Chapter Text
A chilly wind picked up and Tara wrapped her thick sweater tighter around herself as she shivered. The field in front of the house was littered with overripe pumpkins begging to be carved into friendly pumpkin faces. Unconsciously she rubbed her stomach and sighed. It had been several months since they had started trying for a baby and her stomach remained ever soft and flat. As she closed her eyes, she imagined a fluttering inside her belly, a tiny human caterpillar waiting to transform into a beautiful butterfly.
Ever since that summer day Westley had been obsessed by the idea of a family. He’d started procuring ancient and precious children’s books and he had been working on transforming her grandmother’s bedroom into a nursery, fussing over wallpaper colors and demanding Peri to craft ancient fae protection spells to keep a newborn safe. As her womb remained barren Tara’s magical abilities seemed to sputter and die a little more with each passing day. Her darkening mood affecting her abilities to perform her duties for the coven. She’d had spells of these… depressions before but never like this. Never when she carried responsibilities like she did now. Back in the city she’d just crawled under the covers and lost her job, friends and eventually her ex in her disjointed existence.
The last days of autumn were upon them now and while she had already warned Thomas that she’d be changing the seasons soon Tara had been unable to nourish the wellspring. Her offerings turned to dust as soon as they hit the edge of the cauldron and the moonflowers she used to strengthen her powers wilted in her hands as soon as she plucked them. The coven approached her tentatively with elixirs and kind words but she found herself unable and unwilling to accept them, forcing her friends between a rock and a hard place. Last night Lina had finally given her an ultimatum, either Tara would find the strength to change the seasons or she would delegate her tasks to someone else. Tara had wanted to pout, to scream but she could only find the energy to gaze at her longtime friend in silent acceptance. As she mulled over the words of her coven member she felt hands wrap around her hips from behind her.
“Need some help with the pumpkins?”
Tara nodded and leaned back onto the chest of her husband. Westley hummed softly as he swayed them side to side to a hymn only he seemed to hear. They had talked about the possibility of them not being able to have kids and for someone who was already painting the nursery Westley seemed oddly okay with possibility. She could hear his words still from the last time they had spoken about it.
“I want to be with you, with or without children.”
Tara wanted to force herself to hold on to that notion that everything would turn out the way it should. She wanted to convince herself that like Shelby she could have a softspoken acceptance of the way the future would inevitably unfold. She’d never truly considered her future like this since the first time she set foot on the Fairhaven soil as an adult. Back when Gramma had still been there to guide her with gentle hands. She remembered how lost she felt during those first few days, and how her grandmother’s kindness had allowed her to chase away her gloomy attitude with a well-intentioned sweep of a broom. Fairhaven had enveloped her in a warm blanket of kindness, allowing her to form family bands and experience love in a way that did not feel forced. Her ex, Dana had forced love on her like that, forced Tara to articulate her love for her even when she had not been ready for it. Now there was an abundance of love readily available but never forced. Tara felt the constrictions around her heart give a little and she breathed out a sigh of relief. Everything would turn out the way it was supposed to be, for better or worse. Behind her Westley buried his nose inside the soft tresses of her hair and inhaled deeply before letting go and moving towards the pumpkins.
“I think I might make pumpkin soup tonight. I’m sure Shelby would love some and we have more enough pumpkins for carving already. It would be a shame to let the butternut squashes go to waste.”
“That’s a great idea sweetheart.”
After they piled the pumpkins onto the wheelbarrow she watched as Westley moved towards the house. When the wind picked up again and her teeth started clattering, she moved to pick up the gardening supplies and follow her husband up to the house. As she left the field she watched the muscles in Westley’s shoulders tensed from the weight of the pumpkins. While Westley’s betrayal of the coven had been a tough pill to swallow, she could not imagine what life would be like if she had rejected him that night in Ravenwood hollow when the dust had finally settled. For a moment she had considered it, simply because it seemed her loyalty to the coven had seemed to matter more than her own happiness. But she’d done that before, with her ex. Allowing her loyalty for Dana to guide her life into disaster. The coven wouldn’t have led her into disaster, but it felt like a huge leap to choose her own path and not simply slip into the temptation of mindless loyalty with her eyes closed. Choosing Westley had been hard work and mending their bond had taken time, but she believed now more than ever that their bond was not simply one of loyalty but also of hard work and daily effort to keep the love flowing. Tara listened to Westley’s soft humming as he unloaded the pumpkins and tried to relax. Her husband shot her a look of content before wrestling the biggest pumpkin onto the steps. Daylight was fading fast and it was ever more tempting to grab Westley by the lapels of his jacket and drag him inside to try for a baby once more but as her imagination had just started to run wild someone coughed just behind her scaring the living daylights out of her.
