Subject: 98-FAMILY3--Revelations-pg


Hi all...

  A few months ago I wrote and posted the first 2 stories in my
FAMILY trilogy, "FAMILY 1: Unblessed Events", & "FAMILY 2:
Uncertain Beginnings".  I knew there would be a delay with
getting FAMILY 3 done, but had I expected it to take as long as
it did, I would likely have waited on posting the first 2.

  Anyway, it is now done and I'll be dropping it here right away.
I wanted to remind you that if you are interested in it but have
not read (or want to re-read) the first 2, please drop me a note
and I'll hapily forward them to you.

  Much thanks to Janis for all her hard work beta-reading this
for me to help make it presentable - I gave her a hard task!!

  Also special thanks to Lee for help with one section (part 4?),
and to Silver for attempting to make me sound like I've some idea
about where they finally end up moving to!  Ahn thankth ta THUE 
<eg> fa tipth on w'iting fa lithpin' patht fangth...  Thanks to
all of you; your corrections & suggestions have been invaluable!
hugs to you all! 

  Permission for Mel or Michael to archive...
(98/07/19 Addendum: Any T+Vpacker or DP may also archive.)

    Hugs!    -Micki
  ____________________________________________________________


We all know the drill - they aren't mine, wish they were, I'd have
treated them a lot nicer than TPTB did!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FAMILY 3: Revelations
By "Micki" Lynn McCormick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

        It was May 19, about half an hour before sunset.  Richard Vetter
was making 'motorboat' sounds with his mouth, while Bonita clapped her
hands and giggled.  Richard finally succeeded in getting the little girl
to try it, with the result that she was now making 'raspberries' at
everyone and giggling madly.  Richard sat on the lawn with his
granddaughter and turned to Tracy.  "I understand that Richie has that
disease.  But come on, Tracy, it's nearly dusk, and it's certainly not the
hottest sun of the year.  I'm quite sure that a little bit of sunlight,
enough to drive over here with, wouldn't hurt him.  Then we could have had
their party during the daytime, like any normal children's first birthday.
Sure, they'd have had to stay in the shade, granted, but it would be more
normal."

        "Dad, we've talked about this before.  It's a very serious
condition that he has.  Even the smallest amount of sunlight is painful
for him, and even sitting in the shade of the tree he'd still get more sun
that he can handle.  Besides, and I know this makes you mad, but it is a
fact Dad.  Whether you think we were right or not to do so, we had Nick
and Natalie adopt him.  I think it's very sweet that they want the kids to
have as much contact as possible and stuff.  But if they decided to, they
could take off with Richie and have no further contact with us, and they'd
be within their rights.  Most adopted kids don't get to have the kind of
contact with their birth family as he does.  But it is Nick and Natalie
that are allowing it.  They are, legally, his parents now."

        Tracy walked over to where her daughter was kneeling down
examining a blade of grass intently, just inches from her face.  She
picked Bonita up, and as she did, the child grabbed a fistful of grass,
which came away with her.

        "NOOOO!"  Bonita tried hard to throw the fistful of grassblades at
Tracy, but they blew back into her own face instead.  Bonita rubbed one
off of her face and caught it, pushing it into her mouth and chewing at it
fiercely.  Then she pointed at the grassy lawn she had just left and began
to cry.

        "Bonita, you tell grandpa to come and wait inside in the
livingroom, and we'll go get all dressed up pretty for your party, okay."
Tracy knew full well that Bonita couldn't talk yet, other than a couple of
words above her favorite 'no'.  She had discovered, however, that by
presenting requests to her dad as something for Bonita to 'say' to
grandpa, that her father would usually comply without arguing.

        Shortly after a bathed and dressed up little girl got brought
downstairs, the doorbell rang.  Richard went to go open it, and it was
Screed and Urs.  Tracy had seen it often enough to know that both men
bristled at the sight of each other.  She appreciated that they had
settled on an agreement not to argue in front of her or Bonita.  Of course
that was after she had threatened both of them with never allowing either
one of them contact with the child if they ever fought like that again in
her presence, and both realized she meant it.  Tracy smiled at the memory
of that as she looked out the window to see if there was any indication of
Nick and Natalie with Richie yet.

        She nearly jumped out of her skin, however, when she saw them
already walking up the walk, with Richie between them.  ~No caddy in
sight, they must have flown with him!~ she thought as the doorbell again
rang, and she went to go open it.

