Hocus Pocus Baby

by Scarlett Cantrell

  She nodded. 'I am, but that thing's going to eat him alive!'

  At that precise moment Daisy Coppins – resident park-goer – decided to take her daily stroll, not forgetting her trusty black umbrella. Upon seeing everyone fleeing she knew something unearthly was afoot. Just as the wild animal readied itself to pounce on the man, she flicked her finger in the air and... POOF!

  Leanne and Dillon had both turned away, while Melissa, who had seen (and instigated) much worse than a man being mauled to death, watched on, not as squeamish as the others.

  'I believe this belongs to you,' Daisy said, finding them by the gates. She handed the stuffed tiger to Megan, who took it merrily.

  When Leanne deemed it safe to look again, she saw Eric running away, still in one piece, though with a noticeable wet patch on his trousers...

  'She did that?' Leanne asked, dumbfounded. She looked at her daughter as though she was seeing her for the first time. 'She can turn her toys into real animals?'

  'It would seem so,' Daisy Coppins replied, in her usual joyous tone. 'Though she must have taken a particular dislike to that gentleman. Who was he, if you don't mind me asking?'

  Melissa smirked as she looked at Leanne. 'Just someone who wanted to date her mother.'

  It was clear from the look of horror on her face that Leanne knew exactly what that meant for her:

  Magic babies didn't like their mothers dating other people!

  The Unwelcome Guest

  This was a first.

  Leanne usually had to fight Melissa tooth and nail to take their daughter out of the house alone. But one Saturday, in Megan's ninth month, Melissa burst into Leanne's room with their daughter on her hip, while Leanne was in the middle of doing some much needed sit-ups.

  'What are your plans for the rest of the day?'

  She didn't say hello or offer any other type of greeting, and when Leanne went to answer, Melissa cut her off.

  'I need you to take Megan for a few hours while I get the house ready.'

  'Ready for what?' Reaching 100, Leanne collapsed backwards on the floor, immediately feeling the strain on her stomach.

  Melissa sighed. 'Will you do it or not?'

  'Of course I'll do it; she's my daughter.' Leanne rolled her eyes. She got to her feet and took the baby from Melissa. 'But ready for what?'

  'We're having a visitor.'

  Leanne waited for her to expand on this, but when she didn't she said, 'Okay, who's coming?'

  'Someone I'd rather not see.'

  Leanne furrowed her eyebrows. Although virtually everyone on earth was someone Melissa would rather not see, something about her caginess didn't sit well with Leanne.

  'If you don't want them to come here then tell them not to come. You're Melissa Rowe – everyone listens to you.'

  Leanne expected a smug reaction from her, but she got none. Melissa simply looked at her wearily. 'Everyone... except her.'

  ***

  Leanne hadn't wanted to go to the diner, but Melissa had given her no choice. She practically put on Leanne's coat for her then shoved her out of the house with the stroller, telling her not to come back for at least two hours. So she took to the streets reluctantly, miserably; she didn't take kindly to being thrown out of her house.

  It normally wouldn't have bothered her, but since the incident with the tiger only a few weeks previously, things had been rather awkward around Verbena. Sure, it had calmed down, but Leanne still received stares and whispers from the citizens. The worst thing of all was the way men (the same men who had been checking her out for months, building up the courage to ask her out) treated her when she walked past them.

  That afternoon as she pushed her daughter along in her stroller, she observed the way the men cleared the sidewalk the minute they spotted her and the baby; they practically tripped over their own feet to cross over to the other side of the street!

  'I don't have the plague!' she found herself shouting, when she couldn't take it anymore. This only made Megan laugh.

  Being the mother of that kid who turned its toy into a real tiger made it impossible to attract male attention. No man alive wanted to take on that caliber of drama. This resulted in Leanne's dismay. She sulked for two weeks when she'd realized that no one had any intention of asking her to dinner ever again, afraid that doing so would anger her daughter. Melissa wasn't sympathetic, of course, and she made no secret of how unsympathetic she was.

