Then our daughter opened her eyes. “Oh look, Theo. She has the normal blue eyes that a human baby has.
“Hello, Charlene. I’m your mummy and this is your daddy.”
Charlene blinked. Her eyes went red and then she blinked again and green reptilian eyes stared at me. “Oh my God,” I squealed.
Thank God for vampire speed, otherwise my newborn daughter would have been on the floor.
“I thought you had to be given your sea powers?” Theo frowned. “Your dad passed yours onto you.”
I swear to God our daughter gave a little smile.
“That looks like a smile, but it’s actually wind.” Janice said. I wasn’t convinced.
“Theo, I’ve got a feeling our daughter will be very unique.” I stared at her. “Right, baby?”
Ebony
An hour and a half had passed since I’d known Shelley was in labour. Unfortunately, my own supernatural powers were limited to the visions. The vampires could whizz, the werewolves could run at speed, demons could open and travel through portals, and angels could fly. It wasn’t entirely fair that I helped the universe and still had to pay for taxis, but such was my lot.
I rang the doorbell at the farmhouse and Mary answered.
To say we’d spent a large portion of the last week or so together she appeared to groan before smiling at me. “Ebony, lovely. I thought you were okay enough to stay back at your own house? Only it’s a little hectic here.”
“I saw the baby coming in a vision. I have to be here.”
Mary bustled with pride. “She’s absolutely gorgeous. Well, she looks a little weird when her eyes change but other than that, she’s just perfect.”
“Erm, okay. Well, am I all right to go see her?”
“I’ll just check. Come through to the kitchen while you wait.”
Mary disappeared. She was another supernatural able to come and go, although Mary wasn’t able to venture too far from where she’d been brutally slain, so there was that.
She appeared again making me jump.
“Yes, you can go visit. Like I said, watch for the eyes. It’s making everyone startle. I hope the child bounces because someone’s going to freak and drop her before long.”
Slowly, I made my way up the stairs bracing myself. I expected that the minute I walked through the door I’d be hit with visions connected with the baby’s future. She was going to be the most powerful ruler of Withernsea after all.
The door to the bedroom was ajar, and I could make out someone walking around and the sound of murmuring. I tapped on the door and Theo opened it wider, a massive smile on his face.
“Welcome, Ebony. Our first proper visitor! Come in, and meet Charlene.”
Not a single vision hit me. Perplexed, I made my way over to Shelley who was sitting in an armchair with the baby in her arms. “Look, Charlie, it’s Ebony. She’s come to visit you because you are so very special.”
I took in the sight of the baby. She had a small amount of dark, soft downy hair on her head, and the cutest button nose. Her rosebud lips and heart-shaped face cemented the fact she was going to be a beauty. She opened her eyes and I swear to God she stared at me knowingly. It was the strangest feeling. An intense feeling of calm washed over me.
“Hello, Charlene. You are very beautiful. I’m Ebony, and my role here is to make sure you live a safe and happy life. The thing is, I have visions, so I will always let you and your mummy know if there’s any danger around.” My gaze met Shelley's.
“That’s why I’m here. I know it’s usually close family who come first, but my visions have returned and I need to be here as you receive visitors. The heads of all species will come to see you because of the importance of your daughter.”
“I’m going to need you to get me a new make-up pallette. I can’t be seeing people in this state.” Shelley pushed back her hair.
“You’re a new mother, you look radiant and beautiful.” It was a total lie. Shelley looked like she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards while a tornado happened, but you didn’t tell a new mother that. She did have that new mother glow though that came with the birth endorphins. I’d get a hairbrush later and help her look a little more presentable.
“You really think Charlie could be in danger?” Shelley bit her bottom lip.
“I don’t know at this point. The visions haven’t revealed anything to me yet, but it’s best to be cautious.” I glanced at my watch. It was almost 4am.
“Is it okay if I take my room again? I’ll leave you to rest now.”
A woman came into the room and Shelley introduced her as the midwife.
“I’m staying for the next few hours, just to make sure everything’s okay and to give mum a chance to rest, and then if everything stays fine, I’ll leave around midday? I’m sure by then all the family will have gathered around.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to hold my grandbaby soon.” Mary appeared in the room, a frown on her face. “Only all this caring for visitors is draining my energy, meaning other people get cuddles and I haven’t had one yet.”
“I haven’t held the baby.” I said to Mary, feeling I’d not earned the irritated look cast my way.
“Would you like to?” Shelley said. “You’ll have to excuse my manners, I’m tired.”
“Yes, please.”
I took the baby from Shelley, ignoring Mary’s thunderous expression and her large ‘harrumph’ before she disappeared again. That newborn smell wafted beneath my nose and for the first time ever, I wondered if I would have any children of my own.
Again, the baby’s eyes opened and stared at me. It was if the baby was letting me know I would be fine. But that was impossible, surely? She was just a baby.
Not any old baby. The words appeared as clear as day in my mind.
My eyes widened, my arms wobbled, and I saw Shelley notice. “She do the eye thing again?”
“Yes.” I lied. “It’s quite something isn’t it?”
Can you speak in my mind? I suggested to the baby, feeling rather foolish.
