Chapter 24; Good Mommy

— Wanda's POV —

"Wanda, I don't know what to show more shock about! Your freakishly bizarre hairstyle or the fact you've turned your godchild into—-that!"

"Jorgen—! I can explain!" She froze up, heart pounding as her mind raced with what to say. If she took the wrong approach, it could be a catastrophe. A thousand different explanations ran through her head. She attempted to form coherent sentences, but all that escaped were fragmented words and incoherent stutters.

Her palms grew clammy, and a bead of sweat trickled down her forehead, betraying her nervousness. The comforting, luxurious room suddenly felt suffocating, as if the walls were closing in on her. Her heart pounded against her chest, each beat echoing in her ears like a war drum.

With every passing moment, the weight of the situation this moment of vulnerability, she felt an overwhelming sense of frustration and helplessness.

She had not been doing anything wrong. She shouldn't have to explain such matters whose understanding of children was less than zero. Alas, it was Jorgen, who had the power and authority to instantly remove her from Timmy's life if he found her behaviour unacceptable.

She couldn't let him come to any conclusions that might have him determine she had grown too attached; but her tongue remained heavy and all she could do was continue to offer a few feeble stammering noises as explanation—which, needless to say, did little in her favor.

Why hadn't she doubled checked who was at the door before she had opened it? How could she have been so careless?

The transformed children had been tuckered out from playing with her boy, so she had thought to give them a rest and had taken Timmy into the main room to play with some toys.

As they played together with some toy blocks, the knock had come and Piper had called out to her, 'We are here. Open up!'

She had just naturally assumed that 'we' had meant she had been with Nova, nor Jorgen!

She had considered changing Timmy back, wanting to hide the baby game from Nova and Piper but…it had been working so well to reduce the Stigmata that she felt it was worth the risk of letting the pair learn of the baby game in order to continue letting it fade the Stigmata before his next treatment, but—she would never of taken the risk of allowing Jorgen to learn of it.

Alas, when she opened the door, there had been no time to poof Timmy back to normal, as he had been right in full view of Jorgen and Piper the moment the door was opened.

Piper had the expression of someone who had just unintentionally walked in on someone in the bathroom, clarifying that this reveal was unintentional but that did not matter. What mattered was how Jorgen would react, and the actions he would take having learned of the 'Baby game'.

"Look mommy, an army man!" Timmy chirped, so innocent, not knowing just how bad this situation was and that calling her mommy in front of him was one of the worst things he could have done. Jorgen raised a brow at her and crossed her arms, clearing his throat.

"Please explain to be why your godson is suddenly an entire decade younger and is referring to you as mommy."

"Well, it's…uh… because—"

"Ah, Wanda, dear! I see you took my advice!" Nova poofed into the room, interrupting the conversation as he put an arm around her shoulder. "I know you were dubious at first, but did I not tell you? When times are tough, sometimes children, even the ones who want to grow up, like to relive the carefree days of infant hood."

"Oh, yes.." Piper put a finger on her chin, grinning, as she played along. "This is what we recommend if a Kinder has a serious Stigmata. When you don't have any bad memories or thoughts to dwell on, it really helps to reduce stress quickly, and nothing is more carefree than a baby."

"Is that so?" Jorgen looked to Piper, still sounding suspicious but also like he found it credible enough. While his head was turned, Nova gave her a wink. She was glad that, unlike Cosmo, he was quick on the uptake and had tried to help.

"I was very skeptical…" She hoped her acting was as good as Nova's and Piper's was, but lying had never been amongst her skill-set. "But I figured it couldn't hurt to try it. Normally, I wouldn't go so far…but, well, did you hear about what happened….?"

"Yes…" Some shame crept into Jorgen's expression. "I did not expect my father to show up…." He looked like he wanted to say more but refrained. "…How is Turner's Stigmata fairing? Did this bizarre treatment really help?"

"Nova and Piper's suggestion, as unorthodox as it is, really did work well." She grabbed Timmy's chubby little arm, and he wiggled it about, thinking she was playing with him. "It was bleeding earlier, but now look at it!"

"That is quite satisfactory indeed! Remarkable improvement!" Nova's eyes lit up upon observing the salmon pink ring around Timmy's wrist. With any luck, they'd get it back to how it had been before Gunter had shown up, before his next treatment.

"Yeah, baby-therapy is effective 60% of the time in reducing a Stigmata; and even when it doesn't fade it, it at least prevents it from worsening." Piper's statement sounded so confident that she wondered if it really was a legitimate treatment used against soul-damage and not just Piper and Nova making up stories out of thin air to get her out of trouble with Jorgen.

