From: alden@coos.dartmouth.edu (Laurie F. Alden)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: Barmaid's Journal/[L] Miracles
Date: 6 Nov 92 17:22:13 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

The mists were heavy in that part of the coast of Generica.  It was a
strange mist, a thick mist.  It almost seemed alive.  It waited
patiently.  In the center of the mist were three people...Serene,
Nightstalker, and Luthor.  Soon there would be four.

Luthor could not believe what was going on.  One moment he was sitting
in the inn and the next he was delivering a baby.  Serene was still in
her dream-like state.  She didn't seem to be worried about the delivery
and neither was Nightstalker, so Luthor took it upon himself to worry
for the three of them. "Shouldn't we do something?  I am no mid-wife.
What if there is a problem? What if I screw up and drop the baby?"

"Luthor, don't be silly, you aren't going to drop the baby."
Nightstalker said in an effort to calm him down.  "And all will be well.
Her father is here."

Serene's body shuddered.  "It is time" said Nightstalker.  He knelt
beside Serene to deliver the baby.  "Luthor, hold her hand and let her
know you're here.  She may be in a great deal of pain."

Serene shuddered again and Luthor knelt beside her.  He looked into her
deep gray eyes...they were like storm clouds now.  Luthor was lost in
those eyes as a spark of a memory lit his mind...then the fire was
ablaze and it all came back.

Luthor remembered.  Rachel's smile as she stood next to him posing for
the portrait.  The birth of his son Joshua.  His first words.  His first
song. His first steps.  He remembered the pride and the joy.  He
remembered the eternal love that he and Rachel and Joshua shared in
their brief time together.

It was at that moment that he could feel their presence.  He knew that
somewhere they were waiting for him to join them.  Once they were
reunited, they would share that love again.  His family hadn't been
stolen from him, just taken away for a short time.  They would have
eternity together and for that he was grateful.  His thoughts turned
from revenge and despair to hope and life and birth.

Luthor was once again staring into the eyes of Serene.  Her face was
turned away from him and she was staring at the mist.  Luthor looked and
saw the mist make complex and beautiful patterns all around them.  Other
parts of the mist wisped around Serene, caressing her and soothing her
and showing its affection.  It was gentle and reassuring, pleasant and
protective. Serene was truly loved.

A moment more and Luthor's attention was drawn from Serene by the tiny
gurgling of a small baby.  Luthor looked and saw the infant, wrapped in
Serene's gray cloak.

There was no cry but that of the sea-birds.  The tiny baby felt the rush
of humid air fill her, her own father opening her lungs gently and
fully.  With a mew of discovery, the baby took her first breath.  The
Nightstalker held her carefully, able to feel her in this world and in
her father's and in the place she was just leaving, smiling despite
himself at the deep peace which surrounded her.  Swaddling the corporeal
form of the infant snugly in Serene's grey cloak, he felt the pulse
weaken between the baby and the mother's womb.  With a mixture of
gladness to welcome her and sadness at the end of her nether time, he
carefully and cleanly severed her umbilical cord.  Now only two images
superimposed themselves on the small soul, and he held her strongly in
the physical sense while the father held and cherished the mist of her.

Serene reached out to hold her daughter.  Luthor propped her up against
his chest and the Nightstalker lay the infant gently in Serene's arms.
The baby's soft down of raven-black hair wisped in the night air.  The
warmth of her mother captured the infant's attention, and she turned to
Serene, opening her tiny eyes.  Serene gasped.  The baby's eyes glowed
with swirls of mist and the shine of starlight; the very softest grey
colour filled her irises.  The baby's eyes, full of wonder, traced again
and again the oval of Serene's face.  A smile danced on the baby's lips
and then her mouth opened in a wide grin almost as full of joy as that
of her mother.

The baby's hands reached for the greyness around her.  She touched the
fog and it traced in ribbons from her fingers.  Her tiny arms splayed
and wriggled and a misty cloud of love surrounded her with warmth.  The
baby was slight, much smaller than a healthy human babe, but she showed
alertness and pinkness which spoke of health.  Her fingers splayed and
clenched, her toes curled deep inside the swaddling of the soft cloak,
and she greeted her parents and the world with glee.

Finally she clutched her mother's bright hair with one tiny fist and her
father's greyness with the other.
--
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