avoiding certain foods to accomplish that task. Brushing, flossing, and twice-yearly dental visits worked just fine as far as she was concerned. But then, that wasn't really that surprising considering one simple and ironic fact: While Dr. Wonka was a dentist who didn't approve of candy (although he didn't despise it QUITE as much then as he would in later years!), his wife had the world's biggest sweet tooth and couldn't get enough of it.
It was as though Dr. Wonka had read Mina's thoughts, because suddenly he smiled and said, "I should have known our baby's teeth were the last thing on your mind. Knowing you, you'll have the kid whipping up pastries and candies before he or she can even walk!" Mina couldn't help but chuckle. It was no secret that she liked making candy and other sweets every bit as much as she liked eating them. She liked it so much, in fact, that she had worked as a cashier in a candy store as a teenager and had seriously considered opening her own candy company more than once. And just as she often teased Dr. Wonka about his obsession with perfect teeth, he often teased her about her obsession with candy. "Let's just say I intend to introduce our child to the candy-making process sooner rather than later," she said, her eyes twinkling.
Mina had, of course, fully expected her husband to make some teasing remark in response. But before he had a chance to do so, she got an altogether different kind of response...a series of thumps in her abdomen. "The second I mention candy he starts kicking up a storm! I think we've got a future chocoholic on our hands!" she giggled (the Wonkas didn't know if it was a boy or a girl they'd be welcoming, but often ended up referring to the baby as "he" out of convenience.). "We'll see about that!" Dr. Wonka countered. Despite his best efforts to look stern, however, Mina could tell that he was struggling to keep from smiling. "You know, I wouldn't trade the way things are right now for anything," she said. Dr. Wonka had to agree...
"Wilbur? Are you there?" Sylvia asked suddenly, jolting Dr. Wonka out of his flashback. "Sorry about that, I was just thinking," he said, shaking himself as though he was trying to wake up. Sylvia smiled. She'd had a hunch that her friend had been having a flashback, and now he had all but confirmed it. "About Mina?" she asked (given what they had been discussing just prior to Dr. Wonka's flashback, it was pretty easy for Sylvia to figure out that the dentist had been thinking about his wife. But she had opted to ask him the question anyway, as she figured that was the least intrusive way of talking to him about it.). Dr. Wonka nodded. "Yes. I was remembering a beautiful spring day that we spent talking out on the patio. It was just two months before Willy was born," he said.
"A bittersweet memory, I'm sure," Sylvia sympathized. Dr. Wonka nodded once again. "Sylvia, I owe you an apology. My behavior earlier was completely out of line. I guess I HAVE been feeling a bit resentful of Willy and Ronnie, and you were right to call me out on it. Plain and simple, I reacted the way I did because I didn't want to hear the truth," he admitted. Sylvia put her arm around him. "I have a feeling that you also didn't want to tell me how you felt because you were worried that I might think less of you for being resentful of your own son," she said. "I thought you'd think that I was being selfish, or that I was weak or something. After all, what kind of father resents his own son for simply having a baby with his wife?" Dr. Wonka conceded.
Instead of answering the dentist directly, Sylvia decided to make a confession of her own. "Wilbur, I'm going to tell you a little secret. As happy as I am for Ronnie and Willy, sometimes I can't help but feel a twinge of jealousy towards my daughter," she told him. "Why?" Dr. Wonka asked. "Because she has a loving husband to share her pregnancy with...an experience that I didn't really get to have. After all, Henry was only alive for four months of my pregnancy, and he was sick the majority of that time. Really, aside from the conception, the only part of the pregnancy that he was able to share and be an active part of was finding out about it," Sylvia explained.
Dr. Wonka was shocked. Sylvia Wells was many things...but jealous had never been one of them. In fact, she was one of the most selfless, understanding people he knew. She was also one of the strongest. "You? Jealous? You're one of the least jealous people I know! And as strong as you are, I have trouble believing you'd let something like this get you down!" he exclaimed. Sylvia shook her head, a wistful look coming over her face. "I know you think I'm strong, Wilbur, and maybe I am sometimes, but I'm not nearly as strong as you'd think," she said. "Nonsense! It takes a very strong person to go through everything you've been through. In fact, I still don't quite understand how you managed to keep it together so well during Henry's illness and death. I certainly can't say the same thing about myself with regards to Mina's passing," Dr. Wonka insisted.
Sylvia looked at her friend, her blue eyes filled with pain and sadness. "You think I kept it together? Hardly. Sure, I may have appeared that way on the outside. I put on a brave face and when it was absolutely necessary for me to go out in public, I switched into auto-pilot mode and did what I had to do to at least appear to be a functioning member of society. But deep down inside I was a wreck," she explained. Dr. Wonka wasn't sure what to say. Deciding that it was best for him to keep his mouth shut for the time being, he put his arm around Sylvia, just as she had done to him a few minutes earlier. Take this as a sign that the dentist was more than willing to continue listening, Ronnie's mother began to speak again.
