Eden and Other Paradises Chapter 2

Eden woke up from her nap and bounded down the stairs to find Tamsin. She jumped off the last step and ran over to Tamsin who was sitting on the couch reading. Eden hopped on Tamsin's lap and hugged her. Tamsin kissed her on the top of her head as she put down her book.

"So Little Bit, are you ready to go to the park?" Tamsin asked as she placed Eden on the floor and got up from the couch.

"Yes," answered Eden, jumping up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Okay, let's get you in some different clothes before we go out," Tamsin said taking Eden's hand and leading her up to her room so they could find some clothes. Tamsin sat her on the bed as she picked out some clothes that would be good for Eden to wear to the park. Tamsin settled on a cute pink jumper and addressed Eden in it. Eden buttoned her up and looked at her.

"Okay so we are going out to the park, so what does that mean?" Tamsin asked Eden in a serious voice.

"It means that I can't use my powers because we are out in public." Eden answered like she had some many other times. Eden knew that she was not supposed to use her powers around many people. She never really understood why though. Tamsin had just told her that it was dangerous and that some people were not like her. Eden had always done well with her control of her powers and there was no reason for Tamsin to believe that today would be any different than the other times they had been to the park.

Tamsin packed a small bag and headed out the door with Eden in tow. Eden was happily skipping next to her as Tamsin held her hand. The park was close so it was not a long walk. Eden seemed overjoyed when the metal structures of the playground came into view. She pulled on Tamsin's arm to get her to hurry up. Tamsin picked up her pace a little to suit Eden, but still held tight to her little hand.

"Hurry up, MommyT!" Eden whined as she pulled on Tamsin.

"Where's the fire, Eden." Tamsin said with a laugh. "The park is not going anywhere."

They finally made it to the edge of the playground and Tamsin let go of Eden's hand. Eden sprinted over to the swing and Tamsin followed. Tamsin knew that the swing was the first place that Eden would go. Eden had told her that swinging really high made her feel like she could fly like Tamsin. Eden would beg Tamsin to let her fly with her, but Tamsin had not even in. Eden was just so little and Tamsin didn't know if she could trust herself in the air with her. She was terrified of the thought of anything happening to Eden. Tamsin just was not ready to try to fly with her. She did promise her that when she was a little older that she would but that day was not today.

Eden hopped on the swing that she swore went higher than any of the others and started to swing her legs impatiently. Tamsin took the chains on either side of Eden and pulled back on them to send Eden into motion. Eden pumped her little legs as Tamsin pushed her.

"Higher, MommyT! I want to fly," Eden said with a laugh.

"Okay, Dare Devil," Tamsin said pushing her a little bit higher. Eden was already coming up out of her seat each time that she swung upward. Tamsin backed away and let Eden take control of her own ride. She didn't want to push her anymore. She was already higher than Tamsin thought that she should be anyway. It was making her nervous. Eden seemed very intent on going as high as she could and she pushed with her legs as hard as her legs would let her.

Eden was laughing one minute and the next was chaos. Before Tamsin could react there was a snapping noise as Eden was at the top of her swinging arch. There was a scream as Eden fell to the ground. She landed hard on her wrist and stomach and Tamsin rushed over. Tamsin was in full freak out mode as she got on her knees beside her child. Tamsin picked her up and pulled her in her lap. Tears were running down Eden's cheeks and there were wood chips that had imbedded themselves into the palms on her small hands. Tamsin held Eden's hands in hers and pulled out the pieces of wood that were in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Tamsin asked her as she hugged her to her.

"I think so. I just really hurt." Eden said as she tried to stop crying. By now, a small group of children at gathered by the swings. Eden looked up at the children and did something that she had never done before. She changed her hair and eye color from looking like Kenzi's like it had when they had gotten to the park to blonde with green eyes like Tamsin. Tamsin tried to hide Eden but it was too late. The children had already seen Eden change. Eden didn't realize what she had done until the children started to scream. She had only wanted to make herself feel braver by looking like Tamsin. In that second when the other children had seen her crying she had wanted to look brave, and she had forgotten the most important rule. She was never supposed to show her powers in public. She tried to make it better by quickly changing back to Kenzi's color but the damage had been done. That only made the situation worse, because the parents of the other children had now come over to see what was going on. The parent had now seen Eden change as well.

"You're a monster," one of the children shouted at Eden.

"Are you a witch?" came the question of another child.

