A Witch Like No Other (36 page)

Agnes opened her mouth to scream, Paul clapping a hand over
her mouth quickly as he hissed “Don
’
t, Agnes! I need you to
help me tell her.”

Agnes pulled Paul
’
s hand away, suddenly
furious.

“
After you made
vows to me in a church, you still went and-”

“
No.” Paul
shook his head. “It’
s not
mine.”

“
Well then
whose is it? Don’
t tell me you
kidnapped a mortal baby and-”

“
No,” Paul
repeated. “It’
s
Dreamer
’
s baby.”

“
Impossible,”
spat Agnes, glaring at the love rat she thought was her faithful
husband. “She’
s been back for
seven months, and was only with Ted for one month in that time. It
takes nine months to produce a child, Paul, and you know that. She
hasn
’
t
had time to have a baby.”

“
You’
re right,” agreed
Paul- SMACK!!

“
No,” Paul said
for the third time. “It’
s
Dreamer
’
s.”

“
Listen to me,”
he said firmly. “Three years ago, Dreamer was murdered by Damon
Stile. We know this.”

Agnes nodded, then she scowled. “Why
didn
’
t
you do anything to him?”

“
Stile?
Don’
t worry, I will. I was a
little busy… with Julian.”

“
Julian?”

“
That’
s what I decided to
call him,” Paul said, then he looked uneasy. “Well, Dreamer
wasn
’
t
there and I wasn
’
t sure whether to tell you-”

“
I’
m your wife!” spat
Agnes, and the baby whimpered. Taking a deep breath, she whispered
“I
’
m
your wife, Paul!”

“
I’
m sorry,” said Paul,
looking remorseful. “I should have told you.”

“
Yes you
should- but this doesn’
t make
sense!” hissed Agnes. “Dreamer was killed, and she certainly
didn
’
t
have Julian then, so-”

“
Dreamer was
one month pregnant,” Paul said quietly. “But she got rid of the
child- of Julian. By magic, you see. It was so wrong of
her.”

“
Yes,” said
Agnes confusedly. “Yes it was, but I still don’
t under-”

“
You said it
takes nine months to produce a child,” Paul said quietly, looking
at Julian. “When Julian appeared here he was almost nothing. Just a
ball of light, Agnes. I nurtured this light for eight long months;
I didn’
t leave home at all.
When Julian took his first breath, I was the happiest man in the
world, sad because Dreamer couldn
’
t share the moment with
me- thanks to Damon Stile.”

“
Yes, but I was
there.” Agnes didn’
t bother
trying to mask her hurt. “I was still there, mourning her death
alone. Alone, when you should have been there with me.”

“
Yes, I know.”
Paul wasn’
t going to apologise
a second time. “He
’
s got her green eyes- my green eyes.
He
’
s a
beautiful baby.”

“
How old is
he?”

“
Two years four
months.”

“
I know,”
agreed Paul. “But she has to know, Agnes. She also has to know she
was wrong to try getting rid of Julian in the first
place.”

“
You have to
look at it from her point of view, Paul.” Agnes spoke calmly. “She
didn’
t want to lose Ted or her
children over Damon Stile. I
’
m certain
she
’
ll
lose Ted now, for he didn
’
t know she was
pregnant.”

“
He
didn’
t find out?”

“
No. I
didn’
t tell him. I
didn
’
t
think I had to,” Agnes said, looking at him sharply. “I thought the
baby was here no longer. And now-”

“
Don’
t,” said Paul, temper
rising. “It isn
’
t the baby
’
s fault.”

“
True.
We’
ll tell Dreamer
tomorrow.”

“
Tomorrow?”

“
She’
s exhausted,” snapped
Agnes. “She
’
s been scalded by flames, which left a curse on her because
of her fear-”

“
I got rid of
the curse,” Paul said arrogantly. “Her eyes are fine.”

“
Yes, but
she’
s been drained of her
energy. Let her sleep, Paul. Please.”

Paul knew he still had a hold on his wife. What he said
still went. If he wanted to wake Dreamer she
’
d throw him a dirty
look, but she wouldn
’
t argue with him. Rubbing the side of his head,
he decided to let Dreamer sleep. She
had
been through quite
a bit.

“
Fine, she may
sleep. By tomorrow night, she’
ll know of the boy.”

“
All right,”
Agnes said reluctantly. “Will you tell her?”

“
No.
We
’
ll
tell her.”

