Author's Note: Kinda short, but I plan to extend this one later, too tired
now though.Thanks again to all who reviewed my last chapter!
There was something about waking up at five o'clock on a Saturday morning content and rejuvenated after a long night that gave a hint of love. If the mere fact that Mary Lynette was up this early on a 'sleep-in' day wasn't enough proof of her happiness, then the radiant glow that encircled here was a dead giveaway. She planned to get up, take a shower, grab a granola bar and head over next door. Ash said he had some important matter to discuss with her, the millennium, or something.
Ever since the two of them had hashed out their problems that night, sitting on her flowered mattress, there had been a drastic change in the way in which things were progressing. A good change. Warm kisses, cuddling, hugs, Kestrel mock-vomiting.a good change indeed.
"Mary Lynette, honey? Mary Lyne-," Mr. Carter called from the bottom of the stairwell. He was wrapped in a frumpy robe and his hair was mussed from sleep. Around his eyes were a circles of read and in his hand he held the coffee cup she and her brother had given him for father's day back in the sixth grade, "#1 Dad." He looked so bedraggled and she was so full of good will that she practically leapt down the stairs that remained between them and planted a sloppy kiss dead center on his whiskery cheek.
"What's gotten into you lately? Where is my melancholy Mary Lynette? I have to admit though that I do like to see you in such a happy disposition. This change of attitude wouldn't have anything to do with that boy who has just about moved in, now would it?" And although his eyebrows were cocked and his brow wrinkled it was obvious that he was only feigning anger.
"Why daddy are you accusing me of something?" Mary Lynette jabbed him in the ribs and pulled the yesterday's newspaper out of her father's robe pocket. She threw the paper down on the oak kitchen table and plopped down to read funnies.
"Do you want to make pancakes? We haven't made pancakes together since you were seven, or six, or something. Well, everyone's asleep seems the perfect time to me, what do ya say?" Her father had pulled a spatula out of the kitchen drawer and was waving it madly through the air like a symphony conductor trying to find the beat.
"Love to, but I really can't. I promised Rowan I would be over to help make blueberry muffins. We plan to take them over to the senior citizen's home, remember, I told you about it last night after dinner. So I think I'll just grab a banana or something and go," Doing just that Mary Lynette pulled her coat off the rack next to the kitchen door and braced herself for the cold dawn outside.
"Kids, they just grow up too damn fast," Mr. Carter waved the spatula one last time and set it down on the counter beside the sink. Bracing his arms out he gazed out the window over the sink, staring at the sunset, wishing he could have shared this time with his daughter.
"Dad, um-would it be alright if we hung out here instead? Rowan brought the blueberries and I'm pretty sure we have the rest of the ingredients," Mary Lynette, Rowan, Kestrel, Jade, and a very surly Ash filed into the Carter kitchen.
"Um, sure kiddo-I mean Mary Lynette. Just give me a minute and I'll go throw on some jeans," Mr. Carter left the kitchen to the teens.
Mary Lynette withdrew a colander out of the cabinet containing the Tupperware and filled it with fresh blueberries. Rinsing and drying them, she poured the clean berries into a bowl and set them aside. Kestrel was sitting at the table, arm propped under her chin, and a face of annoyance and boredom openly portrayed her feelings about the making of muffins.
"Remind me why we are doing this again?" Ash rubbed his eyes, he might be in love, but he was still tired and a little light-headed-no blood did that to a guy, especially a vampire.
"Wasn't it you who said we should do something to help others, well, here you go," Mary Lynette pecked a kiss on his lips.
"You should brush your teeth love," Ash smiled, awakening somewhat. He was reclined against the brick wall that expanded along one side of the long kitchen. His hair was hanging in his eyes and his shirt was askew across his broad shoulders, he looked like a cross between Hyperion and James Dean, and worse, he knew it.
"Thanks, you should take an ad out in the paper, you are now short by one girlfriend," Mary Lynette poked him in the ribs.
"Tell me that later when my tongue-" Ash started to retort.
"Excuse me, so sorry to have intruded but my tongue is eager for the taste of blueberries, what about you?" Mr. Carter's face was currently similar to a glacier, frozen and chipped.
"Nothing, ahem, Mary Lynette need any help?" He was completely standing up now and crossed the room to participate actively in the making of a snack he wasn't even hungry for.
* * * "Don't you feel better having done such a good thing for such sick people," Mary Lynette shrugged up against Ash's arm, the one that carried the empty muffin basket. It was cold tonight and the air in front of them pooled in the smoky lifts of steam as their breath soared out into the open dark.
"I suppose if you are in for that sort of thing, but me, I'm more naughty by nature if you know what I mean and I hope you do," he pushed his shoulder against her and grinned a sharp toothed smile, "You know that you can't resist a vampire once he's set his mind on a goal. I wanted you Mary Lynette, now I have you my pretty and I'm not letting you go. Well, I will have to let you go so that you can go to the bathroom and stuff, but most of the rest of the time, you and I," he motioned between them with a gloved finger, "inseparable."
"You are so full of it," she laughed.
"Actually luv, I'm running damn near empty, plan to donate blood to a worthy cause? The perks are outstanding," Ash insinuated.
"Okay, but not too much," she leaned her head back, baring her pale neck to the moonlight. Her hair tumbled behind her, a wave of shimmering strands.
