Maiden, Mother, Crone
- A Winter Solstice Celebration -
by Jezebel Jorge
Copyright © 2012 Jezebel Jorge
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Cover Art by Jezebel Jorge
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This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
"If we do this Yule stuff, will I still get presents from Santa?" five year old Tabitha asked.
"Of course my darling." Dinera DeFliehr smoothed back her great granddaughter's flaming red curls. "You've been a very good little witch this year so I am sure that Santa will leave you lots and lots of presents."
"Yay." The little girl grinned.
"Later this evening I'll tell you the story of the good witch Befana who brings presents to all the special children back in the old county."
"I bet Befana won't give my stupid brothers any presents."
Dinera smiled indulgently. "No, I doubt she would, because you are the most special child in the whole world."
It had been almost a year since Rowan had legally taken the DeFliehr name as her Pagan birthright, yet she still loathed how Grandmère Dinera always played favorites with the little brat princess.
Come on, the kid had been named after a sitcom witch. Not that Bewitched wasn't a cool show and no offense to Dylan's mother for being a fan. Rowan had laughed when her sweetie had told her how Lizzie Dalton's water had broken while watching Bewitched and then she'd been so drugged up after giving birth to Dylan's big brother, he'd wound up with Darren instead of Darrin on imprinted on his birth certificate. And even worse he'd gotten stuck answering to his middle name of Bryson, in honor of his former badass and now nearly senile grandfather, Paul Bryson.
Lizzie had also been the one to pick out the name of her first born red haired grandbaby. Dylan had loved his mother so much, it saddened Rowan to think of Lizzie passing before she and Dylan had been able to give her an even more gorgeous red haired baby girl.
"Rowan." Grandmère looked at her with those intense iceberg blue eyes, the same eyes inherited by Tabitha and her mother Courtney. "Remember our agreement. There will be no babies until you turn twenty-one. Not if you want your and Dylan's little red haired DeFliehr baby girl to receive her million dollar inheritance."
She hated the way Dinera always knew what she was thinking. It wasn't fair that she hadn't gotten the psychic gene. Then again, considering that Charlie Fletcher had been her DeFliehr sperm donor, it was a wonder she'd gotten anything from Dinera other than the red hair and a talent for brewing up potions. Considering the way she'd made Charlie pay for raping her mother, yeah, she did have quite the knack for potions.
Most of her witchiness, along with her morning dew green eyes, had been inherited from her maternal grandmother, Odessa, the spirit she'd seen for about as long as she could remember. It irked her to no end that Tabitha and Courtney could also see Odessa when those two didn't have any of her blood flowing through their veins.
"Aunt Row is turning all pukey green," Tabitha announced.
Not only was she psychic and a medium, Tabitha also had the gift of seeing auras. Goddess help them when the kid got old enough to play with matches and start working the candle spells.
"Yes, she is." Dinera cackled with laughter. "Befana doesn't leave presents for those with jealously filled auras."
"I'm nineteen, not nine," Rowan said. "Save the fairy tales for the kids."
"It's important for all of us to study our history as a way of embracing every aspect of our craft," Dinera said. "That's why I got you all copies of The Witches Sabbat for Samhain."
"Me and Mommy read about all about Yule last night," Tabitha said. "I don't think it's fair those Christians stole our holiday and tried to make it baby Jesus' birthday instead of Father Sun's renewal."
"One's faith is a personal matter," Rosette said. "We mustn't judge those who condemn our beliefs, as that only brings us down to their level of narrow-mindedness."
Leave it to Rosette to always be the voice of reason. The plump dark skinned Haitian immigrant had always been more of a mother to Rowan than her own adoptive mother. Nancy still had no clue that it had been Dinera who had cast a spell and sent Rosette to Raleigh with forged references to be hired to run the household after her parent's divorce.
"We each have our own special gifts." Rosette turned to Rowan. "When our minds remain open we learn from all who cross our path."
"That is so true," Dinera agreed. "Let them celebrate as they so choose. We know it's witches of power, such as ourselves, who turn the wheel of life."
"Could we please get this thing started already?" Courtney, Rowan's half-sister, had been surprising quiet since arriving with her daughter. "I haven't get all night here."
Dinera cut her an icy glare. "Then perhaps you should turn off your cell phone and pay attention to the proceedings."
"FYI, I happened to have been looking at The Witches Sabbats on my iBooks app." Courtney said.
Yeah right, Rowan knew better, Courtney had most likely been checking her text messages or Twitter.
Yet, she surprised them by cutting off her phone and putting it in her purse. As much as Rowan didn't like to admit it, Courtney had gotten a lot easier to deal with since she'd decided to embrace her daughter's powers and walk the Wiccan path. Who would have ever thought that the former super bitch diva would have ever mellowed into a Bide the Rede witch. If that's what happened when you hit thirty, Rowan sure was glad she wouldn't have to deal with that for eleven more years.
Of course Rowan's own iPhone would beep with a text from Dylan.
"The no cell phones rule applies to all of you," Dinera said.
Rowan typed back, 'Love U 2' before shutting off the ringer and giving Dinera an appeasing smile.
"Well then," Dinera said. "Shall we all adjourn to the garden?"
"Yes, let's," Rosette said, leading them out to the secluded backyard of the craftsman cottage Rowan shared with Dylan in an upscale West End neighborhood within walking distance of the Vanderbilt campus.
"Please be seated." Dinera took the prime spot on the wicker chaise lounge. "Before we cast our circle I'd like to tell you while I've called each of you here tonight for our Yule Celebration.
Tabitha hopped up on the chaise and Dinera wrapped an arm around her. Courtney didn't look to happy about it, but she didn't say anything, taking a seat at the table beside Rosette's niece, Bianca.
Rowan had actually been glad when Bianca had transferred from Tulane to Vandy to be closer to her boyfriend Brandon. They had gotten to be friends from their shared interest in the craft and pro wrestler boyfriends. They were both pre-med majors so they even had a couple of classes together. For the first time in her life Rowan had a female friend not walking the spirit realm.
Heads turned every time the two them hung out together since they were the two hottest girls on campus. Rowan with her long legs, natural red hair falling all the way to the curve of her ass, pale flawless skin and tennis player's athletic figure and then Bianca in total contrast with her equally impressive set of legs, a curvy body, cafe au lait complexion, and goth girl ever changing hair color and various piercings.
Tonight Bianca's hair was a deep cherry red with silver glittery sparkl
es and she wore a tightly laced red bodice that made her real boobs about as out there as Courtney's implants. You wouldn't know it by how she dressed, but Bianca was totally devoted to her clean cut dark haired ken doll of a boyfriend. Almost as devoted as Rowan would always be to Dylan.
"I've gathered you all here for something much more special than a traditional Yule Celebration."
Dinera, as always looked like she was late for an opera or formal dinner party in a fancy lace dress. She wore her now dyed red hair in it's usual elaborate upsweep and as always the fragile old woman just about wore her weight in priceless jewels.
Rowan clutched the matching red pentacle that she wore around her neck. Courtney had one too, those real rubies sparking in the moon light from their spot against the swell of her surgically enhanced breasts. Be it working out at one of her gyms, going to the ring in full diva mode, or just going to the grocery store in the middle of the day, her half-sister always had her tits on display.
"It's time the DeFliehr and Merci families united to form a coven," Dinera stated as if her word was law. "Mamman Merci's health is rapidly declining and I'm not getting any younger so it is time to pool our strengths to ensure all our traditions continue and knowledge is appropriately passed to our heirs."
"What a wonderful idea." Rosette's smile lit up the