CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON

They talked for about two hours, reminiscing about the first days they were together. Stephan’s memory was perfect, he didn’t forget a single detail of their encounters. He could even remember how she wore her hair and the colors of her clothes.

“Well, you haven’t changed at all. Everything about you is the same, how you dress, you’re overprotectiveness, and especially the way you kiss.” Scarlet bit her lower lip and smiled.

“Well, I aim to please.” He returned her smile with a cheeky grin, “You are such a mom. Every aspect of your life is molded around this little boy.”

“He’s my baby I have to take care of him.”

“I still can’t believe you were brave enough to run away with my baby, not knowing what you were facing.”

Scarlet felt a little guilty. “I didn’t want to take him away from you. I hope you understand that I was only doing what I thought was best.”

“That’s fine. I think he’s completely asleep this time.” Stephan inched away to test his assumption. SJ didn’t wake up or stir. Carefully and slowly, they got up but they didn’t go before they surrounded him with pillows, just in case he felt around for them.

They zipped it up and slowly backed away from the tent, and then turned to run into the water.

“The first time you brought me here, you asked me to dance for you.”

“Yeah, but you were shy and hesitated for a while. But when you started dancing, you took my breath away. It was worth the wait.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“Now I’m asking you to dance with me.”

“I will dance with you for the rest of my life Scarlet.”

“I love you.”

They slowly moved in tune to the sounds of the ocean, stealing kisses ever so often.

Slowly, with no intent of seduction in her mind, Scarlet stripped off her clothes and walked deeper into the ocean. She looked at Stephan was still watching her from the shores.

He gazed at how her pale skin glistened in the water, under the lights of the stars and the moon. He took his clothes off and joined her in the water.

He pulled her nude body up against his chest. He wanted to feel her bare skin on his, to experience its beauty without all the barriers of clothing.

She wrapped her arms around his neck when he lifted her off the ocean floor. The warm water surrounded them, little waves formed each time they moved.

“I love you Scarlet, no matter what happens keep that in mind.”

“Nothing is going to happen. No one will ever hurt us or tear us apart.”

He carried her to the shore and laid her on the soft sand. He looked into her eyes and the genuine love she felt for him, shone through them. That simple act of honesty filled his heart with hope that he would be with her forever.

Once it was all done, they would come back here and live their lives per one simple truth. The love they had for each other.

He made love to her, with only love in his mind and heart.

***

Stephan watched them as they slept, SJ had huddled closer to Scarlet in the middle of the night. He held them both in his arms and admired how beautiful they looked. The memory of this moment would be embedded in his memory, it would get him through the lonely nights that waited for him.

He reached for his phone and dialed Solara’s number, “Hey Solara I need a favor. Actually...two.”

***

Scarlet woke up to find she was alone in the bed. She didn’t bother looking for where Stephan and SJ were. She knew they would be together and as long as they stayed that way everything would be fine.

She walked out of the tent and found a trail that led to where they were. SJ’s cup, plate, and clothes were on the sand, leading to the ocean. She could hear his little giggle.

SJ was playing in the water with his father again. Stephan picked him up and tossed him back into the water repeatedly. He seemed to like it because his little shriek of pleasure would rip through the air.

Scarlet sat near the water and watched, they hadn’t seen her yet and she preferred it that way. SJ had taken quickly to him as he did with her.

“How do you like it here my love?” Scarlet sat with SJ as he built little sandcastles.

“Can we stay here?”

“I don’t know, we should ask your father that?” Scarlet knew that they had their lives back in Kings, but she also thought they could have a home here. Near the ocean, it had become a special place to her.

“Stephan, what do you think of that?”

“Of what?” he wasn’t paying attention to what they were saying, his mind was preoccupied with how he was going to break the news to Scarlet.

“Of moving here or somewhere next to a beach.”

“What about the house at King’s. I thought it was a good place, especially with the forest in our back yard.” He didn’t want to deny her anything, but moving away from the others at that particular time, wasn’t a good idea.

“How about we buy a summer home here, big enough for all of us.” He suggested instead.

“I think that’s a better idea. We could also come back here to get away, have some time to ourselves.” She wrapped her arms around his body, from the back. “How long are we here for?”

“I thought we could head back home tomorrow night. I know it’s soon but there are some things I need to take care of.” Stephan hoped she wouldn’t ask for an explanation, and breathed easy when she didn’t.

Scarlet assumed that whatever he had to do back home was what had preoccupied his mind the whole time they had been there. He seemed to be struggling with something, but she couldn’t tell what. She didn’t ask him, prying wasn’t one of her strongest suits.

“Ok, but you have to tell him.” she pointed towards their son, who had managed to get himself buried under the sand.

“I thought you could do that. I think I’m his favorite parent and I don’t want to mess that up.” He chuckled.

“If that is true, as soon as you tell him, I will be his favorite parent.”