It's nearly 4 o'clock when Bloom is finally heading out into the gardens for some alone time. Who knew that planning a coronation and birth could be so, well, stressful. If she wasn't care, she could go into early labor. She has to wait for her friends to get here, and from the replies she got, even from her sister, everyone should be here within the next few days.
Hiking up the left side of her skirt, she quickly, or as quickly as a nine-month pregnant woman could, walked into the garden, leaving the palace of Eraklyon behind her. She can't run her marriage, though who in their right mind would want to run from Sky she could never guess, but she could at least go back to being a normal Earth girl with normal flowers around her.
As she walks down the path, the green of the leaves and bushes, the bright pinks and purple of the sweet peas, it all meshes so well with her mood – happy. Everything in the garden is happy, happier than she had seen it in months. She continues down the walk, letting her senses roll with nature. Flora had taught her that years ago – how to just relax and let nature take over your thoughts.
Flora. It popped into her head then popped right back out. She felt the sun on her skin and Stella did the same as the name Flora had. Seeing as she was on a role, she finds a little bench and sits her weary body down, cupping her hands under her huge stomach.
The sound of the bugs – bees and lady bugs flying on the wind – reminds Bloom of Tecna and all the silly seeming technology bugs she had made over the years. Tecna. Bloom could also hear the sound of the water fountains nearby, tickling down into the pool, and the sound of birds chirping, like a flute. Layla, Musa.
No, wait. Blooms eyes open and she looks around. That is a flute. She gently stands up, her friends name burning in her mind's eye. Flora, Stella, Tecna, Layla, Musa! She follows the path further in. She knows these gardens, Sky had had them planted for her when they got married.
She follows the sound of water trickling and of the flute playing. As she gets nearer and nearer, she can start to hear the sounds of soft voices, talking, and of children playing. "Wow," she says. "The sound of the flute reached far away from her."
She come upon the inner circle of the gardens and there they are, all of her friends and family. The circle has been decorated with natural flowers, no doubt courtesy of the resident Fairy of Nature, Flora, and music was gently playing in the background, the instruments creating a soft tune all their own, clearly Musa's magic as the Fairy of Music. The children were all playing near the fountain, balls of water floating in the air, with the pixies floating about the children's heads. The adults were all standing or sitting near a set tables, munching on the catered goodies on a long table near them.
As she walks in, heads turn toward her, the first of them she recognizes being that of her husband. "Sky," she calls across the clearing. "What is this?"
The kids all hear her voices, and they and the pixies dart toward her, surrounding her, calling out to her.
"Mama!" calls her little Meadow.
"Anty, Anty! We missed you!" Chime out the others as they grab her dress and pull her into a crazy hug of seven small entwining hands.
"Oh, everyone!" Bloom half falls and half kneels to the ground and opens her arms, all the children rushing into her embrace.
"Careful now, children." Call out their parents.
Bloom pulls away from the kids and sees everyone behind them, tears rolling down her face. Her nephew, Arkin, wipes away one of her tears and looks at it on his fingers. "Aunty Bloom, are you sad?" he asks her.
"No honey, I'm happy. I'm crying happy tears." And more tears roll down her cheeks. Sky walks over and offers her a hand, and Helia is on her other side, holding out one of his hands to help her up also. The children disperse, returning to their mother's sides. Even Meadow pulls away and walks to where the other children are, standing in front of a pair of adults.
As Bloom gets up, Helia helps her, then joins his family. As she looks toward everyone, they bow or curtsy to the future Queen of Eraklyon.
"Oh, everyone, no. Please, don't bow or curtsy. You are all my friends and my family.
From the back of the group one of the adults behind Meadow sighs and stands up with a smile on his face. "Whew, that's good because I'm not sure we were doing it right. Besides, I think we a little old for this now."
The look on Bloom's face goes from disbelief to joy. It is Mike and Vanessa standing behind Meadow, Vanessa's hand resting on her granddaughter's shoulder. "Hi sweetie," she says across the clearing.
"Mom," Bloom says, tears falling again.
Vanessa walks toward her and says, "Oh, honey, please don't cry." Mike follows her. "Did you really think we wouldn't come for the birth of our grandbaby? Besides, Sky sent us an invite to your coronation. Of course, we couldn't miss that." She smiles, and Mike takes her hand. They open their arms and Bloom just fits perfectly into the arms of her adoptive parents.
"Well," Sky says. "Why don't we get this party started?"
Everyone in the group, including the children and pixies, all yell, "Yeah!" Bloom on the other hand grabs her dad's arm and moans loudly.
"Sky, I don't think that's gonna work." She looks at him, pain clear in her face, and says, "The baby is coming."