"Mommy, mommy!" Timmy tugged on her arm and pointed at Nova. "Cosmo not the same!"

Nova chuckled and knelt down in front of her boy, ruffling his hair. "I'm not Cosmo, I'm his father, Nova."

"Sooo, you grandpa Nova?"

"Timmy, I don't thi—" She tried to correct the boy, hoping that her father-in-law took no offense at being called grandpa by a boy who wasn't his grandson, but Nova broke out into a wide smile, turning dewy eyed.

"Yesh, yesh, you can call me Gwampa Nova!" Nova tickled Timmy's belly, making him squeal with laughter.
"Aw, you're such a cute widdle thing, aren't you? Cute widdle boy!"

"—And Nova is speaking baby-talk." Piper twirled a bundle of her long braids around her fingers with a dry expression. "It's kinda strange to listen to, 'cause he usually talks like he swallowed a thesaurus."

"You have an owie gwampa?" Timmy pointed to his bandaged hand, and she felt a surge of guilt and gratitude for how he had been willing to suffer injury to spare her from suffering the effects of the salve.

"Just a wittle one. I'll be all better soon."

"Jorgen, I know it seems like a strange treatment, and I had my doubts too, but they were right, it helped Timmy a lot…and as long as he consents to it, it might be a good way to quell his Stigmata directly after treatments." She looked to Jorgen, afraid he might have seen through the farce.

"…Wanda." Jorgen gave her an expression she could not quite place. "I've had godparents resort to this kind of thing, many times….their longing for a baby of their own sometimes drives them to simulate having one in order to fulfill their desire for an infant, even if for a little while. They either start doing it far too often, or grow so attached that they refuse to change the child back." Jorgen rolled his eyes. "I had one fairy couple disguise themselves as humans and run off with their godchild for seven years before I caught them!"

Blonda was the one who took after their mother, but if she too had inherited any acting prowess, now was the time to put those latent skills to use. She forced a smirk and raised her brow.

"Jorgen, are you forgetting that I have Poof? I'm literally the only fairy who doesn't have to simulate having a baby. I have one of my own! Technically, I have two, if you count Cosmo."

Jorgen muster a small laugh and it was all she could do not to exhale in relief. "I suppose that is true. No fairy would mess around with a human baby when they had a fairy baby of their own. Human ones are so much trouble in comparison, and so fragile. They feel as if they'd break if I just picked them up."

"They probably would." Piper remarked; and she smiled to herself; what Jorgen found troublesome, she found endearing. The fairy enforcer, however, had always been the type to think that everyone shared his opinions on things unless someone verbally refuted them.

Jorgen wouldn't fathom for a moment that she, who had a 'superior' fairy baby, could possibly harbour a desire to raise an 'inferior' human one, and she'd just quietly let him believe that, disguising the baby-game as nothing more than 'therapy.'

"But—" Jorgen's voice froze her inward relief. "Even if he has a baby's mind, you need to make it clear what your relationship is. It won't do to make Turner even more attached to you than he already is."

He stepped in front of Timmy and pointed at her. "That is not your mommy." He poofed up a picture of Mrs. Turner. "This is your mommy." He pointed at her again. "She is your God mommy."

The sting she felt was worse than she thought it would be; she couldn't even appreciate how cute God Mommy sounded, especially coming from Jorgen's mouth. Toddler Timmy was so cute…she hadn't wanted to go from being 'mommy' to being just his god mother, especially so soon. She had liked him thinking that she was his…actual mother…

"Mommy." Timmy pointed at the picture of Mrs. Turner and then looked over at her with a huge grin. "Good Mommy."

"…!" She placed a hand over her heart, trying hard to control her expression.

"No, it's God Mommy." Jorgen corrected, frustrated by the unexpected response.

"Good Mommy."

"God Mommy."

"No, Good Mommy."

As Jorgen and Timmy had their little back and forth, Nova patted her on the back and gave her a side smile as his voice entered her head.

I am confident that we adequately resolved that situation. Jorgen will consider it as a facet of his treatment and refrain from questioning you. In any event, its effectiveness was truly remarkable. Your decision to employ such a strategy was commendable. However, if you don't mind, may I inquire about the motivations behind such a... game? It is possible that numerous fairies, impacted by the baby prohibition, may contemplate utilizing such approaches. However, as you mentioned, you do have a child of your own. If you do not wish to, there is no need for you to tell me. I am simply inquisitive."

