Flutter

He finished cutting the fruit, and he went to the cupboard to get out a serving platter. Once he brought it back to the island, he arranged the fruit. Bobby smiled and delicately picked at grapes, afraid of disturbing the masterpiece that Milo had created.

The bedroom door to Mae and Ezra’s room slammed loudly, followed by quick footsteps, and Mae repeatedly saying the word no. She appeared in the kitchen, looking haggard. Her cheeks and eyes were red from crying, and her honey curls were pulled back in a very messy bun. Tissue was wadded up tightly in her hand, and she glared at us.

- 15 -

Ezra followed close behind Mae, looking better than he had in days. He didn’t appear as upset as her, but his expression was grim. When he reached out for her, she pulled away from him.

“Where have you been?” Mae demanded, her warm voice more shrill. Bobby had been in the middle of chewing, but he gulped it down whole and moved closer to Milo.

“Why? Did something happen?” Jack asked carefully.

“Just answer the damn question!” Mae shouted, making us all jump. Her hands were balled up at her sides, and stray curls stuck to her tear stained cheeks. “You think you all can just come and go as you please. This isn’t a hotel. We are a family, and this is our home!”

“Sorry?” I apologized uncertainly. I looked to Ezra for help, but he was too busy watching her to give us any hint about what the hell was going on.

“Yeah, we’re really sorry,” Milo said, more sincerely than I did.

“We didn’t mean to not tell you,” Jack said. “We just left in kind of a hurry, I guess.”

“Where did you go that was so important you couldn’t let me know?” Mae fixed her gaze on Jack because he had offered the most up, and he shrunk back from it, wrapping his arms over his chest. He shifted uneasily and glanced at me, but I shook my head. I didn’t want any part of her hysteria.

“We just, uh, went to the club to look-” He’d barely gotten out the word “club” before her eyes widened and she cut him off.

“The club? Not the vampire club? None of you would be that stupid to do something as risky and dangerous as that without even letting me know.” Mae was completely aghast, and Jack looked at his feet, so she turned to the rest of us. “What were you thinking? Do you all have a death wish? Just because you can live forever doesn’t mean you will!”

“We were going there after Jane,” I said quietly, hoping to appease her some.

“If you all want to die, I can’t save you!” She threw her hands up in the air. “I can’t save anybody!”

A fresh tear slid down her cheek, and I wanted to hug her or comfort her in some way, but I didn’t know how. I was afraid that anything I did would just set her off more.

“We’re really, really sorry,” Milo said.

“I can’t save anybody!” Mae wailed, her voice cracking.

“Mae,” Ezra whispered. She sobbed, doubling over and holding her sides. He wrapped his arms around her and held her up. “Mae, love, it’s all right.”

“It is not all right!” Mae tried pushing him away, but he held steadfast. “This is not how it’s supposed to be!” She cried harder, her words lost completely in her tears, so she turned and buried her face in his chest.

They stood that way for a minute, and the rest of us stared at them. We weren’t really sure if we should leave or stay there or speak or what, so we just stared.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” I said carefully when Mae seemed more composed. “But, um, what is going on?”

“Mae went to visit her human family,” Ezra explained.

Even though his words were meant to be soothing, I heard the disapproval in them. He didn’t think that Mae should have anything to do with the humans she had left behind when she turned, but she insisted on driving out to check on them, although she never interacted with them.

“Tonight, she found out that her great-granddaughter is terminally ill, and she only has a matter of months to live,” Ezra said, and he held her more tightly. Just hearing him say it aloud devastated her.

Mae had been twenty-eight when she turned, leaving behind a young daughter. Her change hadn’t been entirely by choice, and she had to leave a family that meant everything to her. She had been forced to watch her daughter grow up from a distance, and then her granddaughter, and now her great-grandchildren.

Ezra tolerated her fondness for them because he loved her so much, but he had given her a deadline. They were going to have to move away from them soon, because she couldn’t spend her entire existence watching her future generations getting old and dying.

The hardest part for Mae was that she had had an infant son that died several years before her daughter was born. It almost killed her, and Mae swore that she would never outlive any of her other children. Unfortunately, she had become immortal, so she would have no choice.

But nothing could’ve prepared her for losing her five-year-old great-granddaughter. I doubt she could even wrap her mind around losing her adult daughter, let alone a small child.

I went to her, and she pulled away from Ezra just enough so she could hug me. As much as she loved him, at that moment, she wanted a child, and I had become a surrogate daughter for her. She held onto me so tightly it was painful, but I said nothing.

Eventually, she calmed down and apologized for her behavior. By then, Milo and Bobby had snuck up to their room, much to my annoyance. Ezra stayed by her side, in case she might need him, but Jack had ventured into the backyard with Matilda to give us space.