Xirysa Say: For LittleGreenBudgie because it's her birthday and she deserves something that I wish was amazing but unfortunately isn't. That aside… Happy birthday, my friend!
A Beautiful Thing
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Raymond really didn't notice it. Not at first, at least. Mother just seemed to be eating more than normal—and rather odd foods at that—but Father didn't seem to care, so Raymond just ignored it and did what all two years old did:
He made a fuss until he got his strawberry-filled pastry.
As the days went by, however, Mother seemed to be ill all the time—Father chided her, claiming that it was a because she was eating so much. Raymond thought it was rather funny to see his mother being scolded like a little child. It made him laugh. And when he laughed, Mother did, too.
Like when he sat on Mother's lap as the servants added more and more wood to the fire in the hearth and found he couldn't sit comfortably anymore because Mother's belly was in the way; she would giggle and tell him that it wasn't her fault, go blame Father. And then Raymond would giggle because it sounded so silly to hear his mother say that, and Mother would laugh and tickle him until he was out of breath.
After a while, though, Raymond couldn't sit on Mother's lap at all because her belly was so big. When he asked her why, she said it was because there was a baby growing inside her.
That rather confused Raymond, because he didn't know how a baby could grow inside a person. So he asked his mother. She told him something about birds and bees and things that Raymond didn't really understand. When she was done, Raymond shrugged and asked for something sweet to eat.
Mother's belly got bigger after that. Soon, she wasn't walking around the castle anymore; Father made her rest in their bedroom room all the time. She told Raymond how terribly boring it was and how she wanted to go outside to see the flowers blooming, but the servants that waited on her would only allow her out of bed to let her use the chamber pot. Mother said it made her sad.
Raymond didn't like seeing his mother sad, so every day, he would manage to get away from his retainers long enough to grab a few flowers from the garden for Mother. When he gave them to her in the evening, she would smile and hold him and kiss his forehead and tell him what a good boy he was. He liked that.
But one day when he was three, Raymond wasn't allowed into his parents' room to give Mother her flowers. The door was closed, but he could hear his mother moaning and groaning—it sounded like she was in pain, and Raymond didn't like that at all.
Father came, then, looking extremely worried. When Raymond told him that he wanted to see Mother, Father sighed and said that they had to wait for a little bit before they could see her. Raymond didn't like waiting, but because Father asked him to, he did.
A "little bit" ended up turning into a "really, really long time," and Raymond was sleeping in his father's lap when one of the servants came to get them. They went to the room Mother was in, with Father leading the way and Raymond, who was being carried by the servant, following.
When they finally saw Mother, Raymond was surprised—not because she seemed very, very tired—because, in her arms, Mother was holding something wrapped in white blankets.
The servant set Raymond down on the bed beside his mother, and he stood up and looked at the thing wrapped in the blankets.
Its small face was red and wrinkly, it had no hair, and it was possibly the ugliest thing that Raymond had ever seen. But Mother and Father were cooing at it and make funny faces and saying over and over again how beautiful the thing was.
Before Raymond could ask what the thing was, Mother told him. "This is Priscilla, Raymond," she told him. "She is your little sister."
Raymond made a face at the baby. "She's ugly," he said.
Father laughed. "Right now she is," he said, "but in time, she'll become a beautiful woman like your mother."
"That's right," Mother said, "it's like the ugly duckling. Soon, she'll be a lovely young woman, and you'll be a handsome man."
Raymond looked at his mother, and then at the baby. There was spit on her chin, and her face was scrunched up like she was going to start crying. "She's still ugly."
Priscilla seemed to hear him; she opened one dark eye and looked at Raymond. When she saw him, Priscilla smiled, and something in Raymond's tiny body made him smile, too.
"Is today Priscilla's birthday?" Raymond asked.
Mother chuckled. "I suppose it is," she said.
Raymond's smile grew. "Happy birthday, Priscilla," he said.
And when Priscilla opened her tiny mouth and made a noise that sounded like "blearghoo", Raymond knew she meant "thank you".
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Xirysa Says: Um. Little!Raven/Raymond was really fun to write, by the way. What is it with me writing the characters as children? Even though it's highly entertaining, but… Lol. Once again, I more or less gave up on the ending. Oh well. Anyhoo, feedback and opinions would be great!