Future Mortality

Part 17/?

By Christine Hantzopulos

www.forevernickandnat.com

Natalie could see her own dread reflected on Nick’s pale face. He wasn’t ready for this. He had barely had time to enjoy his little girl without having to worry that she was growing up too fast. She sat beside him as Niki pulled up a chair to face them, as if not wanting to speak too loudly. Of course. There were vampires asleep upstairs, who could easily awaken and hear whatever she was about to say.

“I knew there was something going on,” she said to her daughter, trying to keep the hurt out of her own voice as she added, “I just can’t imagine why you would keep something from us. I thought we talked about everything.”

“I do tell you everything, Mommy,” she said, weepy with guilt. “It’s just that I promised—“

“Promised whom?” Nick asked, an edge of panic in his voice.

“His name is Dimitri. I met him yesterday at the Mall, when I was in Hot Topic.”

Natalie breathed deeply. At least if this began yesterday, it couldn’t be that bad. “Okay, and who is Dimitri? Is he in Junior High, or High School…or College?”

“College?!” Nick exclaimed in horror.

“No, no, he’s just a kid. He’s fifteen—“

“That’s way too old for you. You’re only thirteen!” Nick told her.

“Nick, let her talk,” Natalie told him, resting a hand on his arm to calm him down. “Okay Niki, tell us about him.”

“You have to promise me not to tell Janette or LaCroix,” she whispered, clearly terrified. “That’s the only reason I was afraid to tell you. They can’t know!”

“Okay, okay,” Natalie told her. “Sweetie, just calm down and tell us.”

“He’s not…just a boy,” she said slowly. “He’s a dhampir. Like me.”

Natalie gasped and Nick’s eyes widened as he said exactly the same thing she was thinking. “Then he’s here with a vampire.”

“No, he said his father is still in Europe. He ran away because he felt like he was being imprisoned. He saw Janette with us at the Mall, and knows we have vampires staying here. That’s why he made me promise not to tell. He’s afraid they could kill him. That’s why you can’t tell them! Please!”

“What did he tell you about his father?” Nick pressed.

“Only that he’s four thousand years old, and he’s somebody important. And no one knows he’s his son. He’s kept him in hiding, and he’s been very unhappy. He wanted to meet me because he said we’re the only two of our kind.”

“That means he knew where we were,” Natalie said worriedly.

“And that someone will be looking for him,” Nick said grimly. “Niki, you are to stay away from him! There will be Enforcers and other vampires coming to find him—I wouldn’t even be surprised if the vampire you felt the other day was sent by his father, whoever he is. Have you spoken to this Dimitri since last night at the Mall?”

Niki’s tears were flowing freely now at her father’s anger. Nick was frantically worried for Niki’s safety, but to the girl it seemed only that he was furious and hurt at her deception. “Yes. I saw him today. At the park…I called him when Richie and I were going and he met us there.”

“Oh my God,” Natalie moaned in disapproval. “Niki, how could you do that? Didn’t you learn your lesson after—?” She caught herself, not wanting to say the name, Spark. “How can I trust you, let alone trust you with Richie after this?”

“Do you realize how foolish that was, Niki?! You could have endangered your life and your brother’s!” Nick cried.

“But it was daytime,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry…I couldn’t help it. I just….” Her words were lost in her sobs.

Natalie tried to fight her own imagination from picturing what might have happened if the Enforcers had found her two children. “You really like him, don’t you?” she asked her daughter softly.

Niki looked up through her tears and nodded. “And he likes me too. I can tell. When we were in the park, he—“

“He what?” Nick asked, literally on the edge of his seat.

“He kissed me,” she said meekly, her face crimson.

Natalie thought Nick would have a heart attack right then and there.

“It was only once, and just on the lips, not a tongue kiss,” she said in her own defense.

“Oh my God,” Nick said, looking as if he were sick. If it weren’t such a serious discussion, Natalie might have found his reaction funny. “Nat, haven’t you discussed—these kinds of things—with her?” he asked uncomfortably.

“Calm down, Nick, it was only a kiss,” she told him, then looked at her daughter sharply, “Wasn’t it?”

“Yes, I promise. Mom, you know me better than that.”

“Well, you’re not going to see him again,” Nick declared. “Or talk to him. You’re losing your cell phone as of now.”

“You can’t do that!” she cried.

“Yes we can,” Natalie told her. “Your father is right. If he’s run away from some powerful vampire, they’ll be looking for him. And you are not going to be anywhere near him when that happens!”

“It’s not fair!”

“It’s not safe,” Nick told her. “We’re just trying to protect you.”

