vampires of san francisco 07 - suckers lost and found

by mcbrayer, jessica

  “I don’t think I want someone living here full time,” I muse.

  “Me either,” Bast says, rubbing his chin. “Does she have a place to stay?”

  “She’s living in the apartment Lionne bought for her. She has to pay her utilities and taxes and condo fees. Being a barista is not cutting it and she still needs some extra for school too.”

  “I would pay for her education if she is a good fit for us in lieu of room and board,” Bast says.

  “We’d have to run a background check and interview her. Speaking of background checks… are Matteo and Alessandro still here? I haven’t seen them. I want to thank them,” I say.

  “They are in the guest house taking some of the security down. But they insist on staying until the baby is born. Basilio has already given his okay,” Bast says grimacing.

  “I suppose it’s going to be a full house til then.”

  “Not necessarily,” Aidan says. “I think we both have found houses so we can get out of your hair.”

  “What?! Why didn’t you say something sooner? This is awesomesauce!” I shout.

  “Is that even a word?” Andrew says, making fun of me with a sardonic grin.

  “It is if I say it is. Who chose what?” I ask the two couples.

  “We picked the Chesney’s place at the end of the street by the ocean. It has six bedrooms and Diel is threatening to fill them all up,” Hannah says and giggles.

  “We chose the Kennedys’. I will be adding an extra bedroom which will bring it up to five. It has an indoor theater and workout room. Manda was excited about those. She wants me to pretty much gut it.” He dodges an elbow to the rib. “It won’t even resemble its original design. Manda wants a pool too.”

  “Of course she does. They are awesome. When will you close on the houses and give us a tour?” I ask.

  “We close tomorrow. A little more djinn magick,” Diel explains and shakes his head. “I have to say I appreciate it, though. Han’s little house is overflowing with things for the twins.”

  “Jules, this is just what we always wanted. Family and babies surrounding us. My life feels complete,” Helena says. Julian wraps his arms around her and kisses the back of her neck.

  “Well, I guess we better talk to Annie tomorrow if she can, Andrew. Ask Matteo to run a background check on her. She has good references coming from Lionne but my baby is going to be around her. She has to be perfect,” I say.

  “I’ll give her a call, Miss Lily.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I’ll go and talk to Matteo about the background check.” Liam offers.

  “Thanks, Liam.”

  THIRTY-THREE / AIDAN

  Manda and I had fun looking at houses today. I know she is excited about decorating and remodeling. It’s a good thing we are waiting for the wedding. It’s only a few weeks and I know this will take some of the pressure off Lilith. She deserves to enjoy this time and welcome her new baby in peace. Sebastian will relax about her safety and health, too.

  Right now, watching Manda sleep is my favorite time of day. I know Sebastian often says that about Lilith and I now understand why. Manda is so calm and beautiful in her sleep. No worries or burdens to bring a frown to her face. She’s due to wake soon. I can hardly wait. I know it’s pathetic but I treasure every second with her and miss her while she sleeps.

  She slowly opens those huge eyes outlined in thick lashes. She smiles when she sees me.

  “You stayed.”

  “I’ll always stay.”

  “I love you,” she says breathily. “I feel safe with you. Never leave me, Aidan.”

  “What silly ideas are floating around in your gorgeous head? I found myself when I found you. I’ll never be separated from you again. It’s like being torn in two. I love you, Manda. That will never change.”

  “Kiss me?”

  “I plan on doing a lot more than kissing,” I say and give my best wicked smile. She giggles and reaches for me. I let her pull me down to her.

  I zap our clothes off and make love to her. By the time we are done showering, Lilith is wandering around waiting for Annie to come for an interview. We step out of the room and into the hall just as she does. She’s in a beautiful sheath dress with an empire waist to give room to her expanding belly. This morning she looks about five months pregnant.

  “Guess what?” she asks.

  “What, love?”

  “I felt the baby move! Hurry, come here and see if you can feel it too.” She grabs one of my hands and one of Manda’s and places them on each side of her belly.

