Random gathered strength to pull herself up and head into her bedroom where she was not surprised to see a clean, well, made bed. There were even fresh cut flowers, lilacs and blush pink tea roses, in a vase on the night table. A single candle glowed there also..emitting a delicate addition to the gorgeous scent of the blooms, and a comfortable delicately saffron ambiance. She stripped from her clothes and rubbed her body with an essential ointment of witch hazel and lavender. It had a healing effect on her spirit as well. Then, she slipped between the blankets..and opted to leave the candle burning, allowing the flickering dance to tease her eyelids into fluttering butterfly-like into closing finally, into a sweet, restful sleep. And she surely slept..... Daddy? Why do you have those ears? Are you the Fairy King? Asked Kessie of Stryxn who had now become her stepfather. No, I am not the fairy king wee girl, but I am Sidhe, and I am called an Elf. She laughed, but Daddy..you are much too tall to be an elf! She giggled. And you are not a She! You are a HE! No, I am an Elf. And, yes, I'm a He..he chuckled. See, you probably think all fairy kind are alike, but that is simply not true. First, we do not all like to be called fairy. Those have wings like bugs and are small. Like the kind you see in your books lovely. Actually, we are The Good Neighbors. Daddy.. you are not my neighbor she whispered as she hugged him. I know Kessie, I am your Daddy now. He picked her up and put her into her bed and kissed her brow..then as he pulled away he pushed back her curls from her brow. You are my precious little Oaken Soul Kessie..Blessed be you wee girl.. Blessed be you..he said quietly as he slipped out her door. Megan listened to this nightly ritual and smiled to herself , feeling fortunate for having the luck to have found such a love. She greeted Stryxn in the hall outside the bedrooms. Oh Love, how I marvel at the relationship you share. You were meant to be her father. You are soul kin..if not blood kin my dear Stryxn. Stryxn pulled her into a deep kiss, something he learned well from Megan by now..and he was a very good student of kiss. No longer having to practice on the back of his hand..he had excelled in the art of kissing. But all else was done quite well, and quite similar to human mating ritual..only "The Good Neighbor" were much better lovers, for they seemed to be born with a full knowledge of the Karma Sutra. From the seduction the act of making love..they were masters, or so Megan had surmised by Stryxn's example. The first time Stryxn approached Megan, they were not yet wed. He was fighting strong urges to remain a stoic sentinel to the Oaken Soul and her mother, but it became so increasingly difficult each time he laid eyes on her, smelled her, touched her innocently. Once he removed a leaf from her fiery hair and pretended to rub a smudge off her cheek just to feel her soft skin. He wondered what her breasts felt like. They seemed so wonderfully bountiful and he often found himself trying to avert his eyes from them as she often caught him staring. She didn't mind much.. as a waitress she had become used to such male behaviors.. but somehow she was pleased he approved. Megan? He whispered as he stood over her as she lay in her bed. She was not asleep... she was summoning him there with her own desires. She knew he'd come too. Her heart leapt as she pretended to awaken. She smiled, reaching for his hand as she sat up she allowed the chemise she wore to fall off of her shoulder revealing the round of her right breast. Stryxn lifted her from the bed into his arms and held her over his head high and then slowly let her down to the level of his lips.. kissing from her belly to her lips on her slow descent. She shivered slightly.. and showed him how to kiss with a passion he'd never known. That was his first lesson in kissing human style, but it was not his lesson alone..for the brownies watched from their invisible posts and began practicing the kiss too. That kiss had become legend...as well as what ensued post kiss. As was the way with Megan, she had become pregnant immediately. A wedding took place, but no sooner had that happened came the news that the Elders had decided they should be exiled beyond the Nexus and Kessie was to remain under the guidance of the Elders themselves..and her caregivers. Kessie cried for what seemed ages, which just shattered parents. Stryxyn wanted to go against the Elders so badly, and find a way to stay a family unit. He'd only just become her father, and he loved her very much, now to see her hurt, and to hurt with her just as much broke his heart in two. He loved Megan very much, and was happy that she was going to have a child, their child, but he could love no other child as much as he'd come to love Kessie, so in a small way, he too began to resent this news of a new baby. Megan was going through a multitude of emotions at this point. She thought the baby would assure a family bond if anything. She had no clue that the Elders could be so cruel. Of course they both protested this decision, but it did no good. The Elders couldn't be persuaded to change their minds. They were to be exiled to OutWorld. The last night they spent with Kessie they'd made some promises that put her at ease, promises they both knew may be impossible to keep, but they just couldn't stand to see her hurting more. "Don't worry Kessie love, your mother and I will make sure that you get to come to us, when we know it is safe, and we will come to you. " Stryxn promised, and she believed him with all her heart. To her, he was the Fairy King. No matter what the storybooks said. And her mother, was the Fairy Queen now, because she had married him. In her mind, nothing they said or did could be wrong.. only the Elders were wrong. In her little girl mind, she decided that now that she were the Oaken Soul, she