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«Mommy!».
«Mommy!».
The two fawns called and ran towards their mother scared, with two things in each of their hands.
«What's wrong?» She asked worried.
«We were playing and suddenly-!» Edward started.
«We dropped these!» Arthur finished.
In their hands they had their little antlers and their heads could be seen losing small amounts of blood. If you don't know, deer antlers fall every year in winter to grow new ones.
«I liked them, now I won't have them anymore» Arthur said sadly.
Both children began to cry.
«No no no my children, don't worry, they will grow back» Charlie reassured.
«Really?» Edward asked unsure.
«Yes, they will grow back soon, don't worry» And she caressed each of one cheek, smiling affectionately.
The two of them thought better of it and thanks to the smile and what their mother said, little by little they recovered.
«Come on, I'll ask Dad if he can make that strawberry cake that the three of us like».
«Yay!» The little deers said, now happy.
And so they headed to the kitchen.
«I love daddy's cake!» Edward said.
«Me too! But I still don't understand why he doesn't like it» Arthur said confused.
«Your father never liked sweets and anything with sugar, everyone has their own tastes» Charlie said to her sons.
«What a mystical thing».
Their mother only responded with an amused giggle. When they entered the kitchen, luckily their father was already there as he sighed and scratched his ear.
«Dad!» They ran towards him and hugged him.
«Children!» Alastor smiled happily.
As soon as they raised their little heads they saw that their father had bandages where his antlers used to be.
«Dad, where are your antlers?» Arthur asked.
«They dropped, it happens every time the cold comes» He answered.
«So, they drop even to you too?» Edward guessed.
«Obviously, my son» He notices that the two of them don't have the antlers too «Otherwise, yours wouldn't have fallen either» He chuckled.
«Hehe right» Edward giggled.
The deer gently pinched each one's cheeks and spoke again.
«What would you like? Looks like you want something, children».
«We would like the strawberry cake!» All three smiled. Even his wife wanted some cake.
«Oh no, ugh... You too, darling?» Alastor complained.
«Of course, you know I really like sweets...especially when you cook them».
«Mhmm...» He thinked about it.
«Pleeeaaase, you don't want to disappoint these pretty faces» She used the power of puppy eyes, and with her children too.
«...Very good, you have convinced me» He said defeated and he began to prepare the ingredients.
«High five» She whispered to her children.
Both fawns gave her a high five and then the three of them sat at the table patiently waiting for Papa Deer's delicious cake. While the dessert was in the oven and the cream was being prepared, Alastor reminded Charlie of something.
«My dear, don't forget to put the bandages on both of them and disinfect them».
«Okay».
The two children were confused but ignored what their parents said and another few minutes and finally the cake was ready.
«Behold, my dears, do not eat too quickly-» They did not listen to him «As if I had not said».
The deer simply sat with them and watched them while they ate the tasty cake that he made.
...
Many hours passed and it was night, the fawns remained calm the rest of the day, they played with their "cousins" as they call them (you already know two of them if you read my short story "The Bachelor's Auction"), they had a good meal for dinner and then when it was time to sleep they were waiting for their mother. Edward and Arthur always waited for their mother to accompany them to their bedroom and then read them a night time fairy tale, but this time the routine was different. This time they were in their parents' room, on top of their bed, already in their pajamas and with their teeth brushed.
«I don't understand what you have to do, Mommy» Arthur said.
«I just have to make sure the monsters don't hurt your head» Charlie was preparing a bottle of disinfectant, some cotton pads, and bandages.
«Monsters!?» He screamed, scared.
«Yes, but don't be afraid with this repellent we will keep them away» She shows the bottle.
«Okay» Now he’s more confident.
The princess sat on the bed between them with everything needed for the bandaging in her hands.
«Who goes first?» She asked.
«Me!» Edward answered rapidly.
«Noo...ugh» The brother complained.
Charlie sorrowfully took him with her arm over her laps and slowly began to tap the holes where the antlers once laid with the cotton pad. And she was sorrowful because the pain was unbearable.
«OUCH, NO, THAT BURNS!" He tried to free himself, but his mother held him down.
«I'm sorry, but I have to do it otherwise it will get infected».
«NO, PLEASE, MOMMY!».
Tears of pain were shed, his brother, at the moment when he looked at everything, was very scared.
Charlie disinfected Edward's head and said, "Done, Eddie." She knew that using his preferred nickname would bring him comfort. This preference wasn't unexpected since Charlie preferred to go by her nickname instead of her full name, Charlotte. She also shortened Arthur's name to Art. On the other hand, her other son didn't mind the nickname. (Thank a lot for the reader Joss, for helping me writing this piece about the nickname thing of this little story!)
Now Edward was crying silently with the bandages on his head. Charlie then took some cotton pads and poured the disinfectant «Art?» She called.
«No... I don't want to» He was about to get up, but he was quickly caught «NO, MOMMY, IT'S GOING TO HURT, I'M SCARED!».
«I know» She closed her eyes and began as with the other son.
«AHHH, NO NO NO, IT BURNS!».
Like his brother, Arthur cried in agony, an excruciating pain that both children will never forget. When she finished they were still crying but the princess hugged them both to console them. And she leaned her back against the back of the bed.
«It h-hurts» Edward said sore.
«I'm so sorry».
Hearing her children scream in pain was a nightmare for her but it was necessary to heal them. For a while they were still sobbing and to calm them down she came up with a brilliant idea.
«𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘖𝘩, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶».
The little ones looked at her and clung closer, relaxed by her mother's sweet melody.
«𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵, 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶».
Their little eyes stopped crying.
«𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭𝘴
𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴».
Their eyelids were slowly closing.
«𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘳
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶
𝘓𝘢 𝘭𝘢 𝘭𝘶».
And from there the fawns fell asleep without any worries in their mother's arms.
«There now, little star sweepers, dream on» And so she falls asleep too.
Meanwhile, in the corner of the room, a shadow had looked at everything with a sweet smile, then turned off the light of the lamp on the nightstand and disappeared.