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not_that_spikeShit, he never used to write anything down. Things on paper have a way of following people. It's kind of an elementary thing he learned about his first week with the Dragons: you don't leave a trail, you can't get caught. You leave a trail, people can follow it. But hell, that was a lifetime ago, in a completely different time and place. He was a different person. That was before this place, before Beth, before Beth Junior.
Since then he's written countless letters to Beth and so far, none of those have come back to haunt him. But this one... well, this is different. Pen in hand, he looks at the blank piece of paper. Then he looks across the room at Junior sleeping in Beth's arms and Beth's asleep too, and it's so kind of priceless and so kind of perfect and he doesn't ever want to forget it, so he reaches over and takes one of those instacameras off the bureau top and takes two identical pictures of them sleeping. One goes on the dresser next to the camera; the other stays right here.
It's going in this letter, if he can ever get it written. It's a lot harder than he thought it would be. Finally with a determined nod, he starts to write.
Hey, Beth Junior. I've been sitting here watching you and your mom sleep so peacefully, and just in case you don't believe me, I'm putting in a picture to prove it. Yeah, one time you were only just six weeks old. So tiny, so perfect. By the time you read this I bet you'll still be perfect, but I know for sure you won't be anywhere near this tiny. I thought about writing this for you for a while and thinking about it made it into the hardest damn thing I've ever had to do, almost. But then I reminded myself "hey, bounty hunter, you took down the Dragons by yourself. You did that all alone, and that was a hell of a thing, and if you could pull down the longest-standing crime syndicate in all of Tharsis City, you can sure as hell write a letter to your little aijou."
So here I am. I hope you don't open this till you're twelve, like it says on the front of the envelope. When I look into the future -- you can ask your mom, that's not something I ever really try to do 'cause I'm more of a live-for-the-minute type of guy -- I have a hard time picturing you getting all grown up. If things go the way I hope, I'll be there with you to see it. But just in case I'm not for whatever reason -- the universe hasn't always been kind or benevolent to me -- at least you can know that here, in your sixth week of life, I'm sitting here thinking about you. Thinking about you growing up strong and beautiful, like your mom, maybe a little bit flippant and reckless like me. If I have my way you'll be a hell of a kickboxer or some kind of martial artist because there's no such thing as being too capable of taking care of yourself. And this place, well, it has a way of throwing curveballs at you when you're not really expecting them. So look out for those.
But whether you're here or on Earth with Beth... or if we finally made it to Venus, the three of us... there's something real important I want you to know. I've watched you since the moment you were born, except for the times I was sleeping or your aunt Elaine was watching you, and you amaze me. I've held you and rocked you to sleep. I've told you stories and read you books and let you hold my hand and held yours back. I've never been the kind of guy to think of himself as much of a role model. Anything but that, really. And I've never been much in the way of dad material but shit, Junior -- don't go talking like me, now -- you're the second most incredible thing that's ever happened to me. Your mom's the first, but you know that and if you don't you should. Until you came along, I could say with absolute certainty that Beth was my favorite person in the whole damn universe, no questions asked. Now I get to say I have two favorite people in the whole damn universe, no questions asked and lucky for me they're both named Beth.
Anyway, little one. You're starting to look like you're about to wake up, so I'll finish this now and put it in an envelope and keep it safe for you. Happy 12th birthday, aijou. Just in case you're not around anyone who knows what that word means, I'll go ahead and say it now: it means beloved daughter and that's how I feel about you. Happy birthday, Beth Junior, and I sure as hell hope I'm handing you this in person. But if I'm not, for whatever reason, know how much this bounty hunter loves you.
Spike
He doesn't even reread it; instead, he just folds it and puts it in the envelope and seals it in there along with the picture. On the front he writes For Elizabeth Marie, on her 12th birthday and when he's done, he walks over to the closet as quietly as he can and puts it in the back of the photo album. That should be a real safe place for it. Satisfied, he closes the closet door and just stands there for a while watching both his Beths sleeping so peacefully.
