by C. L. Quinn
“Uh, yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” Getting out of there was a great idea. She might be able to accept that vampires existed, but it was still mind-blowing and getting some fresh air was exactly what she needed.
“We’ll be back soon.” Nikolai pushed Naji out of the apartment ahead of him.
They chose the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Until they exited the building and walked up the boardwalk, neither spoke. Nikolai waited for Naji to do so, but when she didn’t, he couldn’t stand the silence anymore.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that I’m a fool. You guys told me, but I didn’t believe you. Yeah, I’ve been a fool.”
Even though Naji was nearly as tall as Nikolai, he came to her, lifted her off her feet, and gave her a long kiss. Her arms went around him, holding tight, afraid that he’d decide she wasn’t worth the trouble.
When he pulled away, he buried his face in her hair.
“I won’t have you say that about the woman I love. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Naj, the vampires believe that many people have a destiny, that the universe has a hand in much of what happens in this world. I believe that I was brought here for a reason. And I believe that reason is you. So, the things that have happened, the way they’ve happened…lady, we were meant to be.”
“I’ve never had anyone believe in me the way that you and Sarah do. I’d follow you to the ends of this earth, vampires or no. I’ve never held much for things like destiny, but you make me want to believe in it.”
“You will. Stick with us.”
“Like glue, love. Like glue.”
“We’d better go get that food. You have an interesting education coming tonight. Vampires eat more food in one night than we eat in three days, and they look like supermodels on steroids. Wait until you see it. It’s pretty awesome.”
All Naji cared about right now was that Nikolai still wanted her, that Sarah and the baby would be all right, and that hopefully, no vampire was going to want to munch down on her tonight.
The evening unfolded exactly as Nikolai had explained it to her. The vampires were kind and amusing, and did in fact eat most of the massive quantities of food that he and Naji had brought back.
Naji had warned him that he’d ordered too much food, but she’d been wrong. By the time this first meal, as they called it, was over, the oversized platters they’d brought from three different restaurants were empty.
“Show us Boston, Nikolai,” David requested. “Other than that brief visit a few months ago, well, I won’t tell you how long it’s been since I walked this city. Suffice it to say, there were still British soldiers here.”
“Uh, sure, but can Sarah come or should we leave someone with her?”
“I can go,” Sarah answered, circumventing anyone else’s assessment of her condition. “David’s blood has worked and I feel better right now than I ever have. I’m more alert, my vision is sharper, and I may be able to superspeed.”
Nikolai frowned at her. “That’s possible?”
Sarah laughed. “I’m just messing with you. No, I’m still fully human, Nik.” Her eyes landed on Naji, her face unreadable. “Sweet Naji, I am and will always be exactly who you’ve known from that first moment we met.”
Releasing her held breath, Naji smiled. “Yeah, I know. Still getting my grip on all of this. Nikolai and I talked, I’m okay.”
“Good. Tour?” David inquired, a big hand landing on Naji’s shoulder.
She held her breath again.
Fourteen
“For now, you and the baby seem fine.” Park sat back, her stethoscope in her hand, her eyes moving to Tamesine.
“You still look worried,” Sarah commented, her eyes riveted on Park’s.
“Well, I’m concerned. Your incident shouldn’t have happened. To my knowledge, vampire pregnancies go without trouble. Unless there’s shit like what happened to Starla, but even then, the baby never showed any sign of distress. Let’s just keep our minds and eyes open. I’m glad we’re here for the last few days of the pregnancy.”
“Cherise said the baby will arrive on Thursday.”
Tamesine took her hands. “Ah. So we have two days to prepare. Good. Sarah, don’t worry, I’m sure it will all be okay. You’re Shoazan, pretty much nothing can touch you or your child.”
“Keep telling me that. David’s blood seems to have stopped the pain for now.”
Still holding onto Tamesine, Sarah pulled her off the sofa. “I have been restless. Let’s get out of here. Why don’t we go for a walk?”
Park nodded. “Sure. I would like to see your hospital. May we go?”
“Yeah. Let me get dressed,” Sarah said, tugging at her oversized tee shirt.
Tamesine stepped back. “I’ll remain here and make the preparations for the birth. I’d like to speak with Nikolai anyway. He never did show up in France.”
Park responded to her.
“It’s probably too late now, but I took some samples after I arrived tonight. Nikolai and Mies’s merge, from a medical standpoint, is just so fascinating. I would love to have recorded the transition back to human from that strange possession. Is that what we’re calling it?”
The E.R. was bustling, too busy for the staff of only two doctors on a Tuesday night. When the head nurse, Callie, saw Sarah enter the waiting room, she smiled.
“Hey, you, ready to come back to work?”
“Not quite yet,” Sarah said, pointing to the huge belly that had preceded her through the door.
“Umm, yep, gonna pop soon, I see. Well, we miss you. Tonight, especially. We had a school bus returning from a sports event overturn, filled with teenagers. They’re okay, just a bunch of scrapes mostly, three with broken limbs, one head injury. Then we had a run on chest pain earlier, four people presenting with possible heart attacks, all negative.”
