Page 20 of Zombies, Satyrs and Vampires, Oh My!

“That’s super gross,” Harry says.

Vivian shakes her head. “You have no idea.” Then she looks at me, cringing and nearly gagging. “Clearly those were his young. Those weren’t…”

She can’t bring herself to say it out loud. I don’t blame her.

“I suspect that creature reproduced asexually through parthenogenesis. Some insects do. But the part of him that was still human retained the urge to mate with another.” I shake my head. “So, no. Those bugs were all his.”

Vivian shudders in relief and wraps her arms around me.

Harriet just grins, watching us. “Heard a lot about you, Atticus.” Then she cups her hand to talk to Vivian but doesn’t even pretend to whisper. “You were right, he’s totally hot.”

I burst out laughing, then my hand covers my mouth.

“Oh my God,” Vivian says. “You laughed. Like a full laugh. And Harry made you do it, not me,” she says with a feigned pout.

“Heartbeat,” I say. Then I pull her into my arms. “You have brought life back into my soul and love into my heart; you own every part of me, my laughs too.”

“I love you, Atticus.”

“Ask her to stay,” Harry fake whispers.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“She won’t do it on her own; ask her to stay with you.”

“I told you yesterday when we were making love that I wanted you to stay with me forever. I meant it. Stay with me, Vivian. Be my heartbeat forever.”

“Yes, I will.”

“Gross, look I think I found some tiny legs,” Harry says holding something up between her fingers.

“Maybe we should take her to town with us and see if we can find her a boyfriend too,” Vivian says, putting her arm around my waist. She makes a face at Harry’s car and all the tiny mothman body parts. “That’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen. And I write horror novels, so I know what I’m talking about.”

“Wait, what kind of books do you write again?"

Vivian and Harry exchange looks.

Harry cackles.

Vivian tilts her head. “Would you believe, zombie books?”

I laugh again for the second time tonight. My stomach muscles ache a bit from not being used in such a way.

“But I think it might be time for me to change to what I’ve been wanting to write, and now that I know what love feels like, I can,” Vivian says.

My heart stutters when her words hit me. It's me she loves, which still feels impossible, but I only need to look into her beautiful face to see the truth. Her love shines up from her eyes and she looks at me like I’m the only man she’s ever seen. “What is it you’ve been wanting to write?” I ask.

“Romance novels. Zombie romance novels. Oh, I’ll call them rom-zoms.”

Then she kisses me.