Future
Mortality
Part 10/?
By
Christine Hantzopulos
christine@forevernickandnat.com
Natalie was
preparing dinner as the sun began to set. She stifled a yawn as she called,
“Niki, could you please come and set the table?”
The truth
was, she was exhausted. The events of the previous
day, the stress of more revelations than she had cared to hear, and the late
night discussion with LaCroix, had worn her out. And while the beautiful
love-making session with her husband had eased her fears and assured her that
together she and Nick would resolve all their dilemmas, she had had little
sleep. Nick had dropped the kids off to school, and come back to their bed.
There they had lain together for the rest of the day, until he’d gone to to
pick up Richie and Niki. Suffice to say, they had spent most of their time
awake.
She smiled
now remembering it all, wanting him again despite her weariness. They needed
each other as Nick had needed blood to survive, and she couldn’t imagine a day
when she would ever tire of lying in his arms. As if on cue, he came into the
kitchen, wrapping his arms around her from behind, and resting his head on her
shoulder. She put her hands on his, moving them slightly so he could feel the
movement of their baby.
“My God,
Nat, it never ceases to amaze me,” he said in wonder.
“Are you
two at it again?” Niki teased as she saw them.
Natalie
blushed, wondering if Niki, with her supersensitive hearing, had had any idea
of what was going on down the hallway last night. Once her daughter had subtly
let her know that she liked falling asleep to music on her ipod at night.
Natalie knew that it must have become a habit as she’d tried to block out
sounds a daughter definitely did not want to hear from her parents’ room.
“I’m
feeling your baby sister move around,” Nick explained to her.
“Really?
Let me feel, Mommy,” she said reaching out to touch her mother’s abdomen.
“Wow,” she said, really impressed. But as her hand dropped and she looked at
the wonder on Nick’s face, her smile seemed to fade slightly.
It wasn’t
the first time. Nick had been utterly attentive to every aspect of this
pregnancy, from LaMaze classes to staring in amazement at the vivid ultrasounds
that showed every step of their baby’s development. Niki was excited too, she
knew. But there was also a part of her that was very jealous. She had barely
had her own time as Daddy’s Little Girl. And she knew that Natalie had gone
through pregancy and childbirth alone. Once, when Nick had told her he couldn’t
take her shopping because he had to take Natalie to yet another appointment
with the obstetrician, Niki had shot out, Why can’t Mommy go by herself? She did it when she was carrying me! It
was then that Nick had first realized the complexity of emotions that his
daughter must be going through right now. He’d made an extra effort to spend time
with her, lest she become resentful of
the baby.
Nick must
have noticed the smile drop from Niki’s face because he took his hands from
Natalie’s form and placed them on his daughter’s shoulders, looking at her
wistfully. “You know, when your Mom was pregnant with you, I was still a
vampire. I could hear and feel things I can’t now. I could rest my head against
her, and hear your heart beating. I could even smell your blood, a beautiful
pure mixture of mine and hers, running through your little body. I used to talk
to you sometimes, hoping that someday, you would remember the sound of my
voice.”
Natalie
thought she would cry, remembering those days. Nick seemed as if he were on the
brink himself. It had been a tragic time, knowing that he would never see his
child born. She’d played those memories in her mind time and again after she’d
had to leave
“Really?”
Niki asked, although by the expressions on her parents’ faces she couldn’t
doubt that it was a true story.
“Yes,
really,” he told her, kissing her on the top of the head. “Maybe that’s why I
still feel such
a special connection with you.”
Niki
wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him. Over her shoulder, Nick looked
at Natalie as if to ask if he had handled that well. She nodded at him proudly.
She’d always known he would be a perfect father.
“Come on,
now, you guys, we’ve got guests. Niki, would you please set the table, and Nick,
can you pour Janette and LaCroix each a glass of that stuff in the mini bar?”
They did as
they were told, Nick a bit surprised to find that she’d packed away several
pints of blood in the small refrigerator near the minibar. “The hospital,” she
told him simply, and he nodded. Aristotle had supplied her with doctor’s
credentials in her new name, and she had already made her contacts in the
medical field. She’d told them she was doing research on DNA, which was not far
from the truth. She’d set up a lab in the basement where she conducted
experiments on the retrovirus she’d found to be connected to vampirism. Nick’s
transformation seemed permanent, but she knew that finding a “cure”, or
refining her work with leitovuterine might someday be of use. Of course, no one
knew the true nature of her research except Nick. It was something she kept as
a back-up plan of sorts. She had done private work as well for some geneticists
at Cornell; that had guaranteed her several sources of blood if the need ever
arose.
As she set
dinner on the table, steak, potatoes, salad and broccoli, she nodded to their
guests who had already taken seats at Niki’s request. LaCroix graciously
accepted the glass Nick handed him, while Janette asked politely if there were
any red wine she could mix it with.
“I trust
you slept well,” Nick said as they all began their meal.
