Talisman 01 - The Emerald Talisman

guess meant he’d be doing dishes for a week.
    Josephine, my aunt and somewhat adoptive mom, had invited me to be a part of the birth and initially I had agreed until I found out she was going to give birth in the hospital without drugs. There was no way, with that much pain, I’d be able to compose myself and not let everyone in the room know my talent—the secret ability I’d acquired at age five, right after my mother’s mysterious disappearance. Though I didn’t actually feel the pain itself, it seemed real enough to overwhelm me. Pain, of all the emotions, was very distracting. Later, after watching a documentary of a real birth in Health Class, I had to gently tell Jo I didn’t think I could handle it. She was disappointed, but understood.
    I figured, if I ever had kids of my own in the future, I’d definitely get drugs just in case someone in the room next to me decided to go without like Jo did. I wanted to avoid that kind of pain at all costs. But with a half-vampire as a boyfriend, even if we did get married someday, I didn’t know if having children would be a possibility.
    “Jo did so well . . . without any drugs . . . her nurse kept saying she was a natural at it,” John said breathlessly, as he padded down the hallway in his slippered feet.
    Part of me was glad to hear everything went well, but another was annoyed he kept telling the details—her story. I just wanted him to lead us and keep his mouth shut.
    We arrived at her door and walked in. Jo looked slightly tired but gushed a beautiful sea of love while holding a little pink bundle in her arms. Her eyes were glistening as she invited us to come in.
    I got to Jo’s side first, wringing my hands awkwardly, unsure if she’d let me hold Emma. Without a word, Jo passed me the baby. I smiled down at my new cousin.
    Emma’s peace surrounded me instantly while she slept, taking me to a utopia I’d craved all night sitting in the waiting room. Faintly, in the background, I heard Jo fill her sister-in-law, Erin and Dad in on what happened. Luke stood by John, slightly grossed out at the details.
    A little tuft of black hair stuck out from under Emma’s hat, framing a wrinkled forehead. Tiny lashes rimmed closed eyes, rosy cheeks surrounded a button nose and little puckered lips,—she looked like a cherub. I remembered back to the first time I’d felt Emma’s emotions. Sometime during Jo’s second trimester, Emma’s contentedness began to compete with Jo’s general motherly woes. Emma loved her sanctuary within the protection of Jo’s womb. Only yesterday did I sense something new—a growing disquiet. I wasn’t surprised to hear after I left, Jo’s water had broken.
    “Five more minutes,” a heavy-set brunette nurse called through the open doorway. “Then you’ll all have to leave.”
    Erin’s agitation increased and I sighed, gently passing Emma to her. She’d been anxiously awaiting her turn. Without Emma’s sweet aura to hide within, I suddenly wanted to go. Hospitals drained me.
    As if sensing my discomfort, Jo’s hand caught mine and she pulled me into a hug. The embrace comforted my spirit.
    “How are you?” she asked quietly.
    “Me?” I laughed while shaking my head. “Uh, you just gave birth. How are you?”
    Jo squeezed my hand a little tighter. “If only I could share how wonderful I feel.”
    I glanced away and grinned. I already knew.
    “But I want you to remember, while Emma is my real child, she’s not going to replace you or your brother. I still consider you both my children too, you know.”
    “I know,” I whispered, leaning into her shoulder.
    She’d become our mother when Dad moved us from L.A. to Scotts Valley after our real Mom disappeared, shortly before my sixth birthday. But, unbeknownst to any of us at the time, she hadn’t disappeared; she was murdered. I’d just learned the truth a few months ago, when Nicholas saved me a second time from an unseen stalker—a vampire. The first time, I was lucky while my mother was not. Nicholas, too late to help her, prevented the bloodsucking vampire from taking my life as well. In his guilt, he vowed to secretly protect me always.
    But with my second encounter, Nicholas was no longer able to keep his presence or his identity a secret after I learned the truth. We’d been dating ever since.
    Jo kissed the top of my head. Her loving tenderness covered a multitude of longing and sadness for my mother.
    “So proud of you, Jo,” Dad called across