Chapter Four
...
As Merrick splashed around an overly bubbly bath, Mira found her opportunity to replace her gear from the night before. She emptied the pockets of her cargoes and tossed them into the laundry, then whipped the torn shirt into the trash. Stuffing most of the gear into the Nike gym bag, she shoved them up onto the top shelf of her closet, hiding the rifle case in the attic of the house. The rifle the rested in the corner of her closet, behind her wedding dress.
She started a pie before anything else. After sticking it into the oven, she began frying chicken after that. Covered in flour, cooking grease, and various other ingredients, she carefully breaded each piece and set them in the pan. The hot grease cackled and spit to life above an open flame, and she used a wooden fork to turn each piece. Sprinkling some cajun over the flour, she added some butter to the grease and went to work on the fries.
Soon Merrick was out of the tub and dressed in his usual play clothes. He had a bin of G.I. Joe toys, as well as a bin of plastic dinosaurs and was setting up for what she assumed a battle. Mira tromped out of the kitchen and into his bedroom, removing a pair of dark blue jeans and a navy blue polo shirt. Taking them out of the bedroom, she held them up and cleared her throat.
He had a pained expression. "But, Ma!" He protested in a whine, "I don't wanna wear those! I want to wear these!" He pulled at the hem of the shirt he was currently wearing. Mira shook her head no and handed them to him.
"No, Merrick. Go change, right now," she gestured towards the bedroom, "when I put the chicken in the oven to bake." With grumbling protest the boy took the clothes into the bedroom and changed. He emerged later, Mira walking over to inspect him. Kneeling before the boy, she froze when she looked into his eyes.
They were an incredibly dark brown, with flecks of gold sparkling as the sun hit them. They were dangerously like Will's eyes, gently and soft and...open. She could see the boys very soul through them, a soul of great youth, freedom, and grief. A twinge of pain shot across the nerves of her body, but was soon replaced with grief as tears welled in her own eyes. She sniffled, exhaled a shaky breath, and cupped the boys soft cheek in her hand. Tipping her head to the side, she bit down on her lower lip and stroked his jaw with her thumb.
"You remind me so much of Daddy, sweetheart," she whispered, "I love you so much, you know that, right?"
He nodded. "Yes, Mama."
Leaning towards him, she planted a kiss on his forehead and stood. He went back to playing toys, and Mira hurried herself into the bedroom. Closing the door behind her, she leaned against it and stiffled a loud sob. Clapping a hand over her mouth, she slid down the door until she hit the floor, a bawling, crying heap.
The wedding ring on her left finger weighed heavier it seemed than it had that morning. Mira cried unbelievably hard a few moments, and upon realization that not matter how hard she cried it couldn't bring Will back, she stopped. She stared solemnly at the wall, where pictures of her and Will and a newborn Merrick littered the far corner, and progressed through time as Merrick grew. She went to the picture on the nightstand, and got up, moving towards it. Taking it in her hands, she gazed into his face and whispered.
"You'd want me to be happy, right?" her voice as cracked as tears began to flow again.
Her heart might as well have been run over by a thousand running mustangs it hurt so much. A habitual shake had returned to her hands and she hugged the picture to her chest, closing her eyes and letting her tears flow again. A solid, beating pain rested in her chest, and she assumed it must've been her heartbeat.
She and Will had discussed happiness more often than not, especially as Will went out on more field missions with the Autobots than not. They had talked about what they'd want if either one of them had passed before the other, or what they'd wish for Merrick if both of them were killed. The conversations had been less than pleasant, but dutiful nonetheless. They'd both made it painfully clear that Merrick would stay with her parents, seeing as Will's were no longer living, and that upon his 18th birthday, he was to be drafted into NEST under the care and watch of one Optimus Prime-his mother's mentor and friend.
