“You.” He let another sound of laughter roll out of his throat. “I have never seen you so angry, so determined. Although you wanted to hit me, it was amusing seeing you like that.”
“I’m glad I amuse you.” She continued to stare at his perfect face. “You know you are kind of beautiful when you laugh.” She was glad he was happy, she was ecstatic that her baby would have the same face as the perfect one before her.
“You are kind of beautiful yourself.” He pulled her onto his hips and pressed her against him. “Especially without this.”
He pulled the top over her head and cradles her to his chest, feeling her soft skin against his.
“You are the only one I will ever love.”
They spent the night in each other’s arms, this night was more special than the others.
***
Scarlet woke up late in the afternoon, she wasn’t in a hurry to get up. The vampires had left at dusk to go hunt and Nikki had been called back to the house. Besides Eric and Xavier, she didn’t have much of a relationship with the other two beasts.
She went about her day lazily, spending most of her time in her room napping or the kitchen eating. She spent most of the kitchen time with Xavier and Eric, amazed at how two different personalities were able to co-exist.
Xavier was authoritative, smart, and spent most of his time in his head strategizing, his last moments. She assumed that that was the side of him that Eric was able to relate to. He was so much like Vincent, childlike. Eric lived for the joys of the moment, the little victories and accomplishment. She had never seen him serious or violent.
“So what was the commotion about last night?” Eric had one of his silly grins on.
Scarlet’s hand froze mid-air, she looked down at her plate then stuffed a sandwich in her mouth. She was going to do anything so as not to answer the personal question. He was the last resident in the house who she expected to have witnessed the previous night. Eric slept like a log.
Scarlet ignored the question. Xavier casually strolled into the kitchen a curious look on his face.
“What about last night?” he leaned on the door frame his hands crossed on his chest. Scarlet loved Stephan and wouldn’t betray him, but something about Xavier made her want to sin. She took comfort in knowing that Kayla was with her on that.
Scarlet covered her head with a dishcloth and stared at her plate. She didn’t like blushing and comments about her sex life always turned her cheeks red.
“That’s what I am trying to find out. We heard something being tossed, the hushed conversation then Stephan laying down the law.” Eric was laughing hysterically. His arms wrapped around his stomach as he doubled over laughing. Xavier joined in his booming laughter bouncing off the walls.
Scarlet didn’t know what was worse, that two beasts were standing in the kitchen mocking her or that everyone in the house was privy to what happened the previous night.
Sam and Nikki joined them in the kitchen. Scarlet groaned more witnesses to her ridicule. She looked up to see the same wide smile, she was shocked, for as long as she had known him Sam never stretched his face for a grin.
“I am glad that the only thing that amuses you is my vocalized sex life.” She returned his smile, ignoring Nikki as she rolled her eyes. She couldn’t help but despise her, the other culprit in her dream.
“Hey, where are you going?” Eric sat up and tried to keep a straight face.
Scarlet tossed the dishcloth into the sink as got up. “The show is over fellas. I am retreating in my room, where I am going to hide until… actually forever.”
As soon as she rose from the chair she sat down again. The room was spinning around and she could feel the bitter taste of bile rise in her throat.
“Water.” She used her hand to support her head. Eric was by her side his hands held out as if to catch her. She took the glass of water from Xavier and sipped it at first, and then when she was sure she could keep it down, she gulped the rest of it.
“Should we call someone?” Xavier sounded worried.
Scarlet couldn’t help but be amused by it, the man had no problem chasing after psychotic vampires but a dizzy woman put him on edge.
“No, don’t worry about it I’m fine. I just need to lie down.”
Eric scooped her up in his arms and rushed her to her bedroom. He tucked her into bed and closed the drapes before leaving her alone. He left a small crack in the doorway so that he could check on her from time to time without disturbing her.
Scarlet spent the two days the others were away in her room. Xavier and Sam spent the two nights at the house with them, Nikki always went back to Solara’s when the day was over. Scarlet didn’t mind, she was happy not to spend any time with her.
