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Holding onto his head when the room began to spin again, he saw a little girl standing at the window, This time in another bedroom. He could see in front of her the snow drifting down from the sky. When she turned to him, he could see that this was a different child. Her eyes were as brown as his were. But she looked so much like her mother that he knew her to be his and Amelia’s.
When the room changed again, this time to the kitchen of his grandparent’s home, he saw a woman there. One that he’d never met before now. When his brother Barron walked to her, putting his hand on her swollen belly, he knew that this would be the last time he would see him in a while. They were the ones that were leaving the mountain.
Frazier opened his eyes and sat up in the bed. He was home, in the present time. Looking for Amelia, he found her in the bathroom. She was brushing her teeth and humming a tune that he’d not heard since he’d been a child.
“I just had the most incredible dreams.” She only smiled at him. “You saw them too? You know what I saw?”
“No. You have a lot more magic than you did before. Do you want to tell me what you saw?” He did, but he also didn’t want to share just yet. “You don’t have to. I know that you will someday, but not today. Correct?”
Instead of answering her, he kissed her. She was his life, and they were going to have a child. Several if his dreams were true. Getting to his knees, he removed the towel she’d wrapped around her after her shower. Kissing her still flat belly, he hugged her there as well, putting his ear to where he knew his little girl was safely cocooned.
“It’s a girl. I don’t know why I know that just now but we’re having a little girl.” He nodded, his emotions getting the better of him, the longer he held her. “I’d like to name her after your grannie. And my mom.”
“Granny’s first name was Alma middle was Millicent. She went by Minnie because her mother was Alma. I think my grandda’s middle name was Alford, and his first name was Peter, after his grandda.” She said she’d take care that their son was named for him as well. “What is your mom’s name? I don’t think I ever knew.”
“Beatrice Anna. I don’t know that she had a last name. When pressed about a last name, I’d just come up with something that was around the room, like a book title or an author. For a very long time, I just used Becker. So what do you think about Millicent Anna? Or Beatrice Alma?” He looked up at her. “I’m up for either of them. I really like them both.”
“I do as well. We’ll use one for this child, and if we have another girl, we’ll use the other. That should be good enough, right?” She told him what she wanted to call their son. “Peter Frazier? I think I like that name very much. We’ll call him Pete.”
“Yes, perfect.” Frazier stood up and kissed her again. “I really need to get going. I don’t want to, but I have about a million things to get finished today. In addition to Dave, I have to figure out what is being done about the witches’ council, and I have to find someone that is willing to be my right-hand man. I was thinking of asking Sunny to be there for me. Sort of like someone to hold my temper at bay when I need it.”
“She’d love it. But why do you need a council?” She said that she didn’t. “Then why bother. It’s not like they’re going to be very helpful to you since you pretty much rule it all. Just don’t bother. It will only be one more thing for you to have to mess with, and with a baby coming along, it might be more headache than it’s worth.”
When she said that she’d think about it, he was happy. Taking a shower made him think about how sore he was, and he couldn’t be the least bit upset about how bending to pick up the soap had made him whimper. At least he wouldn’t have to explain to Amelia why he was whining like a baby.
Heading out to his building, he was just getting the resin measured out when Maria joined him. He’d forgotten that the kids were out of the hospital and asked her if Gibb knew where she was. Frazier told her she needed to be careful, too, because of the wild animals that roamed the land.
“Mr. Gibb told me to be extra careful. He knows that I was coming here.” She didn’t touch anything he had laying out but did answer her questions that she had about things. “I love to work with paint. We haven’t been anywhere that I could play around with it. Do you think that Mr. Gibb would mind if I asked him for some?”
“No, he’d be thrilled. However, you’re welcome to come out here and use what I have so long as you clean up after yourself when you’re finished.” She turned and looked at him wide-eyed. “What? You expected me to tell you to stay out of here and leave my things alone? I’d never do that. Not to anyone wanting to create. You can come here when you wish, but make sure that someone knows where you are. Like I said, it could be dangerous.”
“I promise you that I’ll take care of things.” It only took him a few minutes to set her up with some watercolors. She said that was what she used at home. He also showed her where the canvas was that she could use. Again, he cautioned her about using the machine to stretch and make a canvas for her to use. “This is really nice of you, Mr. Frazier. I can’t thank you enough.”
“If you want to call me something, call me either Frazier or Uncle Frazier. You were told that your mom is Gibb’s mate, right?” She nodded as she picked out a brush to use. “Good. I’m going to be working over here. I sometimes get caught up in my work, so don’t be surprised that I might not answer you right away. All right?”
“Yes, all right. I do the same thing. I’ll let you know if I leave or something.” As she set to work, he did as well. He was finished mixing the resin and pouring it when he realized that he was enjoying having her out here with him. She wasn’t a chatterbox like most people would be but buried her head into what she was doing and looked to be having fun.
The touch to his shoulder had him turning quickly. It was Maria, and she was smiling at him. When he asked her if she was all right, she smiled bigger and asked him if he wanted anything from the house. That she was going to get her a snack.
“I have some out here. Water, too, if you want it.” After getting them both a couple of granola bars and a bottle of water, he looked at her painting. “Christ, honey. That’s fantastic.”
It was too. Walking closer to the little girl’s art, he was blown away by her mastery of the paintbrush. Sitting in front of the work, he marveled at the talent one so young had. Frazier asked if Gibb had seen her work.
“No. I mean, I didn’t want to bother him with the paint and things until my mom came home. But then I saw you coming out here and thought that—do you really like it?” He reached for his brother, telling him to get out there as soon as he could. Then he told her how much he loved it. “Thank you so much. I think that I’ve not been this relaxed in a while. It felt good to be able to do something again that is normal.”
He hugged her tightly when she started to tear up, and he was still holding her when not just Gibb showed up but Mark and Ewing as well. They thought that he’d done it and was so happy to tell them and surprise them that little Maria had done it. He knew that she was going to be going places, and he was thrilled beyond words that he got to help her even just a little to get going on her art again.
~*~
It was nearly midnight when Amelia got back to the house. Her body was aching, and she was so tired, but she had gotten a great deal of work done today and was proud of it. Frazier was in the dining room with several catalogs lying around him. She picked up one and read the company name.
“Thinking of adding more supplies to your work?” He laughed with her and told her about the art that Maria had done. He handed her his phone to show her a picture he’d taken. “That’s wonderful. So you’re going to buy her some supplies? That’s nice of you.”
“Gibb asked me to figure out what she’d need. The problem is, I want to get her everything all at once. But I know that I can’t do that. Also, I don’t think that I should just get her some things to work with. I need to make sure that the other two have things they can work on as well.” She sat down beside him. “You think that I’m nuts, don’t you?”
“No. I think that our children are going to be spoiled rotten if you don’t reign your need to please in a bit.” They both laughed, and he kissed her. “Ask them what they want to do. Have space for them in your place for them to come and go as they want. The house too. I know they don’t live all that far away, but it would be good if they had spaces to go when they need some time alone.”
“I like that. I know that growing up with my brothers around all the time, it was hard to get a moment to myself. I think that’s why I went out here to work. Well, not that building but one that sat here before the one I have now.” He smiled at her. “You’ve had a rough day, haven’t you? I can tell that you’re stressed too.”
