Chapter 35: Providing Comfort

"How are you feeling?" She asked, touching Timmy's forehead to check for fever. His forehead felt warm, but the rest of him was ice cold.

She had shrunk him down to baby size and bathed him in a cotton candy scented bubble bath, as the muscle relaxant had made it too precarious for him to bathe alone. She could have used the jacuzzi like last time as it was just as effective at curing his aches and pains, but he had sweated so much that she had wanted to get him properly cleaned. The bath had made his skin nice and warm, but the remnant of the warmth left over from the hot water was fading rapidly.

"Cold….and so tired…" Timmy shivered, nestled into several blankets and bundled up into a cozy fluffy night-robe. His freshly washed hair fanned out behind him on the plush pillows, and his eyes drooped tiredly.

"Then close your eyes and get some rest." She fluffed his pillows for him, brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"I want to…but my head feels all cluttered."

"Ah, a lot of things happened today. Even my head feels full right now." She smiled in patient understanding. Ever since the ADHD diagnosis and the bullying began Timmy had developed a little problem, his mind would race with thoughts or his memory would enter a constant 'replay mode' of events, or sometimes he'd just relive any strong emotions over and over—whenever this happened he'd be unable to sleep or focus on anything else until he was able to distract himself from his thoughts; sometimes by watching old cartoons he had enjoyed when he was much younger, or listening to her read him a story, or sometimes just watching online 'let's play' videos until he fell asleep.

"It wasn't a bad day…some of it was bad but….I had lots of fun too….I was happy too….but….I dunno…too much happened. My mind is having a hard time sorting it all out." Timmy mumbled. He used to look shy, if not ashamed, when he spoke of this problem he had to her, but she had helped him through it so many times that he no longer hesitated to confide in her; and even when he lacked the proper words to express himself the way he wanted to, he knew she would understand him.

Whenever this happened, she liked to help Timmy anyway she could; whatever it took to keep the invasive thoughts in his head at bay. She'd read him stories, whatever he liked—and if he did not want stories, she'd watch whatever cartoon or lets play he wanted to watch and whenever it seemed like it wasn't enough to distract him, she'd engage him in conversation—keep him focused on other things until he could fall asleep.

"Well, then…." She climbed into the bed and laid down beside him; her body was weary from the day's events and she was tired herself. It was technically only the afternoon, but it had been a truly long day and she could use a nap of her own. She had already bathed and was wearing her own matching night robe, so it would be very easy for her to just close her eyes and fall asleep. "Would you like a story, or maybe we can explore what channels this Fey TV has?"

Though she'd have to be careful not to turn on any channels with any kinds of tricky little enchantments and she'd rather avoid watching anything about those poor children who were turned into 'companions.' To be honest, she was worried that watching anything on Fey television could end up being an unexpected trap.

"They have access to earth TV, fairy world TV and Anti-fairy world TV too." Timmy gave her a tiny smile. If it was someone else, she'd probably have concluded her thoughts had shown on her face, but when it came to Timmy, he just knew her so well these days that he could guess at what she was thinking without her needing to give any visual cues.

"Do you want me to turn on some cartoons?" She asked as she turned on the television and saw the menu that allowed for what world's network they wanted to watch. The Fey world network was the largest button; it was bright and colorful, designed specifically to tempt children to select it first. Under it was the human world network option; it made her a little uncomfortable to know that the Fey still had visual access to the human children on earth. Fairy world and Anti-fairy world networks were small buttons off to the side; she wondered if neither of those channels were watched very often?

"Does Fairy world have cartoons?" Timmy asked her, curiously, leaning his head against her shoulder. She stroked his hair back soothingly and sighed wistfully.

"We used to have cartoons, but once everyone grew up they stopped airing them since there were no more children in Fairy world to watch them—but it would be nice if they'd re-air them for Poof to watch…I'd like to see them again for nostalgia's sake too."

"What was your favorite cartoon?"

She smiled, tucking an arm around him; sometimes a simple conversation was the best distraction from the noise in his head.

"It was called Little God Mommies. It was about Godmothers taking their daughters along to meet their Fairy godkids and how these little girls trained on 'little problem' cases."