The pregnancy was more difficult than she thought, she never expected to be like ordinary expectant mothers but she wasn’t prepared for that. She was exhausted most of the time and hungry for the rest. Eric had turned into her go-to guy. He brought her food and water and when she wasn’t too tired entertained her. And when she threw up, he was there beside her to hold her hair up.
She hoped that by the time the others were back the color in her cheeks would be back, and she would be able to make the trips downstairs on her own. Scarlet made sure she swore them all to secrecy, she knew it would be a waste of time as soon as Solara cornered their thoughts but was still hopeful.
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the hospital?” Xavier changed the tone that he tried to use on her earlier on. He tried to bully her into seeing a doctor and even threatened to call Stephan but Scarlet didn’t give in. He resolved to pleading.
“Stephan is going to kill us if anything happens to you.” Eric chipped in, he sat at her feet playing with her toes peeping out of the duvet.
“The doctor already warned me of this. He said it would take a while before the bacteria completely leaves my system.”
She made sure to use words like a while because she wasn’t sure how long it would take her to be back to normal. As for the so-called ‘bacteria’, she wasn’t sure how long it would be before she would expel it. Her body hadn’t made any physical changes so far, she hoped it would stay that way, at least until she got to Washington.
***
The next day at dusk the vampires were home. Stephan snuggled into Scarlet’s bed and cradled her as she slept. She woke up the second his arms embraced her because his skin felt so cool on hers. His cold chest cooled her heating body.
Before she had slept she had asked Eric to open all the windows and to leave the door open. She wore one of the scanty nightgowns to bed and slept on top of the covers. The temperature inside the room was a huge contrast to that outside her window. It was a week to New Year and the weather was still chilly.
“Stephan?” she raised her head to look at him, he was just as beautiful as the day he had left.
“Go back to sleep.” He pulled her closer to him and gently stroked her hair.
***
Scarlet woke up she was shivering. Stephan had covered her with her duvet and had even taken Kayla’s duvet to cover her. He wrapped her up like a burrito and held her in his arms to heat her body with his. Kayla had turned up the heat in the house and had even placed a hot water bottle beside her.
Scarlet was still freezing. The cold didn’t come from the low temperatures of winter but from inside her body. It was like her body was cooler, freezing her inside out.
“Scarlet what is wrong with you?” Kayla was supervising Eric who was warming up Scarlet’s toes. She made him wear wool winter gloves and rub Scarlet’s toes. He had been at it the whole day but there was no change. They still looked blue, like she had frostbite or something.
Scarlet wasn’t going to the hospital, she convinced herself that she was going to be alright. That it was normal to go through such things especially with abnormal pregnancies.
While Scarlet’s biggest problem was to hide her pregnancy, for Stephan and Kayla was to keep her warm and as for Vincent and Eric, it was keeping her fed. The weird body temperatures hadn’t interfered with her appetite. Xavier, Sam, and Nikki focused on keeping the rest safe, while Solara was worrying about Scarlet’s mind.
He hadn’t been able to get a read on her for the past two weeks. If he did it never lasted long. The pattern rolled on and on just as her body temperature did.
He stood next to the back wall, in the corner of Scarlet’s room. He was watching her facial expressions and body movement. He focused solely on her, his eyes never leaving her face.
“Kayla,” he called out to her in a low tone, barely a whisper but she had him.
Can you get a read on her?
On Scarlet?
Solara nodded once in response to her question. Kayla looked up from her feet to her face. She shook her head as if trying to clear up a blind spot and gazed back at her. Her eyes narrowed as she focused her talent only on Scarlet’s mind. She sighed as her gaze shifted to Solara.
No. Nothing. I see and hear nothing.
Kayla panicked and walked over to the head of the bed where Stephan held Scarlet in his arms. She was asleep, but even then Kayla should have been able to see her dreams.
She leaned over Stephan and pressed her finger on Scarlet’s neck. She could feel her pulse and hear her heartbeat. Although it was unusual it was still there.
