The scent of fear easing from her, she shook her head. “I won’t remember you?” She looked back at Halina, her own tall form inches higher than the teenage vampire’s. Swallowing at the blank look on the intimidating woman’s face, she twisted back to Teren. “But not all of you is a bad memory.” She smiled warmly, her body relaxing as she took a step forward. “Most of you is a good one.” She flushed slightly as she glanced at me. “A very good one,” she whispered.
I flushed too as I remembered Alanna commenting once that sex with a vampire was…unforgettable. I had to imagine that, even new at it, Teren had been…skilled. Forcefully shoving the idea of them tangled in a bed together from my mind, I firmly compressed my lips.
Teren smiled slightly and looked down, maybe remembering his mother say that as well. Peeking up at her, he softly said, “It will be easier for us both…if you don’t.”
She sighed, looking over his face. Shrugging her shoulders, she shook her head. “Will it hurt?”
Teren smiled widely, placing his hand on her arm. She didn’t flinch away this time. “No, of course not.” He laughed once, a hint of sadness in the sound. “And for the first time, I actually believe that this won’t hurt me either.” I squeezed his waist, resting my head on his silent, loving heart.
He looked down on me and then back to her. “You taught me so much about being careful, being cautious…about how dangerous my secret could be. Because of what we went through, I knew I had to take the chance and let Emma in. I had to let her love me, as me. And luckily for me, she did.” He laughed lightly as I felt that flush come back. Teren sighed softly. “I thank you, for showing me that.”
She smiled and nodded at Teren, then swallowed nervously when Halina took a step forward. Stepping up to Carrie’s side, Halina tilted her head. Flicking a glance at Teren, she coolly said, “Did you tell anyone about Teren getting you pregnant?”
Carrie swallowed and shook her head, her gray eyes wide. “No, aside from my horribly rude conversation with Emma,” her eyes swung back to mine, apologetic, “I don’t talk about my miscarriage.” She shrugged, still looking at me. “I mean, even before they passed away, I never told my parents who the father was.” Her eyes glanced over at Teren. “It was…private.”
Halina grabbed her arm, swinging Carrie’s attention back to her. “Good, then this will be very easy for me.”
Carrie started shaking again as Halina held her arm and her gaze. Stepping forward, Teren cupped her cheek. “Don’t be afraid, you won’t remember any of this.”
She nodded, a tear filling her eye and dropping down her cheek. “I’ll miss you.”
Teren smiled sadly, his own eyes filling. “No…you won’t be missing anything, Carrie.” I sniffled back my own tears as Teren twisted to his great-grandmother. “Take it,” he whispered, his tears finally falling. “Take it all.”
Chapter 7
Happy Birthday
Teren woke me up the next morning with soft lips on my neck. Murmuring good morning, he sighed a content, cool breath into my ear. I smiled and shivered, twisting to wrap my arms around him. Exhaling in a long, satisfied way, he squeezed me so tight I had a little trouble breathing.
Pushing him back a little, I laughed when I could breathe again. “Good morning to you, too.” Glancing over his shoulder at his clock, I frowned. “It’s so early, why are you up?”
He shook his head, his pale eyes glowing with phosphorescence and happiness as he watched me in our still dark bedroom. “I just couldn’t sleep anymore.”
I frowned, my glowing eyes flicking over his face. “I know yesterday was hard for you, are you okay?”
He inhaled a deep breath, letting it out in a rush. “Yeah, I feel great. Like a weight has been lifted, a weight I didn’t even realize I’d been carrying. I feel…free.” He chuckled and rubbed his nose along mine. “And I owe it all to you.”
I giggled as his nose ran along my cheek, his lips running up to my ear. Sliding my hands up his back, I pulled his body into mine. “I didn’t do anything, Teren. Last night was all you.”
I smiled as I remembered his last moments with Carrie. Halina had looked her in the eye and calmly given her a new life. She’d been told that she’d never had a serious boyfriend in high school, that she’d never been pregnant before, that the name Teren Adams meant nothing to her, and upon leaving our home, she would forget everything about the man standing before her.
Under Teren’s guidance, Halina then told her that she was going to stay in the city, enjoying the remainder of her two week vacation, then she was going to go home and enjoy her life. Teren also threw in that she was going to confidently ask her boss out on a date. He’d smiled widely after Halina had rolled her eyes and imbedded the suggestion.
I’d been a little shocked with the ease that Halina had wiped her clean. Once Carrie had been escorted to a cab and sent to a hotel that Teren had reserved for her, I’d made the mistake of proclaiming my surprise at how simple it was to Halina. She’d looked at me like I’d offended her. “You expected something…grander?”
Shrugging, I’d only managed to come up with, “Well, yeah, actually.”
Her response, as typical, had been better than mine. “The human mind is exceptionally pliable. All I have to do is tell you what to believe, what to do, and you do it.” Smirking, she finished with, “Truly, you are not much different than the cattle.”
I was still trying to not be too offended by that.
Teren paused in sucking on my earlobe. “You did so much for me, just by being there.” He pulled back to look at me, his playful eyes suddenly serious. “I don’t think I could have done it without your support.” The glow highlighted our sheets as he looked down. My vamped-up vision could make out a section of the glow that was brighter, a ring directly around the iris. It was beautiful.
