Chapter 118 - Fairies?

"Hey pretty lady," said Cordell gently, "Are you ready for this? The girls are at school and Stone is down for a nap. We have at least two hours to read and see if we can find out any deep dark secrets about your mother."

"Don't we have enough drama right now with our own deep dark secrets? Why try to find more?"

Cordell felt bad for her. She had put this off for many, many years. She needed to face her demons.  "Yes, Delia. We do. No more stalling. You need to close this chapter of your life so you can move on. Maybe you can find out what she was. I think I already know just based on the contents of the basement but unless you read her journals, you may never know for sure and even then you still may never know."

"She was human Cordell, like me."

"Let's go. I will sit with you."

Delia opened the secret bookcase and the two of them walked into her 'room of doom'.

Delia sat down at the computer and it wasn't working. She had to get it fixed again before they could begin. Cordell thought she was simply stalling.



















While Delia worked to get the Computer running, Cordell dragged in a chair so he could sit and read over her shoulder.  Delia opened the journal and paged through until she came the first entry. Before when she tried to read, she didn't get far and skipped around. This time Cordell was making her go in order so she wouldn't miss anything.

There were no dates on the document. Just prose typed out. Delia began to read aloud:

Little one, I am so lonesome that I have decided to write to help pass the time until the day you are born. The day I first get to meet you and hold you in my arms will be bittersweet yet I can hardly wait for that day!  You are what keeps me sane. It will be horribly sad that Newt - your father – won’t be able to meet you too. Surely his spirit will be watching. I have started a garden and it gives me something to do until then. The days are lonely and the nights are worse. If I work hard all day, I can sometimes sleep through the night. 

Cordell jumped up and said, "Okay, first clues. Your father's name was Newt and he must have died before you were born."

"That's weird. Mom said he died after I was born. Obviously that was a lie. I am not sure I want to do this."

"Read Delia!"

Delia sighed and read the next entry:

Appaloosa Plains is so different from my homeland. I miss the trees, mountains and waterfalls so much. But this is the last place one would expect to find someone like me, well like I used to be, before my father. I hope you like your new last name. I choose Newton to honor your father's memory. He was so happy when he found out I was pregnant and would have been a wonderful father. My darling child, I am sorry I wasn’t strong enough to save him.

"So more information. She wasn't from your birthplace. She was running and changed her last name. But why?" asked Cordell and then when Delia stopped he encouraged her to go on.

I am 4 months along and today was especially hard. I felt you moving in my womb for the first time and longed to have your father place his hand over my expanding middle to feel it too. Every milestone should be shared with the one I love and that will never happen. I miss Newt so much sometimes I physically ache. I will never forgive my father for what he did, not only to my Newt, but to you and me and even my mother. Taking Newt away from us just because he was human is immoral. Thanks to your grandmother, I still have you but thanks to my father, we will never see each other again and she will never meet you, her grandchild. I knew I was playing with fire when Newt and I started seeing each other. We were drawn together like metal to a magnet and there was nothing that could keep us apart. We were so much in love. I can still see him looking at me with those beautiful blue eyes. The poor Jamisons, they will never know what really happened to their son. So here I sit in Appaloosa Plains, alone, wingless and pregnant. No, I am not going to complain. I have to keep reminding myself, I have you and since I have you I will always have a part of my darling Newt. 

It hurt Cordell to hear the pain in Delia's voice as she read the last entry. When she had recovered enough she asked, "I don't understand. What does wingless mean?"

"Delia, your mother was a fairy. Fairies stay hidden. They are very ruthless about keeping their whereabouts and identity secret. Even more so than other supernaturals. And your father was human. It is forbidden by Fae Law to interbreed. They want to keep their occult pure and undiluted. And your father's real name: Newt Jamison. We have that now. Please, baby, keep going."

My garden is doing well. It feels wonderful to be outdoors. The garden and you make me feel alive again. I also found an elixir store. Imagine that, right here in sleepy little Appaloosa Plains. Who would have ever thought? I guess the supernatural community really is everywhere even though they remain hidden from the human population. The store has an elixir recipe book and a cauldron. They said I could consign my produce to make enough money to buy them.  Maybe, with time, I can figure out how to reverse what my father did to me – to us.

"Oh Cordell, this is awful. Wingless, reverse what he did to her? Did he strip her of her powers? Is that why she says wingless. She was trying to find a way to get her wings back with the elixir recipes?" asked Delia.

"She wanted to be whole again Delia. It would be like taking away my powers, I would feel lost." said Cordell in a whisper then gently urged her, "go on pretty lady."

