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September 3rd, 2014
Two days I sat on the bed completely frozen. Two days I sat listening to Johanna come and go, sobbing downstairs on the couch, trying to find peace from Rhoan and Jordan. Though, she never once told them that she was pregnant, one night she whispered in my ear that she was waiting for me to stand with her and tell everyone. I wasn't paralyzed with anger, but with fear. I had heard what Bella went through. The baby breaking her ribs and bruising her stomach, causing her to wait at death's doorstep with its greedy monster desires. In the end the baby had snapped her spinal cord and Bella had almost died from it...almost. Oh my gosh, Johanna will be a vampire then. This thought warmed me from my toes all the way up, granting me full use of my limbs. After these next 7 months she would finally be a vampire. Finally! But I was still worried for all the pain that she would have to endure, and all because she was carrying my child.
At that second Johanna came walking in through our bedroom door.
She sits down next to me and I grab her hand.
"Honestly, how do you feel about this? Don't be afraid of hurting my feelings."
I kissed the back of her hand and said, "Thank you. You couldn't have given me anything more wonderful than this. When I met you I started becoming human, much to my dispair. And now this baby might complete that process."
"Really? So you want this baby?"
"As much as I want you." I kiss her lips, "Let's think of names. Okay, if it's a girl-"
"Its a boy, I can tell. And I already chose a name."
"How can you tell?" I was a little hurt that a name was chosen without me.
"I'm the mom, of course I can tell what my child will be. I want to name him Nikolai. After your older brother, if that's okay."
All traces of my anger had vanished. I felt nothing but pure, undying, unyielding, love for the woman sitting next to me.
I hugged her tightly to me as I whispered the words, "Its perfect. Your perfect. Johanna, this will be the best thing that ever happened to us."
"I know it will be." After a few minutes of us hugging each other Johanna gets up and jogs out of the room. She returns with a huge present box complete with a big red bow on top.
"I don't need you dying over every little ache or pain of mine so I got you your own little baby to take care of."
"What? Johanna, I have you to look after, I don't need anything else." I protest as she places the giant box on the floor in front of my feet.
But the excited, loving look on her face coupled with my own excitement had me unable to resist. I pulled the top off the box and as I'm about to peer over the top a little black and white bundle of fur pops over the edge. It hung its front paws over the edge of the box, tilted its head and let out a small yelp.
"A dog?! You got me a dog?!"
"Isn't he cute!" Johanna exclaims while picking him up out of the box.
"Johanna, we're going to have a baby in 7 months. We don't need a dog to take care of too!"
"He's a siberian husky, he'll grow up to be a big dog, and he needs excersise so you can take him running when you go out." She puts on the pout, lower lip jutting out, "I named him Nanuk."
I stared at the black and white fur ball in her arms, paws in front of his pink tummy and blue eyes clear and blinking innocently.
"Well-"
"Oh yay! I'm so glad you love him! You two are going to be best friends!" She giggles excitedly as she drops the fur ball into my lap and runs out of the room.
I look down at my lap and the dog turns his eyes to meet mine.
"So I guess I'm stuck with you , huh?"
The little beast let's out a low growl from its chest.
What a little monster!
I tried to move my hand but it lashed out and bit me!
This goes to show that looks are very deceiving. As I was about throw him across the room Johanna walks in. The little devil glares at me before yelping out in pain.
"Gabriel! What are you doing to him? Your hurting him!"
She rushes over and grabs the beast out of my hands, cuddling him close like she would a baby.
"Johanna, that dog is viscious and a monster."
She flat out laughs, "Just go take him for a walk into town to get some pet supplies." She places the liar on the bed next to me and snaps a picture before rushing excitedly down the hall.
The dog yelps and jumps off the bed, I follow and watch as his short legs have him tripping down the stairs. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Nanuk is scratching at the front door.
"Fine. Let's go," I growl.
Our walk into town consisted of us walking three feet apart, never taking our eyes off each other. He didn't trust me, and I definitely did not trust him.
Blue collar. Dog food. Leash. Toys. Those are things that the people at the store gave me. They praised the little puppy, rubbed his ears and called him 'cute'. The beast soaked it all in, relished in the love they showed him, but gave me the evil eye when no one else could see. I became absolutely sure that I was no longer paranoid but that Johanna had bought me a demon dog.
Out of the store we went. The vampire, and the demon. I wondered, was it just me that the dog hated? Or was it all vampires? I guess Jordan could help me answer that.
I dropped the dog stuff at the house and took Johanna's hand in mine so we could cross the field to Jordan's house where Rhoan was also chilling out. Kill four birds with one stone.
We walked in through Jordan's front door.
"Anyone home?" Johanna calls.
"In here, Auntie Jo!" Sophia calls from the kitchen.