But, what was the most painful, was the words Will had spoken to Mira every conversation. He'd take both her hands in his, kiss her knuckles delightfully, and then stare her square in the eyes and tell her he loved her fiercely. He'd tell her he wanted her happiness despite the circumstances of his own life, and no matter what it cost him he wanted her and Merrick to be cared for. And, if that meant finding love again after his death, then by God she'd better do it. He made her swear she wouldn't grieve him long, and that she would find another to give herself too. Don't deprive men of such a beautiful heart, he'd say. Such a loyal, loving, beautiful soul and heart you possess.
The thought took her breath away again, and she sobbed. Replacing the picture, she looked down at her wedding ring and twirled it on her finger. Then, looking back at the picture, she sighed. "I...I just don't know if I could love something like I love you," she breathed. Touching the necklace, she exhaled deeply and closed her eyes.
Take this pain away, God. I can't go on living with it. Every heartbeat just...hurts. Take it away, God, and help me through this.
She smelled something coming from the kitchen, and hurried out to inspect the sight. Not only had Merrick torn the living room apart with toys, but he'd also managed to invade part of her kitchen as well. Stepping over his barrage, she whipped open the oven to inspect her food. It all had a while to bake yet, so she leveled on taking a shower and getting herself ready.
Why she was so worried about what she looked like for Cade Yeager was a mystery unto her. Maybe it was because she didn't want to come off as an old farm hag, but she decided it was because she was doing him a favor. Showering all of the sweat and dirt off from the night's endeavors, she wrapped a robe around herself and tousled her curls into place. Then, taking a clip from the mirror, she pulled them back and sprayed them down with curling mist.
For clothing she chose her favorite sundress-seeing as the day was a brooding 102 degrees. It was a soft yellow, and she always wore it with a brown leather belt around her midsection. For shoes she settled on her best pair of cowboy boots-also a brown leather with white stitching. Smoothing the dress, she forewent the entire makeup process and settled for mascara and lip gloss, then spritzed herself with coconut nectar perfume.
By now the chicken was done, and it was nearly four. She took everything from the oven and went out to the garage, where she found the picnic basket. Pulling the white wicker basket from the top of a workbench, she walked back into the house. Draping a clean dishtowel over the pie, she set that in the first compartment. Then, taking a plastic bowl from the cupboard above the sink, she placed the fried chicken in the other side, followed by the bowl of sweet potato fries and the bag of powdered sugar. She closed up the basket and switched off the oven.
"Merrick!" she declared, "get your stuff around, bud. We're leaving!" Deciding quickly that she'd better call the man to see if he'd even be home, she retrieved her satchel and cellphone. Punching in his number, she pressed it to her ear and rested it between her collarbone and ear as she dug around for her keys. After three rings, she was about to hang up, when the call connected.
"This is Cade," the voice declared over the line. She remembered his voice seeming deeper in person, but pushed the thought from her head. His face flashed before her eyes a moment and she shook it away by glancing at the picture in the living room of her and Will and Merrick.
"Hello, Cade. This is Miriam Lennox," she straightened upon locating her keys, "from the theatre."
He laughed. "Sure. You didn't have to remind me."
What did that mean? "Oh, well, I...I got your message about the camera. It's done?"
"Yes, ma'am. It's fixed and ready for ya. Are you wanting to come and get it, then?"
Nodding to no one in particular, she handed her satchel and keys to Merrick. He bolted out of the house with his backpack and her things. Opening the fridge, she pulled out a case of Miller, then two juice pouches for Merrick, then kicked it closed. Looping her arm through the handle of the basket, she headed towards the porch, "Yeah, is that okay?"
"Yeah, that's great! Come straight back to the barn, and I'll be-ouch, what the!?" exclaimed. His suddenly outburst made Mira stop outside the porch, and wrinkle her brow.
"Cade?"
He mumbled under his breath, "I'm okay," he affirmed, "yeah, but, just come straight back to the barn. I'll be out there."
"Alright. Give me, what, thirty minutes, just so I can find the place?"
"Yep, sounds good. See ya in a bit."
She smiled, "Sure thing." She ended the call first and stuffed the phone into her boot along her calf, then hustled down the porch steps towards the truck. Opening the back door to the vehicle, she set the basket, beer, and juices on the seat next to Merrick before slamming it closed. Hopping into the driver's seat, she looked over her shoulder at the boy to find him lively shoving the mouth of a T-Rex onto the arm of one of his toy robots.