'….' She wasn't sure how much of this she wanted to tell him, since she had only really just admitted it to herself but, since he came to her rescue, she felt like she owed him some explanation for her actions and answered him back inside her head a little uncomfortable about him being able to read her thoughts like this. 'The only fairy babies I had ever seen were in photographs, and I just thought of them as little versions of people I knew. The only babies I ever go to interact with were human ones….'

Nova's face flashed with realization, being quick on the uptake unlike his son, and he nodded, looking sympathetic, immediately grasping what she meant. "I humbly apologize, my dear. It never dawned on me that your generation wouldn't know—! …Fairies like me knew from the get go how different human and fairy babies were from each other….'

'I love Poof, of course. I adore my baby boy with all my heart. Even if raising him is not the experience I had thought it would be, I'm still overjoyed to be his mother.'

'Naturally! Wanda, my dear, I comprehend completely. There is no need for any explanation. If I were in your position, I would be feeling the same sentiments. There is absolutely nothing peculiar about your desire to simulate the experience of human motherhood with your godchild.'

It would be nice if Cosmo was as supportive and as understanding as his father was…instead, he just called it 'weird', even though he, of all people, should have known how she felt, having went through the same experience.

'I'm just giving Timmy the experience he hadn't gotten as a baby; the feeling of a mother's love and attention'.'She stated affectionately as she tenderly watched her blue-eyed boy who had the cutest little grin on his face right now. In those home movies, she had seen Mrs Turner ignore that adorable smile, keeping her nose glued to a magazine or the television regardless of how much the boy called for her attention. She'd only give him attention to scold him when he took the inevitable tantrum over being ignored.

She'd never do something like that. She would never outright ignore Poof over some trivial program or book, not when a few moments of attention would make him feel loved and cherished. The one time she hadn't paid attention when Poof had wanted to play was that time she and Timmy had tickets to go see a wrestling match between Nuclear Nacho and Blazing Burrito. They both loved wrestling, and had been looking forward to their mother/son outing all week long. Poof was still too young for such violence, so she had thought to leave him behind with his father. She had thought Cosmo would have spent the evening playing with him, rather than get himself stuck inside the vacuum cleaner.

"Good Mother."

"God mother."

"Good Mother."

Jorgen and Timmy were still at it; going back and forth, Timmy's grin getting wider each time; he obviously thought they were playing a game, a fact Jorgen had not caught onto.

"No, G.O.D Mommy." Jorgen literally made magical words appear above his head, spelling out God Mother in huge bright glittery letters. Timmy stared at it for several long moments before pointing at it, laughing.

"Army man, you forgot a O!"

"Oh! I give up…!"

"I win!" Timmy clapped his hands together, and with the clumsy legs of a baby wobbled over to her and hugged her tight, looking very proud of himself. "Haha, mommy, I can spell Good and the army man can't! You spell it G.O.O.D., I learnt that from TV."

"What a smart little boy you are!" She praised and his smile became brighter than the sun; so cute! Nova and Piper both seemed to share the sentiment as they, too, chuckled.

…Even Jorgen couldn't completely suppress a small smile before putting his usual stern expression back onto his face. "Ok, admittedly, cute, but just take care not to make this a habit, and only do it with Turner's consent."

"Of course." She squeezed her blue-eyed angel close to her, relieved. Jorgen's tone implied that he did not think Timmy would be a willing participant of such 'treatment', but she knew her boy loved to play out this fantasy of being truly mother and child, just as much as she did.

"We have a little party set up outside and we've slowed time in the village so that the time between now and his next treatment isn't shortened." Nova spoke in a reassuring tone, almost as if he were trying not to spook a small animal. "We have only enchantment proof foods present, and I promise that none of the Fey present will try anything sneaky."

"If you have any doubts, go ask Jorgen about how a Stigmata blocks the Kinder transformation." Piper looked pointedly at Jorgen, silently commanding him to confirm. He made a slightly uncomfortable face, but then nodded.

"Yes, it is true. Feeding fey fruit to someone baring a Stigmata will…er, not make them Kinder, but…"

Nova snapped his fingers and a pair of fuzzy ear muffs appeared on Timmy's ears, making her boy look about confused. He began to whine and complain that he couldn't hear anything anymore, getting louder each time; how was it that tiny children had such loud voices? She tried to shush him but he just grew more fussy, but somehow even a tantrum like this was oddly endearing. Poof, when he took a tantrum, would have his magic cause some epic disaster, but a little human's tantrum was just so pathetic that their helplessness made it cute.

She was well aware, however, that the novelty for this behaviour would wear off quickly, even for her if subjected to it daily or even weekly, so she tried tickling him and making some funny faces to get him to stop.