        After they had 'helped' the babies open all of their birthday
gifts, they proceeded to get ready to go out.  Bonita, who was currently
teething, wouldn't stop chewing on the tail of a small squeeky rubber rat,
her gift from Screed.  Richie chewed his finger a little, but mostly just
cuddled a stuffed dalmation puppy, one of his gifts from 'Grandma Vetter'.

        Tracy's dad and Urs rode in the car with Tracy and Vachon, sitting
on either side of Bonita's car seat.  Screed and Tracy's mom rode in the
back of the caddy, which was parked at the end of the block, out of sight
from the house.  Natalie just smiled as she listened to Tracy's mom
chatting amicably with Screed.  Natalie was amused to learn that Tracy's
mom had spent some time in England as a child, and that while there she
took ill and had a nanny with a strong Cockney accent.  She slipped easily
into it herself when talking with Screed.  Unlike most people Natalie knew
who had met Screed, not only did Mrs. Vetter not find him odd, she also
seemed to rather like 'the young man'.

        They were sitting outside, since it was a warm spring evening, at
a quiet Dairy Queen location, with an ice cream cake decorated up for the
kids.  Nick had mentioned to Tracy one time how he could actually hold
down a few fries and had also mentioned that something else he could hold
down in small quantites was milk.  Since then Tracy had gotten Vachon,
Urs, Natalie, and Screed to try milk, and each could keep it down, even
though none liked it.  Tracy was pleased, as this meant that the local
D.Q. was a place they could go if there were mortals around and seem to be
eating, at least a bit.  Nick and Natalie had to make sure Richie didn't
get into the ice cream, though.  He absolutely loved it, and given a chance
would practically inhale it.  If he was allowed only a few small tastes
during a 'meal' out, he'd be ok.

        While they were there, Bonita took it upon herself to take her
first solo steps.  Everyone was making a fuss over the little girl with
more ice cream in her hair and on her face than in her.  When Screed looked
up, he saw Richard had pulled Richie onto his knee and had let him get into
grandpa's portion of ice cream cake as much as the boy wanted.

        "Wot did ya go an' do 'at fer?  'e's goin' to be sick 'e is."
Nick looked up as Screed lifted the now crying boy from his perch and
began to cuddle him.

        "He likes it.  A little ice cream won't affect his special diet
for just one day.  It's his birthday.  Let him enjoy it.  Listen to him,
he wants more."  Richard Vetter looked angrily at Screed.

        Before anyone else could say anything, Richie's stomach began to
spasm visibly and then to convulse as Richie began to cry.  "Mama!"  He
cried, and as Natalie took him, he began to heave.  Natalie got him away
from the rest of the group and around the side of the building before his
stomach gave up all of it's contents, managing to keep most of it off
of herself and her son.  She could also hear Mrs. Vetter tearing a strip
off of her ex-husband about how stupid he was to try a stunt like that
and to just look at how sick the poor boy was because of him.

        While Natalie agreed, she also couldn't help but think that it
might have a little good come out of it, as it sounded like Richard was
actually apologizing and honestly meant it.  Once she got Richie and
herself cleaned up, Natalie used the small penknife she now always kept
with her to pierce her breast and allowed Richie to 'nurse' to regain some
of his strength.  As this had been explained away before as hormones to
induce lactation, she pulled her jacket off and put it over herself so
that she could return to the table with him.

        The spirit of the party had been broken, however, and they soon
all returned to Tracy and Vachon's home, where Nick and Natalie dropped
off their passengers, picked up their son's gifts and headed home.

----

        It was Christmas-time, and Tracy was spending a quiet christmas
with her husband and daughter.  She had originally planned to have a small
family get together sometime over the holidays, but that had been decided
against after discussion with Natalie.  While Bonita had most of her baby
teeth, she still loved to cuddle and sometimes chew on her rubber rat.
This of course was something that Screed encouraged whenever he visited.

        But Richie, on the other hand, had all of his baby teeth now and
had recently begun to attempt to bite people.  While his eye teeth were
only minimally longer than normal for humans,  they were noticably sharper
if you were the recipient of his current chewing passion.  While they were
not long enough to draw blood on most people, they were sharp enough to
break the skin and leave some rather uncomfortable scratches.

        Richie was going through a spell of using his sharp little teeth
to emphasize whenever he said 'NO' to something.  Natalie fully expected
him to outgrow this, but she thought it would be better for Tracy not to
tempt fate by having Richie get tired and crabby in front of family who
need not know the child had little fangs.

        And so it was that Tracy's family were all going to her brother's
home for christmas, while Tracy turned it down and had a quieter time of
it with her vampire 'family'.

