Moonflower - Chapter 4

Oak's first gathering at the Garden Grove had been so well received, we talked it over, and decided to make it a regular event. Occasionally, Oak would light one of his fires, and serve up his fish, along with the garden salad.

Wren and Marten's little Eagle was growing like wildfire, and now that he was old enough, he started attending along with his parents. So adorable... I wondered what it would be like to have a child of my own. The fairies seemed to take to parenting like a duck to water, but I had so many questions...What do babies even eat? And where would one sleep? It seemed a little unsafe to take such a tiny creature into our big bed...

This gathering was going well for a while, but the novelty of the fresh produce was beginning to wear off, and Summerwind thought she would liven up the party by casting what she called a 'chattering teeth' spell on poor Wren. Wren was none too pleased and let Summerwind know in no uncertain terms.

"Uh.. sorry, Wren. I didn't know you wouldn't like it... You know I didn't mean anything by it..."
"You didn't know I wouldn't like it?? How could you possibly think I'd like to feel like I was freezing to death?"
"Um, well, it is pretty hot out today..."
I could see that my intervention was necessary to prevent a complete blow up, so I called Summerwind over.

"So, ah, Summerwind. What's new with you lately?"
Yes, I know, I'm a bad conversationalist. I don't have that many people to practice on, after all. I was flabbergasted when Summer whispered to me confidentially.
"I'm going to have a baby, just like Wren. She says this is how it starts."
She gently rubbed her hand over her slightly protruding belly.
"May I feel?" I asked curiously.
She happily agreed, and I cautiously reached out my hand.
"Oh!" I looked up, startled. "I felt it move! You are so lucky, Summer."

She laughed and pointed at my tummy.
"It looks like you are lucky too!"
I gasped in surprise. Sure, I had been getting a little heavier lately, but I had chalked it up to lots of fish and garden salad.
"Are you sure?"
"Let me listen."
She bent close and cupped her ear.
Uh huh. Definitely. I can hear him in there for sure."
"You can hear him? It's a boy?"

Of course, I had to tell Oak right away, and of course he was just as excited as I was.

One thing was bothering me though. I was positive now, that Lupa was not just fat, she was breeding baby wolves. The sun was beginning to sink beneath the water, but I couldn't rest until I went to see for myself. I was worried about invading the wolves' territory alone at night, so Oakheart agreed to go with me. He ran on ahead, to make sure it was safe, while I made my way at a slower pace. I was finding I just couldn't run anymore, like I normally could.

When I arrived at the  wolves' den, I was shocked to see Oak with a tiny baby boy in his arms, conversing with Lupa as if he hadn't a care in the world! And Lupa was back to her old normal bony self.
"Aww.. aren't you a cutie pie. He looks just like Ulric, doesn't he? Yes, you look like your daddy, don't you?" Oak was positively cooing over that little wolf baby.
My eyes narrowed, and I started to really lay into the both of them.
"What is going on here? I'll have you know, I will not have you breeding more wolves on my island."
I pointed at my chest with both hands, for emphasis.

Oak actually glared at me then. I couldn't believe it. And Lupa shook a long bony finger in my face and cackled at me.
"It's not your island, witch. It belongs to all of us. At least the stranger here understands that much!"

"We're all in this together, witch. There is plenty of room for all of us. You worry about your little family, and I'll worry about mine."
She gestured pointedly at my tiny baby bump. I cast a side-long glance at Oak, and he was nodding encouragingly at me. I hated to admit it, but they were both right. I needed to concentrate right now on making Oak, and our new little one, and me, into a real family. The wolves could wait.

The days passed quickly after that; I never saw the wolves skulking around our little cottage. I promised Oak that I would stay away from their den as well. I suspected that Oak was delivering their allotment of fish and produce to them, but I refused to ask.
One morning we awoke to a steady drizzle, and walked out to the beach for our daily ritual. Well, Oak walked, and I kind of waddled. My tummy was huge by now, and I could tell the baby would be here any day.

Instead of returning immediately to the house, he reached for my hands and pulled me close.
"Moon... I'm so glad you came into my life. I don't know what I'd do without you. I love you so much. Will you marry me?"
I looked at him in confusion.
"Marry? I asked hesitantly. "Is that like a pledging? I went to a pledging once when I was little. The couple stood before the elders, and promised to be faithful to each other.."
"Exactly like a pledging, sweetheart. Only with no elders.. just us, and Summer and Zephyr, and Marten and Wren if you want."

"Yes, oh yes. I love you, Oak. We can do it at the Garden Grove, okay? It will be perfect!"
"It will be perfect, love. But only because you'll be there."
I didn't even notice the warm rain streaming over us both, as we sealed our promise with a kiss.

It rained all that day, and into the evening. We stayed inside and talked of the future, and Oak again tried to convince me to speak to Lupa about that night. I was about to put him off again, as usual, when I felt a sharp pain streak across my belly. Oak looked at me with concern.
"What's wrong?
"My stomach... ahhhh!"
"Let me see... " He stared up at me with the beginning of panic in his eyes, as he felt my tummy.

"Moon... I think the baby's coming!"
"Ahhh.... it hurts, Oak. It hurts! Do something!"
But it was obvious that Oak didn't know any more about birthing babies than I did. I tried to keep calm, since he was in such a panic, and in a strange way, I think it helped.

Somehow, we muddled through, and just as the rain slowed to a stop outside, and the stars emerged from behind the clouds, our little Valarian found his way into the world.

 Oak had magicked together a little baby bed for him, out of supple branches, and I used a bit of one of my soft extra blankets to line it. I laid him in it, and he went right to sleep! Maybe this wasn't going to be as hard as I thought!

