A Special Child

A Special Child Part 1

A/N: I own nothing. As always, please drop a review to let me know what you liked or didn't like.

     "Momma, why am I so special?" Daniel Kiernan asked his mother as she walked him home from school. "What do you mean, Daniel?" The blond-haired, blue-eyed boy fiddled with the strap of his backpack, "Well, my friend Jack's grandpa is a priest and he told Jack that I'm a really special boy because of my birthmark." This was it. The moment Frankie had been dreading for six years. She took a deep breath as the memories flooded her mind.

     Frankie's mind was drawn back to the day Daniel was born. Sunday, April 8, 2007. Easter Sunday to be exact. Andrew and Frankie were in her hospital room staring in amazement at their newborn son. Frankie could have sat forever and run her hand over the fine blond hair that covered his little head. They were doing the things that first-time parents do, like count to make sure he had all of his fingers and toes and sit in silence and watch him sleep for hours.

     Andrew had gone to the restroom, and Frankie was counting the baby's fingers and toes for what seemed like the hundredth time that day when the hospital priest walked into her hospital room unannounced. He pointed at Frankie and Daniel, "Your child bears a mark on his right side, the mark of Christ. He will grow up to do great things." He yelled at Frankie. She was thrown off by the intrusion because the priest looked to be put together. Not a hair on his head was out of place and his collar was as neat and clean as it was supposed to be.

     Andrew hurried out of the restroom as soon as he heard the commotion. He grabbed the priest by the lapels of his jacket, "Hey! What are you doing here?! Is this some kind of sick joke?" The priest gave Andrew a menacing smile that sent shivers down his spine, "I was sent by God to tell you that your child is special. He bears the mark of Christ on his right side. He will have the power to heal, just as Christ did." The priest then turned his attention back to Frankie and Daniel, "The stigmata has left you touched. The holy spirit lives in the boy. He should be protected."

     Just like that, the priest was gone and the parents of the little boy could release a sigh of relief. "Yeah, he should be protected from freaks like that" Frankie said as she pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. "Frankie, are you and Daniel okay? Did he touch either of you?" Andrew asked with a look of concern on his face. "No, no he just burst in and started yelling," Frankie said as she laid the baby down on the bed between her outstretched legs and unwrapped him from the blanket the hospital had provided. "Oh, my God, Andrew that weird priest guy was right! Look, he has a birthmark on his right side." She said as she touched the mark the priest had referred to.

     "Okay, okay. Let's calm down and think about this." Andrew said while looking out the hospital room window. "Andrew, what is there to think about. This guy walked into my hospital room and told us that our son has the power to heal and that he has the mark of Christ on his right side, which he does! It doesn't seem like there's too much to talk about here." It was at this moment that Andrew switched from dad mode to scientist mode, " I'm not going to look too much into what that guy said." Andrew walked over to Frankie, who was sitting on the hospital bed holding that baby a little tighter, "Listen, he's a priest, which means he has free reign over the hospital. He could have seen Daniel in the nursery and seen his birthmark."

     Andrew sat on the edge of Frankie's bed and leaned over to cup her cheek. Just like she had in her kitchen when she was possessed by the demon, she turned her head and kissed the palm of his hand. "I will call security, though. A priest or not, he shouldn't be barging into someone's hospital room and yelling at them." Frankie listened as Andrew spoke to the head of security for the hospital. She thought to herself that whether or not her son had healing powers because of the Stigmata or not, he truly was a special child, the child that she thought she would never have.

     After the family was released from the hospital, Andrew sat down and made phone calls to some of his contacts at the Vatican. Even though he had been excommunicated, there were still some priests and Cardinals that thought he did the right thing by blowing the whistle on Cardinal Houseman. The message he got from his contacts was consistent across the board, the priest was working at the hospital because he has said a lot of strange things when he had his own parish. He was making prophecies that he no proof that they were true. As a result, the powers that be at his Diocese decided that it would be better if he worked at the hospital.

     Andrew also learned that there is no way that the boy would have healing powers because his mother was afflicted with the Stigmata. That just isn't something that happens after someone is afflicted with the Stigmata. As far as the birthmark goes, It's likely that just as Andrew said, the priest saw Daniel in the nursery and spotted the birthmark. Someone could have easily told him who the child's parents were and then it would have been easy to find the hospital room.

     Finally, when Daniel was six weeks old, Andrew had gotten in the final reports from his contacts in the Vatican. He could breathe a sigh of relief. The priest from the hospital was removed from his post and sent to Rome so he could be watched closely by church officials. Of course, the word did get around that the former priest and the Stigmatic had a child with healing powers. Many people knew that the hospital priest was crazy and just ignored him, but there were others that believed what he said. Frankie and Andrew always hoped that the story would never get back to Daniel.