“Yes, dear?” Peep replied
They were walking together, following a little stream back to The Mother’s Club. As they travelled, Bounce kept jumping from one side to the other, skipping along the rocks but for a moment she had finally settled, her shoulder bumping against the Legendaries’ smaller shoulder.
“What sort of blessing should I ask for?”
It seemed the right kind of question to ask, now that she knew she was pregnant. And Peep, having blessed many more before her, would surely know what the best option was.
“Well,” Peep answered, “that’s up to you.” She smiled kindly. “There’s no wrong answer. And anything we ask of the MotherFather is no guarantee.”
Bounce blew out a breath.
“Yeah but, isn’t there a best option? Didn’t you get a blessing for yourself before... y’know?” Before she’d become a Legendary and didn’t need it anymore.
“Yes, I had many and I asked for many things, I was lucky in that the most important to me came true. Their health and happiness. Anything else was just a bonus.”
Bounce’s ears flicked back with mild disappointment. “Isn’t that just the usual?”
After having watched Peep at work and having heard many tales from pregnant mothers and expecting fathers, she was pretty sure that was part of the basic blessing package.
You got that whether you wanted it or not.
“I was kinda hoping for something more exciting,” she grumbled.
Peep gave a huff of amusement. “Then ask for something more exciting. Nobody really knows how it works. But the MotherFather’s gaze will shift to you for just a moment and your children may find their lives just that little bit easier.”
“Sooo, what if I asked for them to be able to jump REALLY high? Like right up to the sky! And then bounce on the clouds and do a spin and fly into the sun?”
“You can certainly ask,” Peep chuckled. “It does sound fun.”
It did sound fun.
With Peep’s touch against her side as her guide, she looked away from the path to crane her head upwards at the sky. Beyond the mangrove branches, the world above was bright and blue, so very inviting. Like a pool you wanted to leap into.
There was no way such a gift would be given.
To soar so high, to bounce and leap far above the earth.
Not without a new body to sprout wings.
It was so silly.
At the very least, such a ridiculous (and yes, she knew it was ridiculous) ask would lead to a voracious clutch of go-getters and dreamers, which suited Bounce quite well. And maybe if the MotherFather was feeling very, very generous, they’d be able to touch the sky one day.
She looked back down to earth, as the stream trickled and the birds in the branches above twittered merrily.
She felt her young as a gentle weight in her belly, still growing, still taking shape.
So much potential.
“It can’t hurt to try, right?” She asked.
“No,” Peep agreed softly, warmly. “It can’t hurt to try.”