Chapter 7

With less than six months to go until the baby arrived, Walter and Candace decided to move into a bigger house. The old one was much to small for a family of three. They managed to find a beautiful place in the countryside, one that had five bedrooms and two bathrooms. There was even a special room where Candace could invent new candies. Ever since they found out they were going to be parents, Walter urged Candace to take things easy and not tire herself out so much. Candace reassured him she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.

Once in a while, Candace went to work in the candy store with Walter, but only for a few hours at most. She went home right after lunch hour and tended to the house while she waited for Walter to return home. One night, Candace cooked a pot roast for dinner and baked a snozzberry pie for dessert. Walter was expected to be home at any moment.

She was just putting the finishing touches on her pot roast when Walter came home and announced himself as he walked through the door. "Candace, dear, I'm home!"

Candace came out to the living room and greeted him. Her baby bump was very noticeable beneath her apron. She quickly undid it and tossed it aside, showing off her new floral purple maternity dress.

"Do you like it?" Candace asked him.

"My dear, you look ravishing", Walter complimented.

Candace did a little twirl for him, then gave Walter a kiss. "Dinner's almost ready, darling."

They sat at the dinner table and talked while they ate. After dinner, Candace stood up and went over to the counter and then over Walter and held out her hand, showing him a piece of taffy.

"I wanted you to be the first one to taste my newest invention: Dinner Taffy."

"Dinner Taffy?"

"Yes. One piece will be enough to fill a grown man's stomach with a dinner worthy of a king. This little piece consists of steak, sweet peas and mashed potatoes. Here, try it."

Candace placed the magic taffy into his mouth. Walter chewed it and analyzed the flavor, then a satisfied look came to his face.

"Mmm", he said. "This does tastes like steak. And...Yes, there's the mashed potatoes...And the sweet peas. Candace, this is incredible! Can you make other meals with this taffy?"

"Well, I'm sure I could, but I still need more time to work on other candies."

"How are those Marshmallow Ducks coming out?"

"Not so good, I'm afraid. I still have a little bit more work to do tonight, but that can wait for now. You just got home, Walter, and I want to spend as much time with you as I can. Would you care for some snozzberry pie?"

"Absolutely."

Later that night, Walter went to check on Candace in the inventing room and found her asleep with her arms folded on the table, resting her head on top of them. He went over and gently shook her shoulder.

"Candace, dear?" Walter asked her. "Are you awake?"

"Hmm?" Candace opened her eyes and lifted her head. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned out, "Oh, I'm sorry, Walter. I must have fallen asleep again."

"Candace, with a woman in your condition, you shouldn't be working so hard", said Walter. "You'll tire yourself before the baby even gets here."

"I know, Walter. It's just that I have so many inventions I'd like to try out and so little time before the baby arrives."

"Why don't you come to bed now? We can discuss that in the morning."

The next morning, Candace talked with Walter over breakfast and agreed with him that she had been working too hard and needed a break. For the last three months, she had became so overworked with inventing new candies and getting everything ready for the arrival of the baby, she sometimes forgot to sit down and give herself a rest. Walter suggested she hire an assistant to help her around the house and not wear herself out so much.

"Well, I've thought about it, but if I did find somebody to help me in my work, then I would have to let them in on my secret", said Candace. "You forget, Walter, but I am a witch and witches work with magic."

"Then we'll find somebody who we both know we can trust", said Walter. "Someone who can keep your secret and not tell another living soul as long as they live."

"All right. I'll place an ad in the paper this afternoon and see if we get any responders."

They placed an ad in the newspaper looking for an assistant for Candace and reviewed dozens of people who came in for an interview, but not one of them matched the qualifications Candace was looking for. Then one day, a young man with dark hair and glasses came to the door. He sat down for an interview with Walter and Candace, and said he was not married and had no children. He also didn't have a home. He was looking for a place to stay, but Candace and Walter invited him to live with them. There were two extra rooms available, so there was no trouble with the young man moving in with the Wonkas. He helped Candace with keeping things organized and making suggestions on how to create a new way of making candies. He was also let in on the secret that she was a witch. The young man was not as surprised as Walter when he was told, but he swore to keep her secret.

