The Well Of Styx

3 1/2 years after Rassler had proposed to Kendra they marred a good 6 maths later and it was all in the Manor's orchard garden. The bohemian style very apparent in the theme and in his bride's dress. Rassler had thankfully gotten Kendra's mum's blessing to marry her and a LOT of unwanted advice from Carter and Ruth. But it was a beautiful and simple wedding, which was just fine. Plenty of dancing and small games in the garden.

But twos on Rassler and Kendra found out that they were expecting their first child.....Rasller was excited and HORRIFIED all in one. He waded hand and foot on Kendra through the whole pregnancy....but Ruth pulled him aside every now and them to get him to chill the hell out. They didn't want to know the gender wanting a surprise. But just the other night Kendra had gone into labour and Ruth along with he boys got her to the hospital, luckily with the little teleporting trick Carter still had to the city. Now....Rassler was pacing in the waiting room with his mother in-law, Ruth and Carter.

Rassler was pacing back and forth in the hall, "....Rassler you'll make treads in the floor, sit down." said Ruth.

"I can't...I'm too fu-freakin nervous." his mother-in-law didn't like cursing so he had to watch his words.

Several hours later...

A nurse walked through the doors of the waiting room to great the anxious family. She turned her attention to Rassler specifically and smiled. "Everything went just fine. Your wife is resting with your new baby daughter. Would you like to come and see them?" Only two people were allowed in the room with Kendra and the baby at a time.

Kendra was exhausted from the birth, but she was so happy to finally meet her baby, a daughter. Kendra was sitting up in bed holding the little bundle in her arms while she waited for Rassler to come back to meet his new daughter.

They smiled "Go see her Rassler." they said happy to wait form Mohave his time with them. He smiled and rushed in, seeing Kendra so tired He smiled seeing the pink bundle in her arms, He peek at the bundle hearing a soft whimper form the baby, his daughter. He smiled, looking to Kendra, "Good work." he smiled and kissed her on the lips.

"Our daughter......" he was in awe, seeing the littlest bit of black hair peaking out from under the beanie and she was squinted him/her new eyes not used To it all just yet. He chuckled, "I know...that was a hardware to come into the world huh?" he joked little.

Kendra turned to look at Rassler when he came in. It had been a while since she last saw him. "Hey..." The baby moved around a bit in her arms when she heard Rass' voice. She kissed him back so happy to have him by her side again.

"Yes, our beautiful daughter. She is perfect." Kendra pulled the blanket down a bit to fully reveal her face. She laughed at his joke and stroked her baby's cheek. "Now she just needs a name."

"Hmm...honestly I don't know.....I'm happy with any name you suggest." he said, he was never good with naming things or people. He then scooped up his daughter gently and looked at her, "......So small...." he said in awe he hadn't got to look at many babies in his time.

Kendra lifted her baby up and handed her off to Rassler so he could hold her for a bit. She laid her head back on the pillow and thought of a few names while she watched Rassler look at their daughter. She thought for a bit until a name she liked came to mind. They hadn't really talked about names much since they didn't want to know the sex of their child.

"Hmm...I really like the name Celeste. I think it means heavenly." She said. "What do you think?"

He smiled sitting on the bedside with his daughter cradled in his arms, "...Kinda ironic don't ya think?" he chuckled a bit. He looked at his girl ands she was looking at him, "Hey...you when he get older....I'll be beating those boys off with a stick...." he smiled, "Just giving you a heads up." he kissed her forehead.

"I like it. Celeste....Terrance Rook?" he looked to Kendra, "What do you think?" he asked.

Kendra leaned on Rassler's arm when he he sat down with Celeste next to her. She gave Celeste her finger to hold onto. "Celeste Terrance Rook. I love it. Such a beautiful way to honor my uncle. If not for him, we wouldn't even be here right now." She said nuzzling against Rassler's shoulder. "And we wouldn't have our sweet little Celeste."

He smiled a little, "And so he'll live on through you...and this little one." he said kissing Kendra on her forehead.

A few days later they were finally able to bring Baby Celeste Home and had a welcoming party ready for her when they got back. Ruth, Carter Kendra's mother and Kendra's three girl friends as well. They had a bunch of baby items brought, toys clothes and of course the baby room was already set up in a cute garden motif. Soft greens and natural woods were the main colours along with some flower child items about the place.

The next few months were the tough part, luckily Ruth was there to help Kendra during the night while then made sure to help out with other things around the manor and the grounds.


----

As she grew, Rassler was attentive to every part and moment of his girl growing up. Her first steps her first little exploration out in the orchard when a butterfly landing on her nose making her sneeze. And of course Carter and Ruth made sure to get tapes and pictures as they went.

Kendra felt as if her little girl was already growing up so fast. She wished the time would just slow down so she could thoroughly enjoy her baby girls days as an infant. She was a little over a year old now and was steadily learning how to walk. On beautiful spring days, Kendra loved to bring Celeste outside so she could wander around in nature. Celeste loved when her mother played her guitar and sang to her.

It was beautiful and sunny, so of course Kendra took Celeste outside to play and she brought along a big cozy blanket for them to sit on and her guitar. She put Celeste down on the blanket and strummed her guitar, humming a soft tune.

Rassler was always nearby and he had taken up drawing. A habit that Terrance used to do when he felt the urge, He was sitting the new garden swing seat, watching his wife and little girl, listening to Kendra playing the guitar and humming tune, while Celeste dosed off to sleep oner little butterfly pattern blanket.

He was randomly sketching Celeste asleep, her expression so angelic, he chuckled softly, finding it almost ironic he produced a child the total OPPOSITE of what once was.