...
Mira arrived at the place Cade's direction suggested, and pulled into the driveway. It must've been at least a quarter mile long with potholes the size of Louisiana, but she managed to get to the house fine. She wondered if engaging her four-wheel drive would've made the drive easier.
Merrick was the first out of the car, and Mira handed him his juice. She looped her arm around the handle of the basket again and grabbed the Miller pack, slamming the door closed with her foot. She spotted the barn, almost as old and falling apart as the theatre had been, and sighed. A screen door on the house slapped closed and Mira gave her attention to the figure standing on the porch.
She was a beautiful, tall blond with full lips and dashing eyes. She looked roughly around 17 or 18 years old, which was interesting, because Cade didn't look that old-assuming this was his daughter. She glared at Mira with thrashing eyes until she stepped off the porch and approached them. She did not look at all pleased and stopped before them. She looked at Mira, then the little boy.
"Who're you?" she asked bluntly. Surprised by her bluntness and abruptiveness, Mira answered quickly.
"I'm Mira Lennox. Cade is fixing my camera."
She rolled her eyes, "Dad's in the barn. What's all this?" She gestured to the food. Mira smiled and looked at the basket as well, then towards the girl and shrugged her shoulder.
"Let's just leave it at copayment." She nodded once to the girl, and looked down at Merrick. "C'mon, sweetheart. Let's go get my camera." Both of them stepped around the girl and headed towards the barn. There was a sound of shoes on gravel, and Mira realized the girl was following them. She came up beside Mira on the right and wrapped her arms around her abdomen. "What's your name?" Mira started conversation.
"Tessa."
Mira nodded. "Well, Tessa, as I said, I'm Mira. This is my son, Merrick." Tessa looked around Mira to the boy, then gave her attention to Mira's left hand. Yes, girl. It's a ring. I'm not looking to hitch up with your father.
Tessa said nothing, and opened the barn door. She stepped inside and stopped. Mira and Merrick stopped beside to her, and Mira's eyes widened. "Dad! What are you doing!?"
Cade, who was quite the gymnast, she assumed, was balanced above the semi from the theatre with a wrench and trouble light in hand. He was in a planking position on one of the beams of the barn, which ran horizontally all the way across the building. Panicked had all but seized Tessa now, and Cade looked their way. He spotted Mira and Merrick and a smile overtook his face, and he swung his body around to a sitting position, back to them. "Oh, hey guys!" Throwing himself off the beam, he landed on the hood of the truck and dust puffed up around his feet.
"Dad!" Tessa squeaked. Cade made is way off the truck and grabbed a nearby grease rag, running his hands through it as he approached them. Mira watched him, strangely reminded of Will, but only for a brief moment. He was built thicker than Will had been, with chocolate brown eyes and ebony hair. He wore his facial hair in unshaved stubble, apparently, and was covered in grease from his hands up to his elbows. A huge grease mark eased its way from his temple to his brow, and he gave them a goofy smile before extending a somewhat "clean" hand to her. She shook it firmly and he furrowed his brow when he looked at her basket and case of Miller.
"What's this?" he pointed to the beer. Mira smiled at him and looked down at Merrick. The boy looked at his mother and then the strange man and blinked. Mira shrugged a shoulder and extended the beer to Cade.
"Dinner. I figured you'd be hungry." She sighed at how pathetic that sounded. Though, Cade and his daughter looked somewhat relieved and stared at the basket of food as if it had sprouted legs. He took the beer and pulled one of the bottles out of the box.
"You guessed right," he chuckled. "Tess, run into the house and get some plates and forks. I'll get you camera and clear off something for us to put that basket." He popped the cap off the bottle and made his way over to an overly full desk. Taking a hand, he pulled it across the table and dumped the contents onto the floor. Merrick and Mira's eyes both widened as Tessa groaned, rolled her eyes, and left the barn.