“It’s not safe for you two to be together, but you are!” she retorted. A low blow, but an effective one, and she knew it. “I didn’t ask to be born a dhampir, and neither did Dimitri! I’ve finally found someone who knows exactly what I feel like, and now you won’t even let me talk to him!”

“I’m sorry, Niki. Maybe it’s not fair. But life isn’t always fair,” Nick stated, his face like stone. “It wasn’t fair that I had to spend twelve years away from you and your mother, but I was trying to keep you safe. And that’s exactly what I’m doing now. Now give me your phone, and that’s the end of it.” He reached out his hand.

Grudgingly but obediently she fished the cell phone out of her purse, and slammed it into his hand. Then she burst into tears, running up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door behind her.

“I had to, Nat,” he said, regret and sadness filling his face.

“You’re right,” she assured him, and kissed him on the lips. “I just wish her first love had been some ordinary guy,” she said, leaning against him. “But then again, mine wasn’t either.”

He wrapped his arms around her and held her as the sound of their daughter’s weeping tore at their heart strings.

Nick held Natalie in his arms, feeling the passage of time more acutely than he had in eight hundred years.

His little girl, whom he had known for less than a year, was becoming a young lady. Soon, she would be a woman. And the years he had hoped to recover would be lost forever.

The danger of associating with another dhampir were almost secondary at the moment to his shocking realization that Nicolette was growing up.

A boy had kissed her. The thought of it horrified him. Now she was crying hysterically because he had forbidden her to even speak to him. But it had been for her safety. Hadn’t it? “I just wish her first love had been some ordinary guy,” Natalie was saying, leaning against him. “But then again, mine wasn’t either.”

He kissed her hair, then looked into her eyes as she looked up at him. He smiled weakly. “Was I your first love?”

“My first real love,” she replied. He didn’t want to ask about the others. God knew he had had other loves, but none like Natalie.

“And you are my first real love,” he said, kissing her again. “My only love,” he added as she fell back against his chest.

“Mommy? Daddy?”

They looked up to see Richie standing before them. Natalie separated from him and said, “What is is, baby?”

“Why is Niki crying? Does it have something to do with her friend?”

Nick reached out to the boy and set him on his lap. “What friend, Richie?” he asked.

“The one at the park. Dimitri.”

Nick and Natalie exchanged a glance, and Nick asked, “What did you think about Dimitri. Did you like him?”

“Uh-huh,” the little boy answered. “Will you play Wii with me, Daddy?”

“In a little while,” he promised. “First, tell me about Dimitri.”

Richie thought a little. “He was real nice. He looks kind of like you, but his hair is a little longer. He bought us both ice cream, and he played with me. He pushed me on the swing. I think he really likes Niki.”

“How can you tell?” Nick asked, almost amused at his son’s evaluation.

“Well, he keeps holding her hand. And the way he looks at her. It’s a lot like you look at Mommy.”

Out of the mouths of babes, Nick thought to himself. He looked at Nat sheepishly.

“I’m gonna go get the game ready,” Richie announced jumping off his lap. “Mario or Sonic?”

“Sonic,” Nick said, tousling his hair.

“Okay, but I call Sonic. Who do you want to be, Daddy?”

“Shadow.”

Natalie looked at him as Richie ran up the stairs.

“Oh, Nat,” he sighed. “I don’t know what to do or say. I want to protect her—but am I being overprotective? I can’t bear to see her miserable. I just don’t know if we can trust this---“

Suddenly, Niki’s phone was ringing. Nick took it from the pocket where he had stuffed it and looked at the caller ID. “Dimitri.”

He was about to flip open the phone, but Natalie covered his hand. “Nick, no, don’t do anything to embarrass her.”

“Fine, you answer it,” he said, handing it to her readily because he didn’t trust himself.

“Thanks a lot,” she muttered, then picked up the call. Nick bent his head to touch hers so he could hear the voice on the phone. “Hello?”

The person on the other side hesitated, then asked, “May I please speak to Nicolette?”

“This is her mother. I’m sorry, she can’t come to the phone right now. Could I take a message?”

Nick was glad he had given the phone to Natalie, because he would simply have told the boy to leave his daughter alone and then hung up.

“Oh, hello,” the young man said pleasantly. “My name is Dimitri. Nicolette has told me so many nice things about you and her father. I look forward to meeting you.”

Natalie raised her eyebrows. “We look forward to meeting you too, Dimitri. I’ll tell Nicolette you called, okay?”

“Yes, thank you. And have a nice day.”

The phone clicked and Natalie shrugged. “He sounds nice. Polite at least.”

“We look forward to meeting him?” he asked her dubiously.

Natalie sighed. “Nick, I agree with you that this could be a dangerous situation, and we have to protect Niki. But she’s a teenager. If we restrict her too much, she’ll rebel. As it is now, at least she’s confided in us. If we maintain some kind of, I don’t know, control of the situation, isn’t that better than having her sneak off behind our backs and get in some kind of trouble?”

