Andi and Benjii Harrison were trainers, she worked with domestic and feral and exotic cats in order to incorporate them into the lives of others who wanted to have them as pets, and he worked with ordinary dragons; most of the creatures he trained became royal dragons upon completion of his courses, and this citizen elf preferred to work from home. His clients stayed on the grounds of his eighty-acre estate, they were regularly taken on trips away from the monotony that could be created from being within the same four walls, and he never trained more than five dragons at a time; taking on too many chores at the same time could cause forgetfulness and neglect and the end of his trainer’s license, and therefore, he wouldn’t take on more than he knew he could handle. She worked among hundreds of other trainers in a feline sanctuary, each species of cat was separated from the others, and had plenty of caretakers to maintain their needs; Andi had been certified and licensed to work with each type of cat, and went to the sanctuaries that needed her the most.
These citizens lived on Amarol, in North Onnoop, and they had six children; three boys and three girls were the standings in the Harrison household, when Doctor Milzur contacted his patient to let her know, “Missus Harrison, the results of the test you took are in”.
“Alright, do I need to come into your office or can you tell me now?” She asked.
“You’re going to need to make an appointment with my nurse, and I’ll give you the results, then. Give me just a moment, and I’ll transfer you over to Paola”, the obstetrician said.
“Alright, doctor, I’ll hold”, she responded. As she waited for the nurse to answer, she wondered why the doctor couldn’t tell her the results while she was connected with him, and when Paola answered her connection, Andi asked, “Could you explain to me why the doctor can only tell me that my results are in, and why he cannot tell me without my having to take off from work?”
“I’m sorry, the doctor doesn’t like doing things that way, but it’s a matter of medical ethics; his hands are tied by the medical board, and if he were to break their rules, he’d lose his license. I know its not much of a consolation for his patients who generally, always think the worst until they see the doctor, but there’s nothing he can do, really”, the nurse explained.
“Well, I know that my health is in good order, or at least it always has been, but until I come in to see the doctor, I am going to be worried. I mean, who wouldn’t? I don’t need you to answer that, I’m a bit overwhelmed”, she said.
“Trust me, I completely understand, and if it helps, you and I are in the same boat. I’m waiting for an appointment with my own practitioner, and the suspense is driving me batty”, Paola said.
“I guess it does kinda help. When does he have time in his schedule for me? The trainer inquired.
“Well, we’ve had a few patients reschedule their appointments, so I can get you in at ten after one, if you’re available”, the nurse said.
“That’s directly after lunch, I’ve got some rescheduling to do myself, but I can make it a few minutes after one o’clock”, Andi said. Being in management, she could make changes to the schedule, but rarely ever did it, last minute. She liked to give her employees a warning before making any adjustments to their work stations, but she had to make an exception this time; she was certain her best worker, Amaya wouldn’t much of a fuss over the change, and she made a connection to inform the elf her new work orders.
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At one o’clock, the feline trainer was sitting on the table in a private waiting room at her obstetrician’s office, and she kicked her feet in nervous anticipation of his arrival. When the strapping, young doctor stepped inside of the room, her legs immediately stopped swinging, and she pulled them up to her chest; she couldn’t be certain as to why, but holding her knees was comforting.
“Hello, there, Missus Harrison, first, let me apologize for my not being able to tell you the results of your test while we talked earlier, I’m sure Paola told you it’s a matter of ethics, and if I lose my license, I’d never be able to face my wife”, Doctor Milzur explained.
“I understand that, doctor, but from the point of view of one of your patients, the wait for the results, is murder”, Andi confessed.
“Well, maybe the news I have for you will brighten your day”, her doctor replied.
“Maybe, it depends on what you’ve got to say”, she returned.
“According to the results of the blood work you had done, you’re going to be a mommy, again”, the doctor told his patient.
Immediately, the trainer’s head fell to her knees, she wasn’t sure how to tell her husband that they were expecting their seventh child, and was trying to find a response for her doctor when he said, “I understand that when a patient already has a small flock at home, that sometimes, another baby isn’t welcomed. There would never be any judgment from my office, but are you going to be having an abortion or putting the baby up for adoption? I only ask because I know how many children you already have, since I’ve delivered them all, and I’m aware that you and Benjii had not been actively making plans for this one”, her doctor tried to be tactful, but feared he may have missed his mark.
Lifting her head from the spot it rested on her knees, the trainer shot him a nasty look, and returned, “It’s true, we hadn’t been planning for a seventh child, but this one is just as welcome into my fold as the rest of my children, and I resent that line of questioning because you know me better than that, Melman”, referring to the doctor by his first name, helped the citizen to remember that she’d once changed his diapers, and she felt he needed that reminder.