"Little problem cases?"

"Oh, something like a kid moving to a new town and having a hard time fitting in. The little trainee fairies would stay with them until they made a friend at their new school." She explained the concept of the show that was once also used in real life as well. "Or if a kid was missing a sibling who was away at college, or their parent was away on a new job, they'd keep them company until the newness of the situation had passed, or the absent family member returned. As you can see, these problems aren't in any way severe enough to warrant full-time fairy godparents, but they can still be distressing for a child. These were called 'Little Problem' cases, as 99.9% of children can overcome these little 'hiccups' of life without magical intervention, but these cases also made excellent training opportunities for fairy children to practice on. The show was based on a real-life mentorship program that was once common practice in Fairy World."

Naturally, since there were no more fairy children in need of trainee jobs for experience, the responsibility for resolving these 'Little Problem' cases fell upon the human children who were suffering from them. It was a little sad, but considering that these problems were relatively minor bumps along the journey of life, ones that in time would for the most part, resolve themselves, it wasn't too terrible.

The 0.01% of children who couldn't eventually overcome something as minor as going to a new school or missing a temporarily absent family member (Whose absence was not due to anything tragic) without the need for magical assistance was sadly beyond the help trainee fairies could provide.

In honesty, giving full time fairies to a child suffering from a 'Little Problem' case would be an insult to all the children all over the world who were suffering from real issues—neglect, bullying, abuse, severe poverty, the death of a loved one—if a Little Problem case did receive full-time fairy godparents and held onto them even after making friends at their new school, or having their absent family member visit, then that would truly be the world's most selfish, unsympathetic and entitled brat imaginable.

There was such a case that happened once before, with a girl named Ashley Wellington, who had been given godparents for the above reasons and kept hold of them, despite having loving, supportive parents, having become friends with the most popular kids in school, receiving excellent grades, and being financially well off. She claimed having 'insecurities' to the council when they had tried to remove her fairies on the account of her near perfect life; though those insecurities amounted to nothing more than the common insecurities any little girl growing up would have. Nevertheless, she got to keep her fairies because of how much she had exaggerated her need for them-when all she really wanted was to mess around and have her every need and want catered to through the wishes she hadn't truly needed to be happy.

Maybe she was being a little harsh, but there weren't enough fairies to provide help for even half of the children who needed them; and as such, some children either went without fairies their entire life or some kids who still required them had them prematurely removed when they hit the teenage mark. To be taken away from Timmy while a 'Little Problem' case like Ashley got to keep their fairies just because they were younger would be enough to enrage her into quitting being a godmother all together. Little Problem cases needed fairies for a few days tops, but kids like Timmy…she couldn't imagine him being ok without them.

"Did you train on Little Problem cases?" Timmy asked her curiously.

"No." She shook her head regretfully. "Fairy children trainees had to be accompanied by at least one fully licensed Godparent, and unfortunately neither of my parents were Godparents; Big Daddy as you know, runs his company and my mother was a Broadfairy actress."

"Broadfairy?"

"That's like a Broadway actress in your world." She sighed. "My mother would always take Blonda with her to train 'in the way of the stage'; but I had no aptitude or interest in acting. I wanted to be a godmother, and I tried to get another fairy who was a godparent to take me under their wings, but their own children had priority and the ones who did not have children of their own, well…lets just say there was a lot of trainee candidates for them to choose from and with my magical power level none of them picked me."

Timmy gave her a sympathetic look. She smiled at him reassuringly and gave his cheek a light, fond pinch.

"So instead I watched that show almost religiously, taking notes and thinking up different ways and methods of solving the problems. I still have those journals. Perhaps I should read them again for old times' sake. It might also be fun for Poof to read when he gets older."

"It would be nice if we could all watch that show together. I wonder if I could wish it back on?"

She laughed. "That might be possible! Though, I'm not sure how long the Fairy Network will allow it to remain on, you know from your experience with 'Timmy TV' how rating obsessed they are."

"You never know, it might have tons of nostalgia watchers."