The parents were all shielding their children from Eden and some had their phones out ready to call the police. Tamsin had no choice but to protect Eden. She could not let someone take her daughter. Tamsin did the only thing that she could think of. She picked Eden up and Eden lay her head down on her shoulder. Tamsin then looked at all of the people who were watching them and her eyes went dark. She had to make these people believe that they had not seen what they thought they saw. Tamsin looked them in the eyes and pulled all of the power she had so that she could cast doubt over the whole group.

"You did not see anything usual today. You went to the park and the stories that your children tell you later about today are nothing but an over active imagination. You are going to go home now and act like nothing happened," Tamsin said to the parents as she held Eden close to her.

What Tamsin did seemed to have worked and the parents took their protesting children and walked out of the park. Tamsin and Eden were left in the park alone. Eden was still crying and she seemed to have gotten worse after she realized what she had done. She didn't want Tamsin to be mad at her. She felt very guilty knowing that Tamsin had to get her out of trouble.

Tamsin was not mad at Eden she was just concerned. Eden really had no idea of how dangerous it was to use her powers around non fae people. It was even dangerous for Eden to use her powers around fae that she did not know. Eden was not supposed to have developed her powers yet, after all, and some fae like The Morrigan would try to use that.

"Hey, sweetheart, it's okay. Everybody is gone. We're okay," Tamsin said trying to calm her down as she rubbed her back.

"But they saw my powers." Eden said through her tears and Tamsin almost could not make out what she was saying.

"I know, but I fixed it. They will not know what they saw. They will think that it was just something that they saw in a movie and that it was not real. It's okay, I promise."

"Are you mad at me? I didn't mean to," Eden cried. It broke Tamsin's heart to see her this upset. Tamsin knew that it was an accident. Eden was hurt. "I just wanted to look brave so I wanted to look like you. I didn't want to other kids to see me cry." Eden said with a sniff.

Tamsin's heart melted a little with the knowledge that Eden felt brave and safe when she took on her hair and eye color. She didn't know what to say for a minute and just held her daughter.

"I know, Baby. Let's go home and get those cuts cleaned up okay," Tamsin said as she started to carry her home. Tamsin did not know it at the time but there was someone else who witnessed Eden change her appearance. She didn't see this person because she was watching from distance and did not make a scene when she saw what Eden could do. Instead, this person did not seem shocked by it at all and only made mental notes on what they witnessed. Tamsin walked right past her on her way home with Eden and she had no idea. If Tamsin had known she would have been a lot more worried about the incident than she was at the moment. Tamsin was completely unaware that there was another witness. She was more concerned with getting her child home and cleaned up.

Tamsin got them back to the house and she took Eden upstairs to the bathroom to clean her up. Eden had some small scrapes and bruises on her knees. Tamsin turned Eden's hands over so that she could look at them. There were a few splinters in her hands and a few cuts. Tamsin went to get a needle so that she could remove the splinters. Eden saw the needle and flinched away from Tamsin.

"It won't hurt, I promise. I just have to get those splinters out of your hands or they are going to start to hurt," Tamsin said in a soft tone.

Eden put her hand in Tamsin's and Tamsin gently pushed the needle under the top layer or skin so that she could remove the splinters. Eden sat very still but Tamsin could see the worry in her face as she watched her work. She finally got the splinters out and cleaned the scrapes on her hands and knees. Eden cried out when the alcohol that Tamsin was cleaning her cuts with started to burn. Tamsin quickly blew on the cut to stop the burning and then gave it a quick kiss before covering it in a band aid.

"See that wasn't go bad, was it?" Tamsin asked smiling up at Eden to try to lighten her mood. It was clear that she was still upset about the events from earlier. Tamsin didn't want her to worry about it anymore so she tried to take her mind off of it. Tamsin noticed that Eden still looked unhappy. Tamsin was about to ask her what was wrong when Eden asked her a question that took her completely off guard.

"Mom, am I a monster?" Eden asked with tears in her eyes.

"Why in the world would you think something like that?" Tamsin asked as her stomach knotted up in pain for her daughter.

"The children at the playground said that I was," Eden answered while looking at her feet. Tamsin didn't know what to say at first. She couldn't believe that Eden would think such a thing. She felt like she could cry herself but she held it together.

"Eden, honey, look at me," Tamsin said as she lifted Eden's face up so that she could meet her eyes. Tamsin saw that she still had her eye color and this broke her heart even more. "You're not a monster. You're special. You remember when we watched Harry Potter earlier today? Those kids are not like you that are like the non-wizards in Harry Potter. You're no better than they are but you are different in a good way, like being a wizard. You should not have to deal with powers at sure a young age. I'm wish you could be a normal child and not have to try to control your powers. Most fae like MommyB and me didn't get our powers until we were older. Do you know that MommyB thought she was a monster when she first got her powers? She was raised by people who didn't understand her. You're like MommyB and me, and we are not monsters are we?"

