Here we go, chugging right along. The beginning of this chapter takes place while Wanda was in Fairy World, meeting with Jorgen. Here's where things get interesting, and the actual godparent/godchild relationship can actually begin.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: FOP characters and universenot mine. Tabby & her storylinemine.


Chapter 5

As Wanda flipped through an old magazine waiting for her appointment with Jorgen, Cosmo uttered another heavy sigh. He really didn't want to stay all alone with Tabby, but his fear of Jorgen was all the convincing he needed to stay behind. Besides, she never did anything anyway, what could possibly go wrong?

Wanda had been gone for an hour when Tabby climbed onto her bed to play with one of her many dolls. She sat and combed through the ragdoll's yarn hair with her fingers as she hummed a tuneless melody, and Cosmo watched her from what he had come to know as 'his corner', growing more and more bored by the second. Her fingers ran through the yarn hair slowly and methodically. On one pass, they snagged on the doll's hair bow and it unraveled, slipping out of the yarn and tumbling gently to the floor. Tabby watched it fall, and gently laid her doll down in order to retrieve the ribbon. She leaned over the edge of the bed, stretching her fingers as far as they would go, her tongue sticking out in concentrated effort. Her fingertips brushed the ribbon, causing it to slip further out of her reach, and Cosmo watched as she stretched farther, her eyes locked on the shiny red material.

Suddenly her body lurched forward as she slipped off the bed's comforter, sending her crashing to the floor. She landed mostly on her chin, causing her teeth to clamp down painfully hard on her tongue. The response was immediate and practically deafening. She inhaled and let loose an almost ear-splitting scream as blood from her wounded tongue streamed down her chin. Tears practically flew from her eyes in her panic, and her entire body stiffened as if an electric charge had passed through it.

Cosmo was terrified. He sat rooted to the spot staring at her with wide eyes, his hands clamped tightly over his ears and frozen with panic. She had hurt herself, badly by the sound of it, and HE was the only one around to care for her. Wanda wasn't here, and the most recent nanny—a girl barely out of her teens—was busy flirting with the neighbor's pool boy. That left Cosmo in charge. Facing Jorgen started to look pretty good right now, and for a brief moment, Cosmo seriously considered poofing to Fairy World to get Wanda. She would know what to do.

Once the initial shriek had played itself out, Tabitha began to cry loudly. She managed to pull herself onto her hands and knees and shook terribly with her sobs. Cosmo slowly lowered his hands and watched as the little girl lowered herself to cry into the carpet, her back hitching with muffled sobs. His heart went out to the hurt child, and all other considerations vanished as he watched her.

He was in charge. Technically, he was her godfather, and he was the only one here who could help her. He wasn't sure he could do it, but he had to try.

Clutching his wand tightly in both hands, Cosmo slowly floated to where Tabby lay, face down in the carpeting, curled into a tight ball. He gently laid a hand on her back, caressing in short strokes.

"H-Hey," he called softly, lowering himself near her ear. "Tabby? Can I see? I can fix it. I can make it better. Can I see?" If she had heard she gave no response but more sobs. "Tabby?"

Cosmo moved the hand on her back, slowly bringing it to her shoulder and squeezing gently. She jumped as if just realizing he was there and looked at him, her wide eyes red and puffy. Blood was still trickling down her chin and Cosmo willed himself not to cry. He wanted so much to help her but was so scared of messing up.

"I can fix it," he said, smiling reassuringly and showing her his wand. "I can make it not hurt anymore. D-Do you want me to make it better?"

Tabitha stared at him for a long minute, sniffling and hiccupping with suppressed sobs. Finally, she slowly nodded her head as more tears streamed down her already wet cheeks. Cosmo smiled.

"Okay," he said, kneeling in front of her. "I'll make it better. Can you sit up for me?" Taking hold of her trembling shoulders, Cosmo gently helped her straighten into a half-kneeling, half-sitting position. "Good! Now, can you show Cosmo your boo-boo?" She looked at him, puzzled. "Your owie. Your . . . uh . . . well, just go like this." He stuck his tongue out and pointed to it. "Thee? Ike thith."

Understanding lit Tabby's eyes as she nodded and opened her mouth, slowly poking her hurt tongue out. Cosmo smiled wide and nodded, thrilled that she had understood.

