AN:

Chapter 95: Letting Go, Moving Forward

A gentle wind blew across the pond, just as it often did. Little changed from one day to the next at the fairy retreat where Ero resided. Young pregnant fairies of all types and sizes fluttered about. Their joyful laughter, a sound akin to the tinkling of bells and wind chimes, echoed through the area.

Ero no longer felt the joy of being among them. There was no light, no warmth in this place. Her dreams were destroyed, and with them went her desire to spend time among others of her kind. She rested alone atop a lily pad, just as she had done since the moment she learned of the fate of her child.

The tears finally stopped falling a few hours ago, and now she was simply spent. Sleep eluded her, she dreamed of a child that never existed whenever she closed her eyes. So, she remained awake and alone.

Tiny fingers clutched at the surface of the water before her. Reflected within its crystalline depths was her image. In many ways, it was the image of what she'd lost. Would her little one look like her? Would she look like Scott? Would she love her mother? Would her mother know how to love her?

No matter how many times she reached out to that possible future, it never reached back and it always broke apart among the ripples caused by her fingers. The tears stopped, but the ache remained.

Ero bit her lower lip softly then gently sighed. Why did it matter? Why did it hurt so much to lose something she'd never had?

Over time, new images began to penetrate the clouds that shrouded her sorrowful heart. Memories, images of the past when she'd given up all hope. Nearly to the point of suicide, she'd spent many years trapped alone inside the cavern where she'd been born. Each day was an exercise in futility. There would be no joy, no friendship, no love for her. There was nothing left for her but the cavern walls and the empty fairy pond.

At the point of exhaustion with life and living, on what might have been the last day she would bother living, the most extraordinary event in her life occurred. The cavern began to rumble. The sealed entrance fell away and light shined in upon her. Then, standing before her was the first sight that ever gave her a true sense of hope. That hope walked through her unsealed entrance, blue hair waving in an unseen breeze.

"Scott..." she said softly, before sighing in an exhausted manner, "Scott..." she said again after a moment.

As time passed, memories of him surface more often. Warm memories, silly memories. Her mental eyes traced the curve of his lips as he offered her a warm smile. She delighted in the playfulness in his eyes and the way he always took her seriously whenever she had something she felt was important to say.

"You mean so much to me..." she whispered gently, before closing her eyes, "I just wish I could really show that to you..."

A soft throbbing sensation in her belly caught her attention briefly. Hot wet tears began to trickle down her cheeks. Until now she'd thought that such occurrences were the baby kicking, though the little one would not even have feet at this point.

She reached down and lightly stroked her lower abdomen and tried her best not to cry any harder than she already did. Whatever was growing inside of her, it was not the truth. It was not what she'd been told. The only symbol of her love for Scott that would have made sense would be their child. Their little one would not have been a mere physical object, but a living and loving reminder that they'd made something wonderful since they joined together.

She laughed sadly after a moment. "I'll probably give birth to a keychain..."

The hot tears intensified after those fateful words were spoken. Everything beautiful about the last few weeks had died, and she was the one left to live with the remnants of her own shattered dreams.

While Ero spent time in the depths of her misery, Scott and Rhea steadily made their way through the Fairy Wood. Normally it would be impossible to traverse that forest without either a guide, or becoming lost. However, the closer they drew to Ero, the easier it was for Scott to sense her presence. He felt her location as a general tug, a desire to move in a certain direction.

Less than half a mile away from the mystical pond, they came across trouble. Three elves in armor that blended in with the forest appeared.

"Are you lost, travelers?" asked the apparent leader of the group. Attractive in the fashion of elven men, and in possession of the refinement of a well-heeled urbanite, it would be easy to dismiss him as a normal citizen if he were to appear in a city. However, he also possessed the quiet intensity of a soldier on duty. It was obvious that the soldier was politely ascertaining their purpose.

"No. The mother of my child needs me," said Scott without hesitation.

The elves glanced at each other briefly. The leader began to speak, but was cut off by a familiar voice. "You may let them pass."

"My lady?" asked the leader. He glanced over to the speaker, and she nodded.

"We have expected him for quite some time now," said Karsi.

"Ah, I understand," said the elf before nodding to his companions. The three woodland protectors slipped back into the foliage and disappeared without a trace.

"Ms. Karsi, you knew we were coming?" asked Scott.

"We suspected that you might... But let us not discuss this here. Come," said Karsi before gesturing for them to follow her.

Scott reached over and took Rhea's hand. She smiled briefly then nodded.

Karsi led them to a simple one room hut a short distance from the pond. Inside, she bid them sit so that she could discuss the situation with them. Avidia entered shortly afterward, and was introduced as the foremost expert of fairy biology in the region.

