Bardic Magic - Owl House - Bard OC

2. Growing Up

"I'm sorry, Josefin..." Eda put the swaddled baby on the doorstep and kissed their forehead. "You're safer this way." She knocked on the door and hid in the bush to ensure her sister safely got the bundle of joy.

Lilith opened the door and looked around. She looked down when she heard Josepfin coo. "A baby?" She picked the little one up and looked around again. This time she heard a sniffle and spotted the graying red hair in her bush. "Edalyn?"

Eda didn't move from the bush as she said, "Don't make this harder on me Lily. I can't take care of Josefin. The curse is too strong. I need you to care for them."

Lilith held the child in her arms. "Eda, what are you-"

"Goodbye," Eda suddenly shot out of the bush on her staff.

Lilith stared as Eda left her sight, her mouth hanging open in surprise. She looked down at the baby with a smile. "Josefin, was it?"

The child laughed. They had bright blue eyes and startling red hair. Their ear had a cut that was carefully bandaged with hopes that it wouldn't scar.

Josefin's face squished before they started crying, a strong smell emitting from the diaper.

Lilith frowned. "Oh the joys of motherhood."

~~~

A knock came at the door. Lilith set Josefin on the floor and hurried to get it.

At the door was Hettie Cutburn, the Head of the healing coven. "This had better be important," she said. "I have other patients to see today."

"I know your schedule is tight. I just want to to give a child a check up."

Hettie stopped. "You've got a kid?"

"Yes, hes about two months old." Lilith picked up Josefin. "His name is Josefin. I want him checked over for magical ailments as well."

"Congrats, I guess," Hettie said taking the baby. "Never knew you were pregnant."

"Just look him over," Lilith urged, not wanting to answer questions.

~~~

"The only oddity here is that Josefin here is intersex," Hettie Cutburn said, passing the sleeping baby to Lilith.

"Really?" Lilith asked. "No curses or hexes?"

"Nope. Perfectly healthy and doing well. Did you have suspicion of a curse?"

"Just a precaution. My sister is cursed and I was worried it may be a family curse."

"If you're unaffected," Hettie said, "then your children won't be either. The cut on their ear is healing nicely. Scaring should be minimal."

"Thank you, Hettie."

~~~

Josefin held their ball as they waddled towards Lilith when a voice called to her over the fence of the back yard.

Lilith turned for a moment and in the two seconds she was greeting the guest, Josefin fell in the grass. In true toddler fashion they got up quietly and threw the ball down so it bounced away with intentions of chasing after the toy.

It was at that moment that Josefin realized their face hurt. Josefin took a deep breath and the three year old dropped to a sitting position, letting out a wailing scream.

Lilith ran to the child as she spotted the blood from the cut on Josefin's nose. "Raine, call someone from the healing coven!"

A healing witch soon arrived and easily straightened out Josefin's nose with a spell. The child was left with a light colored scar spanning their nose but no real harm was done. The face always looks worse than it is in terms of blood.