Shadows of Deception

A Falling Star

He watched her standing at the window, the moonlight behind her catching her silhouette, her long hair which was thick and glossy in the late stages of pregnancy, the glow of her pale skin and the bump that stood out in front of her. From behind nobody would have known she was pregnant, nobody would have suspected. But he knew and he cherished her condition, held it close to his heart knowing that when the child came their family would be complete. Sebastian had been an only child and he craved a large family. He had rejoiced when the first pregnancy led to the birth of twins, a boy and a girl who he adored and now two years later his wife would soon give birth to a third child. Of course the twins had caused some issues as Isla had developed pre-eclampsia but she had come through that, she had recovered and the twins thrived. Though the medical advice had been for her to take total bed rest, Isla was a restless spirit who hated to be confined indoors. She was part Fae, he was convinced of it, with her craving for the outdoors and especially to have her hands in the soil, nurturing the beautiful plants she raised into stunning gardens. Successful, beautiful, perfect and his. When Sebastian discovered her, Isla had been building her own gardening business in England. She had been working for his parents, every Wednesday afternoon. His visits to them began to coincide with the days Isla was there and gradually he found himself falling in love with the young woman who would shyly tuck her hair behind her ear and listen rapt to everything he said.

Sebastian was building his own business, which he had inherited from his father at the time; a talent agency which supported television actors. He was in talks with a wrestling promoter in Canada to help him build his promotion and it was going well; so well in fact that he had plans to move out to Calgary. Somehow he had persuaded the young woman now carrying his third child to not only sign a contract with him as he found her employment as a TV star with her own gardening show, but also to marry him. Isla was a golden ticket for any man; beautiful, kind and talented and once they had established homes in Canada and in the UK, they went between the two as she was filmed developing two very different gardens for her show, The Continental Gardener, which had success across the UK, Canada and the USA. There were tentative plans to expand into a garden in the USA to build on the program's success there but for now she was taking something of a break to focus on her pregnancy.

Taking a sip of the whiskey beside him, Sebastian smiled indulgently as she turned to face him, her face catching the light suddenly so that he saw how pale she was, saw the dark, bruise like shadows under her eyes. Perhaps he should have insisted she stopped working, but it seemed cruel to deprive her of something she loved and the garden had been at a crucial stage. There was only one small plot left which she hadn't yet designed. He saw her walking there sometimes alone, talking to her bump, her hand on her ever growing stomach. She talked about the plants she would like to grow there, gave them their Latin names and gave descriptions of which plants fared best in light and in shade. Sometimes she would describe elaborate fountains or ponds or even seating areas, but then she would laugh softly and say only the plants mattered.

Isla's face suddenly creased with pain and she took a deep breath, rubbing her head. This pregnancy somehow felt different to her first one. She felt an absolute connection to this child that she carried, as if they were bonded by more than a cord, as if their very spirits, their souls were fused. She had no doubt that she would have a closeness to this child like no other, that she would follow in her mother's footsteps. Isla adored her twins but Jasmine was afraid to get messy and Rowan preferred to kick his ball around and play than look at the plants. Of course they were only two and that could change but somehow she had a sense that the child she carried would be the one that would inherit her love of being outdoors, hands in the soil.  She had named her twins for plants, for the garden she so loved but this child would be different she thought. Looking to the sky she saw a bright shining star hanging low in the sky and it seemed to sparkle just for her. With a smile on her lips she murmured, "Ishtar."