143. A Little More Time

Warning: adult situations

glossary: braai = barbeque

Bridgeport, present day...

Gossip columns and entertainment pages in magazines and newspapers described the After Dark release party as “awesome, verging on epic”.

Music stores didn’t know what hit them the morning after the release party when they opened their doors.

K-Infinity’s fans came out in droves, eager to get their hands on the band’s latest offering.

And as the VJs from VMC had predicted at the party, If Only I had Known was the most requested song across all radio stations that morning.

At O+ Positive Records, K-Infinity’s management, still nursing their hangovers, was already hard at work, relishing the raving reviews in the newspapers.

Mark expected nothing less than a 100 000 copies of the album to be shipped in the first week.

Stanley was on the phone for a large part of the morning, trying to get the album more airplay, not a hard task since most radio stations were eager to oblige him.

Natalie and her team had to work on a few press releases, update the band’s press kit and arrange a few appearances for the band on major radio stations and music channels.

While it was business as usual for their management team and their fans, K-Infinity’s band members embraced the new day on a more casual note…

Krisis, Leigh and Lily moved into their new home.

Their families and friends stopped by to help them set up house, and they brought small house warming gifts too.

The whole day Leigh ran around the house like a mad woman, yelling at the movers to be careful with the furniture.

“No! Watch that! Hey, that’s my favorite vase!” Her screams could be heard all the way inside the house, and Krisis came out to check on her.

He found her tying up her hair in a tight knot on top of her head and he wished she wouldn’t. He liked her hair loose, it reminded him of the first time he saw her in his sister’s living room. He laughed inwardly now at the memory, thinking about what a dickhead he was to her back then and how far they’d come as a couple.

“Relax Leigh, stress isn't good for you and the triplets. These guys are professionals, they know what they’re doing,” Krisis murmured as he wrapped his arms around her and caressed her cheek. He regretted his hasty comment though when one of them toppled a pot plant on his way inside the house.

“Okay, maybe not,” he conceded. Leigh only smiled and patted his hand gently.

“No offense, you know a lot about music, but I’m an expert when it comes to setting up house. So why don’t you help J.D. and Devon with the braai?” Leigh suggested.

Without waiting for his answer she waddled off to find Eloise and Krimsyn, who were working on Lily’s room.

Out back, in the patio, J.D. had just turned the meat on the grill when he got a call from Gabe, Krisis and Devon took over the braai.

It wasn’t good news. Their trackers in Hidden Springs and Hollow Creek had traced Joshua to Bridgeport, but they’d gotten to the The Grind too late, Joshua had already left. They’d turned Bridgeport upside down, but their efforts had failed to uncover the boy, if they didn’t know better, they’d think he’d vanished off the face of the earth.

Gabe suggested they call off the search, the boy had probably heard through the grapevine they were looking for him and he’d obviously do his best to stay off the radar. He thought they should wait, he was bound to slip up and make a mess, after all new vampires always do. J.D. agreed.

His phone call to Mr. and Mrs. Clarke didn’t go well, they were naturally disappointed and devastated, but they understood, their son obviously didn’t want to be found. They thanked J.D. for all his efforts to find him, and he promised to let them know as soon as he had any news.

The tension in the baby room was unbearable. Cameron had eagerly volunteered to work on the nursery with Michaela, thinking some alone time with her was all he needed to clear the air. Three hours later, he finally admitted to himself he’d been sadly mistaken.

He kept stealing glances at her, and she kept right on ignoring him. Every attempt at small talk was squashed by one word replies from her. Every joke he cracked, was met with mildly amused smiles. She was the most stubborn woman he’d ever met.

“Are you going to ignore me forever?” Cameron demanded at last. He was very close to slamming his fists on one of the babies’ cribs, Krisis’ son’s he assumed, judging from the blue linen.

 “It meant nothing! I’m done with Liza!” He added softly when he saw his angry approach wasn’t working on Michaela.

“It didn’t look that way to me. Anyway, who you choose to make out with has nothing to do with me,” Michaela snapped, returning her attention to the elaborate pattern on the wall. Leigh had asked her to hand paint butterflies and flowers and Michaela was pretty pleased with the results.

“Then why were you crying last night? Why were you hurt and angry if it means nothing to you? And why are you ignoring me now?” Cameron folded his arms on his chest and watched her step off the small ladder before she dumped the paints and brushes on the floor.

“I’m not ignoring you, and I wasn’t hurt last night,” Michaela lied, slowly inching her way to the door. They were heading on dangerous territory, if she didn’t leave, they’d get into a huge fight and she didn’t want to cause a scene at Leigh’s and Krisis’ new home. She wanted to be happy for her aunt and uncle.

Cameron though, was on to her. He stopped her progress and blocked the door.

He leaned closer to her, pressing her back on the wood.

“Tell me something, Mickey,” he whispered, brushing her hair away from her face.

As soon as his hands made contact with her skin, Michaela thought she’d spontaneously combust; it was unbelievable how he set her aflame with just a mere touch.

“And I want the truth,” Cameron continued, both his arms holding her in place. She couldn’t squirm out of his grip, not that she wanted to.

“Were you hurt when you saw me with Liza?” He asked, lowering his head.

His lips were unbearably close. If she just stood on tiptoes she could steal one quick kiss from him. But she held back, fighting off her desires to ravish him.

“Were you?” Cameron prodded, his green eyes caressing her lips.

“Yes,” she replied breathlessly, suddenly anxious and afraid, the magnetic pull between them was so strong she couldn’t fight it off anymore. She was like a moth drawn to a flame, and all the clichés in the world she could think of.

