Chapter Two Hundred and Twenty
"How is she?" Koschei asked as he walked into the nursery and Julie stood near the nest bed. Aderyn had not been sleeping lately due to her wings growing in and her grayish blue eyes were red from crying.
"Owie, Baba, me owie," she whimpered as he gently picked her up and held her in his arms.
"I know, Little Peeps, I know," he whispered as he gently rocked her and kissed the top of her head. Her permanent feathers were growing in as he noticed they were snow white in color and she placed her head against his shoulder.
"I'm going to take her to see the Doctor this morning. You want to come?" Julie asked and he nodded his head. Julie knew that it was hurting all of them to see Aderyn suffering, but it was a part of growing up Amos and she gently stroked the top of Aderyn's head while sending love into her mind.
"Well let's take a look, shall we?" the Doctor said while Aderyn sat on the examination table in his medical bay and the Doctor gently turned her around to look at her back. He was glad that there wasn't any blood or deformities as he placed the rubber gloves on and slid his long fingers under the wings that were across her back. He gently stroked the base of the wings as he smile that she didn't scream or try to snap at him and he moved his fingers along the wings. "Can you spread them out for me, Sweetie?"
"Baba?" she asked as she looked at Koschei with a confused look on her face and he sighed, not knowing what to do. He thought for a few seconds when he closed his eyes and she smiled when she saw him inside his head. He had a pair of larger wings on his back as he gave her a blank look then arched his back a bit and the wings slowly rose up then spread out in twin arcs. "Oh!"
The Doctor smiled as she arched her back and the small wings moved up then spread out and he gently moved his fingers along the wings.
"Good girl!" he said and she smiled. Koschei showed her how to close her wings as she repeated what he did and he nodded his head. "Now just open one wing and moved the wing up and down."
Koschei showed her what the Doctor wanted her to do and she spread out then moved her left wing up and down then the right wing and the Doctor nodded his head.
"Well, it looks like someone is ready for flying lessons," he said while walking to the other side of the examination table and Aderyn looked at him with a puzzled look on her face.
"Me fly?" she asked.
"Well, not right away. Have to take it nice and slow, ok?" he asked as he removed a grape lollipop, her favorite, from his pocket and she nodded her head. After handing her the lollipop, he turned the Koschei and Julie and smiled, crossing his arms over his chest. "Ok, what we need is have her fit for a flying harness and maybe see if Gimalt has any suggestions on how to teach her to fly."
"Sounds like a plan," Julie said as she picked Aderyn up and Aderyn looked up at her, blinking her eyes a few times.
"Me fly now, Mooma?" she asked and Julie smiled, kissing the top of her head.
"Not now, Sweetie," she said as they left the medical bay and the doors closed behind them.
It had been a while since they had seen Gimalt as he gently hugged everyone then looked at Aderyn and she titled her head side to side.
"She has gotten so big," he said as Koschei nodded his head and held Aderyn in his arms.
"Me big!" Aderyn said as she held her arms up and they softly laughed as she smiled.
"What do we do now?" Julie asked as Gamalt took Aderyn from Koschei and held her up in the air. This made Aderyn giggled as she placed her hands on his face and he smiled up at her.
"Well, if we were on Amos, we would take her to the Valley of the Winds. It is where all hatchlings go to learn how to fly. The father would…," he said then looked at Koschei then made a soft cough and Koschei sighed, looking down. "The father would take flight first and show the hatchlings what to do then they would try to flow him."
"And what would happen to those that didn't fly on the first try?" Julie asked.
"That is why the father goes first. If they don't get take flight then the father catches the hatchling and they would try again later. We rarely have a father miss."
"Yeah, I can imagine that would be messy," Koschei sighed and Gimalt nodded his head.
"Well, there is something my father did with me and my hatchlings when we were learning how to fly. See, he didn't have time to take us to the Valley of the Winds and would gently toss us into the air. He would tell us to flap our wings before we fell to the floor and most of us got the hang of it. I do admit of hitting the floor a few times," he said with a smile and Koschei and Julie nodded their heads.
"Fall down and go boom?" Aderyn asked and Gimalt nodded his head.
"Well, we could do that, but I don't want her to get hurt."
"Then she will never fly," Gimalt sighed and looked down at his feet.
"Well, there is a way she CAN learn how to fly, BUT you aren't going to like it," Julie said as they looked at her and Koschei thought for a few seconds. His eyes went wide as his mouth fell open and he crossed his arms over his chest.
