No sign of her anywhere. He headed for the front door and went out on the front porch searching for any signs of her, but only found Josh sitting there alone in a rocking chair.
"You haven't seen my date pass by, have you?"
Josh answered, "Bit of an accent, blue dress, and gorgeous? Yeah. She left about five minutes ago in a taxi. Don't know how she got a taxi out here, but she darted out of the house like she was on fire."
"Huh," Anton grunted disappointedly and sat down in a chair next to Josh.
"What did you say to her that made her run out of here like that?" Josh said.
"I haven't a clue. Last thing I said to her was, 'As you wish!'" Anton said, puzzled.
"Seems harmless enough as long as it was sincere," Josh replied.
"It was sincere. I went to get her some champagne," Anton said.
"How long were you gone?" Josh asked laughing.
"Not long. I said hello to Dr. Rowe, complimented my father on the party, and set back to the table with the champagne."
"Well, that certainly doesn't make any sense. Could someone have said something to her?"
"I doubt it. I hadn't even gotten around to introducing her to anyone; I was keeping her all to myself."
"Sorry, man. That stinks! Maybe she got an emergency call or something. She'll probably call you with a perfectly logical explanation."
"Maybe. I just seem to attract women who don't stick around."
"You've had this happen before?"
"Not this exact scenario, but I was married to one that slept with most of the men on the east coast, at least the vampire men."
"That sucks! Why didn't you just divorce her?"
"It's complicated."
"It always is."
"Why are you out here all by yourself?"
"Well, aside from Bernard and Sammy, I'm the only single guy here without a date and I know next to no one. Besides, I've always been a bit of a loner."
"Me too, but not by choice," Anton chuckled.
"So this Lanie...are you two an item?"
"It's complicated."
"Touché."
They laughed and Bernard came out bearing a six pack of beers. They gratefully accepted a bottle each and the three dateless men sat on the porch and drank their beers in silence while Sammy laid on Josh’s feet.
The three men and the dog sat in silence there on the porch for several minutes before Dominic came out. Bernard jumped up and Dominic said, "Dear Bernard, sit...enjoy yourself. I see we all need a little breather. I seem to be quite out of practice at hosting."
As Bernard settled back into his chair, Dominic said, "Bernard, toss me one of those brewskies." Bernard smiled and tossed the bottle of beer over Josh and Anton to Dominic. "Thanks, old friend." He twisted the cap and downed half the bottle in what appeared to be one swallow.
He made a very satisfied sigh and said, "That's the ticket." The other men smiled. "So I assume if you are out here, then your date has left?" He directed his question to Anton.
"Regrettably, yes."
"I'm sorry, Anton. Is everything okay?"
"Not sure - she left without a word."
"How odd. I was looking forward to meeting her. She was quite striking. Beautiful, much like your mother."
"She was! Very lovely."
"Well, I hope it wasn't anything said by our guests."
"I don't think so. I never saw her anywhere near any of the guests and I only left her for a moment to get some champagne."
"I'm sure she'll explain when she's ready."
"I hope so."
"And you, young man, I'm guessing this has been rather difficult for you. Feeling like a fifth wheel are we?” Dominic directed this to Josh.
"A bit," Josh answered and took a swig of his beer then continued, "but it's not anyone's fault. The party's great. I just don't know many people and the ones I know are with their loved ones, so..."
"I understand, Josh. No explanation needed. I do hope that you will follow me in though, I have one last announcement for the happy couple and then you can do what you like - deal?"
Anton, Bernard, and Josh all nodded and Dominic downed the rest of the bottle of beer, turned to the men, and said, "Shall we?" They all followed him through the front door, through the house, and out the French doors to the tent. Dominic made a beeline for the table with the stack of champagne glasses and grabbed a full one. With a butter knife that was sitting on the table, he gently tapped the stemware.
"May I have your attention for just a moment? Darby, Devon, would you please join me for a minute, I have an announcement." Darby looked at Devon, surprised, and Devon just shrugged his shoulders and smiled as he gently led her by the small of her back through the crowd towards Dominic. The rest of the crowd circled around the three and Dominic began.
"Devon has informed me that he and Darby have decided to take up residence in the lovely cottage left to him by his parents in Ireland. Though I will hate having them so far away, I'm hoping this gift will find them visiting often." He held out a small box with a red satin ribbon tied around it in a bow and gave it to Darby. Darby looked at Devon and got the impression from his expression that he knew what was in the box.
Devon whispered, "Well, open it!"
Darby looked at both men and then untied the bow. The ribbon fell away from the box and she lifted off the top. A shiny gold key with another red ribbon tied through its hole lay in the box. She examined it, and then looked to Dominic for an explanation.
Dominic said, "My sweet Darby, it is the key to the cottage on Martha's Vineyard where you've been staying. A little bird told me you adored it." Dominic glanced over at Devon.
"This is too much, Dominic. I can't accept this," Darby stammered.
"You most certainly can, and you will. I bought that cottage for Sophia and she never stepped a foot in it before she died. It's been empty for years. It serves no purpose if it can't be enjoyed and loved. This way, when you visit, you will have your own place. I'm hoping that having your own place will make your visits longer."
