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 Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 10:59 am
 Evelyn dutifully turned off the oven and put the cookies away in the jar. She kept a few out, though—Da had said that it might be boring in line at the stone clinic, so she should bring something to entertain herself. Most people would say that food wasn’t really an entertainment, but what did they know? It occupied time, and that was what “entertainment” meant, wasn’t it? Sure, there was other stuff involved, but… She tried explaining this to Da, but Da was unimpressed. They just insisted that she bring something else, something “less disruptive” to do in line. She wasn’t really sure what that could even mean. Da suggested a coloring book and a pack of crayons. Evey replied back that there probably wouldn’t be any tables, would there?
“There will be tables, or at least clipboards. There will be something to color against, since the grown-ups will be filling out forms.”
Okay, fine. Evey slipped a coloring book into her bookbag, added a box of crayons (and the bag of cookies—hey, you make them, you take them!), and swung it onto her shoulders. “Are we going now?”
Da nodded, took her hand, and led her out to the bus stop. The bus stop was a familiar landmark for Evey. She took the bus to school every day. It wasn’t all that much fun, actually—she would have preferred to be driven to school like some of her other classmates who lived with their parents were, but Da didn’t have a car. So the bus it was. Maybe that would change—maybe Da would let her live at school next year. It didn’t seem likely, but it was worth a try. That was still like, a million months away. In the meantime…
A little sibling of her own? Psh. Having more siblings would be a cinch. She’d read enough chapter books to know that little siblings were basically friends who went home with you. She didn’t see much trouble in having one, and she knew she’d be a good one—she could teach them stuff, and show them how to bake, and take them to festivals. And best of all, Da wouldn’t get so lonely when she finally left for school!
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:00 am
 Guereda put the camera away. They’d gotten a camera as a free promotion at a store, and ever since then, they’d been taking pictures of Evey every opportunity they could get. And why wouldn’t they? Evey was getting older—she wouldn’t be a child forever. And Guereda absolutely adored being a parent and having a child. Evey was an absolute delight. Sure, there were times in which they had to explain how it was they were the parent of a, a hallowed child, but there were fewer and fewer of those questions these days. They were awkward, painful, even—even more so because in theory, they could be brought up on charges of child abuse for having a hallowed child. It…wasn’t fair. But it was also something they tried not to think about. Evey was seven years old now, and now was a fine time to have more children. It was December—a long time after Haunted Hallows and the cursed month of October. This, then, would be Guereda’s first visit to a stone clinic. It would be vitally important to hide that. Thankfully, they’d never bothered to tell Evey that her stone had been bought on the black market. There was no danger of her blurting that out to anyone.
One might ask why Reda was taking their daughter with them. The answer was simple: Reda couldn’t afford a babysitter, especially not one last-minute like this. Besides, it was the middle of the day during the holidays—they didn’t think there would be anyone much available. They would just have to take their daughter with them to the clinic.
Guereda put on their coat, then fussed over Evey, making sure she had her coat, hat, and scarf on. “It’s cold out there,” they murmured. “I don’t want you getting sick.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:01 am
Evey sighed, but put up with her parent’s fussing. It was just something that made Da, well, Da instead of some other parent. Fussing might end later with a second child. At least, that’s what Evey hoped. It would, of course, be wrong to say that Evey wanted a younger sibling to run distraction for her. This was definitely not the case. The reason Evey wanted a younger sibling was because, well…because Da wanted one. And because Evey didn’t see any difficulty in agreeing with Da in this case. It wasn’t as if there would be a problem or any particular hardship, having a little sibling, so it didn’t cost her anything, and it gave her Da something they really, really wanted.
Evey took Da’s hand while the older Demon locked up, then lead the way out of their apartment and down the street to the bus stop. Snow was falling gently on the ground, drifting down to make mud out of dirt. Evey wasn’t sure if it would stick or not—any day now, the snow would start sticking, but this snow didn’t look like it would. It looked like it was mostly there for making slush. She clutched the strap of her backpack as she looked up and down the street, impatiently, for the bus. “What will we be doing for Solstice, Da?” she asked to pass the time. It would be just like last year, but it would be nice to have some confirmation as to that.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:02 am
Guereda was blindsided by the question, it was true, but blindsiding was just another event in the life of a parent. They recovered quickly. “This year? I think we’ll go get a little tree tomorrow at the market. We’ll decorate it tomorrow afternoon, bake a few more cookies for our neighbors and your friends, and put out the wreath out front. We’ll go to the Solstice festival at the Academy—when will that be, by the way? Have they told you yet? We’ll maybe go down to the used bookstore on eighth street, see if they have any more classics. We’ll see Santa Claws, if you’d like.” Here Guereda hesitated. Did their daughter still believe in Santa Claws? They weren’t sure. It was so hard to keep up with childhood beliefs, and this was a very important one not to get wrong. “Then, um, Solstice morning we’ll go for a walk, rent a couple movies, make some candy and popcorn, open presents, and maybe, if there’s enough snow, we’ll have a snowball fight. What do you think?”
