Chapter 5 - New stages
Bianca awoke the following morning, and silently got ready for her day, as to not disturb Emrys. She walked out of the room and ran into Rainflower, "he knows" she whispered. Rainflower just smiled, "good, he needs to know of the challenges that are going to face him by taking this path he's chosen." She sighed, "I'm kind of worried about him though, he came into our world without any idea of what he was getting himself into, I feel bad to put all of our hopes on his shoulders." Rainflower, smirked, "Well, he knows now, so it will be his choice, he could always call it quits, you can't make the choice for him." Bianca looked away, and then back at Rainflower "I think I like you better as a guitar playing hippy, than as a voice of reason." Rainflower laughed "Right on Dude! I need to get back to painting, good luck with your man, doll."
Emrys woke up, and entered the living area; Bianca walked up to him "Honey, I just..." Before another word came out, he kissed her "No, we can deal with this as we need to, just know that I am more than happy to keep on this path, especially if it means so much to so many people. Besides, we have celebrating to do; I heard we were having a son!"
Bianca was on Cloud 9, she was with the man she loved. She was pregnant, she was happy. Nothing in the world could take this feeling from her. She started to show more and more as her pregnancy progressed. Emrys meant "Immortal" and in that Bianca wanted to name their son "Khalid" as it meant the same. The more she thought of it, she knew that this was her destiny, to help the man who would break the curse, and usher in her blood line. To be the matriarch of such huge destiny, which would result in 7 generations of immortals from her and Emrys, was humbling; and she was honored to be given the opportunity.
The time came, and the two headed to the Hospital, with in no time at all baby Khalid graced them all with his presence. Emrys, couldn't be happier. All he wanted to do was hold the little bundle in his arms, and never let it go.
Before long, the time for cooing, and wonder of the new baby, quickly wore off, Emrys found it hard to focus sometimes with the constant needs of the baby, Bianca though was right on top of it, and tendered to his every whim, though there were still the occasional late night awakenings. Quickly though the time flew, and before they knew it, Khalid was a toddler, ready to learn the things that made life fun, like walking and talking, and the things that made life easier for Mom, like potty training. Rainflower, when he wasn't painting, was also caring for the little tyke. "Unca Fower!" Khalid would call every time he saw a glimpse of the man. Bianca, spent some time teaching him how to talk, and now they couldn't figure out how to get him to stop.
"Unca Fower, again! Again!" Khalid shouted and giggled as he was picked up into the air by his elderly friend, Rainflower, though he had grown old, was still very spry and had a ton of fun playing with Khalid "Ok little tyke, but first you have to walk to me some more." "Caw-id can wat Fower, me wat to you . . . he come, Fower, ket me!. . weeeee" he would squeal with delight. In no time the little tyke was walking. . .
But there was another surprise awaiting the family, Emrys was becoming a full adult, he wanted to celebrate, but with the full moon and the work he had to do, he did it quietly, and went back to his life.
If caring for a toddler wasn't enough, Bianca received a call from an old friend, it seems one of their relatives found themselves in trouble and wasn't able to care for their child, and he was taken from her. Bianca was asked if she would be willing to adopt the child, since she had a family that would be great for him to integrate with. She agreed, unfortunately, she didn't realize it would be an immediate thing, and she was out gardening in her night clothes when their new son showed up.
His name was Aden, and he was so happy with the thought of having a permanent family that would love him, and being stable in a home life was something he was really looking forward to. In his excitement, he ran up the yard into Bianca's garden, and hugged her as though she had been his mother his whole life. He did, however, need some new clothes, and a haircut, so that was Bianca's first order of business.
Aden loved his new family and spent most of his time in his room painting, like Uncle Rainflower did, he really enjoyed it. Nothing was more annoying though than the screaming toddler, that got into everything, always following Aden around now that it could walk. The toddler was his baby brother though and this was his new family, even though he didn't like the stage Khalid was in now, he knew one day they'd be the best of friends, for sure. It was almost Khalid's birthday at any rate, finally Aden would have someone to play with his own age, rather than his geriatric uncle or mother who loved cooking and gardening, but someone like him, his age and loved art!