45 - Training

After Maia returned home that morning and the kids went to school, she immediately went to bed.  It had been an eventful night for her with Alexander Delling’s strange behavior, and then almost getting trapped in an enchanted fairy ring.  But everything had worked out for the best; she was free to carry on with her challenge, and she was sure she was pregnant. She even dreamed of babies.

But after she awoke, she got to thinking again about what Kizzy had told her at the twins’ birthday party at the park.  Maia was going to have to get her supernatural children as prepared as possible for their potential futures in Moonlight Falls.

After the kids got home from school, Maia gathered all her witch children together in the library to practice their magic. 

Rowan was too little to actually teach, but encouraging her to make her toys continue to appear and disappear seemed to be a good place to start, and having her be around others practicing magic would hopefully help her to find it comfortable and natural later on.

Isabelle was too young for a wand yet, but Maia got her involved studying magical theory from books on witchcraft, and she thought seeing her older siblings practice with their wands would make it easier for Belle to learn the proper magical technique when she was old enough to begin her training.

Aiden, Ashton and Addison got to work right away with apple conjuring, as well as playing with magic and writing glyphs in the air as they chanted incantations. 

Although it was a bit crowded, being in the library near Maia’s macaw familiar, Rin, enabled the teens to practice longer, and they all improved their witch skills quickly.  Maia told them all what a great job they were doing, and since Rin had learned to talk, he reinforced Maia’s teaching by repeating what she told them.

“Play with magic! Play with magic!” Rin encouraged as he flew around them. “Great job! Awk!”

“You’re so clever, Rin,” Maia told him.

“Awk! Clever Rin!” the bird cawed in agreement.

While the witch kids were in the library learning magic, Sebastian was outside practicing hunting.

Although Bas did find a few insects on his own, Maia wished that his father was around to help him master his werewolf abilities. She couldn’t help but wonder about Hamilton and if they’d ever see him again. After the way they had parted on the night she had conceived Rowan, Maia worried they never would. But maybe another local werewolf could help see to Sebastian’s more advanced instruction.

And that led Maia to think of Kizzy’s suggestion concerning the different supernatural types in Moonlight Falls.  She had noticed that supernaturals tended to keep to their own groups, but since their skills were complementary, it did make sense for everyone to learn to work as a unit.

Maybe Rowan would help bring everyone together under her leadership someday, but Maia thought it would be a good idea to get her own children used to helping one another now that they understood the basics of their own abilities. She had Sebastian hunt for whatever items he could find, and then had her witch teens convert the objects.

And as their skills improved, the teens sometimes even practiced magic duels.  Aiden won this latest round.

While the others were busy, their IF’s occupied themselves.  Skittles and Gumdrop played basketball.

Jelly Bean jumped on the trampoline.

And Lavender and Vanilla decided to go steady.

After the kids were off to bed, Maia made sure to continue her own magical studies.  She was thrilled to be able to make all sorts of interesting potions, and she finally mastered alchemy.

But Maia was even more excited when she started to show her latest pregnancy.

While her older kids were in school, Maia watched cartoons everyday in the nursery with Rowan.

And when she wasn’t doing that, she kept busy stocking up on alchemy elixirs, as well as chemistry potions.

In keeping with the whole liquid theme, Maia also practiced mixology at the kitchen bar while learning about nectar-making on her multitab.

Suddenly, Maia dropped a glass on the floor as she felt her labor contractions begin.

It was time to go to the hospital!

Parker Rhea showed up to see the birth, and to Maia’s surprise and delight, he brought along his mother, Arianne.

While Maia and Parker were in the delivery room, Arianne got flirty with one of the locals outside.

“Mmm...I can tell you work out!”

Afterwards, the three of them went to Maia’s to welcome the nooboos home.

Maia had given birth to a daughter she named Aylin.

The next baby from the basket was a son she named Alaric.

And lastly, another daughter she named Arielle, in honor of her Fairy Grandmother Arianne. 

The adults spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the new triplets, while Maia and Arianne discussed BC mommy tips.

And they all got plenty of snuggles in.

Meanwhile, across the street, two vampires watched the Lee household with interest.

“Well, now that Maia’s no longer pregnant, I hope you’ve figured out a way to get her to talk to you again,” Braeden told his brother.

Alexander looked at him, but didn’t respond. He had thought about it, but he wasn’t really any closer to a plan than he had been on the night Maia had rejected his advances and he’d stupidly tried to take control of her mind. He wasn’t very good at expressing himself, except through his art and music, and he didn’t know what he could possibly say to someone like Maia to not only apologize, but also convince her to have his child—without resorting to his vampiric powers of persuasion.

But Alex would think of a way.  He knew he had to.