The bus was finally starting to pull up in the distance. With their free hand, they reached into their wallet for money for the fare. Evey was too old to travel on the bus for free, so they’d need enough fare for both of them. There was enough. When the bus pulled up, Reda squeezed Evey’s hand and lead her onboard, handing in the money and taking a seat towards the front of the bus. Reda didn’t trust the back, a holdover from their childhood. It was where the “cool kids” sat, not the nerds like themselves. Or like their daughter. Wait, did Evey count as a nerd? Surely she counted as a nerd. “So, Evey, do they still sort kids into ‘cool’ and ‘uncool,’ or has that finally gone out of fashion?”
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:03 am
Evey nodded. “Yes, it’s going to be two weeks from now. Big festival, with bands and booths and everything. I can’t wait to go this year. Maybe I’ll win some stuffed animals for my future little sibling?” She followed her Da onboard, taking a seat next to them. As the bus lurched off, Evey tried to figure out a way to answer the question. “Um, I don’t think so. Not that I can figure out, anyway. Everyone sits with their friends. I guess there’s a cool kids table at the cafeteria, but Lilly, Talya, and I don’t sit near there, and we don’t know anyone at the table. I think they’re the cool kids because they’re loud,” Evey nodded, with a conspiratorial lean in her parent’s direction, “but that’s all I can tell about them. They’re juniors, I think, too, so they’re a lot older than us.”
Evey fell silent and looked out the window. It was getting darker already, and it was still only mid-afternoon. The clouds were getting thicker and darker. She began to revise her forecast earlier—it might actually be a pretty stormy night tonight. “Da, what will we do if the power goes out?” she asked suddenly. The power didn’t go out very often, but it was always a scary experience. Da tended to get upset when it happened, which was odd—Da didn’t usually get upset. At least, not at inanimate objects, like computers or lamps. Besides, if the power went out, their heaters wouldn’t work—they were all electrical.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:04 am
Guereda had been pondering the same thing, looking out the windows. “We’ve got some candles at home. I have a flashlight in my bag, we can use that to find the matches and the candles. We’ll all sleep together tonight if the power goes out, to keep warm, and we’ll pile on all the blankets. That probably won’t be necessary,” they added. “Our apartment complex has a back-up generator in case the power goes out. It’s to keep us safe if there’s a blizzard. That way, the road crews have time to dig us out and fix the lines. Which they’ll do as soon as the power goes out,” they added quickly. “Power line repair is very fast during winter. They don’t want anyone to freeze to death.”
Guereda didn’t like this subject—it was too frightening. “Let’s talk about something else. Is there anything new you’d like to do for Solstice this year? Our budget isn’t that big, and with a new sibling, it’ll be even tighter, so I can’t take you to a ski resort this year.” They smiled at their own joke. “But there are some events at the Asphodel Gardens historical society, we could have your friends over a few times, maybe we could go to a movie? I don’t know what’s out right now, but there must be something.” Movies were an important part of the holiday—they could sit still, sip at hot cocoa, laugh together, sing together when they watched musical specials. However, this was also a time of year in which many movies came out, some of them animated, written to appeal to the kids. It might be a good time to check them out.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:05 am
Evelyn thought about it. New traditions…that would be nice. “I’d like to have Talya and Lilly over. They don’t have any family to spend the solstice with. Maybe we could even have them over Solstice morning?” It was a long shot, but worth a try. “I’d like to try carolling this year, too,” she added. “It looks like fun in the movies. And yeah, I’d like to bring Talya and Lilly with us carolling. I think they’d enjoy it, too.” Certainly Talya would—she loved going out in public and cheering people up. As for Lilly…well, they’d be out in the big outdoors, and that was something Lillian liked. They might have to bundle up tight though, Lillian sometimes complained about the cold winter chapping her skin. This was not a good time of year to have dry skin.
Chatting back and forth about the holiday, they managed to pass the half-hour ride to the stone clinic, by which time they’d passed their apartment at least once. That was bus routes for you—circuitous as all get-out. It would have been faster to walk there, but it also would have been a lot colder, and this time of year, both parent and daughter agreed that keeping warm was paramount.