“Yes,
quite,” LaCroix responded as he sipped the contents of his glass and nodded
thanks to Natalie. She laughed to herself thinking that he had probably
expected it to be cow. “Was there any contact today with your friend from
“No. Not at
all,” she said thankfully. “But Nick took Richie to school and picked him up a
little early, just to be safe.” The thought that Andy might try to see Richie
at the school had almost made her keep him home, but Nick had made sure to tell
the teacher not to let the boy leave with anyone but him.
“Good. Then
all that remains to be seen is if our other visitor returns tonight,” LaCroix
responded.
Janette
spoke up before the thought of that eventuality could dampen their spirits.
“Natalie, I wanted to ask you if there are any stores open I might go to
tonight to buy some clothes. I’m afraid I didn’t pack enough for an extended
stay.”
“I know
where you can go, Janette,” Niki said excitedly. “Pyramid
Mall. It’s Friday night, so they’ll be open for a few more hours.”
Janette
smiled. “Feel like a girl’s night out shopping?” she asked Natalie and Niki.
“I don’t
know, I’m kinda beat—“ she said truthfully.
“Come on,
Mommy, it’d be fun. Just the three of us.”
“Yes,
Natalie, we can catch up. You can tell me if Nick is being a good boy,” she
said with a glance at her nervous maker. He never liked the idea of Natalie and
Janette talking—he was positive that he was always the topic of conversation.
“You’re
right. I could use some fun,” she agreed. She glanced at Nick who seemed almost
to be pouting.
Later, as
she kissed Richie goodbye and told him to be good for Daddy, Nick kissed her on
the lips then whispered in her ear, “Didn’t you have enough fun last night?”
His tone
made her flush, but she said, “Yes, but this is a different kind of fun.” She
could see the worry in his eyes and sensed the real source of his concern. He
had never been away from her at night, except for last night when he’d taken
Niki to the movies. There still was a vampire lurking around somewhere, and he
would feel better if they were all together. “Look, we’ll be okay. Janette will
be with us, and we’ll be in a public place. We won’t stay out late, I promise.”
“Please,
just be careful,” he said seriously. He knew in reality that Janette could
fight off a vampire better than he, in his current state. And
yet…
“I’ve got a
gun in my pocketbook,” she answered before he could even suggest it.
He smiled
sheepishly. “Okay. Good girl,” he said.
He was
standing at the door to see them off when suddenly Niki looked about her in
dread. Janette stopped in her tracks, moving closer to Natalie and Niki as she
scanned the dark. She frowned.
“It’s
gone,” she said, then turned to Niki. “Isn’t it?”
“Uh-huh,”
the girl replied, a little shaken.
“Was it the
same one as last night?” Natalie asked her daughter.
Niki
nodded.
“You’re not
going anywhere,” Nick told the three women, and edge of panic in his voice.
“Nicolas,
it could just be someone who lives in the area. They were only passing by. In
any case, I’m with Natalie and Niki, and you and LaCroix are here with Richie.
It will be fine, I promise you.”
Nick looked
dubiously from Janette to Natalie. She knew he was worried, but they couldn’t
live in fear. “We’ll be back soon. Don’t worry.”
“Yeah,
Daddy, come on, I haven’t been to the mall in ages…and gee, I think I’m out of
money,” Niki added with a grin.
Their daughter’s
return to a light-hearted mood calmed him. “Okay, go. Have fun.” He reached
into his pocket, pulling out what looked like two fifties, and handing them to
Niki. “I know you’ll spend this quickly enough. Then just hurry back home,
okay?”
“Thanks,
Daddy,” she said,slipping the money into her purse.
“You’re
spoiling her, Nick,” Natalie warned, though she didn’t really mind. After all
she’d been through, Niki deserved to be spoiled…a little.
“Hey, you
only live once,” Nick said. Then, as Janette shot him a glance he corrected,
“Uh, sorry. You know what I mean.”
“Very
funny, Nicolas,” she said as she sat in the passenger seat of the black 2009
Honda Accord. “And by the way—I’m glad to see you finally got rid of that
dreadful Caddy. It was a putrid color.”
“Just one
more thing we agree on, Janette,” Natalie said, winking at her husband.
From afar
he watched them, not daring a closer look, knowing that both the vampire woman
and Nicolette had sensed him, if only for a moment. Of course the vampires were
here. Stavros had warned them, Dimitri had said, that the “Brabants” were drawing too
much attention to themselves. But until he had seen them this very moment, he
had not fully believed, not wanted to believe, the rest of the tale that the
young dhampir had woven. But now he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, and the
realization made him feel as if so much more had suddenly been taken from him
than his mortal life.
Nicholas de
Brabant, or Nick Knight, or whoever he was, was human.
He was,
without a doubt, Nicolette’s real father. He and Natalie were…together. And she
was carrying his child.
This
vampire turned human had taken them all from him. His wife.
His daughter. His son. But he
was a human now. And as such, he knew that he had the power to make him pay for
what he had done.
To hell with Stavros. To hell with the Code. He would
have his revenge, and his family, no matter what the cost.
He pulled
out the cell phone with a hand still shaking with rage. “Dimitri. They are
headed to the Mall. You know what to do.”