Born Under a Lone Star

[glorawen]

The year that Gwen and Arthur were expecting there third child was also the year that a small scale baby boom took place in Wickery Glen. Many residents joked about there being "something in the water" and that the stork was working overtime. As the due date for the Winter's baby approached, hardly a day went by without there being a birth announcement in the local newspaper.

First Arthur and Gwen's childhood friends Lorena and Timothy Hunt had a son whom they named Robin. Robin's birth was followed by Loretta and Reginald welcoming their new baby girl Allison into the world. A week after the birth of Allison, Kendall and Cathleen Woods family expanded with the arrival of their third son James. Only a few days later a young couple named Dane and Laura fox had their first child, a daughter whom they named Delia. And the day after the birth of Delia, a couple named Shane and Victoria Hawthorn had their second son Dustin.

Arthur's father Nicolas had commented with a laugh during one of his visits, "At least your new one will have plenty of friends when she's ready to start school."

At last the day came when the third Winters child was ready to leave the womb. Gwen had expected the birth to take place in the middle of the night, for that was how it had been with Krystal and little William. Instead, labor pains began only a couple of hours before sunrise. That was not the only difference from her first two children. While giving birth to Krystal and William had indeed been labor in every sense of the word, her third child came forth with very little effort. In fact she and Arthur barely made it into the birthing room at the Wickery Glen hospital before their baby, a little girl, came into the world and drew her first breath.

Now they had to settle on a name. It had been decided that if the baby had been a boy the child would be named Nicholas after Arthur's father. Unfortunately they had not entirely agreed on a name for a girl. Cradling the infant in her arms, Gwen looked out the window and saw that the sun, newly risen, had washed all of Wickery Glen in a golden light.



A smile appeared on the tired woman's face as she looked down at her daughter and said, "Gloria."



Liking the name, Arthur gently touched his new daughter's tiny hand as he said softly, "Welcome to the world, Gloria Winters."

Right from the beginning Arthur and Gwen noticed a difference between Gloria and their first two children, mainly that she was an unusually quiet baby. She didn't fuss unless she was in need of clean diaper. Nor did she seem to become lonely when she lay in her crib. Indeed, Gloria tended to become fussy if her parents and grandparents paid what she apparently felt was too much attention to her. As the weeks went by Gloria continued to be content to quietly observe the world around her and could only take small doses of cuddling at a time.

Arthur's mother Grace stated, "She has a loner nature, which is nothing to worry about. Be glad of it since there will be plenty of times when Krystal and William need your time and energy."

Gloria's "loner nature" did indeed seem to be a blessing on a particular busy morning when it seemed like there were too many chores to do at the Winter home and not enough people to do them. Krystal had neglected doing her homework the previous evening and needed help finishing it up before breakfast. Little William, who was in his playpen, was fussing because he wanted to be taken out on a stroll. Unfortunately Arthur had to tend to the chickens, cows, and the garden. Gwen's father William had to go to work and looked at his daughter regretfully as he put on his laboratory coat and hurried out the door. Grandma Sarah....was sound asleep in her bed, exhausted after spending the entire night going through ancient tomes within the Vault of Antiquity.

This left a frazzled Gwen seeing her nine year old daughter off to school as well as having to get William into the highchair so she could give the boy his breakfast. All the while Gwen braced herself for the sound of Gloria crying due to wanting to be held, fed, or changed, but the only sound was the occasionally coo as the infant watched the little wooden animals that hung from the mobile above her crib.

At last, with one child in school, and with her toddler son bathed, fed, and returned to the playpen, Gwen was able to get Gloria from her crib. Cuddling the infant, Gwen said softly, "I'm sorry. Are you hungry?"

Gloria made a brief impatient fussing sound but otherwise was quiet as her mother changed her diaper, then took her downstairs to give her a bottle of formula. After the child had been fed, Gwen looked at her and said, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I kind of wish you would fuss a little more. The way you never demand anything is kind of spooky."

