A/N: So I didn't realize it had been twelve days since I updated this story! Sorry guys! (Ok, so it's not as long as I left it go before, but still). Anyway, thanks so much to stokette for helping me along in the story! And thanks to stokette and sunrise4ever for reviewing! Btw, the guest that reviewed, thank you for complimenting my talent, and I'm sorry I kept you waiting last time. Glee is not mine, and neither is the goddess, Nyx, who will be making an appearance later in the chapter. Dream sequence is in italics.
Chapter Ten: Fallen Angel
Rachel's third pregnancy had been the hardest on her yet. She had been laid up in bed throughout most of the first six months, and Jesse had catered to her every step of the way. He and Shannon had taken care of the three older children, allowing the twins to still attend school with Brittany. Little Robert was never far from his nanny or his father, and although he was a quiet baby who slept most of the day, he still made his presence known on occasion. Since the twins were still small, Jesse did his best to protect his children from the fear that he was losing his wife and that they might lose their mother. Shelby and Rebecca came often, wanting to make sure that Rachel was progressing through the pregnancy with few complications.
Squire Hummel, the blacksmith, had been recently widowed and he allowed his five year old son Kurt to come over to the St James estate for the lessons as well. John and Kurt were the best of friends and Brittany had an idea about teaching the five year olds in teams–she would pair Miriam and Elizabeth together and then John and Kurt. Sometimes she would mix it up and have the twins versus Elizabeth and Kurt. She made it fun for them, showing them not only the herbs and spells they would use to heal, but also little tricks like making flowers grow or diverting the stream with her wand.
It was during one such afternoon that Brittany had the children out in the garden learning about some magical history when Jesse came running from the house and grinning from ear to ear. He picked up Miriam and John, kissing each of their cheeks. "It's a girl! A beautiful, dark-haired girl!" he shouted, setting the twins down and taking baby Robert from Shannon. The small boy giggled, seeing the smile on his father's face. Jesse kissed his youngest son's face and held him close.
Miriam and John grinned, hugging their father's waist.
"How is Mama?" Miriam asked, looking up at Jesse.
"She's resting now," Jesse said, smiling at his eldest.
"Can we see her?" John asked. "Please, Papa?"
"Can they take a break, Brittany?" Jesse asked, smiling at his friend.
"Absolutely," Brittany said, smiling at the children. "I'll take Kurt, Samara, and Elizabeth on a little nature walk while you make the introductions."
Jesse grinned, taking his three children into the house. Shannon followed them inside, so glad to hear of the new addition. Jesse had been so relieved when Melody had been born with a full head of curly black hair. He was worried that Quinnella would try and kidnap the child if it somehow ended up being hers. There was still fear in the Puckerman household that Quinnella was going to come after Elizabeth any day now and it had been nine months since the attempted kidnapping.
Jesse led the twins up the stairs to the master suite and was stopped in the hallway by Rebecca. "What's happened?" he asked.
"I can't say in front of the little ones," Rebecca said. "But I will bring their sister out to meet them while you go in and talk to Shelby."
Jesse nodded, giving Robert over to Shannon and going inside with Rebecca.
"You think Mama will be alright?" Miriam asked Shannon. She was holding onto her twin and trying not to cry, but sometimes not knowing was worse.
John held his twin sister close and looked to their nursemaid.
Shannon smiled at the twins and knelt down beside them. "Your mother is one of the strongest women I know," she said, stroking little Robert's back. "And she would never leave her babies."
Miriam and John smiled, hugging Shannon, who held them close.
Rebecca returned with a small bundle in her arms and also knelt down to the twins' level. "This is your new sister, Melody," she said.
Miriam gasped, seeing the tiny baby with the black curls all over her head. "She looks like me and John smooshed together," she said, grinning.
Rebecca and Shannon chuckled.
Robert leaned over and kissed Melody's forehead. "Mew-dee!" he said.
The baby cooed, smiling up at her new family.
Miriam and John smiled, each kissing one of Melody's tiny hands.
Shannon smiled at the newest baby. "She looks quite a bit like Lord and Lady St. James put together," she remarked to Rebecca.
Rebecca nodded. "Shelby said the same thing," she replied.
Jesse's POV
Jesse came up to his mother-in-law and looked at her expression, his own brow creasing with worry. "Shelby..is she...?" He couldn't finish the sentence as he looked from Shelby to his sleeping wife. If he said it, that would make it true, and he couldn't think that way on one of the four happiest days of his life.
"She's still alive," Shelby whispered, stroking her daughter's forehead. "We had to put her into a deep magical sleep...the baby's birth was too much for her."
