It had been two years since Esther had become queen of Persia. Now her once-hidden identity was widely known and she was even known as "the Jewish queen." Most still called her Esther but her husband knew her name to be Hadassah, even if no one but her uncle called her that. As if all this weren't enough, she had recently bore the child of Ahasuarus. Her son Duriel, meaning "heaven is my dwelling place", had only just been born but he already had a legion of admirers. Duriel spent most of his time with Mordecai to allow the couple more time together, but this was all well because Mordecai often insisted on spending time with Duriel. While Esther slept that night, the king went to check on his child as he was having trouble sleeping. Even after having disposed of his ex-chancellor Haman two years previously, he couldn't help but occasionally worry for his wife in this Pagan land. He knew that there were still those who would be less accepting than the general population. Ahasuarus then decided to go back to bed. The next morning Esther woke up and decided to check up on Duriel when she noticed her husband was gone. She found Ahasuarus standing next to where Mordecai was sitting and holding Duriel. "Good morning to all of you" said Esther, "good morning" replied Ahasuarus. "Good morning, child" said Mordecai, who Esther could tell hadn't gotten much sleep since Duriel had been born. Esther brought this up by Mordecai only shrugged it off, saying "I've been so busy getting to know my new great nephew, God bless him." He then handed over Duriel to Esther and Ahasuarus. Esther was enjoying spending time with her family, she didn't always have time to do so. But the image of Duriel surrounded by Ahasuarus and herself made her think of her parents, whom she had never met. All she had known was Mordecai, who from early on had told her to introduce herself as Esther to anyone and that she could only be Hadassah in his home. Having no wife and no wet nurse, he had even miraculously breastfed her. Esther was brought out of her thoughts by an evidently very fatigued Mordecai saying "I'm sure you wouldn't mind spending some time with Duriel. He reminds me so much of his mother but he wears me out." "You go rest, Uncle" said Ahasuarus, "you deserve it." Mordecai went to his room, where he would have a much needed nap and left the proud parents with Duriel. Esther decided to sit in the garden and take Duriel with him, as she hadn't been able to spend much time with her son since he was born. During her queenship, Esther had found the garden to be somewhere where she could get away from the sometimes suffocating atmosphere of the palace and closer to nature and God. She sat Duriel facing forward on her lap and pointed out the rose, the lotus, the lily, the tulip, the daffodil, the myrtle, the honeysuckle, the marigold, the lavender, and the magnolia. There was also the trees: the ash, the beech, the birch, the cherry, the chestnut, the elm, the maple, the oak, the pine, the sycamore, the willow, and the yew. Ahasuarus came and sat next to his beautiful wife and embraced her and Duriel, saying "do you know what, my love?" "What?" Esther answered. "We're the perfect family now, you and I and Duriel" "and Uncle Mordecai?" "and Uncle Mordecai. I remember when we saved your people and I first got to know him, I called him 'sir' and he asked me to call him 'uncle'." "I remember that, it was adorable. My father died while my mother was pregnant and my mother died giving birth. My uncle is all I know. This may sound hard to believe but he couldn't find a wet nurse so he nursed me himself." Esther now stood up and walked over to a patch of grass with Duriel while Ahasuarus watched. Esther set Duriel down next to her in the sun and invited the king to join her. The perfect family sat in the garden all together.
Note: Duriel is 4 months old.
Duriel=Heaven is my dwelling place