Her fork spun around, the setting sunlight blinking off the handle with every rotation. Dinner had just been polished off, and what remained between the Wizard and Angela was an awkward silence. Vivi was completely unaware of the situation as she helped herself to her second helping of lemon meringue pie.

"Sooo..." Angela trailed off, still twirling the used utensil on the table top.

"Yes..." the Wizard felt obligated to respond, but with what he did not know. The time was 5:30 in the evening when both parties stood up and carried their dishes to the sink.

She decided to just jump right into it. "How are we going to do this?"

The Wizard slumped, watching the sink fill with water, Angela pouring soap into the liquid, white bubbles foaming up. His silence spoke louder than any words.

"Well, we can't do anything here," she glanced over her shoulder at the wiggling pile of lemon and whipped cream that was Vivi.

"Yes, that would be detrimental," the Wizard mumbled, drying the dishes after Angela washed them.

"There's the Inn," she suggested.

"I don't know..."

"Where else could we go? Except outside, and people are always coming and going in front of my farm." Sometimes it didn't pay to live at the heart of a community's main roadway.

"I suppose we have no choice then." Being the taller of the two, the Wizard put the clean dishes away in the cabinets. Angela stood back and watched.

Look at us, we're already playing house. "Why don't you move in?"

The room became eerily silent: Vivi's attention was torn free from her dessert and she looked at the two at the counter. The Wizard seemed unfazed by the suggestion; he had already contemplated just that.

"That's probably wise. After all, we're soon going to become parents."

Now Vivi's jaw made direct contact with the table's surface in a state of utter shock. Not one of them had mentioned a word of their discussion with the Goddess until now, and Vivi wondered if her wayward spell was now altering her hearing.

"We really need to Dale and Luke out here to fix the place up. Maybe add a room," she pointed to the wall that her bed was pressed against.

"Yes, a nursery..." Both, in spite of the surprising turn of events, smiled warmly at the sound of making a nursery.

"So this is really happening?" Angela tried to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Yes, it is..." the Wizard turned away, flustered. A baby. A baby baby. He never thought he'd see the day. He would soon become the head of a family. But was this a really joyous occasion or just their obligation to protect the greater good? Would they be happy, or would they feel unwillingly stuck together from creating a life? What's more, did they really love one another?

"Let's get the house ready first before we..." he didn't need to finish. She nodded, looking relieved.

"I'll call Dale tomorrow," she said, picking up a towel and cleaning Vivi and her mess up. "You can take some more crates and gather up your things. And let me know if you need any help, too."

"Thank you. I think I'll step out for some fresh air..." He ducked through the front door, hungrily drinking up the evening air through his nose, his eyes closing. From inside he could hear Angela's muffled voice catching Vivi up, to which the frog would croak in protest.

He smiled. Vivi would always be Vivi: of this he was certain. They've known one another for as long as he's lived on Castanet; she had lived there before his moving in. Since then, one-hundred and fifty years have gone by, and both had seen the island evolve into a rural metropolis. They've seen families grow, businesses prosper, and tragedies that threatened to destroy the community; above all, they witnessed the strength to soldier on from a small populous of people. Through thick and thin, high and low, Vivi, his involuntary rival, remained headstrong with her pursuits to outdo the Wizard. Having herself a baby in her current state was impossible, and his having the upper hand irked her something fierce. It was nice to know some things never changed.

He opened his eyes and took in Angela's acreage. It was a very nice piece of land, its greenery lush in light of the current circumstances. He then saw children running to and fro, playing tag and hide-and-seek, catching crawfish in the nearby creek, climbing trees, and laughing all the way. When he blinked they were gone, and the land looked lonely and sad. He sighed as the door creaked open then shut behind him.

He turned around and saw Angela, dressed in a pink, springtime dressed, adorned with white gloves and brown boots that reached just below her knees. Around her neck hung an amethyst pendent. She beamed at him. "Ready?"

He looked confused. "Ready for what?"

"For our date! You've been out here a while. The Flower Festival starts soon."

He shook the cobwebs from his mind. He was about to turn and walk when he decided to take a different approach to the future mother of his children: he offered her his arm.

Surprised, she giggled light-heartedly and gratefully took his offer. They walked down the path towards town, the perfect image of young romance.

Everyone stared as they made their way to the church square: the reclusive wizard and the new struggling farmer, arm in arm, chit-chatting (Angela, like always, doing most of the talking). Whispers erupted all around them, the commotion carrying all the subtly of a hurricane.

The Wizard felt suddenly ashamed; ashamed for dragging Angela into his social stigma, ashamed of invading a once-happy gathering with his peculiarities, ashamed of himself. Angela appeared aware of the situation, and he could feel her grip on his forearm harden in frustration.