At the crack of dawn, after only a few hours sleep, we were both awakened by the most horrendously loud wailing I had ever heard. I could hardly believe it was coming from that tiny sweet thing lying in the crib. I was paralyzed with fear. I was sure something was terribly wrong.
"Whats the matter with him?" I whispered tearfully.
 Oakheart seemed as puzzled as I was, at first. Then his eyes lit up.
"I remember when my little sister was a baby. Let's see, he's either hungry, or wet."
He patted Val's little bottom.
"Not wet. That means he's hungry."
"What do we feed him? Will he like tomatoes, do you think?"
"Uh.. not yet. Babies need milk. My mom feed my sister with a bottle, but that is not an option."

Oak looked at Val, then at me, then back at Val.
"I'm not exactly sure how this works," he said, "but umm.." He leaned over, and much to my surprise, gently tugged on my dress, until it was down around my waist.
"Okay, now hold him close..."
Suddenly I could see what he was getting at, as Val latched on and began to suck hungrily, grabbing my hair and tugging softly on it while he drank. I smiled gratefully over at Oak.

Oak was a good daddy; he knew so much about babies, I would have been so lost without him. Neither one of us got much sleep those first weeks, but Oak especially suffered. Even the slightest sound from the little crib would have Oak jumping out of bed to see to whatever Val needed. Only when our little guy was hungry, would Oak awaken me.

I had plenty of time now to play around with all the new ingredients that Oak kept bringing home from the garden. I was still trying to find a potion that would keep the wolves away for good. I threw a handful of wolfsbane into the pot again, and looked around for something new to add along with it. Hmm, why not a apple? I had plenty of those, and I'd tried everything else I could think of. The potion came out bubbly and green and slimy. It looked perfect for scaring away wolves.

Somehow I knew that Oak wouldn't approve, so I made up an excuse about visiting Summerwind and their new baby girl, and snooped around until I found Lupa skulking near the edge of the forest. Quickly I threw the nasty green potion at her feet, before she could escape. Now to watch and see the effect.

Oh dear... this was definitely not the reaction I was hoping for. I could almost see her muscles growing larger as I watched.
"Witch!  I.. feel so .. strong.. all of a sudden. Did you do that? Why?..Why would you want to help me like this?"
I didn't say a word. My jaw had dropped almost down to my chin. I could only open and close my mouth helplessly. I didn't know what to do, so I simply turned and raced away toward home.

As I fled the scene, I caught a glimpse of the wolf child, as Lupa bent to pick him up.
"Come Andrae, let's run home like the wind. Perhaps that little witch is not as bad as she pretends to be, after all."

Finally came the day that I'd been looking forward to for so long. Val was big enough that I felt safe taking him out to the Garden Grove, and we had invited everyone to our pledging.. or wedding, as Oak called it. I had been working hard on a gift for him, to mark our special day, but first, he said he had a surprise for me.

He carefully approached a large wooden box that had appeared under the fruit trees. After Oak messed around inside the box for a few minutes, a cloud of.. bees??.. suddenly rose from the interior, and Oak returned, triumphantly carrying.. a honeycomb! It was positively dripping with sweet, golden honey. The sight of that golden, sticky substance brought back such memories...

I caught a drop on the tip of my finger, and licked it slowly, savoring the long forgotten sweetness. Oak grinned at me. I guess he could tell by the expression on my face that I was thrilled about his surprise.

"I'm getting better. I only got stung once that time! A hive had started up in the apple tree, so I built this box and moved them here, to make the honey easier to gather."

Then it was time for me to give him my pledging gift. I had been working for weeks, sewing together spare piece of cloth I'd been saving, into a new shirt to replace the threadbare one he was wearing. I even cut a narrow swath off the edge of our blanket, to decorate the collar. Then I used my mending spell to fix my crude sewing attempt into something a bit nicer.
I was getting so good at the spell, I even dared attempt it on his pants, the ones that had gotten ripped to shreds in the surf, the night I summoned him.
"I love my new clothes, sweetheart," he murmured through a kiss. "You must have worked so hard on them. They'll look great for our wedding."

Out friends had all gathered, and it was time for our pledging. It seemed odd to say the words with no elders to witness, but Oak said that people do it this way all the time in his Viewing River village. He looked so handsome in his new shirt, I could barely get the words out.
"I love you now and forever; our lives are entwined from this day forth."

After we said the words, we kissed right there in front of everyone - a long passionate kiss that I didn't want to ever stop. Eventually we did have to stop though. Val was giggling furiously; I think he somehow knew it was a momentous occasion for his mommy and daddy.

Afterward, we all feasted on Oak's delicious garden salad. He took the opportunity to announce that the fruit trees were almost ready to harvest, and that when they were, he'd show everyone how to make something called 'fruit parfait'. I had no idea what that was, but it sounded delicious. I could hardly wait. I hoped it would have bananas in it. Every day I checked the banana tree, but there were never any bananas. Oak said it was because banana trees take a long time to mature, but to me it seemed like forever.

Our little Val turned out to be the hit entertainment of the wedding party. Everyone had to have their turn tickling him.... first, Wren played with him until he was in stitches...

... then Zephyr took a turn playing a game he called 'the claw', which Val found absolutely hilarious.

Finally the day was drawing to a close. Val was sound asleep, completely worn out.
"Here we are, my love... alone at last. I don't think anything's going to wake up our little Val any time soon." Oak was grinning at me with that certain twinkle in his eye, glancing over at the bed. I agreed wholeheartedly. It was the perfect ending to an absolutely perfect day.