Abeyance

"Mommy! Daddy!"
I woke up to Valerie jumping on the bed, trying to wake Lights and I.
I smiled and sat up a little.
"Shh, don't wake up Lig-mommy." I whispered.
I guess I was sitting up enough for her to see my chest and the threads and bandages on it.
"What happened?" She gasped.
"I got hurt."
She frowned. "How?"
"It was the evil monsters."
Her frown deepened and she squeezed me. "I don't want them to hurt you, then they'll take you away, too!"
I shook my head. "I'll never let them take me away. Only if it's to protect you or mom."
She shook her head. "Don't let them take you away."
I rubbed her back. "I won't, I promise. I won't let them take you either."
She smiled a little. "Thank you."
"Now... Go read your book for a few minutes. I'm going to get dressed and wake up mom, okay?"
She nodded and left the room, closing the door behind her.
I sighed tiredly and laid back. I didn't get a good enough sleep for such a busy night. Lights and I got intimate for the first time after Valerie fell asleep. It was amazing. I wouldn't even say 'Yeah, we just had sex.' We didn't. I felt something. It was love. I made love to this woman. I loved her. I couldn't help it. Thinking about this, I got butterflies in my stomach. I had successfully fallen in love again. It was beautiful, really. I leaned over and kissed Lights' cheek sloppily.
"Morning, love."
Her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled at me.
"Morning."
We both leaned in and kissed.
"Thank you for everything last night. It was amazing. Every second of it."
I grinned. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, beautiful."
I stood up and pulled my clothes on. They were old and dirty from over a week's wearing.
She got up next and put hers on. I noticed a little bit of a limp as she moved throughout the room, which made me chuckle.
She stuck her tongue out at me playfully and got dressed.
"Oh, I love you..." I chuckled quietly. Her head shot up and she looked over to me.
"You... What?"
I froze. I didn't know if she meant that in a good or bad way. She wasn't even supposed to hear me, it just slipped out! But I had to tell her now. I wanted to.
"I love you." I smiled.
She smiled wide at me and pulled her shorts on. Half dressed, she walked over in shorts and a bra to squeeze me. "Do you mean it?"
"Of course I do!"
"That's great... Because I love you too." She grinned.
I spun her around and kissed her. This was marvelous!
"I don't even know what to say, I just feel so...-"
"Elated?" She laughed.
"Yeah!" I laughed, too. Elated couldn't even begin to describe how I felt. I didn't feel lonely anymore. I felt fulfilled. Excited! I wouldn't be living in this world alone. This ugly, alien filled world turned beautiful again.
I put her down so we can finish dressing and get breakfast with the baby.
When we were both geared up and ready, we got the baby ready. She made me just as happy. It was like it was all meant to be. A happy family. "What are we going to have for breakfast?" Valerie asked as we walked down the street.
I shrugged. "What do you want?"
"Ugh... Frosted Flakes!"
"We can do that."
I picked up Valerie and held her as we walked. I had this kid for a day and I already loved her like she was my own.
The only thing that put a damper on my mood, was that there were aliens out today. A lot of them.
Lights and I took turns holding Valerie, while the other took out their guns to defend the three of us. We couldn't let Valerie be touched. The both of us put our lives before hers. And each other.
Valerie didn't like the shooting. But she knew that when the bullet hit the aliens, they wouldn't be able to get any of us.
We made it to a store that would sell cereal after a 20 minute or so walk. It would have been a little quicker, but we kept a good eye out for anything that can hurt us.
We walked into the store and I took Valerie from Lights again.
"Lets find you some Frosted Flakes."
I saw Lights was watching me with a smile. She must have realized how attached I was to Valerie.
I handed her the box of Frosted Flakes and set her down on the floor. She sat down and began eating. This was one of the only stores we've been in that actually still had electricity, so I gave her cold orange juice.
"Thanks Daddy."
"You're welcome, sweet pea." I smiled.
I turned around and Lights and I got ourselves cereal as well. I took Honey Combs, and she took classic Cheerios.
We sat down next to Valerie and started eating. Lights also took a box of Poptarts, and we gave one to Valerie and split the other that came in the package. We both knew she needed the food more than we did.
"I love you guys." Valerie grinned, a mouth full of Poptart. I chuckled.
"I love you too, kiddo."
"And so do I."
I looked over to Lights and grinned. "And I love you, mommy."
She giggled. "And I love you, daddy."
We leaned in and kissed.
"Ew cooties!" Valerie closed her eyes by covering her face with her hands. Lights and I laughed and kissed again.