Darby didn't know what to say. Tears welled up in her eyes and she kept looking from Devon to Dominic, then suddenly she said, "Oh, but wait. If it was for Sophia, shouldn't it go to Anton? He has so few things to remind him of his mother."
Anton stepped forward, obviously touched by her concern for his feelings. "Darby, thank you for thinking of me, but Dad and I talked about it and I totally back him on this. Like he said, hopefully this will mean you will visit more often and I'm all for that." In tears, Darby smiled and turned to Dominic and hugged him tightly. More tears followed.
"Thank you so much, Dominic, Anton...I will treasure it and we will visit often. Besides, from what Devon says there's a lot of work to be done on the house in Ireland before we even leave, so it will be a while before we're gone." She took Devon's arm and he looked lovingly down at her and patted her hand. The guests began to clap and Devon pulled out a clean hanky for Darby to wipe away her tears.
In the crowd though, there was one person dumbfounded by the announcement and as the clapping subsided and the crowd pulled away from its tight circle around the three, Rowan stepped towards her sister with tears in her eyes. Blake was behind her, but couldn't see her face. He assumed she was just congratulating them. Rowan stopped in front of Darby and said, "Ireland? You're moving to Ireland? Just like that? I just got you back and you're leaving the country?"
Blake, who now saw what was going on, tried to quiet Rowan as people were turning and starting to come back to the circle. "Rowan, honey, we should probably talk about this later, when we've had time to think about things."
She turned to Blake, "Did you know they were moving to Ireland? You knew, didn't you? Like you knew about him asking her and you didn't tell me. What else don't I know, Blake?"
"Sweetie, nothing. I didn't know about this. Yes, I knew Devon was going to ask her, but otherwise I wouldn't have known. I couldn't tell you before Darby knew, could I?" Blake was now de
sperately looking for help from his brother or Darby.
Darby stepped in. "I'm sorry you had to learn about Ireland this way, but I haven't had a chance to talk to you. Up until two hours ago I didn't even know you were on the same coast. We're not leaving immediately; there's a bunch of renovations that have to be done first, but we will sit down and talk about this, I promise. Okay?"
Darby's words seemed to have done the trick and Rowan shrank back, embarrassed, into Blake's arms. The crowd around them dissipated and all went back to dancing and talking. Sally intervened for Blake, putting her arm around Rowan and taking her back to a table to talk quietly. Blake watched Sally and Rowan as they walked away then turned to Devon and Darby and said, "I'm sorry. I think it just threw her for a loop. She's been so excited to see you, Darby - and nervous, I guess. We'll all sit down and talk about this. Maybe tomorrow?"
"Definitely," Devon said.
Shocked by Rowan's display, Darby said, "Tomorrow. Yes, okay." Then she set the key back into the box and slipped it into Devon's jacket pocket, turned, and grabbed a glass of champagne.
Blake left to check on Rowan and Devon turned towards Darby. "Are you okay?"
She had just finished a large gulp of champagne when she answered, "Yeah. I guess. I just hadn't really thought about how our families would react about Ireland. I guess we know now, right?"
"I guess." He looked at Darby with concern.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine. Or I'll be fine." He held her for a moment and kissed the top of her head and said, "I love you, Darby!"
"Thank you, Sweetie, I know. I love you too."
They smiled at one another and returned to their guests.
Dominic sidled up next to where Josh was standing and said, "So Blake tells me you're very talented."
Josh looked at him puzzled, "Talented? In what way?"
"Telepathically."
"Oh. That. I'm not so sure."
"He said that you've been projecting over hundreds of miles without even trying. That, son, is talented. And you've learned to block your thoughts and those of others in a matter of weeks? Talent, again."
Josh smiled, embarrassed.
Dominic continued, "Is there anyone else in your family that has this talent? It usually is hereditary."
"Not sure."
"Not sure? You mean no one fessed up?"
"Not sure, because I was adopted."
"Hmm. Have you ever tried to find your biological parents? It could help in learning more about your abilities."
"Up until a few weeks ago, I didn't know I could control these so called abilities. Most of my life I wished I didn't have them; I certainly didn't go looking for the reason I had them."
"I suppose I can see your reasoning. If you grew up not being able to control the abilities, they would feel like a curse. I'm sorry you didn't have someone to teach you about them. It must have been hard. I suppose that's one of the reasons you became what you called 'a loner.' Not being able to turn off all those voices, the only way to control them must have been to be away from people."
Josh took a sip of champagne and nodded.
"Your adopted parents, I assume they know?"
"Yes. They tried to help, best they could, but..." He shrugged his shoulder. "They thought as you did, that maybe finding my parents would somehow answer some questions."
"Did they find them?"
"Not physically, but they came up with my biological mother's name on some paperwork. They gave me all the paperwork and told me if I wanted to try and contact her that they would help in any way they could."
"And did you pursue that quest?"
"No. At the time, I didn't see the point."
"If you would like to do so now, I could probably help; I'd just need to see what paperwork you were given with your mother's name, your birth date, and place."
