by Elle A. Rose
*
There is movement upstairs. By the sounds of the noise, it is coming from the northeast part of the house. The thud of little feet hitting the floor is now being engrained in my memory. I will know the little boy's movements from now on. After making a stop in the restroom, he slowly makes his way down the stairs. I stand to meet him at the bottom. “Good morning, Dominick. How did you sleep?” Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he seems to be startled by my presence.
“You’re still here?”
“Why, yes I am. Madeline, I mean your grandmother, asked me to stay for a few days.”
“Oh. Right! I forgot. Is grandma up? I'm hungry. I can go wake her if you are too.”
I do not know if I will get used to how quickly thoughts change in this child's mind. A smile comes to my face, this will definitely be a challenge. “Well, that reckons. It has been a long time since I’ve cooked. Depending on what you want to eat will determine if we need to wake your grandmother.” Putting a slim finger to his lips to ponder my question, the color of his gray eyes slowly turn lighter as he makes up his mind.
“Can you make me cereal?”
Hmm, I do not think cereal for him means the same as it does to me. As a child, cereal was usually a warm pot of gruel my mother would cook. It was bland but mother would add a tad of molasses and butter to the pot. When it bubbled, my siblings and I were always warned not to come near, unless we wanted to be scalded. Maybe he speaks about the cereal on those advertisements the television offers during the intervals of TV sitcoms. “I think you should show me where your grandmother keeps this cereal and we shall go from there.” Taking my hand with his little warm one, he guides me to the walk-in-pantry. He points up to the third shelf and I find three different colored boxes. I am assuming this is not the cereal I used to eat. “Which box do you want?”
“Can I have the green box? Those are my favorite.”
Pulling the box down, I believe there is a theme going on. The monster on the cereal box matches the one on his slippers. Moving back into the marble kitchen, I find the bowls. Then I glide to the breakfast table in the corner of the room. Like every other counter-top in the kitchen, this one, too, is a blackish-brown colored marble. Pouring a bowl full of green monsters shape objects with blue dots for eyes, I pull a chair out for him. He already has a spoon in hand. I must have missed where he took that from. I guess I was too interested in the green monsters looking up at me.
He looks at the bowl then at me with confusion. “I still need milk.”
“Milk?” Oh, got it. Thinking about those TV advertisements, I do recall seeing the actors pouring something into their bowls. I have not had much need for such things, and over the years, I never sat with Lance during his morning rituals. Is this what Lance ate in the mornings? Handing the jug of milk to the child, he gawks at me with what seems to be amusement in his eyes.
“WOW! You move really fast! How did you do that?”
I really need to pay closer attention to my movements—to my surroundings. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, here’s your milk.”
“I saw you do it. Well, I think I did.”
Turning to look at his food, he attempts to lift the milk. I believe he is going to need my help with it. Taking the jug slowly out of his grasp, I pour the milk. “Tell me when to stop.”
Staying in a house full of humans is not much different than staying with vampires. The only two huge differences are humans make much more noise when they move about, and the smell is more appealing than vampires. Dominick is watching TV in the family room, and Madeline is starting to stir upstairs. Her breathing changed about ten minutes ago. She has been crying on and off for the last five minutes. I do not know if I should go up to be with her or if I should stay down here. I am still having trouble making up my mind on if I want to read her thoughts. This would make it so much easier if I did.
On second thought, I will not need to go up there since she is getting out of the bed. I hear movement of clothing. She must be changing out of the clothing she slept in—the ones she wore to the funeral. Getting up to meet her at the bottom of the stairs, I try to greet her with a warm smile. The bags under her eyes give more meaning to all of the tossing and turning she did last night. “Good morning, Madeline-Maddie.” I know my face has gone from a warm welcoming smile to a sheepish grin. I need to work on calling her by her nickname.
“Hello, Amber. How did you sleep? Forgive me for sleeping in so late.”
“I didn’t need to sleep last night, but it was a very refreshing evening and productive morning.”
After looking in the garage, I found two cars not suitable to my liking. I went for a little run this morning to find a car rental place. I also had a chance to find the location of a few shopping plazas. I will shop there later today to make my stay here a little more comfortable.
“You didn't sleep? Was the room not suitable enough for you?”
