Chapter Twenty: Family

She threw our lives into chaos.  Neither of us got a decent night’s rest for months after we brought her home.  She would wake us in the wee hours of the morning and fuss all through the daylight hours.

And she was perfect.  Screaming, squalling, complete perfection.

Maintaining the house by the university with our little miracle soon became too much.  Regan invited us to move back into the Lewis estate, and we agreed.  With all three of us doting on her, Evangeline was pacified and we could all get just enough rest to get by.

I returned to my internship and my studies in the fall.  It was agony.  I rocked Evangeline to sleep in the evening and studied into the daylight hours.  

And my little angel grew.  The wisps of sapphire hair around her head thickened and fell to her shoulders.  

Her golden eyes shone brighter with every peal of laughter that rang from her little chest.  The freckles over her nose multiplied across her skin.

Her tiny hands grew strong and sure, and much to my dismay, she delighted in using them to playfully tug on Timber’s tail.

She was almost a year old before Orland and Eldora returned, frustrated and empty-handed, to meet her for the first time.

Yasmin was only a few months older than she was, making her the perfect playmate.  The two of them grew to be best friends, and would carry on entire conversations in their baby-babble.

Before I realized it, she was walking.  Then running.  She prattled all over the house in her little bare feet as though she owned the place.  There did not seem to be enough hours in the day to care for her and to see to my studies.

But study I did, until I could no longer count the times Reece carried me back to bed from the nursery.  Until all I could dream about were drug facts and infectious diseases.  But one sleepless night after the other, I made it.  Until finally, I was able to walk across the stage and collect my diploma.

And not a moment too soon.  Reece and I had grown a little too careless in the final weeks before my exams.

I had been offered a permanent position as a resident at the hospital, but almost immediately after I accepted, I had to go on maternity leave.

My son, Bowen Lewis, was born the following winter.

He had the famous Lewis hair and his grandmother’s rose-colored eyes.  His tiny hands were balled into fists the instant he came into this world, and his pudgy little arms packed quite a punch.  He was taking his first steps long before he started talking, and months before Evangeline had.

 Catch-up time with friends was quickly becoming a daycare.

“You two are spawning like killifish.” Nirina muttered, shaking her head.

“When are you gonna settle down and have a few of your own?”  I asked, raising my eyebrows.

Nirina rolled her eyes.  “When tadpoles grow wings.  I don't need guppies hanging on my fins right now.”

Reece and I shared a knowing smile.  “Children have a tendency to happen when you don't need them.”

Sadly, as time progressed and responsibilities loamed, I found our once close-knit circle of friends was drifting apart.  Nirina and Hale migrated away to chase more promising job leads in Sunlit Tides, and Daria cut down on her working hours to raise her children.  We still kept in touch through a few scattered phone calls, letters and postcards, but it was not the same.

Evageline’s first day of kindergarten was an emotional moment for me.  She insisted that she could wait at the curb by herself, and refused to wear a jacket.  Together with Yasmin and a few of the neighborhood boys she only remotely tolerated, she waited for the bus.

I fidgeted by the front door with tears brimming on my eyes.  Snowflakes caught in her sapphire hair and her cheeks flushed.  The wide-eyed excitement with which she spoke reminded me so much of her father.

Reece wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned against him.

“She looks just like you.” I murmured.

Reece shrugged.  “But she acts like you.”

I frowned, turning around to glare at him.  “She acts nothing like me.”

At that moment, I heard a piercing scream from the children and I almost jumped clean out of my skin.  I relaxed when I saw that one of the neighborhood boys was merely waving a worm in Yasmin’s face.

Eva set her jaw and stood directly in front of him, but when confronted, he threw the worm at her.

“Plagues!  Plagues and pestilence and murder!”  Eva swore, shaking the worm from her shirt.

“Just like you.” Reece murmured into the crook of my neck.

Eva held an accusing finger up at the little boy.  “A pox upon your household!”

A smile cracked at the corners of my lips.

I gave birth to my third child just a few short weeks later.  We named him Gawain.

I had a high-stress job that called for precision, dedication, and night-shifts.  At home, three children demanded every ounce of my attention.  My days were full to the bursting with love and excitement, and I would not have had it any other way.