"Perhaps, I guess it can be worth trying to wish for once we get back home." She chuckled. If it worked for at least a little while, she'd record the episodes she could. She used to have the entire series on tape, but her mother had taped over them with Blonda's recitals.

"Oh, look—" Timmy pointed at the TV surprised; the selection option was moving on its own, it selected Fairy World and then from that menu it went from 'Live' to 'archived' and began going through dates and…she watch amazed as it went to the years when she was a child and…

"Well, would you look at that!" She couldn't help but break out into a grin as 'Little God Mommies' was selected from a variety of old children's shows and a guide showing all 172 cartoon episodes appeared. Nova had said that the room was enchanted to respond to their voices, but to think that even a conversation like this could have it react.

"Let's watch it!" Timmy suggested eagerly. He still looked very sleepy, but his curiosity had been piqued. She hoped it would provide him a pleasant distraction so that he'd be able to fall asleep and get a good nap.

"Let's!" She agreed and selected the first episode; the theme song she'd sing along with as a child hit her ears and the theme song lyrics she had thought she had completely forgotten about came rushing back into her memory.

Her mind was still reeling from the shocking news she had received about how, without Timmy's wish, she and Cosmo would never of been able to have their own child together and the stress she still felt about how Queen Mab's kiss could affect Timmy's entire life….for a little while, though, she'd sit these thoughts aside and re-live a little piece of her childhood.

As the first episode played, memories flooded her mind like a river rushing through a canyon. She remembered sitting in front of the TV jotting down notes and ideas in her notebooks and how her Grandmother Nana Cadabra would praise her for being so studious. Her father's side of the family had always liked her best. It had almost made up for how Blonda had been the apple of their mother's eye. Nana Cadabra would always bring her home baked sweets to watch the show with, and would always compare her to Magenta, her favorite character in the show whom she had idolized as a child. Watching this show now was a comforting nostalgia, a balm to her weary mind and she wondered if she had managed to grow up to be like her childhood hero, Magenta.

Timmy snuggled closer, his eyelids drooping, a relaxed smile on his face. The warmth of the blankets cocooned them, and for a moment, it felt like they were floating in a bubble of tranquility amidst the chaos of their lives.

As the second episode began, she found herself drawn into the familiar storylines. It was like revisiting an old friend, each character and plot twist bringing back cherished memories. Timmy occasionally laughed or pointed out how a few of the wish mishaps mirrored some of the ones he himself had experienced.

They laughed together at the antics of the trainee fairies and cheered for the godchildren as they solved their "little problem" cases. By the time episode 3 came to an end, Timmy's breathing had slowed, his body finally succumbing to the embrace of sleep. She smiled down at him, brushing a stray lock of hair from his forehead.

"Sweet dreams, my little godchild," she whispered, using Magenta's catch phrase as she pressed a gentle kiss to his temple.

Turning off the TV, she settled back against the pillows, content in the room's quietude. For now, the worries and uncertainties of the day could wait. In this moment, all that mattered was the warmth of the blankets, the soft sound of Timmy's breathing, and the echoes of a childhood melody that lingered in her heart.

— Nova POV—

"Your going to spy on them, right after reassuring them that we have no cameras hidden in their room?"

"There was no falsehood in that statement. Considering we're Fey, there is no necessity for us to utilize cameras."

"Still, watching those two is enough to give one a fatal case of diabetes; I'm sure if I was human, I'd be dead ten times over from sweetness overload." Piper complained, sitting in the corner of his room in the easy chair he usually used for reading. A few miniature marshmallows from the bag she was snacking from had fallen onto the seat during her attempts at shoving vigorous handfuls into her mouth.

"Please, Piper, if you were human, you'd be dead a thousand times over from your diet alone." He smiled over at her patiently, even as she made a mess in his room.

After sending Wanda and Timmy to their bedroom he had decided to take it easy and retire to his room and watch on the television how his daughter-in-law and god grandson was coping not only after another rough treatment, but from the news poor Wanda had received. Piper had followed him—not a usual habit of hers, but he had expected it. She might put up an independent front, but she hated being alone when she felt upset.