  “I'm sure she'll come around... when she's a teenager and has her own love life to worry about.” Then she'd cackle, and Leanne would fight back the urge to throw something at her.

  “I don't know what you're laughing about; you'll be filling in!”

  That always wiped the smile off Melissa's face, and the thought always made Leanne shudder. If Melissa was the only person she was permitted to sleep with she'd rather go without.

  'I know what you're up to, young lady,' Leanne said to her daughter, just as they reached the diner. She parked the stroller up, bent down in front of it, giving Megan a stern look. 'I know you want a nice, big, happy family, with parents who love each other and don't argue all the time.'

  The gravity of the situation was seemingly lost on the baby, who started playing with her blonde mother's face, giggling to herself as she squeezed her nose and pulled at her mother's lips. Leanne tried to stay mad but she never could when it came to her children, and soon she was trying to bite the baby's fingers, causing her daughter to squeal excitedly at every attempt.

  'Hey, I'm trying to tell you off,' Leanne chuckled. 'You're not going to get what you want. Do you have any idea how difficult your mom is?'

  Leanne thought she saw the baby nod, but surmised it was all in her head.

  'Nothing would make me happier than to be with the mother of my children,' Leanne continued, more to herself than the baby, though she had a feeling her daughter understood every word. 'But that will never happen. Never.'

  The look Megan gave her mother that afternoon could only have meant one thing, which was: we'll see about that!

  ***

  From the moment Leanne stepped back into the house she could smell the magic in the air. Well, truthfully it was Melissa's pot roast, but in hindsight Leanne would swear there was a distinct smell of magic.

  'This is why you wanted me out of the house? So you could make my favorite meal?' she called from the hallway, as she unstrapped Megan from the stroller and lifted her out. 'Honey, you're too kind.'

  She wandered into the kitchen, and stopped. She stared at the woman sitting at the breakfast bar.

  'Erm, Melissa, did you age, like, 130 years while I was out?' she said to the woman, completely perplexed.

  'I suppose that's your idea of a joke?' Melissa said grumpily. The voice came from behind Leanne.

  She spun round to see Melissa then turned back to the woman on the bar stool; she looked just like Melissa, only older and, if such a thing were possible, meaner.

  'She really is as dim as you said she was,' the woman spoke, with a wicked sneer. 'Let's hope that doesn't rub off on your offspring.'

  Leanne shot her a deadly look. Melissa shot her a deadly look. Megan shot her a deadly look.

  'Leanne, meet my mother, Priscilla.'

  'You have a mother! She must be, like, a thousand.'

  Priscilla glared at Leanne. '425, if you must know.'

  The shock of discovering that Melissa Rowe had a mother who was still alive (and didn't have horns) hadn't fully sunk in for Leanne, when the older woman got to her feet and took Megan out of Leanne's reluctant grasp.

  'So, this is it?' Priscilla questioned, holding the baby out and scrutinizing her.

  'That's my daughter, yes,' Melissa said, through pursed lips.

  'Humph,' Priscilla snorted. 'I've seen cuter!'

  ***

  Leanne had already decided, within seconds of meeting Priscilla, that she despised the woman. Which was quite okay, seeing as Priscilla seemed to despise her, too. In fact, Priscilla seemed to despise ev
eryone, and certainly didn't care much for what she termed their “family predicament”. That was evident when they sat down to eat that evening.

  'And I suppose you're supportive of this... situation, Declan?' she said, stabbing at her meal, having not eaten a bite.

  'My name's Dillon,' said Dillon, almost habitually. He'd been correcting her all night and she had yet to get it right.

  'Well, I think it's an abomination! My daughter, cavorting with lowly females, sullying our family name. This won't end well.'

  'Oh, I don't know, it might. I've been working up the courage to ask her to be my wife,' said Leanne, hiding her smirk.

  Unaccustomed to the sarcastic Evans manner, Priscilla looked utterly horrified; Melissa, Dillon and even Megan knew Leanne spoke in jest.

  At that point Priscilla excused herself, so she could freshen up in the bathroom and escape the evil glares both Dillon and Megan had been shooting her.