"No, we are NOT doing that!" he said with anger in his eyes and Gimalt looked at them with a confused look on his face.
"I don't understand. Why are you so reluctant? Do you wish her to learn to fly or not?" he asked and Koschei sighed, rolling his eyes.
"There is this Time Lord who is telekinetic and can lift and move things with his mind."
"And he would us this power to help her?"
"Yes."
"No!" Koschei said then sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "Sorry, he already floated her through the air and I was afraid he was going to drop her."
"I can understand your fear, My Friend, but if he can help her learn…" Gimalt said and Koschei nodded his head, taking Aderyn in her arms.
"Do you want Cameron to help us teach you to fly?" Julie asked and Aderyn smiled, nodding her head.
"Oh, alright, call him," Koschei sighed and Julie smiled, kissing his cheek.
"Hello," Cameron said as he walked by Julie and she closed the door. She remembered how angry Koschei was when Cameron floated Aderyn in the air while they were in a caravan going across the US, but it was only because he was just learning how to use his powers and he wouldn't have let her get hurt.
"They're out back," Julie said as he nodded and pushed the sunglasses he was wearing up with a finger.
"So, are you SURE he is ok with this?"
"Yeah," she said as they headed for the door that lead to the backyward then went outside and Koschei looked at him with a suspicious look on his face.
"Oh yeah, he looks really sure," Cameron whispered and she sighed, rolling her eyes. They stopped in front of Koschei and Gimalt as Cameron nodded his head toward Gimalt and Gimalt nodded back. "Is my student ready?"
"Me fly, Cam-Cam, me fly now!" Aderyn said as she bounced up and down in Koschei's arms and Cameron smiled, patting her on the top of the head.
"Ok, Little Bird, ok," Cameron said as he stood back a bit and locked eyes with her. Aderyn giggled as Cameron wiggled his fingers and she slowly floated into the air while Julie pushed the button on the video camera. Gimalt was stunned as Cameron held Aderyn aloft for a few seconds and she held her arms out to her sides. "How about spreading those wings, eh?"
"Ok," she giggled as she spread her wings and Gimalt softly smiled, folding his arms over his chest.
"She has her mother's feathers," he whispered and Koschei felt his hearts hurting and softly smiled at him.
"Ok, Little Peeps, remember when the Doctor asked you to move your wings up and down? Can you do that, but move both wings at the same time?" he asked as Aderyn looked at him, blinked her eyes a few times then smiled and moved her wings up and down.
"Whoa, look at you!" Cameron said as she giggled and he lifted her higher in the air. He moved his fingers as she slowly moved through the air while flapping her wings and Koschei walked to Julie, sliding his arm around her.
"Mooma, Baba, me flying!" Aderyn said as Cameron moved his fingers and she flew around in a circle.
"Yes, you are!" Julie said as she used the video camera to make a close up on Aderyn's face and smiled. Cameron titled his head to one side as Koschei looked at him and wanted to talk to him telepathically, but knew breaking his concentration would cause Aderyn to fall. After a while he noticed that Cameron was getting tired as he looked up at Aderyn and whistled to get her attention.
"Ok, Little Peeps, that's enough for today. Cam's getting tired,' he said, but Cameron glanced over at him and sighed.
"No, I'm….fine," he said and Koschei walked closer, brushing his finger under Cameron's nose. Cameron looked at the blood on Koschei's finger as he sighed and slowly lowered Aderyn into Gimalt's arms.
"Cam-Cam icky nose!" she said as she pointed to Cameron and Julie gasped, turning the video camera off and ran to him.
"Let's go inside," she said as she led Cameron inside and Koschei walked to Gimalt, taking Aderyn in his arms.
"Is he going to be ok?" Julie asked after she had placed Aderyn down for a nap and Koschei placed the receiver on the phone cradle. Gimalt had left as Koschei walked to her and slid his arms around her waist, kissing her lips.
"Yeah, Frankie said he tends to get nose bleeds if he uses his power too long," he said and she placed her head against his chest.
"She flew."
"Yeah, but Gimalt said it will be a while until she flies on her own."
"She is growing up so fast," she sighed and he kissed the top of her head.
"Kids tend to do that," he sighed and looked down the hallway. "The best thing we can do is let her spread her wings and be there when she falls."
"That is so deep," she said then yelped when he tickled her and she gently smacked his chest.
"You sure she's asleep?" he whispered as she nodded her head and he took her hand. Hushing her, they quietly walked down the hallway and the door closed behind them after they went in the bedroom.