"You see—" Jorgen seemed to try hard to choose the correct words, or maybe he was just distracted by her attempts to silence Timmy's tantrum. "A damaged soul causes the fey fruit to instead turn them into an enchanted plant. It's one of the taboos of this circle and would rouse the fury of Queen Mab. The Fey here would not risk it."

"The closest we have to that is the grove of that Tree Mothers, but those weren't children—"

"Piper, now really, that's too insensitive." Nova chided and glanced over at Jorgen, whose jaw was clenched. "Apologies. What befell Engeltrud was tragic. I usually feel no pity for adults, but her story is widely known within our Circle and has inspired quite a few ballads… much to Gunter's chagrin."

"Shh, angel, shh…" She put her finger to her lips to silence the still complaining Timmy who, try as he may, could not remove the magical sound-blocking earmuffs Nova had placed on him to block out their potentially distressing conversation. He sulkily pouted, his watery blue eyes giving her a puppy-dog stare that felt like it was boring into her soul—especially considering the current state of his eyes.

"I ask that we change the subject." Jorgen's voice was stiff, and he looked at her, pointedly. "It is important you know this, however—if the Stigmata is only a minor one, Fey Fruit can still make them a Kinder. Fey Fruit only has the effect of arborification if the Stigmata is red, is marking more than one limb, or has bled in the past 24 hours." Jorgen cast a dirty look at Nova. "Something I learned when these two tricked me with it before."

"I see…" She glanced at her father-in-law and Piper, neither of which seemed sheepish about their past deceit. If anything, they looked a little annoyed that Jorgen had mentioned it.

It was one they could have easily used to lead her astray. The Stigmata that had marked Timmy during their brunch would not have stopped them from giving him Fey Fruit had they not been bound by the rules of the contract that made their room safe from such tactics.

Even the Stigmata he had now would not detour them had it not been for the fact that it had bled within the last 24 hours.

"Wanda dear, we would not employ such tactics against you." Nova's words were honeyed and for a moment she could see a trace of Schnozmo creeping into his demeanor.

"Don't worry none 'bout any fey fruit, and no Fey will try to take any piece of his hair or anything like that," Piper tsked. "Since your Nova's daughter-in-law, they'll show you more curtsey than the common godparent. He's really popular among the villagers, and they wouldn't want to piss him off by doing something to hurt you."

"And I haven't given up quite yet on getting you to join us, my dear." Nova gave her a playful wink, as if what he had said had been in jest, though she knew he was being serious.

He had been kind, protective, helpful and understanding towards her, but she had to remind herself that he was also probably her most dangerous adversary in Fey world, precisely because he had been all those things. If she let her guard down around him too much, he would eventually take advantage of it the moment he realized that no amount of coaxing would have her agree to become a Fey and have Timmy changed willingly into one of their Kinders. When that happened he would likely drop the familial consideration and resort to any deceit or trickery necessary to claim Timmy as he would any other human child who stepped foot into Fey world.

But that also meant that if she lured him on, making him believe he had a chance at convincing her, she could keep him an ally rather than a foe, for that much longer.

— Nova POV —

"Jorgen, there is no further need for your presence after completing the delivery of your parcels, so you can be on your way now." He remarked, not even trying to keep his tone civil as he went to inspect the party that Piper had set up. The tiny popsicle stick creations were lined up like little gifts for the Heart-Soul. So…his Cosmo made these things? They were pretty well made, but the paint job was a mismatch of odd colors that weren't very well done, with streaks blending into each other and parts of the wood missed…like it was done by a child. Perhaps painted by little Poof?

…..His son was an idiot; but the love and care that had went into making these little trinkets all by hand, spoke volumes. What happened to Timmy was entirely because of Cosmo's carelessness and Wanda had made complaints of his inability to understand their godchild's problems as of late, but….the feelings he sensed that went into the creation of these presents, was enough to tell him that his son did cherish Timmy more than one would a typical godchild.

Jorgen followed his gaze and looked at the little figurines. "I'll leave after all the soul receives its items."

"It's not like we're going to steal them." Well, honestly, he wouldn't mind claiming one of them as a momento of his son and grandson, though…with any luck, both would join him in Fey world, along with Stella and Wanda….it would be nice if Schnozmo came too, but it did not seem like his eldest would have any compulsion to follow the rest of his family from the sounds of it.

"I'm more concerned with leaving Wanda alone in the middle of what I am sure is a scheme."

"Your tendency to mistrust is quite notable."

