BERNADETTE & BEE / the basics.
- bee is the only child bernadette successfully carried to term, though she was born prematurely and suffers from hypoplastic left heart syndrome; prior to bee’s conception, bernadette had four miscarriages and it didn’t look like bee was going to pull through for quite some time. for that reason she is named balakrishna, the divine child.
- yes, she regrets the name (as does her daughter) and she is only ever referred to as bee or buzzy.
- bernadette suffered from PPD after bee was born, though it had more to do with herself than with being a mother. the weight of losing four children never really left her (insert bernadette + failure headcanon when i get around to writing it) and she blames herself for bee being sick. it’s irrational but she can’t help but think she womb is cursed or that her rottenness someone leaked into bee. bernadette still doesn’t understand how she came out to be such an amazing kid given who she is.
- because of her circumstances regarding bee’s birth as well as her heart condition, bernadette is very protective of her daughter. bee is just about the only good thing in her life (aside from elgin, her husband, but that’s another post and another story) and while she may not be able to do all of the things a mom should, it’s not because she doesn’t love bee enough to do them.
- unfortunately for her, bernadette’s absence from school functions or important recitals has become such a norm, bee doesn’t like it when she comes because bernadette gets overly emotional and always ends up leaving too soon.
- bee is somewhat desensitized to bernadette’s outburst, probably due to the fact that she thinks too highly of her mother and situates her as the victim in all this mess. in the novel, she states that her mother is “bad with annoyances but good in a crisis” (86) and leaves it at that. she is aware, however, of how her mother’s mood can change in an instant and how she can’t let go of small things, often picking at them and blowing them out of proportion. bee never seems to have much of a problem with it and i would argue that bee might not consider her mother mentally ill, she probably just think this is all “just mom” and would be happy to leave it at that.
- bee prefers her mother over her father (as bernadette gets worse, elgin begins to work later and leave earlier and bee grows angry at his constant absence) and bernadette feels the same.
- her daughter is often the only thing that keeps bernadette from ending her life in those quiet, dark moments when everything becomes A Bit Too Much. one thought about bee and she knows she can’t go through with it, not if it means never getting to see her again.
- despite their connection, bernadette and bee are quite opposite. bee is the order to her chaos but she is far more confrontational than bernadette is. they’re a good pair and often work balance each other out, which is why bee so often looks to her mother when things get tough and genuinely enjoys spending time with her.
- in canon, bee is 15 and is currently in eight grade.
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