A short, tense, moment passed before Avidia began to explain the situation. While Rhea thought it best that Scott hear it from Ero directly, this method was good as well. At least there were competent people to address his concerns.

"No..." said Scott after he heard what Avidia had to say. He lowered his head and took a deep breath. The way that Rhea acted until now, he'd expected something, but not something like this. Scott came prepared for loss, but this sort of thing was just not something anyone might prepare to hear.

"You... I need to see her," said Scott. "Where's Ero?"

"R-right here, Scott," said a soft voice from the doorway. Everyone turned toward the sound of that soft, sad, little voice and saw Ero standing on the ground. Her head bowed, and wings drooping downward, she gazed down at the uncaring earth below.

"Ero!" cried Scott before rushing over to her.

He knelt down in front of her and stretched out his hand. She sighed deeply, and looked to the side. "I..."

Suddenly, her head snapped forward and she looked up at Scott with tear-stained eyes. "I-Im so sorry!" she exclaimed.

"Ero..." Scott scooped her up as gently as he could and lifted her closer to his face. "What are you talking about? I'm the one who's sorry! I should have been here for you."

She began to cry once more, and slung her head from side-to-side. She cried out, "I'm Sorry! I'm Sorry!"

Unable to think of anything else to do, he pulled her to his chest and let her cry and scream all she wanted. He held her there, cupped gently in his hands for quite some time, no care given for the others in the room.

It was not long before he felt another presence, and glanced over to see Rhea kneeling down next to them. He smiled at her in a fleeting manner then closed his eyes. Ero clutched at his shirt and wiped her face against it.

"I-I wanted..." said Ero, between sobs, "I wanted... I'm not sure what I wanted."

He lightly stroked the side of her face with his thumb and she calmed down slightly. Her sobs became tearful sniffles, though her body still occasionally spasmed.

Eventually, Ero slumped down in his hand and began to snore lightly. Gently, Scott sat down and continued to hold her while she slept. Exhausted and unable to bear it any longer, the little fairy sought her rest.

Hours passed while she slept. When she awoke, Karsi and Avidia made their leave so that the three of them could be alone together.

Ero spoke to Scott and Rhea regarding what happened over the course of the last few weeks. They told her what occurred in their lives as well. The little fairy immediately became concerned when she learned that Scott was badly injured. She attempted to fuss a little about his head, but her strength was nearly exhausted even after her nap. She could barely flutter.

Rhea, mostly quiet from the beginning, sighed loudly then nodded her head slowly. She came to a decision. "Ero, Scott, I have something to say..."

Both Ero and Scott looked over to her, their eyes tired and stained with tears. Rhea closed her eyes briefly then after taking a deep she said, "This is hard for me... But I know it is so much harder for the bother of you."

She looked to Ero and then to Scott. "I never wanted to share you. Even after I agreed to, begrudgingly, it never really reached a real level of sharing..."

"Rhea, it's alright..." said Ero with an attempt at a friendly smile.

"No. It's not. It's not alright," said Rhea. "We've been through a lot together, and I... I've hurt you because I'm jealous."

"Well, that's..." began Ero.

Rhea raised her hand up and shook her head. "There's no need to try to say otherwise. I'm jealous. I admit it... But I also love you, too."

She threw her hands up and waved them around a little. "I'm not in love with you or anything, but I do care about you... I should just be more honest with my feelings for you, Ero."

"I love you too, Rhea..." said Ero before fluttering over to her friend, "I know it's hard when you see me and Scott together."

"Well, it's not about me right now. It's... Well, it' about you and Scott," said Rhea. A moment later she continued, "And... the baby."

Ero looked down and to the side. Reminders of what she'd lost were not something she wanted to hear.

"You both... You really wanted to have this child..." said Rhea with a slight smile.

"Rhea..." said Scott. He looked at her with soft, but curious eyes.

"I'm right, aren't I? You were both worried, but looking forward to a baby," she said while looking from one to the other.

Scott and Ero looked at each other briefly then slowly nodded. "Yeah. I never knew it before it became a possibility, but I was looking forward to having a kid," said Scott.

"Me too... I really wanted to bring someone special into the world, someone who..." Tears began to well-up in Ero's eyes once more. The thought of having lost something she'd never had once again surfaced.

Rhea placed her hand to her mouth for a moment and took a deep breath. "I've spent so much time being jealous of your relationship and closeness that I've stopped paying attention to my duty as a goddess... I'm sorry."

"You've gone through a lot, Ero... and if you and Scott really love each other I shouldn't stand in the way of that out of jealousy."

