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Azura’s First Days
“Are you sure you have everything,” Luz asked as she, Amity, and Azura flew through the air on her staff.
“I’m sure, mamá,” Azura confirmed.
“You’ve got your pencils, your notebooks, your crayons,” Amity asked, “your enchanted runes?”
“Yes, mama,” Azura replied.
It was Azura’s first day of kindergarten at Hexside, and the only ones who were nervous were Luz and Amity. They wanted Azura to learn magic, but they weren’t exactly sure if they were ready for her to leave the nest just yet.
The family touched down right in front of the school. It was just like how Luz and Amity remembered it... give or take a few additions.
Luz and Amity knelt down to their daughter. “Now remember, mija,” Luz said, “be good, do what your teacher asks, and if you see a sentient brown witch hat, run like there’s no tomorrow.”
Azura nodded affirmatively.
“We’ll be back to pick you up this afternoon,” Amity added before kissing her on the forehead, “we love you, Zuri.”
Azura hugged her mothers, “I love you too.”
The little witchling then walked into her magic academy, leaving her mothers standing there, with only each other .
Luz was struggling to hold back tears. “Our baby girls growing up,” she sniffed.
Amity latched onto her and started bawling. “SHE’S GROWING UP TOO FAST,” she wailed.
Luz pulled her wife in for a hug, “Shh, it’s okay, cariña. We’ll see her again at the end of the day.”
The pair hopped on Luz’s staff and flew back to their home, with Amity sobbing all the way.
***
Luz was in the kitchen, making some hot chocolate, while Amity was in the living room looking over a photo album. It had pictures of all their most precious memories with Azura, like her first Halloween, her first steps, and her first birthday.
Luz walked in with two mugs of coco and sat next to Amity, just as she turned to the page with a picture from the most important day of their lives.
“Oh, Luz, look,” Amity gasped. She then pointed to a photo of herself, Luz, and Azura as a newborn.
“Oh, it’s the day Azura was born,” Luz said in awe.
Amity took one of the mugs of coco, “It feels just like yesterday, doesn’t it?”
“Hmph, yeah,” Luz agreed wistfully, “that night changed our lives forever.”
Luz and Amity began to reminisce: not just on the day Azura was born, but the months preceding as well.
***
Luz and Amity laid in bed. Amity was sound asleep, but Luz was wide awake. A thought persisted in her mind, it had actually been stuck in her head for a few months, and she couldn’t shake it. It was getting to be too much, she had to tell Amity.
“Amity,” she asked, “you awake?”
“I am now,” Amity moaned, half-asleep, “what is it, Luz?”
Luz took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. “Amity, I wanna have a baby.”
“Yeah, sure,” she yawned as she tried to go back to sleep. It took a few seconds before she fully really comprehended what Luz just said. She then sat up incredibly fast and looked at Luz with wide, surprised eyes. “WAIT, WHAT?!!!”
“I want to have a baby,” Luz repeated herself, sitting up as well.
“Luz,” she chuckled nervously, “a baby is a big responsibility. Are you sure we’re ready for that.”
“I do,” Luz answered optimistically, “I mean, we have a lovely house, our first book is selling amazingly in both the human world and the Boiling Isles, and I think we’d be great parents.”
“Yeah, but how would we even have a baby,” Amity asked.
Luz put her hand to her chin, “Hmm, don’t know yet.”
Amity stared at her wife, mouth agape and brow raised.
“Guess we’ll figure it out tomorrow,” Luz said before kissing Amity on the forehead, “goodnight, cariña.” She then laid down and started drifting back to sleep.
Amity just stared at her; all these years later, and Luz still found new ways to astound her. She had just managed to drop a major bombshell on her, and then went back to sleep like it was nothing.
Amity let out a sigh and laid back down as well. ‘You never cease to amaze me, Luz,’ she thought to herself.
***
The next day, Luz and Amity went to the Bonesborough library, hoping something there held the knowledge they sought.
The pair looked through the shelves tirelessly, until they eventually found what they were looking for.
“Infantations,” Luz read the title aloud quietly as she placed it on a table, “a complete compendium of spells and rituals for the conception of children.”
The pair opened the book and glossed over the pages. “Ah, here it is,” Amity said, pointing to a specific page, “birthing rituals.”