We walk down the hall, the sound of little puppy feet behind us, his nails clicking against the wood floors.
"Oh my gosh! You guys got a puppy?!" Sophia shrieks from the table as she sits down on the floor to pick him up.
His tail wags and he yaps a little at the excitement of this little girl who adored him.
"Gabriel, is he yours? He is so cute," Jordan holds her hand up to the monster and without hesitation, his pink tongue licks her fingers.
Great. It was just me that he hated.
"Yeah. Johanna bought him for me."
"Getting more and more human everyday, huh, pal?" Rhoan remarks from the other side of the kitchen table.
"You have no idea," I half whisper.
"What's his name?" Sophia asks eagerly.
"Nanuk. He likes you, maybe he can come over here and play with Midnight. A lot."
At the sound of her name, Midnight runs out of her hiding place on top of the stairs and into the kitchen. The two dogs have a stand off. Little Nanuk had jumped from Sophia's arms to stand with his chest thrown out and trying to look like a big dog. Midnight on the other hand looked about as terrifying as a stuffed animal. Her big black tail wagged back and forth while Nanuk's stood straight as an arrow. Midnight's tongue lolled in and out of her mouth, Nanuk kept his mouth closed except for the strange little high pitched growl he was doing.
The tension dissappeared in a second, Nanuk was pretending he was bigger than Midnight while Midnight probably thought he was like her brother or baby or something. The two started playing by the refrigerator.
Johanna lightly squeezes my hand, telling me that she can't wait any longer.
I clear my throat, "We have some very important, very big, news. Johanna is-"
"I'M PREGNANT!" She interrupts happily.
"Oh my god! No way! Congratulations!" Jordan jumps up and the girls hug and happy dance and Josh even gets pulled into it. The whole happy party moves into the living room.
"Wonder how that happened," Rhoan says lazily as he saunteers in to join the excitement.
"You and me both," I sighed.
The only person that I noticed had gone missing was my smart little niece.
I looked down the hall and saw her staring out the front window.
"Why so sad, dear little one?"
"Is it bad that I'm happy and mad at the same time?"
I knew where this was going.
"I thought you and Johanna got along?"
"We did. Until she got pregnant."
"Sophia, what does that have to do with anything?"
"There's goona be a baby. I didn't like having to share you with Aunt Johanna and I definitely don't like having to share you with a baby too and its a known fact that your goona love the baby more than you love me because it will be yours."
"Your mine. Your my smart, beautiful, incredibly kind niece. I've adored you since the minute I saw you and decided that I would love you always. No matter who or what came into my life, and if they don't like my love for you then I don't like them."
"You know what I mean about it being yours, Uncle Gabriel." I could see the tears in her eyes.
"Well, is that a rule? Do I have to love the baby more than I love you? You were my life before Johanna came back, and you still are. Look at me and tell me if I've ever stopped loving you more than I did before Johanna showed up."
She though about it, "No, you never stopped."
"That's the beauty of love. Its unconditional, you can always make more of it. Just because this baby will be coming into our lives doesn't mean that I will take any love away from you, it just means that I can make more, for you, for Johanna, for the family, and even for the baby."
"I love you, Uncle Gabriel."
"I love you more," I pull her into my arms and hold her.
"You reminded me what it meant to love before you could even talk, and because of you I'm getting better and better at it each day."
"Can I go wish Aunt Jo congratulations?" She smiles sweetly.
"Of course you can," she takes my hand and leads me into the living room.
I take a seat next to Johanna while Sophia congratulates her and when Sophia goes to sit by Jordan I scoop her up and sit her in my lap.
We talked about the baby a little, then we just talked, and then laughed.
Its human nature to love and be loved. We all love each other. The wives love their husbands, the husbands in return love their wives. The best friends love each other for all the things they've done together. The little girls sitting on our laps love to be included and remembered. And even the pets show their love and loyalty by laying at our feet or by sleeping in our rooms at night, guarding us from the unseen and unexpected.
"I heard what you said to Sophia." Johanna says, her eyes on Nanuk who had ran ahead, "Your going to be a great father."
"And you will be a great mother." The smile on her face turned sad and nostalgic but I didn't question it because I knew that she didn't want me too.
A great father. I thought that was the biggest lie she ever told me. But I guess we'll see in 7 months because there is no way to predict the future. No way to protect ourselves from the unknown or more importantly to protect the ones we love most. Besides loving one unconditionally, how else do we show such love? Gifts. Johanna would be giving me the greatest gift of them all and she deserves one of her own. That's when I decided that I was going to build her a house. One that she could call her own, one where it would just be us and the baby, one that completely mirrored her personality. Because, after all, love makes you do crazy things.