“I should have done that ages ago, but I was so scared to let go.” He smiled and looked up at me. “But it was easier than I thought it would be.” His fingers came up to caress my cheek. “Because of you. I didn’t really lose anything, because I still have you.” Tilting his head, a look of pride on his face, he added, “I kind of feel like I grew up last night.”
I laughed softly. “Well, welcome to being an adult.”
Chuckling, he kissed me softly. “That’s what I get for marrying an older woman.” I gently smacked his arm and he chuckled again. “What? You are almost out of your twenties.”
He raised an eyebrow and I smacked him again, harder. “And you already are, even if you still look perfect.”
His grin turned devilish. “Perfect?”
I sighed and looked him over. “Yes…perfect.”
He looked me over as well, the thumb on my cheek stroking my skin. “Not as perfect as you,” he whispered.
I sighed softly again, placing my hand over his on my cheek. He leaned in and we kissed tenderly, arms and legs and bodies tangling together. Just as I was pulling him on top of me, our light kissing getting more intimate, a foot kicked me in my rib. Breaking apart from his lips, I glanced over at my son beside me. I’d nearly forgotten that I’d told them both that they could sleep with us. Quite a feat, since I could feel them in my head. Without looking, I knew with certainty that Nika was on the other side of Teren.
He glanced over at her fast-asleep body, then shifted to my side. Grinning at me crookedly, he shrugged. “Want to go outside? It’s been a long time since we’ve had sex in the car?”
I laughed out loud, then slapped a hand over my mouth. It was too late though. Nika immediately sat up and looked over Teren’s shoulder. “Morning, Mommy!” she exclaimed brightly. Inwardly, I groaned. If was too early for me, it was way too early for them.
“Morning, sweetheart,” I whispered, hoping that at least Julian was still sleeping. No such luck.
“Quiet, Nick,” he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Teren chuckled and rolled onto his back, Nika immediately scrambling on top of him. He looked over at me, twisting h
is lips and shaking his head. “Nice going…Mommy.”
I rolled my eyes and smacked his shoulder. “Quiet, you. You’re the one that was up before the dawn.”
Chuckling to himself, Teren squeezed Nika to him in several short bursts, making her laugh; Julian sleepily laughed too.
Since we were all up, we decided to have a nice filling breakfast together. Humming to himself, Teren finished off the kids' pancakes by adding strawberry eyes, whip cream mouths and a blueberry nose. The twins giggled in delight at their pancake people and I smiled at the peace on my husband’s face. Snipping that last piece of his childhood away had certainly freed him. He was lighter than I’d ever seen him. Well, it rivaled when the children were born, at least.
Still having to go into work before me, he kissed all of us goodbye, lingering on me the longest. His fingers clutched my face while he gave me an intimately deep kiss, for a morning farewell. My heart was a little fast when he pulled away.
He smiled as he discretely ran his fingers over my heart, copping a feel in the process. “I love that I can still do that do you,” he whispered.
I bit my lip, squeezing his bottom. “Maybe later, you could do a bit more?”
He glanced over at the kids making bubbles in their glasses of milk. Laughing huskily, he turned back to me. “They’ll probably be passing out earlier than usual tonight.” The edge of his lip curved up as his pale eyes flicked down my body. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”
I had to stop biting my lip as I momentarily lost the hold on my teeth. Nearly slicing my skin, I quickly slipped them back up, but Teren noticed the loss of control and smiled devilishly. Smacking his shoulder, my face feeling overly heated at slipping up in a way that I hadn’t slipped up in months, I shoved his cocky butt out the door. Laughing, he kissed me goodbye a final time then practically skipped to his car. I smiled and shook my head at his good mood.
His good mood stayed with him throughout his day at work, where he called me and told me about Ben and Tracey wanting to take me out tomorrow night. I matter-of-factly told him that I was backing out of those plans, that I didn’t want to make a big deal about my birthday. A quiet weekend at the ranch with my family sounded ideal to me. He laughingly told me that he and Ben had already made all of the arrangements. It was a done deal. I sighed, irritated at his good mood.
Saturday morning found Teren and me heading to the family ranch, like typical, just with plans to leave it for a few hours in the evening. I wasn’t too thrilled about it, and told Teren that we weren’t leaving until after bedtime, so I could still tuck the kids in.
Grinning ear-to-ear, he only said, “That’s fine, the fun doesn’t start until later anyway.” I twisted my lips at him, wondering just what he had in store for me. Smiling secretively, he would say nothing more on the matter.
Shutting the car off in the drive of the palatial Adams estate, he chuckled at the look of curious annoyance on my face. “We’re here kids,” he proclaimed brightly as he opened the door.
Rolling my eyes, I opened mine and went about the task of unbuckling the kids. No sooner were they free than they were surging to the open front door, Alanna bent over on her knees awaiting them. I blinked in surprise when I saw Imogen standing back in the recesses of the entryway. Imogen didn’t come out during broad daylight, it was too painful. She was standing a ways back from the open door, none of its indirect light reaching her, but the home was loaded with wide windows and she was drenched in the sunlight streaming through them.