"Fair enough." Piper spoke with her mouth full of marshmallows. "If I was human, I'd probably also be clinically obese with all the junk I eat."

"Well, you're physically active enough to burn all those extra calories; at the very least, you aren't using magic to change your physique, unlike our dear Dazzle is." He chuckled. Piper had always been a stress eater, and she got stressed a lot, mostly from being too bored. Fortunately, she was extraordinarily active; with nothing to preoccupy her mind, she'd try all kinds of physical activities, from hiking, to mountain climbing, canoeing, dance, and martial arts, just to name a few. She had tried to get him to go jogging with her several times, but he, like most former fairies, preferred to use his wings rather than his feet.

"Ok, I wouldn't be fat, but I'd be dead from malnutrition." She shrugged. "Yay for being immortal, I guess."

He chuckled. "Indeed, immortality does have its advantages, particularly when it comes to indulging in culinary delights without concern for the consequences. Did you see how Wanda's eyes lit up when she heard that she can eat all she wants here without gaining weight?"

"Yup, Dazzle and Lillixia really honed in on the comment she made that first night about hoping those chocolates were low in calories."

"Even the slightest temptation can potentially influence her decision to become one of us. Therefore, I am grateful for their endeavors—sadly, I fear my attempt at tempting her backfired horribly in light of recent developments."

He had included Ariafern and her parents as part of the gathering in order to tempt Wanda with the idea of being able to have more children if she choose to become a Fey, but now he felt guilty about maybe planting a hope only to have it cruelly dashed. He would also be lying to say he wasn't disappointed about not being able to have more grandchildren but he was content on focusing on what he did have—an adorable biological grandson and a cute adopted god grandson.

Besides, as Fey weren't bound by the laws of biology, there would be no reason he and Stella could not have more children together once she became a Fey, and when baby Poof grew up—he too should easily be able to have children within Fey world, so his dreams of a large family weren't completely dashed.

"Their not like You-Know-Who, there isn't anything wrong with either of their bodies, so they can still have kids, just not with each other."

"Piper, we don't talk about 'that'." He put a finger to his lips.

"Right, right." Piper rolled her eyes. "Anyway, as I was saying, if they don't mind employing a surrogate—perhaps they can try being pregnant at the same time to make it feel more, I dunno, like a shared experience?" Piper twirled some of her braids around her finger, frowning. "Still weirds me out how it's only the male fairy and female anti-fairy that can become pregnant. With Fey, it's whoever wants to carry the baby. Heck, sometimes couples treat it as a 'surprise' and leave it up to fate to see who becomes pregnant when they decide to poof up a baby together. Anyway, if they are really desperate for more kids after coming here, there are options they can use."

"That is an option." He agreed, and while it was perfectly fine to employ such a method, it was still not the same as having a child together with the person you loved.

Well, that was still some time into the future, and as Fey there would be infinite time to think it over. The important thing was that right now, Wanda seemed to be doing alright even after receiving such unfortunate news.

Watching her and Timmy fall asleep watching an old fairy world cartoon was simply adorable. He knew she must have had a lot on her mind and was probably not 100% OK, but she was at least not left devastated by the news.

Anyway, the one who needed the most support right now was Piper.

The fact she had followed him back to his room, which she always referred to as being as 'boring as vanilla ice cream', was enough to let him know that she did not feel as if she'd be ok if left by herself.

Of course, Piper being Piper, it was best to wait for her to broach the subject of her distress. If he even so much as hinted at it, she'd either retreat as quickly as a rabbit would from a fox, or attack as quickly as the fox would the rabbit.

"Anyway, did things go as you had planned them, or did everything go to shit once Mab showed up?" Piper threw some marshmallows into the air and tried to catch them in her mouth, but missed most of them.

"Wanda did get a tad angry with me." He admitted; frankly he still thought she overreacted, but all those tales she had heard of children pining away from loneliness after being separated from a Fey who had enticed them had probably scared her. "But she did explain her point of view—feeling vulnerable when unexpected things occurred without her consent left her feeling a bit rattled."

