by Night, H. T.
I wasn’t sure how we were going to do it. I’d have Yari marry us if I had to. Nonetheless, tonight was going to be the night I was going to ask her to marry me. I had set up a pretty elaborate evening with a couple of twists and turns. Everyone was in on it.
Linda stayed with the kids, and I told Lena we were going to have a date night, But we weren’t going to drive. This was going to be a Lois Lane and Superman evening. It would be Superman 2 with a gothic edge. Superman 2 was the romantic movie where Superman confesses his undying love for Lois Lane and wants to be human. Well, in my case I was both superhero and human and I already confessed my undying love. Now it was just time to close the deal with a ceremony.
Lena put on a long, beautiful white dress. It was a long, Gothic gown that made her look as if she is an angel. Lena’s hair had grown out over the year, and she reminded me of Christine Daaé from Phantom of the Opera.
I was getting ready in the upstairs bathroom. I was spiking up my hair. I didn’t see the point because I was going to be flying all night. But, I liked to look superb even if it is for five minutes.
Lena stepped into the bathroom at the same time I plucked a nose hair out of my nose.
“Very sexy!” she teased.
I looked at Lena and was taken aback. It had been awhile since she had been that dressed up and she looked phenomenal. “Not as sexy as you look in that white gown.”
“That’s only because you weren’t around when I plucked my nose hairs earlier,” Lena said winking at me. Lena walked over to me and nestled her body into mine. I looked at us both in the mirror. “We are a pretty cute couple,” I said.
Lena smiled, “We are cute parents.”
“That we are. Did you check on the boys?”
“Superdupernanny put Jason to bed, and she is rocking Joshua. Joshua was fussing something awful.”
“He is a little shit, isn’t he?” I joked.
“Stop it. He’s five weeks old.”
“I know. He is just so needy, and he never says thank you.”
“Well, neither does Jason.”
“Jason doesn’t have to. He’s perfect.”
“You know you’re going to need to watch that as the boys gets older.”
“I smiled at Lena, “I know, it’s just makes me happy and breaks my heart in the same instance. I know he’s the one the Deity told us about.”
“I know.” Lena looked at me and squeezed me tightly around my waist. We both knew the calling was on Jason. He obviously had a supernatural touch on his life. I think we both were refusing to think about what the Deity claimed would be his fate.
“You ready to go?” I asked.
“Sure am. Let’s get out of here before Joshua makes so much noise that I have no choice but to rock him.”
I took Lena’s hand, and we quickly went into my room. I looked at my clock on the wall, and it read 7:00 p.m. All the guys were ‘in place’ to make this an unforgettable night.
I opened the trap door to my bedroom and grabbed Lena around the waist. Then we hopped out through the door and took off in the night sky.
As we flew, Lena asked, “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see!” I flew towards San Bernardino.
“Do you think we should transition, so we’re not noticed?” Lena asked, concerned.
“We’ll be all right,” I said, as I made my way towards Cal State San Bernardino.
“Where are we going?”
I looked down at the main street that led up to the school. Right smack in the middle of the street was a gigantic white house. It was the frat house that I first saw Lena jump through the window two years ago. Lena and I landed on the sidewalk in front of the house.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Lena asked, not seeing the positive significance of the location.
“Lena,” I said “Even though the circumstances were not ideal, this is where I fell in love with you. Fighting for you on that night linked you to me forever.”
Lena wasn’t sure what to think, but she saw how seriously I was taking the moment. So, she gave in and concentrated on my words.
“Follow me,” I said. I took Lena by the hand, and we went around back where she had jumped out of the window. Right below the window, where she landed, was a dozen yellow roses. We walked over, and I handed her the roses that were wrapped in baby’s breath with a nice, big yellow bow. “Lena, here is where our friendship started. Here, is where you came in my life. This might not have been ideal, but that night was necessary for both of us to find one another.” I handed the roses to Lena. “These yellow roses are a symbol of our powerful friendship that has been crucial through this journey.” I leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips.
“You’re something else, Josiah Reign.”
“Well, we’re not done yet. Hold on to your roses.” I grabbed Lena around her waist, and we were off back into the night sky. This time, I flew much higher. I flew high up into the San Bernardino Mountains. We flew past the Flatlands and made our way closer to Big Bear.
We were now making our way to the infamous cliff area. The place where I had turned into Mani when Hector bit me. It was my third bite from a third vampire. We flew high up into the San Bernardino Mountains, making our way to the infamous cliff.
We landed softly on the exact spot where I had turned.
“What are you doing to me, Josiah?” Lena had no idea what to make of this experience.
On the cliff were a dozen white roses. I picked them up and them to Lena. “We have a strange, but powerful history. What can I say?” I looked at Lena and sighed. “This is the exact spot where my life changed forever. Right where we are standing is where I entered your world forever.”
“It wasn’t my world yet,” Lena corrected me.
“You may not have been a Mani in physicality. There was one thing that I have understood over the past few months. Some Mani were meant to be vampires, from the day they were born. It was only a matter of time until they met their true identity. Their change was only a step in their evolution. We were both born with Mani sensibilities. It’s what brought us together. It is what draws us to each other. I think it’s the part of you that I fell in love with first.”
