"I hadn't thought it was possible to feel so unraveled. Until that moment came, I was perfectly ready to walk down that aisle, to become the Dark Princess, Phoenix's wife for all time. But when I realized that I was already the Dark Princess, Cove's wife, I knew that I could never go through with it. I couldn't go through with anything, and so I found myself running away, yet again, to the mortal realm. A last ditch effort to try and forget the truth of who I am and where I came from."

I told her that the moment I remembered, and I saw my black faery wings, the realization that I, too, was a faery, all came hurling itself back at me. That I had to escape to the mortal world. I knew I couldn't go through with marrying Phoenix when I knew I was already married to Cove.

"How could I, Anna? How could I do that too him or, them? Either of them? I couldn't. I just couldn't." I hung my head, heavy with shame.

"How long have you been having nightmares?" she asked.

"Every night. Well, except for last night. But I think that's just because I was so tired and upset already." I reasoned, but still, it did strike me as odd. There were plenty of times that I felt tired planning the wedding and still the nightmares came.

"How long?" she repeated, stressing her words.

"Since the night Phoenix proposed, a few months ago." I shrugged. I didn't know why it mattered how long I had been having the nightmares.

She eyed me closely, inching towards my face. "Did you have sex with Phoenix that night in his faery form?"

"Isn't he always in his faery form?" I asked, deflecting the question.

"Could you see his wings?" She practically yelled at me.

The infliction in her voice made me jump. "Yes." I blurted out and then blushed heavily.

Remembering that night, the first night Phoenix and I made love, a deep crimson blush had set in, and I wrapped my hands over my stomach relishing the warm tingle residing there.

"Coral," Anna's voice was soothing now. I looked at her, there was a small smile formed on her lips but her eyes looked worried.

"Honey, you aren't just sick about what happened." She moved her hand lightly pressing her fingertips against my abdomen. "Princess, you're pregnant."

Anna had spent most of that first day back with me. She hadn't been very chatty after she told me I was pregnant. I tried to figure out what it meant. Silently, we sat there on my couch, both lost in our own thoughts. Or maybe she was listening to mine, I really don't know. I didn't care.

She may have told me I was pregnant, and being a witch she had a very old and powerful magick, but still... I had my doubts. I mean, C'mon, right? I had just gotten back to the mortal realm. I haven't even been here long enough to have had a chance to miss my period yet. And yet...

All I could think was, our baby. Our? Baby?

Anna got up a few times to bring me water or get a cold cloth for my forehead after being sick. I spent the time I had away from the bathroom sitting comfortably on the couch with Anna thinking about my love and our beautiful Faerie child to be.

Late into the evening she rose from her spot on the couch, bade me to go to bed and like a child, she followed me into my room handing me a pair of clean pajamas from my dresser and pushed me into the bathroom to change, wash up.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" She hollered at me through the door.

"Okay, okay. I'll brush my teeth. Sorry. I have been throwing up most of the day, you know?" I took out my toothbrush and the paste from the cabinet in my mirrored vanity above the sink and proceeded to squirt out a giant gob onto the bristles.

"Well, that is why I am telling you to brush your stinking teeth," came Anna's quick response. I smirked at her frankness and stuck the toothbrush in my mouth and started to brush away anything gross that might offend.

I got out of the bathroom and on my bed Anna was waiting, my old wooden boar bristle brush in her hand. I stopped and pressed my hand to my heart. She reminded me so much of Grace in that moment. I had missed her, sister, or handmaiden, I loved Grace. I climbed up on the bed right next to Anna's folded legs and pulled the elastic band from off my head that I had been using to keep my hair from falling into the dirty toilet water all day.

I hadn't been sick in about three hours, so I was pretty sure I was going to be okay for the night. I was starting to really give into this idea of me being pregnant. I will admit that nothing could've made me happier in that moment. I couldn't have the man I loved, but I could have his baby.

After brushing out my ratted hair into smooth, buttery golden locks, she pulled back my sheets and tucked me into bed.

"I have to go now child. But I will be back in a day or two to check on how you're handling all this. Sleep well, Coral Woods." She turned and walked away, her heels clicking on the bamboo flooring as she left. I heard the click of the doors and knew she had gone.

Well, here I am. Alone again. ... Or maybe I'm not?

The next morning I walked the two blocks down to the convenience store and stood in the aisle staring at the pink box reading:

At-home pregnancy test
Over 99% accurate!

The store owner was watching me closely, probably wondering if I would steal it. I couldn't blame him, I was acting weird, but he also didn't know that I had enough money to buy his store from him if I wanted. I picked up the bright pink rectangular box and the store owner cleared his throat loud enough to make me jump and almost dropped the pregnancy test. I looked over at him and smiled. Not wanting it to seem like it was the only thing I needed, I proceeded to grab dental floss, deodorant, eye drops, and basically anything else in that aisle.

I walked up to the cashier and unloaded my armful of overpriced toiletries onto his counter. He stared at me gruffly but picked up his scanner gun and continued to ring up my items. I smiled nervously and ran my hand back through my hair pushing it behind my left ear. I looked around trying to find something else to rest my eyes on besides the grouchy man in front of me.

Having nothing to really focus on I looked down at the items he had still to check out, I saw I had accidentally grabbed feminine pads, and they were lying right next to the pregnancy test. My eyes widened, the store owner looked at me and I chuckled, my anxiety peaking.