"Oh please, Nova, for someone so smart, you are really dumb!" Piper flung a handful of marshmallows at him. "That's not why she got pissed! It was the same reason my mother, Bliss, Siofra, Finch and many others get pissed whenever Mab gives her 'blessings'! No one says anything to you 'bout it, cause you're such a big Mab fan. I bet that's why even your daughter-in-law gave your a half-assed explanation about why she got angry."

He tried to keep his expression neutral; Piper was very upset, and she often lashed out and spoke rudely when things were bothering her. Given the severity of the bad news she had received, he wanted to be patient and did not want to lose his temper with her. He'd just have to treat this tirade as though a child was taking a tantrum.

"If you would enlighten me then?"

"Think 'bout it, a moment. You have this child that you've poured all your love and care into raising. You sacrifice for them, you suffer when their hurt or sad. Every bit of their love, trust and affection is earned through your blood, sweat and tears—-and then Mab comes along, and with one single little kiss, steals the number one place in that kid's heart. It's frankly insulting!"

"I…I suppose…."

"For someone who wants to believe she's the best mother in the world, she spits in the face of motherhood!"

"..." He bit the inside of his cheeks in order to stay silent; he was aware that Mab's actions could be seen as selfish but...there was a lot about Mab that wasn't seen on the surface. If one got to know her, the real her...they'd understand the truth behind her actions. Nevertheless, it wasn't something Mab liked to share with just anyone, and it was not his place to speak of them to those she herself had not chosen to confide in.

"My mother loved all those children." Piper continued, frustration and anger marring her features. "She adored every single one of those angels and Mab stole the number one place in all of their hearts! Even the angels who survived the war, did not return home to her. Mab kept all of them, giving them the honor of residing within her court—instead of letting them go home to the woman who really loved them. To Mab…those little angels were just decorations, war trophies. If she had let them return home to my mother, she would have stayed a Fey in order to remain with them! She would never of become a fairy, or a Godmother! She would….never of met Mary Alice!" Piper flung the bag of marshmallows across the room with such force that if it hadn't been marshmallows, it would have likely broken a hole in the wall.

"Dulcie Sweet truly was a kind woman, who really did love all the Kinder she raised with all her heart." He agreed with full sympathy. He still did not agree with what Piper had said about Queen Mab, but he could understand her point of view; and even the point of view of those who felt as if their children's affection had been stolen but this was no time to defend the Queen or explain his view point. Piper was suffering and what she needed now was someone to listen to her feelings. He would not repeat the mistakes he made all those years ago when he would argue with Stella about what was in Julia's best interests.

"….You and I both saw the danger when we checked their bond level…" Piper's voice was thick. "Mother adored Mary Alice…but Mary Alice…she blamed my mom for the accident that killed her, so their bond level was low….and it kept getting lower throughout the painful treatment."

He still remembered the incident—Dulcie had turned into a kite for Mary Alice to play with, but Dulcie was ignorant of the modern world…and had been sadly unaware of the dangers of playing with a kite near power lines…. an unexpected gush of wind had led to a tragedy. It would be unfair to say that Mary Alice's anger had been unwarranted, but he had hoped that with Dulcie's sincere regret and ample love that such bitterness would have given way to forgiveness, eventually. Unfortunately, the extreme pain of the treatment had the deepest of resentments take root in the child's heart.

"We both knew that it was only my mother's one-sided love keeping the Magic-Filter-Cycle from having Mary Alice become a Monster. We had several opportunities to halt the treatment and make that brat a Kinder or a Companion and yet…mother begged me not to…she wanted Mary Alice to live, grow up and fulfill her dream of being a teacher loved by all her students...and I listened!" Piper punched the arm of the easy chair, splintering it. Her arm did not come away uninjured, but she paid it no mind. He poofed away the blood and conjured some bandages and tried to mend the injury but Piper pulled her arm away.

