"Grandmama, we home!" Ray called out as he and Evangeline flew into the tree that housed the little trio of swamp bugs. The elderly firefly maneuvered her walker towards them, peering at Evangeline.
"Whaddya mean we?" she croaked, looking hard at Evangeline, who shrank back. Ray squeezed her hand.
"Evangeline gon' be stayin' wit' us fo' a bit, yeah," Ray said happily. "She ain't got nowhere else." Evangeline nodded meekly.
"Well, den, I guess we gotta make room fo' ya," Ray's grandma said slowly. "Angela! Go find a leaf fo' Evelyn here!"
"E-Evangeline," she whispered, but the old bug didn't hear. She'd already turned and flown out of sight.
"'Sall right, cher, Grandmama fo'gets me and Angie's names," chuckled Ray. "But de first rule fo' us swamp bugs is we don't turn nobody away, no. We always dere t' help folks in need!"
"I'm glad," said Evangeline, smiling her adorable, shy smile at him. Ray's wings flapped hard, causing him to lose control and zoom towards Evangeline, who laughed in spite of the fact that he'd nearly slammed into her.
"So, we takin' in de city bug?" Angela called, flying gracefully into the treehole. "'Ya'll got lucky, girl, we only got one leaf t' spare. Martha May n' Sherman all up in arms 'bout Grandmama's light and we can't get no more leaves."
"But dere's one left, and dat's all we need, yeah!" Ray said, zipping happily a few inches higher.
"Well, den, c'mon, let's go get ya'll settled in," Angela said, beckoning for Evangeline to follow her and Ray. Up and up the three fireflies flew, until they reached the very top of the tree. "Dere ya go," Angela announced, showing Evangeline to the second leaf of the topmost branch. "Mornin', den, see ya'll in de night!" And she was gone.
"Ooh, dis a cozy set up dere, yeah!" Ray noted, winging back and forth just above the leaf as Evangeline made herself comfortable. "Look, ya kin see de stars ya love! An' look!" He darted up to the only leaf above hers, and leaned his head out so he was looking at her upside down. "You right unda me!" He heard her soft giggle and glowed brightly, only to be outshone by a blinding flash from the treehole.
"What was that?" gasped Evangeline, bursting into the air.
"Oh, jes' ignore dat, Grandmama got a problem' wit' her butt," chuckled Ray. "Dat why we got so lucky wit' you, findin' you a spot—de neighbas all mad 'cause she keep flashin' 'em." He laughed, then noticed the faint pink tinge coloring the velvet sky. "Whooo, no wonder you so tired, we had ya up all de way till sunrise, yeah!"
"Yeah," Evangeline breathed sleepily. "Good mornin', Ray."
Smiling gently, Ray flipped over so he could watch right side up as she drifted off. "Mo'nin'… Evangeline."
And on it went, night after night. Ray and Evangeline spent hardly a moment out of each other's sight. He made her laugh, she made him smile. She listened patiently to his incessant chatter, he broke her as far out of her shell as she dared to go. After about a month, the entire firefly family decided that she was one of them, a swamp bug in all but accent.
Everything she did made Ray's heart flutter faster than any pair of wings in the bayou had ever gone. Her smile was his starlight, her touch the moon, her laughter the breeze blowing through the mangroves and the cypresses. In his eyes, her glow outshone even his grandmama's flashes.
Late one morning, Ray and Evangeline had just gotten back to the tree after a particularly long hoedown over the swamp. Angela flew up to the top of the tree to greet them, only to find Evangeline already asleep, and Ray looking down over her, that same adoring grin displaying all six teeth.
"Uh-oh, I seen folks wit' dat look before!" Angela teased, snapping Ray out of his trance.
"I don' know what yo' talkin' 'bout," Ray said, but his dreamy smile was still plastered to his face.
"I tinks ya do," his sister said with a grin, turning in the air so her light formed a heart of golden sparkles. "Ray-Ray in love!"
Ray looked up at the heart as the light faded from view, then back down at the slumbering Evangeline. "Yeah…" he sighed. "'Guess I am."