Heaven, Hell, and Earth

Chapter 10

According to the doctor, a week was the best amount of time to be given for Alastor to recover and Solomon assumed that the same would go for Charlie in matters of her "virus." So for a whole week they stayed in their rooms and were separated from each other. Which neither one of them liked.

For one thing it was terribly boring having to stay in one room for hours. Yes they had TV, radio, and books but they missed being active. They missed going outside and playing up in their sanctuary. They missed doing things with Angel and Vaggie who would visit them but only to talk for awhile. But most of all Alastor and Charlie missed each other. This was the longest that they had ever been apart from one another and it didn't feel right.

"How much longer do I have to stay in my room?" Charlie asked Millie one evening.

"Just two more days." She had just given Charlie a bubble bath, dried her off, dressed her into a warm nightgown, and was now brushing her hair before she would go to sleep. "Two more days you'll be able to go out and play again."

"I miss Alastor."

"I know you do but you wouldn't want him getting sick would you?"

"No but for this whole week I haven't felt sick at all."

"Maybe so but Solomon knows best. He's never steered us wrong before and I doubt he ever will."

"Do you think he misses me?"

"Who?"

"Alastor."

"Honey I know he misses you. He's always asking us about you whenever we check on him. If I didn't know any better I'd swear that you two were sweethearts."

"What's a sweetheart?"

"Well it's...It's...It's hard to explain to you right now. You'll understand it when you get older."

She gave Charlie's blonde locks another stroke of the brush and then started laughing to herself.

"Oh if my mother could see me now."

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked.

"Oh nothing. It's just that when I was a girl my mother would always brush my hair beforegoiout with my father because she wanted me to be just as pretty as she was. I was a tomboy so naturally I hated it and I would complain the whole time. But then she would tell me that when I grow I would probably being do the same thing with my little girl. She was partially right."

"Do all mothers brush their little girls's hair?"

"A lot of them do."

"Do you think my mother would have brushed my hair like this if she had kept me?"

"Well I can't exactly give you an answer for that but I can tell you this. You have such beautiful hair that I can't imagine any woman not wanting to brush it."

"Hey Millie."

"Yes Charlie."

"How come you're not a mom?"

Millie suddenly stopped brushing and went stiff.

"You act like a mom a lot and I know you like kids. How come you don't have any?"

"I...I can't have children. Not with this job. Fighting paranormal creatures is very dangerous and it takes up so much time. If I had kids I wouldn't be able to really be a mother to them. Or worse they could end up getting hurt because of me."

"That makes sense. But did you ever want to be a mom?"

She hesitated before speaking again.

"Yes I did. But I learned a long time ago that you can't be a parent if you can't put your children first. And I don't believe I'll ever be able to do that."