  'I take it back, Melissa, you're not the cruelest person on the planet. Why the heck is she here?' Leanne asked, in a hushed voice, once the older woman had left the room.

  'Yeah, Mom, I don't like her,' Dillon contributed.

  'She'll be gone soon. She insisted on coming to visit her granddaughter.'

  'She has no idea what Megan can do, does she?' Leanne asked.

  'No, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want to give her any reason to prolong her visit.'

  ***

  After dinner they all moved into the drawing room, where Dillon treated them to a bit of Mozart, played relatively well. Priscilla thought he could have done better, and after a while her heckling caused him to make more mistakes than he was prone to.

  She also didn't care for Megan's gurgling, and told her off more than once for making a “ruckus” when she was trying to listen to the music. The baby cried briefly, before Leanne took her out of her walker and sat her on her knee.

  Leanne had, by then, had enough of Priscilla's bellyaching and the snide remarks she kept making about her children. Melissa could see Leanne getting agitated with every remark; she expected her to snap.

  'I must say, Miss Evans, your genes are very strong. Your son can't play a simple score, and your daughter... well–'

  Leanne's face contorted with anger. 'Look, lady, you say one more word about my children, one word at all, and I'll throw you out of this house so fast you'll think you teleported!'

  Priscilla's mouth, which had remained agape through Leanne's threatening speech, slammed shut. Dillon looked at Leanne with pride, but Melissa looked at her with something entirely different – something warm and affectionate. It was just a shame that no one else saw it.

  ***

  'How does that work, anyway? You said you weren't born with magical powers.'

  Leanne and Melissa had disappeared to the kitchen to make hot drinks for everyone. Leanne was making Megan's bottle.

  'I did the ritual when I was 35, then showed her how to do it,' Melissa explained. 'Biggest mistake of my life. No one that hateful should live forever.'

  'Do you think we should have left her alone with Megan?'

  'She may be an evil witch, but she wouldn't harm a child,' Melissa said adamantly.

  'It's not Priscilla I'm worried about...' Leanne said, with a wicked smile. 'Megan doesn't like that woman, and we know what happens to people she doesn't like.'

  'My mother still has her magic, even though she hasn't practiced in decades. I'm sure she can take care of herself.' Melissa fell silent as she watched Leanne prepare the bottle. 'The way you stood up to her tonight... I didn't think you had it in you.'

  'I learned from the best.' Leanne winked.

  'It was... admirable.'

  The bloodcurdling scream that came from the drawing room frustrated what could have been an intimate moment between the two women. When they rushed into the room the first thing they noticed was a pile of dark brown hair at their feet. As they peered up in unison, they saw Priscilla, hands on her head, rubbing the shiny, bald surface where there had once been hair. Not a trace of it remained.

  'She's evil!' Priscilla screamed, pointing an accusatory finger at the baby in her walker.

  Megan looked like butter wouldn't melt, yet her mothers knew she had caused this.

  'It's probably just a misunderstanding.' Leanne fought back the urge to laugh.

  'Does this look like a misunderstanding to you?' Priscilla spat, picking up her hair and holding it in the air. 'She's a witch!'

  'Sorceress, actually,' Leanne countered smugly.

  Priscilla stuffed the pile of hair into her purse, took one final look at the baby, called her the anti-Christ then stormed out of the house.

  'So much for keeping a lid on things,' said Melissa.

  'Why is she so angry? She can magic it back on, right?'

  Melissa grinned satisfactorily. 'That doesn't work with hair. She'll have to grow it back the natural way. Our daughter is a lot smarter than we thought. Somehow she already knew about the hair.'

  ***

  When Leanne's bedroom door opened later that night she knew it would be Melissa, and she knew why she'd come.

  'I'm gonna put a lock on my door,' Leanne said, though she threw the duvet back and slid over so Melissa could get in.

  'You don't have permission to deface my property.'

  With Leanne's assistance Melissa removed her nightgown.

  'Tell me, what will you do when I finally start dating again? Do you still think you can invite yourself into my bed like this?'