“What’s wrong?” Stephan hadn’t missed the mental conversation Kayla and Solara were having. Though no one could hear them, they could always tell when they were in each other’s minds. Stephan wasn’t comfortable with the looks the two were exchanging.
“We can’t hear or see anything from her.” Solara stepped forward he was still wearing a worried from on her face.
“I can confirm that she is alive. But her mind is a complete blank to us.” Kayla was still fussing over Scarlet trying to get around Stephan’s vice hold on her.
“Maybe we should wake her up to be sure.” Vincent had been silent the whole time watching as the others tried to warm her up. He moved on to the bed and tapped Scarlet’s shoulder.
“Scarlet. Wake up, sis.”
The rest watched as Vincent tried to wake her up. Stephan loosened his hold on her so that Vincent was able to see her face from her back. He leaned to her ear and blew into it.
“Vincent.” Scarlet moaned, she grabbed a corner of the duvet and pulled it over her head, “Get away from me.” Although she was muffled by the covers they were able to hear her.
“She is alive.” Eric chuckled with Vincent.
Scarlet raised her head to look at the two clowns, she shook her head and chuckled with them.
She was getting warmer now. She sat up and kicked the covers off her. Scarlet looked around at her now full room. Most of the residents of the house had relocated to her room and they made it look smaller. She tugged on the heavy sweater Kayla had shoved her into and pulled off the wool socks Eric had just put on her.
“It’s kind of hot in here. Did someone turn the heat up?” she looked around the room at the people staring at her. “Eric please turn it off, no wait Vincent is faster. Go turn it off and if it won’t work, be a dear and break it.”
She got off the bed and started taking off the layers of clothes that they had dressed her in. They watched her, to remember what they had missed between the second she was freezing and taking her clothes off.
Scarlet stared back at them, they made her feel uncomfortable, so she escaped their stares by ducking into the bathroom. Stephan and Kayla followed while the others left the room.
Scarlet continued undressing, she was down to the final wool stockings. She sat on the toilet seat, exhausted again, but from disrobing mountains of clothing. They felt like extra layers of skin that she kept peeling away but couldn’t reach the surface.
“Scarlet you need to see a doctor.” Kayla raised her foot and helped her pull the stockings off. “This isn’t natural.”
“You are not natural K, and neither are you, my love. But because I love you I will go see the doctor tomorrow.” Scarlet didn’t see the need to, she felt rejuvenated.
She turned the taps on and let the water run for a while. She went about the bathroom as she usually did, brushing her teeth, washing her face, and holding up her hair. She ignored the two immortals that seemed to have turned into statutes.
“I will drive you in the morning,” Stephan added a weary look on his face.
“Sure.” Scarlet chirped. “I am going to take a shower now, Kayla you can leave. Stephan, you can join me if you want to.”
“I think I will leave and Stephan is coming with me.” Kayla smiled at her and pulled Stephan out of the bathroom with her and shut the door. “There is something not right with her. I can’t tell because she is still a blank.”
“I can tell. Don’t worry I will make sure she goes to the doctor tomorrow.”
“I keep feeling like am missing something.”
***
Scarlet could hear them talk on the other side of the bathroom door, she was also concerned about the crazy ride her pregnancy had her on. She was feeling better now, so she convinced herself the worst was over.
When the voices disappeared from the other room, Scarlet stepped into the shower and let the warm droplets caress her body. She took her time in the shower and did everything else at a slow pace. She was relaxing, enjoying the quiet before she headed to the living room.
Scarlet gave herself a glance in the mirror as she walked across the bathroom. She froze when she thought she saw something unusual. She backtracked her steps and stood in front of the mirror.
“OH!”
It was subtle but it was there, Scarlet saw a small bump under her strap top. Her hand dropped to it and she rubbed circles around it. The first physical evidence of the little one within. She awed at it for a moment before turning back to face the door. She knew she would have to leave the joys of impending motherhood as soon as she crossed the mantle. She took a deep breath and walked into her room. She grabbed one of Stephan’s shirts and threw it on, if she could see it there was no doubt the others would.