-Gabriel
Two days I sat on the bed completely frozen. Two days I sat listening to Johanna come and go, sobbing downstairs on the couch, trying to find peace from Rhoan and Jordan. Though, she never once told them that she was pregnant, one night she whispered in my ear that she was waiting for me to stand with her and tell everyone. I wasn't paralyzed with anger, but with fear. I had heard what Bella went through. The baby breaking her ribs and bruising her stomach, causing her to wait at death's doorstep with its greedy monster desires. In the end the baby had snapped her spinal cord and Bella had almost died from it...almost. Oh my gosh, Johanna will be a vampire then. This thought warmed me from my toes all the way up, granting me full use of my limbs. After these next 7 months she would finally be a vampire. Finally! But I was still worried for all the pain that she would have to endure, and all because she was carrying my child.
At that second Johanna came walking in through our bedroom door.
She sits down next to me and I grab her hand.
"Honestly, how do you feel about this? Don't be afraid of hurting my feelings."
I kissed the back of her hand and said, "Thank you. You couldn't have given me anything more wonderful than this. When I met you I started becoming human, much to my dispair. And now this baby might complete that process."
"Really? So you want this baby?"
"As much as I want you." I kiss her lips, "Let's think of names. Okay, if it's a girl-"
"Its a boy, I can tell. And I already chose a name."
"How can you tell?" I was a little hurt that a name was chosen without me.
"I'm the mom, of course I can tell what my child will be. I want to name him Nikolai. After your older brother, if that's okay."
All traces of my anger had vanished. I felt nothing but pure, undying, unyielding, love for the woman sitting next to me.
I hugged her tightly to me as I whispered the words, "Its perfect. Your perfect. Johanna, this will be the best thing that ever happened to us."
"I know it will be." After a few minutes of us hugging each other Johanna gets up and jogs out of the room. She returns with a huge present box complete with a big red bow on top.
"I don't need you dying over every little ache or pain of mine so I got you your own little baby to take care of."
"What? Johanna, I have you to look after, I don't need anything else." I protest as she places the giant box on the floor in front of my feet.
But the excited, loving look on her face coupled with my own excitement had me unable to resist. I pulled the top off the box and as I'm about to peer over the top a little black and white bundle of fur pops over the edge. It hung its front paws over the edge of the box, tilted its head and let out a small yelp.
"A dog?! You got me a dog?!"
"Isn't he cute!" Johanna exclaims while picking him up out of the box.
"Johanna, we're going to have a baby in 7 months. We don't need a dog to take care of too!"
"He's a siberian husky, he'll grow up to be a big dog, and he needs excersise so you can take him running when you go out." She puts on the pout, lower lip jutting out, "I named him Nanuk."
I stared at the black and white fur ball in her arms, paws in front of his pink tummy and blue eyes clear and blinking innocently.
"Well-"
"Oh yay! I'm so glad you love him! You two are going to be best friends!" She giggles excitedly as she drops the fur ball into my lap and runs out of the room.
I look down at my lap and the dog turns his eyes to meet mine.
"So I guess I'm stuck with you , huh?"
The little beast let's out a low growl from its chest.
What a little monster!
I tried to move my hand but it lashed out and bit me!
This goes to show that looks are very deceiving. As I was about throw him across the room Johanna walks in. The little devil glares at me before yelping out in pain.
"Gabriel! What are you doing to him? Your hurting him!"
She rushes over and grabs the beast out of my hands, cuddling him close like she would a baby.
"Johanna, that dog is viscious and a monster."
She flat out laughs, "Just go take him for a walk into town to get some pet supplies." She places the liar on the bed next to me and snaps a picture before rushing excitedly down the hall.
The dog yelps and jumps off the bed, I follow and watch as his short legs have him tripping down the stairs. When I reach the bottom of the stairs, Nanuk is scratching at the front door.
"Fine. Let's go," I growl.
Our walk into town consisted of us walking three feet apart, never taking our eyes off each other. He didn't trust me, and I definitely did not trust him.
Blue collar. Dog food. Leash. Toys. Those are things that the people at the store gave me. They praised the little puppy, rubbed his ears and called him 'cute'. The beast soaked it all in, relished in the love they showed him, but gave me the evil eye when no one else could see. I became absolutely sure that I was no longer paranoid but that Johanna had bought me a demon dog.
Out of the store we went. The vampire, and the demon. I wondered, was it just me that the dog hated? Or was it all vampires? I guess Jordan could help me answer that.
I dropped the dog stuff at the house and took Johanna's hand in mine so we could cross the field to Jordan's house where Rhoan was also chilling out. Kill four birds with one stone.
We walked in through Jordan's front door.
"Anyone home?" Johanna calls.
"In here, Auntie Jo!" Sophia calls from the kitchen.
