Silence: Part Two of Echoes & Silence (74 page)

“No,” I said simply. “Why do you ask?”

“I talk about her like she is—in one of my journals.”

“I was a bad husband,” David said. “And you picked up the pieces of Ara that I destroyed. Had it continued that way, you would have married Ara, and Elora would have grown up knowing you as her father.”

Jase cringed. “For your sake, seeing the way you obviously love your wife, I’m
glad
things didn’t turn out that way.”

I smiled at David and he smiled back at me in the same way.

“Me too, Jase,” he said. “Me too.”

***

While David took Jason out for one final driving lesson before his test, Vicki, Elora and I sat in the garden under the old oak tree with a picnic and few of Elora’s favourite teddybears and dolls. I could tell from the way Vicki poured the tea for the dolls and showed the baby how to feed them that she was really enjoying this as much as I was. She even put on a
very
poorly-done English accent as she made the dolls talk.

When my phone rang, I yanked it so quickly from the back pocket of my denim shorts that I nearly dropped it in the pink teacake, hoping it would be David. But Mike’s name showed up on the screen instead.

“Hello, you!”

“Hey,” he said, dragging the word out. “How’ve you been?”

“Great!” I beamed. “Really great. How’s Em?”

“She’s great,” he said, pausing with an awkward-sounding “Um.”

“Uh-oh. What is it?”

“Nothing bad,” he said quickly. “Just um… I just don’t want you to laugh.”

“Okay. I swear,” I crossed my fingers behind my back, grinning at Vicki, who I knew could hear the conversation perfectly with her immortal ears.

“Liar,” Mike said. “I know you too well, Ara.”

“Okay, I promise I’ll
try
not to laugh. Now what is it?”

“Um, so… Em and I are… we’re engaged again.”

“What!” I screeched, jumping up to my feet. Elora stared up at me with those big green eyes, totally confused. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah,” he said, and I could just picture him looking back at Em, running a hand over his hair. “We, ah… we’re having the wedding here in Oz—we hoped you might all come.”

“No way.” I dropped to my knees again to give Elora the plastic teacup as it rolled away. “Of
course
we’ll come.
All
of us.” I looked at Vicki to confirm. “We wouldn’t miss it for the world. When is it?”

“We were thinking April next year—autumn, for us, that is.”

“Sounds perfect!” I pictured it all in my head—the dress, the flowers, the park where they might hold the ceremony.

“And Em says yes,” he added.

“Yes to what?”

“Yes you can help plan it all.”

I laughed. “She knows me too well.”

Mike laughed too. Then it stopped and he went all serious again. “And um… there’s one more thing.”

“Okay…”

“Um, she wants… well,
we
want… uh—”

There was a shuffling noise and Mike suddenly turned into Em. “Ara, I want you to make me human after so I can have a baby.”

After the initial shock wore off, my stomach did flips of excitement. “Of course, Em. Of course,” was all I could say, my mind already picturing a little Mike-Em-combo running around. “Aw, Em, you guys will have the cutest babies!”

“Ba
by
,” she corrected in a dull tone. “Singular. We already have two kids.”

“And what do they think of all this?” I asked. “Are they happy?”

“Over the moon.
They
asked me first.”

“Asked you what?”

“To marry Mike.” She laughed. “And I told them
he
had to ask me. A week later, he got down on one knee, ring and all—new ring, not the old one—right there in front of his mom and dad and the boys.”

“Aw, he’s so sweet.”

“I can hear that,” I heard Mike say from the background.

I smiled, letting it all fill me up with happiness. In a way, I should have seen this coming. Mike’s call last week felt a little off—full of probing questions about
my
feelings on
his
relationship. I think he was worried I might tell him he was better off without Em, or maybe that she was better off without him. But as that conversation replayed in my mind just now, I remembered him saying that he regretted their breakup and that, had she not been with Blade, he would have tried to make amends. I told him he needed to tell
her
that, and that he needed to tell her he didn’t blame her for the abuse David inflicted on her, but I wasn’t sure he’d taken my advice. I hoped so, because she thought for sure last time we spoke about it that Mike saw
David
as the victim. And I knew for sure that he was just really bad at saying what he felt—especially when it came to things like that.

I sighed. “I miss you guys so much.”

“Well, we’re coming over soon—to visit,” Em said. “I wanna see Jason and we’re gonna have to tell my parents in person.”

“You don’t think they’ll be happy?”

“About the engagement, yes. My mom always
loved
Mike. But they won’t be happy about me moving to Australia.”

“Oh.” I smiled, cringing a little for her sake. “So, when are you coming?”

“As soon as the boys go on Christmas break…” her voice trailed off. “Start of December.”

I sighed. “It’ll be so great to see you all. Have the boys grown heaps?”

“Oh my God! They never stop,” she breathed. “And they never stop eating!”

I laughed.

“And how’s my goddaughter?” she asked.

“Fat. Happy. Crawling now,” I added and Em squealed. “We might hold the Christening while you guys are over here then.”

“Sounds perfect,” she said. “And send me some more photos. It’s been two weeks since the last one.”

“I will,” I promised.

“Okay, gotta go,” she said. “Say bye, Mike.”

“Bye,” he called.

“Bye,” I said. “Love you guys.”

“You too,” they both said, and hung up the phone.

I looked at Vicki and we both just grinned.

