Following Winter will always be Spring, even if that season seems quite reluctant to arrive.

After the second bout of heavy snowstorms came a particularly bitter period with temperatures plummeting to a low never experienced in the formerly temperate country. Though it had been cold before and the snow not willing to melt upon the frozen ground, the steely grey skies had helped keep the thermometer at a relative constant a handful of degrees below zero. And then those clouds parted, but the sun was not kind and the night less so.

Spare duvets, blankets, sleeping bags and unused towels were thrown upon beds in order to keep their occupants as warm as possible, but there was the odd night when the chattering of teeth was all that could be heard within the silence of the sunless period. From then on, the fire in the living room was kept burning, while the occupants huddled around it when not in the gym, burning calories to keep warm, helping to cook in the kitchen or watering the plants, a few of which died, unable to bear the cold.

The former I.T technician, Eraj, fell sick during this period and for a while, it seemed as if he might not pull through. He had no roots, none of Ren Zexian's precious pills were suitable to help him pull through, they could only watch helplessly as they tried to keep him warm, keep him fed and hydrated. His fever abated after the third night and finally, they could breath a sigh of relief, but they still hovered close as he slowly recovered.

Ren Zexian's inner fire kept his body from noticing the bitterness, thus he was not so uncomfortable in this period of time. And each night, his beloved would take advantage of this, draping his cold limbs over Ren Zexian's body and enjoying the warmth he found. Nathan had become closer to Ren Zexian since his confession, usually unwilling to part from his side at anytime, but apart from this, their relationship was not much different that from before. Holding the sleeping youth close to him within their bed was both a joy and a trial as he enjoyed the freedom of embrace, but with that last barrier still between them. The connecting of their bodies in that most primitive and yet spiritual of ways. At least, there was no mention of Nathan moving out of his room and back to the cottage in the Spring, thus Ren Zexian held hope.

And of course, when he had first kissed those tender lips, there had been no rejection, just innocent curiosity. Their kisses had increased in frequency, although had remained somewhat in the realm of chasteness. Still, He could wait. Ren Zexian had lived for ten millennia, he knew patience.

The bitter cold period lasted close to two weeks, wearing away at their bodies as they exhausted themselves in attempts to keep warm and to sleep through the icy nights. After that, the temperatures slowly rose to above freezing, remaining chilly, but no longer so unbearable. Nathan's care allowed for the recovery of some of the plants within the property and greenhouse and the snow and treacherous ice covering the ground finally began to melt.

It was now March, a time when the ground needed to be broken into and prepared for planting, in which Nathan needed to begin sprouting numerous seeds to be planted after the last of the frosts and in which they looked in despair at the sparseness of their rapidly dwindling food supplies. All of the dried pasta and other grains had been eaten, there was no dried fruit or pulses either. The tins and jarred produce was finished. The root vegetables were no more, with the exception of powdered sweet potato and a couple of jars of pickles. Pickled onions were all that remained of last year's harvest and two jars of jam. Otherwise, what they mostly had on hand was flour, thanks to that last raid in the early Fall of the previous year. It was lucky that Autumn could make noodles and bread with the flour and Nathan could still harvest some leafy greens and new potatoes from the greenhouse, otherwise, their bellies would be well and truly suffering. However, meals, for a while would be either repetitive or bland until new harvests could be made.

Fortunately, the mushrooms from the five kits were beginning to flourish, having not done much in the coldest months and these would soon supplement their meals.

Almost everyone leant a hand, breaking ground, removing weeds and fertilising the new patches for the vegetables. The space to grow vegetables almost tripled in size for it had become obvious that they would not easily last another winter on what Nathan's garden produced the previous year. Not that that was the youth's fault, just that the numbers the garden needed to support had grown and there would be little or no food to supplement it from tins or imports next time around.

The greenhouse shelves were covered in seedlings, some that would be planted outside in the following month, some that would be retained in the greenhouse. With the help of Nan Li Liang, there was also a miniature paddy field formed to the rear of the greenhouse, but it would still be a while until this received its inhabitants.

As for the wheat grain, they decided to split the seeds into two halves, planting some in a newly formed small field in the back of Nathan's garden and the rest in the front garden of one of the other mansions; the unfurbished one. Here, also, a small field for corn was cleared and another for potatoes. Although the last one could not be put to use for now, they planned to cycle the quickly growing crop into this space during the summer, when they had seed spare.

