Donna Clayton - Because of Baby

“He’s coming! Fern, get out of there. Now!”

Looking toward the door, Fern smiled when she saw Paul Roland. Her wings hummed like summer lightning and her skin felt prickly. He was the most striking creature—human or otherwise—that she’d ever laid eyes on.

“Fern!”

She tossed her friends an irritated glance. “Sure, he can’t see me. He’s no believer. I’m perfectly safe.”

If the truth be told, Fern had lingered with Katy today because of Paul. She’d said her goodbyes to the baby; however, she longed for the chance to wish him farewell, too. Harboring this fondness for the oh-so-handsome human was dangerous, she knew. But he was going far away today and who knew when she’d see him again.

“Hey, there, sweetie,” he crooned to his daughter.

Like warm velvet, his voice was, and it made Fern sigh.

“It’s time for us to go.” He reached into the crib, and Fern fluttered toward the foot of the bed. He set Katy up on her bottom.

“Da-da,” the toddler grinned. “Go bye-bye?”

“Yes, we’re going bye-bye, Katy. This visit with grandma and grandpa has been wonderful, but we have to go home. We have to get you ready.”

Fern flew to the best vantage point from which to feast on his dark, enchanting eyes. She was close enough to Katy to smell her baby-powder scent, while one of the child’s whispery ringlets curled around Fern’s ankle. Paul looked away long enough to reach for the white sweater draped over the crib rail.

But quickly his attention was directed back toward Katy again. Even though he couldn’t actually see her, Fern felt all warm and happy inside, like she did every morning when she watched the sun climb over the horizon of Sidhe to chase away the cool Irish mist.

“Come on, now,” Paul coaxed his daughter. “Let’s put this on. It’s chilly outside.”

“No!” Katy hugged her arms close to her chest.

A silent chuckle erupted from Fern’s throat. She’d watched father and daughter play this game often over the past couple of weeks. The routine clearly amused Paul, and laughter rumbled from deep in his chest.

She became so transfixed on his face that she was barely aware of the way in which he and Katy frolicked and fussed until Paul managed to slip one sleeve up his daughter’s arm.

Oh, by me heart. Fern silently swore the age-old fairy oath without thought. How she would miss him. She’d miss the silken timbre of his voice, his heated, soapy scent, that quick smile…and those…amazing…arresting eyes.

“Wady go bye-bye!”

As Katy uttered the words, her chubby fist closed around Fern. The toddler’s fingers curled tight, and everything went dark in Fern’s world. Panic had her gasping in a lungful of air.

“Lady?” Paul’s tone held a measure of both amusement and curiosity. “Oh, you are my little lady.” He chuckled as he pulled the knitted fabric over the dimpled hand that trapped Fern. Katy’s grip loosened and Fern found herself rolling, dragged along by the nappy knit, up, up, until she was lodged in the crook of the child’s elbow.

Fern felt herself being hoisted up into the air. Her heart was hammering, but she was pinned, good and firm, between the sweater sleeve and Katy’s downy skin.

“Me and my little lady are off to the airport,” Paul said. “We’ll be back in America before you can say lickety-split.”

“Icky-spit!” Katy gleefully parroted.

Fern could hear her pixie friends buzzing fran tically outside the nursery window, and she could only imagine their horrified expressions as she was whisked away.

Trapped!

For what seemed an eternity, Fern squirmed and wriggled in an attempt to free herself, but it had soon become clear that there was no escape. So, like any good pixie, she settled on the notion of relaxing and simply savoring the adventure…the supreme of all fairy mottos.

Adventure was what she was headed for, that was for sure.

The first leg of the journey had been made in what she’d assumed was an automobile. She’d never been inside of one, but the gentle rocking had lulled Katy to sleep, and Fern had simply enjoyed the soft music that had filled the air and the soft sound of Paul humming along.

Then things had gotten a bit more bumpy as Paul had carried his daughter—and her pixie tag-along—through what Fern could only envision as a huge crowd of humans. There had been some waiting, and then they’d been on the move again. Bumping and jostling down what felt like a narrow corridor…and the clamor of all those voices! Why, Fern easily imagined a thousand different conversations taking place at once.

Finally they’d settled into a seat, and someone helped Paul with something called an extension seat belt meant to fit around both father and daughter.

Fern had suffered a moment or two of anxiety when a din the likes of which she’d never heard set Katy to crying. Whatever it was that surrounded them began to shudder as it shot forward in a flash. Paul’s rich voice murmured comforting words that settled Fern—if not Katy—right down. If he wasn’t alarmed, she needn’t be. Soon the violent vibrating ceased. Fern’s ears began to pop, and she knew they were airborne. She and the other pixies had often marveled at those shiny crafts that soared through the sky over Sidhe, and she was awed to think that she was now inside one of them. Yes, she was most definitely going to savor this exciting escapade.

But as time passed, her muscles began to grow stiff. A crick pained her neck and her left foot fell asleep. Katy had been fidgeting for some time, despite Paul’s efforts to entertain her. The more the toddler squirmed, the higher her body temperature rose, and Fern became overheated herself. Her wings felt limp and her head was woozy.

Salvation came when Katy shrugged her shoulders, tugged at her sweater and whined, “Me hot, Da-da.”

Sweeter words had never been spoken. But Fern hadn’t anticipated the force with which she’d be thrust from her cottony trap. She was sent rolling and tumbling, and then she was freefalling. Disoriented, she relaxed into the plummet and then shook out her wings by sheer instinct. She landed with a double skip on Paul’s knee. Stretching this way and that, she worked the kinks from her aching muscles.

Katy began to whimper.

“How about a drink of apple juice?” Paul asked.

The child’s snivels progressed to chin-trembling tears. He pulled out the lidded cup, his arm jerked, and a drip of juice sloshed onto his hand. Realizing that she was parched herself, Fern zipped into the air high enough that she could bend over and sip the sweet nectar from his skin.

Sensing Paul’s sudden stillness, Fern turned to look up at him. His dark eyes seemed to be directed right at her, and every inch of her neck and arms sparkled as though pointed stars rolled end over end along her flesh. Her lips formed a silent oh. Did he see her?

But the question barely had time to form in her mind before he blinked a couple of times, then picked up his crying daughter. “You’re tired, sweetie. Let’s go change your diaper and then you can take a nap.”

Fern followed close behind them. In the tiny cubicle, Paul changed Katy’s diaper, but the toddler continued to fuss. He tried to soothe her, but Fern could see that, tired himself, he was becoming flustered.

Hoping to cause a diversion, Fern lit into the air and whooshed back and forth in front of Katy’s face. But to no avail.

“Come on,” Paul murmured. “You need a rest.”

He left the rest room, and the door latched shut before Fern could escape. She was trapped once again.

Landing on a small ledge by the entrance, she waited. Someone would come in soon enough and she’d be free.