"You know that saying "the pen is mightier than the sword'"? It wasn't really something I ever thought much about...until two simple words practically paralyzed me and made me feel as though the world was spinning out of control. They were the words 'it's cancer'. I have never felt so helpless and powerless in my life as when Henry's doctor delivered that horrible news to us," she confessed. Still unsure of what to say, Dr. Wonka gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Before she had a chance to even think about what she was going to do or say next, Sylvia's mouth began to move almost on it's own. "Knowing that I was basically watching Henry die and that there was nothing I could do for him other than hold his hand was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Strong was the last thing I was right then. I'm not invincible, Wilbur, far from it," she practically whispered.
The shock that Dr. Wonka had felt earlier was nothing compared to what he felt now. The fact that Henry's passing had been hard on Sylvia was hardly news to him. He had, after all, seen the evidence of that firsthand when the two friends were helping each other through their respective losses. But the full magnitude of her pain hadn't been made clear to him until now. "Oh, Syl. I knew you struggled, but I had no idea just how deep the scars of those struggles were," he said. "No one did. Up until now I had never told a soul the true extent of my emotional battle during Henry's final months. I didn't even tell Mina, and as you know, we normally told each other everything," Sylvia responded.
Only after she had finished speaking did it occur to her that Dr. Wonka had not addressed her the way he normally did. Instead, he had used a name that only one other person had called her. "Wait a minute. You called me 'Syl' just now...which you ordinarily refuse to do because of not thinking it proper to use the nickname that only my husband ever called me," she pointed out. "I know, and I hope I didn't come across as being too forward. I don't know why, but all of a sudden calling you that just felt right to me ," Dr. Wonka said apologetically. "You don't have to apologize. You weren't being forward at all. Hearing you call me that took me a bit by surprise, but I don't mind. And I doubt Henry would mind either, especially after all these years. We're very good friends, after all, and it's not unusual for friends to have nicknames for each other," Sylvia assured him.
"That may be the case, but Sylvia had a point when she said I normally shy away from calling her that nickname. So why did I feel so comfortable doing it now?" Dr. Wonka wondered silently. Could it be, he pondered, that the dynamic between them had shifted somehow? "Or am I just going crazy and reading way more into this than I need to?" he thought. Shrugging it off, he decided to change the subject before things got awkward. "You know what the strangest thing about that day I was remembering earlier was?" he asked. "No. What?" Sylvia replied, shaking her head.
"Well, Mina's birthday was May 14th and mine is June 16th. So Mina and I joked that it would be quite funny if Willy was born on July 16th...not realizing that we had actually just correctly predicted his birthday!" Dr. Wonka told his friend. Sylvia laughed. "Yeah, usually it's almost a given when you make funny guesses like that that you're going to be wrong," she quipped. "And now our grandchild is due in July as well. What are the odds?" Dr. Wonka chuckled. Hearing her friend say that brought Sylvia's mind back to the situation that had led the two of them to have this whole discussion in the first place. "I hope Willy's all right. He looked pretty upset back there. Although if anyone can see make him see reason, Ronnie can. Perhaps it's not such a bad thing that she takes after her stubborn mother," she thought with a smile.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Unbeknownst to Sylvia, her predictions about Ronnie getting Willy to see reason were spot on. The chocolatier hadn't had any particular destination in mind when he'd stormed off after the spat with his father. He just let his feet do what they wanted, and they ultimately led him to the buttercup bushes. "Who does he think he is?" the candy maker burst out as he sat down. Thinking he was alone, he was surprised when a response to his outburst emerged...in the form of a soft chuckle that he knew all too well. He turned to face his wife, not exactly pleased with the fact that she had just laughed at him.
Seeing the annoyed expression on her husband's face made Ronnie feel guilty. The last thing she had been intending to do was make him feel worse than he already was. "I'm sorry I laughed. It just sort of happened before I could stop it, and I was laughing at the situation, not at you," she apologized. "And what exactly is so funny about the situation?" Willy grumbled. "Well, let's just say that I thought it was supposed to be me having the mood swings," Ronnie said, just barely managing to suppress the urge to laugh again.
Willy's cheeks flushed pink. "I guess I got a little carried away back there," he said. "I wouldn't exactly call that a little," Ronnie thought. Knowing that saying that out loud probably wouldn't go over very well, she opted to do something that the chocolatier was an expert at: answer the statement without really answering it. "Willy, I realize that things got a little awkward when your father jumped to the wrong conclusion, and he definitely could have been a little less accusatory. But he didn't really do anything wrong, and he admitted that he shouldn't have been so hasty with his thoughts. So what was it that made you lose your temper and pounce on him?" she inquired. "Just whose side are you on?" Willy huffed defensively.