Lena looked at me with tears in her eyes. “So, what exactly are you doing? What is all this? Bringing me to the frat house and now here?”
“Well, I brought you to the place because right here among these trees, and the top of this cliff is where our lives truly began.” I wrapped my arm around Lena from behind and moved her body in a position where she could see below the cliff. “Right below us is where I made a decision to fight for you. Ultimately, I fought for us. I stared death in the eye and had no choice but to jump. I had no idea that I was the great white eagle. All I knew was, I was coming for you. I was coming to protect you.”
I grabbed Lena around the waist, and we dropped down the cliff in a slow, smooth glide. I held up our flight before we hit the ground. We landed at the exact spot where I had killed Atticai and saved Lena. There was the last set of a dozen roses. These roses were red, as a symbol of love and blood.
I handed her the roses, and she was speechless. I laid Lena down in the exact position that she was in when I sucked her neck. Her white dress flowed over her body with her hair flowing backwards in my lap. “You did have less hair then, but you’re more beautiful now than I ever remember.”
I leaned over and kissed her neck. Lena closed her eyes. I took a little nibble from her neck for good measure. Then I reached into my pocket with Lena lying in my lap. I pulled out the jewelry case and flipped it open with the same hand in one slick motion. The box popped open with the diamond ring finally exposed in front of Lena’s eyes.
Her eyes popped open as she caught her breath. “Oh my God!”
“Lena, you and I have had quite the journey. There is nothing I want more than to love you every waking moment of the rest of my days. Lena, will you become Lena Reign and marry me?” I hadn’t anticipated her response. I knew
this is what she wanted, and in my heart, it is what I always wanted. This is my first ‘One Love’ and my destiny.
Lena calmly looked up at me and said, “If I say yes, will I have you all to myself, or is this something I’m going to have to share?”
“Lena, for now, our family needs to share my love. You will have to share my fate. My fate is in the Triat’s hands, and it is bigger than my own will.”
“Is it bigger than your family?” Wow, she is making this difficult.
“Lena they are one and the same. My fate and my family are one. My destiny is in hands far greater than any single decision I can make. What I can promise you is that I will always be the person you hold at night. I will always be the man of your life. I promise you, now and forever, that my heart is yours. My love is for my family…”
“Okay... Okay. Of course, I’ll marry you!”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Lena confirmed.
I gave Lena the longest, most passionate kiss that I had ever laid on her lips. Here we were, in the exact spot where both of our lives took on epic scripts. We sat out there together and loved on one another until it was too cold for her.
Lena and I gathered the roses. We made it back to the house where all our friends threw us a small, little party in honor of our engagement. Thank God, she said yes. That would have been embarrassing. The party went on long into the night and everyone celebrated.
The next couple of days were all about Lena. I took a couple of days off from training and just focused on her and the kids. It was a nice time just to be with my family. But I knew it wasn’t going to last long. I knew Krull was on the horizon.
Chapter Twenty-three
So, here I was with a small, dinky army. An army so small that I did need a biblical miracle for us to have any chance against Krull’s thug army.
I’d woken up early in the evening and made my way downstairs. Everyone in the house was up. It was comforting having so many people here in the house, but most importantly, I loved knowing that my two boys were downstairs waiting for their daddy to rock them.
I went into the nursery, which was my evening ritual when I woke up. I rocked and held each boy for about 30 minutes. Joshua was extremely fussy. His bright blue eyes always seemed as if he was up to something. Considering he was only six weeks old, I’m pretty sure that was only in my head.
Jason, however, had a way of giving off comfort and peace. The child was a ball of healing. Holding him each day seemed to restore my soul.
I was finishing my time with Jason, when Lena came in the nursery. There were two rocking chairs set up in the room, and I was already sitting in one of them. She picked up Joshua out of his crib and sat in the other rocking chair that was adjacent to mine.
I got up and scooted my rocking chair next to her. Here we were, two half humans and half vampires, rocking their kids as if we were some metropolitan couple. In my case, it was even weirder because I am also a werewolf.
Lena smiled at me and began nursing Joshua. Jason tended to reject Lena’s milk, but Joshua drank enough for the both of them. Lena put a blanket over Joshua’s head and covered her breast for modesty reasons, because who knew who would pop in on us? She rocked back gently and said, “When I took Economics with you during my senior year at Eisenhower, I would have never had guessed that in less than five years you and I would be engaged under these circumstances.”
“We had Economics together?” I asked, laughing. “I knew we had Home Economics, but not actual Economics.”
“You never noticed me. I sure as hell noticed you. You were my little obsession. You were everything I hated; popular, a jock, and you seemed extremely full of yourself.”
“You should have talked to me. You would have realized I was quiet because I had a tragedy in my life.”
“I know that now, but then… it used to make me so mad that you wouldn’t even look in my direction.”
“I was going through a hard time my senior year. I could barely function, yet notice the cute Goth chick checking me out.”