Ted yawned, rolling over to wrap his arms around Dreamer.
The feel of the cool bed sheets made his eyes snap open, made him
sit right up. He opened his mouth to whisper her name, then he
remembered she wasn
’
t even
in
the house. He didn
’
t know where she
was.

“
Ouch!
Mum!
”

“
Mum’
s not here,” Pandora
said, at his door. She didn
’
t bother wiping her
tears away as Ted left his bedroom. “She
’
s with Paul.”

“
Yes she is,”
said Ted, as Marlon got to his feet. “She’
s with Paul.”

“
I
didn’
t mean to call her, I
just-”

“
Don’
t be embarrassed,”
Ted told his son. “You
’
re lucky you didn
’
t hear me running
through the house calling her name, because I almost
did.”

Pandora smiled, going into the bathroom as she said “Two
months, that
’
s all. Then we
’
ll
really
give him a run
for his money.”

“
Mama, Papa-
why are you staring at me? It’
s unnerving.”

“
Oh, Dreamer.”
Agnes’
s eyes filled. “We
don
’
t
know how to tell you-”

“
You’
re scaring her,
Agnes. Stay calm.”

“
Tell me what,
Mama? What is it?”

“
Sit down,”
Paul instructed, Agnes obeying. “Dreamer, you
mustn’
t… freak out. I need you
to stay calm for Ju- for our sake.”

“
Yes Papa,” she
said, looking at him. Paul smiled at her, then he looked at Agnes.
She seemed a little more in control now. He
didn’
t want to continue if she
was going to weep. It would makes matters worse.

“
When I said we
had issues to sort out-”

“
You
weren’
t joking?” asked
Dreamer, and Paul shook his head.

“
No.”

Paul had told everything, Agnes helping here and there.
He
’
d
told Dreamer
everything
, not
leaving anything out. First he
’
d made sure she knew how
wrong it was to get rid of a child, which went nicely with the
story he told next. But now it was silent.

“
Dreamer,
talk,” urged Agnes, looking at her. “Say something.”

Dreamer
’
s head was spinning. The baby she heard this morning…
Paul watched her, nodding. Dreamer took that as a yes. It was real.
Swallowing hard, she finally managed to whisper “Where is my
baby?”

“
Asleep,” Paul
said, rising to his feet. “Come.”

Dreamer didn
’
t scream, like Agnes would have. She stared at
the child as if she was looking in a mirror, her face
expressionless. This was her child. Baby Julian Black looked like a
little angel, innocent… and so small. Dreamer stepped closer to the
crib as Paul and Agnes retreated, her eyes filling over. Reaching
down, she touched the baby
’
s tiny hand.

Baby Julian coughed, his finger
’
s closing around one of
Dreamer
’
s. Dreamer smiled as her tears fell, then she looked at her
parents.

“
He’
s quite strong for a
baby who
’
s asleep.”

“
I… yes. Yes
please.”

“
We’
ll give you some
space. Come, Paul.”

Paul looked like she
’
d told him to jump off a
cliff, Agnes glaring at him.

“
You’
ve been with the
child for two years, Paul! Dreamer needs to bond with her
son!”

“
Yes, but
they’
ve just met! Both of them
might start screaming or-”

“
Don’
t be ridiculous,
Paul!”

“
I’
m not being
ridiculous!”

Dreamer looked as if she couldn
’
t hear a word, already
in love with her baby boy. The baby tightened his grip on
Dreamer
’
s finger, eyes opening at the sound of raised voices.
Dreamer gasped softly, staring at him.

“
He has my
eyes,” she said, looking at her squabbling parents, who immediately
fell silent. “You didn’
t tell
me he had my eyes, Papa.”

Baby Julian let Dreamer
’
s finger go as he rolled
over, using his hands to push himself into a sitting position. He
was gorgeous, with his jet black curly hair and green eyes,
outlined with long black lashes. Baby Julian scratched his head as
he looked at Dreamer curiously, wondering why there was a stranger
standing where Paul normally was.

“
He’
s used to me being
there.” Paul spoke from the doorway, Julian looking around at the
sound of his voice. “Don
’
t be upset if
he-”

Dreamer reached down slowly, Julian lifting his arms. She
picked up the infant, staring at his face. Baby Julian stuck his
thumb in his mouth, staring back at her. They were both taking in
each other
’
s image, making sure they never forgot what the other
looked like. The baby lifted a hand to Dreamer
’
s long ringlets, which
fell past her shoulders. Then he spotted Paul, shrieking
happily.

“
Paul-Paul!”