We walk down the hall, the sound of little puppy feet behind us, his nails clicking against the wood floors.
"Oh my gosh! You guys got a puppy?!" Sophia shrieks from the table as she sits down on the floor to pick him up.
His tail wags and he yaps a little at the excitement of this little girl who adored him.
"Gabriel, is he yours? He is so cute," Jordan holds her hand up to the monster and without hesitation, his pink tongue licks her fingers.
Great. It was just me that he hated.
"Yeah. Johanna bought him for me."
"Getting more and more human everyday, huh, pal?" Rhoan remarks from the other side of the kitchen table.
"You have no idea," I half whisper.
"What's his name?" Sophia asks eagerly.
"Nanuk. He likes you, maybe he can come over here and play with Midnight. A lot."
At the sound of her name, Midnight runs out of her hiding place on top of the stairs and into the kitchen. The two dogs have a stand off. Little Nanuk had jumped from Sophia's arms to stand with his chest thrown out and trying to look like a big dog. Midnight on the other hand looked about as terrifying as a stuffed animal. Her big black tail wagged back and forth while Nanuk's stood straight as an arrow. Midnight's tongue lolled in and out of her mouth, Nanuk kept his mouth closed except for the strange little high pitched growl he was doing.
The tension dissappeared in a second, Nanuk was pretending he was bigger than Midnight while Midnight probably thought he was like her brother or baby or something. The two started playing by the refrigerator.
Johanna lightly squeezes my hand, telling me that she can't wait any longer.
I clear my throat, "We have some very important, very big, news. Johanna is-"
"I'M PREGNANT!" She interrupts happily.
"Oh my god! No way! Congratulations!" Jordan jumps up and the girls hug and happy dance and Josh even gets pulled into it. The whole happy party moves into the living room.
"Wonder how that happened," Rhoan says lazily as he saunteers in to join the excitement.
"You and me both," I sighed.
The only person that I noticed had gone missing was my smart little niece.
I looked down the hall and saw her staring out the front window.
"Why so sad, dear little one?"
"Is it bad that I'm happy and mad at the same time?"
I knew where this was going.
"I thought you and Johanna got along?"
"We did. Until she got pregnant."
"Sophia, what does that have to do with anything?"
"There's goona be a baby. I didn't like having to share you with Aunt Johanna and I definitely don't like having to share you with a baby too and its a known fact that your goona love the baby more than you love me because it will be yours."
"Your mine. Your my smart, beautiful, incredibly kind niece. I've adored you since the minute I saw you and decided that I would love you always. No matter who or what came into my life, and if they don't like my love for you then I don't like them."
"You know what I mean about it being yours, Uncle Gabriel." I could see the tears in her eyes.
"Well, is that a rule? Do I have to love the baby more than I love you? You were my life before Johanna came back, and you still are. Look at me and tell me if I've ever stopped loving you more than I did before Johanna showed up."
She though about it, "No, you never stopped."
"That's the beauty of love. Its unconditional, you can always make more of it. Just because this baby will be coming into our lives doesn't mean that I will take any love away from you, it just means that I can make more, for you, for Johanna, for the family, and even for the baby."
"I love you, Uncle Gabriel."
"I love you more," I pull her into my arms and hold her.
"You reminded me what it meant to love before you could even talk, and because of you I'm getting better and better at it each day."
"Can I go wish Aunt Jo congratulations?" She smiles sweetly.
"Of course you can," she takes my hand and leads me into the living room.
I take a seat next to Johanna while Sophia congratulates her and when Sophia goes to sit by Jordan I scoop her up and sit her in my lap.
We talked about the baby a little, then we just talked, and then laughed.
Its human nature to love and be loved. We all love each other. The wives love their husbands, the husbands in return love their wives. The best friends love each other for all the things they've done together. The little girls sitting on our laps love to be included and remembered. And even the pets show their love and loyalty by laying at our feet or by sleeping in our rooms at night, guarding us from the unseen and unexpected.
"I heard what you said to Sophia." Johanna says, her eyes on Nanuk who had ran ahead, "Your going to be a great father."
"And you will be a great mother." The smile on her face turned sad and nostalgic but I didn't question it because I knew that she didn't want me too.
A great father. I thought that was the biggest lie she ever told me. But I guess we'll see in 7 months because there is no way to predict the future. No way to protect ourselves from the unknown or more importantly to protect the ones we love most. Besides loving one unconditionally, how else do we show such love? Gifts. Johanna would be giving me the greatest gift of them all and she deserves one of her own. That's when I decided that I was going to build her a house. One that she could call her own, one where it would just be us and the baby, one that completely mirrored her personality. Because, after all, love makes you do crazy things.
-Gabriel