Chapter 1: A Child Born of Light
It was June 21, 2003 and the nightly peace inside the Davenport household was disturbed when Blue D. Davenport woke up screaming in agonized pain. She was nine months pregnant with her first child, a daughter. And now judging by the contractions, it seemed like the baby was coming sooner than Blue or her husband Yellow had thought.
Blue threw her blanket off her body and saw a wet patch on the sheets of the master bed that pooled between her legs. Her water had broke.
"Yellow." she said to her husband as she felt another contraction coming on. "The baby... She's coming."
Yellow gave a gasp and wasted no time getting his wife in the car as they drove quickly to the hospital.
"Don't worry, Blue." he assured Blue who was doubled over in labor. "You're going make it and so will the baby."
With no traffic, the Davenport couple made it the hospital in no less than nine minutes. A couple of nurses who were near the front door of the building saw the car pull in and a distressed Yellow emerging crying out, "Please help! My wife is about to have a baby!"
One of the nurses grabbed a wheelchair and helped Blue into it. The moment she into the wheelchair, Blue felt another extremely painful contraction coming on.
"We need to get her to the birthing unit, stat!" the nurse who got the wheelchair declared.
Everybody made no hesitation helping Blue get ready to deliver her baby. In the delivery room, a small team of doctors and nurses had joined the Davenports to help bring their baby into the world. One doctor assisted Blue into a hospital gown and another got her legs spread into position.
"You're all set." "And looks like the baby is ready to come out."
"Okay, Mrs. Davenport." one nurse began. "On the count of three, I want you to push with all your might."
"You can do it, Blue." Yellow encouraged his wife. "I believe in you."
"One... two... three... push!" the nurse declared.
The delivery had no complications, but something was wrong. While most babies cried as soon as they were born, this baby girl was born as if she were asleep and her hair was a ghostly white. The doctor took the child into a room to run some tests.
"Please let me see my baby!" the new mother wailed.
"I'm sorry, ma'am." a nurse told her. "Try to understand. Our staff is working hard to figure out what's happening. On medical terms, she's in perfect health. But for reasons we don't comprehend, we fear that your daughter may be dying."
Blue gasped and tears began to form in her eyes. This couldn't be happening. She had just given birth to her first child and now, the baby was going to die before she even got to meet her parents.
Word had gotten out about what was happening and the hospital staff from doctors to surgeons had begun to pray for the health of the Davenports' baby.
One nurse had taken the baby outside to the courtyard after getting special permission from her fellow employers. The hospital courtyard was a little garden decorated with all kinds of wonderfully scented flowers. And right in the center, there was a small pond filled with koi that reflected the light of the full moon.
The nurse looked up the stars and prayed, "Good Lord in Heaven, please save this baby girl's life."
Then, she knelt down at the edge of the pond and lightly dipped the back of the baby's head into the water. Suddenly, something magical happened. The baby's hair changed from a lifeless white to a bright, vibrant blue and she started to cry. To everybody in the hospital, the sound of this baby crying was the most wonderful sound in the world. Some miracle must have occurred that night, a miracle that brought this baby girl back to life.
As for Blue, she was no longer crying tears of sorrow; but tears of joy.
"Here's your new daughter, healthy as a horse." the nurse announced.
The new mother had her arms opened wide and the nurse handed her the baby. Blue held her newborn daughter in their first mother and daughter embrace. The whole time, she dared not to let her baby go. Yellow was equally emotional as he watched from the side of the bed.
"What do you think we should name her, dear?" he asked his wife.
"Lapis." Blue answered as she snuggled her baby girl. "Lapis Lazuli."
"I love that." Yellow said happily. "That's so beautiful."
"I'm so glad that your baby survived." the nurse beamed, wiping a tear from her eye. "How she pulled through is nothing short of a miracle."
"Yes, she is our miracle child." agreed Blue, giving Lapis a kiss on the cheek. "Lapis Lazuli."
The Davenport couple silently thanked God that night. Somehow, this little baby girl deserved to live and grow into the all-around beautiful person her parents knew she was going to be become.
But, the Davenports weren't the only ones with a new baby. Several miles away, a woman with pink, curly hair was in labor as she was about to give birth as well; a son to be more precise. Right beside her, a skinny teenage girl was holding the woman's hand in support.
"You can do it, Rose." the girl encouraged her. "You're so close. He's almost out. Just push one more time."
Rose nodded and she huffed as she pushed hard. And then, the pink haired woman let out a scream mixed with a wolf-like howl. That was followed by the sound of a newborn baby crying. The baby boy was born.
He looked so much like Rose, except for his curly hair being black instead of pink. Other than that, he matched the new mother feature for feature.
"Isn't he beautiful?" Rose asked the skinny girl.
"Indeed." the teenager nodded. "Do you know what you're going to call him?"
"Yes." the pink haired woman answered. "His name is Steven. The newest member of our pack."
The pack was what Rose referred to as the alliance of werewolves and vampire rebels. Pearl, a vampire had been a member of Rose's alliance since the beginning. The pack also believed in the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child." And now, every werewolf and vampire was going to help care for Rose's new son.