Ch 2- A Family Way
"My man swung a mighty axe, I have to go reward him."
That night's reward had of course had it's fruit in the form of a ghoulish little girl named Penny Goode who sat at the breakfast table in her nightgown and socks, staring back at her daddy sweetly. But those who knew her, particularly her three sisters, would tell you she was anything but sweet.
Georgia sat on Cordelia's lap as she nibbled on her toast, always feeling safe in her biggest sister's arms. Delia ran her fingers through the child's hair, holding her close. Georgia was the closest thing she'd ever get to having a child of her own and she adored her tiniest sister.
"How you doin' my little Georgia peach?" The Axeman asked his littlest daughter.
Georgia grinned, giggling into her toast as her pigtails bounced and Delia smiled, having come to appreciate her stepfather over these past few years. None of the other men to who her mother had ever been married had really been a father to Cordelia. But once he'd married Fiona, he took her oldest child into his heart in a way even she never really had.
"No school." Penny pushed her cereal away angrily.
"Little witches go to school if they want to grow up and be big bad witches." The Axeman soothed, getting down into his daughter's face.
"Want a bagel?" Misty asked, her mouth nearly full.
"Noooo!" Penny barked.
"Now, you be nice to your sisters, all three of them." The Axeman attempted to discipline.
He shot a warning look at his stepdaughter, trying to remind her not to criticize his parenting in front of Penny. She didn't know that he was trying to be stricter with her and anything she said would ruin it all. Penny didn't have much of an appreciation for any of her sisters. She found the oldest, Delia, lame. She thought Misty, (who, as it turned out, was also the child of Fiona and Joe Goode) was simply stupid and a waste of time. And finally in her mind, Georgia was evil and had taken away her status as baby of the family and as such should suffer.
"Lets just try to have a nice, peaceful family breakfast." The Axeman reiterated, hoping that everything would settle down before Fiona came downstairs.
He enjoyed peace and family time more than he'd ever thought possible and couldn't believe years of loving Fiona had culminated in all this. Joe enjoyed his relatively anonymous role of husband and father. He no longer killed, but still played jazz each and every day. Other than that, the majority of his time was spent with his wife and his girls. He was a good dad to his three natural children and had grown beyond being a source of contempt for his stepdaughter, who still didn't approve of the fact that he was a vice principal at the school now, something Fiona had done early on to make him feel more at home. Even so, Delia had marveled in how good a man Joe could be.
The Axeman sat and watched his Penny, trying to figure out why she was such a contemptible brat, when Fiona came into the room, heals clicking as they met the hardwood floor.
"I'll take you to school Penny." Misty offered.
"Mommy she's going to embarrass me!" Penny shrieked.
"Oh calm down." Fiona waived dismissively, going to pour herself a cup of coffee. Penny grunted, finding that she couldn't move after the waive of her mother's hand.
"Mama can I go?" Misty asked.
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because you'll embarrass the princess." Delia told her, finally frustrated enough to say it.
Penny began to snarl at her oldest sister's words as Joe laughed. "This is what happens when you snap at your mama." He reminded.
"I go to school too! Pwease!" Georgia asked.
"Not till next year, Georgia peach." The Axeman soothed.
Penny's eyes shifted, finally settling angrily on Georgia. In that moment, she decided she'd wait until late that night to tell her about the horrors of kindergarten, and how on the first day, the teachers always decided what kids to teach and what kids to cook.
Fiona sat next to Delia and without a word began to run her fingers through Georgia's hair. The youngest little witch reached out for her mother as Delia let out a loud sigh, not understanding how it was that Fiona could be so loving to Georgia. Something inside her assumed she did it only to hurt her, to drive a wedge between them.
"I can't mooooove!" Penny cried.
"And move you won't until you're out of this house. I can read your mind, little witch."
"She wants to turn back time." Delia spat.
"I just want a story." Penny pouted.
"Mama stories are good!" Georgia shrieked.
"No one wants your story!" Penny glared.
"Now, now calm down honeybunch. Everyone wants to hear Georgia's story." The Axeman smiled at his youngest, causing Penny to fume with anger.
"But Joe to be fair, Georgia's story does begin with Penny's." Fiona reminded, resting her head on Georgia's as she rocked her slowly.
The Axeman grinned deep inside, he loved nothing more than seeing Fiona like this: loving, venerable, human. It was the kind of thing that you'd miss entirely if you didn't really watch for it, but Joe had learned it was worth every waking second of watching her because it was really something to see.
"You never finished last night and you've never told me the me parts." Penny pointed out.
"You know she is right." Misty admitted. "Ya never tell her about when mama got pregnant with her and we became a family, ya'll just talk about kill'in that jackass."