“I hate that you were in her arms, and kissing her and doing all sorts of things to her. I hate that you still have feelings for her.” She added softly, closing her eyes, trying to break the tension between them, a futile attempt, really.

“Why?” Cameron wanted to know.

“Because I’m in love with you,” Michaela answered truthfully.

Cameron needed no further confirmation or explanations from her. Just as he was about to claim her lips in a torrid kiss, Eloise knocked on the door. She wanted to know if everything was okay since they’d suddenly grown quiet.

“We are fine, just arranging stuff,” Cameron replied truthfully; they were arranging their future.

“Yes, we are good,” Michaela added.

They listened to Eloise hesitate on the other side of the door, and they smiled their relief when they heard her walk away, both eager to get back to their talk and maybe their 'almost-kiss' too.

“Hey,” Cameron murmured when he was sure they were alone again.

“Hey yourself,” Michaela smiled up at him.

“I feel the same way too. I’m in love with you. Liza, last night, it wasn’t what you saw, I don’t want her,” he explained.

“Are you going to kiss me or what?” Michaela asked boldly, ignoring his confessions. He hesitated, blushed, and then tried to hide his smile.

“Four weeks, that’s all I ask,” he told her.

“No, I don’t want to wait,” Michaela cried, reaching up to kiss him.

“We can’t. Not right now. Just a little more time,” Cameron persuaded her. He'd suddenly come back to his senses and he had Eloise to thank for that. 

But Michaela wouldn’t be appeased, especially now that she knew how he felt about her.

Their argument, fraught with passion and longing, went on back and forth for a while…

One minute Cameron would push her away, trying to cool the heat between them, and the next he’d have her in his feverish embrace, unable to bring himself to let her go.

“Fine. Four weeks Cameron, that’s all you have. In the meantime, no Liza, and no groupies,” she relented. With that she left his arms and let herself out of the nursery, leaving him flabbergasted. In a good way. She was proving to be more and more of a mystery and he loved that, very much!

______

A few days after moving into their new home, Krisis had a surprise for Leigh. He blindfolded her and led her outside.

“Really Krisis, blindfolding me, is it necessary?” She grumbled good-naturedly. She assumed it was the tree house he’d been building for Lily and Blake since they moved in.

“Are we there yet?” Leigh asked, taking tentative steps.

“Now we are,” Krisis told her as he untied the blindfold.

It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the sudden light. She blinked a few times, focused on the 'surprise' and then promptly burst into tears.

She didn’t want the surprise.

“I don’t want it. It’s big and monstrous and ugly,” she cried, glaring at the SUV.

“Nonsense. It’s beautiful, look at, it has…”His voice faded away as he jumped inside the car. Leigh stood where she was; she had no plans of betraying her gremlin.

Krisis hooted for her to jump in and test out her new car, but Leigh shook her head.

“It’s perfect for us and our soccer team,” Krisis explained when he rejoined her.

The rational part of her she knew he was right; they did need a bigger car, and reliable mode of transportation. But it couldn’t have come at a worst time. She was going through so many changes, she’d just moved into her new home and she was adjusting to being the mistress of the house, in a few weeks she’d have the triplets to deal with. It was all too much, she felt overwhelmed and she wanted to hang on to familiar things, like her gremlin.

“I understand,” Krisis told her as he gave her a comforting hug.

Once again Leigh was thankful for their blood bond; she wouldn’t have known how to explain her feelings to him without mucking it all up.

“What about my gremlin? Does she have to go the junkyard now?” Leigh asked, dreading his answer.

“No darling, we can put her in storage,” Krisis dropped a lingering kiss on her lips.

“And maybe in fifteen years I can pass it on to one of the kids?” She blinked up at him.

“Sure. That’s a good idea,” Krisis lied. He doubted their kids would want her gremlin, but he didn’t want to upset Leigh anymore than he already had.

“Okay,” Leigh walked away and got inside her gremlin. She wanted to take her for one last spin.

“Nick and Tony are right behind you. But call me if you run into any problems!” Krisis yelled after her as she drove off.

Leigh ignored him, revving her gremlin’s dying engine hard, trying to prove to him she could still squeeze some life out of her old car.

Outside Devon and Eloise’ apartment, Leigh called her best friend. Ten minutes later, Eloise came out with a picnic basket in her hand.

“What’s this?” Leigh asked her friend as she slid in beside her.

“Red wine and stuff. We have to give the gremlin a proper send off,” Eloise smiled and clapped her hands, rushing Leigh to get the car going.

They sped through the unusually quiet streets, cruising down memory lane. Once or twice the gremlin faltered and Eloise had to get out and push the car just to jumpstart it again. They both cracked up when she jumped back in after her last push.

“I think she’s served us well,” Eloise looked at the car wistfully before returning her attention to the ocean in front of them.

They were now at the beach, ten minutes away from Krisis' house on the cliff, watching the waves and the sun set.

“Yeah. She has. I’m going to miss her. I don’t know how to say goodbye to her,” Leigh teared up.

“Thank heavens I brought this then, it should make the separation a little easier to handle,” Eloise took out the wine and filled their glasses.

Leigh hesitated, wondering if she should be drinking in her condition. She hadn’t touched alcohol in almost six months.

“One glass is okay Leigh, your babies are not going to come out looking like the gremlin,” Eloise joked and Leigh laughed, accepting the glass.

For a while they nibbled on the fruits Eloise had brought and sipped on the wine. Neither felt compelled to talk. With their lifelong friendship, words weren’t needed sometimes…

________

Credits for Photoshop brushes used:  Starwalt Design