Natasha pulled the weeds that gathered around her prized tomato plants. Red plump fruit hung off the leafy bushes, begging to be harvested.
"Mommy!" An excited voice suddenly called.
Natasha turned to look and smiled as her daughter ran up in her swimsuit, playing with the garden's sprinkler system. Natasha chuckled and tossed the weeds into the trash bag she held before picking out the ripe tomatoes, placing them in a rattan basket. Stacy had her fun by playing around with the sprinkler.
David came up and helped Natasha by taking the basket of tomatoes indoors. "Thanks, I needed more for the soup."
Natasha smiled. "You need anything else?"
David shook his head, a slight smile on his face. "Nah. The tomatoes are all I needed for now. Why don't you come in? It's getting pretty hot."
"I'm not done harvesting the garlic," Natasha said, tossing the bag of weeds into the rubbish bin. "I'll pull those out and join you inside."
Natasha waved at her husband and went off to pick out more of the produce that gathered in her garden before it got destroyed. Even the water hyacinth that grew lush in the small pond were fully blossomed and flourishing. She plucked those too before the rain destroyed them and made her way to Stacy who still had fun playing with the sprinkler. Natasha called to her daughter and placed the flowers behind her ear before making her way to the garlic.
"Stacy, enough playing with the sprinkler, you need to dry off before dinner time," Natasha called as she pulled out the garlic bulbs, but went unheard by her daughter. "Stacy!"
The little girl finally heard her and sulkily made her way inside. Natasha pulled the garlic out and quickly headed inside to avoid the heat too.
"Your brother is joining us too, right?" David asked as he placed the large pot of soup on the dining table.
"He said he was, but there's no sign of him now," Natasha frowned at her phone. She shrugged and placed it on the cabinet beside her. "Never mind him, I'm starving. I'll go get the dishes."
She rushed off to the kitchen and started washing a few bowls and cutlery for the soup. Just in case, she washed an extra for her absent brother since he had the knack of always arriving at the last minute.
As if to confirm her suspicions, the doorbell rang. Natasha smirked to herself as she washed the dishes.
"I'll get it!" David called as he made his way towards the front door. "It must be Simon."
Stacy excitedly followed him, knowing full well that Uncle Simon had brought gifts for her. David opened the door, revealing a grinning Simon holding a potted plant and a huge bag of stuff.
"Ayee David!" Simon cheerfully greeted as he stepped in. He put down whatever he was holding and greeted his little niece, who flung herself onto him with a giggle." "Stacy!"
Right after that, Stacy started rummaging in the bag that Simon brought, much to the two men's amusement. David shook his head and turned to his brother-in-law. "Why don't we have our dinner first? I made spaghetti soup."
Simon snorted. "I still can't believe that Tash managed to successfully carry out her plan of marrying a guy that cooks for her instead of her doing the cooking herself."
David quickly shook his head. "Please, don't even suggest that. She tried making something once but all that was left were four burnt chunks of... something..."
Simon burst into laughter. "Well, she almost set the kitchen on fire back when we were younger."
Natasha appeared with an annoyed expression. "Hey, enough." She frowned, shaking her head as she went to her brother and stood in front of him with her hands on her hips. "So you're not gonna greet me?"
Simon chuckled and put his arms around her, squeezing her into a tight hug. "How you doing, sis?"
"Great, and you?" Natasha smiled, ruffling his head.
"I'm good," Simon grinned. He turned to the polyethylene-packed plant he brought and picked it up, showing it to his sister. "I brought you this."
"A plant?" Natasha said in surprise. "Whatever, let's eat first. I'm sure you're starving.
"Well, you're right about that," Simon nodded regretfully.
"It's not a part of your new experiment now, is it?" Natasha frowned, taking a closer look at the plant after their meal.
Simon shrugged. "I guess you can say that. But we have no clue what it is. Two of these plants were produced after a... gene-splicing incident."
"You sure? This looks a lot like a mango tree to me..." Natasha frowned as she fingered the premature leaves.
Simon nodded. "Initially, it was. The genes were spliced from a mango seed. Will you believe me that the plants grew this big in just a week?"
Natasha looked at him in surprise. "You're joking, right? This plant looks like it's at least a few months old."
"It isn't," Simon chuckled, touching one of the plant's leaves. "This is one of a kind. Well, two since there's another. That one came from a jackfruit seed. Still, the genes of both plants are fully identical despite the appearance."
Natasha frowned at the plant. "This thing won't poison my soil, right? You know how I grow my own produce."
Simon quickly shook his head, grinning. "Nah, nothing of the sort will happen, trust me." He looked doubtful for a moment. "Just in case, though. Plant this as far away from your other plants as possible."
Natasha groaned. "Simon, seriously?"
"Oh come on, how bad can it be?" Simon nudged her. "I'm sure you know how to take care of it."
"You sure about this? This isn't illegal or anything, right?"
"Chill, I had permission to bring this out. Also, there are two more in the making. So yeah."
Natasha still looked doubtful, nervously holding the plant as if it carried some sort of disease. David put an arm around her.
"Come on, it's just a plant," David pointed out. "How bad could it be?"
Natasha scoffed. "Davie, Simon once brought in some modified plant that sprayed blinding poison smoke in my face. I couldn't see anything besides green blotches for two whole hours!"
David turned to Simon who immediately looked away, whistling.
"Simon..." David shook his head.
"What, it wasn't my fault that the plant had such a beautiful flower!" Simon protested. "I thought it would make a good gift for you!"
"Yeah, but it was still your fault for bringing it in!" Natasha argued.
"Fine, but this one doesn't excrete anything," Simon finally said. "It doesn't have any signs of poison or any sort of venom. Not even thorns. After all, it's a modified fruit tree, not a... mixed breed like that one."
Natasha sighed. "Fine. I'll take care of this. But if it starts to act up within a few weeks, I'm throwing it out."
Simon nodded, even giving her a salute. "It's a deal."
"Great..." Natasha sighed.
Stacy suddenly ran to them, holding a drawing that she had done with the oil pastels that Simon got for her. "Look! These are magic crayons! I can spread the colour with my fingers!"
Natasha simply smiled and pecked a kiss on her daughter's cheek before going right back to her conversation with the others. Stacy just sat down beside her mother, staring at the drawing of a little brother with green hair she just made.
