Mateo’s attention deviated from himself to Maria and his baby when he and the others met up with Ms. Julie and Ms. Brook in Paperblank Village. Ranger Krysta was also there, as well as Evergreen, the witch doctor, and an ambulance. The vehicle’s lights flashed, temporarily blinding Mateo.
He slid off Joey’s back, huffing and puffing. He attempted to hide both his physical and mental pain. Euphorbia had not woken up yet.
Ms. Brook hurried to her son. She tossed herself into his chest. “Mateo Waeo!” She patted his cheeks. “Oh, baby, you look horrible.”
Mateo scoffed. “Gee, gracias.”
“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.” Ms. Brook blushed.
Mateo waved his hand. “Just forget it.”
Two paramedics climbed out of the ambulance. They rolled a gurney to the young man. They tried to sit him down, but Mateo pushed them off. He returned to Maria. “I’m more worried about Maria than me.”
“Babe,” she said, but Mateo held his index finger up to her lips.
He rested his hand on her belly and begged the medics, “Please, she’s pregnant. She had a rough fall during the battle. I want to make sure she and the baby are all right.”
Ms. Brook started to take him away from his fiancée, but Mateo refused.
Sam handed Evergreen Euphorbia. “Take care of her, like you did me,” he said.
Evie, John, Ben, and Ms. Brook followed Mateo to the hospital. While one half of it was medieval-like, the other was modern-styled. The waiting room in that part of the building looked like any other waiting room at a doctor’s office: a line of chairs with some tables that had magazines on them.
Mateo nervously paced back and forth in front of his family and friends. He almost knocked down the table between them multiple times. He obsessively rubbed his hands together and sweated.
Before long, the waiting room’s door opened. Maria and a young, modern doctor stepped out of it. The doctor wasn’t as tall as Mateo, but he had a very doctor-like appearance to him. He even wore the white coat and a stethoscope.
Mateo quickly came within reach of Maria. “Dr. Kato, is she all right?” he asked.
Dr. Kato ran his fingers through his short brown hair and smiled. “Oh, she’s fine. We did an ultrasound, and I have to say, your child is one of the healthiest babies I’ve ever seen. Take a look.” He pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket–the printed results of the ultrasound.
Mateo’s deep brown eyes observed the tiny child growing in Maria’s belly. Its legs and arms were almost fully formed.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Mateo cracked a small smile. “Aw! She’s beautiful.”
Evie, her friends, and Ms. Brook chuckled.
Mateo kneeled to Maria. He placed his ear on her belly. “I can almost hear her heart beating.” He put his arms around Maria’s waist.
Ms. Brook lost her smile. She took a deep breath and approached him. She patted Mateo’s back. “Sweet cakes, now that you know Maria is all right and that your baby is healthy, let Dr. Kato look at you.”
Mateo still refused. He tightened his grip on Maria. “No, Mamá. I’m not going to leave Isabella. Come on, Maria.” Standing up, he took her hands and escorted her out of the building.
Back in the waiting room, Dr. Kato crossed his arms. He glanced at Ms. Brook. “I see what you mean.”
She gulped. “Sir, how can I convince him to let you check him out? I’m worried for him.”
Dr. Kato turned on a thinking face. He tapped his chin. “Hm. Don’t worry, ma’am. We’ll come up with something.”
In the meantime, Evie and her friends exchanged looks with one another.
***
The sun was setting. Paperblank Village–that evening especially–was breathtaking. The sky turned a deep orange. It had suddenly become Fanta.
Mateo took Maria to Paperblank’s baby store, Pixie Square. It was a smaller building that was near the edge of the village.
Confused, Maria asked, “What are we doing here?” as she and Mateo entered the store.
Mateo grabbed a buggy from a cluster of carts at its front. “Well,” he said, still smiling, “I just thought we could celebrate a little bit, after seeing the baby and all.” He hated hiding his stress behind a fake smile, but he did not want to worry Maria.
She took a deep breath, shivering slightly. She remembered Mateo’s note. “All right, but only a few things. You need to rest.”
Mateo, though, went all out. He scurried up and down the store’s wooden aisles and grabbed everything that caught his eye: clothes, onesies, toys, blankets, and even baby shower invitations.
Maria tried to stop him, “Mateo,” but he did not listen to her.
He tossed a folded-up, gray stroller in the buggy and handed Maria a handful of envelopes and invitations. Rubbing sweat from his forehead, he tried to maintain a steady breathing pace. “Don’t forget to invite Mamá, my friends at the Union, your family, and maybe even Evie to the shower.”
“Babe.” Maria was really scared now.
Mateo pushed past her. He next approached a group of wooden cribs in the corner of the store, which were just behind the clothes aisle. He kneeled at each crib so he could study their wood types and designs. Some bars were taller than others, while others had flower-like patterns on them.
Mateo stood up. He stopped one of Pixie Square’s workers–a young woman–and gestured at the cribs. “Señorita, do you know which one of these cribs is easiest to build?”
Maria grabbed his arm before the woman could speak. “Mateo, stop. I’m sorry, ma’am.” She lugged her fiancé over to their buggy.
