The Unexpected Visitor
Just when Hebe said things would start to settle down a little bit, we all got a few shocks that changed all of her blueness's plans. The first surprise was the blonde woman that seemed to be spending a lot of time in our home. Apparently, Velmoor met her before he moved in. He was all too happy to continue the spark once he had become a member of my household. The two of them have both survived the loss of a soulmate. It was that shared event plus a love of a few other hobbies that made them a happy couple.
Although, the look on Hebe's face when our guest started rubbing her stomach was priceless. Pam and I got some giggles over it before we went out for another date. I really should have been supermaxing painting but all I had been wishing for all day was to be with her. With the thoughts of Velmoor's impending second fatherhood, I couldn't help but think that one day I was going to want a child. And I knew with absolute certainty that it was going to be with Pam. She's older than I am by a lot. Old enough that our time to have children together is seriously shortened compared to if I had fallen for Hebe. So I asked her to take the next step with me.
I was so scared she would say no that I almost dropped the ring twice. She said she had never expected I was serious now that I knew her age. I put the ring on her finger and pulled her close and reminded her that her answer wasn't a no so she couldn't back out now. We laughed and Hebe cheered. Finally something she had planned was working out. Then disaster struck.
I've dealt with loss before. I wasn't there when my parents left us. I had never actually seen the event before. However, right behind us as we celebrated, fate decided to remind me that I wasn't on a pleasure cruise.
I was the only one in the whole house who had never ever seen
him before. His arrival in a cloud of black smoke froze me to the ground where I stood. I couldn't move, speak or mourn for my friend. It was as if all the happiness of my life was being sucked out of me as I stared into that black hood. The next few moments are still literally burned into my mind even now.
Velmoor's pleas to stay behind with his child still ring in my ears.
The man in black would not hear of it. It was Velmoor's time and Death came for him in spiteof his level 9 handiness. It should have never happened. I can still remember turning to see the horror on her face when his very pregnant mate waddled in. I did everything I could think of to console her and help get her mind off what we had all just witnessed. I told her that it was too late for her to go home and none of us wanted her driving so she stayed. The next morning I tried again to be a friend to her like Velmoor had wanted me to be.
Her grief and the timing worked against me though. Just as soon as I thought I had a handle on the situation, the first contraction hit and like all men before me in the Simverse, I totally lost my cool.
Hebe smacked me in the back of the head and handed me the car keys. I quickly did the flip into my every day outfit and offered her a ride. She happily nodded her head and off we went to the hospital. It was.. messy.
And it was amazing. To see Velmoor's little guy be brought into the Simverse and to see that little burrito snuggle with his mother was mind-boggling.
I drove mother and child back to their home. Luckily, she had already gotten a nursery put together for the little guy. I snuck upstairs after tucking her into bed to play and check on little man. As I held Darrick De D'Onlyn Dreamweaver for the first time, I knew that I was going to have to tell him about his father and what a guy he was. I also knew that I couldn't ignore that life could be short. Even though it was generally unheard of, accidents can happen and I wasn't about to let fate try to dictate my life. That's what Hebe was for.
That night I got home and told Pam what I wanted. After the shock of the morning, she completely agreed with me. We headed up to the waterfalls and that's where we pledged ourselves to each other.
Hebe and James had both had a similar idea but it had taken more work for them to get ready. The four of us went out to one of James' favorite fishing spots. There bride and groom arrived wearing strange formalwear and then pledged themselves to each other in this lifetime. It was a weird ritual to watch. It was finally explained to me later that Hebe and James had changed into the outfits of their first loves.
We all went home and toasted Velmoor. We gave him a spot in the living room with a lilac colored display. Hebe said that way he would come visit us. At the time, I had thought she was joking.