“It says there are three popular means of conception between same-sex couples on the Boiling Isles,” Luz said. “The first is an incantation that needs three pounds of baby powder, a strand of hair from the both of us, and candles made of pure beeswax.”
“The next involves a temporary gender reassignment spell,” Amity explained, “though this one is usually recommended for couples comprised of two males, as it lasts for nine months.”
“I’m not so sure about that one,” Luz said.
“Well, then there’s the third option,” Amity added, “for that one, we need to...”
Amity and Luz blushed feverishly at the explanation of the third option.
“Okay, first option it is,” Luz said as she slammed the book shut.
***
Later that night, Luz and Amity sprinkled the baby power in a circle on their floor, with a design reminiscent of a lotus blossom in the middle, and seven beeswax candles placed around it.
“Are we ready,” Luz asked.
“Almost,” Amity said as she plucked a hair off her head. Luz did the same, and handed it to her.
Amity intertwined the hairs and placed them in the center of the glyph. “Now, we just put our hands on the floor and say the chant.”
Luz and Amity placed their hands on the ground in front of the glyph and started speaking a strange chant.
“Lla dna eldarc, ybab emoc lliw nwod dna, llaf lliw eldarc eht, skaerb hguob eht nehw,” they chanted simultaneously, “kcor lliw eldarc eht, swolb dniw eht nehw, poteert eht no, ybab eyb a kcor.”
The pair waited a few seconds, but nothing happened.
“Nothing’s happening,” Amity said, confused.
“And after we went through all that trouble to learn that weird chant,” Luz bellyached.
Just then, the baby powder glyph started to shine, and the two witches intertwined hairs floated up. The hairs then morphed into a ball of light, and floated over to Luz’s stomach, phasing into it. The glyph stopped glowing, and the candles extinguished.
“Huh,” Amity said in surprise before turning to her wife, “do you think it worked, are you pregnant?”
Luz put her hand over her womb, “I don’t know, we’ll just have to wait and see.”
***
About a week later, Amity paced nervously outside of the bathroom door. Luz was inside, awaiting the results of a pregnancy test. She was so anxious; what if the incantation failed, what if she and Luz could never have a child of their own, what if they had to use... the third option. Amity shuddered at the thought of that.
Luz finally stepped out of the bathroom with tears in her eyes. Amity gasped and put a hand over her mouth. “Did it... did it fail?”
Luz then held up the pregnancy test, and Amity looked closely, seeing it prominently display a plus. Luz sniffed and smiled.
Tears started to well up in Amity’s eyes, “You mean... we’re gonna—“
Luz nodded affirmatively, tears of joy streaming down her face. The young couple then hugged each other in a loving embrace.
***
The next day, Luz and Amity called all of their friends and family over to meet with them... with the exception of Amity’s parents. Gus, Willow, Emira, Edric, Eda, King, Lilith, and Raine were all there, but they were waiting on one last person.
“So, Mittens,” Edric asked his younger sister, “what’s so important that you had to call us all over?”
“You’ll just have to wait and see,” Amity replied, “and don’t call me Mittens!”
“Sorry, baby sis,” Emira said as she pinched Amity’s cheek, “but you’re always gonna be Mittens to us.”
Just then, a door portal to the human world appeared. It was like the one Eda used, but newer. The door then opened, revealing Luz’s mother, Camila, as well as her adoptive sister, Vee Noceda.
“Mamá,” Luz exclaimed as she rushed over to her.
“Mija,” Camila replied as she hugged her daughter, “it’s so good to see you again. I heard you book is a New York Times best seller!”
“It’s selling well here to,” Luz added, “but that’s not why I called you here.”
Vee looked at her sister confused, “Then why did you call me here?”
“Just take a seat with everyone else, and all will be revealed,” Luz said as she guided her over to the others.
Camila sat on the couch, right next to Eda. “Hello, Eda,” she said, utterly displeased.
Eda glared back at her, “Camila.”
“Eda, be nice,” Raine whispered.
Eda and Camila were rivals of sorts; they constantly fought over who was the better mother figure to Luz, with Eda arguing the she embraced Luz’s creativity, while Camila argued that she kept Luz safe.
“Everyone,” Luz said, drawing everyone’s attention, “we have some pretty big news.”
Luz took a deep breath, she didn’t think she’d be this nervous. Amity placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, seemingly calming her down. She just had to come out and say it.
