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Haru was quiet as she held the baby to her chest, her eyes red and swollen. Sono had fallen asleep at their side, the three staying close together for whatever time they were allowed. Part of her regretted ever agreeing to this, but another part knew all too well that if she hadn’t, there would be no baby to give up in the first place. She still wasn’t sure what they would do about their complicated circumstances, but she was trying to relax until they were forced to deal with it.
When the knock at the door finally came, Haru’s tears returned immediately, and her body curled weakly around the baby. Sono woke at the sound and embraced his wife briefly before going to answer the door.
“Sono! Congratulations; I’m so happy for you.” Their visitor was a black woman with a head full of long, teal-colored box braids. She greeted Sono warmly, beaming with delight. “Is the baby awake? Can you introduce us?”
“Yeah. Come inside,” he said, stepping back to let her in.
“Oh, you must be Haruka! I’m Andani,” she said, smiling brightly at the new mother. “How are you feeling? Exhausted, I’m sure. I hear this sort of thing takes a lot out of you.” Haru didn’t answer, reserved and unwilling to be friendly. Andani’s smile dropped. “Ah. I guess this is hard for you. I am sorry it has to be this way. But you should know, I’m going to take very good care of…?”
“Her,” Sono said, carefully taking the baby from her grief-stricken mother. “Her name is Ayaka.”
“Oh,” Andani breathed, covering her mouth with both hands. “She’s beautiful. Can I…can I hold her?” She and Sono both looked to Haru, who nodded slowly, surprised at such gentle manners from a witch. As she took the child in her arms, Andani’s eyes were shining with tears. “Hello, my love…I didn’t expect her to be so perfect. But that’s what you are, my darling. You are perfect.” As her fingertip stroked down Ayaka’s nose, a long and thin snake slithered out of her purse and up her arm to flick its tongue at the baby. Both parents tensed but had to remind themselves that it was no danger to her.
“Hm. Won’t smell that nice for long,” it hissed before retreating back to its hiding place.
“Don’t mind him; he’s just jealous of the attention,” the witch said offhandedly. Seeing the longing on Haru’s face, she passed the child back to her and stood back, hands folded in front of her. “She won’t be in any danger with me. I swear. And you’ll be able to see her if you want, so she won’t be gone for good. I want to make this as easy for you as possible.”
“Thank you,” Haru said, somewhat encouraged by her kindness. “That’s…surprising, I have to admit.” Andani laughed at that.
“I don’t blame you; a lot of people seem to have this idea of what we should be like, so they get confused when they actually meet one of us and we’re not monsters,” she said. “Was there…anything you two wanted to discuss before…?”
“Actually, yes,” Sono said. “There’s a bit of a problem.”
“A problem? What’s wrong?”
“Well, the deal I made with you promised you my firstborn in exchange for your help,” he said. “The problem. Is that Haru did the same. With a different witch.”
“What?” Andani asked. “You…how did…why are you just now telling me this?”
“When else would we have told you? We didn’t know what to do. We only have one firstborn between the two of us, and she technically belongs to both of you.”
She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She’d never heard of something like this happening before. What was there to do? She supposed she could only hope this other witch was a reasonable sort. She let out a heavy sigh and pressed her fingertips into her temples.
“I guess we’ll have to figure this out between ourselves. Have you heard from the other witch yet?”
“No. I haven’t spoken to her in…twelve years,” Haru confessed. “Since we made our agreement. But I doubt she’s missed the news. She’ll probably show up soon.”
“Then. I guess I’ll stay with you until she does. Mph, I need a drink,” Andani muttered, shaking her head and pulling a bottle of water from her purse. They spent the rest of the evening discussing infant healthcare, both parties having thoroughly done their research beforehand. Ayaka woke once, briefly, and her dark eyes lingered on each of them in turn before she went back to sleep. As expected, Haruka was drained, so she quickly followed suit. Andani wistfully watched the three of them cuddle together before settling down into a chair and starting to doze, herself.
It was close to four a.m. when there was another, much sharper knock at the door, causing all of them to wake with a start. Except Ayaka, who had been soundly asleep for a solid hour. Rather than wait for someone to let her in, the new arrival opened the door and strode inside without invitation. Following close beside her was a Rottweiler, who stopped a few steps from the bed so the witch did the same.
“Sorry I’m late. Have I missed the hysterics?” she asked. Andani and Sono both got to their feet, blearily forcing themselves awake to look at her. The woman stood firmly as if she owned the room, holding a tall walking stick made of white wood. The bottom eight inches were wrapped in red string, and her half-lidded eyes were smoky and gray, surrounded by what appeared to be burn scars. The silence didn’t escape her notice, and she sighed in irritation. “I can tell you’re staring, even if I can’t see you.”
“Hi. Felonia,” Haru said, holding the baby closer by reflex. The blind woman looked in her direction with a slight smile.
“Haruka. You sound tense,” she observed. “But you have something for me, yes?”
