To my everlasting shame, I've never commented on this.
This is such a great follow-up to Homecoming...Mick and Beth have moved forward, but not moved completely
on. Mick can't let go of the last thing tying him to his past.
redwinter101 wrote:He remembered the pull of this place; no matter how long he had been away he'd never really left. It was a place of memory not a place to make a future. Eight months ago he would have walked through fire to be with her again but now he hesitated over bricks and mortar. The part of himself that resided in the fabric of this space was his past.
But Mick realizes it's time to let go of the past and find a place for all of them to start over.
redwinter101 wrote:The plaster was worn and crumbling, a general air of tired abandonment, of emptiness, as though the house itself were waiting to come to life again.
"Being this close to the ocean has taken its toll - it needs a lot of work." Mick flicked idly at the terrace masonry.
If this isn't just the best analogy of Mick and Beth's new relationship, I haven't read it yet. Mick and Beth have a solid foundation, but they've been through so much - they're broken, but coming back to life and their relationship needs a lot of work. Given their huge differences, their relationship will continue to need all the effort they can put into it, but in the end...it's going to be worth it.
redwinter101 wrote:The rest of his words were smothered in a cloud of crepe and Polish as Marta sought solace in her native tongue, hugging him as her words tumbled around them. "This is going to be our home. Our home for our family. Our whole family. And as a very smart woman once told me, family's about more than DNA. So, say you'll come. Make our family complete."
I LOVED this. Beth said once family's not just about DNA, and this so proves it. Mick's finally found his acceptance, his home, his family. It may not be the way he thought he'd build a family, but he has it.
redwinter101 wrote:All the years he had wondered how his father would have seen his son, the vampire; fear had driven his determination to sequester himself, keep those he loved safe from the monster within. But now, he knew. For all his passions, for all those he had saved, now, for the first time he understood the meaning of unconditional love. A father's love. Smoothing his fingers through her hair, feeling her gentle rise and fall, the thump of her tiny heartbeat, he knew for this child, his child, he would slay dragons.
And this made me tear right up, because nothing gets to me more than any mention of Mick's father, how he'd see the man Mick has become. And for all his love for Beth, there's nothing quite as strong as a man's love for his child.
redwinter101 wrote:"It needs a lot of work."
"Building something worthwhile always does. Building a home. A place of our own." She turned in his arms, "I can't believe we're really here."
And Beth gets it, too. Anything that's worthwhile takes a lot of work.
This is just a lovely gift of wonderfulness, Red. You get a sense of peacefulness and contentment while you read it and smile by the time you get to the end.
Glad it's not just me... 
