a vampire's light

Lacey would’ve laughed if she wasn’t already so rattled. Aedan was clearly nervous. And it showed. But Lacey’s anxiety has a life of it’s own by now. She still had yet to hold the child for more than a minute, terrified for reasons beyond explaining. 

Lacey plus baby equaled a whole lot of worry for Aedan. He was still in a mild state of shock over the fact that he even had a baby, and to see Lacey holding him--why, it surely would have taken his breath away, if he needed to breath. They were the world's most precious sight, a sight he once thought he'd never get to see.

Lacey had learned quickly, early on, that nothing would prepare her for this day. She could read until she was blue in the face and talk to all the mothers in the world, but when she’d gone into labor, everything flew from her mind. Panic was evident and inevitable, but Aedan had been as supportive as ever. Painless and incident-free could not be used to describe the event, but now that it was over and they’d left Evelyn’s home, relief had washed over the world, replacing everything else with joy.

Aedan had known how hard this was going to be the moment they realized she was pregnant. Evelyn, of course, had been there to guide the two of them through it all, bit it hadn't been easy. This was childbirth, after all. And back when he'd been a doctor, Aedan had seen a lot of it to know that it was a painful thing for a woman to go through. He admired Lacey quite a bit, and though there'd been an ample amount of screaming going on--for Aedan, too, really--he thought she did damned well.

Lacey listened to him speak, and was immensely relieved the two of them had finally veered away from whatever dark pit they’d both managed to wallow into. Grinning, she shook her head. “Okay, stop before you make me cry or something," she insisted. Of course she didn’t really want him to stop, but he could always manage to kick her emotions into overdrive at the drop of a hat. A light laugh escaped her lips, and she shook her head again, diverting her gaze away the holes in the wall and instead towards the windows. It was almost dawn. Her playful expression faltered for a moment, but she forced it back into place.

Don't get him wrong--the vampire had quite a few lovers in the past. He knew what it was like to love, and to be loved. Extensively so, really. He wasn't new to this, to any of this fantastic feelings. However, he was new to being loved by Lacey. And when she touched him the way she did, when she batted those lashes of hers or even just cast him a tiny smile, he knew he was the luckiest man alive. A lot of people said that, sure, but they didn't have his vampiress. He knew it was an awfully cheesy thing to even let himself think, but he was a hopeless romantic at the very core of his being, so he knew it wasn't too bad to think that Lacey, well, it felt like it was the first time when he was with her. The first kiss, the first time falling in love. She made everything sweeter. "That means I'm doing something rightm" he teased, kissing the top of her head again and then just taking in her sweet smell, taking in everything about her. If she somehow, and with his eyesight she never would, disappeared from his life for centuries, he would remember every damn thing about her while she was gone.

Flattered would be the biggest understatement to what Lacey felt at his words. She had a feeling that she barely knew half of what made Aedan Durer, but from what she’d learned, his life was beyond spectacular. If he put her on the top of the list of all the things that he’d like experienced, she was honored. Lacey had to wonder if he truly believed that, or if perhaps he was blinded by his own emotions. She wouldn’t be surprised. Aedan had been so many places and done countless amazing things. How could she compare with the beauty of the Earth, its untouched corners and the incomparable people he’d had the pleasure of knowing?

Flattering Lacey was something that Aedan was used to doing, really, because it was one of those things that he was simply good at. He didn't know how. He'd always been a romantic by nature, of course, when it came to women. But there was something different about the way he acted around Lacey. He knew that he was privileged to be with her, and he dedicated much of himself to making her proud of him. Making her feel good. He didn't know he had gotten so lucky as to love her, and to be loved by her, but he tried to show it through everything that he did. He didn't know what else to say that would suffice for his emotions. Lacey was not only the love of his life, but she was both--his love, every bit of it, as well as his life. She was everything he'd ever needed, and then maybe she was a little bit more. Sometimes he wondered how he was able  to have been blessed by her when the earth itself had cursed him so drastically. It was an oddity, but he was glad for it.

Seeing Aedan smile again was like having heavy, dark clouds break apart during a rainstorm to let the sun’s rays beam through it. And Lacey was the rainbow, just as bright and her smile just as wide. His embrace was just as warm, if not physically, literally, then she couldn’t tell the difference because when he held her she felt safe and content. That was the kind of warmth he gave her; Aedan could never be described as anything but. Ignoring his questions, the ones she didn’t agree with, Lacey tilted his chin to have Aedan face her again. Brows lifted, she told him matter-of-factly, “You know me better than that, Aedan. I have never been, and never could be as happy as I am when I’m with you.” She opened her mouth to continue speaking, but there was no way to explain exactly how he made her feel, how much better her life was with Aedan in it. With love in it.

He wished, with all his heart, that he could go back in time and do something different. How strange that sounded, really--almost like he didn't want to be with Lacey. Well, anyone who could take a look into his eyes when he was staring at her knew that was the farthest thing from the truth. He adored every inch of that girl with every inch of his being. She was the only thing that ever mattered to him more than doing right in this world. If he had to do wrong to be with her, then he would, because that was how much she meant to him. All he wanted was for her to be proud of him, and maybe even before they were together, for her to love him. She was a creature of beauty and bravery, even if she didn't see that in herself the way he saw it in her. "All I want," he whispered, "is that--is for you to be as happy as you could be, no matter the cost." No matter if he had to leave her for it to happen. Her happiness, it was his everything.