“Not exactly,” Andani answered for her. Fel and her Familiar both turned sharply toward her, suddenly very aware of her oceanic scent.
“Who are you? A friend of the family?”
“I’m a witch. Like you. And I was promised Sono’s firstborn.”
“Who?” Fel asked flatly.
“My husband,” Haru snapped. Putting all of these facts together as one, the new witch sneered.
“Of course, you couldn’t just make this easy. So, which deal was made first?” she demanded. The others paused, not having considered this.
“Well…ours was nine years ago,” Andani said, bringing Fel’s smile back.
“And we have twelve, so I win.”
“Absolutely not! It’s not that simple. I have just as much a claim as you do.”
“So take the next one,” Fel said with a roll of her eyes.
“No!” both parents cried at once, and she let out a long groan of irritation.
“What the hell are we supposed to do, then, share it?” A beat of silence followed that before she quickly backpedaled. “No. No, I was not being serious.”
“It seems like the only fair thing to do,” Andani muttered, though she clearly didn’t relish the idea, either. “It’s the only way to fulfill both deals at once. We could…share custody?”
“What, you mean pass it off every other weekend? Let some water witch put who-knows-what nonsense in its head? I don’t think so.”
“Will you stop calling her an ‘it’?” Andani snapped. “Her name is Ayaka.” Again, Fel’s pale eyes turned toward Haru and Sono.
“You already named her?”
“They had to make her birth certificate,” Sono informed her. “You can call her something different if you want….”
“There’s no reason to; she already has a name,” Andani said firmly. “If you don’t want her anymore, I’ll be happy to raise her on my own.”
“Look, can you just give me a second?” Felonia asked, flicking her hand at the other occupants of the room. The other witch tried to talk back, but her voice was gone, as were those of the baby’s parents. They looked to Andani for help, but she was just as helpless as they were; like Fel had said, she was a water witch. This wasn’t something she could fix.
Felonia took the moment of silence to contemplate the situation. She had never considered this a possibility. What were the odds, after all? Of course, even after she’d waited twelve years for Haruka to have her first child, never contacted her to press the matter, even when she’d found out that she was pregnant…it just couldn’t be simple. But as much as she hated to admit it, that water witch was right; each of them could only have one firstborn, and both witches had claim on her. She did not want to share. But there really weren’t many options.
“Okay, fine,” she said, waving her hand to allow the others to speak again. She gestured to the other witch. “What’s your name?”
“Andani.”
“Grand. I’m Fel. It looks like we’re going to be…working together for a while.”

Description
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Haru was quiet as she held the baby to her chest, her eyes red and swollen. Sono had fallen asleep at their side, the three staying close together for whatever time they were allowed. Part of her regretted ever agreeing to this, but another part knew all too well that if she hadn’t, there would be no baby to give up in the first place. She still wasn’t sure what they would do about their complicated circumstances, but she was trying to relax until they were forced to deal with it.
When the knock at the door finally came, Haru’s tears returned immediately, and her body curled weakly around the baby. Sono woke at the sound and embraced his wife briefly before going to answer the door.
“Sono! Congratulations; I’m so happy for you.” Their visitor was a black woman with a head full of long, teal-colored box braids. She greeted Sono warmly, beaming with delight. “Is the baby awake? Can you introduce us?”
“Yeah. Come inside,” he said, stepping back to let her in.
“Oh, you must be Haruka! I’m Andani,” she said, smiling brightly at the new mother. “How are you feeling? Exhausted, I’m sure. I hear this sort of thing takes a lot out of you.” Haru didn’t answer, reserved and unwilling to be friendly. Andani’s smile dropped. “Ah. I guess this is hard for you. I am sorry it has to be this way. But you should know, I’m going to take very good care of…?”
“Her,” Sono said, carefully taking the baby from her grief-stricken mother. “Her name is Ayaka.”
“Oh,” Andani breathed, covering her mouth with both hands. “She’s beautiful. Can I…can I hold her?” She and Sono both looked to Haru, who nodded slowly, surprised at such gentle manners from a witch. As she took the child in her arms, Andani’s eyes were shining with tears. “Hello, my love…I didn’t expect her to be so perfect. But that’s what you are, my darling. You are perfect.” As her fingertip stroked down Ayaka’s nose, a long and thin snake slithered out of her purse and up her arm to flick its tongue at the baby. Both parents tensed but had to remind themselves that it was no danger to her.
“Hm. Won’t smell that nice for long,” it hissed before retreating back to its hiding place.
“Don’t mind him; he’s just jealous of the attention,” the witch said offhandedly. Seeing the longing on Haru’s face, she passed the child back to her and stood back, hands folded in front of her. “She won’t be in any danger with me. I swear. And you’ll be able to see her if you want, so she won’t be gone for good. I want to make this as easy for you as possible.”
“Thank you,” Haru said, somewhat encouraged by her kindness. “That’s…surprising, I have to admit.” Andani laughed at that.