Despite the awkwardness I paid for my items, thanked the man and walked out of the store. I stopped to get a piece of gum out of the bag and popped it in my mouth. I tried to tell myself to walk slowly, but I speed walked the whole way. I couldn't risk Anna coming back and finding out I doubted her. I don't doubt, I just want to be certain.

I pulled the pregnancy stick out of the box and set it on the counter. I read and reread the directions before following them. After I was done, I set the capped stick onto the counter and pulled out my phone to set a timer. These five minutes were brutal. I bit my nails, turned circles and basically ran my brain ragged with a thousand and one scenarios.

Maybe I wasn't the best at being a faerie, or a human. I stood there, in my bathroom, and watched those two pink lines appear on my at-home pregnancy test as it rested on my white porcelain sink basin, and I decided, I was going to be the best mother.

I thought about Cove and Phoenix. I thought about what this meant for all of us. I closed the toilet lid and sat down propping up my head in my hands. It doesn't matter we're going to be a family... somehow. We all love each other and we'll love anyone that comes along.

I didn't feel like I fully understood Cove's devotion though. I didn't know why he would risk so much to seek me out in the human world. I didn't understand why he wouldn't just tell me that we were married. Honestly, I don't know if I would have believed him. I was tired, tired of it all. I left the bathroom and went to lie on my bed.

I thought about what I was and was not told, and what I believed because of it. Suddenly, I was irate. What I had been told by Phoenix, was that Cove was married. Everyone knew I believed Cove to be married to someone else, and yet everyone, especially Phoenix, just let me go right along believing the lie. I wouldn't be in this mess if I had known. Even though I was angry at Cove and Phoenix for keeping the truth from me, I knew somewhere deep inside that I only fell in love with Phoenix because I had feelings for him. I loved him. I couldn't deny that. I knew that Cove also held my heart, for some unknown reason, and I could never deny him either. I hoped one day to regain my memories. It would make everything so much easier if I could just remember why I was attached to Cove. How we met, and how I came to live in the palace, and even where I came from were still lost to me.

These thoughts made me turn sick inside and I scrambled off the bed towards the bathroom making it just in time to vomit profusely in the toilet bowl. It wasn't much but I hadn't felt like eating since I'd gotten back. From the moment I arrived in the human world I had been sick. My nerves were a wreck and all the thoughts swimming around in my head were making me dizzy. After I clambered off of the cold tiles where I was sitting and rinsed my mouth out with some water from the bathroom sink, I decided to go outside and get some fresh air.

It had been so long since I had seen the sunshine. Even though it was cold and overcast I savored the sunlight that streamed through the cloudy filter. Having spent over the last two years in complete moonlight I hadn't realized how much I missed the golden glow of the sun. The Underground was unmistakingly beautiful, but it was forever a starlit night, no sunrise or sunset, ever.

I stretched my arms over my head and reached up onto my tiptoes. It felt good to be outside. It was easier to push the negative thoughts plaguing me from the forefront to the far recesses of my mind. I glanced around and although I love my lush backyard garden, I wasn't ready to amble about frolicking gaily in their bloom. Their foliage held too many memories of Cove. I turned in another direction and decided it was time to heal at least one old wound. I crossed the yard and headed to the main house.

I hadn't entered the main house since my old landlord, Terry's wake. It had been almost two years ago that he died. He was the closest thing I remembered to having as a father, even now.

I had only remembered some things about my past. I didn't remember anything about my own family. I remembered that Terry was like my family, my human family. He had been mortal, just like I had thought that I was. Only to find out that the reason why Cove could find me was because as a Fate Faery it was his job to intervene and bring about a person's death when their time was up. Cove's assignment brought him to Terry, to me.

I glanced about the room and slowly walked towards the kitchen. It was hard to look at the bleach white tiles on the kitchen floor, the same tiles that were once glossy under the thick dark pool of Terry's blood. My throat tightened and I swallowed hard. Then, with careful deliberation I took a step forward, advancing into the room. I was determined to wrestle with my demons head on.

I walked over and stood on the very spot where I had found Terry's body. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look down. I stared at those white tiles and remembered the anguish I had felt in that moment. I remembered how I had screamed at Cove and told him that I had hated him. I remembered how I had blamed him then. And I remembered how I was really angry with myself, as if somehow me not being there had caused it, that maybe I could have saved Terry. I stared at the tiles until my eyes hurt and became spotty. The thoughts circling my brain, but none of those thoughts were true, they were just tired old excuses I had used to try and create meaning out of the situation.

The reality was that mortals die. They all have a time to be born, live and then die, and my friend Terry was chosen by the Fates to end his journey because he had lived a good life and it was his time to pass on. I decided that was more than a good thing, it was beautiful, and I wasn't angry anymore. I wasn't to blame either. It wasn't my fault, it just was.

That is the main purpose of destiny, to bring about what is supposed to happen. Terry moving on was supposed to happen. I smiled at finally accepting this fact of life, and was happy for Terry and everything that happened to him. I knew I could look away now and a I raised my head to peer out the kitchen windows that loomed largely over the sink. I felt good knowing all this, it was good for me to think it out. I also knew that I had been wrong. Not only was it not my fault, but it wasn't Cove's fault either. I had finally let go of my bitterness and it felt like heaven.