“It’s morning outside. Your internal clock is on the fritz,” I informed him as I gestured toward the drapes.
He stood staring at the edge of the curtains like he wasn’t sure if he believed me or not. “Pull them back if you don’t believe me. I’d like to see a free show this morning.”
He cocked his head to the side in bewilderment and backed toward the door. “I’ll check on Chansey when I get up tonight.”
Great! Just what I needed-Sol acting weird on top of everything I had going on in my life with Chansey and Marsala.
I spent the next several hours lying in bed with Chansey as she slept and it was noon before she finally woke. She rolled toward me, opened her eyes and broke into a big, beautiful smile when she saw me staring at her face. She stretched and squeaked out, “How long have you been watching me sleep?
“Oh, it started a few months ago. After I realized I was dreadfully in love with you, I began sneaking into your bedroom at night so I could watch you while she slept. I haven’t managed to stop doing it even though you’re my wife now. What can I say? I’m a sick bastard.”
She laughed at me, but didn’t disagree.
“Hey, you’re supposed to tell me how romantic I am for doing it,” I suggested.
“I think you’re weird for doing it, but it is sort of romantic...in a stalker kind of way, I guess.”
She quickly sat up and kissed me on my cheek. “Bathroom calls,” she said as she slid off the edge of the bed.
As I waited for Chansey to finish in the bathroom, I became a little nervous. She and I had not discussed her being changed since the beginning of Jenn’s transition and I wondered if it was a bad sign that she had not mentioned it the past several weeks. No one could blame her for changing her mind after the things she witnessed with Jenn.
When she came out of the bathroom, she wasn’t wearing the long T-shirt I had dressed her in after her near drowning. She had slipped into a black slip gown and her hair was down and flowing over her shoulders as she slinked her way toward me. “Mr. Brennan, your wife has missed being with you something fierce these past few weeks.”
I couldn’t contain the grin on my face. “Mrs. Brennan, you just had a near death experience. Don’t you think you should be in bed resting?”
She crawled up on the bed on all fours and said, “Oh, I certainly think I should be in this bed, but definitely not resting when I have such a mighty fine specimen of a man next to me.”
She pushed me to my back and crawled over me, letting her hair tickle my bare chest as she raked her locks back and forth over my chest. “Do you want me to lie down and go to sleep, Mr. Brennan?”
Intimacy was going to be different after Chansey became a vampire and I wouldn’t have moments like these for much longer. “No, I definitely don’t want you to lie down and go to sleep, Mrs. Brennan.”
The talk about turning her would have to wait. Right now, I needed to make love to my human wife.
˜ ˜ ˜
Chansey laid next to me with her arms and legs wound around me and her index and middle fingers did a little two-step dance back and forth in the dip of my chest.
I pulled her closer and said, “You really believe in making up for lost time, don’t you?”
“I guess I needed my Curry fix,” she laughed. “It had been too long since we were together and I was in withdrawals. You’d be wise to remember that for future reference.”
Her words sparked a reminder in me. We had to talk about the Marsala incident and what we were going to do to keep her safe. It was time to talk about changing her. “There’s something important we need to discuss.”
She waited for several seconds and then said, “Sounds like something serious.”
I turned my face toward her. “I’m afraid it’s very serious.”
Her fingers abandoned her playful dance and she sat up, pulling the sheet under her arms with her. “You’re scaring me, Curry.”
“We need to talk about Marsala.” Just saying her name aloud made me want to throw up. “Sure, I expected her to make another attempt at getting to me, but you...I never expected her to go for you, but I guess I should have. She almost killed you, Chansey. Another minute and she would have succeeded, so we have a decision to make. Our first choice would be to sit around and wait for her to try again, which she will, and possibly succeed.”
I steeled myself to say the words that I could never take back. I drew a deep breath and eased it out slowly before I said the words to connect us forever, but condemn Chansey to eternity as a vampire. “Or I turn you.”
I braced myself to hear her response. I didn’t want her to disagree because it put her in too much danger to remain human, but I didn’t want her to agree either because I wanted to keep my human Chansey, the one I met and fell in love with.
She reached for my hand. “It’s not what you want.”
I brought her hand to my lips and placed a gentle kiss on her knuckles. “It’s not, but I don’t want to risk losing you and she is a serious threat.”
She leaned forward to put her forehead against mine. We sat that way for what seemed like eternity and I could hear her heart racing the whole time. “When will you do it?”
“As soon as possible, but I want you to spend time with your family and friends first.” I didn’t mention the fact that it was because she would be debilitated for weeks.
“Yes, I would like that very much. I’ll call Granna and let her know we’re coming for a visit. I should probably tell everyone that when we return home, you are being sent on a job assignment and I’m going with you. I’ll say your assignment is in some third world country without much in the way of communication. That should cover my MIA status for a couple of weeks while I’m transitioning.”
I shut my eyes and lay back against the bed.
“Curry, look at me,” she pleaded.
I opened my eyes to see her hovering above me. “It will be bad for a while. We know that going in, but then it will all be fine. When it’s over, it’s over and you’ll be glad we did it because we can get on with the rest of lives together. For eternity.”
I could hear the countdown of the Chansey’s human timer clicking away. I had a week, tops, with my precious human Chansey. I knew she was about to enter eternity with me, but I felt like I was losing a part of her. It was a part I didn’t want to give up yet. I hadn’t had her human long enough. Damn Marsala for always ruining everything.
25 Weird And Cryptic
Naturally, Anna and Grady’s backdoor was unlocked when I opened it for Chansey. We walked inside and Chansey called out, “Granna, we’re here early because Curry drove like a maniac.”
Ugh! “Don’t tell your grandmother that. I did not drive like a maniac and I got us here in one piece.”
&
nbsp; “Yes, by grace. It takes a normal driver almost nine hours to get here from Savannah without stopping. We stopped and still made it in seven. That qualifies as driving like a maniac.”
Anna came around the corner smiling. “Oh, heavens. I thought you wouldn’t be here until after six.”
Anna gave Chansey a big hug as she explained, “Well, my Nascar driving husband got us here a little quicker than I anticipated.”
Anna looked at me over Chansey’s shoulder as she hugged her and I gave her a wink. “Keep on, Mrs. Brennan, and you’ll drive on the way back while I lay the passenger seat back and sleep the whole way.”
Anna stepped away from Chansey to look her over. She grabbed her hands and lifted them out to each side of her. “Are you feeling poorly?”
“No, Granna,” Chansey laughed. “I was just really sleepy on the drive over.”
Anna ran her eyes over Chansey carefully. “You’re pregnant, girl. Fatigue is one of the first signs.”
Chansey looked at me embarrassed and then back at Anna. “I’m not pregnant, Granna.”
“Time will tell us who is right, so I’m not going to argue about it. Get yourself in here to see your Granddaddy. He has missed you so much.”
Anna pulled Chansey by the hand into the living room. She shrugged at me as Anna led her and mouthed the words, “Sorry.”
I mouthed back, “It’s okay.” I didn’t know what else to say.
We spent the next hour catching up with Anna and Grady about our honeymoon and ‘faux’ lives in Savannah before Chansey went into the kitchen to help Anna cook dinner. I wanted to learn some tips on cooking since I ate food now, so I joined the ladies in the kitchen which Grady found humorous.
Anna put me to work on peeling red-skinned potatoes while Chansey battered the chicken and Anna rolled out dough for the biscuits.
“Mrs. Emerson, Chansey doesn’t cook like this for me at home. She’s been holding out on me,” I laughed.