None of my self-pity today!  I went shopping and purchased a crib and some other furniture for you with the money I have been making from my selling my produce.  Well, that plus a little I had leftover from the money your grandmother gave me when she helped me escape my homeland and my father’s wrath to buy this little two bedroom house for us. Seeing the crib and your room makes me very happy because soon you will be sleeping there. 

Delia got up from the computer. "He must have found out she was pregnant with a human's baby and took away her wings. But she says her mother helped her escape. What was he going to do to her? What did he do to her? I never knew. She never talked about it and well, I was young, I never asked. She died when I was a teenager."

Cordell hugged his pretty fairy lady. "I understand how hard this is. But look how much more you know just reading these few entries. My pretty lady, you are half fairy! Do you know how special that is?  Fairies live VERY long, like vampires. It is entirely possible that your grandmother is still alive. Let's read more."

Delia braced herself for the heart-wrenching entries:

I am well into my 6th month with you now. You kick me a lot and it makes me so happy to feel those little feet and hands stretching to get out. I was able to get the book and cauldron. I have been studying the elixir recipes. Some are quite hard to master, but they sell well in the consignment store along with my extra produce. It is proving to provide plenty of money for us.  But this has to remain a secret.  I don’t want my father to find me or risk any accidental discovery so I contracted to have a basement built with a secret entrance through my bedroom. It should be done by the time you are born. 

"She was so afraid of her father. He must have been very wicked," commented Delia sadly and continued to read:

You are due in 2 weeks!  Very soon I will be able to hold you in my arms. I already love you with all my heart and soul. I am so big it is becoming hard for me to pick the mushrooms and plants. But pick I must!  The revenue from this is our life’s blood.  Maybe harvesting will help bring on my labor. I am not afraid of the pain because I know when it is over I will be able to hold you in my arms.

"At least she is beginning to seem happier with your imminent birth - you saved her Delia," said Cordell and then Delia began again:

My labor has started!  I am off to the hospital. Next time I update, I will know your name. I have decided upon Delia if you are a girl or Delbert if you are a boy. Your grandmother’s name was Delia. If not for her, you and I would not meet today on your birthday.

"I was named after my grandmother. I never knew that either," said Delia sadly. 

I brought you home today; my sweet little angel Delia. When I heard your first little cry, my heart swelled. And then, when the nurse handed you to me I was overcome with emotion and the tears came. I always knew I loved you, but holding you helped fill the hole that I have had in my heart these past 6 months since I left home and lost Newt forever. This is now home. You made it that way. And then, when my tears stopped and my eyes cleared up enough to actually look at your perfect little body, you opened your eyes and looked at me. You took my breath away. I was staring into the eyes of my lover, your father and I knew they were a gift from God. He gave you your father’s beautiful blue eyes. You didn’t get his raven black hair, I am pretty sure you are blonde like me, although you don’t have much so it’s hard to tell.

One month old and I swear you are smiling at me now. You are the cutest little thing and so happy. No sign of wings though but that is okay. You are like your father - perfect, so very human and absolutely adorable. I bring your swing outside while I tend the garden. You love it when I sing to you and I love doing it.

Happy Birthday my little blue-eyed blonde angel!  I can’t believe it has been a year since you were born. You are growing up so fast. Unfortunately, so am I! I have noticed that I am already showing signs of late middle age when I should still be a young woman. I am aging rapidly, even faster than a human. It must have been the curse from my father that is the cause. I relish working in the garden but now it makes my back ache. Not too bad though; nothing that a good elixir or a hot bath won’t fix. However, I fear my search for the Elixir needed to reverse my father’s curse will be out of my reach and therefore I may not be around to see my own grandchildren. But I don’t mind. You are special and one day, before I go, I can share this with you and then perhaps you will find the Elixir recipe to get your heritage back and meet your namesake, your grandmother Delia.  

Delia jumped up and Cordell wrapped his arms around her again. "She knew she was going to die young," whispered Delia while Cordell held her. "I can't read anymore. Not now. This is enough. I need to digest it."

"You understand why?" asked Delia. She wanted him to not be upset with her. "This is overwhelming. Fairies, banishment, curses, death. Did my grandfather kill my father? It sounds like he did and might have killed me or even my mother too. He punished her by changing her and she died way before her time and my grandmother saved her and me. Do you really think she might still be alive?"

"Baby, I don't know. But at least we know more than we did. We have your mother's description of your homeland. I might be able to find out where some of the fairies live. I saw one the other day before they saw me and hid their wings so there is a nest of them somewhere in Lucky Palms which surprises me. Fairies are nature creatures and take to the wooded areas that are lush and green. Come on. Let's get out of here before Stone wakes up." 

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