“The room is fine, Maddie. I do not require a lot of sleep. My sleeping cycle comes during the week of the full moon. The latest cycle started on the day of the full moon and it just ended the night before. I will not sleep for another twenty-eight days.” I think what I am telling her is a little too much for someone who just awoke. “Come, have a seat. I don’t know how to work your coffee maker, but I’m sure I’ll have it figured out in no time.” I try to ignore the shudder that goes through her body as I grab her hand and pull her towards the kitchen.
“I can make my own coffee, but thank you.”
She pulls free of my grip and goes off towards the pantry.
As her coffee brews we sit in silence. I can hear Dominick pushing a toy car around in the living room. It must still be too early. I do not hear many neighbors moving about yet. In the house across the street a man is snoring. I am pretty sure all the windows are shut in both houses. “Maddie?” I pull her attention away from picking at her fingernails.
“Yes?”
“What happened to Dominick's parents? I’m assuming that you and Lance are...well, I mean, you’re raising him.”
“Steven and Genna, his wife, died in a car crash when Dominick was a year and a half. They both worked for a humanities group. It’s where they met and fell in love. They were on an annual trip to Africa delivering supplies. The officials were never too clear on all of the details but somehow the jeep, filled with, a guide, one other worker and them, tipped over an embankment, and the car tumbled down a steep hill. Dominick was staying with us at the time, and after the accident, it was best for us to keep him. Genna only had a mother and she isn’t well enough to care for him.”
She said all of this with no emotion. I feel sorry for her to have had so much loss in her family. I always wondered what happened after I never made it home from Mrs. Leavers’ house that night. My mother worried about sending me out alone. Did she blame what happened to me on herself? Was my father there to comfort her and tell her it wasn’t her fault? “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Maddie looks up with fire in her eyes.
“What do you know of my loss? How can you sit here and say that? You have no understanding of what I’m going through, what I went through.”
She gets up and pours herself a cup of coffee. “I’m not saying that I truly understand all of your loss, but I do understand losing someone you care about. Until the other day, it has been a very long time since I had to come to terms with the loss of a person. I’ve felt your pain.
“How dare you! You have the nerve to sit in my house and tell me you still have feelings for my husband. My. Husband? You know, I’m starting to think that this was a mistake, a mistake for calling you, and a mistake for allowing you to stay in my home.”
I am guessing she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She is truly trying on my patience, but she is upset. With a sigh, I say, “Look, Madeline, I’m not here to gloat that I knew Lance in a past life. Like you said yesterday, we are giving each other a chance to get to know a differ
ent Lance. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less.” Her eyes tear as she gazes at me over the rim of her coffee mug.
“Lance told me you helped him. What I want to know is how did you help him? And why did you help him?”
I do not think those were really questions. They came out more like a demand. “Can you come sit back down? I promise, I won’t bite.” I give her my perfectly white smile, hoping she will take what I said as a joke. Her cold glare slices through me as she moves back towards the table. As she sits, I try to answer her questions, “I did in a way help him. I made sure that while he was in school, he didn’t have to worry about the needs of everyday life. I knew how distracting it could be for him, between helping his mother, working, taking care of a house and everything that goes along with school.”
“I don’t know what you mean. How did you do all of that? When I met Lance, he told me he was single. The first time you and I met was at his mother’s wake.”
“When it was time for Lance to continue his schooling, I set up a few checking and savings accounts, to make sure he and his mother did not go without.”
“What about the college stuff? He said you set up accounts for our children. How-why-where did you get all this money from?”
I sense this is hard for her to wrap her mind around. I don’t want to overload her on the first day. “I did set up a college fund for the children. I wanted Lance's family to have the best opportunities there were around. I wanted to make sure Lance had it all. Including the things I couldn’t give him personally.” It is my turn to not make eye contact. Telling Lance's widow everything is going to be much harder than I would have thought.
She closes her eyes and begins to weep, “So it was all a lie.”
I do not know if she is talking to me or herself. “Maddie?” I dare not touch her. I may have a thick skin, but the feeling of her rejecting me even with the slightest movement will most likely upset me.
“Maybe this was a bad idea, Amber. I don't think I can do this. I don't think I can stand to learn all of these lies. Or to learn about a Lance I never would have thought existed.”
“We both just need time. This’ll work. Lance wanted it this way. That’s why he asked you to call me.” Dominick stops playing with his car and comes into the kitchen.
“Grandma, what’s wrong?”
The little boy is standing in the doorway with a bright red race car in his hand. Even for a child, he is trying to be brave for his grandmother as he tries to hold back his tears. Walking over to us slowly, he wraps his small fingers around his grandmother's arm and tries to pull himself into her lap, forcing her face out of her hands.