Jesse's eyes filled with tears as he knelt beside his wife's still form. "I'm so very sorry, my love," he said, kissing her hand and stroking her hair. "I hope you come back to me...to our family...soon."
Shelby looked down at her son-in-law and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "She may very well do so," she said. "But for now, she has to heal herself. The magic is only temporary. If–when–when she comes out of it, she will be very disoriented and may say some things...I don't want you to be alarmed."
Jesse nodded, his eyes never leaving Rachel's face. "I just want her to come out of it soon," he said, kissing his wife's hands. "I need my soulmate."
Shelby nodded. "I know how you feel," she said, thinking of Hiram and how she would feel if she ever lost him.
Jesse smiled up at Shelby. "I can let you get back to your husband and send word if anything changes," he suggested.
Shelby nodded. "Rebecca and I will be just a messenger away," she said.
Jesse nodded, standing up and hugging her. "You are the best mother that she could have possibly asked for," he said, his voice cracking.
"And you are the best husband I could have wished for her," Shelby said, returning the hug and leaving him with his wife.
Jesse looked to Rachel and sat on the bed beside her. He leaned down and kissed her lips softly, but unlike the storybook, she did not awaken. "I will wait forever for you, my love," he whispered. He took her hands again and kissed each one, wishing that he could be in Rachel's mind and could know what she was thinking. He hoped that she could find her way back to him. The idea that his children would never know how wonderful their mother truly was...that was just too much to bear. Jesse smiled sadly and began to sing. It seemed to be the best way he knew to get through to Rachel and it always worked.
"You're home again,
Glad you kept the key
Been waitin' here
seems a million years to me,
but, hush now,
I know you're all cried out
It's alright
inside I've had no doubt about
your love for me
I can see behind the tears
I'm certain of the way we feel
and given time the hurt will heal
I need you
I think I always will
From time to time
You play around but I love you still
You've tried them all
At everybody's beck and call
But maybe you'll resist them all
When I tell you how I've missed you
Fallen Angel
I'll forgive you anything
you can't help the things you do
now, something's gotten hold of you
Fallen Angel
Got a demon in your soul
And later when the fever's gone
I'll be here where you belong.
You're home again,
so won't you close the door
stay here with me,
and we'll forget what's gone before
So hold me tight
our love is gonna make it if I
put shadows way beyond recall
The ghost has almost gone
Fallen Angel
I'll forgive you anything
you can't help the things you do
now, something's gotten hold of you
Fallen Angel
Got a demon in your soul
And later when the fever's gone
I'll be here where you belong..."
Jesse looked again to his wife and held her hand to his lips. "Come back to me, my angel," he begged.
Rachel's POV
Rachel opened her eyes to find herself in a meadow, laying upon a bed of spring flowers. She was wearing a gown of midnight blue that was very plain and had an empire waist. Her hair was loose and curled about her shoulders, and she had a gold circlet with a full moon in the center of her forehead. She sat up and looked around, feeling very disoriented, but not at all scared. It was dark out, and the moon was high and full. Suddenly remembering, she stroked her middle and felt the tell-tale sign that she'd just given birth–her stomach was still somewhat distended, but there was no baby inside her womb.
Rachel did not panic. She knew that her baby was safe, wherever it was. After all, her mother and Rebecca would have never let anything happen to the baby girl. She stood from the meadow and looked around, wondering if she was truly alone.
"Hello, my daughter," a woman's voice said from behind her.
Rachel turned and smiled at the woman–no–goddess, before her. She was face to face with Nyx, the goddess of the Moon that her clan had worshiped since time immemorial. Rachel knew this to be her goddess by the flowing silver robes the color of moonlight as well as the woman's black hair that seemed to be dotted here and there with diamonds–no, those had to be stars.
"Hello, Great Mother of All," Rachel said, bowing to her goddess and putting both fists to her heart.
"Rise, my child, and come with me," Nyx said, holding a hand out to the young woman.
Rachel stood erect and looked to Nyx and took her hand. She followed the goddess into a golden temple, unable to keep her eyes on any one feature. "The Great Temple?" she said in awe.
Nyx nodded, stopping before the altar. "My worthy sons and daughters always gain admittance to the Great Temple at least once before they are called home to the Celestial Palace," she said. "I have a gift for you, daughter of High Priestess Shelby."
"A gift? But Mother, you have blessed me with so many things..." Rachel said, astonished. "You gave me the gift of a loving husband...and the most precious children. And you gave me two loving parents to begin with."
Nyx smiled. "Yes, all of those things are my gift, but I have one more gift for you, Lady Rachel of St. James," she said. "Kneel, my child."