"Rhea, what are you saying?" asked Scott, his eyes widening.

She shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm not ending our relationship. I'm... I'm trying to accept the truth. We both love you Scott. You love both of us. I was just terrified that you might love Ero more because of your closeness."

"That's not true, though! He loves you more than anyone," said Ero excitedly.

Rhea smiled slightly but then shook her head. "It's not about me, at the moment. Right now acting as a goddess of love... I need to know what you two really want."

"What do you mean?" asked Scott.

"You do know who my mother is, right?" asked Rhea. "I mean... her official divine nature."

"Era... isn't she like a fertility goddess?" asked Ero. She remembered her easily since their names were so similar.

"Fertility, motherhood, safe pregnancies.... general lewdness," said Rhea.

"The goddess of MILFS basically..." said Scott.

Rhea gave him a look, but then sighed softly and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"I'm not good at expressing all of this, but I'm trying to tell you that if it means so much to have a child together... It's still possible," said Rhea.

"But... Karsi and Avidia said—" began Ero, only to stop mid-sentence. She bit her lower lip a little and looked at Rhea in confusion.

"Yes, they are right. You're going to give birth to a symbol of your feelings for Scott. But if you go make an offering at one of my mother's temples, and perform the ceremony, you'll definitely have a child as well."

Ero gasped loudly then fluttered briefly into the air. "Are.... Rhea, really?"

"Rhea, you... You've been thinking about this for a while, haven't you?"

"I feel partially responsible... If I was better at dealing with this sort of thing, you wouldn't have to hide your feelings for each other around me." Rhea reached up and offered a hand for Ero to stand on. "

"It's normal, from what my mother told me earlier, for this sort of thing to happen when a fairy enters a relationship. But you two are permanently joined."

Rhea bit her lower lips slightly then nodded. Her expression shifted to one of sincere regret. "This really shouldn't be happening... If you were fully engaging in properly loving each other it wouldn't have been like this, not according to my mother."

"You've talked to her about it? How long have you known?" asked Scott, a hit of anger rising in his voice.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. "I didn't till you asked me to look up Ero's status. My mother came into the room right as I was checking, and she explained everything."

"She told you that I could get pregnant, one hundred percent?" asked Ero, her spirits rising a little.

"Yes. She can also make it so that you won't get pregnant till you both want it. That can be done with a simple check of a box on your status."

"Wow, really?" asked Ero, her eyes wide.

"Absolutely. Getting pregnant requires a few activities to occur... Stopping it from happening is just a box check. My box is checked, for instance," said Rhea.

"It is? Why?" asked Ero. "You don't want to have children with Scott?"

"I'd love that, actually. It's just, I'm not like you Ero. This body I'm in is an avatar. If I have a child with Scott, I want to do so in my real form..." said Rhea. She could not look at Scott as she said it. Her face grew redder by the second.

"Couldn't you have a child in this form, and love them?" asked Ero softly. Her wide innocent eyes gazed tenderly at Rhea.

"I... I just..." Rhea looked down at the ground. "Would I even be a good mother?"

"You'd be a great mother," said Scott. Any child would be lucky to have you or Ero for a mother.

"Scott... You really think so?" asked Rhea, a strangely hopeful expression on her face.

"I think so, too!" exclaimed Ero. "Come on Rhea, you'd be great at it."

"We're not even married though, and..."

Scott reached out and took her free hand. "So, let's get married... you me, and Ero."

"You know I can't marry you until—" said Rhea.

"Origin can't, but Rhea can," said Scott.

"This... are you really proposing right now?" she asked him with an odd expression.

"I love you both. Making it official, with everything out on the table would be wonderful," said Scott. "No more jealousy or tip-toeing around on eggshells, just love..."

"Just... love?" asked Rhea. A soft smile crossed her lips. "I... I can't help it when I'm jealous, but... I think. No. I know I'd like that."

"That's wonderful Rhea!" exclaimed Ero. "I've always wanted to get along better with you."

"Ero..." said Rhea, emotion shining in her eyes, "Me too... I was so jealous it made it hard to see straight."

"What made you change?" asked Ero gently.

Rhea took a breath then said, "When I checked your status, I saw some of what you were going through. Thoughts that I might have caused some of the trouble, after my mother told me the situation in detail... Mostly, it's because I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I love you, Ero."

Silence reigned for a short time. Unburned by months of jealousy and guilt, Rhea looked at Ero with new eyes. Ero looked at Rhea with a hopeful expression. Scott kept his own counsel for the moment. Each of them had a great deal to think about, to share, to discuss. Bringing children into their situation would cause difficulties, but also great joy. Either way, they would need to make the decision as a family.