But sometimes, when the children were tucked away in bed and Reece worked late at his elixir crafting, I lay awake and wondered if this all there really was to life.  I had almost everything I had ever wanted, and yet…

There was something missing.  A tiny hollow lived in the back of my heart, a constant reminder that there was something left undone…

“Three fairies in Moonlight Falls, two genies in Starlight Shores, and one werewolf in Hidden Springs.  That makes over twelve known abductions in the last week, and close to a hundred since they began last August.”  Orland’s voice drifted in through the doorway.

I glanced at Daria out of the corner of my eye.  She was preoccupied with her son, Irywyn, reading him a cardboard book about colors.  Bowen appeared determined to shake his Robo-Teddy’s head off.  I scooted closer to the open door and lay my head against the wall.

“… if Belinda’s spies in the inner circle are correct, the Lucians have completed the rites.  They have a full curse already, have since before the Gala, and the plan was to use this new elixir of theirs to provide Constantine with enough power to cast it.”  Eldora continued.

“But we have Constantine.” Regan’s voice broke in.  “Surely they don’t believe that Quintessa could…?  Well even with the magic of the adducted supernaturals… the elixir couldn’t give her that kind of power… could it?”  There was silence for a moment, and I heard the shuffling of paper and glass.  “Reece… did you finish the analysis?  It’s not nearly that powerful… right?” 

“Well…”  My husband’s voice sounded weary.  “… they’ve got a lot riding on some very theoretical elements of alchemy, but potentially, yes.  It could be that powerful.”  Regan let out an audible groan of frustration and Reece quickly backpedaled.  “That is to say… it’s still a long shot.  I’m certain they would have much more luck with Constantine… or Gaia.  But even then…”

“Forget the curse mechanics for now.”  Orland interrupted.  “We need to work on locating the missing supernaturals.  Reece… we’re going to need the sample back.”

“Right.”  I heard the shuffling of feet and I looked up at Reece as he entered the room.  Bowen immediately abandoned his efforts to decapitate his teddy and prattled after Reece, stretching up his arms.  Reece picked him up and kissed him on the forehead.

Daria looked up, her expression somber.  “Still talking about the missing supernaturals?”

Reece nodded his head, shuffling through his alchemy cabinet with one hand.  “Barnacle Bay… Aurora Skies… Sunlit Tides… we have reports cropping up from all over the place now.”

Reece shut the cabinet and turned to go.

“Sunlit Tides…”  Daria repeated under her breath, her hand curling tighter around her son’s shoulder. 

“Something wrong?”  I asked.

Daria nodded her head, shutting the book in her lap.  “When was the last time you heard from Nirina?”

I furrowed my brow.  “She sent me an e-mail…” 

I stopped.  That e-mail had been months ago.

Seeing the look on my face, Daria leapt up and grabbed the Lewis’ home phone.  “I’m calling her, right now.”

I nodded my head and stood to my feet.  I paced back and forth over the floor, bile rising up in my throat.  Daria tapped her fingers against the receiver.  Her shoulders slumped.

“Voicemail.”  she whispered, the phone dropping back down to her side.

“She has barely kept in contact the past two years.”  I said, though I was unconvinced by my own words.  “She could be overwhelmed by work…”

Daria raised her eyebrows.  “Nirina?  Overwhelmed by work?”

I shrugged my shoulders and rubbed my temples.  “Well I had thought since the two of them had found employment in the same establishment and both had been lax about keeping in touch, that they found the job demanding.”

Daria’s eyebrows rose even further.  “Hale and Nirina… took a job… that was demanding?”

My hands dropped back down to my sides.  “Agreed.  Not possible.” 

I took the phone from Daria and thrust it into Reece’s hands when I met him in the kitchen.  “Call Hale.  Now.” 

“O-ho-kaay…”  Reece said, handing Bowen back to me and dialing in a number.  Reece pressed speaker so that we all could hear.

I tried to breathe deeply and keep my thoughts from running wild.

There was a clunk, and I heard Hale’s voice on the other end.  “Sup.”

I let out a sigh.  Reece shook his head.  “Dude, Daria and my wife were worried about you.  You shouldn’t drop off the face of the Earth like that.”