"GOOD!" he cried, startling her with his excitement. She jerked backwards and came close to falling over before Cosmo quickly grabbed her and gently pulled her forward. "Sorry," he said softly. "I'll fix that right u—oh wait. I can't unless you wish for it." He frowned, furrowing his brow as he thought. Suddenly his eyebrows shot up as an idea struck.

"Okay, Tabby? I'm going to ask you something, and you have to say 'YES', okay?" She looked at him questioningly, her tongue still sticking out. "Oh, that's right, you can't, can you? Well . . . uh . . . OH! Okay, when I ask you something, you nod, okay? Just go like this," he said and nodded his head enthusiastically as an example. Tabitha still looked unsure, but nodded. Cosmo smiled widely.

"Great!" he said, grabbing his wand. "Okay. Tabitha, do you WISH for me to make you better?" She stared at him. "Sweetie, I can't do anything unless you nod," he whispered, nodding his head slightly. She continued to stare as fresh blood dripped onto the carpet.

And then slowly, ever so slowly, Tabitha nodded her head. Cosmo restrained an urge to leap into the air and cheer. Barely.

"All right, sweetie," he said instead, a wide smile stretching across his face. "Your wish is my command."

Tabby's eyes grew wide as the star on Cosmo's wand glowed brightly, and she closed them tightly when it released an almost blinding flash. She kept them closed for a few seconds before slowly opening them, blinking quickly. Cosmo was still sitting before her, his smile now one of relief.

"I did it," he whispered, mostly to himself. "I did it!"

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Wanda cried as she poofed back into the room, startling both Cosmo and Tabitha. Her eyes were wide as they passed from the blood on Tabby's chin, to the stain on the carpet. "Cosmo, what happened? Is she all right? Where'd all that blood come from?"

She quickly flew to Tabitha, and Cosmo—thinking he was in trouble—flew just as quickly away. He twisted and fidgeted with his wand as he watched his wife with wide, worried eyes. Tabby's eyes, however, never left Cosmo as Wanda gently caressed her cheeks.

"Tabitha, sweetie," Wanda said softly, gently stroking the girl's hair. "Are you all right? Did you hurt yourself? Where does it hurt?" She suddenly turned on her husband, fixing him with a look that may have burned a hole through him had she held it long enough. He flinched in the heat of her gaze and shrank back against the wall. "Cosmo! What happened? Can't I leave you alone with her for a few hours without—"

"He made it better."

Wanda stopped suddenly, shocked that their godchild had actually spoken. She looked back, stunned. "What? What sweetie?" Tabby looked at her godmother, a small smile on her lips.

"He made it better," she said again. "I fell, and it hurt really bad, but he used his star and made it better." As if to prove it, Tabby stuck her tongue out at Wanda and wiggled it. "Thee?" she mumbled, pointing to it. Wanda smiled shakily.

"Okay, honey, I see. Go ahead and put it away, okay?" Tabby giggled but pulled her tongue back into her mouth. Wanda raised her wand and cleaned up all the bloodstains, both from the carpeting and Tabby's chin and clothes. "Good girl. Now, why don't you play with your doll while I talk to Cosmo for a minute, okay?" The girl smiled and nodded before pulling her ragdoll onto the floor with her. She fixed her bed with an angry glare before turning her back on it and walking away.

"Cosmo?" Wanda asked gently as she floated to him. "What happened?" The worried look in Cosmo's eyes intensified as he began trembling.

"It wasn't my fault Wanda!" he cried, tears forming. "Okay, maybe it WAS my fault just a little bit but I had no idea she was going to fall, and maybe I didn't go to her right away but she was screaming and crying and there was so much blood and I was so scared I panicked and had no idea what to do but—" Wanda clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Slowly," she said softly, locking his eyes with hers. "Calm down and tell me what happened." Cosmo nodded, blinking away the few remaining tears in his eyes as Wanda removed her hand.

"She was playing with a doll on the bed," he began carefully. "Running her fingers through the hair, like she does, okay?" Wanda nodded. "The doll's hair ribbon came undone and fell on the floor. She reached for it, but slipped off the bed and landed on her chin. She bit her tongue really bad, and that's where the blood came from."

