Baby Book - Phase Three
Chapter Twenty-one - But People Don't Eat Bugs
Early December, 2273
Grayson and Amanda were telling their parents everything that had happened to them all day long - in great detail. Both Spock and Nyota were used to this, but tonight, something that was said, really caught Nyota's attention. Both children had mentioned the strange meals consumed by the Eridanian children, and how they acted while they were eating. She stopped the flow of words by lifting one hand and looking at her children. "Have you ever thought that these children are self-conscious about the fact that they are eating something so different than the rest of the children? Do they think you are making fun of them for what they eat?"
"But Mama, they're eating bugs!" Amanda made a grimace, holding her nose.
Nyota glared at her. "What's wrong with eating bugs?"
Both children gaped at her. "But Mama! People don't eat bugs!"
"They don't? Are you sure of that?"
Two headed bobbed up and down. On the other side of them, Spock sighed. He knew very well where this was headed. Across the table, Bones and Tamara were trying not to laugh.
Nyota looked sternly down at her children. "Do you remember, just last summer, when we were in Africa?"
"Oh, yes, Mama! We had so much fun playing with our cousins."
"And do you remember catching the locusts for Babu?"
Grayson and Amanda looked at each other in confusion. "Yes, Mama."
"And what did Babu do with the locusts?"
Now the children were really confused. Amanda shrugged. Grayson tilted his head. "He threw them on the compost heap?"
"Oh, no. He put them in the popcorn basket and roasted them over the fire that night and passed them around for everyone to nibble on."
Two children sat there with big eyes and open mouths. "Mama?" Amanda couldn't believe her ears. Grayson just sat there, stunned. Then he looked around, at all the adults trying not to laugh. "Mama, you're just kidding us, right?"
"Not on your life, little boy. Those were very tasty, I might add. Very tasty indeed. Your Babu roasts a mean locust."
Now they looked a little green. Mama had eaten those locusts? Mama? They craned their heads around and looked at their father, hoping he would refute what she had said, but he just raised one eyebrow and looked at them.
Glumly, the two children dropped their eyes and stared at their almost empty plates. They weren't sure whether they wanted to finish their suppers or not. Locusts? Mama? What was the world coming to?