"I'd sooner trust a mouse with a great big hunk of cheese than a Fey with a child—and I'd sooner trust a rottweiler with a nest of baby squirrels then trust you!"

Nova rolled his eyes. "The quality of your analogies continues to be deplorable."

He hoped that by the time Wanda and Timmy came outside that Jorgen would have left or at least calmed down; he did not want that idiot creating tension during his carefully planned little gathering.

Right now, Piper was helping Wanda prepare the soul cage to take outside so that the little Heart-Soul could join them. It was daylight, so they had to take some preparations as human souls found it dreadfully uncomfortable.

As Fey, they could simply turn day to night, but that magic would mess around with the time-slow magic, so they needed to take different measures to ensure its comfort.

"Ah, looks like some of our little Kinders are coming to do a no-no." He wagged his finger at a small group of some of their naughtier children, who had come running around the bend of a mushroom shaped out. The way they had screeched to a halt, and the stunned look on their faces was enough to tell him they had come over to steal some sweets. They broke out into impish grins when they saw him there. To be honest, he wondered how these little ones had ever made it through the Trial of the Forest.

"Oh….you three…" Jorgen recognized them…each had given him a hard time when they had been godchildren, but he looked as sad for them as he did for any Kinder. He really wished that Jorgen would stop thinking of this as a misfortune. The true misfortune was allowing these precious creatures to grow into adults…to let their innocent, bright spirits become tarnished and muddy…

"Hey, it's Jorgen!"

"Hiiiiya Mr. Jorgen!"

"Heheh, as you can see, we're still up to our rule breaking shenanigans!"

The children chortled, with a daring towards Jorgen they probably would never have mustered as godchildren. Nova would give him credit that he did not grow angry, but mustered a slight smile.

"You three, you know, you're not supposed to brag about misbehaving." He chided, unable to hide his own smile at their antics.

"Hehe, we just love Piper's fairy candy." Eleanor batted emerald bug-like eyes at him. Her hair was actually delicate vines, blooming with Hawthorne flowers, and had butterfly wings that shimmered in opal-like hues. One of the prettiest Kinders, she often knew how to use her pretty face to talk her way out of things; a skill she had learned as a human girl on earth and had perfected with advice from her fey mother, who had much the same habit.

"We just thought we'd help by taste testing things to make sure everything is perfect!" Theodore proclaimed proudly. A funny boy, this one, notorious for playing pranks; because of this tendency, his fey parents, Siofra and Finch, had given him fox ears and tail, as foxes were creatures often depicted as playing pranks in fairytales. Rather than curb his behaviour, they encouraged it. Sometimes those two acted as if they were still anti-fairies rather than whole Fey; perhaps their fairy personalities were so mild-mannered that after they merged very little to none of them was left? He was glad that had not befallen him, still after so many years as a Fey, he really couldn't remember what his original fairy and anti-fairy personalities once were.

The last of their little trio of trouble makers was Edmund. His form was half crow, his black hair feathery in texture and his arms were wings, making his hands useless, though his legs had been left human so that he could still run and play. His body was spotted with several of the shiniest jewels found in nature, from precious diamonds to simple moissanite.

This was not the original Kinder form his fey parent had chosen for him; but little Edmund had a naughty tendency to steal shiny things, a thing he did too many times and now as punishment was stuck half crow without the use of his hands for the next hundred years.

Unfortunately, not having hands did not curb his stealing habit, so he'd probably end up with another hundred years tacked onto his initial punishment.

"We know we're not invited, so we wanted to get some goodies…." He pouted a little. He smiled at them apologetically and ruffled the hair of the two boys. Knowing Eleanor hated having her vines messed up, he gave her cheek a little pinch to show his affection instead.

"I apologize, but we would prefer not to burden the Heart-Soul with an excessive number of attendees. I genuinely hope I did not cause any hurt feelings."

"If we say you did, can we come?" Theodore asked, making puppy-dog eyes. He shook his head, not without feeling a little bad about it.

"No; not this time…" He had carefully handpicked the Fey and the Kinders who would be present. Whilst all of them wanted to come, having too many would not only scare the little Heart-Soul, but it would be too overwhelming for Wanda, and she'd spend the entire affair paranoid and mistrustful.

In addition, when persuading someone to become a part of your family, it was advisable to initially showcase only the finest aspects, before introducing them to the less... favorable members.

He wanted to introduce Wanda Fey, that she could develop a rapport towards. This would be a step towards making his daughter-in-law feel at home in the village.

Based on what he knew from Stella's letters, unless she had exaggerated things to make Wanda look bad, his dear daughter-in-law did not have very many friends in the fairy world, so if she made friends here it would be helpful towards convincing her to make Fey World her home.