“Nothing is wrong, sweetie. Grandma is just a little sad, that's all.”
I am invading on a private moment that grandmother and grandson are sharing so I stand and say, “I know all of this is going to be hard for you, Dominick and myself. I would like to stay, but I will only do so if you want me too. I can give you some time to think about it. I am going to go to a shopping center to pick up a few items of clothing for my stay, and you will be out of milk soon. If you like, I will spend the day out and give you time to clear your head.”
Madeline stands and places the boy on the floor. “I don’t think I will change my mind, and you’ll be wasting your money if you go out to buy clothing for a stay that you won’t be having here.”
How has this day started off so wrong? I know she just needs time to think. As I start to speak, she turns and walks down the hall towards the stairs. I should go after her, she is not moving quickly, but it will be best if we both have time away.
A slight tugging on my left arm brings my focus back to the little boy still standing in the kitchen. “May I go with you to the store?”
I do not know what to say. I have never gone on an outing with a child--at least since I have become a vampire. “I think I’ll need to ask your grandmother. She may not think it’s a good idea for you to go with me.” Is that not what you tell a child when you want them to back down? Bring up the topic of asking a parental unit, should the child not go running and hiding? Hmm, perhaps not. He is smiling at me. Before now, I did not notice his dimples--one in each cheek.
“Okay! I’ll go get dressed.”
Is he even old enough to get dressed by himself? Sighing and shaking my head as I follow the boy upstairs. I am not looking forward to asking Madeline if I can take her grandson out on the town. Since she went into her room, it has been nonstop crying. Coming to a halt at the closed door, I knock loud enough, hopefully, for Madeline to hear over her sobbing.
“What do you want?”
I guess I knocked loud enough. “I’ll be leaving for the store shortly. Dominick would like to know if he can come with me.” Nothing… “Madeline?”
“I don't think I want him going with you. How do I know he’ll be safe?”
“Madeline, don’t you think if I wanted to by now, I could’ve done something to harm you or him? If I wanted to run off with him, would I have come to ask your permission? Can you please trust me? I’ll have my cellular phone on me. You have the number. You can call to check up on us if you like. It will give you time to yourself.”
Another bout of silence--well, besides her slight sniffling.
“Fine, go ahead, but please leave the phone number where I can find it. Like on the kitchen table.”
I wonder if she destroyed the phone number after calling me the first time. “All right, Madeline I will. We’ll be back later.”
Making sure I leave my cellular phone number visible for Madeline on the breakfast table, I head towards the garage. Dominick is waiting for me. I am assuming that he thinks we will be using one of his grandparents’ cars. I wager he will admire the vehicle that we will be riding in instead. I was able to find a car rental place this morning that had a red BMW sports car that looked a lot like the one Dominick played with while watching TV.
Meeting the child in the garage, I question if Madeline allows him to dress himself often. He is not dressed in something I would expect to see on a child. Under his bright red jacket—which by the way makes a weird and annoying noise as he moves—he has a navy and green striped shirt which does not go well with his bright orange…well hmm, they smell like cotton, but I am unaware of what these pant things are called. I will have to ask Madeline later. Anyhow, one pant leg is not pulled down and it reveals a sock which matches his slippers and cereal theme. To make matters worse, his shoes light up as he walks. We may need to do some clothes shopping for him as well, if these are the kind of clothes he has to work with. I find the lights on his shoes very distracting. I have seen those before on little children as they walk by. I do not think their parents know that by buying shoes like that they could possibly be putting their offspring in danger. I have had to fight the urge many a time not to want to run after the moving flashing lights. It must be the animal instinct in me. I wager however, if it has crossed my mind, than other vampires have most likely acted on it. Not to say it would be much fun, with those small moving legs, the hunt would be over much too quick.
Dominick walks over to the white car and waits for me. I shake my head and use my finger to lure him to follow me. I open the garage door, we head for the driveway.
I let Dominick walk out first.
“WHOA! Whose car is that? I haven’t seen it here before.”
Smiling down at the child, I slowly move towards the car. “It’s my car, my rental car. I take it that you like it?”
“Yes!”
He runs to it and mashes his face and hands on the side window to see inside. The weather today is a little better then yesterday. There’s no rain but a slight fog is rolling in. Watching him clear the window of the steam that is blocking his view of the inside, I walk over and unlock the passenger side door. Instead of jumping in like I figured he would, he hesitates and looks up at me. Raising an eyebrow at him, I wave, inviting him to get in. “Climb in so we can go.”