And hell, who can blame him for not being able to resist? Kicking off his shoes, he climbs into the bed with them. It's almost like he can hear the strong beating of three separate but intimately connected hearts.
Since then he's written countless letters to Beth and so far, none of those have come back to haunt him. But this one... well, this is different. Pen in hand, he looks at the blank piece of paper. Then he looks across the room at Junior sleeping in Beth's arms and Beth's asleep too, and it's so kind of priceless and so kind of perfect and he doesn't ever want to forget it, so he reaches over and takes one of those instacameras off the bureau top and takes two identical pictures of them sleeping. One goes on the dresser next to the camera; the other stays right here.
It's going in this letter, if he can ever get it written. It's a lot harder than he thought it would be. Finally with a determined nod, he starts to write.
Hey, Beth Junior. I've been sitting here watching you and your mom sleep so peacefully, and just in case you don't believe me, I'm putting in a picture to prove it. Yeah, one time you were only just six weeks old. So tiny, so perfect. By the time you read this I bet you'll still be perfect, but I know for sure you won't be anywhere near this tiny. I thought about writing this for you for a while and thinking about it made it into the hardest damn thing I've ever had to do, almost. But then I reminded myself "hey, bounty hunter, you took down the Dragons by yourself. You did that all alone, and that was a hell of a thing, and if you could pull down the longest-standing crime syndicate in all of Tharsis City, you can sure as hell write a letter to your little aijou."
So here I am. I hope you don't open this till you're twelve, like it says on the front of the envelope. When I look into the future -- you can ask your mom, that's not something I ever really try to do 'cause I'm more of a live-for-the-minute type of guy -- I have a hard time picturing you getting all grown up. If things go the way I hope, I'll be there with you to see it. But just in case I'm not for whatever reason -- the universe hasn't always been kind or benevolent to me -- at least you can know that here, in your sixth week of life, I'm sitting here thinking about you. Thinking about you growing up strong and beautiful, like your mom, maybe a little bit flippant and reckless like me. If I have my way you'll be a hell of a kickboxer or some kind of martial artist because there's no such thing as being too capable of taking care of yourself. And this place, well, it has a way of throwing curveballs at you when you're not really expecting them. So look out for those.
But whether you're here or on Earth with Beth... or if we finally made it to Venus, the three of us... there's something real important I want you to know. I've watched you since the moment you were born, except for the times I was sleeping or your aunt Elaine was watching you, and you amaze me. I've held you and rocked you to sleep. I've told you stories and read you books and let you hold my hand and held yours back. I've never been the kind of guy to think of himself as much of a role model. Anything but that, really. And I've never been much in the way of dad material but shit, Junior -- don't go talking like me, now -- you're the second most incredible thing that's ever happened to me. Your mom's the first, but you know that and if you don't you should. Until you came along, I could say with absolute certainty that Beth was my favorite person in the whole damn universe, no questions asked. Now I get to say I have two favorite people in the whole damn universe, no questions asked and lucky for me they're both named Beth.
Anyway, little one. You're starting to look like you're about to wake up, so I'll finish this now and put it in an envelope and keep it safe for you. Happy 12th birthday, aijou. Just in case you're not around anyone who knows what that word means, I'll go ahead and say it now: it means beloved daughter and that's how I feel about you. Happy birthday, Beth Junior, and I sure as hell hope I'm handing you this in person. But if I'm not, for whatever reason, know how much this bounty hunter loves you.
Spike
He doesn't even reread it; instead, he just folds it and puts it in the envelope and seals it in there along with the picture. On the front he writes For Elizabeth Marie, on her 12th birthday and when he's done, he walks over to the closet as quietly as he can and puts it in the back of the photo album. That should be a real safe place for it. Satisfied, he closes the closet door and just stands there for a while watching both his Beths sleeping so peacefully.
And hell, who can blame him for not being able to resist? Kicking off his shoes, he climbs into the bed with them. It's almost like he can hear the strong beating of three separate but intimately connected hearts.