Mira approached the now clean bench and set the basket and beer down. She then took the juice pouches from Merrick. Cade reached behind his computer and brought out her camera case, with her phone number still clipped to it. Reaching for the paper, he plucked it from the strap and stuffed it into his pocket. She gave him an astounded look. He laughed. "I keep all the phone numbers for records." It was an obvious lie. She said nothing and stabbed a straw into the juice pouch, handing it to Merrick.
"Are you some kind of junk man?" Merrick asked brightly, "Cause you sure got all this stuff!"
Mira and Cade both laughed and Mira ruffled his hair in her fingers. "Merrick, what a thing to say!" She gave Cade an apologetic look, and mouthed sorry to him. Cade shrugged and took a drink of beer before setting it down on the workbench.
"No," he began, grabbing Merrick under the arms and swinging him up into the barstool which served as a computer chair. Merrick smiled brightly at the man before taking a sit of juice. Mira watched carefully as she uncovered the pie and the chicken, and Tessa arrived with the eating ware. Cade gestured to all his...things...and finished his thought. "I'm an inventor. All this stuff has a purpose."
"Yeah," Tessa replied bitterly, "to become junk."
He shot her a look. "I believe, son, that everything has a purpose, no matter how big, small, or what condition. Everything is made to be used, no matter what." He grabbed a piece of machinery from beside his computer, "See, this may be just a distributor cap for that truck," he gestured towards the truck. He turned it upside down and emptied his pockets full of screws, bolts, and washers into it. "...but it can hold everything else, if I need it to."
Mira paused over the pie and blinked at him. Quite a lesson for a man dealing with junk to teach. She smiled at him and then handed him a plate, thrusting a fork into the other hand. Taking a knife, she began slicing the pie into sections. Tessa grabbed a chicken wing and some fries before disappearing into the house, claiming she had homework. Mira, Merrick, and Cade devoured the food and made conversation.
...
It was astounding how fast his spark was beating now.
He watched her, quietly from across the building, unwilling to breath in fear he would give himself away. How could she, seated over there so close to him, be real? At first he thought he'd imagined her in the theatre, willing himself to believe he'd hallucinated her. But now, here she was again!
He knew he wasn't hallucinating, because her laughter was so rich and so beautiful; a laugh he never could concoct in his head himself. The way she gestured with her hands as she spoke, the way she wrinkled her nose when she laughed, and the way her seriousness was attentive and strong as she explained a topic. All of it was so real and so...her. He knew, by the beating of his spark and the familiarity of her voice that he was not imaging her.
Mira looked slightly different than before; she'd always been built strong and stocky as she called it, but she was a bit heavier than he could remember-again, probably from bearing a child. She'd cut her hair by the looks of it, the tendrils of curls loose from her clip hanging about shoulder length; still a light brown and curly as springs. Her face was still perfectly round and her eyes a shocking deep blue, and she still had those three beauty marks under her left eye. The sun had kissed her skin a bit too much, leaving a tint of red blushing across her nose and cheeks; hardly visible beneath silver and blue rimmed glasses.
The boy, he noticed, had grown since he'd last seen him. Optimus Prime remembered a small, toddling little thing that couldn't speak and that could hardly walk. Since that day, the boy had grown into a juvenile child; thin, with sand colored hair and brown eyes, like his father. His hair contained a wave texture, not curly like his mother, but more along the lines of his father. He strikingly reminded Optimus or William Lennox; who was most obviously the boys father.
He wondered how long they'd be staying. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when the boy excused himself from the table and hurriedly walked towards the truck alternation. A slight twinge of panic seized him again; he did not want this boy crawling in or around him-there was far too much evidence Mira could place together, if she were to come inspect the situation. So, he quickly locked the cab doors and sat still.
The boy, gazing up at the tall vehicle, reached out to touch him. His small hand pressed flat against the tough, cold metal. It was unbelievably warm and soft, and Optimus swore innocence had just placed itself on him. A dazzling amazement radiated from the boy's eyes as he removed his hand, as if touching Heaven itself, and dusted the remainder of dust on his jeans. A wave of emotion hit Optimus, until the boy spoke.