  We wait for a minute and then I feel it. A little nudge under my hand. I break into the biggest grin. My face feels like it is stretched to the max. I know the exact minute Manda feels it. She squeals and bends down and kisses Lilith’s belly.

  “Did you feel it, Aidan?” she asks. She’s glowing.

  “I did, lover. It was amazing.” I give Lilith a kiss on the cheek. She has tears running down her face. Her eyes are already puffy and red.

  Sebastian joins us and wraps his arm around her waist and then gently wipes the tears away with his thumb. He’s smiling from ear to ear, obviously just as excited as Lilith is. I’m so proud to have been able to give them this. Proud and humbled by their obvious love and excitement.

  “Did you feel it?” Sebastian asks me.

  “I did. He knows his Uncle Aidan already,” I say.

  Manda punches me in the arm. Damn that woman is physical.

  “You mean she knows her Auntie Manda.”

  “Maybe it’s twins and you’ll have one of each,” Hannah says from behind. We make room for her in the hall. Diel is behind her carrying both babies. This is getting ridiculously crowded.

  “Let’s continue our conjecture in the living room or better yet in the kitchen so Diel can eat,” I suggest.

  “Amen,” Diel growls. The boy does get hungry. Han leads him through the group and Hades’ head pops up to sniff Lilith. She grins down at him and rubs him behind the ear. We all disentangle and follow Hannah down the hall and into the kitchen where she is already starting to make a sandwich.

  “Andrew will be here with Annie in just a little more than fifteen minutes. I want her to meet everyone and then Lily and I will take her into the study to interview her. Her background check and references were favorable and more,” Sebastian says. He has his hands wrapped around Lilith and he has them clasped over her belly. He grins and squeezes her every time the baby moves.

  We all chat and watch Diel eat two huge sandwiches, passing the time until Annie arrives. If she works out I will feel better about Manda and me moving out tomorrow. I want to make sure she is taken care of even though I know we are crowding them.

  We hear the bell and suddenly Lilith looks anxious.

  “What if she doesn’t like us?” she asks.

  “Then we’ll kick her butt,” Hannah says. “Then get her juiced up with a college student to mellow her shit out.”

  Lilith looks horror stricken. Sebastian squeezes her shoulders to reassure her. She visibly relaxes and gives Hannah a stern look behind her back making Manda and Diel crack up.

  Lilith straightens her dress and looks like she is going to pass out.

  “Love, come here and sit down. You don’t look so well,” I say leading her to a loveseat.

  “I don’t feel so well, Aidan. Actually, Manda, can you help me to the bathroom? I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Manda hurries to her side and scoops her up, running them to the guest bath. I hear Lilith get sick and Manda murmur sweet words to her. Sebastian comes in with a striking young woman. Blonde, long-legged and Nordic looking.

  “Where’s Lily,” Sebastian says looking all over the room.

  “Manda is with her. She got sick to her stomach,” Hannah says sympathetically.

  “I didn’t know vampires could get sick,” Annie says.

  “They can’t unless they are pregnant. Excuse me while I check on my wife,” Sebastian says rushing out of
the room.

  “Pregnant?” Annie’s eyes are huge as she contemplates what Sebastian says.

  “I’m a djinn and I gave them the chance to get pregnant as a wedding present,” I explain. She blushes and fidgets.

  “I was told about you, Mr. Aidan. Andrew and Liam told me about all of you. You must be Hannah and this is your husband, Diel?”

  “Yes, good job. And these are Fiona and Finn, our twins,” Hannah says jovially. She has mellowed since she was pregnant.

  “Um, excuse me for asking, but did Mr. Aidan give you a wish too?”

  Diel laughs loudly.

  “No, I’m a demon. Demons and vampires can have children.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” Annie replies, ducking her head to seem smaller. I come to her rescue.

  “Don’t worry about it, Annie. Many vamps don’t know about that. It was a surprise to Hannah too. Plus you’re newly turned, right?” I ask.

