To Love, Once Again

"Mama?"

Little Leo holds up his arms for a hug from his mother. 

Crouching low in front of her son, Sera gives him a big hug, lifting him up in her arms. Her heart was still beating fast after that last kiss with Lucien. Did her son see? He shouldn't have seen anything, but she wasn't sure. 

Sera wasn't ready to have a talk with her son on how adults kissed. Who knows, the conversation may stray into further territory(like the birds and the bees) that she cared not to go over with her son just yet.

"Good night Mama!" Leo says in greeting, happiness breaking through like a ray of sunshine through the clouds of sleepiness. Usually he was a good boy and listened to Bea when she told him to stay in bed, but Bea had left him in a hurry before bedtime, making him curious.

The Elder-person that was wrapped up in a blanket didn't seem to care when he woke up and crawled off the bed, taking his blanket to sit in the entryway of the cottage.

"You wook difwent Mama" Taking the edge of the soft blue blanket draped over his lap, he starts chewing on it, looking like a pondering old man chewing on his tobacco pipe, as he stares up at his Mama's face.

She was still in her squire's outfit, with remnants of coal on her cheeks and hair falling out from under her hat. But it was dark enough in the entryway to hide the mark on her cheek. 

"Do I look that different?" Sera asks, gently tugging the blanket from his mouth. Lois had said it wasn't good to let children chew on things too much. It made their teeth develop at a strange angle, so let them chew in moderation, she'd said. 

"Don't like it" Leo's lips stick out as he puffs up his soft cheeks and shakes his head. His Mama was a fairy. She should be wearing fluffy soft dresses and sparkly things in her hair like in the pictures Bea drew for him. Beautiful and wonderful things that fit his Mama.

"You don't like it?"

Sera's hands move to quickly push back the hairs that fell around her face. Except for the part that covered her bruised cheek. Her long brown hairs cascade out of the hat and down the side of her neck on the injured side. Did he see the injury? Sera didn't want to worry her baby son.

Fingering the simple fabric of her pants, Leo shakes his head. "Not pwetty like Mama."

With all seriousness, except for her eyes shaking with mirth, Sera nods. "We need to fix that, don't we, Leo."

"Yesh!" His face lights up. Was his Mama going to do magic in front of him? The storybooks Bea read to him said that fairies liked to wear flower petals for clothing, using their magic to enlarge the petals into skirts.

"And get you back in bed too." Sera adds in the same serious tone of voice.

Picking up her son, Sera climbs up the stairs, hoping there's a basin in Leo's room that she could wipe off with. Her body was still fairly clean from the bath she'd taken earlier with Lucien. But the coal needed to go. It had served it's purpose.

"yesh.." Leo's happy expression dampens. He didn't want to go to bed just yet. He wanted to see his Mama transform first. And then she would probably leave for a while again, till the next time Bea took him to see her. Leo buries his head in Sera's neck to hide his yawn from her.

"Leo's not sleepy, Mama." He says in a small voice, shaking his head against her neck.

Sera smiles again. She could feel Leo's small mouth opening wide into a yawn against her neck. It was obvious from the way Leo would rub his eyes every once in a while that he was sleepy. Just because she couldn't see his yawns didn't mean he wasn't sleepy.

"Mama's sleepy though, Leo." Sera fakes a big yawn, which turns into a real yawn, a big one that makes tears gather at the corners of her eyes. 

"Oh."

Fingers curling into the lapels of her shirt like a handle, Leo looks up into Sera's face, his cowlick waving atop his head.

"Mama come to say good night Leo?" The corners of his eyes turn downwards like a sad puppy. He didn't want her to go again. Leo was still a small child. Especially for a child that rarely got to see his mother, he hated saying goodbye to her.

Smiling, Sera rubs her nose against Leo's, making him giggle. A small smidge of coal transferred from her skin to his, making Leo's little button nose grey.

"No, Mama came to stay the night here with you!"

That makes Leo clap his hands in delight. Sera opens the bedroom door while holding her wiggling son's bottom, setting him down atop the soft bed. She wanted to dive into the covers, but she ignored the urge.

Her face needed to be cleaned first.

Where did the Elder go? They were supposed to be watching over her son. The rocking chair next to Leo's bed was still rocking, as if someone had just left a short while ago. That was probably the Elder. Sera wished they wouldn't leave in such a creepy way like that though. It was scary seeing the chair still rocking with no one sitting in it. Walking over and stopping the rocking chair's movement, Sera finds a clean towel, basin and a full pitcher of water on the bedside table next to the rocking chair.

'For you'. A small note left next to the basin, atop the folded towel, was written in a messy scrawl. That confirmed her suspicions. Definitely the work of the Elder. 

"Where Blanket Pwerson?"

"Blanket Person." The moment she repeated Leo's words, the lightbulb in Sera's head went off. Sera felt like she was on a roll. Now this one was easier to decipher. Blanket person was definitely the Elder, what with the robes they loved to wrap themselves up in.

Wetting the towel and wiping off the remaining coal smears on her face, Sera replies to Leo. "Blanket Person went home, Leo" 

"Pwerson go to-mmmm.." Leo tilts his scruffy head, trying to remember the word. It was a new word Bea had taught him, one that described the time of day he often saw his Mama. When everything was dark and people were asleep, Bea would carry him into the castle to see his Mama.

"quiet?"

A tiny frown develops on his soft features. Was that the right word? WIth an earnest expression he peers up at his Mama, knowing that she'll understand.

After all, she was his Mama.

"Quiet?"

Sera wracked her brain for what her son was trying to tell her. Go somewhere quiet? Where was quiet??'What was her son saying?? Another word was throwing her for a loop. 

Pointing one pudgy finger to the dark window, Leo repeats the word again.

"Quiet time."

Sera was getting it. She does her best to swallow her exclamation of Aha! Children were difficult at times to decipher. It was as if they spoke in their own simple code. Using the towel to hide the twitching corners of her mouth, Sera rubs the cloth hard against her face.

No, Sera needed to stay serious. Her son expected her to understand what he was saying. After taking her time to get all clean, Sera turns to her son and asks:

"You mean night time, Leo?" 

"Night time!" Leo jumps atop the bed, laughing in delight. His short playtime was cut short as Sera grabs him and lays him down on the bed with her. Time to sleep before the sun rose.

"Blanket Person went to sleep, so we should too." From what Sera knew of the Elder, they were most definitely not going to sleep. Probably back working on their research again. She didn't even know if the Elder needed sleep. Oh well. 

"Goodnight, my precious baby." Sera kisses the top of Leo's head and pulls the covers over them both.

Night time was almost over. The sky was lightening, and Sera's body felt heavy from the burst of exercise she'd gone through this night. All the adrenaline was gone now, leaving her with a fatigued body and dusty-feeling eyelids. Smelling the sweet baby scent of her son on the blankets, Sera wishes Lucien was here with them. That day would come soon, her heart told her, making her smile as her eyelids shutter closed.

Sera fell into a deep sleep, body curled around her son, heart feeling full to bursting with the love she felt for him and his father.