Page 43 of Fall

“Happy November first, you two.” Madam Tully bid us a goodnight as she walked with her arm tucked into a man down the hall. I vaguely wondered who the man was since he looked familiar to me, even in ghost form.

“That would be my great-great-grandfather.” Jude answered my thoughts, as he took the stairs two at a time. He opened the door to his room with ease and set me down onto my toes after crossing the threshold as husband and wife.

I wanted to take my time with him and revel that this man was mine. I’d get to keep him. However, I knew that just because he wasn’t destined to die on his thirtieth birthday anymore didn’t mean he wouldn’t die one day.

My hands ripped at his jacket and the button of his slacks.

“In a hurry?” he teased, but his eager fingers were at the pearl buttons of my old dress with haste, as well.

“Well you know, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed, especially if you snore tonight.” The dress dropped from my shoulders and puddled on the floor.

“Happy late birthday, Jude.” His gaze devoured my bare skin as I stepped away from my dress and lifted onto my toes, our lips a breath away from each other.

“And here’s to many more with you.” I meant to gently press my lips against his, but he had other plans that quickly moved us to the bed.

We’d found our heaven in this life and vowed to live each heartbeat like it was our last, to thrive in the light with love, then exist in the darkness without each other.

“I think my birthday is going to be my favorite day of the year,” Jude moaned, as he settled between my legs. His hand reached up to take off the last bit of clothing he had forgotten.

“Keep the hat on.” I stopped his hand, and then Jude Mallory, the mysterious ringleader who lived in a haunted mansion, made love to his wife.

Epilogue

Three Hundred and Sixty-Four days Later

Jude

“Happy birthday to youuuu!” The group around me sang, and for the second birthday in a row, I had something to smile about. I’d gotten to live beyond my thirtieth birthday, which made me the oldest Mallory in over a century.

“Make a wish, you old man!” Asher hooted and I made a mental note to give him shit later about his dig. In the past year, I’d moved in with Selene and became friends with the Hero Society who stood next to me against the dead one year ago. The boys accepted me without hesitation, and while my power wasn’t much help against the living, I still tried to assist as much as I could.

I’d turned the mansion into a museum. The Seahill Association of History had been beside themselves when I proposed the idea, and people came from all around the world to look at Mallory Mansion. We’d cleaned it up, restoring the beauty in the intricate details, and turned what was once a haunted home into a top destination for weddings and ghost hunters.

“I already have everything I could wish for,” I laughed to my friends as a soft hand rested on my shoulder. Instinctively, my fingers grasped onto the hand in comfort, remembering all we went through to get to this moment. Selene and I had relished every second since our wedding night.

“Just hurry up, blow out your candles, and make a wish. I want a slice of that cake.” Draco rarely voiced his sense of humor, but with his little one growing within the safety of Rose’s belly, he had something to bring out the true joy in the everyday moments. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing and teasing the other members of the crew.

Gwendolyn’s robot friends jumped on the cake and waited patiently. It was unnerving at first to see robots act like they were real but after having dealt with a life of ghosts, I got over the reaction quickly.

“How about for a little girl?” Selene whispered in my ear, so softly I didn’t think anyone else in the room heard her.

The candles were forgotten for a moment as I turned to face my wife. We hadn’t exactly been trying for a baby, but I’d shared with her months ago that having a baby had been another one of my secret dreams besides getting married.

“You’re serious?”

She nodded, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth nervously.

Without a word, I turned and blew out my candles on the large, homemade cake . . . my first birthday cake in decades.

I wished for many more birthdays to come with my family and friends. I wasn’t going to part from this world easily, when I had them around. Now with a baby on the way, I made a promise to the universe that I would do anything to keep that babe safe, to love the baby and its mother as long as my heart beat in this world, then into the afterlife.

“I’m gonna be a father!” I hollered to the group of people who cared for us, and I wrapped Selene in the safety of my arms. My fingers drifted over her still small belly that would swell with the product of our love.

Now I had one more reason to love my birthday—the day I was supposed to die. Instead, I started a new life where I didn’t just exist. I lived.

The End