"It's not a matter of taking sides. I'm just trying to understand what happened. I mean, the way you were acting you'd have thought your father had just lit a fire under you or something. It's also pretty unusual for you to get so defensive over such a minor issue," Ronnie explained. "Minor? You call that a MINOR issue? He suggested that I would willingly disobey Sally's orders and potentially bring harm to you and/or our baby!" Willy practically shouted. "Willy, you need to calm down. Getting upset is hardly going to help resolve this," Ronnie said gently. As much as he wanted to take one of the buttercups off the tree right then and smash it, the confectioner knew his wife was right. There was no way he was going to be able to discuss the situation with Ronnie unless he got his act together.
"I'm sorry. It's just...well, sometimes I wish I hadn't allowed my father back in my life. He doesn't seem to think that I'm capable of making my own decisions or taking care of myself. I'm thirty-six years old, for whangdoodle's sake!" Willy said, sounding completely exasperated. "I doubt that's the case, mon cher," Ronnie responded. "How would you know?" Willy asked. "I don't know for sure, of course. But look at how he reacted when we announced the pregnancy. He came very close to crying and admitted that our announcement brought back 'very emotional' memories for him. Based on that, I get the feeling that although he's happy about being a grandfather, knowing that we're expecting has opened some sort of old wound," Ronnie mused.
Willy's gaze met his wife's, his eyes indicating that he was thinking about something. "You know, now that you mention it, I'll bet he's thinking about the whole situation with my mom," he said. Ronnie regarded her husband, her blue eyes warm and understanding. She knew that it wasn't easy for him to talk about his mother. In fact, that was one of the few topics that even she couldn't get him to open up about. Whenever she asked him about that particular subject, it was as though he had grown a shell and pulled himself into it. All of that, she knew, meant one thing: She was going to have to approach his statement in a very delicate manner if she didn't want him to close up again!
"Well, this is just wonderful! I need to be very careful about how I respond to what Willy said...but how exactly am I supposed to do that when I don't even know what he meant by 'the situation' with his mother? Not to mention the fact that all I know about his mom is that she died when..." Ronnie's frustrated thoughts trailed off suddenly. Mulling over the one thing she knew about Wilhelmina Wonka had trigged another memory in her brain. Right before Willy and Ronnie had gotten married, Dr. Wonka had spoken very briefly about his wife. And what he had mentioned was that Wilhelmina (since she had never known her, Ronnie didn't really feel right thinking of her as Mina) had passed away just a few months after Ronnie's father did. Since Ronnie's father had died while her mother was still pregnant (and both Sylvia and Wilhelmina had been pregnant at the same time), she knew that the dentist's comment could have meant only one thing. Her eyes going wide with shock, she put her arm around her husband's shoulder.
"Oh, Willy. Your mother died not that long after you were born, didn't she?" she said gently. "Yes," Willy said simply, opting not to elaborate. "Then no wonder your father's being acting the way he has! To have to go from pretty much the highest of highs to the lowest of lows in just a short period of time like that...I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like for him," Ronnie remarked. "A short period of time is right. If only you knew how short," Willy thought. He didn't speak any of that aloud, though. Instead, he nodded and said only, "I should apologize to dad for how I acted earlier. Like you said, I got carried away and made some less-than-desirable choices." Then he chuckled and added, "I must say, I didn't realize that this pregnancy was going to bring out my defensive side so much!"
Ronnie laughed. "Let's just say that if how over-protective you're being of me now is any indication, our poor baby isn't going to able to do anything until he or she is practically grown!" she teased. "Are you saying that I'm already in the running for 'World's Most Neurotic Father'?" Willy inquired in mock irritation. "Well, if the top hat fits, wear it!" Ronnie couldn't resist saying. Willy grinned. "Well, if that's how you're going to be, then I guess there's only one thing to do," he chuckled mischievously. Without giving his wife a chance to so much as blink, he captured her lips with his in a passionate kiss.
An intense hunger of sorts filled Ronnie as her husband explored her mouth. The more he kissed her, the stronger her craving and desire for those kisses became. And that, she knew, had the potential to veer into dangerous territory rather quickly. But at that moment, she didn't really care. It was New Year's Eve and she was spending it with the man she loved, the father of her child. Sally's orders may have been at the forefront of her mind at the beginning of the evening, but now they were about the furthest thing from it. But before she could act on her overwhelming urges, she and Willy were jolted out of their moment when a tiny, happy voice suddenly cried out, "Mistah Wonky!"
A/n: Okay, so Ronnie and Willy's "visitor" isn't really delt with in this chapter as implied at the end of the last. All I can say is that sometimes stories pretty much take on minds of their own! And as for who that "visitor" is...I don't want to give too much away, but I will say (in the hopes that no one gets too confused) that it's someone who has been mentioned (albiet fairly briefly) before in the story. The way she or he said Willy's name may also give some clues. :)
Chapter 10 Preview: We find out just who Willy and Ronnie's mysterious visitor is...and that visitor inadvertently helps mend fences, so to speak, between Willy and his father.
