10 - Do You Believe In Magic?

Knowing Aashif was going to be there to watch the kids was a great relief to Maia, and she was able to better focus on her performances.

And because of experiences with the genie and the reaper, Maia had learned how to levitate.

It was a big crowd draw, and soon Maia was performing in some of the more popular venues.

She tried not to schedule gigs on weekends, though, so she could spend them all with her children. Maia loved lazy weekends, and being able to watch all her children play together.

But sometimes, she thought she saw some rather odd things.

One day, when she asked the kids about it, they tried to explain what she had seen.

Romeo told Maia his doll, Lucky, was real, and right there listening to them, and that Juliet’s doll, Snuggles, was real, too.

But Maia couldn’t see anyone, and told him that his friend was only an imaginary one.

“But, mom,” he said, “how can you be a magician and not believe in magic?”

Maia tried to explain that much of what she did was only illusion and that there was a difference between the magic of genies or reaper powers and a child’s imagination.

“I’ll prove it to you,” Romeo told her. “Then you’ll SEE, too.”

While Maia was performing in the evenings, Romeo and Juliet spent a lot of their time after school looking for magic rainbow gems.

After much searching, they finally found the type of gem they'd been seeking.

Then they both traded in their gems for some potions made for their dolls to drink.

And one evening, the twins called Maia over to introduce her to their friends.

“Mom, this is Lucky, and this is Snuggles, and they’re REAL.”

Maia could see the kids she was introduced to were real, but she didn’t see how they could be Lucky and Snuggles.

“Now, watch!” Juliet said, and suddenly where two children had once stood, there were two dolls that could move and talk on their own, dolls that were exact replicas of the toddler-sized ones the twins used to play with, only child-sized now.

Maia sighed.  Well, she should’ve realized that there were many forms of magic. And she supposed it was better for the twins to have yet another magical being looking out for them.  Besides, she had plenty of room in her house for them all to live, and more than enough love to give to these two children, too.

And then she realized something else.

Uh-oh.

Author's Note - Not really relevant to anything but the shared title, but you saw it coming... :P