One night, Candace was up late working on another invention and started to yawn when she heard a knock at the door.

"Come in", said Candace.

The door opened and the young man with dark hair and glasses came in, holding a glass of milk in one hand.

"Here is your warm milk, Mrs. Wonka", he said.

Candace stood and took the glass from him. "Thank you, Mr. Wilkinson."

"Will there be anything else for you this evening?"

"No, thank you. I was just about to finish up here and go to bed. You may go to bed now, too."

"Very well. See you in the morning, Mrs. Wonka."

"Good night."

Mr. Wilkinson had lived with them for several weeks now. He had become a close friend to Candace and Walter, who noticed he bore a striking resemblance to Mr. Slugworth. Candace had a feeling that would come in handy some time later in the future.

One morning, Candace went out to the backyard to tend to her garden and discovered a lost chicken had wandered into the bushes and decided to keep it as a pet. She had Walter build a little shed for the chicken, then cast a harmless spell on it, so that whenever the chicken laid an egg, the eggshell would turn into chocolate and the yolk inside became rich, golden caramel.

When Candace brought the egg inside to show it to Walter, his eyes grew big with shock and he asked, "The chicken laid this?"

"Yes, Walter. And look-" Candace cracked open the egg and allowed the creamy center of caramel to drop into a bowl.

"Chocolate caramel eggs? That's amazing!" Walter exclaimed. "Do you realize what this means, Candace?"

"Yes, Walter, it means that-" Candace was cut off from her sentence, as she made a pained face and placed a hand over her stomach, moaning slightly.

"What?" Walter asked, alarmed. "Candace, what's wrong?"

"I think I'll be delivering an egg soon myself", said Candace. "Call the doctor, Walter. I think it's time now."

"Oh, my goodness! All right, dear, just stay calm and don't worry about anything. Here-" Walter helped her over to a chair and sat her down in it. "Here, just sit down and I'll call the doctor."

The doctor arrived less than ten minutes later. Walter helped Candace upstairs to the bedroom, then waited downstairs and twiddled his fingers nervously, listening for any sign of the first cry.

The sound of a baby crying filled the house after only an hour of labor. Walter stood up from his chair and went to the stairs just as the doctor was coming down.

"Well, how is she?" Walter asked him.

The doctor wiped his face with a handkerchief, then stuffed it into his coat pocket and offered his hand to Walter, smiling. "Congratulations, Mr. Wonka. It's a boy", he said.

Walter stared at the doctor, not sure he heard him correctly. Then a small smile appeared on his face. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, of course I'm sure. Anyway, your wife seems to be doing just fine. Just have her rest up and if any problems should arise, don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you so much, doctor", Walter exclaimed. He shook the doctor's hand and told him, "Boy, you don't know how much this means to me. I have a son!"

"Yes, yes. Well, I must be off now. Feel free to check in on our wife."

"Oh, I will, sir."

The doctor showed himself out and Walter ran upstairs to see his wife and child. He opened the door and peeked his head inside and saw Candace holding a bundle in her arms. She glanced over toward the door and smiled softly.

"You can come in now, Walter", said Candace. "It's all right."

Walter walked in and slowly approached Candace, then looked at the face of the curly-haired, blue-eyed baby boy she was holding. The smile on Walter's face grew bigger, his eyes sparkling with joy.

"He's finally here", said Walter, softly.

"Yes, he is", said Candace. "He's the sweetest baby in the whole world." She brushed a loose curl from the baby's face and planted a kiss on top of his little head. "We still haven't given him a name yet."

"Well, what about Frederick, like my grandfather?"

"That sounds nice, but I was thinking somewhere along the name of William."

"William?"

"Willy, for short. Willy Wonka. It has a nice musical ring to it, don't you think?"

Walter thought it over a minute, then agreed. "Yeah...Yeah, you're right. It's perfect. Okay, Willy it is then."