***

Jase bounced down the stairs and swung off the ball on the end of the balustrade, projecting himself around and into the kitchen. “Morning!”

“
Someone’s
excited today,” Vickie noted, placing a warm plate of pumpkin bread in front of him.

“This is essentially my first Halloween,” he said, tapping his feet under the table in the same way Sam did when he was excited. “I don’t think I slept last night—at all.”

Vicki laughed, sitting down beside him where she’d left her coffee. “Have you got your costume ready?”

“Nice try,” I said. “But he won’t tell
anyone
what he’s going as.”

“And before you ask,” he said, digging into his breakfast, “it’s not a vampire.”

“What’s wrong with going as a vampire?” David flashed his pearly fangs as he walked past Jase.

“I’m not really in to the whole bloodsucker thing. Sam and I are going as something cooler.”

“Cooler?” I whispered under my breath, smirking at David. He leaned down and kissed my brow, then kissed Elora’s, and headed over to the coffee pot.

He’s like a child now,
he thought.
It’s hard getting used to it.

I know,
I replied.
It’s almost like he’s Sam’s age.

In his mind, he’s not far off that. He hasn’t really grown up
, he thought, turning around and leaning against the counter with a coffee mug in hand.
He was essentially born only eight months ago—when he first woke up—he doesn’t have any life experience to grow from.

He’ll be okay,
I assured him, sipping my coffee.
He just needs some time.

David nodded into his cup, exhaling.

“I’ve asked you two not to do that!” Vicki screeched.

“Do what?” I said, looking at David, confused.

“Talk with your minds.” She pointed at her temple. “It’s rude.”

David and I looked at each other with wide eyes and then broke out laughing.

“I didn’t even realise we were doing it.”

“My apologies, Vicki,” David said. “It won’t happen again.”

“Oh you little fibber,” she snapped playfully. “It will and you know it.”

Jase, chewing his food around a smile, watched Vicki as she left the room, then leaned forward to whisper, “You were talking about me, weren’t you? In your head.”

“What makes you think that?” I sat back a bit, bringing my coffee with me.

“You kept looking at me with the same expression.” He crinkled his nose in thought. “You’re worried about me for some reason.”

“We think you should change your birth certificate and go back to school for a few years,” David said, tucking his tie against his shirt as he sat down at the table. “You’ve recovered enough now. It’s time to start doing something with your life.”

“Finally.” Jase sat back with a sigh of relief. “How long have I been asking you to send me to school?”

“Well, now I’m agreeing.” David reached for the newspaper. “You can enrol this week.”

“Sweet.” Jase tapped the table with both hands and then stood up. “I’ll go tell Sam.”

“Tell Sam what?” Vicki asked, nearly toppling over as Jase ran past her up the stairs. She looked back at him and watched for a moment, then frowned at us.

“He’s going to school,” I said, spooning another clump of banana into Elora’s little mouth.

“He seems to have regressed a few years since he became a human, and we’re concerned it’ll continue.”

“What makes you think it’ll continue?” Vicki asked.

“He has extensive damage to his brain. We weren’t sure he’d ever walk or talk again, and since he’s been awake, he’s… different,” David explained. “I haven’t seen him progress beyond the thoughts and ideas of a young teenager, and I’m hoping now that school might help with that.”

“I think it will.” She sat down again. “I’ve been saying that for months.”

“I know,” David said into the paper. “I just wasn’t ready to let him go until now.”

I held a smirk in place, keeping it on David’s face until he looked at me.

“What?” he said.

“He’s driving you nuts, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” He sighed, lowering the paper. Vicki and I laughed.

“He is very different to the Jason I remember,” I said, missing that old Jason a little. “But he’s sweet and I think he’ll be fine at school.”

“So do I.” Vicki stood up and took Jason’s plate. “Although, I may need to start teaching him some table manners.”

“Please do,” David offered. “The boy needs some mothering, and I know Ara won’t do it—she encourages his childish ways.”

“I do not.” I slapped him in the arm. “But we’re buddies. I’m not his mother and I don’t want to be.”

“Well,” Vicki said, putting the plate in the sink, where Jase should have put it. “
Someone
has to.”

“And that’s why you’re just so amazing,” I said with a grin.

Vicki rolled her eyes, but smiled after.

“Well, I have to go.” David shut the paper, took one last sip of coffee and kissed my head again as he stood up.

“Just one case today—at court?” I asked.

He nodded, kissing Elora’s little blonde wisps of hair. “So I’ll be home pretty early.”

“Early enough to pick up some more powdered sugar on the way home?” Vicki asked, standing on her toes to look into the pantry.

“Sure. Just text me exactly what kind.”

“You’re a gem,” she said. “And get some milk, too, will you?”

“Sure,” he said, picking up his briefcase. “Bye.”

Elora turned in her chair and extended her little hand, opening and closing it to wave goodbye.

“Bye-bye,” David said in a silly voice, backing into the entranceway. “Bye-bye.”

I looked over at Vicki when she laughed as the front door closed.

“What?” I said.

“I never thought I’d see the all-powerful King turn to goo around a baby.”

I smiled, looking out the window to watch as David got in his car. “He has this amazingly sweet and gentle side that he very rarely lets people see. He was playing peek-a-boo with Elora in her crib this morning, and I think he was having more fun than she was.”

“He’s a good dad, Ara. And a good man. I think you did pretty well there.”

“Yeah, I think so too.”

“However,” she said, and left it at that.

“However?”