"And you healed it for her?"

Cosmo nodded.

"How? Did she wish for it?"

Cosmo absently rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. "Yeah, kinda . . ."

"Cosmo . . ." Wanda started, one eyebrow raised. He threw his hands in the air, suddenly defensive.

"Well what was I supposed to do, let her bleed?" he cried in a shaky voice. "She was hurt, Wanda! You weren't here and that nanny was too busy making goo-goo eyes at the pool guy to notice! I asked her if she WISHED for me to make it better, and she nodded. So I did." He calmed, casting his eyes down as a blush crept across his cheeks. "It was the only thing I could think of to do."

What Cosmo expected to happen next involved either heavy objects being thrown in his direction or an unplanned trip to visit Jorgen and his many muscles—neither of which happened. Instead, he suddenly found himself in a tight embrace as Wanda threw her arms around him. She peppered his cheeks with kisses as she hugged him tightly.

"Oh, honey!" she cried happily. "That was very smart! You did so good!" Cosmo shook his head as if to clear it, and stared at his wife with wide eyes.

"So . . . you're not mad?" he stammered. She laughed.

"Of course not! I'm sorry I yelled at you before, sweetie. I was just so worried after seeing all that blood! But you took such good care of her! I'm so proud of you, Cosmo!"

"Really?" he whispered, a crooked smile curling his lips. She pulled back enough to look him in the eyes.

"Really," she replied, and kissed him firmly on the lips. "But you've done so much more, sweetie! Because of what you did, you cracked her. She actually spoke! Now we have a chance to help her. All because of you!" She kissed him again.

"So we're not leaving?" he asked hesitantly. Wanda shook her head.

"Jorgen was VERY clear that this assignment was no mistake," she replied, releasing him and turning to watch Tabby as she played with her dolls. Every now and then she stuck her tongue out and delicately touched the tip with a finger. "I think we're going to be here for a while."

"Oh," Cosmo said, his face unreadable. "Okay." He watched as Tabby tired of her dolls and sat quietly for a few seconds, running her healed tongue over her lips. Suddenly she jumped up and ran over to where the fairies were hovering, a large smile on her face.

"Tabby!" she cried, pointing to herself. "Tabby!" Cosmo and Wanda exchanged a glance and floated down to her level.

"Is that your name?" Wanda asked, and Tabby replied with an enthusiastic nod. "It's nice to meet you, Tabby. My name is Wanda."

"Wanna! Wan-da!"

The pink haired fairy smiled wide and nodded. "Yes! Wanda!"

Tabby grinned and giggled before turning to Cosmo, and grabbed his hand before he could react. The smile widened as she pulled him down to her, and eagerly threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Cosmo's eyes widened in shock as Wanda looked on with a happy smile.

"You made me better!" Tabby whispered happily into his ear. "All better!" Cosmo's shock quickly dissipated and he smiled, curling his arms around her to complete the embrace.

"That's right," he said softly. "All better. My name is Cosmo."

"Cos-mo. Cosmo. Cosmo! Wanda, Cosmo! Cosmo, Wanda!" the little girl cried happily as she released Cosmo and clutched each fairy by a hand. The fairies looked at each other, large smiles on their faces.

"I think I liked her better when she didn't talk," Cosmo joked as Tabby continued to repeat their names over and over like some strange chant. Wanda laughed.

"She's just excited," she explained, looking at Tabby happily. "We're probably the first friends she's ever had. At least the first ones who've ever cared about her. She'll probably calm down soon."

Ten minutes passed of Tabby happily chanting the names of her fairies before she dragged them around the room and excitedly showed them each and every doll and toy she owned. Wanda listened intently as the girl introduced each doll by name, but Cosmo wasn't as interested since he was being handed each doll once introduced. His arms were soon full of baby dolls of all sizes, until he buckled under the weight and lay motionless under the pile. Tabby gave a sharp cry and hurriedly dug her godfather out, a worried look in her eyes. Cosmo lay still until the girl leaned closer, then grabbed her suddenly and tickled her sides. Her laughter was infectious, and soon both fairies joined in. They had never heard her laugh before, and Cosmo thought it was a marvelously light sound, one that seemed to brighten the room. He decided that he would like to hear this sound as much as possible for as long as they were with her, and vowed to do anything necessary to keep her happy and make her laugh.

