R osalie put her hand on her belly. She was three
months pregnant and showing more than she
thought she should be. "I look ridiculous." She glared
into the mirror.
"No you don't, you barely have a bump."
Vanessa laughed as she made their bed. "I've put
some nice clean sheets on the bed. Why don't you lie
down and rest. Your ankles are a bit swollen."
"I need to go into the office." Rosalie declared,
pulling a loose fitting sheath over her head. "My
clothes look stupid with this belly."
"You look beautiful." Vanessa wrapped her arms
around her wife. "There is no reason to go into the
office on a Saturday. Everything will still be there on
Monday and you know the doctor said you ought to
take it easy."
Phoebe was tired of this human mother's constant
whining. She could feel the stress pulling at her tiny
body and she didn't like it one bit. It was time for
some gentle persuasion.
460 Magical Moonlight
All of a sudden Rosalie felt an overwhelming
rush of fatigue and the desire to lie down became too
much to resist. "You know, maybe I will have a short
nap." She said, lying on top of the duvet.
"Naps are nice." Vanessa beamed.
"It's almost time for Seamus to have his, why
don't you bring him in here. We'll be company for
each other." Rosalie could feel her eyes getting
heavier.
"I'll see what I can do." Vanessa pulled a soft
woolen throw off the end of the bed and covered her
wife before tiptoeing out of the room.
Shay looked up from the computer game he was
playing. He was three and rather frighteningly bright
as far as Vanessa was concerned. Doug, his cat, lay
stretched out on the desktop, watching everything his
person was doing. Rosalie and Vanessa often joked
that it was almost as if the cat was taking notes so that
she could do what the boy did. They didn't know how
close to the truth they were. The game he was playing
was a drawing game, testing his skills as a budding
artist.
"It's time for your nap, buddy." Vanessa said as
she approached his desk. "What are you making?" she
asked, unsure of what she was seeing.
"Daddy and Liam are fairies." He giggled. "They
fly in the trees. See, they have wings like a butterfly."
"Uh Shay, they have no clothes on. Don't fairies
wear clothes?" She wasn't even going to go into the
fact that he'd made his father a fairy.
ER Bryant 461
"No clothes, just skin." Shay shrugged. "Fairies
don't like clothes."
"The fairies in your books wear clothes."
"Those are pretend fairies, these are real ones."
Shay made his picture fairies sit in a bird nest before
climbing down from his desk. "Nap now mommy."
Doug jumped down beside him. "Sleep with momma
and Phoebe."
"Shay please don't call the baby Phoebe, you
know it annoys momma." Vanessa had given up
trying to make him stop calling the baby Phoebe
around her. Even though she was sure the baby was a
girl and would be named Morgan Rebecca, she was
beginning to mentally call her Phoebe as well.
"Okay." Shay agreed. He didn't need an annoyed
Momma; she wasn't very nice when she was irritated
with him. She'd tried to spank him once the week
before, but Phoebe had made her arm hurt before she
started. Shay hadn't forgotten his shock at the
realization he was about to be physically struck.
Phoebe was a good friend to him already.
The boy was pleased that his momma was already
asleep. He climbed up on the big bed with his blanket,
laying his head on a pillow. Doug jumped on the bed
and settled between Rosalie and his boy, stretching
out long and lean. Shay carefully covered her up,
leaving only the tip of her nose uncovered. He shut his
eyes, happy to be close to Phoebe. It wasn't often he
could be this near. "Phoebe our daddies are being silly
fairies today." He whispered, his voice soft as a
summer breeze and almost as quiet.
462 Magical Moonlight
"My daddy is having fun." She agreed. "Your
daddy is too, but he doesn't want my daddy to know."
"Daddy's are funny." Shay said quietly. He
sighed. "Sleep now Phoebe." His small hand rested on
the mound that was Rosalie's tummy, the warmth of
his hand felt by the small one tucked safely inside.
Phoebe turned over and over in her watery space,
thinking about what the world would be like when she
was born. She worried about her mother's inclination
to work too hard and her refusal to eat properly. She
worried about Shay and his safety, for she could feel
black forces pressing down on the house, despite the
fact that her father had her brother in a protection
spell. It would be another almost six months before
she could be born, though she supposed if she had to,
she could do it in five although it might leave her too
weak physically to be much help to Shay.
The calming lullaby sung by her Grandmother
Morgan filtered into her haven. One or the other of her
Grandmother's always knew when she was anxious
and wove a spell of song for her. Shay's grandmother
knew songs from ancient times, and her grandmother
knew the newer ones. They were all good. Phoebe let
herself relax; she needed her rest as well as her
mother.
At the fairy retreat, Liam woke refreshed from his
nap. Aiden was nowhere to be seen, but he wasn't
worried. He suspected the older man was enjoying the
freedom of flying. He shivered, it was colder than
he'd expected. To warm himself up, Liam took to the
air flitting here and there keeping out of sight of the
ER Bryant 463
other campers but observing them carefully. He was
hoping he'd find Aiden but instead he found Daniel
peering out of the door of one of the cabins.
