A Mother's Love

The soft cool breeze creasing Neroon's face was what woke him up in the middle of the night.

Unconsciously my arms wrapped around sleeping form of my naked lover, holding him close to my bare chest and listening to the comforting soft snores of Marcus.

We have been married for a week now and were on what Marcus called a 'honeymoon.' I had taken my beloved back to Minbar to my family estate outside of Yed'oore when the Sus'te began to appear before our bed.

For the past four nights, while Marcus slept, the Sus'te appeared standing beside our bed. My people believed that if you saw one you should not be afraid but wait, for in time the Sus'te would reveal all to you when it was ready.

This Sus'te however was not Minbari it was Human, a female human at that. And instead of a message, she asked me a single question; the same question she asked of me every night for three nights.

'Do you love him?' She asked as her pale finger pointed towards my sleeping lover.

My answer was always the same, "He is my Yed'Feler." I whispered I as I looked into her shimmering green eyes.

Tonight as I watched her she nodded her head as her long brown hair cascaded over her ghostly form. Her pale hand moved across my lover's face with a gentle caress and with a sad smile on her face, she leaned down to kiss his cheek.

'I love you, and I will always be with you, Marcus' she whispered in his ear. She turned to me,

'You have my blessing, Minbari. Take care of him. For I will be with you always' I watched her shape shimmer, then fade away.

"I will," came my whispered promise as I once more held tight to my lover in my arms.

The next morning I watched as Marcus unpacked his few belongings in our room. I noticed him set aside a small wooden box. When he was finished, he picked up the small box and brought it over to me.

"Open it," He whispered as he placed the box in my hands.

My fingers caressed the delicate carvings on the wooden box, "What is it?" I asked as I lifted the lid.

"My past, my hopes and my dreams," came my lover's reply. "The markings on the box are from an ancient race on Earth called the Celts. My mother once told me that we were descended from them. This box is one of the few things that I have left of my family. My mother's family had an ancient tradition that was passed down to her. She called it a 'Hope Chest.' It was a large box filled with her hopes and dreams. On my parents honeymoon she took my father aside, opened her box. and told him of her hope and dreams."

Marcus paused as he reached into the open box, "In doing this, I am keeping a family tradition. This box holds my past, my hopes and my dreams which I now share with you."

I felt privileged that Marcus was doing this, sharing one of his traditions with me. Our wedding was mostly filled with Minbari traditions except the exchanging of the rings. I remember feeling that I was letting him down as there weren't more of his human traditions involved in our ceremony. But he assured the that the only thing in the wedding that mattered was me. Just me, standing there and loving him.

I watched as Marcus reached inside the small box and pulled out some red sand. "This is the soil from Arisa. I grabbed some of it when I chased after William while the Shadows destroyed our colony." I raised my finger up and brushed the tear that began to fall down his cheek at the mention of his brother. I watched as he placed the soil back inside the box and then brought out a small piece of braided human hair. "These three strands of different color hair come from my mother, father and brother. I cut a piece of hair off of them and braided them together so I would I know that they would always be with me where ever I go."

He placed the braid back inside the box and pulled out a piece of jewelry. "This is the locket my mother always wore and when she passed away, she left it to me in hopes that I would give it to someone I loved." He shyly smiled up at me as he placed the locket around my neck. I watched as he opened the locket up and showed me the pictures inside. He pointed first to the man and woman on the right side of the locket. "This is my father and mother," As I watched him point out his parents to me, I felt a chill run up my back. As I looked at the woman in the picture, I recognized her. She was the Sus'te of my nightly visits.

"Marcus, I know this woman," I said as I looked up at my love.

I watched as his eyes became big. "Neroon, how can you know who she is when you never met her before?"

"I know her because she has been standing by our bed for the past four nights." I then began to explain to my love of the Sus'te that I have seen for the past nights and of the question that she had asked me. He lovingly kissed me when I told him of my answer to her question.

"Marcus, I believe your mother was trying to tell me something, that she was trying to tell me she will always be with you. I also think she was just making sure that I loved you."

Marcus smiled up at me as I caressed his face. "I'm glad that she is watching over you for you are my Yed'Feler. I love you, Marcus. I am glad that you are sharing all these things with me." I whispered against his lips as I began to kiss him.

"I love you too, Neroon. " He whispered against my lips as he pulled away and finished showing me his past, his hopes and his dreams.