“Now, now, Andi, there’s no need in getting your feathers ruffled. After your reaction, I felt obligated to ask that question, and though, I knew your response would be much like the one you’re having, ethics forced me to ask for the sake of your unborn baby. I do hope you can forgive me”, the obstetrician said.
“I can do that. Now, what kind of game plan is in order for the seventh Harrison baby, doc?” The trainer asked.
“Since you’re seven weeks along, already, I can let you hear the heartbeat, if you’d like”, he offered.
“That sounds sensational, let’s do it”, the trainer urged.
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When Andi returned to work, she went directly to her regular work station, and told Amaya, “Hey, girl, I appreciate you covering my area while I ran to the doctor, I’ll be sure to put you in the area of your choice the next time I make out the schedule”.
“You don’t have to do that, I don’t have a problem stepping in to help out wherever and whenever I can, and I don’t expect any special treatment for it”, her worker said.
“Is there anything I can do to show my gratitude? I feel that I should do something for you in return for your cooperation”, she asked.
“Yes, actually, there is, you can tell me what your doctor had to say, that’s all the repayment I need”, Amaya replied, smiling.
“Well, I was going to make an announcement to everyone at the same time, but since you asked, my doctor said that I’ve got a little over eleven months to prepare for another family member”, Andi replied.
“Is that a good thing?” Her employee asked.
“It’s not something we’d planned, but it is what it is”, she replied.
“You don’t sound so sure about that”, the rookie said.
“Having six other children at home, already, I wasn’t expecting my doctor to tell me that I’m pregnant, again. This one’s unexpected, but will never be unloved”, her boss responded.
“Then, I guess, congratulations are in order”, she said.
“I’ve never been in the high-risk category, so there won’t be too many alterations to the schedule, and when there are, I’ll do my best to give everyone ample time to prepare”, Andi said.
“You’ve always been really good about giving us a decent amount of time when you needed to make changes to our working hours, and I’m sure everyone will be cooperative when you have to make them in the future. I’ve got your area taken care of for the rest of the day, if you wanna go home, and share your news”, Amaya offered.
“I’ll only do it if you promise me that I’m not putting you out”, her boss responded.
“I don’t make offers, if I don’t think I can keep them”, the rookie said.
“Alright, I can take you up on your offer, and I won’t be too upset if anyone finds out about my news before I can tell them. I mean, I’ve only told you about it, but I’m sure the bees are already buzzing; we both know there’s no keeping secrets in a town the size of this one, no matter how hard you try”, Andi replied.
“Go home, tell your family the news, and I’ll see you, again, on Monday”, her employee suggested.
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Twenty minutes later, the feline trainer was at home, but she hesitated to dismount from, Tolliver’s back. Delivering the news about the seventh Harrison child wasn’t going to be easy, though she knew the little one would be immediately accepted, it was harder for her to find the words to tell her husband than she’d imagined on the way. Eventually, she conjured up the nerve to jump down from her seat, and she relinquished the dragon’s reins to one of her workers.
When her feet hit the ground, her husband was standing with his back leaning against a pole that held up the awning where the family chose to leave their dragons when their travels had been completed. She couldn’t get an immediate feel for his vibe because of the level her nerves were at, and chose to see what kind of mood he was in before she told him the news. Her husband had never been aggressive, he had always been the quietly understanding type, one who rarely spoke, but garnered everyone’s attention when he did; it was the quality she’d fallen in love with when they were younger, and it was the trait which, she felt, kept them together all those years.
“What are you doing home so early? I’m not mad, half way insane at the moment because you don’t ever get sent home from work before five o’clock, and it’s not even two, yet”, Benjii said.
“I didn’t mean to cause you terrible amounts of concern, it’s just that, I got some news this afternoon, and I hadn’t found the words to tell you; that’s why it took me so long to leave from my seat in the dragon’s harness, I was trying to find the right words”, Andi explained.
“The right words to tell me what? It’s not fair, you’ve got me on the edge of my brain, thinking, wondering, fearing whatever it is you’re going to say, so spit it out already, the suspense is killing me”, the citizen implored.
“Honey, I don’t know what else to say except, ‘Get ready for baby number seven’, I just got the news, not even an hour ago, myself. Then, just as I was leaving work, I received an ‘unknown source connection’ from someone named, Mister Stallworth, he eventually told me that he’s the lawyer over my Great-Aunt Gertrude’s estate, and that she had a living will in place before she got sick”, Andi said.
“Alright, what’s going on with your Great-Aunt Gerti?” Benjii inquired.
“Well, according to what the attorney said, ‘She had over seven million when she passed away, and there was only one beneficiary to all that money’”, she said.