“
What about my booster seat?”
I shake my head. I do not understand. “What’s a booster seat?”
“The seat I need to sit in when riding in a car. When I turn six, I won’t have to sit in it anymore.”
Until now I have not paid close attention to stuff like this. Before now I had no reason to even have a child in my vehicle. “Where is your seat thingy?”
“I have two. One in grandma's car, and one in granddad's car.”
I turn and look back towards the structure holding both the cars he speaks of. I do not understand why he needs more seating than what is already offered in a car. Do their little bodies need more cushioning? “All right, let me go have a look and I’ll see what I can do. Go ahead and get in for now.” I worry about what I just told him. He has mud on the bottom of his shoes, and as I turn back to look for this seat thing, his little feet hit something, like hard plastic. I am certain he just put mud on the glove box.
There is dim lighting in the garage but I do not have trouble seeing in the windows of the two cars. I am assuming the seat Dominick is talking about is strapped down in the middle backseat of both vehicles. The door on the black sedan is unlocked. As I open the door, I get a wonderful reminder of Lance’s scent. This must have been his vehicle. I close my eyes and inhale a few deep breaths and try to fill my lungs with his scent. Wanting to do nothing more than close myself in here, I regret I cannot, so I straighten up and open my eyes. Getting off course will not help. Looking at the child's chair, I have no clue where to begin to get it out. I am positive it is something simple, but I also do not want to destroy this car in the process of figuring out how simple it is. If this was not the automobile Lance used to drive, I probably would just rip the stupid thing out of the back seat. Then again, I do not know if I would know what to do to get it into the rental. Taking a few more deep breaths, and committing once again Lance's scent to my memory, I turn and head back to the kid.
“What happened to my booster seat?”
I have to say the child is smart. He has already put the key in the starter and has the radio on. “I don’t think we’ll be needing your seat on this trip.”
“But it’s supposed to keep me safe.”
Really? Oh, well, I had not thought of that. “Don’t worry, you’ll be safe. We won’t be going far.” He seems to be all right with my answer, so I climb into the driver’s seat.
Pulling into the Bellevue Center Mall, I know the first place Dominick would like to go. On the ride over he talked about wanting to do something nice for his grandmother. He told me how whenever his grandmother was upset or his grandparents had a disagreement, Lance would bring Madeline flowers the next day. I tried to explain to him that flowers were not always the best thing to buy since they die, or maybe it was the fact that I had a tight pain in my chest thinking of Lance giving Madeline flowers and not me. Nonetheless, I was able to convince him into thinking about a little more permanent gift. The next issue was that he was worried because he only had a dollar. Dominick claimed he would need to be mindful of what gift he did buy for his grandmother since his money was limited. Once again, he had me sitting in amazement at how smart he is. I assured him we would find a present for her, and I would be able to help him with the cost.
Stepping out of the car, I swiftly walk to the other side and open the door for him. His little arms were having trouble reaching the inside handle from where he sat. As he steps out, he grabs my hand. His little warm fingers fit nicely inside of mine. He reminds me of when my little brother and I would take long walks in the woods behind our house, and he would hold my hand when we went into the “scary” part of the woods. I would tell him, over and over again, there was nothing to worry about, the foliage was just heavier in those parts and we were just as safe there as we were a few feet back. Still, he would hold so tight I would wonder if his little fingers would start to cramp after a while. I guess he had a better grasp on how dangerous things really were.
I need to remind myself to walk slower. I was wondering why I heard running until I looked down and saw I was half dragging the poor kid across the parking lot. How in the world do human mothers do this? After spending these past few hours with just one child, I understand why it is best vampires are unable to have offspring. I am sure if I would have lived as a human long enough to marry Robert, we would have had children. I wonder if I would have been a little more observant if they were mine.
Stopping in front of the first jewelry store we have come across, I look down at my new friend. “What do you think about buying something for your grandmother out of here?” He looks from me to the store with the artificial lighting to make all the gems in the store shine, and then he looks back at me. There is not a lot of confidence in those gray eyes, but in a very quiet voice—which I am sure if I was not a vampire I would have missed it—he says, “Okay.”
Heading into the store, the two salespeople look from me to Dominick. I am still wearing the black strapless dress and silver high heels I had on yesterday, and Dominick, well we will fix that soon.