"Misty language." The Axeman said kindly.
"Sorry daddy." She giggled.
"And you never talk about how you found Misty." Cordelia pointed out and Misty nodded in agreement.
It'd been a shock to Cordelia, a grown woman who'd failed at having children of her own, when her mother came home with the news that her cancer was gone… and she was pregnant. But it had been a bigger surprise altogether when she and the Axeman had made the discovery that Misty was her biological sister.
"Fiona?" Joe asked.
"Hum?"
"I suppose we should tell our youngest girls the story."
"Hey us too!" Misty spat, her mouth full of bagel.
"What do you mean became a family?" Penny asked, raising an eyebrow. She'd assumed her parents had always been together. "And of course you foundher!"
"We'll make a night of it and explain after school." Joe promised.
"Explain whaaat?! And I still can't move. Mommy!"
Fiona laughed as she got to her feet, Georgia on her hip.
"She'll explain how you and Georgia are going to grow up to be Glenda and the Wicked Witch of the West."
"Delia." Fiona smacked her arm playfully, heading for the door but keeping her eyes on Penny as she struggled to move. With one simple waive of the hand, Penny fell hard on the floor.
"I see you've still got some of the old mama Fiona in you." Delia said as her mother smirked and followed her out of the room.
"Be a good little witch today Penelope Goode." Fiona called.
"She's the devil." Delia whispered as Fiona put Georgia down to play.
"No. She's what sometimes happens when you copulate with someone from the spirit world."
…
"Daddy don't!" Penny laughed as Georgia jumped on his back.
The Axeman had kept true to his promise and settled his family down for a story night. Fiona entered the room, putting a tray of hot chocolate down on the ottoman. She watched her husband wrestle on the floor with their youngest two, the fire ablaze in the hearth before them. It was moments like this, when she heard Penny giggle delightfully, that filled her heart with joy. Fiona didn't have a wonderful heart that was true. But deep inside, a part of her was lovely, and another part of her loved. Being with Joe had brought that out of her, and almost transformed her in some ways.
She saw her old self in Penny, and in truth, it concerned her greatly. Out of all her children, she was the most like her and Fiona feared the shrewd little girl would grow into the miserable, bitter old witch she'd been before the Axeman brought light into her life. But most of all, Fiona knew, resoundingly, that Penny was her naturally born successor, destined to overthrow her. She'd had incredible power, from within the womb, and in a few years time, she'd be unable to control her as she had that morning.
"Mama it's like Christmas." Misty commented, following her mother into the room with a large bowl of popcorn.
"Oh." Fiona jumped, lost in her thoughts. "I suppose Misty."
In truth, Fiona was nervous about telling the whole story. It wasn't just a love story, or a family story, or one about happy endings. It was her miracle but also the beginning of her end. At one time, Fiona had thought herself done for, and wanted Delia to see the power in herself. But when she became pregnant, a greater power arose. Only legend, not prophecy, spoke of someone as strong as Penny had shown herself to be when she was just something unseen under her mother's skin. And while she knew she couldn't stop time in it's tracks, or prolong the inevitable, Fiona was terrified for her ruthless child to learn the truth about herself: that if she wanted to, she could control them all.
"Daddy story time." Penny said sweetly.
Fiona sat sadly, her eyes downcast as she took little Georgia into her arms. Fiona loved Georgia, because in her she saw the good in herself.
"Mommy promise nothing scary."
"No Georgia nothing scary tonight."
"Mama that was me who said that." Misty said and Georgia nodded, her pigtails bouncing.
"Right…"
"Alright. Well… it began when your mother was just a little older than you." He smiled.
"Joe, not this part…" Fiona mouthed.
"I like this part." He pouted.
"Too scary." Misty said knowing this side of the story.
"Joe, if even she thinks it's too scary and she's an adult."
"I wanna know!" Penny cried.
"Fine then." The Axeman said, ignoring his daughter. "Your mother and I had fallen in love…"
…
New Orleans 2013
Four weeks had passed since the events of the boardroom. Since that time, things had started to change rapidly in the house and Delia's rise to the supremacy was growing more evident by the day… much to the girl's chagrin. Even though she was in the midst of battle, still defending the coven, Fiona was mostly trapped in her own head. She'd grown weaker, and more tired over the past few days not to mention sicker. She didn't know if it was the chemo, or just her body's rapid decline as Delia grew into her own, but she found herself nervous about what news the day's medical appointments would bring.