With Gloria fed and burped, Gwen gently placed the baby on a play mat that was on the floor in the living room. The child immediately noticed the shiny round toys that were suspended from the rod above the mat and began laughing and cooing at the colorful shapes.



Eventually Arthur was done tending the garden, and after he had returned from taking the produce into town to sell to the grocer, he suggested that he put William in the stroller and take him out for a walk.

"You're not too tired?" Gwen asked.

Taking William from the playpen, Arthur assured her cheerfully, "Not at all. The little man and I enjoy our walks together." Glancing in the direction of the barn, he asked warily, "Is your mother still asleep?"

Gwen's expression hardened as she answered, "I suppose so. She hasn't come into the house. I'm starting to wish we had asked your parents to move in with us instead of mine, especially since we have enough room here for their horse, mule, and dog."

"They both work, though," Arthur pointed out as he tickled William who giggled happily."

Gwen replied, "But your mother works in the late afternoon, so she would have been here this morning. She could have taken Will for a walk. Or been here to take care of Gloria while I took Will for a walk."

Placing William in the stroller, Arthur said, "Try not to be too hard on your mother when she wakes up."

"I'll keep from ripping her head off just because I don't want to scare the baby," Gwen stated in quiet anger as she watched her husband set out on a stroll with their son.

In truth Gwen was beyond annoyed with her mother. What good did it do for Sarah to be there to help if she wasn't actually going to be available? Researching the ancient tomes in the Vault of Antiquity tended to have odd effects on a person. It was not uncommon for a person to come out of there "moon touched" and would spend several hours doing things such as cackling like a witch, hissing like a vampire, and howling like a werewolf. Thank goodness Sarah had simply gone into a deep sleep after returning home in the wee hours of the morning.

Gwen had been sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery with Gloria slumbering in her arms when Sarah finally emerged from the barn loft apartment and came into the house. Entering the nursery, Sarah looked at her daughter and commented, "You look tired."

Carefully rising to her feet, Gwen replied, "I am. I needed your help this morning."

"I know. I'm sorry."



Somehow keeping her voice down, Gwen replied, "Sorry isn't good enough. How am I supposed to trust you with the care of my children when you are out all night playing around with supernatural forces?" Before Sarah could answer, Gwen continued, "And what were you thinking with the teddy bear you put in here?"

Blinking in confusion, Sarah asked, "What's wrong with it?"

Pointing at some toys that had been placed in the corner, Gwen explained, "That bear is scary! Arthur found it in Gloria's crib. If she would have awakened to see that she would have been terrified."

The bear Gwen was speaking of was a dark gray, almost back, with bright amber colored eyes and canine-like fangs showing in the bear's partially opened mouth. Sarah smiled and stated cheerfully, "That is a 'werewolf' teddy bear. I saw it at the consignment shop just a couple of days before Gloria was born and thought that she was meant to have it."



Gwen repeated, "It's scary."

Raising her hands, Sarah said, "Now now, calm down, Gwen. Gloria was born in Wickery Glen where witches, vampires, and werewolves are a part of everyday life. She may as well get used to them."

Widening her eyes, Gwen replied firmly, "Not by putting a scary black teddy bear with big teeth in her crib!" After pausing to take a deep breath, she continued, "Mother, I know you have always loved the supernatural, but please...please...be a normal grandmother, at least for now while William and Gloria are so small. I can't have my mother dabbling with things that might cause her to behave like a lunatic."



Sarah's expression softened as she repeated, this time with true regret, "I am sorry. I should have been here to take little William on his walk, or to help feed him while you took care of Gloria." With a rueful smile, she added, "Don't replace me with Arthur's mother just yet."

Relaxing a bit, Gwen responded with a small smile, "All right, not just yet." Holding Gloria against her shoulder, she continued, "This is going to sound very contradictory, but if you want to go to the art gallery or wherever else you like to spend your time, go ahead. It's a lovely day and I would like to get the other stroller and take Gloria out for a walk."