Teren stared at her, shaking his head. “I’ll be damned,” he muttered. “He did it.” I glanced up at Teren’s stunned face, then remembered what Gabriel had said before he’d dropped the Carrie-bomb on us. He’d developed a protective coating that blocked the harmful side effects of the sun from mixed vampires. He had offered to have the Adams home fitted with the new glass and apparently he had. I shook my head as I grabbed Teren’s hand. Gabriel worked fast; that had only been a couple of days ago.
We walked into the home and Alanna shut the door behind us. Imogen was smiling and laughing, frolicking with her grandchildren, chasing them around the fountain of a woman crying that took a place of prominence in the room. My eyes stung watching the bright rays streak over Imogen’s dark hair. She hadn’t had a moment like this…her entire life.
Alanna smiled at her mother, pink tears down her cheeks. All of us silently watching Imogen play tag, happy, content, and most of all, pain-free, she quietly said, “She’s been like this ever since Gabriel finished with the windows.” Twisting to smile at Teren, she shook her head. “She won’t go back to her rooms.” She laughed on the end, wiping her cheeks dry.
Teren and I laughed as well, Teren slinging an arm over his mom’s shoulders. When the kids eventually tore off to play in another room in the house, Imogen stood up and walked over to us, her face more alive than I’d ever remembered seeing it. “Teren, Emma…it’s so good to see you out and about on this fine morning.”
She laughed as she embraced me in a cool hug. I laughed as I wrapped my arms around the grandmotherly woman, my joy for her causing the tears stinging my eyes to splash onto my cheeks. Darn emotional vampires.
“Imogen…I’m so happy for you.” I pulled back from her to stare at Alanna as well. She had an arm around her son’s waist and was standing in a bright shaft of light under a large sun-filled window. She’d been standing there for awhile, perfectly free from pain as well. “Both of you.”
Alanna sighed, glancing up at her son and then down at the floors to where I could feel Halina’s still presence. Her eyes swinging back to me, she looked over my body. “Gabriel…he’s done so much for our family. I really don’t know how we’ll ever repay him.”
I swallowed a little nervously. I’d wondered that myself.
Imogen, Alanna and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon lazing in a bright patch of sunlight in the living room. Stretching languidly, I sort of felt like a giant cat, sleeping in the sunshine. Both vampire women giggled and sighed contently. I had to imagine that the heat that I could feel caressing my skin, felt even better to their cool bodies, especially since they’d never really had the chance to revel in it before.
Teren laughed at the three of us, shaking his head before heading outside to go fishing with his dad. The kids went with him. They found it enormously funny, using their enhanced abilities to snatch up the fish bare-handed, just like Daddy.
It wasn’t too much later when I felt Teren and the kids zooming back to me at lightning speed. A little alarmed, I sat up on my elbows. More alarmed when I could hear my children crying, I jumped up to my feet. Alanna and Imogen sprang up with me, both looking like they wanted to rush out to Teren. Knowing he would be in the house in a matter of seconds, we made ourselves wait. Even though I only counted five of those seconds, it felt like five years.
When he entered the room, Teren immediately met my eye. “They’re fine, more upset than anything.”
Believing him, but needing to see for myself, I blurred over to them. The tang of blood was in the air and my heart rate spiked. Both kids reached out for me, both crying. Smelling the blood on Nika, I only grabbed her. It hurt my heart to choose, but she was the one that smelled injured. Imogen snatched up a crying Julian though, patting his back as he clung to her, sobbing. My heart racing as I held my crying daughter, I peeked up at Teren running a hand back through his hair, his lips twisting in what almost seemed like amusement.
“What happened?” I snapped out.
He shook his head and started to answer me, but my crying daughter beat him to it. Pointing viciously at Julian, she wailed, “Julie bit me!”
Julian covered his ears and sobbed harder. Blinking at a shrugging Teren, I looked over Nika. Sure enough, she had fang marks on her arm. I looked over at Alanna. Never having raised vampiric children before, or any child before, I wasn’t quite sure how to handle it. She smiled softly, wisdom in her youthful eyes, and reached her arms out for Nika. “Come here, sweetheart
. Grandma will clean you up and then we’ll have a nice cup of cocoa.”
Nika perked up, her sobs shifting to sniffles at the thought of a chocolate treat. She practically leapt from my arms into Alanna’s. Hugging her tight, Alanna nodded her head at Julian. “You two may want to have a talk with him.”
Imogen smiled and kissed his head. As Nika’s emotions calmed down, so did my son’s. When I could hear her giggle as Alanna tickled her, Julian even smiled. At that point, I figured he was probably more upset at feeling how upset Nika was. It sort of put a whole new meaning to the word guilt, when you could feel the pain and distress you caused someone.
Setting him on a chair, Imogen kissed his head again, then blurred to the kitchen with Alanna and Nika. Hearing them begin a conversation with her on biting, I started my own with my son. Teren and I squatted down in front of him as a few last sniffles escaped him. His eyes red and watery, I stroked his cheek. “Did you bite your sister?” I asked quietly.
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