The clinic was nice, if a bit nondescript. Empty trees stood out in the parking lot against the darkening sky, but there were lights on in the building, which had been decorated for the solstice season with festive window clings and a wreath outside. Evey smiled. It was nice to see public places dressed up for the holidays.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:06 am
Here was the moment of truth. Guereda now stood outside of the stone clinic, their daughter’s hand held tight in theirs. Evey was looking at them now, clearly wondering why they weren’t inside yet. Guereda squeezed Evey’s hand. “Sorry, just…excited.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. It was just a little dishonest. Sure, they were excited, but they were also anxious, and terrified, and nervous. Suddenly, taking their one-eyed daughter to the stone clinic seemed like a bad thing. What if they threw them out? Worse, what if they called the police and arrested them? What if they took Evey away from them? They could end up with no children at all instead of two. They gulped. They couldn’t turn back now. They reached out and pushed the door open, allowing the warmth and the light to spill out onto the sidewalk outside. They pulled their daughter in with them and looked around.
Where to start? Probably at the sign on the wall saying “Start here.” Underneath that sign were rows and rows of labeled boxes, each with forms inside. They pulled out a sheet that said “Single Imbue, Two Parents.” According to a plaque on the wall nearby, that was the form for people who wanted to imbue a stone that had already been partially imbued. With a smile of relief at having navigated the first step so well, Reda took the form and Evey over to a counter to fill out. “This is going to take a while,” they murmured to their daughter. “You’ll probably be bored. Please, just behave.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:07 am
Oh, as if Evey had ever misbehaved in her entire life! But Da was right—this did take a long time. It felt like forever, while Da constantly filled things out, reached into their bag for some piece of reference material, filled something else out, went back for another form, and continued filling out papers. It was a long, long time just sitting there on the cold floor. Occasionally, Evey got weird looks. She just ignored them. First went the cookies, then came out the crayons and the coloring book. She found that by repositioning herself so that she wasn’t facing the aisle, no one stared at her as much. She sighed. That honestly wasn’t much of a surprise—she had two hallows, both of them on her face. If she moved her face, no one stared at her.
She was used to being stared at, of course. People stared at her all the time. She wasn’t the only hallow at school, not by a long shot, and there were other cyclopses like her. Didn’t mean she didn’t get stared at a lot, though.
At long last, Da reached down and tapped her on the shoulder. “We’re ready.” Evey shoved her crayons and coloring book in her bag and sprang to her feet. Finally! Something important was going to happen! Or…not. It turned out that being “ready” really meant that they were “ready to stand in line for a billion years.” The line stretched all the way across the lobby, divided by those big elastic bands that you’re not allowed to play on or you get a dirty look from your mother. Seriously, why did this have to take so long? She wished it was over already. In the end, Evey ended up pulling out her crayons and coloring book again. Whenever the line moved, she scooted herself across the floor with the book and crayons. Da gave her some exasperated looks and even a word or two that might have, from other lips, been sharp, but Evey ignored them. Who knew that getting a little sibling would be so boring?
But they did eventually get to the front of the line. Da handed in their papers to a clerk behind a counter just too tall for Evey to peek over. She pushed herself up on tip-toes to see over. The person behind the desk was a Demon, and was asking Da questions. “Any other children?”
“Yes,” Evey interjected. “Me!” The Demon turned sharply to look at her. Then his eyes grew wide and his eyebrows shot up.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:08 am
Coloring on the floor while they filled out paperwork? That wasn’t misbehaving, it was entertaining yourself quietly. It was a virtue of childhood. Coloring on the floor while in line, and scooting to go forward instead of picking yourself off? Minor misbehaving. It got them looks from other people in line (Yes? And how many of those people are parents? How many of those people know what it’s like to have a child? a rebellious part of them asked). It also got Evey’s jacket dirty, this floor was not clean enough to eat off of, after all. Other people’s shoes had been all over it, and there was no telling where people had been stepping. If they’d been alone, Evey would of course have gotten away with it, no problem. But with other people watching them, it was an entirely different matter.
None of this was a deal-breaker. What was was their daughter poking her eye over the counter and loudly proclaiming that this was, indeed, their parent. Reda closed their eyes and braced themselves for the storm.
It later occurred to Guereda that this might not necessarily be a disaster. Most parents abandoned their hallowed children to orphanages or the Academy. Anyone (or almost anyone) could adopt a child from one of those places, hallowed or no. It could have just come across as if they had adopted a one-eyed child from an orphanage. If children weren’t independent creatures capable of speech and free thought, Reda could even have recovered the situation further—Yes, this is my daughter, Evey, I adopted her when she was an infant, yes, she looks a lot like me, that’s what caught my eye in the first place, isn’t she just the cutest. But there were so many problems with saying that that Reda was glad that their daughter had stepped in on her own behalf. It would have been hurtful to pretend their daughter was adopted (they’d already had to assure Evey that she was not, on multiple occasions, though thankfully not for several years), even more so to pretend to be the sort of parent who cared whether or not their children looked like them.