  “A year ago last week,” she says. The melancholy is dripping off of her.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss, Annie,” Lilith says. She walks up to the girl and links their arms. “Let’s go talk about this job and see if you still want it when we’re done talking. Then we can go from there.”

  “Thanks for even considering me.” Annie smiles down at Lilith. Lilith’s nesting is going to go into overdrive with a young bird like Annie to look after. Not sure if this is a good idea.

  Sebastian leads both women into his study. The rest of us look at each other. Diel shrugs and opens the fridge to make himself some more food. The demon is a hoover. You’d never know it. Diel’s high metabolism burns it as fast as he can eat it. Hannah is always complaining about the grocery bill.

  “I like her,” Manda says.

  “She is really sweet. I think she is a bit lonely and today brought it all home being surrounded by so many vampires. She’s been by herself,” Andrew says.

  “I hope it works out. I really like her and think she will take good care of them,” Liam says. Andrew nods.

  “I would feel better knowing they have someone here while she goes through her pregnancy. Sebastian can’t stay away from work forever,” Manda says. She grabs my hand and I squeeze it. I mentally make a plan to get some help for her too. It will be the same situation except I will be able to be with her twenty-four seven. She still needs some female companionship and I don’t particularly like cleaning and making tea.

  About thirty minutes pass before Sebastian ushers the two girls into the dining room. Everyone is smiling and happy. I think we just added another misfit to our rag-tag team.

  THIRTY-FOUR / LILITH

  Annie is a godsend. She’s intelligent, funny and compassionate. Sebastian and I asked her everything we could think of, including how she felt about babysitting, which is something I hadn’t even considered until meeting her. She was more than amenable. I’d say she was excited at the prospect.

  “Everyone, Annie is going to work for us. Thank the Goddess,” I say. I give her a one arm hug and she ducks her head. It seems to be her go-to when she is nervous.

  I take her hand.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” I whisper in her ear. She smiles and nods at me. We’ll have to work at bringing her out of her shell.

  “Annie is going to start tomorrow. She has to give notice. Then this fall she will be starting school full time in addition to helping us here. She only has another year and a half to go to get her MBA. Of course, Sebastian wants to scoop her up for the club. We will have a fight about it at some point,” I say laughing. Annie giggles.

  Sebastian is smiling at her like he has found a daughter and protégé in one. I feel the same way. We’ll have to go shopping soon. Before the baby comes. It hits me like a Mac Truck. I will never be able to just bounce around again. I will have a little life to contend with. A huge smile plasters my face as I think of being irrevocably linked to the child growing inside me.

  Sebastian comes up behind me and nuzzles my neck.

  “What has you smiling ma petite mamman?”

  “The baby. I am so ready to be a mom. Maybe not the childbirth part. It scares the crap out of me. But the being connected to a little soul we created is amazing.”

  “Mmm, I agree. I can’t wait to meet our daughter or son. And I will be with you the whole time you are in labor and delivery. You can cuss me out as much as you want, I’ll still hold your hand.”

  “I’ll remember that.”

  Sabastian chuckles and rubs my belly. I feel the baby move around in response to Bast’s voice and his belly rub.

  “I’ll get going. I have a lot to do before tomorrow. What time should I get here?” Annie asks.

  “When do you wake up?” Bast asks.

  “Oh I don’t sleep,” she says and smiles shyly. “Lionne wasn’t sure why but none of his children sleep. Just a perk, I guess.”

  “I guess?? Freaking awesome. I can’t wait until I don’t have to sleep,” Hannah says. It’s been a bone of contention with her, especially since the babies have been born and she is forced to miss time with them. I wonder if I will feel the same. Who am I kidding? I already am greedy for every moment of this pregnancy. I can’t imagine I won’t miss the hours I have to sleep when Bast has the baby completely to himself. Maybe they will sleep when I do.

  “You are truly lucky, Annie. I’m already jealous.” I smile at her to let her know it is in good humor. “You still have two members of our family to meet. They’ve been having some much-needed quiet time the last few days.”

  “I’ll go and fetch them,” Liam says.

