The Curses: Motherhood

The pain in the past couple of days had grown along with her as of yet still unborn child. Dawn had awoken six days ago to a slight bump in her abdomen. She knew almost at once that her mother was behind it. Each day for the next three days she had awoken to a larger and more swollen stomach. Since then sleep had become impossible. All she did was eat and hurt.

The past three days she watched in amazement as her stomach grew before her very eyes. She wanted to stop the quickness of the pregnancy but was afraid of what it might do to the child, so she allowed it to continue. She vowed that once her child was born that she would find a way to try and even the score with her mother.

With the information she had about quickening pregnancy spells and the rate she seemed to be growing she figured that her child would be born in just the next few days. She knew that the worst for her was yet to come. She was soon to be bed ridden as her body would not be able to function while trying to grow her child. So reluctantly she placed a call to the only person she felt she could trust. She call Rachel to come and help her in the last days of her child rearing.

She could have called any number of the people involved with her magical family but in the end her mother would hold sway over them and her mothers bidding would be done over her own. Her mother would not further influence her child if she could help it not after this latest in a series of betrayals.

Rachel had not been reluctant to help even if she was somewhat afraid of Dawn's old mother. Dawn had helped her often enough in their past encounters that she could not refuse a plea from Dawn for help.

That did not change the fact that Rachel was taken aback when she saw her magical friend laying in her bed every bit of six to seven months with child when she had only seen her a few days before. One look and she understood without so many words being exchanged between her and Dawn what her role was to be and how she could help Dawn.

After a little bit of settling in and beginning to help Rachel went to Dawn's room and spoke with her. She pulled a overly plush chair up close to the bed and placed a hand on her friends stretch marked belly and spoke "I just still can not believe that your own mother could do this to you. Does it hurt very much?"

Dawn smiled a little smile because how else could she bear the pain that she was in that to grin and bear it. "You should know that mother is a cold and cruel woman better than most people alive Rachel. Look at what she has done to you in just she short amount of time that you have known her and my family. She has tried to destroy you and your youthful body for no other reason than her own selfish reasons. She has linked the two of us through pain inflicted on us both. This is yet just one more way for her to get what she wants in the quickest way possible." Dawn paused for a moment as she took her young friends hand and squeezed it before continuing. "It hurts very much and will only get worse. It has been seven days already, which means I am at the very least just couple days away from having this child. We can most likely expect the child to come in two days three at the very most. I am going to be bed ridden these last couple of days. This child will grow at an ever-increasing rate as the end nears. It will be a challenge to keep the child fed the next few days. My body is going to be in a constant state of feeding and as I am sure you have seen before with my mothers curse on you, my stomach and much of my body will be expanding at an accelerated rate. It may be hard to watch and endure at times but I need your strength to help me get through this. I also want to name you as the child's protector if you are up for that task."

Rachel had sat and listened to her friend and had a silent tear rolling down her cheek when Dawn asked her to be a protector for her child. Rachel did not know what that would mean but she was nodding her head yes before she even knew what it meant in full.

Dawn smiled again for a brief moment then her grew stern. "Do not accept this task before you know what it means." Rachel said "Ok, so what does it mean? I would help you in any way that I can." Dawn nodded her head and continued "it means that from this moment forth you will have all the magical abilities needed to protect my child for as long as my child wishes to have your protection. It means that you will be in your own ways much more powerful than any single member of my family even my mother. It means that you will not age a single day for as long as you my child wishes for you to be it's protector. You will be healthy and strong for this same period of time. Rachel this is a task that will not end in a day or a week it may last for decades or even centuries. You must understand that we can live a very long time and once you take this oath you will be honor bound to it with magic."

Rachel listened to this. It was after all a lot to take in. Dawn was offering her a chance to join this magical world of hers. It had a high price of course. She would more or less be a babysitter for a unknowable amount of time. Still she would be joined to the world of magic and she would be given a task that would be worth doing.

"I will accept this task Dawn. In the short amount of time I have known you, you have done nothing but help me and I am honored that you want to bring me into your family as a protector. Your child will be as well looked after as I can make it."

Dawn asked for Rachel's other hand, which she gave freely. Dawn placed them palms down on her fast growing child she then placed her hands on top of Rachel's she then chatted some words that Rachel did not understand at first then became clear as a could be. Rachel understood that these words were a dead Celtic language that had not been spoken in thousands of years and that she had never understood until that very moment. The words were simple and yet powerful.  Dawn was saying that Rachel was now magic clean and pure. Rachel was being bound to this child as a protector. Rachel then saw a soft blue light flow from Dawn to the child and then engulfed her in the light as well. The light poured into her and she closed her eyes. As she did so she felt the child inside of Dawn kick at her hands and then it was over.

Rachel opened her eyes for the first time on a new world and was over whelmed at first by what she saw. There was a light and an energy surrounding every thing. It came off of things in waves. Her own body had it just pouring off of her. She looked toward her friend Dawn and saw the energy around her. Her mouth stood open for a moment. "Why didn't you tell me the world would look so different?"

Dawn looked puzzled "what do you mean?" "I see everything's energy everything is so bright and so clear." Dawn looked into her young friends eyes "you see the energy of objects Rachel? That is a very rare gift. There has not been anyone in our family able to see what you are seeing in thousands of years. Even my mother cannot see what you do. You are going to be a very powerful protector."

In that moment Dawn groaned as her body pushed outward a little. Her bare stomach stretched outward. Rachel saw with new eyes that Dawn's energy was being drained very quickly to feed the growth of her body. She could also see that a greater growth was coming. Pounds of flesh grew on Dawn's normally thin frame. Her face bulged out and neck thicker. Her arms and legs widened. Her energy was feeding her weight gain and allowing the baby to grow faster. Dawn's chest swelled and the sports bra she wore was being undone by this latest growth.

Rachel looked at her poor friend and wondered secretly if she would live through this ordeal. It was indeed going to be a very hard couple of days to get through. Rachel placed a hand Dawn's now larger stomach in an attempt to calm the scared child inside. She pushed her thoughts out of her mind in the hope that the child could pick up her thoughts "you don't have to be scared about anything any more. Soon this will be over and you will join your mother and me in this world and I will look after you always."