There was something about waking up at five o'clock on a Saturday morning content and rejuvenated after a long night that gave a hint of love. If the mere fact that Mary Lynette was up this early on a 'sleep-in' day wasn't enough proof of her happiness, then the radiant glow that encircled here was a dead giveaway. She planned to get up, take a shower, grab a granola bar and head over next door. Ash said he had some important matter to discuss with her, the millennium, or something.
Ever since the two of them had hashed out their problems that night, sitting on her flowered mattress, there had been a drastic change in the way in which things were progressing. A good change. Warm kisses, cuddling, hugs, Kestrel mock-vomiting.a good change indeed.
"Mary Lynette, honey? Mary Lyne-," Mr. Carter called from the bottom of the stairwell. He was wrapped in a frumpy robe and his hair was mussed from sleep. Around his eyes were a circles of read and in his hand he held the coffee cup she and her brother had given him for father's day back in the sixth grade, "#1 Dad." He looked so bedraggled and she was so full of good will that she practically leapt down the stairs that remained between them and planted a sloppy kiss dead center on his whiskery cheek.
"What's gotten into you lately? Where is my melancholy Mary Lynette? I have to admit though that I do like to see you in such a happy disposition. This change of attitude wouldn't have anything to do with that boy who has just about moved in, now would it?" And although his eyebrows were cocked and his brow wrinkled it was obvious that he was only feigning anger.
"Why daddy are you accusing me of something?" Mary Lynette jabbed him in the ribs and pulled the yesterday's newspaper out of her father's robe pocket. She threw the paper down on the oak kitchen table and plopped down to read funnies.
"Do you want to make pancakes? We haven't made pancakes together since you were seven, or six, or something. Well, everyone's asleep seems the perfect time to me, what do ya say?" Her father had pulled a spatula out of the kitchen drawer and was waving it madly through the air like a symphony conductor trying to find the beat.
"Love to, but I really can't. I promised Rowan I would be over to help make blueberry muffins. We plan to take them over to the senior citizen's home, remember, I told you about it last night after dinner. So I think I'll just grab a banana or something and go," Doing just that Mary Lynette pulled her coat off the rack next to the kitchen door and braced herself for the cold dawn outside.
"Kids, they just grow up too damn fast," Mr. Carter waved the spatula one last time and set it down on the counter beside the sink. Bracing his arms out he gazed out the window over the sink, staring at the sunset, wishing he could have shared this time with his daughter.
"Dad, um-would it be alright if we hung out here instead? Rowan brought the blueberries and I'm pretty sure we have the rest of the ingredients," Mary Lynette, Rowan, Kestrel, Jade, and a very surly Ash filed into the Carter kitchen.
"Um, sure kiddo-I mean Mary Lynette. Just give me a minute and I'll go throw on some jeans," Mr. Carter left the kitchen to the teens.
Mary Lynette withdrew a colander out of the cabinet containing the Tupperware and filled it with fresh blueberries. Rinsing and drying them, she poured the clean berries into a bowl and set them aside. Kestrel was sitting at the table, arm propped under her chin, and a face of annoyance and boredom openly portrayed her feelings about the making of muffins.
"Remind me why we are doing this again?" Ash rubbed his eyes, he might be in love, but he was still tired and a little light-headed-no blood did that to a guy, especially a vampire.
"Wasn't it you who said we should do something to help others, well, here you go," Mary Lynette pecked a kiss on his lips.
"You should brush your teeth love," Ash smiled, awakening somewhat. He was reclined against the brick wall that expanded along one side of the long kitchen. His hair was hanging in his eyes and his shirt was askew across his broad shoulders, he looked like a cross between Hyperion and James Dean, and worse, he knew it.
"Thanks, you should take an ad out in the paper, you are now short by one girlfriend," Mary Lynette poked him in the ribs.
"Tell me that later when my tongue-" Ash started to retort.
"Excuse me, so sorry to have intruded but my tongue is eager for the taste of blueberries, what about you?" Mr. Carter's face was currently similar to a glacier, frozen and chipped.
"Nothing, ahem, Mary Lynette need any help?" He was completely standing up now and crossed the room to participate actively in the making of a snack he wasn't even hungry for.
* * * "Don't you feel better having done such a good thing for such sick people," Mary Lynette shrugged up against Ash's arm, the one that carried the empty muffin basket. It was cold tonight and the air in front of them pooled in the smoky lifts of steam as their breath soared out into the open dark.
"I suppose if you are in for that sort of thing, but me, I'm more naughty by nature if you know what I mean and I hope you do," he pushed his shoulder against her and grinned a sharp toothed smile, "You know that you can't resist a vampire once he's set his mind on a goal. I wanted you Mary Lynette, now I have you my pretty and I'm not letting you go. Well, I will have to let you go so that you can go to the bathroom and stuff, but most of the rest of the time, you and I," he motioned between them with a gloved finger, "inseparable."
"You are so full of it," she laughed.
"Actually luv, I'm running damn near empty, plan to donate blood to a worthy cause? The perks are outstanding," Ash insinuated.
"Okay, but not too much," she leaned her head back, baring her pale neck to the moonlight. Her hair tumbled behind her, a wave of shimmering strands.