Without a Sound

I opened my eyes, and I saw. Sunlight streamed through the burgundy curtains and lit up the cream-colored carpeting. The scarlet painted walls reflected light, and the white wooden dresser with a picture of Gerard, Celia, and Adam on it cast a shadow near the door. I was on the bed, of course, and Mikey’s arms were around my waist.

I turned around in his arms. The ache in my chest was a faint echo of what it had been days before. It was almost nothing now. So it didn’t hurt to turn around and look at his face. It didn’t hurt one bit.

He was still sleeping, his face smooth and calm, so unlike I expected it to look when he woke up. He would be worried and start fussing with me. Was I comfortable? Was I hungry? Did my chest hurt? Did I need anything? Endless questions that I didn’t care to answer.

So I didn’t wake him up at first. I just looked at him. However, I wanted to see him smile, see him move, see his eyes. So I kissed him, and he opened his eyes.

“Good morning,” he said gruffly. “Do you want something to eat?”

I laughed. “Hold on. Let me look at you for a few more minutes.”

His eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “You can see me? Really!”

I brushed his cheek with the back of my hand. “I can see you.” Tears sprung to my eyes, and I added weakly, “Really.”

He squeezed his arms around me, hugging me tightly. “I told you, didn’t I? Everything is going to be fine, alright?”

I nodded. “You were right. Thank God you were right.”

We both jumped when Celia called from downstairs in the kitchen, “Mikey! Charlotte! Adam! Gerard! Breakfast!”

I grinned and sat up. “Let’s go eat at the table today,” I suggested excitedly.

Mikey seemed hesitant. He said, “I don’t know. Are you sure you’re up for that already?”

“I’m fine,” I assured him just as I got up. The room spun around me, and I swayed. Mikey quickly got up and steadied me.

“Whoa. You okay?” he asked, unsure.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” I repeated. “Just got up a little too fast.”

“Really, Charlotte, I’m sure Celia would be glad to bring –”

“Are you coming?” I asked abruptly, slipping out of his arms and walking past him.

He grumbled something unintelligible as he caught up to me, but he was smiling. He looked at me like I was some kind of beautiful, exotic flower that had wilted and been unbelievably revived again before his eyes.

He walked nest to me down the stairs, and I knew he was ready to catch me if I fell. I figured he’d never let me take another risk for as long as we lived. Which would be forever, hopefully.

Adam came out of nowhere, bounding towards us in three big steps around the corner. “Guess what, Uncle Mikey!” he exclaimed excitedly.

Mikey grinned and exchanged a glance with me. “What?”

“Mom made blueberry waffles. And she had whipped cream to put on them. And she said I was allowed to drink coffee this morning,” he blurted out quickly.

Mikey smirked, saying, “You like coffee, do you?”

Adam nodded energetically.

Mikey shrugged at my surprised face, offering only a short, abnormal explanation as to why a seven year old would love coffee. “It runs in the family.”

We walked into the kitchen. Celia and Gerard were already sitting at the table. Adam hurried to sit next to his dad, posing just like him. Maybe it was just that lately I’d thought I would die, but… I wanted a kid. One that would look up to his father just like Adam looked up to Gerard.

“Good morning,” Celia greeted us, interrupting my thoughts. “It’s nice to see you up.”

Mikey pulled out a chair for me to sit in as I replied, “It’s nice to be up.”

“The food’s great,” Gerard commented.

“Thanks,” I said with feeling.

“No problem,” he replied.

“No, really,” I persisted. “Thanks, both of you, for everything. I know it would have been easier to turn me away or make me leave sooner. Or… just not worry about me. But you did. So thanks.”

Gerard looked surprised. “We’d never turn you away. Sure, you think you’ve been trouble, but… You’ve helped more than you think,” he said.

“Besides, you’re family,” Celia added, smiling warmly.

I didn’t know what to say to that. I just felt warm and welcomed. Accepted. Like I wasn’t just some girl they’d come across. I belonged. Mikey’s hand touched my back. He knew what I was feeling.

When I stood back up after breakfast, I almost fell over again. “That’s it. You’re going back to lie down,” he ordered.

I didn’t argue while he led me back to Gerard and Celia’s bed. “I love you,” I told him as he lay down next to me.

“I love you too,” he whispered.

“So where does that leave us?” I asked uneasily, looking away from his eyes.

“What do you mean?” I risked a glance at him. He was innocent, confused. Maybe this wouldn’t be that bad after all.

“I mean, where does that leave you and me? So I love you. So you live me. So what? What does that mean?”

Mikey scowled. “It means I want to be with you. Don’t you want to be with me?” For the first time, he didn’t sound as sure of himself. He seemed insecure.

“Of course,” I assured him. “It’s just… I wanted to make sure you want to be with me. Not just anyone.”

His frown did not lift when he replied, “I don’t know how you could say that. If you were anyone else, even in the same situation… I wouldn’t feel like this. But if I’d met you, in any situation, it would be, underneath, the same. You’re the only person that could’ve brought me out of depression, the only one who could’ve given me hope.”

“What about Ivy?” I asked softly. “You love her.”

I wish I hadn’t said it. I didn’t mean to cause him pain. “I can’t stop loving her,” he said sadly, sounding strange.

“I didn’t ask you to. I can’t ask that. I just want you to love me, too.” What if he turned me down? Maybe it was silly, but I worried he didn’t want me all that much after all.

He put my worried aside by kissing me. “You can have whatever you want. It’s yours already.”

I shook my head, saying, “All I wanted was you. What do you want?”

I saw his eyes get a little glassy, like he was imagining something. “I want you. And I want a family.”

I sighed. “Me too.”

Conversation stopped for a few minutes. It was just us holding each other, and my mind wandered. “Seven years,” I declared suddenly.

“Hm?”

“Seven years. I’ve been a vampire for sixty-three years. In seven, we can have a family. I can… I can give us that.”

Mikey pressed his lips to mine. “Do you want to?” he asked eagerly.

I grinned, replying, “As much as you do.”

His hands moved down my waist. “In the meantime… Can we practice?” He pressed himself tighter against me.

I blushed. Not because of the though, but because I could feel Gerard, Celia, and Adam’s blood not very far away, and I knew Mikey’s offer was immediate. They would know what we were doing.

“Not here,” I hissed. “Are you crazy?”

He didn’t answer me at first; he just scooped me out of the bed and carried me to the door. “No, I’m not crazy. I’m just – physically – a twenty-eight year old man who’s been alone for seventeen years. Well, maybe that does make me slightly crazy. Does it matter?”

I giggled. We were already halfway down the stairs. “Wait a second,” I said quickly.

He gave me a distressed look that said he really didn’t want to, but he paused momentarily. “What?”

“Stop in the family room so I can at least thank them one more time,” I ordered. “We’re not just leaving.”

“Fine,” he grumbled and carried me to the family room. “We’re going home for tonight,” he informed Gerard, Celia, and Adam. “We’ll come visit tomorrow… maybe.”

Gerard smirked, and Celia covered her mouth politely to hide her smile. They weren’t fooled.

“Thank you!” I yelled over Mikey’s shoulder as he started carrying me out the front door.