"No, but what if there's something wrong with me? I shouldn't have powers yet."

"There's nothing wrong with you. You have been given a gift and you just have to keep it under control. I know you can." Tamsin said bringing her into a tight hug.

"How about we go downstairs and play a game?" Tamsin asked.

"What kind of game?" Eden asked.

"Any game that you want."

"Can we go flying?" Eden asked in a hopeful voice.

"I think that you have done enough flying for today, Kid," Tamsin said and Eden pouted.

"You have taken MommyB flying," Eden said with pouting look.

"Yes but MommyB is older than you are and more able to handle it. I told you that you need to wait until you get a little older. How about we dig out Aunt Kenzi's video games and play until MommyB and Kenzi get home?" Tamsin said hoping that the promise of video games would make Eden forget about flying for a while.

"Okay," Eden said in a somewhat defeated voice. Tamsin kissed her on the cheek and she got up from where she was kneeling on the bathroom floor.

Eden took the steps two at a time as she raced downstairs. Tamsin was right behind her and she dug out the Wii when she got into the living room. Eden had already made herself comfortable on the couch with a remote in her hand. Tamsin flipped the Wii on and popped in Mario Kart for them to play. It was one of Eden's favorites.

They got lost in the game for a couple of hours. Tamsin had to admit that Eden had gotten pretty good at it and had even managed to beat her a few times. Eden was not afraid to play dirty either and on more than one occasion she shot Tamsin with a shell. She shot Tamsin once as she was about to cross the finish line and Tamsin let out a sound of outrage.

"That was so unfair," Tamsin said with a laugh.

"It's fair when you do it," Eden said.

"Yeah but that's different." Tamsin said in a light hearted tone that told Eden she was kidding. It was just about that time that Bo and Kenzi came through the door. Tamsin knew that she had to tell Bo what happened at the park today, but she hated to make her worry. If Eden had slipped up today then it could happen again and Bo had to be made aware of the situation.

Tamsin got up from the couch and left Eden playing. Bo of course, came right over to Tamsin and wrapped her arms around her waist. Bo kissed her hungrily and heatedly to the point where Kenzi had to clear her throat.

"Small child in the room," Kenzi said pointing to Eden who was already walking over.

"To be continued then," Bo said with a flash of blue coming across her eyes. Tamsin felt her stomach do a flip and a heat move between her legs at the thought of "later." She wanted "later" to be now but there was something more important at the moment. Eden came running up to Bo and Bo picked her up and kissed her.

"How was your day?" Bo asked her as she held her on her hip.

"MommyT and I watched a movie and then we went to the park."

"How was the park?"

"I had an accident. I feel off the swing," Eden answered. Bo looked worried and looked her over for scratches. "It's okay, MommyT fixed me up and she used her powers today," Eden added in an offhand way.

"Why did MommyT use her powers at the park?" Bo asked putting Eden on the floor.

"Yeah Bo there is something that I need to tell you," Tamsin said joining in the conversation. "There was an incident at the park. Eden accidently used her powers after she got hurt. She didn't mean to but the other children and parents saw her."

Bo froze. She didn't know what to say. She knew that this was serious and fear gripped her. She looked at Tamsin with alarm and wanted her to say something that would make the panic in her stomach die down.

Tamsin spoke quickly, "I took care of it. They will be doubting themselves for weeks at least, and they will not believe that they saw anything out of the ordinary today. I had to go full Valkyrie on them so there is no way that they are going to have a clear memory anyway. Eden wasn't hurt. Calm down, Baby." Tamsin said taking Bo's hand.

"Eden, you know that you can't do that in public," Bo said in a harsher tone than she meant. Eden's face broke when Bo spoke to her in a voice that was clearly upset. Eden started to tear up again. "No, no, honey, I'm sorry. I know that it was not your fault." Bo said picking Eden up and hugging her close. "Please don't cry. I was just afraid that you could have been hurt. I'm not mad at you. Okay?" Bo said pulling her back a little to look at her face. "Okay?" she asked her again.

"Okay," Eden answered as she put her face back down on Bo's shoulder. Tamsin said that she had taken care of it but Bo could not ignore the feeling of dread that was building her her stomach. She knew that this was far from okay.

Author's note- thanks to everyone who left reviews and it reading. I hope that you guys like it so far.