would change the rules around here. Little did she know, she did have such autonomy. Stryxn and Megan cried themselves to sleep after they put Kessie to bed. They knew that in the morning they must go, so they put little gifts around Kessie's bed and each wrote a letter for her Fairy Godmother to read for her. They didn't want her to watch them leave, so they rose up before the sun and journeyed to the gate, finding themselves back in New York and detesting it. Stryxn actually shook in place, and experienced what humans would call a panic attack. He'd never seen a place so evil in his life. Megan, just saw a home she once knew. She wasn't afraid, she wasn't happy, but she could be strong for the sake of her husband, besides New York has its fine points too. She'd make the best of it, for she had no desire to move far from the gate, where they had instructed a band of dark elves to bring Kessie each month, so that they could meet her in secret. They had promised not to take her beyond the gate. The last night they spent with Kessie they'd made some promises that put her at ease, promises they both knew may be impossible to keep, but they just couldn't stand to see her hurting more. "Don't worry Kessie love, your mother and I will make sure that you get to come to us, when we know it is safe, and we will come to you. " Stryxn promised, and she believed him with all her heart. To her, he was the Fairy King. No matter what the storybooks said. And her mother, was the Fairy Queen now, because she had married him. In her mind, nothing they said or did could be wrong.. only the Elders were wrong. In her little girl mind, she decided that now that she were the Oaken Soul, she would change the rules around here. Little did she know, she did have such autonomy. Stryxn and Megan cried themselves to sleep after they put Kessie to bed. They knew that in the morning they must go, so they put little gifts around Kessie's bed and each wrote a letter for her Fairy Godmother to read for her. They didn't want her to watch them leave, so they rose up before the sun and journeyed to the gate, finding themselves back in New York and detesting it. Stryxn actually shook in place, and experienced what humans would call a panic attack. He'd never seen a place so evil in his life. Megan, just saw a home she once knew. She wasn't afraid, she wasn't happy, but she could be strong for the sake of her husband, besides New York has its fine points too. She'd make the best of it, for she had no desire to move far from the gate, where they had instructed a band of dark elves to bring Kessie each month, so that they could meet her in secret. They had promised not to take her beyond the gate. The Elders had interceded the gifts after the Moonsglos had gone. They instructed the Fairy Godmother to put the things away from the child until she were old enough to understand better. The Fairy Godmother, (Ethereal Dandelion), had nearly protested herself, feeling that the Elders were being extremely unfair to the child, but she obeyed and put the things in a trunk for her Goddaughter, including the letters , in which she carefully placed in between the pages of a beautiful fairytale book her mother had bestowed her with. When Kessie woke to find her parents gone she ran to Ethereal Dandelion, whom she came to call E.D. or Ed for short, and jumped into her arms crying her little eyes out. Ed had been tempted to take her to the trunk, but instead took the child in her arms and walked in magic strides from the shore to a forest, where she sat on a large but low extended branch which conformed to her bottom nicely, and let the wind rock them as she sang to her Goddaughter. She sang.... Go to sleep my fairy child and dream about the day, when you became the Oaken Soul and smiled the clouds away... And when you sleep and find your dream please bring a rainbow home with you, from slumber land to fairyland, and into my heart too. Yes, go to sleep my baby queen and dream some sunshine in let a ray of hope come shining through bring to your face a grin.... And when you sleep and find your dream please bring a rainbow home with you; from slumber land to fairyland, and into my heart too. This little ritual had become a daily event, until Kessie was too old to be held, but could sit beside her Ed and sing along with her. Kessie was taken to the gate, where she did have visits with her parents, but she wanted to be held by them, wanted to kiss her mother and father, but seeing them helped. Kessie also had questions about her mother's condition as at each visit her belly had grown fuller and rounder. And at each visit the Moonsglos had been given reports of their daughter's progression into her duties and her academic achievements. Kessie had been given the best tutors and excelled in her studies. Kessie was an extremely fast learner, as well as a talented dancer, artist, and musician, with a singing voice of an angel. Her charms were just a natural talent..something she developed on her own. Her mother laughed at that last bit, as she was more than aware of Kessie's charms. They could be disarming at times. That was the McGuire in her. Mommy and Daddy! Guess what I told the Elders to do today! I told them to make special stars to put on peoples heads so they can come back into the Nexus! They said that only people with both Good Neighbor blood and human blood can come in.. *she sighed deeply..and sadly.. that means you two can't visit, but our baby can when she gets old enough, so bring her to me at the gate, and I will give her a Starpass..it will be so pretty. Mommy, the Elders told me that I must be careful whom I speak to because they said I might learn hate...Mama? What is hate anyway? Megan looked at Stryxn with questioning eyes... Megan truly and sincerely didn't want or couldn't answer her, so when she told her that she simply didn't know...it was the truth.