"….It was not your fault." He consoled, watching her dig her nails into her injury in order to prevent her bodies natural rapid healing. "We warned Dulcie and even Fairy world rules warned her not to visit with Mary Alice once she grew up…"

"But mother was worried about her—-about how adversely the Magical-Filter-Cycle had affected her…and she ignored those warnings…and ended up getting attacked by the brat who grew up to become a Fairy Hunter….." Piper put her hands over her face. "…I kept waiting for her to recover and come home so I could scold her for being so stupid as to ignore everyone's warnings, but….she'll never come home….she's slowly turning to dust….that evil brat I helped cure ripped off her wings…."

"Oh, Piper…" He went over to her side as her shoulders shook and held her. It was a tragedy that had no consoling words possible. All they could do was learn from the mistake and make every effort possible to see that it never got repeated.

….Of course, that would not save Dulcie Sweet, a woman who was once Fey World's top doctor, a once respected figure—who cast off everything in order to become a lowly fairy many years after everyone else who had decided to separate had already done so. That had already been enough for Fey world to scorn her.

She became a Godmother….who ended up inadvertently causing the death of her own godchild through sheer stupidity, and that had brought the once respected woman's name even lower.

'Dulcie Sweet, the brilliant maker of Fey world's best Angels, is a clumsy idiot outside of the hospital room; and a naïve airhead who is all heart and no brain—was stupid enough to get hunted down by the same godchild she accidently electrocuted to death!' Was the mockery spoken about the poor woman all across Fey world; only in this village full of those who she had been friends with, did her name get spared insult.

"Why…was she so stupid….?" Piper asked weakly, her hands still covering her face muffled her voice which was thick with the tears she refused to show.

"She wasn't stupid…." He corrected gently. "She just….loved too much."

"…Yeah, well…." Piper wiped at her eyes furiously and and looked away from him, crossing her arms and she brought her knees up to her chest, sinking deep into the chair. "…If she loved me instead of those humans, she wouldn't be dying now."

"She did love you Piper…"

"She left me behind in this world just so she could be with human children. Well, who can blame her I guess, as your daughter-in-law said….human babies are so much more fun than fairy babies, right?"

"That wasn't Wanda's wording." He handed her a tissue which she ignored. "Dulcie blamed herself for all the angels who did not survive the war. She became a godmother because she felt it was a way to repent….it wasn't because she did not love you."

"Ugh…! Ok, whatever, I hate how sappy this conversation is getting!" Piper shooed him away from her with a frustrated waving of her hands. "Let's just….stop talking about this. I'm acting like a little kid. Yeah, I know it. I'm being immature about this….heck, even Jorgen probably thought I was acting like a big baby." She pointed around the room at the mess of marshmallows she had made, making them all float and magically return to the bag. He hoped she wasn't planning on still eating them. "…Speaking of Jar-head where is he? Oh and FYI, I wasn't going to really harm his mother's tree...it was just the best way to force that doofus to talk."

"I thought so." He had known it wasn't a crime she would ever commit. Piper would say anything to get her way, but she wouldn't actually do half of the threats she made. "Jorgen insisted on remaining until he could double check on Wanda and Timmy's wellbeing, so I locked him into the room that houses your mother's cuckoo clock collection until their ready to receive a visit. I would think some time after their nap would be appropriate."

"Hey, I hate to say it, but he technically did not do anything wrong, so that is a bit of an unfair punishment."

"You know how I have a strong aversion towards him, thus I derive pleasure from being afforded a justification to inflict suffering upon him." He quipped, trying to use a cheerful voice in order to lighten the mood. It seemed to work as Piper cracked a smile as she rose a brow at him.

"Isn't your wife's side of the family related to the Von Strangles?"

"The pure-blooded vein of it, yes, frankly, that's a fact I choose to ignore. Furthermore, it might amuse you to learn that I slowed time down in that cuckoo clock room so that every minute out here is an hour in there…"

He felt satisfaction as Piper, her eyes still red and swollen from the tears she had poorly hidden, began to laugh. "He's gonna come out of there more cuckoo than the cuckoos!"

The two of them had a lot of different opinions, and their hobbies and interests did not match at all, but Piper was as close as family to him, and it hurt to see her in pain. If anyone if Fey world deserved to have a smile always on their face, it was Piper "Sweet" Pied; the woman whose treatments had saved more children, Kinders and companions than anyone else's.