Sincerely

We woke to the bedroom door being thrown open, at first, I thought our location had been compromised and Josh was coming to wake us because we needed to leave but I saw an elderly lady in her late-fifties to early sixties staring down at me and Lev. I froze, both scared and embarrassed.

Lev rolled over to see what the noise was and came face to face with the woman.

“Mom, you ever heard of knocking?” he hisses, sitting up quickly.

I guess this was his mother. She had the same eyes and face shape as him, but her hair was long, curly and light grey.

“Josh said you were sleeping, he didn’t say you were with someone,” she commented, turning her eyes to me.

I was glad I was on the far side of the bed from her then.

“Leave Deckard alone,” Lev hissed standing up and getting out of bed.

He led his mother out of the room, glancing back at me apologetically before slipping out. I heard voices outside the room but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. I lay back against the headboard trying to calm myself. Lev had said she’d know we were doing the right thing, but there was a difference between protecting an android and being in love with one, what if he was wrong?

What if she didn’t accept or like our relationship?

The voices outside the room had disappeared and assumed they had moved somewhere to go talk to Josh or Cleo or find Toby or something. I approached the door slowly, putting my ear to it to make sure I couldn’t hear anyone before opening it. No one was outside. I slipped down the hall to the living room/kitchen area, I could hear the voices on the other side, where Josh’s bedroom was. Toby was sitting on the couch still wrapped up in yet another movie.

I slipped past him and up the stairs to the main level out into a snow flurry storm. You could barely see past the driveway that was only three or four meters long before the blowing snow obstructed your view. You couldn’t even see the water. I leaned against the lighthouse, letting out a cloud of breath that disappeared into the blowing snow and wind.

I stood there thinking about what would happen if things went south, whether with our location being found or Lev’s mother not accepting us. I wanted to protect Lev, that was the one feeling that wouldn’t leave, no matter how much I wanted us to be together, and love him, I was always worried about him first. I could take a few bullets and come back as long as my memory card was intact, like Alessio, Lev on the other hand would be gone, permanently. Surely, if his mother didn’t dislike me now, she would then. I wouldn’t blame her, I had dragged her son into this mess.

I admitted I had felt when I could have just left. But he was all I could think about, even if I did leave now, I didn’t know if I could drag myself away from him. I could feel his hands on me, his lips on mine.

“We’re connected, you care about me,” he murmured, through the wind in my memory. “We’re in this together, forever. I love you. Sincerely, I promise.”

I could feel my lips pressed to his neck, his scent filling my nose, as I kissed him. I could feel him go rigid under my touch before I released him and he let out a breath.

I loved him, I knew that, I didn’t need to say it to know it or realize it.

I was glad I could make him feel good but would that be enough to justify us being together?

My brain was just swimming with these thoughts and I didn’t know what to do. I stayed there for a while, I knew Lev would come looking for me eventually because he’d be worried.

I heard the door beside me and Josh peeked around the door, he spotted me.

“You alright?” he asked.

“I’m just…” I started not sure how to explain my feelings.

“Nervous?” he suggested quietly.

“Carol loves Levi, she divorced his father because he wouldn’t accept him. She’s not just going to walk away because you love him. If anything, she’d be happy, you make him happy. I’ve never seen him care about someone this much, sure he had friends, but he buried himself in a lot of work before he met. You’re not a bad influence on him,” Josh comments.

“I am worried about what she’ll think. But I’m also worried about his safety. People are after me, Josh. He could get hurt. I can take a few bullets and come back, he can’t. And if Huxley killed Carlos to hurt me, if he found out about Lev, I could only imagine what he would try to do to him,” I reason.

“He’s not the only one who risked his life. Carol helped hide Cleo who wants to, in the eyes of the law, kidnap a child she gave her rights away to, even though her reasons are justified and Lev’s father should have never been able to get his hands on another child because of what he did to Lev. He couldn’t love Lev unconditionally, why would he do the same for Toby? Cleo found out about Lev and she knew she couldn’t let him have this child, she was the only one opposing this man from having a child, and it’s ludicrous, the government never should have approved him to have a surrogate in the first place. People really do need licenses to have children, it’s impossible but I don’t they need classes or something,” he explains.

“If you want this, you have to fight for it. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it if you get the right support and enough people. You already have allies in Elias, Alcuin and Bailey and now Carol and me, the more people who learn and know and can experience you being alive, the more they will believe and realize it’s real. They’ll realize you are people, you have feelings and you aren’t just things that can be manipulated or used. You have free will and you should be able to do what you want and not obey the people who bought or made you,” he continues.

“I know, it’s just scary,” I murmured.

He nodded inside.

“Being with others makes it less scary, when you’re alone you spiral, but you can always share how you’re feeling with Lev or us. We’re all here for each other,” he replies.

“Come on,” he stated placing a hand on my back and pushing me back inside the lighthouse out of the cold. Josh went downstairs, leaving me with Lev.

Lev was sitting on the stairs when I came back inside. He stood up, looking concerned. He reached up and brushed the snow off of my hair and shoulders. He hugged me, and he was warm. I didn’t notice the cold outside as much as a human was. I could survive in pretty harsh coldness because I was an android, but I could feel and appreciate the warmth, too.

“What did I say?” he murmurs.

“We’re in this together, forever,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around him.

He smiled at me, “Come on, you need to meet my mom,” he replies, nodding down the stairs and taking my hand.

I paused when my skin retracted and my hand was white again. I looked at it and I couldn’t pull my eyes away from it. I was rooted in place and Lev paused when he felt resistance on my end.

He looked back and saw my hand, he turned back, bringing my hand up to his lips and kissing it, I watched him. I was still uneasy about people seeing this part of me, I could hide it before and now my body was betraying me and revealing itself.

He reached into his sweater pocket and pulled out a pair of gloves, he handed them over to me. I held them for a moment between us, one of my hands still white. I glanced up at him pausing.

“I love you,” I murmured.

“I know,” he replied smiling, “I’m trying to make you comfortable,” he murmured.

I nodded slipping the gloves over my hands, hiding them. I looked normal and human again, hopefully, one day this would all be unnecessary and both humans and androids could live together, freely, in peace.

Lev led me down the stairs to where Carol, Cleo and Toby were sitting down on the living room couches watching a movie. Josh was standing, drinking a cup of coffee in the kitchen, watching them.

Carol spotted us and she stood up slowly. She had graying, curly brown hair, she looked similar to how she looked in the photo of Lev, her and his father taken in front of this very lighthouse over a decade ago in the photo album, only older.

“Mom, this is Deckard,” Lev introduced me.

“Hello, Deckard. I’m Carol,” she replied, smiling at me.

“Hello,” I replied awkwardly, unsure what else to really say.

“Thank you for loving Levi and accepting him,” she added. “It couldn’t be easy having to hear the things about his father that you did about people like you, I’m sorry for that, too,” she continues.

“I’m sorry I put your son in danger,” I replied quietly, even though I knew she’d probably had nothing to apologize for.

“All you did was love him, you don’t have to be sorry for that, love is an emotion, you can’t control it, or stop it. You deserve to be loved as much as the next person. I’m happy Levi had found someone who cares about him so much,” she replied honestly.

She stepped forward and hugged me, and I returned it. She reminded me of Carlos and I couldn’t for the life of me, figure out why.

I tried to hold back my tears. Eventually, she released me.

“It’s late and it’s been a long day, I think I’m going to get some sleep,” she bid after.

Josh led her off to another guest bedroom to rest. Lev took my hand again.

“You okay?” he whispered.

“Yeah, she just reminds me of Carlos,” I replied quietly.