Whereas on the other hand, what happened next filled Reda’s heart with warm, fuzzy feelings, a sharp, fierce glow she’d never experienced before: pride. Pride in their daughter, in the wonderful young woman she would someday become, pride in the fact that they had raised their daughter to be strong and proud and self-assured. Pride that they had done a Good Job as a parent in raising their child to someday be independent.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:09 am
Yeah, right, whatever, you do that, buddy, you raise your eyebrows. Evey thought immediately of Talya, her friend. Talya was also hallowed, although Evey joked that they had the exact opposite problem in life—Talya had one extra eye in the middle of her forehead, while Evey had only one eye, in the middle of her face. They each had another hallow or two, but that was the one that stuck out the most to both of them, and was something else that strengthened their friendship. Talya was very sensitive about her third eye, but she was also really…what was the word they’d learned in school the other day? Haughty, that was it. She could be really snooty about her hallow. Evey channeled her Imp friend’s unshakable haughtiness to look the Demon behind the counter in the eye(s), draw herself up even further on her toes and say, “Yes, I’m Hallowed. And yes, that’s my Da.” She pointed at Da (as if they needed to be pointed out!) and added, “My real Da. I’m hallowed, and I’ll tell you why that doesn’t matter at all.”
Evey took a deep breath, and let her frustration out. She loved her Da—how could she not? And it hurt her more to see how people treated them than they treated her. It seemed like every grown up she met got angry at Da when they found out that Evey was hallowed. She had some vague idea that it was wrong to awaken a stone in October—that’s why only hallowed kids had birthdays, and why hallowed kids were never cache kids—but it hurt her to see that she was hurting her da, even if it was unintentional. She could see, by the looks the Demon behind the counter was shooting them that he felt the same way. Evey was sick of it, sick of being a pain to her parent, sick of being a burden, sick of other people using her against her parent.
“That doesn’t matter, because it was an accident. I was falling off the table when I was a stone, and Da rushed forward to grab me before I hit the ground. Da saved my life, and sure, it was October, and that means I was hallowed, but it meant that they would rather save my life than save face with people who don’t like hallowed kids. And they didn’t get rid of me, either—lots of parents get rid of their hallowed kids, but Da didn’t, because Da loved me no matter what I looked like. My Da is the kindest, sweetest Nightmare ever. They taught me how to bake, and they take long walks with me, and they’re going to take me carolling this year at Solstice, and they’re a really good parent, okay? And now Da wants me to have a little sibling, so please, let my Da have another child instead of being all hung up on how I have only one eye.”
Speech finished, she settled down and waited for the reaction.
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:11 am
Speechless would be a good way to describe both adult Demons (although Reda swore they heard someone in line behind them clap). Guereda and the clerk exchanged glances. Only one of the clerk’s eyebrows was now raised, and the look he was giving them was rueful and apologetic. Guereda’s face was calm, but it masked a storm of emotion going on behind it. Fear, pride, hope, and embarrassment all fought for facial real estate, and each of them had their own voice. Funny, the only voice Guereda remembered afterwards was the one that said, Someday I’ll have to tell Evey that half of all hallowed children die when they awake…
Thankfully, that voice had no control over their muscles. Instead, an inner peace spreading out from what they could only assume was an alliance between hope and pride had control of the head and face. Reda’s face was serene, and their head responded to the clerk’s questioning glance with a simple nod. That’s my girl. And she’s telling the truth.
“You sound like a very good parent,” the clerk mumbled. “Just wait one minute, please, we’ll file your paperwork and call you up soon. That’s, er, in the line over at the end, they’ll call your number. Oh, here’s, here’s your number.”
Wordlessly Guereda took it. “Thank you.” They took Evelyn’s hand and led her over to the line at the end. For a while, Guereda didn’t know what to say. Finally, they said, “Thank you for that, Evey. I’m very proud of you. And I’m glad you care so much about me.”
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Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2016 11:12 am
That was one of the weirder things Da had ever said to her. “You’re welcome, Da,” she said. Then, because she felt like something else needed to be added, “I’ll bet my new sibling will feel the same way about you.”
That was about all that needed to be said between them. They sat next to each other on seats provided and waited until their number was called. The partially-imbued stone came in a padded box to keep it safe on its journey back home. Evey slept on the bus, while Guereda held their family close, thanking each and every one of the Nine for the family they had.
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