Rachel obeyed her goddess and knelt before Nyx, bowing her head yet again. She felt the deity slip something over her head and saw a necklace with the maiden-mother-crone symbol resting between her bosom. Rachel gasped, looking up to the goddess. "Thank you, Great Mother," she said.
"You are welcome, my daughter," Nyx said, kissing her forehead. "You have now fulfilled the prophecy of your people. Every two hundred years, I give a piece of myself to a worthy recipient who has shown herself to be a representative of me on Earth. With that symbolic gift, I also bestow upon you powers beyond most of your peers. When the time comes for you to join me in the Celestial Palace, I will welcome you as my sister goddess. You will be known in the Afterlife as the goddess Raina when your mortal body ceases to be."
Rachel gasped, tears in her eyes. "I am honored," she said. "And I will endeavor to teach my sons and daughters to walk in your path so that they too will be worthy of your gifts."
Nyx nodded, kissing Rachel's forehead again. "Return to your earthly family, my sister," she said, backing away slowly from Rachel.
Rachel nodded, watching as the moon goddess faded. A bright flash of light knocked her back.
Rachel's eyes fluttered open just in time to hear Jesse singing the last verse. He looked different–older somehow. But she felt as if she'd only been gone for a few minutes.
'Fallen Angel
I'll forgive you anything
you can't help the things you do
now, something's gotten hold of you
Fallen Angel
Got a demon in your soul
And later when the fever's gone
I'll be here where you belong..." Jesse sang to her. He watched her eyes open and kissed her softly. "Welcome back, my love."
Rachel returned the kiss. "How long was I asleep?" she asked, stroking the beard he was now wearing.
"Too long..." Jesse said, taking her into his arms and kissing her forehead. "Three months, seven days, and too many hours to remember."
"Three months?" Rachel asked, blinking.
Jesse nodded. "Longest three months of my life," he said.
"It only felt like a few minutes..." Rachel said, confused.
"Where did you go, my darling?" Jesse asked.
"I was with Nyx. She...she let me come to the Golden Temple," Rachel said.
Shelby opened the door, being prepared to relieve Jesse as she had done around this time every day. She took a step back when she saw Rachel was awake. "Sweetheart?" she said.
"Hello, Mama," Rachel said, resting against Jesse.
Shelby crossed the room in two strides and took up the space on the other side of her daughter, kissing her cheek. "My sweet baby..." she said.
Rachel grinned. "Mama...I have babies of my own now," she said.
Shelby and Jesse laughed.
"I know," Shelby said. "I just can't believe you're awake."
"I am...from the most wonderful vision," Rachel said, smiling. "I was with the Great Mother. And she gave me a gift."
Shelby blinked. "What sort of gift?" she asked, wondering if the prophecy had come true in the form of her own daughter.
"She gave me a piece of herself," Rachel said, reaching inside her shift and producing the silver necklace with the three phases of the moon that Nyx had presented her in the dream.
Shelby and Jesse gasped.
"You mean...you're the goddess herself personified?" Jesse asked, having heard the prophecy mentioned a time or two.
Rachel nodded. "Something like that," she said.
Shelby smiled. "I knew you were special, my sweet girl, but I didn't think I would live to see one of my line honored in such a way," she said, kissing Rachel's cheek.
Rachel grinned. "And now you have, Mama," she said, hugging Shelby.
Jesse chuckled to himself.
"What's so funny?" Rachel asked, scowling at her husband.
"I thought I married a fallen angel...and I married a half-goddess," Jesse said, smiling as he kissed her.
Shelby laughed too. "That's my little girl," she said.
The door opened yet again and Shannon entered with the children, giving Melody over to Rachel.
"She's gotten so big," Rachel said, kissing the baby's cheeks.
Robert crawled on the bed to his mother and snuggled in between Jesse and Rachel. Rachel put one arm around her youngest son and kissed his soft curly hair. Miriam and John smiled from the side of the bed.
"Welcome back, Mama," the twins chorused.
"I am so glad to be home," Rachel said, smiling at their tiny faces.
Shelby and Shannon left quietly.
Jesse helped the twins onto the bed, wanting all of his children to have their mother close by. He vowed never to let any of them go too far off.
A/N: The lyrics were "Fallen Angel" from Jersey Boys (originally recorded by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, one of my favorite groups) and I borrowed the Goddess herself from PC and Kristin Cast's House of Night Series. Hope you enjoyed! Leave a little love in the box? (Or at least a little constructive criticism? I'm open to that too.) Love to all of my readers!