I watch my husband Teddy move about the room and think he could be right off of the cover of one of those sexy Vampire books… only a lot hotter. Or I suppose colder if you’re a Vampire.
My own personal history is somewhat off limits and wide open (I’m blogging aren’t I.) But this is about a full moon in October and the love of my life. Sometimes we forget as parents that we had a life before the kids came along.
I have known Teddy forever, at least my forever. From the day I was born he was always there, then he wasn’t there, and over the years we were like two ships that passed in the night.
It was October 16, 1959 when we saw each other at a party at my Uncle Rob’s house in Santa Barbara. It was a perfect night under a full moon with the first nips of fall in the air. A perfect night for Vampires.
Teddy was there in a beautiful black suit. His silk tie was a geometric pattern of reds and gold. Every head in the room turned to look at my handsome friend. A few days before he’d come up from Los Angeles where he’d had business dealings, and I’m sure plenty of pleasure. Back then could outshine any of the old Hollywood stars day or night. He still can.
I wore a red satin wiggle dress to the party. My hair was pale blonde at the time and pulled back into a fashionable elegant twist. I think of myself now always in jeans and sweaters and remember the progression of fashion from hoops and corsets, wiggle dresses and garter belts, mini skirts and tights to my current collection of little A-line dresses, pencil skirts and crisp white shirts, well, and lots of jeans and tees.
Anyway, it was great to see Teddy. As usual I was living and traveling with my brother Valentine. Val and I were never anywhere more than a year or two. It had been at least a year since I’d seen Teddy. Tonight Val was at home miles away. I was at the party enjoying company of the other guest (especially the delightful Regular Human guests.)
So Teddy and I took time out and went outside for some time to our selves. From the large back deck we watched a pack of large dogs run across the beach. The moonlight bounced off of their fur.
“Those aren’t dogs,” said Teddy.
I looked at him, puzzled.
“They’re werewolves Juliette.”
It had been years since I’d seen werewolves in their wolf form. It brought up memories of our childhood. The only difference was that I knew who the Werewolves were in California of the 1860’s but he had no idea such beasts existed. He was human back then, a Regular Human, before he became a Vampire like my brothers and me. Oh well.
We talked through the night as old friends who have known each other forever do. We also spoke like new friends with a quick and comfortable attraction.
The following night we took the train north to San Francisco where Teddy lived with my eldest brother Max.
Their house was Victorian but the furnishings were modern and stylish. Max wasn’t home, but that was fine with me. Teddy didn’t offer to take me to my parent’s house or to stay with my brother Andrew. He didn’t show me to the guest room.
We fixed cocktails, talked a bit and laughed a lot. Then we went upstairs to his bedroom and made love for the first time.
Everything was perfect and right and comfortable and passionate and I knew he was the one I wanted to be with always. I’d known him forever but now things had gone a step, a big step, beyond friendship.
I thought of how if he never had become a Vampire he’d be gone, or 110 years old in 1959. How I would have missed him. I’ve missed so many friends over the years, but it is something we accept. We don’t have to like it, but we accept it as the way things have to be.
Max came home in the wee hours of the morning and while he said nothing to me I knew he was slightly annoyed. After all, his baby sister had just spent the night in the bed of his best friend.
He spoke to Teddy alone with low tones. I could hear Max calling him Theodore. It is always serious when those two are called Theodore or Maxwell. Max eventually had to admit to himself that Teddy and I had always been close.
Teddy and I didn’t really make things serious until the early 1990’s but we always knew where we could find each other.
I think of those few days in 1959, a few weeks before my 100th birthday and it seems like a million years ago, and it seems like yesterday.
Now we have one child in college and one in High School. Our discussions center around hilarious tales of high school, things that need to be done around the house, and our busy October schedule. We each have our jobs, we have a lot of friends, and we have our children. The kids come first. Despite any frustrations and road blocks and tragedies and stupid things (our lives are full of stupid things) we manage to make it work.
But still, there are times when we find those moments of passion together, or just quiet time under the light of the full moon.
Of course this is the short version of a longer story. A much longer story.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman
First posted in late September 2014. The children are now grown. One on his own and the other in Graduate School. Today Teddy installed new blinds in our house, while I dug around in the yard and filled up the green waste can. Yes, after all this time the romance is still there. How about that.
Vampire Maman 