  “Thanks, Liam. Helena and Julian are very old vampires and have nurtured us all. They actually sired Liam and Andrew but are just friends with the rest of us. The closest of friends,” Sebastian says.

  “I look forward to meeting them,” Annie says. “I’ve heard so much about them both from Lionne. He had a lot of respect for them.”

  “They’ve earned it,” I say. “Can I get you some wine, Annie?”

  “Let me do it, Lily. Why don’t you have a seat and point me in the right direction,” she says. She has the sweetest smile. Very innocent and it matches her long blonde hair, and girl-next-door face.

  Helena and Julian flash in.

  “Who have we got here?” Helena asks.

  “This is Annie Smith. She was Lionne’s girlfriend before he passed. She is going to help me around here.”

  “Thank you, Annie, for helping Lily. She is going to have her hands full soon,” Julian says proudly.

  “And we will be busy spoiling all the babies,” Helena says.

  “It will be a pleasure for me to do it. Sebastian is going to help me finish school, too.”

  “What are you going to school for?” Julian asks.

  “I’m working on my MBA with an emphasis in entertainment.”

  “Watch out or Sebastian will scoop you up for the club,” Helena says and winks at her.

  “That’s what Lily said. I would love to work at You Belong to Me. But that’s not why I wanted this job. I want to belong to something again. Be around people and feel I have a purpose in life again.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Lionne died so suddenly and just after I turned. I thought my forever would be with him and I think I’ve been quite lost since then.”

  “Oh, my poor darling,” Helena says as she wraps her up in her arms. I move to gather them both up. The baby likes it and kicks. Helena lets out a whoop and swarms my stomach making me laugh.

  “It’s been moving all morning. It was so strange at first but now I can barely wait until the next time he or she moves again,” I say.

  “I understand you wanting to be surprised on the sex of the baby but I hate calling it an it,” Helena says, pouting a little.

  “I know that bothers me too. Not enough to change my mind but maybe we should come up with a nickname like jr. or baby St.John.”

  “Oohh, I like ganja baby,” Hannah yells from across the kitchen. She’s showing
Annie where the wine, coffee, glasses and mugs are kept.

  “I think petite enfant is better than ganja baby,” Sebastian quickly interjects. He gives Hannah a hug.

  “I like that. Little baby. It works,” Aidan says.

  “I like it too,” Manda says as she snuggles up to Aidan and kisses his cheek. He’s not happy with that and takes her lips in a deep kiss.

  “Well, things are getting steamy in here,” Andrew says waving at his face like he is flushed. “The little baby needs to be shielded from that,” he says pointing to Aidan and Manda.

  Aidan laughs and Manda looks embarrassed.

  “Now all we have to do is wait and pick out names,” I say.

  It’s like I set off a bomb. Everyone starts yelling their choices.

  THIRTY-FIVE / LILITH

  It’s been three weeks. I’m huge. I literally feel like I have an alien the size of a pumpkin in my stomach. The baby is so active that at times my tummy is visibly changing shapes under my clothes and people can see and of course they comment. At night, Sebastian pulls my night gown up and lays his hands on my belly, talking in French to the baby. It’s the sweetest thing. I usually end up in hormonal tears from my sheer joy and happiness.

  I’ve continued to have appointments with Dr. Hildebrand every couple of days. My morning sickness is gone but I am eating daily now. I’m always hungry. Aidan shows up about three every afternoon with dinner. He doesn’t even have to ask anymore. I’ve been craving creole blood so he goes out of his way to go to Louisiana and find some for me. It’s such a nice gesture and my stomach appreciates it greatly.

  “Lily, are you ready to shop for furniture? We leave in fifteen minutes, cherie.”

  “Oui, Sebastian.” I’m practicing my French because Sebastian is insistent the baby be bilingual.

  “Bonne, ma petite mamman.” Sebastian gives me a kiss as a reward. Hmm… need to speak French more often. “Hannah, Helena and Manda are here already. Aidan is going with us to take care of delivery. We both know how dangerous it is when you all shop.”