Kendra continued to hum her sweet tune and softly began to sing one of her favorite songs. "Somewhere over the rainbow way up high. There's a land that I heard of...once in a lullaby. Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue. And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..." She looked down at Celeste, who's eyes were starting to get heavy. By the time she finished singing the song, little Celeste had fallen fast asleep. Kendra stopped playing and pulled the small butterfly blanket up over her shoulders. "Sleep sweet my little angel." She smiled and touched her dark hair gently.

Rassler smiled at the scene, looking to the clear sky above, ".....Its been so peaceful....thankfully." he said aloud. He was always worried for more demons coming back or after him.....he had made MANY enemies in his lifetime....even with humbling human now...they could come for him still.

Kendra looked up when she heard Rassler's voice nearby. She saw him with his sketch pad and a pencil just staring at the sky. She stood up for a moment and tip toed away from Celeste as not to wake her. She was still close enough that she could keep an eye on her. "Hey..." She said softly and came up beside him. "Sketching again?" She smiled and looked at the picture he was working on. He was ALWAYS drawing their daughter every chance he got.

He smiled, "Of course." he had a sketch of her face as well, "Mmm....I can't help but think about certain things." he said, sighing a little bit. he had some of terrance's old sketches of him when he was still a demon.

Kendra sighed as well and nodded, "I know what you mean...it's as if things have been a little too peaceful. I'm just waiting for something to happen. I worry every day about Celeste. I want her to grow up feeling safe." There was a little bit of room on the swing next to him so she squeezed in beside him. She looked at the sketches he had that her uncle did. "It's been so long since I've seen you like this...it's been almost 4 years since you became a human..."

"........I am fine being human......but a part of me...does...feel empty without that part of me." he sighed, "Don't get me wrong though...you did what you had to and I wouldn't change anything." he kissed her hand when she sat with him.

".....But no matter what comes...we'll make sure she's ready for it." he said to assure her.

"I can't say that I understand how you feel...but I know this must be somewhat difficult for you." She nuzzled his shoulder and looked over to see Celeste still sleeping. "She is still so young...I don't want anything to happen to her."

".....I'll keep you both safe....and teaching her a little of the wicker wouldn't bad either....keep her aware of the invisible dangerous out there." he said, "I promise this."

As time wanton, as Celeste got more grabby, she kept on tugging on Rass's long curved metal earring and yanking hard. So he decided to take it out and he made it into a necklace for her, cleaning it and made sure it wasn't too sharp. When she was 2 he gave it to her and found she never took it off after that, which made him smile.

---

A few more years later...

Now at the tender age of 7 years old, Celeste was being home schooled. Ruth and Kendra not he main schooling, Carter taught her about gardening and outside lessons and Rassler was teaching her self defence in the physical kind...or P.E as he dubbed it.

They were also teaching her about the hidden things in the world, how to see them and to be careful in what she finds. Rassler was serious when he told her about seeing certain things and if she did, to comet him. But he dared not teller about him once being a demon....not now anyway.

"I wish we didn't have to teach her about that stuff at all. But it is apart of her. She is the first female born in our family that has not been effected by the curse. I want to her to grow up as normal as possible, but I know that can never be."

Once Kendra and Rassler finished their conversation, she gently lifted little sleeping Celeste into her arms to take her back inside so she could nap for a while.

---

After her lessons, Celeste usually liked to go outside and play in the orchard. She loved to climb trees and pick flowers for Ruth to put on the dining room table. Usually one of her parents or Ruth and Carter were nearby when she was outside. Ruth always brought her yummy snacks to eat. Even though her mother did not eat meat, Celeste really liked it. That afternoon had brought her a turkey sandwich with apples and carrots. "Thank you Aunty Ruth." She said to her and sat at the small table to eat.

Ruth brought out her plate with her sandwich and side of sliced apples and carrots, along with a fresh glass of goat milk that Ruth buys form another farm not too far away. "You're welcome Pumpkin." she smiled, "Remember not to go beyond the fence." she reminded as she wiped her hands on her apron as she went back inside.

Kendra and Rassler were currently out to get sometime together which they tried to make sure they did. Which Ruth and Carter were too happy to watch over the Cheeky monkey that was Celeste. Carter was currently on the roof, mending old roof tiles and Ruth was prepping foreigner since she was making a tedious dish.

"I know aunty Ruth." She said in a somewhat annoyed childish tone. She hated being treated like a baby. She was seven now. When Ruth went inside, Celeste gathered her snack and went to go eat it under one of the big trees. She and her mom would often eat under the trees and her daddy would watch them from up in the tree.

It was a sunny warm day. She loved days like this. Celeste munched on her sandwich and choked down her carrots. Kendra made sure she ate plenty of fruits and veggies.

And Rassler made sure she had plenty of meat and fish. He wasn't having his daughter being a scrawny Squirrel as he used to call Kendra often. Which luckily wasn't the issue.

The bushes were all blueberry bushes that were in bloom with flowers, no berries yet, but the sweet scent of flowers filled the orchard and garden with the impending crop of fruit and berries. But then something was buzzing around in the blueberry bushes.

Celeste had finished her snack and was about to go back inside when she heard a curious sound in the blueberry bushes. She put her plate and empty glass down and went over to investigate. She was rather fearless just like her daddy. She poked the bush with a stick to see what would happen.

THe buzzing suddenly moved off to another blueberry bush, startled it got spotted. Then a kind of twinkling noise could be heard from in the same bush. "You think she saw us?" a whisper asked, "SHUSH! SHe'll hear you!"