What’s in a Name Part 1
Copyright 2024, Yasmine Galenorn
Do not reproduce anywhere.
I looked at our children. The firstborn was wide-eyed and observant, that was already apparent. Her eyes glinted with the energy of water and I knew that my Leannan Sidhe heritage would come out in her, even though she was a baby goddess.
“I’d like to name her Mara, after the sea.” I stroked her face and she gave a little gasp and pressed her cheek against my fingers. A deep sense of connection raced through me as she opened her eyes and held my gaze. “She’s strong, this one. She’s going to grow up wild and free, and stubborn. I can sense it.”
Herne smiled. “Mara, it is.”
“Do you want to name our second-born?” I asked, wanting him to participate. Our second daughter had eyes that already seemed to focus, and she felt grounded in the forest to me.
Herne picked up her up, holding her to his chest. After a moment, he nodded and said, “Nightshade. She’ll be a cagey one. I think she carries both your Autumn Bane heritage as well as my woodland energy. Ten to one she’ll be able to outshoot us with a good bow by the time she’s ten.”
“Nightshade…I like it,” I said. “What about our third princess?” As we stared down at our third daughter, I thought I detected sparkles emanating from her hands. Magic, uncontrolled and unconstrained. She carried magic in her soul. I pointed to the gently drifting sparks. “She’s a born witch.”
“Well, her great grandfather is the Merlin, so that doesn’t surprise me, actually,” Herne said.
“Do you want to name her after your mother? Morgana?”
He shook his head. “No, she deserves her own name, not to live in my mother’s shadow.”
I thought for a moment. “Let’s name her Ionie, after the priestess who served Selene.” Selene was a moon goddess, and her head priestess, Ionie, had fought against creatures of the sun who came to disrupt the Moon goddess’s lands. It was a little known legend, but Ionie had been a powerful sorceress and priestess who had singlehandedly protected her temple. I’d been learning a lot from my tutors as I had studied, adjusting to life as a goddess. While I was pregnant, there hadn’t been much else for me to do except read and hold court.
Herne considered the name, then booped me on the nose. “Ionie, it is. So, Mara, Nightshade, and Ionie. I’ll inform my mother and father and we’ll set the date for their Naming Ceremony. We need to pick guardians for each of the girls.”
“You know who I want to be their goddess-mother.”
“Angel, I assume?”
I nodded. “I can’t think of anybody I’d trust more. And she’ll be going through the Gadawnoin soon. If we need a backup, then I suppose your mother—”
“What about Raven?” Herne asked.
I stared at him, shaking my head. “As much as I love Raven, she’s barely into adulthood herself. She and Kipa are finding their way as a couple and they’re engaged. I don’t want to saddle them into responsibility like this. While we’re all immortal, the fact is the gods-parents are an important part of the children’s lives.” I shrugged. “I think actually, asking Cernunnos and Morgana remains the best idea. I’ll ask Angel and Raven to be their faerie-god mothers, which is a lighter hearted task.”
Herne finally agreed with me, and so we settled that matter. As the babies woke for their feeding, the wet nurses gathered near the bed, each one shouldering one of our daughters so we could be near for the feeding. I wished my parents could be here to see their grandchildren. I wished, in some ways, that we were back in Seattle, just a normal family on a normal street. But that life was long gone, and our daughters would grow up as the goddesses they were. Herne scooted so he was sitting beside me, and he rested his arm around my shoulder.
“I love you,” he whispered. “Thank you for everything. For being you. For loving me. For moving here to be with me. For our daughters.”
“Hey, it’s what I want,” I said, snuggling so that I was resting gently in his arms. I yawned, exhausted. We had our babies, and that was enough for me—Ferosyn had obeyed my wishes and, after the births, made sure there would be no more. Three children was more than enough for me.
As we sat there, drifting along while the babies gurgled as they fed, Danielle gently entered the room and we motioned for her to climb aboard the massive bed. She curled on the end, accepting Nightshade—who had finished nursing. We were quiet, the minutes ticking away the afternoon, but everything felt perfect. And while I knew that ‘happily ever after’ didn’t really exist, we were happy for now, and that was enough.
Copyright 7/2023
Do not reproduce or distribute
I love this.