“You knew plague facts.”
“Yes. I know plague facts.”
“You knew spider facts.”
“Well, of course. They’re important.”
“You knew medieval cooking techniques.”
She pointed at me. “That one is useful.”
I squeezed her shoulders. “My point is...” The words caught briefly. “My point is that being a vampire isn’t who you are. And I know we’re only really on our first date.”
Her eyes remained fixed on mine.
“But I’d like more.”
A tear escaped. She didn’t wipe it away.
“I’d like to see where this goes.”
Another tear.
“I’d like a future where we get to keep figuring each other out.”
Her lips trembled.
“And honestly? The kids already adore you.”
That earned a watery laugh. “They really do.”
I gently wiped the tears from her face. “I can’t imagine our house without you anymore.”
She’d become part of all of it. Without me even noticing or giving her permission. She’d infiltrated our lives without warning. And now I couldn’t imagine going back.
Winnie stepped closer. “I love you.”
“I know.”
She laughed through her tears. Then kissed me. It was slow and soft, like she was still a little afraid this wasn’t real. I kissed her back.
The house was eerily quiet when we stepped through the front door.
For years, every room had been filled with children’s questions and laughter. With their arguments and the occasional declaration that someone had died when they very much had not.
Tonight there was none of that. Just silence.
Winnie paused in the foyer and glanced around. “They’re really not here.”
I laughed as I hung up my keys. “They’re having the time of their lives.”
“Poor Amethyst,” she said.
“Hey, she volunteered. And I wasn’t about to pass up free babysitting.”
Winnie giggled. “That doesn’t mean she understands what she’s agreed to.”
I imagined Billie explaining cryptids at midnight, CJ pitching story ideas until dawn, and Bianca correcting everyone involved.