Wanda was ecstatic at the complete change in personality their goddaughter had performed. Just this morning she had been nothing more than a living statue, showing only blank stares at any attempt at interaction. Now she was a vibrant, happy child, who seemed to glow before her eyes, thrilled beyond all comprehension to finally have someone to play with. All the doubts she had had regarding leaving Cosmo alone with her had been wiped clean. Their goddaughter's transformation was possible because of him.

The toddler and two fairies played happily throughout the day, and when Tabby's nanny came upstairs to give the girl her supper, Cosmo and Wanda pretended to be dolls and hid among the many others. The little girl looked worriedly at her new friends, scared that they were going to leave her like so many other people had, but the two 'dolls' smiled at her and winked their button eyes. Tabby waited as her nanny carefully set up the food tray, and ran to them once the young lady had left.

"Will you go away?" she asked quietly, the worry making her stomach twist. The dolls quickly poofed back to their fairy forms, and went to each side of her.

"No, sweetie," Wanda said with a gentle smile. "We're not going anywhere. We're going to stay right here, with you, for a long, long time." A small smile lifted the corners of Tabby's mouth, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Really?" she whispered. "You're gonna stay with me?" Wanda smiled and nodded.

"Uh huh. You might not be able to see us all the time, but we're still here, just hiding. We can't let anyone else see us. Just you."

"And you have to promise you won't tell anyone about us," Cosmo added, making Tabby turn to him. "If you tell, we have to go away." The little girl frowned, tears leaking from her big brown eyes.

"I don't want you to go away. I want you to stay," she whispered as she threw her arms around Cosmo and hugged him. "I want you to stay forever."

Cosmo's eyes suddenly widened and the pain in them almost made Wanda cry out. They both knew they couldn't stay with her 'forever', and Tabby's innocent plea had reminded Cosmo of the many godchildren from the past, many of whom had cried this same sentiment, and the many heartbreaking goodbye's that had taken place regardless. He tried not to let on how painful each farewell had been to him, but Wanda knew. She had heard him crying on more than one occasion for the godchildren they had left behind, and it hurt her to know that HER dream of being a fairy godparent was killing Cosmo, little by little. Maybe the time was drawing near to retire from fairy godparent life, if for no other reason than for the sake of her husband's heart.

And really, what other reason did Wanda need? He had gone into fairy godparent training because it had been her dream, and he wanted to give her what she desired. It was only fair to return the favor and spare Cosmo's fragile emotional state from this continual torment.

"We'll stay with you for as long as we can," Wanda said softly, gently rubbing Tabby's back as she continued to hug a now teary-eyed Cosmo. "We'll stay with you."

After a few minutes, Wanda managed to pry the little girl off her husband and coax her to eat her supper. As Tabby dug in to her cheese sandwich, Wanda pulled Cosmo to a far corner of the room. He was shaking slightly, tears leaking slowly from his eyes.

"Cosmo, sweetie," Wanda soothed, taking her husband into her arms. "It's okay. Calm down." The green haired fairy clutched his wife's arm tightly.

"Forever?" he whispered harshly, uttering a sharp laugh. "There's no such thing as 'forever'! All there is is a few years of fun and laughs and wishes and then what? Then we go away and the kid doesn't even remember us!"

"I know, honey," Wanda said softly. "But that's the nature of being fairy godparents." Cosmo grimaced and buried his face into his wife's shoulder.

"It's not fair," he told her shoulder. "It hurts, Wanda. It hurts when we have to leave."

"But we just got here, sweetie!" she reminded him, gently rubbing his back. "We'll probably be here for a long, long time. She's still so young!"

"That'll just make it worse," he said quietly after a long minute, and she silently agreed. The longer they were with a child meant that many more memories to haunt them after they had to leave. Wanda sighed, gently stroking her husband's hair.

"Maybe she'll be our last," she said softly. Cosmo slowly pulled back and looked into his wife's large pink eyes.

"What?"

"I've been thinking, Cosmo," she began, choosing her words carefully. "We've been doing this for a long time, and we've had a lot of really great godchildren. But maybe the time has come to . . . do something else." What that 'something else' was she wasn't sure, mostly because she had never wanted to do anything BUT be a fairy godparent. But for Cosmo, she would find something else.