“I wish I could stay and help. I just wanted to show my friend our new lab facilities. She has her own research lab in France and was curious about that new equipment for genetic identification.”
“I don’t think you can get in. The specialty departments are locked at night.”
“I didn’t think about that. Perhaps I’ll just give her a general tour.”
“Have a good time, then. Uh, Dr. Peretti is in tonight. Right now, he’s with one of the kids, but I thought you might want to know.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. This way, Park.”
As they moved down the corridor away from the E.R., Park caught Sarah’s attention. “Dr. Peretti?”
“He’s a handsome doctor, human, that I was attracted to before I got pregnant with the child of a 6000-year-old vampire. I broke off the potential relationship when I found out. I didn’t want to get closer with him and then have to mess up his life by introducing him to supernaturals. We weren’t in love, so I did the right thing and let him go.”
“As a blood-bond, you know what it means to bring someone in, and while I agree with your choice, I’m sorry.”
“It was the only choice I could make. I had Nik and Naji to help me raise my child, so I didn’t need another confused human. This is a deep responsibility and I think if most people were to understand how things change if they were to know, they would say no. I made that choice for him before it was necessary for him to do so.”
“You’re a wise woman.”
“Just a practical one.”
A heavy door with a silver placard that said “Specialty Laboratory” came up on the right of a long hallway.
“This is it?”
“Yes, it is.”
Park used her skills to gain immediate access. Once she’d swept into the locked room, Sarah hit several switches which brought up the lights and turned on power to the equipment.
“Come see the height of technology in genetic medicine in the U.S.”
Park, smiling ear to ear, walked forward into the dim room. This was her version of a candy store, so for the next hour, she devoured Sarah�
��s guided tour.
Arriving back at the apartment, Sarah noticed that the barriers Nikolai had built two months ago were already pulled into place to guard the visiting vampires from the imminent daylight. She lowered her girth carefully into a reclining chair.
“Are you hungry?” Naji asked, her eyes moving between Sarah and Park.
“Yes,” they answered in tandem.
“I got this,” Naji told Nikolai when he started to rise to get the women some late dinner.
“I already ordered six entrees just before they left the hospital. How good am I? I think I’m getting the hang of this vampire thing.”
“You are doing well, my love,” Nikolai said, and wondered if the vampires might be offended by the phrase this vampire thing.
Naji carried two trays into the living room and set up a little buffet for Sarah and Park.
“All of these entrees are double portions and from the best chefs in Boston. If I’m going to feed vampires, I’m going to do this right.”
“Naji, you’re a sweetheart, but simple fare would have been fine.”
Licking her fingers, Park moaned. “Speak for yourself, little mama. This shrimp is perhaps the best I’ve ever eaten. Naji, I need the recipe for my chef in France.”
“They don’t give those out.”
“Just introduce me, okay?”
“Oh. You’re gonna do that compulsion thing on him, aren’t you?”
“Um, huh. Shrimp like this must be shared and I know a large group of people who will really appreciate it.”
“Tomorrow night, then, I’ll take you to him.”
“Thanks. Meanwhile…” Park slipped half the order onto her plate and continued her love affair.
Sarah ate very little before she pushed up off the deeply cushioned chair. “Since I know that I’m only going to have two days of baby-free sleep left, I think I’ll get all that I can now. You can have my share, Park. Goodnight everyone.”
“I think I’ll do the same. Coming?” Nikolai asked Naji.
“Not yet, love. Go on, I’ll see you in a little while.”
Park picked up the plates. “I’ll finish in my room. Thanks, dear, for your excellent choices.”
Naji nodded as Park entered the room she would share with Tamesine and closed the door behind her.
All members of the household had switched to the vampire’s schedule. Nikolai and Sarah had no difficulty, but Naji felt tired. She was adaptable, she knew she’d get the hang of it, but for now, she dropped back onto the sofa, the living room abandoned, and flipped on the television.
“Morning TV sucks,” she commented and searched for something dull enough to put her to sleep so she could join Nikolai in their bedroom.
Thursday had been a perfect day, mid 80’s, soft breeze, sunshine, the city unusually quiet. Even now, on an evening normally bustling with patrons, the shops and restaurants that surrounded their apartment building were mostly empty.
Nikolai, Naji, and Sarah sat at an outdoor table finishing decadent crepes filled with sweet cream cheese covered with strawberries and whipped topping.
Twilight painted the sky magenta, reminding Sarah of the song Red Sails in the Sunset.
“What a lovely evening for our baby girl to come into the world.” Sarah spoke softly, the reverence of the evening clear as the three friends who planned to parent this special child enjoyed their final evening alone.
Naji nodded. “It’s like the sky planned a birthday party.”
“Or it’s smiling on this child who, according to Cherise and Park, has a place in an event of great importance in the future. Naji, you do realize that she’ll still be here centuries from now?”
Her eyebrows lifted, and that was the only acknowledgment Naji made to the comment. Still adjusting, she said to herself, the idea that this baby would be nearly immortal was beyond her ability to process right now.
Nikolai leaned across the table to touch Sarah’s hand.