“It didn’t matter that you ignored me. It made you hotter,” Lena giggled. “Girls are so stupid. A guy ignores us, and all it does is make us think about him harder. Then when girls have guys tripping over them, we want nothing to do with them.”
“It’s nice finally to grow up, huh?”
“I don’t know, is it?”
“Is it what?” I asked.
“Is it any different? I mean, the last few days have been great, but you barely spend any time with me.”
“What are you talking about? I’m always in the same room with you.”
“You’re in the same room, but you’re miles away in your mind.”
I looked at Lena and said. “I promise you, when all of this is over with Krull, I will make it up to you every single day. For now, a lot of people need me.”
“I know.” Lena began to reflect and then laughed out loud.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I remember being in class and having the uncontrollable desire to squeeze your butt.”
“Squeeze my butt?” I laughed out loud and it startled Jason.
“Your butt is still one of your best physical attributes, Josiah.”
“Well, considering I have never intentionally exercised that part of my body, I’ll take it.” I smiled and lean back in my rocking chair. I had fed Jason earlier with formula from a bottle. I looked at Lena and thought about how I had kept Lena out of the loop for her own good. I never told her about Krull snagging a third of my army or the fact that I was now also a werewolf. I just don’t want to worry her.
Lena could tell something was on my mind. “What are you thinking about, Josiah?”
“I think it’s time I shared with you a couple of things. Just know I have kept these two things from you only because I didn’t want to worry you after your pregnancy.”
Lena now looked worried, and that was the last thing I wanted her to feel. She did, however, need to know the severity of the situation. “Okay, what are they?”
“The first thing is actually kind of cool.”
“Cool?”
“I think it is. It might not have been cool the way I found out about it, but the thing itself, is very cool. I can’t show you right now, but I have a whole new talent. I can also become a werewolf.”
“You’re joking, right?”
Lena looked confused. “So, now you’re half vampire and half werewolf?”
“No, I’m a lot vampire and very little werewolf. The only thing that is werewolfie about me is I can turn into one if I choose to.”
“I want to see it,” Lena announced. “Put Jason in his crib and make room to become this werewolf that is really cool.”
“Are you asking me to do it because you think I’m messing with you, or are you asking me because you want to see what I look like?”
“Maybe it’s a little of both.”
I got up and put Jason in his crib and turned to Lena. I made sure I wasn’t going to run into anything as I transitioned into the great white wolf. Yeah, I’m going to call the wolf ‘great’ too. I stood there, staring my fiancée in the face, huffing and panting like Old Yeller.
“For the love of God! Are you freaking kidding me? Change back, Josiah. You’re going to scare the boys.”
“I’m not going to scare the boys,” I thought in my head to myself.
“You certainly will. Look at you, you look like something out of horror movie.”
Holy crap! Lena heard my thoughts.
“Lena,” I said in my head.
Lena wasn’t looking at me, but said, “Yeah.”
“Look at me!” I shouted in my mind.
“Quiet! You’re going to wake the baby.”
“No, I’m not,” I said. “Look at me.”
Lena raised her head up and stared at me with her own mouth open.
“I’m not moving my mouth. You can hear my thoughts.”
I thought Lena was
about to pass out.
“Easy, Lena.” I transitioned back into my human form.
“Let’s see if you can hear my thoughts,” Lena said excited. “Turn back into the wolf.”
“I don’t need to turn into ‘the wolf’ to hear your thoughts,” I said.
“Are you kidding?”
“Lena, I have been able to hear anyone’s thoughts in this house if I wanted to since I came back from Mexico. I grew stronger after that escapade. I choose not to listen to your thoughts. I can turn it off if I want to.”
“You’re telling me that you always turn it off?” Lena pressed.
“Yes, I do.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Lena, don’t stop believing me now. If I tell you something, it’s the truth.”
“You waited this long to tell me that you can turn into a werewolf.”
“Omission is not the same as lying. If you ever had asked, I would have told you the truth.”
“Semantics. I don’t like that you can do that.”
“That’s the whole point is that I don’t do it. I have the ability to do it, and I don’t. That should count for something.”
Lena sat in her chair with Joshua and smirked. “You get all the breaks.”
“I think the Triat knew what they were doing, not giving you the ability to hear my thoughts. I don’t think you would be so nice.”
“I sure as hell would know every time you check out Yari’s ass.”
I laughed out loud. “She does have a great ass.”
“Shut up.”
“So do you, babe. Ever since your pregnancy, you’re junk in the trunk is hot. Baby definitely has now ‘got back.’”
“Really, you like it?”
“I love it. As a matter of fact, I would like to get up close and personal with it right now if you like. We can put the boys down and go upstairs.”
“Hold on, Casanova, you told me there were two things.”
“I did, didn’t I.”
“Okay, well…”
“The second one isn’t that cool. Actually, it’s potentially dangerous.” I paused and then said, “About a month ago, on the night we came back from dropping off Donya with Atticai…” I tried to choose my words carefully because I didn’t want to freak her out.