Nature's Baby Girl

My name is Amber Hawthorne. My family has an unusual tradition of everyone having a name inspired by nature. I made a bold move one day, and broke the tradition. Let me tell you the story. My boyfriend had just gotten me pregnant. When i found out, i excitedly went to tell him. I never expected what he said. “Get rid of it Amber,” he said. “B-but Hunter!” I exclaimed, “This is our baby, not some broken smartphone! I will keep it!” “If you keep it, I will leave you,” he said nonchalantly. I stormed off and began packing his clothes into a walmart bag. When I had successfully gathered his belongings, I grabbed him by the ear and pulled him to the door. I threw his stuff out and then pushed him out, slamming the door behind him. At about three months pregnant, i found out that i was having twins! A couple weeks later, I was told that they were both girls. When I gave birth to them, i was in excruciating pain. When I got to hold them and name them is when i lost the respect of all my family members. The only person who wasn’t very mad at me was my sister, Aster. I named my beautiful daughters Ivy and Maia. As my daughters grew older, it was quite obvious that my family favored Ivy over Maia. They spoiled Ivy. I had to talk to them about it on multiple occasions. Because of her special treatment, Ivy began to think she was better than Maia. Ivy had a humongous ego and was very outgoing, while Maia was shy, quiet, and insecure. By the time they were registered in kindergarten, I got my children to understand that everyone was equal. I convinced my family to treat them both equally. When they were in middle school, the girls were quite obviously very different. Ivy loved sports and pampering herself, while Maia preferred to be outside reading while leaning against trees and drawing the wildlife. Maia began to be able to understand and speak with the animals she came across. She was able to get them to trust her. She began spending less and less time with people and refused to eat meat. Ivy thought that Maia’s hobby was disgusting. As Ivy grew older, she stopped going outside as much and focused on boys, beauty, and her social status. She became queen bee in school. She got into the habit of skipping class and started drinking and smoking. She dyed her hair and got her nose pierced. She started getting tattoos as well. By high school, Maia was voted valedictorian. Ivy held no academic status, but the most popularity. Maia began to spend even more time with the animals after graduation. Instead of going to college, she decided to get a small house in a clearing in the woods. She told her mom that once she worked for enough to buy the house, she would be able to stop working. Her mom was skeptical but was still helpful and proud of her daughter. Ivy moved away and began to live with her friend, Sophie, while going to college. One fateful day, Ivy got into a car wreck. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. The entire family was devastated. After that, Maia went to college to finish Ivy’s school for her, although she changed the major. She decided to major in zoology. She still got to be with animals, while furthering her education. As she got older, I could tell that she had no interest in technology or modern living. She wanted to live in a small cabin with no electricity, wifi, or modern comforts. She wanted basic clothing, horses, and other stuff of the sort, but nothing mechanical was to be on her property. One day, she came to talk to me. “Momma,” she said, “I’m not normal.” “Of course you aren’t, baby, but you are still perfect, just the way you are. What on Earth brought you to believe such things though?” I asked, a little bit concerned. “Mom, you don’t understand my meaning, I can do things that others can’t!” she screamed with tears in her eyes. I looked at her in shock. I had heard stories of this. Like a kind of prophecy. Someone would break the family tradition and name a baby something other than a name of nature. This baby was more powerful than any normal human, and all who knew of her powers would be entranced by her mystical abilities. I had named my daughter Maia not only because I liked the name, but because I wanted to prove the story wrong. But here was my daughter, telling me that it was all true. I fell down to my knees and bowed to her. “Mom? What are you doing?” she exclaimed. “I gave birth to a goddess.” I mumbled. Maia looked at me like I was going nuts. Then, an expression of realization jumped onto her face. “Mom, you don’t need to bow,” she chuckled, “You gave birth to me, so doesn’t that make you a higher status than me?” “Sit down Maia, I need to speak with you,” I said, sitting on the couch and daintily crossing my legs. She sat down and I began to explain to her that although she is my flesh and blood, I was actually chosen by the gods Dionysus and Pan to give birth to her, the goddess of fields and mothers. I told her of the prophecy and how she was born. She asked why it was her instead of Ivy. I explained that for some reason, Ivy was not of complete divine power. Once I had explained everything, she told what her powers were. She could sense pregnancy, could understand the animals, and could influence the crops. Afterwards, Maia began to leave. I stopped her on her way out and I told her that she will always be my daughter, even if she was nature’s baby girl.