When it came to the Kinders, he only wanted to bring the most well-behaved ones to this party. The polite, sweet natured ones, with skills and talents that would impress her.

Wanda appeared to be the type who would care about if something or someone was a good influence or not, and she'd probably be picky about who her children associated with, so it wouldn't be a good idea to show off the bottom of the barrel, but the creme of the crop.

…Though, he did love these naughty little kids just as much as the well-behaved ones, so he hated to leave them out. Prized well-made and well brought up Kinders, and scruffy, untamed little Kinders were equally precious and adorable in his eyes.

"I will host a small gathering later tonight for all the Kinders and Fey who could not attend. I will be sure to share videos of the party for everyone's entertainment. It will be lots of fun." He placated them. Before that, he had to remember to make good on his promise to Wanda and Timmy to take them out to see the butterflies at night. He hated to not carry through on the things he promised to do, but…unfortunately his mood had been so soured by the argument he had with Piper that he would have been poor company.

Timmy loved the stars…he would take them out to the star viewing Pavillion that Timmy had liked in the video he watched on their village; they'd share a nice evening together, watching stars and butterflies like a happy little family…Momma, child and grandfather….

…It really had been cute how the toddler version of that dear child had called him grandpa. He wondered if he could get him to do it at his normal age, too?

"Hey, Nova, Nova! You should have seen it!" Eleanor giggled, pulling him out of his reverie. It appeared that he had momentarily drifted away into his fantasies, as he was now a bit disoriented about how the conversation had shifted towards that bothersome woman. "Can you believe it? Bubbles went into a fit, right there! And to top it off, she actually bit Aelar when he tried to bring her back home and lock her inside."

"She's convinced she and are going to be best friends." Edmund snickered.

"Wanda might be a little overly fond of Turner, but she's a far cry from that obsessive, possessive, delusional lunatic." Jorgen cringed.

"That's quite the tongue twister, but I agree." Indeed, if he ever saw anything of Bubbles in Wanda, he'd instantly drag his dear daughter-in-law to the nearest psychologist.

"…I'm surprised she's…still part of the village." Jorgen seemed dismayed.

"Queen Mab gave her one chance; and only out of pity for Dahlia." He made a face. "Stupid fool, as if my daughter-in-law would be friends with one of her elk."

That idiot Bubbles would ruin everything if she showed up! There would be no way Wanda could meet her without being left with a terrible impression; not just a terrible impression, but a traumatic one!

What was Bubbles even thinking? Timmy's soul-shock would worsen if he saw Dahlia….but of course, if Bubbles thought, then Dahlia would not be in her condition. It might seem harsh to lock her in her house, but they couldn't trust Bubbles to stay home when told to.

"…..How is…." Jorgen gulped. "Little Dahlia…?"

"A little better than when you brought her, but Piper can't do much more for her than she already has. She's still looking for ways to help, but…fairy blood isn't supposed to be mixed with human blood."

"….Can't argue with that." Jorgen sounded bitter; he rolled his eyes a little.

"You know what I meant. Dahlia, a normal human girl, had fairy blood injected into her... I'm unsure of what Bubbles anticipated. That a miracle that happens only to a rare 2% would happen for her? Foolish!"

"I'm so happy my godparents made me like this….and did not go the Bubbles route." Theodore cringed.

Siofra and Finch had loved their little Theo as much as Bubbles had loved Dahlia, but they took the logical route of having him smuggle the boy into Fey world and settled for making him a Kinder rather than risk the boy to a fate worse the death by hoping to be one of the miraculous 2% who received a transfusion of fairy blood and became reborn as their fairies own child.

"Theo…I admit your parents were bad, but your sister did mourn you." Jorgen's voice was heavy. Theodore gave him a slightly uncomfortable look.

"Agnes was nice. I'm not surprised she worried about me, but she was married off years before I went missing; she had her own life to care about by then. She probably moved on fast."

"Your sister's name was Agatha."

"….."

"Jorgen, don't confuse the poor Kinders by nitpicking details from thousands of years ago." He scolded; hugging Theo, whose brows were furrowed as he tried to recall the memories of his sister. "You know very well that their memory capabilities are inferior to ours."

"Yes….I know. Estelle Lenoir seemed to have entirely no recollection of herself left at all."

"Oh, Este! Her new litter is just sooo cute!" Eleanor gushed, oblivious girl.

