Anana gave her a look. 'Do you know about babies? About getting pregnant- oh come now! Stop blushing every time we talk about anything to do with procreation! We're not living in the Dark Ages! If you're going to be married, you're going to have to get to know about these things, one way or another. Have you ever seen a baby born-?'
'No! No, and I don't want to!' Kara rejoined. 'I heard a girl having a baby one time, and she was screaming! I thought for sure she was going to die! It was her punishment, they said, for swimming in the ocean with no chaperone! There were boys in the water, and she got pregnant because of it-!'
Anana stared her disbelief. 'Kara Savalas! You actually believed that story? Where on earth did you hear it?'
'It is a true story!' Kara rejoined with a scowl. 'She was one of the girls at the convent. The other girls told me how she got . . . became . . . you know . . . with child-'
'That she got pregnant from swimming around boys?' Anana said, her look incredulous.
Kara turned to her uncertainly. 'There is another way? Why are you looking funny like that? But no, she wasn't swimming with boys! They had been in the water sometime before-'
'I think,' Anana told her, 'that you'd better have the whole story, right from the beginning.'
By the time they'd reached Anana's home, Kara had the full picture, and a lot more than she'd bargained for. As Anana took Michel from his grandmother, Theresa, Kara bit her lip as she looked on everyone and everything with new understanding. Santiago, too, when he came by to kiss his wife and say hello. Pietro was in back, butchering a domesticated wild boar, and even his role as grandfather suddenly took on new meaning in Kara's eyes.
Anana gave a bemused chuckle when she finally noticed Kara's expression. 'You look like you just came awake for the first time. Here, take care of Michel for a while. I have to help Mama for a while. Sit on the back veranda, if you like. He likes to watch the butterflies.'
'Don't let him catch anything!' Santiago told her. 'It'll go straight into his mouth!'
'Ah, Santiago, you ate more than your fair share of bugs at the same age!' his mother ribbed him.
Santiago raised an eyebrow. 'Women! A man can never get the last word in!'
'You may try,' Anana said, assuming a seductive posture. 'Yi!'
'Stop that you two!' Santiago's mother said, giving Anana a stinging slap on the rear. 'Here, peel a few radishes! Hasn't one child taught you the error of your ways? I don't know what poor Kara must think of us.'