“I don’t blame you; a lot of people seem to have this idea of what we should be like, so they get confused when they actually meet one of us and we’re not monsters,” she said. “Was there…anything you two wanted to discuss before…?”
“Actually, yes,” Sono said. “There’s a bit of a problem.”
“A problem? What’s wrong?”
“Well, the deal I made with you promised you my firstborn in exchange for your help,” he said. “The problem. Is that Haru did the same. With a different witch.”
“What?” Andani asked. “You…how did…why are you just now telling me this?”
“When else would we have told you? We didn’t know what to do. We only have one firstborn between the two of us, and she technically belongs to both of you.”
She could hardly believe what she was hearing. She’d never heard of something like this happening before. What was there to do? She supposed she could only hope this other witch was a reasonable sort. She let out a heavy sigh and pressed her fingertips into her temples.
“I guess we’ll have to figure this out between ourselves. Have you heard from the other witch yet?”
“No. I haven’t spoken to her in…twelve years,” Haru confessed. “Since we made our agreement. But I doubt she’s missed the news. She’ll probably show up soon.”
“Then. I guess I’ll stay with you until she does. Mph, I need a drink,” Andani muttered, shaking her head and pulling a bottle of water from her purse. They spent the rest of the evening discussing infant healthcare, both parties having thoroughly done their research beforehand. Ayaka woke once, briefly, and her dark eyes lingered on each of them in turn before she went back to sleep. As expected, Haruka was drained, so she quickly followed suit. Andani wistfully watched the three of them cuddle together before settling down into a chair and starting to doze, herself.
It was close to four a.m. when there was another, much sharper knock at the door, causing all of them to wake with a start. Except Ayaka, who had been soundly asleep for a solid hour. Rather than wait for someone to let her in, the new arrival opened the door and strode inside without invitation. Following close beside her was a Rottweiler, who stopped a few steps from the bed so the witch did the same.
“Sorry I’m late. Have I missed the hysterics?” she asked. Andani and Sono both got to their feet, blearily forcing themselves awake to look at her. The woman stood firmly as if she owned the room, holding a tall walking stick made of white wood. The bottom eight inches were wrapped in red string, and her half-lidded eyes were smoky and gray, surrounded by what appeared to be burn scars. The silence didn’t escape her notice, and she sighed in irritation. “I can tell you’re staring, even if I can’t see you.”
“Hi. Felonia,” Haru said, holding the baby closer by reflex. The blind woman looked in her direction with a slight smile.
“Haruka. You sound tense,” she observed. “But you have something for me, yes?”
“Not exactly,” Andani answered for her. Fel and her Familiar both turned sharply toward her, suddenly very aware of her oceanic scent.
“Who are you? A friend of the family?”
“I’m a witch. Like you. And I was promised Sono’s firstborn.”
“Who?” Fel asked flatly.
“My husband,” Haru snapped. Putting all of these facts together as one, the new witch sneered.
“Of course, you couldn’t just make this easy. So, which deal was made first?” she demanded. The others paused, not having considered this.
“Well…ours was nine years ago,” Andani said, bringing Fel’s smile back.
“And we have twelve, so I win.”
“Absolutely not! It’s not that simple. I have just as much a claim as you do.”
“So take the next one,” Fel said with a roll of her eyes.
“No!” both parents cried at once, and she let out a long groan of irritation.
“What the hell are we supposed to do, then, share it?” A beat of silence followed that before she quickly backpedaled. “No. No, I was not being serious.”
“It seems like the only fair thing to do,” Andani muttered, though she clearly didn’t relish the idea, either. “It’s the only way to fulfill both deals at once. We could…share custody?”
“What, you mean pass it off every other weekend? Let some water witch put who-knows-what nonsense in its head? I don’t think so.”
“Will you stop calling her an ‘it’?” Andani snapped. “Her name is Ayaka.” Again, Fel’s pale eyes turned toward Haru and Sono.
“You already named her?”
“They had to make her birth certificate,” Sono informed her. “You can call her something different if you want….”
“There’s no reason to; she already has a name,” Andani said firmly. “If you don’t want her anymore, I’ll be happy to raise her on my own.”
“Look, can you just give me a second?” Felonia asked, flicking her hand at the other occupants of the room. The other witch tried to talk back, but her voice was gone, as were those of the baby’s parents. They looked to Andani for help, but she was just as helpless as they were; like Fel had said, she was a water witch. This wasn’t something she could fix.
Felonia took the moment of silence to contemplate the situation. She had never considered this a possibility. What were the odds, after all? Of course, even after she’d waited twelve years for Haruka to have her first child, never contacted her to press the matter, even when she’d found out that she was pregnant…it just couldn’t be simple. But as much as she hated to admit it, that water witch was right; each of them could only have one firstborn, and both witches had claim on her. She did not want to share. But there really weren’t many options.
“Okay, fine,” she said, waving her hand to allow the others to speak again. She gestured to the other witch. “What’s your name?”
“Andani.”
“Grand. I’m Fel. It looks like we’re going to be…working together for a while.”