"Ah, I suspected that something was bothering you." He sighed. "Estelle may have been a child when she became a companion but, that was thousands of years ago and unlike our sweet Kinders, we do allow our companions to grow into adult form…and so nature takes its natural course. If we did not allow that, our forests would be quite bare."

It did bother him that his last child saved did not become a Kinder, but Estelle seemed quite pleased with her current life. She was one of the few companions to have a new litter every couple of years. Thanks to her, and her equally reproductive offspring, their forest had no shortage of Lunaflyers.

Jorgen was making such a sour face that it looked like his cheeks were full of lemons. Wanda would probably make a similar face. It's not like he did not understand, during his first few years of being a Fey; the discovery that some children he saved had become animals had tormented him. When he had also realized that these animals were also permitted to breed, well, he had been disturbed. However, after a while, his Fey nature became dominate, and he began to not only tolerate but appreciate these things; and now, he adored and loved them just as much as all the other Fey.

The companions were so very cute and their little babies so sweet. They may have failed to become Kinders, but the companions lived lives of joy and freedom, forever freed from all remnants of their human identities that had tormented them so—and they even got the pleasure of having their only lovely children.

…Wanda and even Jorgen too, regardless of how much such things might horrify them now, if they ever became Fey they too would also begin to think the same way as the rest of them.

They'd see that all the children here; regardless of their status, were all happy and equally precious living their new lives.

— Piper POV —

She watched in silence as Wanda sang in order to comfort the upset little Heart-soul.

They had resized the cage to resemble a bird cage, making it easier to carry. Then, they carefully placed the cage into a wooden carrying case. The case had a door that acted as a giant magnifying glass, allowing the soul to be easily visible. Although the Fey of this village rarely used this type of soul-carrier, it was popular in villages where people kept pretty or rare souls as pets. This unique item protected the souls from being overexposed to sunlight during travel.

"There, there sweetie, it's ok, you're not going anywhere scary. Shhh…." Wanda soothed the soul, whose tears had quieted into a few leftover hiccups. "…Aren't you such a precious little thing?"

What was with this woman? She had her own baby. Why was she getting so damn obsessed over a human one? It wasn't her first time seeing something like this, though, and none of them ever ended well.

…She could not risk this godmother doing anything that could ruin her prized specimen. In her opinion, Wanda was a weepy, whiny hypocrite who looked at Fey as if they were morally bankrupt for stealing children when it was so obvious she wanted to make Timmy her own. She at first thought she might be planning to run away with him or find a way to sneak back into his life….but after seeing this baby-nonsense…a troubling thought occurred to her.

Would she try to do what Bubbles did? While it was common for Fey to feed their blood to human children to fill them with affection towards them…introducing fairy blood into their bodies via injection had a different, far more severe consequence.

"Hey—" She knew Nova might not like this being mentioned; but it was probably better to warn Wanda because knowing Bubbles, even locking her in her house, would not keep that woman down. It would be better to give her a heads up, and this way she could give her a discreet warning.

Wanda gave her a questioning look.

"You probably know about Bubbles, right?"

"Everyone knows about her." Wanda looked squeamish. "Bubbles grew so attached to her goddaughter that she injected her with fairy blood. Who would take such a moronic risk?"

"You wouldn't want a chance to become Timmy's biological mother?"

Wanda scoffed. "Not if it meant employing a method with a 98% chance of reducing him to a mutated undying husk of flesh and mangled appendages! That method was created back in the Dark Days by fairies who were unable to reproduce but were obsessed with continuing their bloodline. They'd easily sacrificed hundreds of kids to find the one that would survive the process—it's not a method someone would use on a child they cared for, let alone loved enough to want to be their mother."

"I agree…unfortunately all the victims of that method are still alive in their states; there not here in this village but being care for elsewhere…."

"….I can't imagine anyone could do that to a child…." Wanda looked pained, but she could easily understand why it happened and why it was done, even if she strongly opposed the practice.

Several factors made it hard for fairies (and Fey) to have children even before fairy world's baby ban; magical incompatibility with their partner, genetics, overall magical capacity; plus the Sparkles, a common childhood illness in fairies left one out of four infertile. If Poof had not been a wish by Timmy, there was a very good chance Wanda and Cosmo would have been left childless even without the baby ban.

"Bubbles might have claimed that she'd love god daughter no matter what she looked like on the outside…" Wanda continued, looking miserable. "But no one who truly loved a child would ever do such a horrible thing to do. I love Timmy, but…I'd rather watch him age and eventually die than trap him in a state of eternal suffering just to keep him with me. That's not love…that's selfishness."

"Yep. I agree." Well, she did not seem like she was lying about that, good…because others she'd of obliterated this woman.

