✔ A Minute in Heaven || Wattys 2017

Chapter Seven - A Whisper at Midnight

Goodnight, moy dorogoy.

...

I couldn't see Alfred in the same, friendly manner in which I had when we'd first met. As much as I tried, my mind would always wander back to that Christmas night.

That night worried me to no end. I began to ask myself questions.

Should I tell him how I feel?

How would he react?

How would Natalia and Katyushka react?

In every question I asked myself, I never brought up what might happen when he left. I'd grown so used to him that I couldn't see him gone.

Then, just before the year's end, I had an idea. Alfred had given me something by which I would remember him, so I decided that I would return the favor.

At midnight on December 30, I slid out of bed, put on my coat, and crept out of the bedroom.

Downstairs, the Christmas decorations were still up, along with decorations for the next day's festival. I had no time to admire them. I had other matters on my mind.

As I stepped out into the night, I picked up my pace, shifting from a walk into a run. I took the detour to work, but I wasn't going to work. This was far more important.

I bypassed the junkyard and hurried toward the giant building where Liberty Belle was resting. The refuse metal from Belle's fuselage lay in a pile in the corner of the room. I took a sheet of it and dropped it onto the metal platform. Then, I climbed up the scaffolding, ran to the cable, untied it, and pulled the metal up to the second floor.

After getting it onto the second floor, I reached into the tool crate and grabbed the gloves and apron. I hurriedly put them on, then stared down at the old metal.

"Alright," I told myself. "Let's get to work."

+ + + + +

"Ivan, wake up!"

I felt someone pushing my shoulder vigorously, waking me up rather rudely.

"Wake up! Wake up! There's presents downstairs again!"

When I opened my eyes, Alfred was leaning over me with excited eyes. Then, I remembered why he was so excited, and I grinned slightly.

"It seems that someone has paid us a visit, da?" I said.

After Alfred got off the bed, I slid on my coat and started for the living room. Alfred had already vanished.

Katyushka and Natalia were already sitting by the tree when I reached the living room. The Christmas decorations were now joined by miniscule, blue and silver glass snowflakes and delicate white lights encircling the room. It looked like the living room was covered in frost.

"It's like a second Christmas," Alfred said. "What's the occasion?"

"It's the end of the year," Katyushka said. "This is when Ded Moroz and his granddaughter, Snegurochka, come to deliver gifts."

"It seems like he got something for each of us," I said, grinning at Alfred's wide eyed look. I reached beneath the tree and pulled out the first present, a large, flat box wrapped in blue.

"This is for Natalia," I said. Natalia took the box, tore it open, and pulled out a handcrafted, velvet purple dress.

"Do you like it?" I asked.

Natalia stared at it for a long while, then sprang to her feet and rushed off to her room, saying, "I'm getting changed!" as she left.

"She likes it," Alfred smirked.

"Here, Katyushka," I said as I revealed a smaller box. Katyushka pulled open the box, and her face lit up as she revealed a book of old lullabies which we used to listen to as children.

"I found the book Mother would sing to us from," I said. "I remembered how you loved them."

Katyushka's eyes welled up, and she pulled me into the tightest hug she could muster. She was smiling through the happy tears in her eyes.

"Hmhmm," Natalia grunted from behind us. She crossed her arms, and Katyushka and pulled apart.

We continued to give each other our gifts for the rest of that morning. Katyushka had knitted me a brand new scarf, just in case anything ever happened to mine, and she gave Natalia a set of blue and silver jewelry, which Natalia was quick to wear. Natalia gave me a book on ancient European mythology and a bottle of vodka, which I opened right then and there. She also gave Katyushka a blue velvet headband with a neat little bow on top. Katyushka wore it proudly.

Throughout that entire time, Alfred stayed there, making jokes and joining in with the celebration. He didn't seem at all upset that he hadn't gotten anything.

Well.. yet.

+ + + + +

I waited until Alfred was finished writing his letters.

He sealed them all and prepared to climb into bed, but I grabbed his wrist and said, "Do not sleep just yet. I have something for you."

Alfred looked puzzled. I reached into my coat and pulled out a package as small as a saucer.

"It is not much," I said, "but I do hope you enjoy it."

Alfred seemed to analyze the look on my face as he gingerly peeled away the white wrapping paper. I turned my gaze to the floor, waiting for his reaction.

It was a miniature Liberty Belle, created from the plane's own metal. I'd tried to get as many details as possible right, down to the name on the side. Carved into the back were two things: the date December 31, 1917, and the words, "Be the hero!"

Alfred's eyes sparkled with wonder. He looked up at me, mouth agape, and asked, "You made this?"

I couldn't find the words to say, so I nodded.

The smile he gave me made my heart almost beat out of my chest. Without a word, he hugged me so tightly that for a minute, I thought that he might accidentally suffocate me. I could feel the warmth and happiness radiating from Alfred like sunlight.

When we finally pulled away, I could see Alfred's smile, genuine and adoring in the moonlight. My eyes flicked upward, and he must've caught that, as he followed my line of sight. Only then did he see that we were standing below the mistletoe which I had hung last night. I'd remembered the tradition surrounding it, so I'd decided to take a chance, to step out of my comfort zone.

I could feel my face growing bright red as I'd wondered if I'd gone too far. Alfred saw my face and smirked.

"For the man who saved my life."

He leaned up to reach me, and I felt him gently press his lips to mine.

The air was alive with an electric energy which I had never felt before. The warmth within Alfred was fire, and I could feel myself being burned. The chills down my spine were gone, and in their place were the sparks that flew between us.

We didn't want to pull away, but the need for air forced us apart. Alfred smiled up at me, and before I knew it, I was bringing him in for another kiss.

"Dammit, I love you, Ivan," Alfred moaned softly.

I knew that he didn't need me to respond. He already knew what I was thinking.

Ya lyublyu tebya, my sunflower.