He leaned up against it.
Maria stared into his eyes. “Don’t do this. Please.”
Mateo shuffled uncomfortably. “What are you talking about?” His eyelids drooped a little.
Maria shut down. She thought for a minute and then said, “I’m only eight weeks. We don’t need all this stuff right now. Also, you obviously do not feel well.”
Mateo’s stress accelerated, but he tried his best to stay calm. “Can we at least get a onesie and blanket?” He pulled out two onesies from the cart. One was blue, and the other was pink. Each one had First Baby stitched on them.
Maria took the onesies from him. “Baby, we don’t even know the gender yet.”
Mateo shrugged. “So? We can get both of them. Whichever gender the baby doesn’t end up being, we can give the extra onesie to one of our friends.”
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
“Okay, fine, but only because you want them so much.” Maria returned the onesies to Mateo. “We will get both onesies and a blanket, but that’s it. We’ll save the rest of this stuff for later.” She unpacked the full cart, starting with the stroller.
Mateo felt a lump in his throat. “Maria, I’ve got to get it all now.”
“Why?” Maria did not like where this was going.
“I just need to,” Mateo whimpered.
She shook her head in disagreement. “No, you don’t. What you need is a good night’s rest.”
“But, Maria.”
She glared slightly. “Mateo, this conversation is over.”
Mateo could no longer handle the emotional strain. His head cried in agony, and he reached for it.
The storekeeper came within reach of the young couple. “Is he okay?” she asked Maria.
“His mental health is not the best right now,” Maria admitted. “I’m getting him home right now, ma’am.”
Mateo gave in to his stress and pain. Demons scratched at his heart and injured intestines. He could not fight them off. He was too weak. Yelling, he turned his and Maria’s whole buggy over. It smashed into the tile floor, spilling the baby stuff everywhere. He no longer saw Maria and the storekeeper’s faces. They had been replaced by faces of zombie-like monsters with gaping mouths.
Scared, Maria and the storekeeper backed away from the young man.
He sprinted around the store and knocked things off shelves. He chucked a whole stroller into the wall.
“Mateo, stop!” Maria screamed.
Customers hurried away from him. Men ended up helping their wives, who were much further along than Maria. Most of them had their baby bumps.
The storekeeper freed her phone from her pocket. She hid behind the group of cribs and slapped it to her ear. “Get the rangers here. And the king.”
Maria ducked behind one of the aisles. Her shaky hands pulled out her own phone. She quickly called Ms. Brook. “Ms. Brook, I need you. Mateo and I are at Pixie Square. He’s having a mental breakdown.”
Mateo clenched his tan fist. He punched the store’s wall seven times in a row, still failing to fight off his demons. His knuckles bled from the impact. He almost smashed his head into the wall, but he stopped himself because he remembered the two onesies he held in his hand.
The young man collapsed to his knees. He put his left shoulder on the wall and ran his thumb across each onesie.
Maria, still nervous, picked up a stroller. She used it as a shield. She held it in front of her and slowly approached Mateo. “Ma-Mateo?”
“Stay back! I’m a monster!” he shouted. Like what happened at Seranet’s hospital, he turned to nature for assistance. Vines burst out of the tile floor. They wrapped around Maria’s legs and chest, lifting her into the sky. Mateo spared her belly.
Ranger Krysta, Ms. Julie, Ms. Brook, King Benjamin, and a few more rangers soon entered the store.
Ms. Book saw Maria dangling off the ground. “Maria!” she said.
She glanced at her. “I’m fine, Ms. Brook. I don’t mind hanging here. Just get Mateo calm.”
Ms. Brook nodded. “I’ve got this.”
Ben gestured for the rangers to wait. Mom calmed Mateo down once; there was no doubt she couldn’t do it again.
Her strategy was something that worked on Mateo during childhood, whenever he had trouble sleeping. She called it “Three Boops on the Nose”. She carefully came within reach of him and kneeled.
“I’m here, Mateo,” Ms. Brook sweetly told him.
At first, Ms. Brook herself had a zombie-like face. Gradually, it faded, revealing her soft skin. Ms. Brook laid Mateo’s head on her chest. She tapped his nose once. Mateo’s vines released Maria. They returned her to the surface.
***
Memories of his childhood played in the ranger’s head–the days before he met Maria. It all started when he was three years old. Ms. Brook took him to the park to play.
Three-year-old Mateo jogged around the circular playset. He tried to make friends, but every child held their noses up to him. They were not interested in the weird kid who could strangely conjure plants when he wasn’t thinking too hard. Mateo went to the sandbox to practice his gift, instead.
Without warning, a little boy shoved him out of it.
Mateo fell onto his back, with his tiny arms outstretched. “Mommy!” he screamed.
Within seconds, Ms. Brook was at his side. She picked up her crying child and rocked him in her arms.
The boy who kicked him out of the sandbox blew him a raspberry.
***
Ms. Brook tapped older Mateo’s nose for a second time. At her command, his eyelids drooped again. The demons left his head, allowing him to relax a little more.
Maria finally had the chance to join him and his mom. She kissed Mateo’s cheek.