"What?" Her voice reverberated off the wall of people and trees. "Is something the matter?"

Panting, Mayor Hamilton pushed his way through the crowd and greeted the couple with overwhelming hospitality in an effort of damage control. "Nothing at all! Welcome you two," he turned and handed them each a rice cocktail. The crowd began to disperse and return to their previous engagements. Angela and the Wizard wandered under a secluded cherry blossom tree and made themselves comfortable.

"You didn't have to say anything earlier. I'm use to it..." he stared down into the alcoholic liquid in his plastic cup. A number of local bachelors had gone to his home looking for romantic insight into Angela's heart not long after she moved to Castanet. She, though strange, was clearly more socially accepted in the small community than he. But she waved him off, downing most of her drink.

"It's rude what they did. Besides, we have a right to be here." A petal landed in her cup and she grimaced.

"What's wrong?"

"These trees. Don't get me wrong, they're pretty and all, but their petals are troublesome."

"Would you like mine?" He offered her his cup; he did not partake in alcohol.

"Nah, I'm good," she downed the rest of it and sat the cup down on the concrete ground, looking up through the pink branches.

"Then...what do you like?" He placed his cup down, wondering if it, too, would disappear like the Necronomicon.

"What do you mean?" She swung her head towards him.

"Trees. What kind of trees do you like?"

"Lemon trees! Hayden was telling me once how no one could grow lemon trees on this island, even before the Harvest Goddess' health went south. Not even on Toucan Island. That's why their lemon dishes, like that pie I bought, are so pricey. Kind of a bummer for me."

"I see."

"What about you?"

"I suppose coffee trees, although I never really thought about it before."

"Really?" She made a face.

"Yes, why?"

"I hate coffee, it's gross." She stuck her tongue out.

"Yes, it is quite bitter."

"So why do you drink it?"

"To keep me awake. I enjoy stargazing at night, it helps me unwind."

Angela felt a deep pang of guilt. The Wizard would soon move out of his home and into hers, and she had no room for the huge piece of machinery. She had no doubt he would keep his property in town, along with the telescope, but would no longer have the convenience to stare at the cosmos as he pleased.

The Wizard noticed the shift in Angela's mood, and was concerned. He was about to reach out and touch her, to ask if she was all right, when a clamor surfaced amongst the festival goers. They looked up, and saw a comet a lazy ascent across the black sky.

"Look!" Angela pointed, brightening up. "Let's make a wish!"

"Comets don't-" But he was too late. She already bent her head and cupped her hands together in prayer. The Wizard glanced around and noticed no one else was doing the same, their eyes admiring the comet's sparkle as it disappeared. He decided no harm would be done, and made his own wish, wondering what Angela had asked the heavenly bodies for.

"You know," she said, hanging on his arm as he lead them home. "Since we're going to have a baby soon, how about we get on a first-name basis?"

"I always call you 'Angela'."

She elbowed him. "You know what I mean!"

"It's Gale," the word sounded strange coming out of his mouth after so long since he used it.

"Gale..." They stopped at the front door. "I like it."

"I'm happy," he said, smiling down at her. They both felt the electric charge of attraction jolt through their bodies, the late-night grasshoppers chirping in the background. Angela didn't need anyone to tell her what was coming next, and she closed her eyes and lifted her head up.

Gale began to panic a little, not one to find himself in this situation often. Awkward, he held her small shoulders and tried to tilt his head to the left, but that didn't feel right, so he tilted it the other way and pressed their lips together.

Angela stood on her toes, trying to get the most from their first kiss. Her hands found their way to his chest and gripped onto his shirt. Gale was beginning to enter the throes of passion, letting his hands fall to her lower back when a sound of something smacking the window from the inside interrupted their lip-lock. They looked over and saw a fleshy pink tongue slowly peel off the glass, leaving a film of saliva in its wake. Vivi.

"Yeah...we're not going to be able to make a baby here." They laughed and entered the house.

Vivi was resting peacefully on Angela's stomach when she woke the next morning. Gale was nowhere in sight, but a small sticky note was stuck to her bedside table. She picked it up and read.

"Went to gather lumber. Will return soon.

-Gale"

Angela had hoped he would have signed off with "love", but knew the Wizard was inexperienced with romance, and she was content to wait until he finally said those three special words.

Lovingly she put Vivi on her pillows and rolled out of bed, stretching. Something out the window caught her eye, something dark and shadowy, blocking the usually ray of sunlight that filtered through every morning. She looked through the glass from where she stood next to her bed before rushing to the window and throwing it open, hanging her head out to get a clearer look. After a moment she rested her chin on her hand, amused.

All around her crop patch and house, in the areas of clear land stood an orchard of lemon trees full of fruit ripe for the picking.

Gale...she smiled.