Smurfocalypse chapter 80: New Life
The night after Dreamy's death was a Blue Moon which every Smurf in the port knew meant there was a chance they would receive babies. After the funeral Coconut had returned to her hut and locked herself inside so she could mourn in silence. This wasn't the first time she's lost a friend, but it was the first time she lost a best friend. She did not go to work that day which none of the Smurfs said anything about because they didn't expect her to pull her own weight for another ten years. Holing herself up in her bedroom with the curtains shut meant she had no idea there was to be a Blue Moon. She was in bed under the covers crying when she heard a cry at her front door. She didn't think anything of it at first and continued mourning, but then the crying got louder and she got out of bed to investigate.
"What is going on?! Go away!" Coconut screamed as she opened her door.
Much to her surprise though there was a basket on her front porch which was the source of the crying. Coconut lifts the basket and a tiny blue hand pokes out from the blanket that was covering it. Coconuts eyes widened as she took the blanket off the basket revealing a baby Smurf dressed in red and green tie dye tribal clothes. She gasped as she lifted the baby Smurf.
"A chief? But you're so far away from home… Just like me." Coconut said.
The baby Smurf stopped crying as Coconut held him.
"You're cute!" Coconut said as a slight smile appeared on her tear stained face.
The baby smiled at her, and she immediately fell for his charm.
"I'm going to name you Elaeis after the oil palm fruit!" Coconut said.
Elaeis just looks up at her and smiles.
"Chief Elaeis… That has a nice ring to it." Coconut said.
Elaeis still just keeps smiling clearly content in Coconut's arms.
"You must be starving after your long journey. Come on inside young chief I'll mash some Smurfberries for you." Coconut said.
Coconut was just burdened with the heavy responsibility of raising a future chief of the tropics. In her culture when a baby Smurf is delivered to one's doorstep it means that the receiving Smurf is to be the sole caretaker unless they die. Coconut simply accepted her fate and invited young Elaeis into her home. Elaeis wasn't the only baby Smurf to be delivered to the village though. A baby wrapped in a green onesie was dropped off at Psychiatrist and Secretary's hut, and three more babies would be delivered to other huts. Coconut got out her tools and planned to make a baby carriage for Elaeis. She placed Elaeis in his basket and took him with her while she went to get some wood. She'd then spend the rest of the night taking care of Elaeis and building a carriage for him so she could take him anywhere she goes.
In the morning however once it had become clear that they had received babies Hefty tried to take Elaeis away from her due to the fact she was technically still a Smurfling and he didn't trust that she was capable of raising a baby single handedly like she planned. This broke Coconut's heart as Elaeis was taken away from her by Hefty who planned to raise Elaeis similarly to how Papa Smurf raised him and his other peers. She tried to explain to him that taking care of Elaeis was her responsibility, but Hefty wouldn't listen and basically told her to run off somewhere and play. So Coconut's reaction was to kick Hefty in the shin as hard as she could.
"You have NO right to take the young chief away!" Coconut said.
Hefty then simply lifts her by the collar of her shirt and holds her up so he's looking her in the eyes.
"A Smurfling has no business taking care of a baby." Hefty said.
"I'm not just a Smurfling!" Coconut yells.
"Then how come I can do this?" Hefty asked as he effortlessly shook her back and forth.
"Because you're the strongest Smurf ever." Coconut said.
"That may be true, but that fact is irrelevant. You're a Smurfling and this is a baby Smurf. This isn't a game Coconut someone's life is on the line here." Hefty said.
Mango noticed the commotion and intervened.
"That baby belongs to Coconut. She was chosen to raise him." Mango said.
"The spirits want ME to raise the young chief not you!" Coconut said as she struggled to free herself from Hefty's grasp.
"I don't know, or particularly care how things are done in the jungle. All I know is that adult Smurfs are to take care of the babies and the Smurflings. Come back in ten years Coconut then you'll have your turn with him." Hefty said.
"I'm not letting you raise MY baby for ten years!" Coconut said.
"Well I'm the boss around here, and I say you can't have him!" Hefty said.
"Now wait just a minute Hefty. Papa Smurf wouldn't behave this way. You need to be reasonable." Mango said.
This was a fact. Papa Smurf wouldn't behave that way and would have trusted any member of the community with a baby regardless as long as the baby was being well taken care of.
"He's right you know." Brainy said as he approached the scene.
Hefty finally let's go of Coconut and held baby Elaeis with both hands.
"We should trust her. Trust is an important commodity in any society." Brainy said.
Hefty thought about it for a moment. Brainy for once wasn't speaking nonsense he was right. Hefty has no reason not to trust Coconut other than her age which was unfair. However the safety of every resident of Port Saint Smurf was of the utmost importance.
"I'll strike a deal with you Coconut." Hefty said.
"What sort of deal?" Coconut asked.
"I'll let you raise this baby, but if I suspect for even a minute that you're not fit for the job I'm taking him away." Hefty said as he hands Coconut Elaeis.
Coconut places Elaeis in his carriage and begins walking away with him. Hefty would then go door to door looking for baby Smurfs. It was a part of his job as leader to do so, or so he suspected. In total the village had received five baby Smurfs. Thanks in large part to Dreamy there were many smurfberries to feed everyone including the babies. This just motivated Hefty to work even harder as leader to solve village issues namely the mining problem.