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt. I'm not sure I'm ready to meet her, though."
"You wouldn't have to until you were ready."
"Well, just off the top of my head, her last name is Jansson with two s's. I can't remember her first name, but it was like Kathy, Kate, something like that. I was born in Minneapolis July 30th, 1983."
"Jansson, hmm. I knew a Jansson once. She was a student at the University of Minnesota. A friend of mine, who was a professor at the university, had been injured and asked me to fill in and teach his classes for the fall quarter. You said, Kate Jansson?"
"It was something like that, but it wasn't Kate. It was…unusual."
"Could it have been Katarina...Katarina Jansson?"
"Uh, yeah, I think, yeah, that was it. Katarina. A bit unusual. Why? Did you know her?"
"Uh, yes. She was a student of mine that fall. Very bright. Very beautiful."
"Huh! Small world."
"Isn't it?"
"Well, I guess if you know her that makes looking her up pretty easy."
"I suppose it does." Dominic smiled at Josh, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Can I get you another glass of champagne?"
"No, I'm good, but thanks."
"Well, I think I will indulge myself. If you will excuse me?"
The rest of the party was full of dancing and good conversation. But as all good parties do, the festivities started to die down and slowly the guests said their goodbyes and left or went to bed. Dominic was making one last round of the house, locking up and turning off lights when he passed Devon in the hallway.
"Devon, might I have a private word with you, before you retire for the evening?"
"Sure. Let me walk Darby down to the cottage and get her settled and I'll come back up."
"Good. Thank you. I'll meet you in the study."
Devon smiled as he went to find his bride-to-be. He carried her down to the cottage so as not to soil her train and hem of the dress and kissed her sweetly.
"Dominic wants to talk to me for a few minutes."
"Oh! Okay. Nothing bad I hope."
"I don't think so."
"Well, hurry back."
"I will," he said.
He headed back up to the house. As he entered the study, Dominic said, "Could you close the door?"
Devon did so and then asked, "Is everything all right, Dominic?"
"Yes. I think so; I just would like your take on something, that's all. It's a personal matter, but I would very much like your opinion."
"My opinion? Really?"
"Don't act so surprised, Devon. I value your opinion greatly. You are very perceptive of people and their feelings. It is a great gift - one that not many can say they have."
"Okay, you definitely have my curiosity."
"Right. Well, a while back I filled in for a friend of mine who was a professor at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He had been injured and I took over his classes for the fall quarter."
"Okay."
"During that time, I had a brief, yet intense love affair with a student."
Devon grimaced and said, "And you're telling me this, why?"
"I think a child might have been conceived from that relationship."
"A child...your child...has the mother come to you?"
"No, nothing like that. I, well, I spoke with Josh tonight and well..."
"Josh? Josh who?"
"Josh Brenner, he's a guest here. He came with Blake from California. We were going to talk to you about him tomorrow. He needs our help."
"Our help? With what?"
"Well, that's not really the point in this conversation, I think we should have that conversation tomorrow when we can all be together and Josh and Blake can present all their information."
"Okay, but you brought up this Josh..."
"Yes, we were talking this evening. He has an extraordinary telepathic talent and can project over hundreds of miles."
"Interesting, but..."
"Well, as you know, often these abilities are hereditary so I asked him if any of his family has these abilities."
"Right. Okay."
"He said he
was adopted."
"So..."
"I told him that maybe we could help him find his biological parents. That's when he told me his biological mother's name."
"I'm not following."
"The mother's name is Katarina Jansson!"
"I'm still not following. Should I know that name?"
"No. Katarina Jansson is the name of the student I had an affair with in 1981."
"What is Josh's birth date?"
"July 30, 1983."
"Well, he couldn't be yours. Human pregnancies are nine months putting the child's birth in the summer of ‘82.”
"Not with a vampire involved. It depends on what genes become dominant during the pregnancy. The pregnancy can be anywhere from nine months to three years. A three-year pregnancy would progress so slowly that the mother may not even know she was pregnant for over a year or more.
"Think about it, if the mother had conceived and didn't know it and didn't have sex during that first year of pregnancy, a human would not understand why they were pregnant. It would seem like an immaculate birth. Which may have been why she gave him up for adoption. It would be very hard to explain that you hadn't been with anyone, yet you were pregnant, not to mention having the hormones of a half-vampire growing within her."
"Maybe...but on the same note, Dominic, she may not have conceived Josh with you and had a normal nine month pregnancy with someone else and gave the baby up for adoption."
"It is possible, I suppose, but given his abilities, I think it unlikely."
"Why, because he has telepathic abilities? That's not a good reason to assume he's your son.”
"You know as well as I do that many humans who have strong telepathic abilities are often the offspring of vampires or werewolves. You also know that when no other vampire or werewolf traits are present, the one trait they do have can be greatly intensified."
"I will admit, Dominic, that there is a possibility, but you need to be sure before you do or say anything."
"And now we've come to the part I wanted to talk to you about. How in the world would I go about doing that? What will Anton think of me? How will he react to having a brother after all this time? And Josh, how do I even approach him about this?"
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