“We’re not talking about ordinary trouble, Nat. There will be vampires coming after that young man. If his father is four thousand years old, he’s an Elder. He’ll send Enforcers. We can’t take a chance of her being with him when that happens.”

“But that would happen at night, wouldn’t it?” she said, trying to be logical.

He couldn’t deny that. In the daytime, Niki was as safe with Dimitri as anywhere. And yet, it didn’t sit right with him.

“Richie is a pretty perceptive kid. He says Dimitri looks at her like you look at me.” She smiled at him demurely. “That would be a good thing, wouldn’t it?”

He was looking at her “that way” now, and he knew it.

“Let’s go talk to her, then,” he said. She took his hand as they went up the stairs.

Niki wanted to die.

Let the vampires kill her. Let God take her. It didn’t matter right now.

She was furious with her parents. How could they forbid her to see Dimitri?!

Yet she knew in her heart that they had good reason. She’d always known the danger was there. That was why she had wrestled with her own guilt in hiding her relationship from them. Her guilt had won out. But the relief she had felt had been fleeting, giving way to even more guilt for the betrayal and hurt they both seemed to feel. She had never kept anything from her mother. And she had even told Dimitri proudly of the special bond she had with her father. And yet, she had hurt them both by keeping something so important from them.

The guilt, the despair, and the indignation were at war within her, and she was left immobile. She closed her eyes, wishing she could simply fall asleep and never wake up.

“Niki?” Her mother’s voice was devoid of anger as she called to her from behind the closed door. “Can we come in? Please?”

“Come in,” she said weakly, her voice raw from crying.

She looked up to see them both there, her mother and her father. There was no anger, no hurt on their faces. They weren’t angry at her. She could feel her father reaching out to her through their bond. He loved her so much. He wanted to protect her. He wanted her to be happy.

She burst into tears, sitting up. “I’m sorry, Mommy. I’m sorry,Daddy. I shouldn’t have kept it a secret from you. I was just afraid for him—“

“We know,” Natalie said, sitting on the bed and taking her into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m glad you told us.”

She hugged her mother tightly and then looked up at her father. There was so much love for her in his eyes, and she reached out her arms to him. “Daddy, don’t be mad. Please. I’m sorry,” she wept.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said, holding her tightly. “You can’t help how you feel about this boy. And…I don’t want you to be afraid to tell us anything…ever.”

“I promise,” she said, clutching at him. She could feel his great relief at holding her like this. He hadn’t been ready for her to grow up so fast. She didn’t want to either. She wanted to be his little girl.

“You’ll always be my little girl,” he told her, his eyes moist. Had he felt her emotions as strongly as she had felt his?

“I wanna be,” she told him, kissing him on the cheek. “It just hurts so much not being able to even talk to Dimitri. Daddy, if only you met him…”

“About that,” her father told her. She looked up at him and he pulled her cell phone from his pocket. “You can talk to him.”

“And?” her mother prompted him.

“And I suppose you can see him. Sometimes. During the day. ONLY during the day. And only if we know about it. No more sneaking around, or you will lose your cell phone for good.”

The world had just brightened up again. “Thank you!” she said, throwing her arms around his neck, then hugging her mother.

“Just remember, Niki. No secrets. You can see him when and where we decide it’s safe,” her mother reminded her.

“No more secrets,” she said, smiling brightly.

“Oh, and by the way, Dimitri called to talk to you, and I told him you would call him back. He seems very nice on the phone. Very polite.” Her mom seemed impressed.

“He is, Mommy. And soooo cute. He has blond hair, and blue eyes,” she said.

“I like the sound of him already,” her mother said, winking at her father.

“Yeah, he kinda looks like Daddy but with longer hair, about up to here,” she said, indicating her shoulder.

“We heard,” her mother responded.

She looked at them questioningly, and then it dawned on her. “Oh, Richie. Little squirt. I knew if I didn’t tell you he would anyway,” she said laughing. It was such a relief to laugh.

“According to Richie, this Dimitri likes you,” she said.

“Really?” Her brother hadn’t told her that. “Why does he think so?”

“Because he looks at you like I look at your mother,” Daddy told her, sharing a little glance with Mommy. And she knew that the parallel between their dangerous relationship and hers with Dimitri had influenced their decision in this matter.

“Wow,” was all she said.

“Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have a race to run on the Nintendo Wii.” He stood to leave, looking at her one last time, as if to ask if everything was okay between them.

“I love you, Daddy,” she said simply.

“I love you too, sweetheart,” he said, then left, as a contentment fell over all of them.

End part 17