“Jeez, who…”
“Tara are you okay?”
As Tara turned in a hurry to face the politely coughing intruder, a blush blooming fast on her cheeks, Westley closed the few steps towards her in a hurry to inspect her for any signs of injury. As the shock faded the couple finally turned to look at the young woman before them.
“Sorry Tara, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“It’s okay Juliet I was just…,” thinking about ripping the clothes off my husband and snogging him senseless, but she wasn’t about to tell Juliet that. “Deep in thought.”
Behind her Westley squeezed her shoulders lightly and looked over her shoulder to inspect Juliet. For a moment Tara did the same. In these short months since becoming a witch Juliet had blossomed into quite the young woman. The pink streak in her hair was ever present but so was the air of newfound confidence that seemed to surround her everywhere she went. In Tara’s humble opinion being a witch suited Juliet more than it ever had any other member of the coven. She was sure that one day Juliet would take Lina’s place and lead the group of witches into a new era of growth. One day sure, but not now, not when there was still so much growing to be done by all of them.
“What can we do for you Juliet?”
“I just came from visiting Lina and she loved my idea for a big Samhain celebration on the beach this Friday! I wanted to make sure you weren’t planning on changing the seasons before…”
“What a great idea!” Tara gushed at the idea of yet another memorable Fairhaven bonfire and it felt like Samhain might be just what everyone needed to prepare for the winter ahead.
“Yes well… It is. But we have no resources yet and it’s in two days already. I told Lina I would take care of everything, but I have no clue how to build a bonfire and…”
“Of course I’ll help Juliet. Whatever you need.”
She watched the tension seep from Juliet’s shoulders and smiled at the idea that Juliet came to her first. Even though she had become somewhat of an errand boy for everyone in town she felt honored that they always seemed to find her first whenever there was trouble. A Samhain celebration seemed like a wonderful idea to strengthen the bond of the coven and for a moment she wondered whether Lina had been behind the idea to lift Tara’s spirits and call on her magic. But no, she suspected that Juliet was more susceptible to these subtle eb and flows of magic currents within the coven. Juliet was truly a force to be reckoned with.
“Lina and Gloria told me it has been quite some years since the last proper Samhain celebration, and I really want to go all out. Mum promised to make food to offer the fae folk and I want to ask Peri for the right rituals and…”
“I have a book that may be able to help you with that Juliet.” Westley spoke as he straightened his shoulders. “Let me fetch it for you, it’s a comprehensive overview of some old and some new traditions. I’m sure your intuition will guide you to the right ones for the occasion.”
As Westley took off Juliet giggled softly and patted Tara on the arm before whispering conspiratorially: “I know we live in a fairytale, but you do know your husband is a living and breathing fairytale in all the right ways?”
Tara giggled too and nodded. This was true and no matter how many days they spent together she was still in awe with her husband every day. While most people would interpret the fairy tale as needing to be perfect in every way, she loved every flaw and hardship in their story as much as she loved the perfect moments. The smile faded from Tara’s face as she remembered the empty feeling in her belly once more.
“Look, Tara. I know you’re having a rough time but I hope you know that we all love you and care for you and we want to help you with whatever you need. Even if you don't need anything. Even if it's just hanging out.”
“I know Juliet.”
Fiercely overcome with emotions Tara leaned in to hug Juliet and to her surprise Juliet hugged her back. She squeezed her arms tightly around Juliet’s small frame and closed her eyes, a few hot tears trailing down her cheeks in the process but she was glad for them as she felt loved like never before in that moment.