"Mama," he called over his shoulder, "what happened to this truck? What hit him?"
He was obviously referring to the soccer-ball sized holes in his form. Panic shot through his circuitry-Mira could not come over here, for is she did, he would be compromised. Unwilling to bring unwanted-or needed-to his friend's child or herself, he quickly flicked the activation switch for his holoform, positioning it right outside the barn door. When it didn't flicker or falter, he spoke.
...
"Hello?"
A voice behind her made Mira jump in her seat, immediately standing and turning, taking a few steps to stand beside Cade, who straightened instantly and gave his full attention to the barn door. The voice was male, and the door opened as he rapped his knuckles on the door lightly. Peeking inside, he scanned the area, and stepped fully through the door.
He was tall, about six foot two, with amazingly broad shoulders. His forearm muscles were hugely thick and built, and he had deep black hair and stubble resting along his jawline. Piercing blue eyes-almost like ice-looked straight at her, and she felt him staring into her soul. His outfit was deeply country; a deep blue pair of Wranglers, black cowboy boots, and a red and blue plaid shirt with silver buttons and no sleeves. He wore a necklace, but Mira could not see any emblems. The stranger carried an oddly familiar, commanding presence about him, but held grace and gentility-perhaps even honor?-in his eyes.
He approached them. "Are you Cade Yeager?" he asked, a deeply rich baritone rumbling up from his chest. Mira's eyes widened at the man as warmth spread over her-she knew him, but she'd never even met him before.
"Maybe," Cade countered defensively, "who're you?"
The man looked away instantly. Interesting. He hesitated a moment before answering, "Cullen. My name is Cullen," he said solidly, extending a hand. "I'm sorry to have frightened you."
"What do you want?" Cade challenged again, unwilling to shake the man's hand. Mira instantly felt sorry for the man up against Cade's southern rudeness and protectiveness, and stepped between them to fill the man's hand with her own. Slipping it into his, she shook it gently and smiled at him softly.
"Hello," she replied, "My name is Mira." Merrick came dashing over to her, stopping to her left, staring up at the unbelievably attractive, and tall, stranger. "This is Merrick, my son."
Cullen looked down at the boy and gave a half smile to him. "A privilege to meet you," he looked to Cade, "I am here on business. I was told by a gentleman at the Uptown Theatre that a Cade Yeager purchased a cab-over truck yesterday afternoon," he found the truck and looked at it, gesturing to it with a hand. "Are you that man?"
Cade, obviously aware the man wasn't going to harm them, stepping up beside Mira. Mira watched him shelteredly nod slowly, "I am, yes."
Relief hit the man's face and eyes. "Good. I trust it has landed in good hands."
"Why do you ask?" Mira interjected, placing her hands on Merrick's shoulders and pulling her into him. "...Does the truck belong to you?"
The man looked at her with those icy-blue eyes and closed them, nodding. "It does, yes. I was in an accident a few months previous and it was taken from me by officers before I could have it repaired. Somehow it ended up at the Theatre, and now here." He looked at it. "It's been in my family for years. Almost a part of me, you could say."
The eloquent way he spoke hit Mira to the core. She was instantly mesmerized by this stranger, Cullen. Looking towards the worn truck, she wondered how-and why-he had come looking for it, wanting it back, apparently. Cade had a look of disbelief on his face when he asked the next question.
"...Are you wanting it back?"
The man nodded once. "That would be my reason for intruding," he gestured towards the door, "I saw the lights and the door was slightly open, so I made my presence known. I hope I have not intruded on your...gathering."
Merrick wrinkled his nose. "You talk funny," he commented.
Mira shot him a look down as he looked up at her. "Merrick," she chastised quietly, looking back up at the man. "Sorry," she replied. Looking to Cade, she took Merrick's hand and made her way towards the door, "We'll leave you two alone, if you don't mind. We'll be outside."
The door thumped quietly back into the place, the stranger and Cade watching her as she left.