  Melissa pulled off Leanne's tank top, and cackled. 'When? Even “if” is a stretch for you! Nobody wants Melissa Rowe's sloppy seconds.'

  'Bitch!' Leanne said, as she planted kisses along Melissa's neck.

  'Tramp!' said a breathless Melissa, holding the back of Leanne's head as the kisses landed. Insulting one another was like four-play to them.

  'At least now I know what you'll look like if you ever get older. You know, for an old woman your mom's pretty hot...'

  Needless to say, Leanne Evans went without that night.

  A Step in the Wrong Direction

  'We need to talk. There's something important we have to discuss,' Leanne said. In her hand she held a suspicious white envelope that she'd been avoiding looking at.

  Melissa tutted. 'Why do you always need to talk when I have a board meeting?'

  'Why do you always call your board meetings when I need to talk?'

  Melissa didn't respond.

  'So who'll be at this one?' Leanne continued.

  Leanne sat perched on the edge of the bathtub in Melissa's en-suite, watching the beautiful woman applying her make-up. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Leanne not to sneak a cheeky peek at her butt as she bent over to pucker up her lips. The black dress was new, but the sight she knew all too well. It was the sight that had gotten her in trouble nineteen months previously. It was the sight that had led to their daughter's conception...

  'No one you know,' came Melissa's reply. She could see Leanne's reflection in the mirror and she'd succeeded in aggravating her.

  'Is that lawyer guy gonna be there?'

  'Perhaps. He seems to enjoy my meetings.'

  'It's not your meetings he wants to enjoy...' Leanne mumbled to herself, looking more miserable than she had any right to look. The fact that she was miserable only irked her more.

  The thought of the attorney turned her stomach. Although Melissa had been smart enough not to bring him around their daughter, Leanne was fully aware that he'd been hanging around, talking to Melissa more than was necessary, having secret rendezvouses with her around town. How she wished Megan had somehow become privy to this information and put a stop to it.

  'Not everyone has their mind in the gutter like you do,' Melissa said, combing her fingers through her hair.

  Leanne folded her arms. 'I have no idea what you're talking about.'

  'Oh, really? Is that why you haven't taken your eyes off my rear since you stepped into the room?'

/>   Leanne's mouth opened then snapped shut again. Her cheeks turned crimson. 'You're practically shoving it in my face! I don't know where else to look.' Leanne was so close to adding that it was huge, but luckily Dillon walked into the room with Megan, saving Leanne from the tirade of abuse she would have undoubtedly received for daring to tell a woman that her butt was big.

  'She's going to walk soon, I just know it,' Dillon enthused.

  Megan gave an excited squeal as if in agreement. Now in her tenth month, she'd decided that crawling had lost its appeal; she'd found that no one was taking her seriously anymore. Besides, crawling was so last month. The only remedy for that was to learn to walk. Standing up had been a breeze with the help of her big brother, who enjoyed teaching her new things.

  Melissa glanced at her watch. 'I have to go.' She kissed Megan and Dillon on the cheek. 'If I'm not back by then, bed by nine, young man. Leanne–'

  'Yes, seven for the baby sorceress. I know,' Leanne said impatiently. 'Don't I get a goodbye kiss?' she teased.

  Melissa shot her a fierce, unamused look before leaving.

  Leanne turned to the baby. 'Did you hear what your mommy said? Bed by seven. You're not going to give any trouble, are you?'

  She should have known that her daughter, much like her brunette mother, couldn't go a day without causing trouble.

  ***

  Baby-sorceress-sitting should have come with its own manual. It would have been helpful to know that magic babies decided when they wanted to sleep, if they wanted to sleep. Leanne had given her a bottle of milk and put her to bed for the night, thinking she and Dillon could get some peace and quiet while they watched one of their favorite TV shows. But each time she switched off the bedroom light and left the room, the light would flick back on miraculously, and the music box (which had been a gift from Janice) would play on repeat, loudly, so that Leanne would hear it clearly in every room in the house.