***
The next memory that unfolded was when Mateo was four years old. Another little boy stole his stuffed animal at lunch–a dragon. It was Mateo’s first toy. His mother gave it to him the day he was born, so it was very special to him.
Mateo tried to grab the dragon back. He dug his toes into the green grass that extended outward from the picnic table where he had been eating.
The boy who stole his toy ripped it to shreds. He first pulled off the dragon’s red wings. His little hands yanked apart its black stitches, opening up the toy’s back. He scooped out all of the cotton and tossed it into Mateo’s tan face.
Little Mateo attacked him with magic. He broke the perpetrator’s arm because he accidentally unleashed a powerful vine that smashed the child’s humerus. Mateo was banned from that preschool. They never wanted to see him again.
***
Ms. Brook’s final boop on the nose helped older Mateo fall asleep. He was completely calm again. The two onesies were still in his hand. He held them close to his chest.
Ben, the rangers, and the storekeeper started to move in on the family.
Ms. Brook sighed. Three Boops on the Nose always worked, no matter how old her child was.
Ben nodded to her and Maria. “Let’s get him to his cabin,” he gently told them.
***
The final sets of memories were the good ones–the ones with Maria. Mateo recalled when he met her. It was the first day of K-5. The playground for recess was full of children, most of whom were already friends. Mateo was one of the only two children who did not have a friend.
He sat on a bench, under the shady branches of a tree at the end of the playground, and kicked his legs out a few times. The sun’s rays shone down from the heavens above. Mateo’s eyes followed them.
The rays landed on a single tree directly in front of him. Sitting up against it was a little, black-haired girl. Her curly hair flapped in the summer breeze. She wore a cute sundress with some flats.
Mateo noticed she was crying. He got up from his bench. With a smile on his face, he approached the girl. That was when he noticed she had scraped her knee. A few drops of blood dripped down her leg. She frightfully looked at the little boy.
Mateo offered her his hand.
Still nervous, she examined it.
“Let me help you,” he said.
The girl rubbed tears from her cheeks. She took his hand, and he helped her up. Stumbling, she fell into his chest.
The girl and boy met eyes. At the same time, they blushed.
“What’s your name?” Mateo asked.
“Ma-Maria,” the girl replied.
It was a beautiful and magical day for both children. Maria was Mateo’s first friend, and Mateo was Maria’s first friend. They spent their whole childhood together. They were meant for each other.
***
Now, sixteen years later, Maria and Mateo still loved each other. Even though Mateo’s mental health was suffering, Maria knew she would get him through this difficult phase of his life.
Ben dragged him to his feet. He put his arm around his shoulders. “We’re sorry,” he said to the storekeeper.
Maria smiled sheepishly. She again grabbed the onesies from Mateo. “Um, ca-can we still buy these onesies and a blanket?”
Ms. Brook nodded. “They will help my baby boy recover.”
Ben chimed in. “After we get him off to bed, we’ll come back and help clean up. It’s the least we can do to make up for this.”
The storekeeper rubbed her face down, but she looked friendly. “It’s okay,” she admitted. “Just take care of him. I hope he gets better soon.”
***
Evie and Sam visited Euphorbia in the medieval part of Paperblank’s hospital. They met up with Evergreen out back on her ledge, where she told Evie and Mateo they were cousins.
The Green Guardian rested on Evergreen’s mat, with a leaf blanket over her.
Sam and Evie kneeled to her.
“How is she?” Evie asked Evergreen. She set Euphorbia’s pebble down next to her.
Evergreen joined the children, carrying a tray of tea and cookies. The witch doctor set them down on a small table next to her mat. She waved the skull of her staff over Euphorbia. Sparkles engulfed the fairy and her pebble. Evergreen’s magic cleansed the poison within the stone. Sam and Evie watched intrigued as the blue-green smoke wafted into the skull’s mouth.
“Euphorbia is just old,” Evergreen explained. “She’s been the Green Guardian for 1,000 years.”
“She certainly doesn’t look 1,000 years old,” Evie admitted. She tapped Euphorbia’s silky wings, which were outside her blanket.
“Have she and the basilisk always been friends?” Sam asked Evergreen.
She nodded. “Oh yes, my boy. In fact, they weren’t always magical beings. A long time ago, they were humans like you, Evie, and I.”
“Oh wow, really?” Evie’s blue eyes sparkled. “How did they become magical beings?”
Evergreen handed each child a cup of tea. All three humans sat in a circle around Euphorbia.
Evie made sure not to tip the white, decorated cup. She grasped it with both hands.
Evergreen cleared her throat. She set her staff down so she could handle her own cup of tea. The witch doctor crossed her legs. Her attention switched constantly from Sam and Evie, and her cheeks jiggled a little as she excitedly bounced up and down. “I’ve been waiting for the day to tell you, children. Get comfortable because it’s a long story.”
Evie and Sam did. They blew on their cups of tea and brought them to their lips. Each child relaxed their shoulders.
Evergreen drummed her fingers on her mat. She nodded not only to herself but also to Evie and Sam. “1,000 years ago, when Pinta Country was still young, Euphorbia and the basilisk were lovers.”