For this whole early period, every man, woman and child were kept busy with the digging, planting and wall repairs and other things.

Lucy resumed her duties with her small watering can, riding on the back of Aslan as they 'leapt' from one sunroom to the other, to the greenhouse and back again in quick time, so they could spend more time playing.

Shaun, who created a pair of metal shears after a few experiments, helped clip the three sheep from his wheelchair as Paul tried to hold them down. He laughed a lot as Paul was thrown off or blasted with a brief, but strong gust of air to slide across the mud and grass. The result was the sheep looked patchy, like badly groomed, ugly poodles.

Nan Li Liang recalled learning about ancient methods of spinning sheep's wool from history in primary school. So they washed the smelly wool and made some attempts, the resulting thread was lumpy at first and the scarf that he and Patrick knitted together was ugly. It turned out that Patrick had learned such skills as knitting and sewing at his grandmother's knees, but his parents had dissuaded him from entering college to study home economics and clothing design, considering it as unstable. So his skills had been reduced to a pass time, without the time over the last few years.

Meanwhile, the teenager proved to have an incalculable gift as well, though not one linked to the world of cultivation; he had an eidetic memory. If he had read something or watched something in the past, he could recall it. This was not perfect recall, for insignificant, unnecessary details escaped him, but all the important points would remain. Such as once when bored in a shop where his mother was looking at tablecloths, he read through a bunch of knitting patterns. He couldn't understand them, but he could write them down perfectly for others who could.

However, there was one, who was less able than others for she was nearing the end of her own most important task, but was not one to sit back quietly and appreciate. Brooke felt fat and ungainly, her pale flesh was marked with lines as her skin had been forced to stretch around her sheltering midriff. The unborn child was boisterous, kicking her from the inside and performing flips at a whim. Her back ached, her ankles were swollen and she craved meat and sweets. There was never a day of late, where she did not complain about the food or therefore lack of and she eyed the sheep with abandon, but was unable to fulfil her desire.

In the opinion of others, his immediate subordinates especially, Jonah suffered along with her. He rubbed her ankles and massaged her back on a daily basis. He gave her some of his own meal to supplement her own, which she devoured despite the fact it was bland or lacked salt. He never complained as she cursed him for his part in her transformed form nor when she wept her apologies and promised not to swear at him again.

And it was at the beginning of April, when the men and Monika dug holes according to Nathan's strict instructions ready for the seedlings and sprouted corn, when a scream ripped through the mansion, sending Nathan running back to his small cottage and locking his doors, while the others rushed to the main property. Autumn had shooed them all away, taking control like a mother hen, although she was not as calm as she appeared. She had been a university student learning to be a chef, what did she know about midwifery?

With Nan Li Liang's curious memory, hot water was summoned and Monika brought fresh towels into the room. Jonah spoke softly to his young girlfriend as she screamed and complained about the pain and to 'get it out of her, quick!'

"Do you know what you are doing?" Monika whispered as Autumn tugged off Brooke's leggings and underwear.

"Not a clue," Autumn whispered back. She had listened to Nan Li Liang repeat something's regarding the television program his mother used to like to watch about midwives in the fifties, but that was a fictional series at the end of the day. What it contained about the reality of childbirth was still somewhat limited. Autumn could only spread her cousin's legs beneath the dignity of a blanket and pray that she'd figure out what to do.

Perhaps the heavens were listening to her, Brooke's waters broke without any need for intervention and the little one was positioned head first, ready to descend. Actually, encouraging Brooke to push through the contractions was likely the hardest thing that they had to do as she complained that it hurt too much and that she was too tired. But soon, Autumn caught sight of the baby as it crowned and she carefully positioned her hands to guide it out. And with one final push, an adorable baby boy was brought into the world, crying with more gusto than his mother.

Jonah took the bundled child from Autumn's arms, his face one of sheer delight as he looked at his newborn son. "I'm so proud of you," he murmured to the exhausted Brooke, who said nothing as Autumn cleaned her limp body with a hot towel.

Later these words were repeated, but it was not Jonah that whispered them, nor Brooke that received them.

Author's notes; If you want to suggest names for the new addition, please feel free or vote for someone else's suggestion.