Chapter 21 - Future

The car slowed to a halt in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. I looked at Rebecca and shrugged before helping her out.
It was a warm summer night; almost uncomfortably so. There was only a whisper of wind in the trees and the air was balmy and sweet. I could hear the sound of running water not far off, and as my wife and I turned a corner we found the source of the noise. We both gasped.

Before us was a magnificent waterfall, plunging into a lake lit by floating candles. Beside the lake was a haze of exquisite flowers that enswathed a candlelit table and ornate woven chairs. Behind the table was a palatial canopy bed.

Strangely, I felt like I knew this place. Not that I'd been here before, but I was sure this was where my mum was talking about when she told me those stories as a kid. There was a waterfall she and Dad visited when they were teenagers - before they had me. When she returned to Moonlight Falls from Champs Les Sims she's spent a lot of time there. It was the setting for all the stories she'd make up for me when I was little. About princes, and princesses, and fairies, and goblins, and a snow white unicorn that came and blessed those who deserved its grace. Although she kept meaning to take me there, she'd never gotten round to it. This place was special to me even though I'd never visited it before, and I appreciated the personal touch.

I grinned and, offering Becca my arm, we walked the moonlit path towards the glade.

There was a picnic basket under the table, and we happily dined on jam tarts, fresh watermelon, cream pastries, blueberry muffins, white wine, pink lemonade, and more. This had Aunt Adeline written all over it; she was a wonderful chef.

Rebecca looked so beautiful sitting there. She was talking about the wedding and I was listening at first but I just got so distracted by her eyes - you could never get to the bottom of those eyes - and the way her lightly glossed lips were conjuring words out of the air. So beautiful. I was going to have to kiss her.

'And then darling little Hazel came and told me-' I leant over the tabletop, tilted her chin to face me, and pecked her on the cheek. 'Excuse you, I hadn't finished talking!' She laughed, but kissed me back.
'Sorry, I just really, really like you. And you're too lovely, you were asking for it.'
'I really, really like you too! And you know what? You're right. You look pretty kissable there sitting in the candlelight, and it is our wedding night.'
I smiled. 'Why don't we go and get changed and regroup in five minutes?'
'Sounds good!' She agreed. 'And, uh, there's something I want to talk to you about.' She mumbled before scampering behind a tree to change.

                    

'So, what did you want to tell me?' I asked, picking up a pebble and trying, and failing, to skim it across the lake. She laughed nervously and took my arm, flicking my wrist so the next pebble bounced across the surface three times before sinking to the bottom. She sighed and turned to face me properly.

'Jasper, I don't know how you're going to react to this, but I really need to say it because it just means so much to me and...' She sighed again and I took her hand. 'Jasper I want a baby. Well, more than one, but one's a pretty good place to start. Now please don't get mad or anything becau-' She stopped. I had swept her into my arms and was twirling around with her, interrupting her for the second time that night. When I set her down her cheeks were stained with tears.
'Darling, what's wrong?' I asked, wiping them away.
She smiled meekly and buried her face in my chest. 'So you're not mad?' She asked, ignoring my question.
'What? Of course not!' I kissed her neck and stepped back so I could look her in the eyes. 'Here I am, on the night of my wedding, having just married the woman of my dreams, and now she tells me she wants to have my baby as well? How could I be mad?' I held her close again and stroked her hair. 'This is the best thing you could ever say to me. Of course I want to have kids with you, that was always the plan. I love you and nothing would make me happier than becoming a parent with you.'

She laughed. Then she laughed some more. Then I was laughing with her and we were both lying on the grass in each other's arms.

Staring up at the sky, I spoke. 'When would you like a baby?'
'Does nine months time sound good?'
I chuckled and kissed her hair. 'Yeah. That sounds good.'

                    

'Are you sure you want to do this?' Becca asked.
'Sweetheart, I've told you, yes. Do you?'
She smiled. 'Yeah. A lot.'
'Then come here.'

I crawled onto the bed, moving my arms around her waist and pulling her closer to me.
'I love you so much, Becca.'
'I love you too.'

She placed her hand on my chest and kissed me gently. She was so warm and soft, not cold like me. I wondered if our child would be a vampire too, or a witch like my wife. My wife. Just thinking about that word made me giddy.

We stayed in that bed for the rest of the night. Oblivious to the world around us.

Oblivious to the fact that the story my mum told me had come true.

We were too busy writing our own chapter.

                    

After a long lie-in, Rebecca and I decided to spend the next day at the beach. We grabbed some brunch at a little Parisian-style bakery on the way and headed down to the ocean.

Our family had an old beach house that opened straight onto the shore. We ran inside, giggling as we dumped our clothes and changed into some old swimming costumes. I pulled a face at Becca and ran out to the door, shouting 'Catch me if you can!' as I did so. As a vampire I was a lot quicker than her and I was a good twenty metres into the water before she was wading in. I paddled back to her so we could swim out side by side.

We stopped only when Becca got tired. I held her whilst she caught her breath.
'I'm good.' She said and I let her go.

'Honey, you're beginning to smoke.' She pointed out, and she was right. Plumes of black fug were rising from my skin. I hated not being able to stay outside for very long in direct sunlight and made a mental note to get started on inventing a potion to fix it.
'Yeah, let's go back.' I said, ducking under the water so the sun's rays couldn't penetrate my skin.

As the sun began to plunge into the horizon behind us, we made our way inside.

I took Rebecca in my arms, feeling much more comfortable in the shade.
'I think I'm going to take a shower. Care to join me?'
'We're still soaking wet. I don't think I need one right now.'
'Nor do I. Care to join me?' I asked again, raising my eyebrows.
She laughed. 'Oh, right! Sure. I'll join you in a minute.'

I headed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. I thought to myself as I waited for my wife. I wondered what it would feel like to be a dad. I couldn't imagine loving anyone nearly as much as I loved Becca, yet here we were, setting out on the path towards parenthood. What would our child look like? Would they be a boy or a girl? What would we call them? That was a thought. Millions of names to choose from and we had to choose one that summed up our baby, whom we hadn't even met yet. We didn't even know if Becca was pregnant. Becoming a father was certainly going to be a journey and a half.

We spent the rest of the night lying on the sand. Everything seemed in love when we were together.
The sea kissed the shore, the wind caressed the trees, the gulls embraced the air, and the moon waltzed with the stars.