Flying low, Liam could tell that Daniel wasn't
happy to be stuck in the woods. He was shivering and
dressed in a kilt. Liam laughed out loud as he flew
higher. Daniel heard the sound and turned toward him,
his eyes bugging out at the sight of a red headed
winged human. "Holy fuck, it's a fairy." He
whispered, trying to trace where the Liam flew, but he
was too fast. "I saw a fucking fairy." Daniel ran
outside to tell someone, but everywhere he turned and
anyone he told, wasn't interested. They were in a fairy
retreat after all. Of course he saw a fairy.
Evan didn't hear any of this. He was sitting deep
in the woods in a secluded glen, his back to a large
rock, smoking a joint he'd brought from Jimmy's
stash. He was well and truly high. He watched Aiden
fly into the open glen and then he watched as the man
sat on his shoulder. "Hey Aiden." Evan said as he took
another hit.
"Hey Ev." Aiden leaned in, hoping for a residual
high from the fumes. "What's up?"
"Not much. I miss James." Evan sighed. "Oh, and
I know you and Liam are Wahjee, but I won't tell."
"I'm a fairy, a figment of your doped up mind."
Aiden said. "Blow that smoke my way, would you."
"No problem." Evan blew smoke over his
shoulder. "So why the fairy wings?"
"Liam's idea of a fun weekend." Aiden said when
he let the smoke out of his lungs.
464 Magical Moonlight
Evan found this funny and started to giggle.
"Hey don't laugh, I could fall off." Aiden was
high.
"No you couldn't, you'd fly." Evan giggled, this
time offering Aiden a toke. It wasn't easy, but he
managed to suck in another lungful of the powerful
weed.
"Fuck, that's either good stuff or it works better
when you're three inches tall."
"I think size does count." Evan laughed "Though
for a fairy, you're not badly hung considering it's
damn cold out here tonight."
"Yeah, no shit. Liam and his fucking ideas. Do
you have any idea what it's like to fuck in a bird's
nest? I mean the fucker could come home any minute
and mistake us for some kind of naked bug."
"It is kind of a strangely ironic idea, I mean you
and Liam as fairies." Evan sighed. "I envy the two of
you. You have so many years left for you to spend
together. My Jimmy and I had such a small amount of
time."
"He loved you Ev. He still loves you. I mean look
how he trusted you with a secret that meant everything
to him. Wahjee take the knowledge of their existence
seriously." Aiden sucked back some more smoke. "Of
course you aren't having this conversation with a fairy
either."
"That's true." Evan sighed. "I mean if I was going
to have you as a figment of my imagination, I think a
full size Aiden Mac Ruaidhri would be more fun than
one big enough to put in my pocket."
ER Bryant 465
"In your dreams Evan. Don't tell Liam, but I'm a
one man fairy." He giggled. "It's a secret."
"Your secret is safe with me."
Daniel stumbled into the small Glen. He slumped
down beside Evan. "I think I'm having a bad trip." He
closed his eyes and leaned back, but not before
nodding to Aiden.
"Have some smoke." Evan offered. "It's pretty
good."
"Can't, I'm seeing things." Daniel sighed. "I
know it's not good when you start hallucinating."
"Oh, seeing anything interesting?" Evan had to
ask, knowing full well what the other man was
referring to. Aiden was now leaning against Evan's
neck, thoroughly high.
"I saw Liam."
"Oh, I didn't know he was here this weekend.
Was Aiden with him?"
"No, I saw Liam flying. He was a fairy."
"Oh."
"I see Aiden too."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I think he's on your shoulder. I think he's
high. I recognize that look he gets."
"Oh." Evan paused. "Is he a fairy too?"
"Of course he's a fairy. He's been a fairy all his
life." Daniel huffed. "I'm a fairy too. But not as much
as Aiden. I suck at being a fairy. I don't know my
inner fairy." He started to cry.
"Oh for fuck sake, Danny. Get a grip." Aiden
stood up, his legs wobbly. He flew over to Daniel and
466 Magical Moonlight
kissed him. "You're fucking useless." Then he flew
away.
"Fairy Aiden kissed me." Daniel sighed. "I'm
tired, really, really tired. I'm never doing any kind of
drugs ever again in my whole life."
"I want what you had. Fairy Aiden didn't kiss
me." Evan laughed.
"It sucks when you can feel and hear your
hallucinations." Daniel sighed, leaned his head on
Evan's shoulder and fell into a sound sleep.
Even looked up at the star filled sky. "Jimmy, I
don't know if this is what usually happens at these
retreats, but I think this will be my last one. I hope you
understand." He smiled when the stars began to
twinkle much like his Jimmies eyes used to.