"Why'd you bring her up, anyway?"

"Yeah, since Dahlia's condition was fresh, she was brought here, hoping I could do something. I made some improvements, but it's still a pitiful sight. Anyway….the Kinder here are very kind to Dahlia, plus she's grown comfortable with these surroundings so we don't want to cause the child further distress by removing her from her friends and taking her to a unfamiliar place, unfortunately, because of her attachment to Bubbles we're all stuck with that crazy woman in our village."

"Ooh." Wanda grimaced, but she looked like she understood it was out of consideration for the unfortunate child. "So…their going to be at the gathering?"

"No; well…Nova told her to stay home, but…Bubbles is a little…well, a lot, crazy. I thought it would be best to give you a warning that she might show up so that you don't freak out."

"Thanks." Wanda rubbed the back of her neck, looking like she hoped she did not encounter Bubbles. They silently went back into the main room of their recovery room, where they had left Timmy sulking on the floor next to his toy blocks. He had been taking a little tantrum over the ear muffs even after they'd been removed.

The boy wasn't there, but…his little feet were peeking out from under the curtain, making it obvious where he was hiding.

"Oh, Timmy, where are you?" Wanda was smiling as she tiptoed around, pretending she did not know. "Oh, Timmy, if you can hear me, answer me."

"I can't hear you, mommy."

"Yes you can, the earmuffs are gone."

"No, I can't. Can't hear you."

"You wouldn't be answering if that was true."

….Most people would probably call this cute, and it was cute, she had to admit, but watching this made her feel as if she was a little girl again, watching her mother pamper and play with a bunch of human babies as she prepared them to become angels someday. She had loved the little kids. They were all very cute. They were such adorable little playmates, but she had hated how much more attention they got from her mother than she did.

"Your mean mommy made you wear earmuffs so you don't want to come out?" She played along, watching the little bump behind the curtains move.

"Mommy's not mean!"

"But you're hiding on her."

"Yeah."

"Because she's mean, not taking off the earmuffs."

"Mommy not mean," Timmy repeated, making Wanda laugh.

"Then why are you hiding on her?" She continued to playfully probe him.

"Dunno."

"You don't know why you're hiding on mommy?" Wanda asked, chuckling.

"No." Timmy seemed to think about it for a moment or two. "It's fun!"

"Oh, so it's fun hiding on mommy?" Wanda opened up the curtain and looked down at the face that broke out into a huge grin. "Found you."

"Yay! I love hide and seek, I like being looked for! My Good Mommy found me fast. My other mommy took years!"

"I don't think she took years, baby." She laughed; this kid reminded her of the ones she'd help her mother care for. Cute and stupid like a little puppy.

"…" Timmy seemed to consider it. "When she told me to hide, it was breakfast, and she did not find me till bedtime! I'm a good hider!"

Wanda put her two hands over her mouth with a gasp, her eyes watering, whilst she couldn't help but grimace.

"….Ooh, well, I think I just felt pain right here." She tapped her chest and Timmy gave her a wide-eyed look.

"In your milk place?"

"Timmy!" Wanda gasped, but couldn't quite keep the smile off her lips even as she attempted to sound reprimanding. She herself couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Oh, even at this age you're still a little antechinus!"

Wanda laughed awkwardly and kissed the boy on the head. "Do you think I ought to turn him back to normal? He might be a handful at the gathering…."

"Nah, being this way is really helping his Stigmata and besides…he's entertaining like this, though, you'd probably be better off taking on a bigger form so you can hold on to him better."

"True, I was thinking of doing that." Wanda waved her wand and took on a taller, almost human looking form though without losing her wings or crown. Her wild mane of hair did not look as silly now that it wasn't bigger than her body.

"Bigger Good Mommy!" Timmy began jumping up and down and holding his arms out for a hug. Wanda scooped him up, giving him a big squeeze. She did not even seem to mind when his baby hands found her wings and reached out to touch them.

"Good Mommy has pretty wings…sparkly!"

"Oh, be gentle, sweetie. Mommy is sensitive there."

"Gentle, gentle…." Timmy stroked the wings more carefully, but having wings herself, she knew that no matter how gentle the touch, it felt awful to be touched there. Nevertheless, Wanda quietly endured it with a smile as it made the child happy.

Yes, on the surface Wanda did seem to have some traits in common with Bubbles, but there was a big difference between them….Wanda was ready to suffer for her child's happiness, while Bubbles was willing to suffer her child for her own happiness.

Unfortunately, by the end of everything, Wanda was probably going to suffer a lot.