“May we help you?” asks the younger male as he steps forward.
I look to Dominick. “Go ahead and tell him what you are looking for.” Dominick only takes a few seconds to think before responding to the man.
“Do you have a pretty bracelet? It has to be pretty. It's for my grandma. I hope it’ll cheer her up.”
The salesman looks back at me with one eyebrow raised. Without reading his mind, I can tell he is wondering if we are serious or not. Maybe I should help. “Dominick, what’s your grandmother's favorite color?”
“Blue.”
I bring my gaze back to the young salesman and smile. “Can you please show us everything you have in a topaz or sapphire with diamonds in a platinum setting?” This has gotten the young man’s attention. He is wondering now if I am someone famous or just rich.
“Yes, ma'am. Please have a seat over there and I will be right back.”
Sitting, I am surprised that Dominick has decided to sit on my lap instead of in the chair next to me. Children can be very affectionate, that, or he wants a better look as Mel—which is what his name tag says—starts to reveal the bracelets they have in stock. Dominick reaches out to touch some of the jewelry. I sense this makes Mel nervous, so I give him a hard glare letting him know to keep his mouth shut. Dominick picks up a tennis bracelet that has an alternating pattern between the three stones.
“I like this one.”
Holding it towards me so I could get a better look—not that I need one—I believe this kid has good taste. “You’re sure?” He nods once. “All right then. We would like this one.”
Leaving the jewelry store, we need to head for the first boutique we come across. After I pick up a few things, we shall find the miniature people store for some new clothing for Dominick. I will also need to find some sort of electronic store as well, and maybe even a book store. I looked through the books at Lance's house last night, and they were either medical books, romance novels—which I have read all of them already—or children’s stories. The nice thing about being a vampire is we can travel light, the bad thing about being a vampire is we travel light.
“Amber?”
Pulling me from my mental chatter, I glance down making sure I am not moving to swiftly for the boy. Good, he is not breathing heavily, so that must not be want he wants. “Yes?”
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
Bathroom. Oh, bother, this is going to be interesting. I thought he still wore a diaper or something. But as a sniff the air, I do not smell anything to indicate that he would be wearing one or had used it. Now what? “Do you have to go right now?” I do not mean for my words to sound as sharp as they do. I can tell they sounded much harsher to Dominick than I intended. His eyes start to fill with tears. Shoot, shoot, shoot.
“I don't think I can hold it.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. Give me a second to locate one.�
� Closing my eyes for a split second, I let my other senses take over. I hear running water in all directions, but listening closer, I hear toilets being flushed. It is coming from the south end of the mall. I twist my body and start to walk that way. As we get closer, I take a deep breath. Yes, we are definitely on the right path. It makes sense, the restrooms are near the food court. As we walk down the hallway, I receive a lot of stares from men leaving the restroom. Ignoring them, we stop in front of the men's room. I do not understand how women say the men's room smells funny, when truthfully, they both smell equally as bad. Dominick is looking at me, and I resist a sigh. I have no idea what he is waiting for. “I thought you had to go?”
“I do.”
Giving him a questioning gaze, I start to speak but he beats me to the punch.
“I can't go in there alone.”
Once again, I am out of my element. “What do you mean?” Shaking his head, frustration etches itself on his little face.
“Either I go in with grandma and she waits for me or I go in with granddad.”
Crap, I need to go into the bathroom with him? “Well...um. Do you need help or something?” He drops his sight towards the ground and begins to kick the toe of his shoe into the tile floor.
“No, I don't think so. But I’ve never gone in there by myself.”
“I think you’ll be fine. I’ll be right here if you need me.” Without another word, he turns and marches into the bathroom. I open my ears to hear everything that is going on in there. I think it is a bad idea for me to mind hop. If I was going to do that, I might as well just walk in there. I am sure some of the men in there would have a problem with that.
My body stiffens when I hear a man speaking. It sounds like it is coming from the same direction I just heard Dominick move towards.
“Do you need help washing your hands?”
I am confident I heard the crinkle of his jacket. He must be nodding his head again. I will need to work with him and using words.
“All set!” Dominick calls and comes running out with a huge smile on his face.
The man who helped him and what looks to be his son are right behind Dominick. He gives me a once over and smiles as we both turn to leave the hallway. I ignore the man and his child, reaching for Dominick’s warm little hand, we head off to our next task.