You betcha, but shhh, right? It’s a secret. Until my body catches up with my mind.
Then a vision came. It didn’t hurt. Didn’t feel like my head would explode. It just floated through. A vision of Charlene.
Not a word, remember?
Okay. I’m here to protect you though, so if I need to tell them, I will.
Agreed.
Oh boy. Shelley and Theo were headed for one big shock.
Shelley
They were telling me to rest, but I was wired. I’d just had a baby! My eyes looked at the sleeping bundle in the crib at the side of me. I felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Such love, such pride; and when I watched Theo pick her up so very carefully and stare at her in awe, I wanted to bawl my eyes out with the perfectness of it all.
But a cloud overshadowed everything.
It wasn’t fair.
Ebony had to be here because someone might wish my newborn baby harm. All because Charlie’s future role would be to keep peace in Withernsea. Peace between land and sea, human and supernatural, species to species. For that reason I couldn’t just be a normal mother showing my baby off, thinking about the little shopping trips we’d do together where we bought far too many clothes; our taking her on her first day of school. What would any of that be like? Would we have to have bodyguards for her?
There was a knock. I looked up and saw Theo knocking on fresh air. He should be asleep by now. He should have been asleep since dawn, and he was struggling.
Then I realised I’d put a force field up around me and Charlie. Oops!
“Janice has left. She’ll be back tomorrow to check on you and the baby, but she says just call her if you need her for anything. Your parents are downstairs. Are you okay to see them?” He yawned.
“I am. Theo go get in bed now.”
“Yes, I think that would be wise. If I have a few hours now then you can sleep later while I take care of Charlene. Only it would be
nice to spend a little more cuddle time with my daughter.” He smiled.
“I know I’m hogging her. But I can’t help myself, Theo. She’s perfect.” We both looked back at the crib where Charlie was still sound asleep. I didn’t know how her sleeping patterns would be with her being a mix of witch, wyvern, and vampire, but so far she’d napped on and off after feeding like most babies did. She was being breastfed. Janice had said my body would give her the right mix of what she needed, both blood and milk, so I was making sure I drank and ate regularly.
Theo left, and my parents came into the room.
“Oh my goodness, Shelley. What a beautiful angel you have.” My mum’s eyes filled with tears as she looked in the crib. My father walked over to me and hugged me, kissing my cheek. Then he also went over to the crib.
“She looks like you did as a baby, Shelley.” My mum broke down then and my dad clutched her. I gave them some time to process the situation. My mum had had to give me up for adoption and my father had been tricked into Hell, so he’d only ever seen photos of me as a baby, and only in the last year once he’d been freed. For them this was a bittersweet moment.
My mum moved to hug and kiss me and then they both took seats next to my bed.
“How are you feeling, darling? Theo said the birth was quite quick?”
“Yes, just a couple of hours, so I feel very fortunate in that respect. The spell helped so much, Mum. The first pains I experienced were incredible. I thought I was going to die. Then I did the spell and had one intense pain and then everything numbed. From then on she couldn’t wait to be born.”
“That’s because she knows she’s going to be the most spoiled child in the universe.” My dad said. “It’s a good job you live in a large farmhouse with what your mum’s been buying.”
“Mum!”
“Well, everything happened so fast. One minute you’re in your first trimester, the next the baby’s coming. So I went shopping before we came here and just made sure you have enough of everything you need.”
“There’s enough for everyone in Withernsea.” My dad winked and my mum pushed him on the arm.
“Behave yourself, Dylan.”
“Now where would the fun be in that?” He winked at her again.
Mum went out into the hallway and dragged in several large shopping bags and then she proceeded to unveil every possible thing a baby could need. I wouldn’t need to shop again for months.
“Thanks, Mum.” I laughed.
“So, we have to ask, darling.” Mum’s tone softened. “The name. Charlene. How did you choose it? Is it a relative of Theo’s you named her after?”
I snorted. “Not quite. Theo has an unhealthy obsession with Scott and Charlene from Neighbours. He wouldn’t hear of her being called anything else. Luckily for him, I liked it.”
“Theo is so lucky,” my dad started to sing Kylie’s hit and me and my mum both groaned.
“Oh look at that. Charlene is smiling. She thinks Grandad’s funny, don’t you, Charlene?”
“It’s just wind, Dad.”
My mum’s face went wistful again. “I so wish we’d been able to keep you, to stay together. That you could have experienced our love for you. I know you had a rough deal from your foster parents. Are they coming by the way?”
“Yes, on Monday, and they’re bringing Polly.” Polly was their younger daughter, my kind-of sister in that we’d been brought up together, though she’d been given a lot more attention than I had. My adoptive parents and I had a strained relationship but had recently made more of an effort to try to get along once I’d realised a lot of what had happened had been born from fear about my supernatural abilities.
“They weren’t all bad. I had some fun times with them too. Just not very often.” I told them. “But I got by and turned out okay.”
“You turned out more than okay. We are beyond proud of the young woman and new mother you have become.” My father said. “We wish we could have been responsible for your childhood, but then you wouldn’t necessarily have met Theo and have had this beautiful little baby, so things must have been meant to be that way.”
