That night, when we arrived back at The Beilschmidt house, as we pulled in the drive way, Gilbert looked at me.
"Here we are. Home sweet home."
I looked up at the split level house. It was beautiful. The lawn was a beautiful bright green, there were perfectly square bushes lining the front and sides of the house, and there was a small tree in the center of the lawn to the left of the driveway. The porch light was on and there were two cats sitting on the steps. One was large and dark grey, with a German flag colored ribbon tied around it's neck. The other, was small and white, with piercing red eyes and a gold and black ribbon around it's neck. The white one was slightly more fluffy than the grey, but in the dim light casted by the full moon, they both looked like fluff balls. Gilbert parked the car in the driveway, got out, and came around to open my door. He held out his hand for me to take, just like I had seen done in so many movies before. I took his hand, and stepped out carefully. All I could think was, 'God, don't trip, don't trip, don't trip...' I had a track record for being clumsy, so I had every right to be worried about tripping and falling flat on my face. Somehow I managed to make it from the car to the front door without embarrassing my self. Gilbert pick a small silver key on the key ring and used it to unlock the door, opening it and motioning me to step inside. As I stepped inside, Gilbert held the door for the cats to walk in. Almost immediately upon walking in, I was almost toppled, playfully, to the ground by 3 large dogs.
"ACH!"
"Blackie, Berlitzer, Aster! DOWN! What has your Vater told you all about that!? GET DOWN NOW!"
The tone of Gilbert's voice frightened me, but it got the dogs to back off. I looked at him. I was still unsure of what had just happened, and was slightly incapable of speech.
"Are those your dogs?" I managed after I had swallowed the knot in my throat. He looked at me shaking his head slowly.
"Dumme Köter. Immer sprang auf Menschen ... Ludwig hat versucht, ihnen zu sagen, nicht zu, sondern sie einfach nicht hören." He said, his voice full of apology. "I really don't know why he doesn't just pay to have them taught."
I laughed at how serious he was acting. It seem uncharacteristic of him. He smiled at me as we walked into the living room. I took in a breathe of awe as we entered. It was like something out of a magazine. There was hardwood floors, with soft, blue rugs, dark cherry colored end tables, an entertainment center and coffee table. There were only two lamps in the room, but they provided enough light. There was a large black leather arm chair, and as my eyes saw it, the large grey cat, who i noticed had steely blue eyes, jumped on the arm and laid down, watching Gilbert and I with curiosity. The couch was a sectional and was made of black leather as well. The remote to the flat screen lay on the coffee table in front of a particularlly worn spot. Gilbert motioned me to sit on the couch, and as he headed to what I assumed would be the kitchen he called over his shoulder.
"You want a beer or soda or something?"
"Uhm.... Yeah. Let me get a beer. Thanks."
Soon he returned with two open bottles of beer, sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to him. I sat down with him and he handed me a bottle. I sipped silently thinking... Gilbert looked at me as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
"Something on your mind, fraulein?"
"Si.... Just trying to gather my thoughts. This has all been so much. But..." I snuggled into his side. "It's nice being able to sit and talk to someone with out it being related to the 'status of Brazil's economy' or 'how Brazil plans to fix the deforrestation.' Ugh, it's all so annoying."
He nodded silently taking in what I had said. Laying there with my head pressed to his chest i could hear his heart beat. I looked up at him and smiled. He met my eyes and kissed my nose softly.
"It's going to get better schatzi. I promise. You'll see. Eventually, everything will work out in your favor. Who knows? You may even become a more powerful nation than America."
I smiled at the tender kiss and the soft words he spoke. My brain was absoultely full, but here with him, it was like I didn't have any problems or worrys. Nothing was more important than spending time with him. He was the image of perfection. The ipitimy of awesomeness. But yet some how, he intimidated me. His sharp red eyes turned away from me as the fluffy white cat jumped up on the arm of the couch and meowed softly. He reached over and began petting it, almost absentmindedly.
"Prussiacat, you know Luddy doesn't like you to be on his furniture." he told her, but made no move to make her get down, but instead continuted to pet her softly. She closed her red eyes and purred contentedly. Silence and then...
"So, fraulein.. How are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Making me so nervous. You're the only girl that's ever made my palms sweaty. I don't understand. The awesome me never gets butterflies, but I have them now. What are you doing?"
"I'm making YOU nervous?" I laughed. Here he was, makng my heart beat a thousand beats a second, my knees were shaking, and I was making HIM nervous!? How was that even possible?
"Ja. It's unnatural! Temptress...." He smirked. His eyes looked down to meet mine again.
"Temptress?" I whispered.
"Ja. Du are." He leaned over and kissed my ear. " I like it however. It's very.... Sultry."
I smiled at these words and took the hand that rested on my shoulder and held it softly. Running my thumb over the back.
"You know... I've never known a feeling like this before, madchen. You are very.... Special. Unique. Awesome. But less awesome than me. "
I smiled at his cockiness. It was a breath of fresh air from Ravis, my younger step-brother, who was always crying and complaining. I finished the remainder of my beer and stood to go find a trash can. Gilbert grabbed my wrist and smiled.
"Nein. Let me take that for you." He said, pulling the bottle from my hand and walking down the hall to a bedroom. He opened the door and threw the bottle inside, shutting the door behind himself. I must have looked confused because he simply said, "Luddy and Sarah's room. They're neat freaks, so..." I couldnt help but laugh. His relationship with Ludwig reminded me of mine and Antonio's. It was almost comical. He laughed along with me, but then yawned. I looked at him as i wiped the tear from my eye, from laughing to hard.
"I should let you go to bed. It's late."
As i turned to leave he glomped me.
"Nein, fraulein, bitte don't leave. Stay here. You can sleep with me. Come..." He said taking my hand and leading me to the basement.
The basement was completely finished. There was a living room area which was shut off from a bedroom with a full bathroom. Gilbert walked over to his dresser, pulled out a pair of boxers and a black tank top. He handed them to me.
"Now, frau. That is my FAVORITE tank top. Be careful with it." He said jokingly. I smiled at him as I took the clothes.
"Gracis."
I walked into the bathroom, changed my clothes, and re-emerged to the bedroom. The clothes were tight on me, given my Brazilian B&B. Gilbert had stripped down to his boxers and was layin on the bed.
"Komm Shon." He said softly, motioning for me to lie down. I walked over to the opposite side of the bed and climbed into it. He lifted the covers and looked at me fully.
"Those clothes fit you nicely, leibling." He smirked.
I blushed and took the covers from him. He laughed softly as he wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my forehead and started to hum. I snuggled in to his warmth and before long, his humming lulled me into a deep, restful sleep.
"Ich leibe dich." Were the last words i heard before drifting off.
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And for those of you that wanna know, yes the picture is of Seychelles, but she's pale enough there to be like my O/C. So now that picture is Chloe Taylor Rodriguez. Representative of Brazil.