“I’m pregnant,” she said.
Everyone in the room sat there, their faces were frozen in surprise. Luz and Amity were starting to feel a little uncomfortable, did they just break their closest friends and family?
Camila stood up, “I’m going to be a grandma?”
Luz nodded affirmatively. Tears welled up in Camila’s eyes, she ran over to Luz and Amity and hugged them tightly.
“Oh, mija,” she sobbed joyously, “I’m so happy for you!”
“Careful, mamá,” Luz reminded her, “the baby!”
Everyone else got up and surrounded the couple, congratulating them from all sides.
“Congratulations, Luz,” Willow said as she hugged her friend.
“We’re real proud of you, Mittens,” Edric said as he put an arm around Amity’s shoulders.
Eda put both of her hands on Luz’s shoulders, “Kiddo, I promise I’m gonna be the best aunt ever!”
“Don’t you mean ‘grandmother,’ Edalyn,” Lilith asked.
“Nope, I absolutely refuse to be called ‘grandma,’” Eda shouted, “and I’ll rip out the tongue of anyone who does.”
Luz and Amity chuckled at Eda’s declaration. Their baby was gonna be born into quite the family.
***
Before they knew it, nine months came and went, and they were rapidly approaching the estimated day of the baby’s birth, but it seemed their baby had other plans.
It was the middle of the night, and Luz and Amity were sound asleep in their bed. Amity was resting peacefully, but something roused her from her slumber. It felt... wet?
She quickly sat up and looked over to Luz, she was awake, she was in pain, and the bed around her was soaked.
“Amity,” she said through grit teeth, “my water just broke.”
Amity gasped, “You mean–“
“Yep,” Luz confirmed, “the baby’s coming!”
Amity jumped out of the bed, “Oh gosh! Do– don’t worry! I’ll call Viney!”
“Please hurry,” Luz asked her panicking wife.
***
Within about an hour, Viney, and her griffin assistant, Puddles had arrived. She was one of the best doctors on the Boiling Isles, but she was also a close personal friend of Luz, so she dropped everything when she heard Luz had gone into labor.
She quickly readied a wet rag for the baby, while Amity held Luz’s hand and helped her with her breathing. Hours went by as they waited for the baby’s birth, all the way to dawn.
“Alright, Luz,” Viney said, “I can see the head, I need you to give one last big push. Ready?”
Luz groaned in pain and grasped Amity’s hand tighter. She pushed with all her might, and was soon met with the sound of a newborn crying.
“It’s out,” Viney said, swaddling the baby.
Luz relaxed her grip and let out a sigh of relief, Amity quickly leaned over to her. “Honey, are you alright?”
“Next time,” Luz said in between heavy breaths, “you’re carrying the baby.”
Amity smiled with relief and kissed Luz on the cheek. “Sure, dear.”
Viney walked over to the pair, tenderly holding the newborn, “Congrats, you two, it’s a healthy baby girl.”
“Can we hold her,” Luz asked.
Viney handed the baby to the two new mothers. They were in awe of her, it was definitely nepotism on their part, but she was the most beautiful baby either of them had ever seen. They instantly loved her more than anything.
“I love you,” Amity said with tears of joy, “both of you, so much.”
The baby opened her eyes, revealing she was heterochromatic; her left eye was gold like Amity, and her right was brown like Luz. Neither of them cared, she was their baby, and that was all that mattered.
Suddenly, a bright flash interrupted their fawning. They looked up to see that Viney had taken a picture of the occasion.
“Sorry, you guys looked so sweet, I just had to,” she explained, “do either of you have a name for her yet?”
Luz and Amity sat there, silent. They had just realized that neither of them had thought of a name.
“Uhh... we’ll have to get back to you on that,” Luz said embarrassedly.
***
Back in the present day, Luz and Amity were still looking over the photo album.
“That had to have been the best day of our lives,” Luz said as she wiped tears away.
“What about our wedding,” Amity asked playfully, rubbing her eyes.
“Okay, one of the best,” Luz retracted.
They were about to turn the page again, but then they realized something.
“Luz, what time is it,” Amity asked.
Luz pulled out her phone and checked the time. “Oh shoot! We need to go pick up Azura!”
Luz grabbed her staff and the pair rushed out of the house, leaving the photo album open on the coffee table, right on the page with the picture from Azura’s birth.