Charlene stirred in her cot and then opened her eyes. “Do you want to get her, Mum?”
My mum picked her up and sat back in the chair with her. She rocked her slightly while she spoke to her softly. “I’m your grandma and I love you so very much. I’m going nowhere, Charlene. Me and your grandad will be here when we can. We will make some beautiful memories.” Then she seemed to become lost in her thoughts and a minute or two later my mum passed Charlene to my dad with tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” My dad said.
My mum shook her head. “Nothing, but just take her. She’s so beautiful.”
My dad held Charlie tight and after a moment he also seemed to go into a small trance. Coming back around he stared at my mum with glassy eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I sat up concerned, ready to leap out of bed. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Did you get them too?” My mum asked my dad, and he nodded.
Mum turned to me. “Shelley, I can’t explain it, but while I held Charlene, I received mental images of you as a small child. Happy ones.”
“I got the same.” My father said.
“But… how?” I stared at my baby.
“I don’t know.” My mum wiped a tear that had run down her cheek. “Shelley, this baby is the most blessed child I have ever known. She’s a few hours old and already displaying her gifts of peace.”
“Take that those mothers who show off their kid was born with a tooth.” I joked, though I had to admit to being a little freaked out by what had just happened.
A commotion broke out downstairs and we strained to hear who the voices belonged to. I could just make out Ebony and Mary’s exasperated tones and then I knew who was here. Footsteps sounded on the stairs and without so much as a polite knock on the door, my bestie walked in.
“Shelley, my girl. Where’s this new girl in your life who has come to usurp my place of favourite female?” She cast her eyes down onto my mum’s lap.
“Oh my God, she is beyond cute. Beyond.”
“Kim. Can you keep your voice down? She’s been really well behaved so far. I don’t want you setting her off crying.”
Kim looked at me as if I was the one out of order, “I’m this girl’s Auntie Kim. She’s my girl. I’m going to lead her astray let me tell you.” She looked down at the baby. “You come see me when your mummy says you can’t have your ears pierced, hair dyed, tattoos, or go to the family planning clinic underage, okay sweetie?”
My dad shook his head and stood. “We’re going to get going, darling. We’ll leave you to talk to your friend in peace.”
“Peace. You have met Kim haven’t you?”
My mum passed Charlie to Kim and then came over and topped up the glass of water I had by the bed. “You need anything else before I go, darling?”
“No, Mum. I’m fine. Thank you for visiting. You too, Dad.” They kissed me and then Charlie’s forehead, before saying farewell to Kim.
“So how was it? Your vajayjay ruined forever?”
“Nope. Vampire healing power. Everything down there is A-okay. I feel absolutely fine.”
Kim paused, looking me up and down. “Then why are you in bed?”
“Because I’m playing the exhausted new mother card and if you tell anyone I will drain you.”
“Yeah? I’ll bite your throat out before you get near me, biatch. Ow.” Kim looked down. “Erm, I was stroking your baby’s cute mouth and she bit me.” She waved her finger in the air where a drop of blood appeared.
“How can she have bit you when she doesn’t have a tooth yet?” I beckoned for Kim to pass her over and then I ran my finger over Charlie’s gum and felt a canine. What had I just been saying about mothers and their kid’s teeth? Looked like someone was getting her vampire fangs already. “Oh, she grew a tooth already. I’m going to feed you now, baby, please don’t bite through my ni
pple.” Luckily she settled at my breast.
“First time I’ve seen you flash them sober.”
“Ha ha. So how’s married life? Don’t think I’ve forgotten that in my hour of need, you choose an hour of seed.”
“It was my wedding night. We had to keep doing it over and over to cement my turning into a were.”
I stared at her for a beat. “That’s not true is it?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “No. I’m sorry. I was mesmerised by Darius’ cock and by wild kinky wolf sex. As soon as I woke today, I came straight over.”
“It’s ten past two in the afternoon.”
“And I just woke at half one after all the wedding night and wild kinky wolf sex.”
“I don’t want to know about you doing it as a wolf.” I shuddered.
“Right back at you. You’re the one who chose to shag a dead guy. Perve.”
“Yeah, you make a good point.”
Kim stood up and drank down my water. “Gosh, didn’t realise how thirsty I was, must be from the wild kinky wolf sex.”
“You going to keep saying that? By the way, that was my drink.”
“Eboonnnyy. Maryyyy.” Kim shouted.
Footsteps ran up the stairs. “Yes. Is there a problem?” Ebony said.
“Yeah, you’ve let the new mother run out of liquids and not offered her guest a drink. Not good enough, Ebs, not good enough.”
Ebony took my glass. “So sorry, Shelley. Water or blood?”
“She’s feeding so could I possibly have half and half?”
“Of course.”
“Glass of wine for me. Wet the baby’s head.” Kim said. Then she raised a hand towards Ebony. “Oh and by the way. I wanted to ask you about your vision, Ebs.”
“What vision?” I asked with a frown.
“Ebony had a vision of herself, in a wedding dress. I was there as a bridesmaid, but she couldn’t see the groom.”
“I think you just had a nightmare, Ebs, if you’d asked Kim to be a bridesmaid.”
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