“She is nearly here,” he whispered.
Suddenly they all noticed that the brilliant burgundy skyline over the sea brightened, reds and pinks reflected off unusually shaped white clouds. The sea looked a deeper blue than it ever had before.
Her eyes moving across the horizon from the far right to the far left, the sky cut only by an occasional sail jutting up from the pier, Sarah looked at Nikolai. She loved sharing this with Naji and the others, but it was Nikolai who understood how she felt the most.
“I know.” Her response to him was so simple. Then, her hands on the baby in her belly for perhaps the last time, she spoke again. “Crezia, my love, I wish you could see your party decorations.”
On the way back to the apartment, the sky almost pitch black already, Sarah felt an odd sensation, a twisting in her abdomen that she’d never felt before.
“Sarah…” Nikolai called out as he reached for her. She buckled, but did not fall because he had her. “Sarah, is it time?”
“I don’t know. Maybe…” The pain hit her harder. “Oh! Yeah, yeah, I think…oh! Yes!”
Swinging her up gently, Nikolai had her in his arms and carried her to the elevator.
“You’ll be upstairs in moments. The vampires will take care of you.”
He was nervous and felt completely helpless.
“I’m okay. This is just…” Another long moan tore her words away. Moments later, she finished. “Normal.”
Naji held the doors open and Nikolai carried her onto the elevator.
Sarah lifted her head from a groan. “Do you have the leftovers? Can you get one out for me?”
“What?” barked Nikolai.
“Yeah, sweetheart, here you go.” Naji put a napkin-wrapped crepe into Sarah’s hand.
“This is crazy,” Nikolai commented as they reached their floor and he rushed into the apartment.
Tamesine, Park, and Cherise waited inside the door.
“Everything is ready. Nikolai, bring her in here.” Park led them to the right.
They’d prepared a birthing room in the spare bedroom, a pallet of heavy blankets covered a plastic sheet on the mattress, topped with soft eucalyptus sheets for Sarah to lie on.
Nikolai placed her carefully on the sheets and dropped onto his knees beside the bed. “You need anything, anything at all?”
Sarah gave him a pained smile. “Just a baby, out here, not in there. Guess I’m going to get my wish in a few minutes. Do you want to stay and watch her come into the world?”
He hesitated only a moment. “I think I do. I mean, of course I do, I’ve just never seen a birth before.”
“You must be here for this one. You must be here for Mies.”
His hand curled around hers, and he kissed the top of it. “I will be here for Mies, for Zia, and for you.”
Naji stood on the other side of the bed, tears in her eyes, more deeply in love with Nikolai than ever.
Sarah took Naji’s hand with her other one, grateful that her closest friends were with her.
“Here she comes,” Cherise announced.
Tamesine joined Naji near Sarah while Park stayed in position to help the baby come into the world. David stayed near the back of the room in case he was needed for anything, but wanted to be out of the way while the women did what they needed to do.
“I think she’ll be ready soon. You’re nearly fully dilated, Sarah, and you’re doing well. Just continue to use your breathing technique.”
Through labored moments of time-worn pain and joy borne by women from the beginning of life, on this magical night, the little girl who had waited patiently to join the world slid from her mother and out into loving arms to welcome her first breath.
Already carrying a destiny, Crezia cried and waved tiny hands as Park carried her around the bed to place her into the arms that would protect her for all of her life.
Sarah had been trying to decide whether she would do a conversion to become vampire and knew this very second that she would, absolutely, so that she could see this child become a
woman, to see who she became then, and to watch her find her destiny.
Now, her eyes locked on the tiny face, dark eyes already open, thick dark hair still wet, Sarah did what any new mother does; she looked over every inch of the baby in her arms and proclaimed her perfect, more in love than she ever thought possible. Her heart filled with the beauty of this new life, and it ached that Mies would never get to hold his daughter.
Her gaze sought Nikolai, who leaned near, tears streaming down his cheeks, Naji holding him from behind, her eyes moist too, then up to Park and Tamesine.
“She’s okay?” Sarah asked Park.
“She seems to be. I’ll take some stats later, but she’s breathing easily, her color is good, her heartbeat is strong. She’s first blood, birth isn’t traumatic for a vampire baby. You have a healthy and beautiful baby girl.”
“I know, oh, God, I know! Thank you all for being here, for helping to welcome her safely, and for all that you will do for her in the future.”
She dropped her eyes back to the baby now gurgling and staring up at her too. “Welcome home, Crezia. This is your family.”
Sarah held the squirming baby up so that she could see all of the faces around the bed. Human babies couldn’t see at birth, and she wasn’t sure how much this child could, but she could feel the spiritual connection already reaching for every person in this room. This little girl recognized blood and accepted her family, that they belonged to her and that she belonged to them.
“All of her vitals seem great. I don’t know what that pain was the other day, Sarah, but I believe she is very healthy. She smiles all the time, have you noticed?”
“Noticed? Park, I live for her smile now.”
“We all do. These children are gifts we never expected and treasure every second. Yours, especially so, because your first blood came through time for you.”
“I don’t know about that. At least, not necessarily for me.”