The door opening caused me to look up. It was another survivor. A heavily tattooed, taller man, who wore a shot gun on his back and pistol that twirled around his finger.
"Oh look, it's a family." His voice led me to believe he was British.
I looked at this man strangely.
"Who are-"
"Oliver Sykes." He held out a hand for me to shake. So I stood up and shook it.
"And who is this lady?" He asked and smiled at Lights.
"This is my girlfriend, Lights." I took her hand and helped her up.
"And this is our," I paused for a second. I was unsure of what to call Valerie. But I guessed daughter would be the best fit, "Our daughter, Valerie."
Oli shook Lights' hand, then pat Valerie's head in a friendly way.
"It's good to see I'm not the only one walking these streets. I see a family of three."
"We were more. But one passed away and two... I'm not sure, they disappeared a few days ago. That's all we've seen."
"You guys are all I've seen."
That wasn't promising.
Valerie leaned down to pick up her Poptart, then Lights picked her up and held her.
"You're not from here, are you Oliver?"
"Nope, am not. And please, call me Oli." He walked away and to a rack and started eating peanuts, "I'm from England."
"Would have never guessed." Lights laughed. I laughed, too.
"You're from Canada, aren't you? Ontario?" He looked my girlfriend in the eyes and cracked the peanut from it's shell.
She made a face that again seemed like that sounded familiar. Just like when the baby said her name was Valerie...
"I'm not sure, Oli. I lost my memory when all this happened."
"Well I'd bet you're from Timmins. Timmins, Ontario. I can tell by the way you talk."
She nodded slowly. I can tell she thought he was a little... Weird. I did too. But hey, he was a survivor.
"I don't know if you'd like to join us on the hunt for more survivors, but-" I stopped when a huge, I mean huge, extraterrestrial broke the glass of the store. We all jumped and looked at the scene. It's giant tail swung through the store, knocking down shelves and breaking everything in it's path.
"Mommy!" Valerie screamed and clung to Lights.
"Get Valerie safe!" I directed Lights and started shooting at the alien. But even my magnum didn't do much. It's long black body swerved like a snake, and it hissed at me threateningly. I noticed soon after that my gun shots weren't the only shots being fired. Oli had taken out his shotgun and started shooting, too. Oli had the right idea, he jumped on to the cashier's desk and started shooting from there. But I was stuck on the floor. There was no higher elevation other than the desk.
I tried to switch my gun, when suddenly I was knocked down to the floor, and my vision blurred and stirred.
"Kellin!" Lights screamed.
She kissed Valerie's head and tucked her safe in the corner.
"Don't move, okay. You'll be fine."
Valerie stayed shaking in the corner as Lights ran over to me to help me. I was loosing consciousness, and Lights was helping me. Oli was the only one shooting at the creature, who continued sweeping its way around the store.
Soon enough, it spotted Valerie in the corner. But Lights and I didn't know, we weren't paying attention. But Oli knew. He knew damn well.
As the snake slid across the floor towards Valerie, Oli did too. As it came closer, Valerie screamed, causing Lights and I to turn our heads. I ripped the shotgun away from Lights and aimed it at the head of the creature. Nobody touched my daughter.
Oli pushed Valerie aside and intersected with the creature, sending Oli to the corner, and Valerie sliding away from the scene and to safety.
I shot the black snake like creature, but the bullet did nothing. It unaffectedly hit his side. He spun around and picked Oli up by the neck with his tail and started choking him. Lights ran over to Valerie to make sure she was okay. I stood up and despite my aches and pains, ran over and continued shooting the creature in the head and chest. After a few shots, it fell to the floor dead. But sadly, so did Oli. It had successfully choked him to death before we can stop it.
I dropped to the floor on my knees, only hurting myself more. He died. He died saving Valerie. If he wasn't there, that creature would have strangled my daughter. My Valerie!
I did the sign of the cross and said a quick prayer on his behalf. He was a true hero.
After a few moments of silence and staring at Oli's dead body, I walked over to my two girls.
"We owe that man a big thank you." I told them and picked Valerie up. I squeezed her tightly, "He did a very brave thing."
Valerie was only 4, it was bad enough she had to experience these things already. So I didn't tell her what made Oli so brave. But I made sure she knew he was.
I kissed Valerie's head, then Lights'.
"I love you girls."
They both nodded and said "We love you too."
These girls meant everything to me. So I walked away with as much thanks as I can possibly give to Oli for saving them.