He stared at her, mouth hanging agape. "But you LOVE being a fairy godmother!" he cried, shaking his head in disbelief. "You love granting wishes and all the godchildren—"

"I love YOU more," she said quietly, her hand on his cheek and a gentle smile on her lips. "I know this has been hard on you, Cosmo, and I hate myself for letting it go on for so long. I completely ignored the pain you felt each time we had to leave our godchild. I completely ignored how it STILL hurts you. I'm very sorry, sweetie. I've been so selfish." Tears began to trickle down her cheeks as she gazed into her husband's large green eyes. "We'll stop if you want to, sweetie. Tabitha will be our last godchild. I'll talk to Jorgen and—" Cosmo placed a finger to her lips, silencing her.

"You're only saying this because of me," he said simply, a knowing smile on his lips. "You really don't want to stop." Wanda pulled his hand away, but didn't let go.

"It's because of you I'm WILLING to stop," she explained intently. "I love you so much, Cosmo, and I don't want to see you hurt anymore."

"But Wanda . . ."

"Cosmo, it was MY choice that began our lives as fairy godparents," she said, holding his hand over her heart. "I want it to be YOUR choice when we stop."

Cosmo stared at her, his eyes wide and confused. She was actually considering quitting? Just for him? Why? He knew how much she loved being a fairy godparent, and that it would kill her to stop. Since they had never managed to have children of their own, having godchildren was kind of like having kids. Sure, they were only with the kids for a few years, and they never ACTUALLY had to raise any of them, but it was better than nothing, right? Why would she give that up?

One look at Wanda gave him his answer. Because she knew. She knew how hard it was on him each and every time they had to say goodbye. She knew that he wasn't emotionally strong enough to do this for much longer. And she knew that he could never bring this up himself.

"I . . ." he started before closing his mouth with a soft 'snap'. Wanda's eyes were locked with his, and in them he saw three things; fear—that he would actually say 'stop' now, hope—that begged him to continue on, for just a little while, and love—an emotion so strong it very nearly cancelled out the other two. It was practically coming off the pink haired fairy in waves.

He gasped. The last emotion told him that she would accept and abide by whatever choice he made, as long as that meant he would stay with her. Her love for him overrode her own wishes and desires.

And it made him love her all the more.

"I'll think about it," he said quietly, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. "I love you so much, Wanda, and I don't want you to be sad. This IS hard, but . . . it's easier when you're with me." Wanda shook her head, looking upset.

"But Cosmo . . ."

"Besides," he continued, a crooked smile curling his lips and a light laugh in his voice. "What else am I gonna do? I BARELY passed Fairy Academy, and took 10 years to finish high school. There aren't many jobs out there for a stupid screw up like me!" He laughed, a horribly forced sound to Wanda's ears, and tried to fly to Tabby when Wanda grabbed his arm and turned him almost roughly to face her again.

"You are NOT stupid OR a screw up," she told him sternly, holding his face in her hands. "You're my husband, and I love you very, very much. I'm serious, Cosmo. Whenever you want to stop, just say so."

The amount of love in her intense gaze frightened Cosmo, and he feared he may cry if she didn't look away soon. He gently took hold of her hands on his cheeks and smiled sweetly.

"Calm down, sweetie," he said softly, pulling her hands away. "It was just a little joke. I promise I'll think about it. Really." She studied him for a moment before a small smile surfaced.

"Okay," she said with a nod. "Just let me know, honey." He smiled back and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

"I will. Promise." He then turned and called out to Tabby, "Hey! Is there anymore cheese sandwich left?" before quickly flying to her. Wanda watched him go and shook her head. She hoped he really would think about a decision, but gave him a 50/50 chance of even remembering this conversation by the time they went to bed. He was sweet, devoted, gentle and caring, but heaven help him, he really couldn't hold a thought in his head for very long.


If it seems like this chapter ended kind of abruptly, that's because these last parts were written as one long thing. I couldn't find an appropriate place to cut it in half, or think of anything to really add to make it sound like a 'chapter end', so I just left it as it was. The next chapter--last chapter, as it were--is going up immediately after this, so I didn't think it was a big deal.

Thanks for reading:)