Sarah agreed, "You do that. The fresh air and sunshine will be good for both of you." Stepping closer and gently touching Gloria under the baby's chin, she said to the infant, "I would tell you to be good for your mother, but so far you always are. In fact this makes me wonder if you're really my grandchild."

The fresh air and sunshine really did help to make Gwen feel more relaxed. As she pushed the stroller, Gloria lay in the padded seat and cooed at the new shapes and colors that were around her. Noting how Gloria seemed to be enjoying the sights and sounds of the countryside, Gwen smiled and commented, "At least you seem to enjoy the cobblestone roads and the woods. Perhaps when you learn to talk you won't be complaining about how you can't wait to grow up and move to Starlight Shores like your sister does."



Meanwhile, Krystal and her classmates gathered outside the school following the dismissal of classes for the day. Not in a hurry to get home, they began a discussion about how most of them now had additional siblings. Only Rose Ravenwood, a vampire girl with pale skin and long black hair, had been spared having to deal with a new baby coming into the family.



To Krystal's surprise, not all of her classmates seemed unhappy about their new siblings. Conrad Woods, who already had a toddler younger brother, was not bothered by the arrival of his baby brother James. Shrugging, Conrad had stated, "So now I have two brothers instead of one. No skin off my nose."

Naomi Flowers, who had a sister named Alisa who was little William's age, was delighted with the birth of her baby sister Allison. She proclaimed happily, "We'll be a coven of three sisters like the Weaver sisters."



The Weavers were three spinster witches whose family had lived in Wickery Glen since the town was founded. None of them were particularly liked by their neighbors, except of course for the youngest sister who kept company with an assortment of single men and was known as the "Town Bike". None of the children knew exactly what that meant, only that it was not something that any of their parents approved of.

Conrad replied, "The Weavers are flakes. It's up for debate as far as which of them is the biggest flake."

To that Krystal responded, "None of them. The biggest flake is Patty Pepper. While my mother was pregnant my grandmother and I went to the gypsy wagon for a reading about the baby. Patty said that the baby would be a girl, which is true, but she had a fifty-fifty chance of getting that right. She also said that my sister would be born 'under a lone star'." With a scornful laugh, she continued, "Ha! Gloria was born at sunrise. She wasn't born under any star."

"The sun is a star," replied one of the children.

"Huh?" Krystal asked as she looked in the direction of the boy who had spoken.

Stepping over to join the group was Cody Hawthorne, a boy with black hair and oddly bright light brown eyes. A quiet sort who rarely spoke and often seemed put off by Krystal's dramatic antics, repeated, "The sun is a star, and during the day it's the only star that we can see. So your sister was in fact born under a lone star."



"Oh," Krystal replied lamely. While she was curious about the enigmatic boy, she was annoyed that one of the few times he bothered to speak to her was when he had something to say about her baby sister. Shrugging, she continued, "Not that it makes any difference."

Rose countered, "Sometimes it can. If you were born at night and your sister at sunrise, you two might end up being the opposite of each other."

Cody nodded in agreement before saying, "Right. Like your baby sister could be a quiet sort, while you on the other hand are always talking."

"I am not!" Krystal argued.



To that Conrad stated, "Actually you do always seem to have something to say about everything."

"What's wrong with that?" Krystal demanded.

Cody answered, "Nothing, except for the times when you say something and show that you don't know what you're talking about."

Before Krystal could make a response (and a shrill, indignant one at that), Miss Leach came outside and said to the assembled children, "Don't you all want to go home and start on your homework rather than putting it off until just before bedtime?"

This cue for everyone to get on their bikes (or a broom in Naomi's case) and leave the schoolyard. As she grabbed her cotton-candy pink bike, Krystal threw a glare in Cody's direction and was annoyed even more when she saw that he had already gotten his bike and headed off toward home. How dare he make her look foolish in front of their other schoolmates?

With a scowl, Krystal got on her bike and headed home, not that she pedaled particularly fast. Now that there was both a toddler and an infant in the family it seemed like life was nothing but never ending fussing, baby bottles, and dirty diapers. And unfortunately her siblings were not going to grow out of such things over night.

*~*~*