Meryl: Settling down for bed, Milly rubbed her tummy and sighed contentedly. I still had misgivings about
her having that priest's baby, but I was glad to see her the happiest she had been since his death.
"Little one," she cooed. "You are a present from Nicholas to me—a going away present, I guess. He gave you
to me to keep me company, and to remind me of him. I love you already, and I don't even know if you're a
boy or a girl!" She chuckled softly, then continued blabbering on in nonsense syllables. I fell asleep to this
strange, ad-libbed language, wondering if I would be like this if I became a parent.
Milly: The third day after Vash returned, we were all free for awhile—someone else was taking their watch with
Knives. The three of us were now in the town square—Vash was sitting on a bench, and Meryl and I were by a
store front and were looking at him.
I wasn't going to let this opportunity pass Meryl by. "Meryl," I said in a soft sing-song voice. "Isn't there
something you were going to tell Vash?"
"Shush! It isn't that easy!"
"I know—but if I can do it, you certainly can."
She looked at me. "You were the one who spoke first?"
"Uh-huh," I replied, nodding my head enthusiastically. "We are independent, working women, and we don't need
to be tied to some dumb ol' rule that we have to wait for men to speak first."
"You're right." Then she sighed and shook her head.
Meryl: "Now, Meryl," Milly insisted, looking as stern as she could.
"But—"
She grabbed me by the shoulders. "No more excuses, or one day it's gonna be too late."
I nodded. Milly squeezed my shoulder, and I marched towards Vash, trembling and with my heart pounding
in my ears. On that long walk over a short distance, I felt like an infant taking her first wobbly steps. How is
it ever done, I wondered, that people are able to get from friendship to romance?
Rising to his feet, Vash looked at me curiously. "What's wrong, Meryl?"
"I—" My voice got caught in my throat.
"What?" he wondered, leaning down towards my face to hear me better.
Pressing my lips against his cheek, I stole a quick kiss. "I love you, Vash," I squeaked. Then, so he wouldn't
confuse my statement with just sisterly love, I added, "I've fallen in love with you."
There was a long moment of silence—at least, it seemed long-as I looked searchingly at him, waiting
anxiously to see how he responded. "Really?" he asked simply. I prepared myself for heartbreak. Suddenly,
he shouted, "THAT IS SO COOL!" Grabbing my hands, he spun me around and around as I shrieked in
alarm. Didn't he remember last time he tried something like this, I socked him in the head?
Laughing like a maniac, he came to a stop. And I..well, I laughed, too, even as I nearly crumpled. Vash
scooped me up in his arms, holding me like I was a baby. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "I love you, too,
Meryl. Can we get married now?"
"What?"
He looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "Please?"
Milly walked up. "Vash, I think she needs time to think."
"I need to tell my family," I said. "They should be invited."
"They don't live on the other side of the planet, do they?" Vash fretted.
"No, in December City."
Vash gently placed me on the ground. "Good, as soon as they get here, we'll have the ceremony."
"Gee, that was fast," Milly remarked, looking confused.
"Don't you talk," I chided. "You didn't even invite me to your wedding."
She blushed. "Nicholas and I were kinda in a hurry."
"Well, so am I!" Vash shouted, then added in a more level voice, "I mean, so are we."
"Don't worry, Vash," I said knowingly in a childish tone, pinching his cheek. "You won't have to go without
much longer."
He laughed nervously. Then he leaned down to kiss me, but I shyly turned my head.
"Go on, Meryl, kiss him!" Milly encouraged.
"But I did kiss him."
"On the lips this time!"
"Yeah!" Vash agreed.
"But I've never kissed anybody full on the lips before!"
"There's a first time for everything," Vash uttered.
"As my big sister would say," Milly broke in. "There's some things that just come naturally, so don't
worry!"
I smiled in agreement, and let Vash's lips meet mine. At first, I felt a sharp tingle, starting from my lips and
rushing down to my toes. Swiftly after that came the heat, at what seemed like a temperature far above the
fever point. But I couldn't stop. I couldn't stop kissing him and those soft, warm lips. I felt the pounding in
my heart—that was nothing new—in the course of our adventures, there had been many situations that
quickened my pulse. What was new was the pulsing in my nether regions.
My knees buckled, but Vash caught me, pulling me to my feet and letting me rest a moment against his chest.
I was ready to scold him for letting it get past one kiss. But when I looked at him, I saw his eyes were wet.
And I realized how much this had meant to him. It hadn't been about getting fresh; it had been about
exchanging and expressing love. "I'll walk you home," he offered, holding out his arm.
I looked around. Milly had wandered off; the suns were setting. "How long were we-?"
Vash shrugged. "Hey, time flies when you're with the one you love."
"Oh, Vash, you're so sweet."
On the porch of the house Milly and I were staying at, we noticed the lights were off. "Guess Milly didn't
come right home," I observed.
"Meryl, do you think now that we're engaged, that it's okay—"
Despite the feelings he had aroused in me, I still wanted to be a good girl. "Go home, Vash."
He held up his fingers in a peace symbol. "Gotcha! We'll wait!" He beat his retreat.
That had been my sexual awakening. Now I know a lot of today's young people might find that hard to
believe, that is, it not happening to me until well into my twenties. But society was different back then. More
prudish, unlike today's sex saturated pop culture that bombards kids until they're ready to do it just after
reaching puberty. Back then, it was easier for a girl to keep a clean mind and clean body well into adulthood.
Oh, I knew all the basics of the facts of life, I had just never felt that kind of overpowering physical desire
before.
