Ready Or Not

A Giant Middle Finger

I didn’t think I really wanted to tell her what I’d been thinking. Not that she would be upset with me, just that I didn’t need her worrying that I was going to go do something stupid. I wasn’t. Probably.

“I’m alright. I guess I was just still beating myself up a little bit about last night. We should probably have at least a few months of normalcy before one of us gets into some mess, right? And we have a wedding to plan. Nobody needs me getting arrested right now.”

“Nothing is ever normal around here and you know it. As far the wedding- GQ hasn’t even told Melanie yet. Did you know that? I don’t think we’re planning anything until he’s told his sister. And it’s legal.”

I’d forgotten about Melanie. She was sort of difficult to predict. If you’d asked me to describe her six months ago I would have used the words “homophobic”, “anti-vamp”, “impossible”...there wouldn’t have been a lot of good descriptors in there. But when Theo had gone missing, she’d really been there for Daniel. For all of us. She’d sort of been getting past her issues with Daniel’s sexuality, and had been making strides in regards to her rather unfavorable opinion of vampires too. She’d even come to our rescue with a cooler of blood when we’d rescued Theo from weeks of starvation. But she still had her misgivings, she still had her religion, and she still had just the slightest bit of fear in her eyes when she was alone in a room with one of us.

There was no telling how she’d react to Daniel marrying a man. She could hardly object to him marrying a vampire though. Not anymore. Not since she’d found out that her brother was one of us. She still grieved for his soul, but had accepted that he’s the same person now as he was before he joined the ranks of the living dead. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be in the room for that conversation. Of course, if Daniel wanted me there, I would be.

“Think she’ll throw a fit?” I asked Anna.

She took a deep, thoughtful breath. “Well,” she answered, “she’s been a lot better lately about Theo. I think seeing him so weak and brought so low sort of humanized him in her eyes. Seeing Daniel so distraught while he was missing, and how happy he’s been since we got Theo back has helped too. She knows they love one another. She genuinely does want her brother happy. So...I don’t honestly know. Marriage, in her eyes, is a holy union, you know? Vampires have found a loophole, and will avoid divine judgement; at least until the Second Coming. So how can we get married? We can have the ceremony, sure, but the union wouldn’t be recognized in the eyes of God.”

I blinked at her. “You’re amazing.”

She blinked back in confusion. “What?”

“You read people so well. Daniel didn’t say any of that shit to you. You just know his sister.”

She smiled sheepishly. “He’s my best friend, Lyds. I listen to what he says, and a lot of what he says is about Melanie.”

“I’m glad you have him.”

She snuggled closer to me. “I’ve always had best friends, Lydia. I know you and Theo have this unnecessary guilt because you think I’ve felt like a third wheel for the last three decades, but I haven’t. I’ve felt privileged to be along for the ride with you guys. You’re my best friends too. He’s my brother. You’re my sister. Granted he’s always treated me more like the little sister than you have. Sister means something different to you, I think.”

Anna’s my equal. In a lot of ways, she’s far superior to me. And she was right. I’ve always felt bad that Theo and I are so close. We spent eighty-five years together before we tripped over Anna and made her a part of our family, and that’s a long time to build a bond with a person. When Theo got together with Daniel, and he and Anna had started getting close, I admit I was relieved. It made me feel less guilty, knowing that she had somebody to run to, other than Theo and me. Mostly because she probably needed somebody to run to about Theo and me.