Her heart sunk as she thought back to the glorious victory from just a few weeks before, about a night of incredible highs. There'd been the thrill of killing that Renard jackass but mostly' her thoughts went back to the passionate night she'd spent with Joe. Fiona was more than a woman of the world. She'd had her share of affairs, had dalliances with richest, sexiest, most powerful men… but no one compared with the Axeman who'd adored her, her life over and no passion she'd ever felt compared with even the lows of the night they'd spent after the boardroom.
'My man swung a mighty axe, I have to go reward him.' She'd told Marie.
But it'd been something more than that. It'd been a night about so much more than lust and attraction… They'd found themselves turning to each other, over and over again, each mired in complete awe of the other. Fiona was someone who easily moved on, and forgot, but even now, her mind was filled with images and sensations from that fateful night: the way his skin brushed against hers, the sound of his ragged breath, the way his tongue grazed her cheek… she could barely admit it to herself, but for the first time, she thought she was truly in love.
Fiona dragged herself to the sink, her heart leaping then suddenly aching at the realization. Before, she'd simply been afraid of dying, selfish about her mortality, a bit upset to leave a daughter with whom she had a strained relationship…. But her love of Joe was what truly made the taste of death sting: in him, she had someone to live for and a chance to truly live.
Fiona dared not look up and into the mirror, not wanting to face the reality of how she now looked after a night of sleep. She felt awful on this particular morning, and clung to the basin, willing herself not to get sick. It made her reality all too real.
She sighed, finally looking up and paused when she did, struck by what she saw: a beautiful woman who was the image of radiant, glowing health. Shocked, Fiona ran her fingers through her hair, fully expecting what was really left to fall out in clumps, but instead it stayed where it should and she realized in an instant that unlike the night before, it was all there: thick, lush, blonde….
"Radiant, glowing health…" She considered quietly, her stomach jarring her again, urging her to be sick. She studied her own face in awe, trying to hold back from retching. "How can I…"
Fiona wondered for a moment if she were dead, and if it were possible for her to make it to a good place on the other side. The urge to be ill hit her again, this time almost knocking her down. She steadied herself against the sink and took a breath, staring into the mirror almost daring herself.
"Whose sick joke is this?!" She asked, alarmed by what was going on.
Fiona hurriedly opened the medicine cabinet, in search of something that could calm her horrible nausea and at once found herself at eye level with a pregnancy test Delia had forgotten to throw away.
"No." She laughed. "No it couldn't be…"
But Fiona hadn't felt this way since the last time she was pregnant. Delia had not been so bad, but the last baby, the one who'd been stolen at birth and never found had given her horrible morning sickness. She waited in silence after taking the test, still staring at herself in the mirror, questioning how all this could be. Fiona tried to think herself out of the situation, but instead, thoughts of the boardroom and the Axeman filled her head, her soul occupied with the gratifying release only those two things could bring.
Fiona stared at herself, and jumped back, almost screaming when she swore she could see another reflection in the mirror, one far more beautiful than her own. She took a deep breath, resting her hand on her middle as she tried to put her hurried mind to rest. The Supreme had never been more afraid, and was almost upset enough to seek Marie's council.
"Radiant, glowing health…" She considered, running her fingers through her now thick hair.
She turned to look at herself, not recalling a time when she'd been more beautiful, more glowing.
…
Miss Robichaux's Academy Halloween 1958
It was late Halloween night, and all the smaller girls at the academy, including the future Supreme, eight-year-old Fiona Goode, sat around the hearth sharing candy and listening to the head mistress sweetly tell them goulish ghost stories. Fiona sat with her friend Margaret, each wearing a white nightgown and socks. There'd been a myriad of tales told that night, from Salem, the founding of the school, and of course, the tale of the Axeman… one which, the haunted figure hadn't appreciated.
He sat in the back, watching Fiona sweetly, hoping she wasn't afraid, and disagreeing with how the tale had been recounted, yearning for the ability to tell his side of the story. Fiona and Margaret were giggling the evening away, having not listened closely to the tales they were being told.
"Girls this story is of the utmost importance." The headmistress warned.
"OOOh." They marveled, their little ears perking up. Even the Axeman, leaned a little closer in interest.
"This story is part legend, part prophecy. For centuries its been told that one day an all-powerful supreme will arise. She will bring order to the witching world and reek havoc on it. Her strength will topple all other power."
"Even a supreme's?" One girl asked.
"Oh she's especially dangerous to a supreme Susan. She will be born of a supreme a father from the spirit world."
"Oooh." The little girls teased, finding this idea silly.
"It's said she will manifest power, and perform one of the seven wonders from within her mother's womb and restore her to…"
…
"Radiant, glowing health." Fiona whispered, staring at herself in the mirror.
She jumped when the timer went off. Her hand shaking, she picked up the test, throwing it into the sink when the positive sign burst into flames.