“Let me guess, you’re the one she named to get all that dough? Honey, please, don’t tell me you’ve fallen for that old trick”, he said.
“I can see how you’d be skeptical, but if you’ll let me tell you everything, without interruption, you’ll be where I am on this, please”, she pleaded with her husband.
“Alright, I’ll listen to what you have to say, and I won’t say a word, until you tell me you’re through, I promise”, he swore.
“First, you need to know that the reason I said, ‘He eventually told me’, was because it took him the better part of a full minute to rattle off the name of his law firm, that to me, says something. However, my mamma didn’t raise any fools, and as he spoke, I was listening for the language that is used by someone who’s trying to get over on someone else. There wasn’t any of that, as far as I could tell, plus, he offered to travel all the way out here, to help us deal with the legalities on our end. Alright, I’m done”, she said.
“Well, there’s not much I can say, except, ‘Don’t get your hopes up, just in case someone was trying to fill your head full of trash’, and ‘I guess we’ll see how things turn out’, if you told him where we live”, the trainer said to his wife.
“That’s the thing, I didn’t have to tell him our address, all I had to do was tell him that he could come out here, and, being the Leo that I am, I challenged him to catch the next dragonflight out here”, Andi told him.
“What did he say to that?” Benjii inquired.
“That he’d be here day after tomorrow, if weather permitted”, she said.
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Ten and a half months later, in March, the trainers welcomed the ninth member of the family, his name was Hoosal Travers Harrison, and after a short hospital stay, the baby boy was taken home; he had been too big to deliver naturally, Andi was subjected to a cesarean section, which limited what she could do around the house, and all of the children picked up extra chores in order to help out until their mother could return to her normal duties. The kids who were in high school, lent a hand by preparing meals, washing dishes, and helping the little ones with their chores, whenever necessary. The children who attended classes at the Amarol Academy, pitched in with maintaining certain tasks like setting the table in preparation of the meals their siblings cooked, drying the dishes after they’d been cleaned, and dusting the shelves, every week; these tasks and chores were performed with few incidents of feuding, and their behavior was observed by their parents.
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As the youngest member of the Harrison family grew, it was apparent that he had been blessed with capabilities, and when it was time to register the child for school, Andi took him to the southern magix plateau in order for him to meet, Mistress Ursula, a former educator of his mother’s. The citizen knew she couldn’t teach her son the things he needed to know about his capabilities, because the level in which his magix was performed on, out-ranked hers, and she did the only thing possible in order to help her son; she enrolled him in classes with the instructors and educators and elders who lived on the plateau, and kissed the young one on his cheek before she left.
She’d been focused on not allowing him to see her crying, and forgot to tell the child that she loved him; always mindful of others’ feelings, Hoosal said, “Mamma, I know this has you a bit upset, as it also has me feeling badly, but it is what needs to be done; please, don’t convince yourself that you’re basically abandoning me for someone else to take care of, the way I heard you telling daddy you felt when it came to making the decision to bring me here, but instead, look at it as an opportunity, for our entire family. Please, also remember, that I love you, and I’ll miss you until I can visit during the first school holiday”.
“I love you, too, my son, and I know it’s for the best. I’ll always worry about you, you’re my baby”, Andi said.
“I know, mamma, you’re embarrassing me”, the young elf said.
“I’m leaving before it becomes too difficult for me to do so, we’ll see you in a few months, til then, don’t forget to write”, she said.
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll write at least once a week, I promise. Now, please, go”, he pleaded.
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Hoosal was on the continent of Afertin, he’d been attending a seminar held by the magix elders, when he met, Honor Michelson. They were both at the meeting of minds for different purposes, one had military information they needed to obtain for the security of the planet, the other attended for the purposes of gaining extra-credit for a class, but their personalities melded together well enough that both elves felt as though they’d found a long-lost brother upon meeting one another for the first time.
The trainer’s son had been selected to be his brother’s best man during his wedding to royal elf, Emit Garrick, and patiently awaited the day when he’d finally have the opportunity to meet, Hellcat Helani; Emit’s little sister, and the royal family’s self-proclaimed black sheep. When Hoosal learned that there would be a graduation jubilee in recognition of Emit’s accomplishment of receiving her degree, the citizen elf worked a small magix casting, which allowed him to influence the invitation list, and he was capable of adding Hellcat without causing much suspicion; he knew the price for manipulating others to perform against their will, but justified his actions by telling himself, ‘If I hadn’t interfered with the guest-list, I would have never gotten the opportunity to meet the elusive royal elf, especially waiting for Honor to get around to remembering his sister-in-law should’ve been invited’.
© P. L. Watson-Atwell