“Aw… really?”  Hale laughed.

“Yeah, really.  So when are you and Niri coming back to visit, anyway?  I doubt Eva even remembers you-!” Before Reece could finish, Hale’s voice interrupted him.

“Cool story, bro. Well I can’t come to the phone right now, leave me a message.”

An earsplitting beep sounded, and Reece flinched away from the phone.

“The mailbox is full and cannot accept new messages at this time.” A mechanical voice declared on the other end.  “Goodbye.”

I felt a sinking in the pit of my stomach.  Reece set the phone down, biting his lip.

“Look… there’s no need to jump to conclusions.”  Reece said slowly.  “They’re probably fine.”

Eva ran up behind me and started tugging at the bottom of my t-shirt.  “Mommy!”

I patted her on the head.  “But maybe… when Regan is there investigating… she can…”

“I’ll ask her.”  Reece said.

“Mommy!”  Eva shouted again and I finally turned to her.  “Is it true that your sword was a gift from the three wind fairies?  Made from the ashes of the fairies’ home trees and welded together with their tears?”

I stared at her, open-mouthed.  Reece coughed nervously, and Daria stifled a giggle.

“What?  No… that is preposterous.  Who told you this?”  I crossed my arms.

“It’s in the book Daddy gave me!  See?”  Evageline held up one of Reece’s old childhood favorites and flipped the pages to point at a certain picture.

I glared at Reece, and he let out a nervous laugh.

“That’s enough folklore for tonight… time for bed!”  Reece said quickly, shutting the book and nudging Eva along.

Weeks later, after dinner was over and my children had all dispersed to play in their own corners, I sat reading at the dining room table.

My phone rang.  I pulled it out and looked at the ID.  It was an unknown number.  I almost hit ignore, but I had a fleeting thought that perhaps Regan was trying to get into contact with me.  I picked it up.

“Hello?”  I answered.

“Sophia?”  a broken, weak voice crackled through the other end.

I sat up straighter.  I could hear the howling of the storm in the background.  Broken, labored breathing echoed in the foreground.

“Yes…”  I said, laying my book down.

“Sophia, it’s Nirina.”  the voice on the other end said.

“Niri?”  I jumped to my feet.  “Niri!  We've been trying to get a hold of you for ages… Where have you been?  Are you alright?”  I heard a gasp and a sniffle on the other end, and I stopped where I stood.  “Niri, what is it?”

“I… I need help.”  Nirina said.  “The past few months have been… have been…”  Her voice broke and I heard a muffled sob.

“Nirina, where are you?”  I asked.  “Are you in Dragon Valley?”

Nirina took in a deep breath.  Her shaking voice held steadier.  “Yes, I’m… I’m at a pay phone just outside of the market plaza…  I… I don’t have a car…”

“That’s alright.”  I said, grasping my keys on the counter and heading towards the garage.  “Stay there, I’m coming for you.”

“Thank you…” Nirina whispered on the other end.

I drove, the rain battering against my windshield.  I slowed down on the deserted streets of the market plaza, narrowing my eyes to search the darkened sidewalks.  I spotted a figure curled against the side of a nearby building, and I sped towards it.

Stopping the car, I opened the door to get a better look.

“Nirina!”  I called out through the storm.

The shadowy figure turned towards me.  She stood shivering under the cover of a lone awning, her arms clenched around her waist.

“Nirina, it's so good to see you!  I was so worried!”  I cried out, rushing towards her and wrapping my arms around her shoulders.

She was frozen in my embrace.  Holding her shaking body against mine, I felt the solid bulge of her stomach.  I let go, stepping back to get a good look at her.

“Nirina, are you... pregnant?” I asked, smiling with excitement.

“Yes…” she murmured, nodding her head. The pained expression on her face gave me pause.  Tears brimmed on the corners of her eyes.

My smile melted away.

“Are you in labor?”  I asked, clasping her shoulders.

“Yes!”  Nirina shouted, her arms curling around her midsection.

“Good Watcher...”  I whispered.  “Come with me...”  I said, slinging her arm around my shoulders and staggering back towards the car.