        Shortly before dawn, the morning of Christmas eve, their vampiric
family arrived.  They were all spending the day.  Nick and Nat would bring
Richie over a little later.  During the day, Tracy got up in time to go
and pick up Santa's special gift and to keep it amused until dusk, when
everyone got up.

        Vachon woke his little girl up, changed her, and carried her
downstairs, where the voices and lights from the sparkling Christmas
tree began to really wake the sleepy child.

        Bonita looked around the room, rubbing her eyes as she looked at
her parents, Auntie Urs, and Uncle Screed.  She smiled at Screed and said
that which made him smile brightly.  "Wat."  She held up her well chewed
birthday gift which was still her favorite toy.  He always smiled hugely
and called her his girl, which she loved.

        "Bonita, come look what Santa brought you."  Tracy sat on the
floor beside the twinkling tree.

        "Mummy!"  A small pair of arms suddenly encircled her as best they
could as she fell into Tracy's arms from running faster than she was yet
capable of.

        A sudden whimper from under the tree made the girl look over
curiously.  A large brown basket wrapped with a red and green plaid ribbon
met her gaze, and a fluffy white dog with bright blue eyes looked up at
her.  A thin red collar with a bell on it circled his neck. A big tag hung
from the side of the basket.  As the girl looked at the curly-tailed dog
with saucer eyes, Tracy picked up the tag.  "What does this say?"  She
asked for benefit of her daughter.  She opened the tag and read aloud to
her daughter perched on her lap.  "To Bonita.  From Santa.  Merry
Christmas.  The puppy's name is Curly, and he needs you to give him
lots of love."

        "Mine."  Bonita put out her hand and received a slobbery lick,
which made her giggle.  "My muppy."  She wiggled out of her mother's lap
and sat on the floor, pulling the malamute pup into her arms.  "Muppy
muppy muppy muppy muppy."  She looked at her mom.  "My muppy.  Love
muppy."  She gave the dog a hug and got her face licked.

        Screed looked at Vachon and Tracy and smiled.  "'e's a good
choice, mate."

----

        Natalie had recently come back to work at the Coroner's Building,
now that a straight night shift had opened back up since she had taken
a leave of absence when she and Nick had adopted Richie.  She had arranged
with Urs to babysit Richie if a position came up, but the first position
that came available was a dayshift and the second had been a rotational.
She blamed it on wanting to work the same shifts as Nick, of course.  When
this one had opened up, it was offered to her, and she jumped at it.  It
meant that she and Nick had one night off together with their son, and
each had one night off alone with their son on either side of that.  And
Urs babysat Richie 4 nights a week, often spending a couple of hours with
Vachon and Bonita on those nights.

        This night was a little different, however.  Urs had phoned to see
what Vachon was doing, but there was no answer.  This was because he and
Bonita had gone to meet Natalie on her dinner break.  So Urs sat in
Natalie and Nick's loft watching taped re-runs of Mr. Dressup and Sesame
Street with her charge.

        "Nat, do you and Nick have plans for Valentines day, of any sort?"
Vachon and Natalie sat in a Dairy Queen that was a test market for 24hr
operations.  Natalie sipped slowly at her coffee flavored shake while
Vachon split a small sunday with his daughter.

        "No.  Not to my knowledge.  Why?"  Natalie grinned, thinking of
all the possibilities she could think of.  "You got something romantic
planned with Trace?"

        Vachon smiled.  "Maybe.  I hope she'll take it as romantic,
anyway."

        "mal-im-time."  Bonita was repeating every new word she heard
lately, and this was one of the hardest.  She smiled sweetly at Natalie
with her big doe eyes.  There was no mistaking who her dad was.

        "Eat you ice cream, Bonita."  Natalie smiled at her 'niece' then
turned the conversation back to the child's dad.  "What have you got
planned, Vachon?"

        "Well, if you and Nick could babysit a couple days, it would be
really helpful."  He looked at his daughter who was watching the two
adults intently, and smiled.  "Someones listening..."  Vachon then
whispered his plans so quietly that even with her vampiric senses, Natalie
had a hard time catching it.

        Natalie nodded.  "Okay, done.  But you *know* when you can return
the favour..."  She smiled mischieviously at Vachon.

----

        It was the day before Valentines Day, and Tracy and Vachon had
brought Bonita over to stay with Auntie Nat and Uncle Nick.  Muppy and
Bonita were busily playing with Richie when Tracy and Vachon slipped out
quietly.  Tracy wasn't too sure about this, since it was the first time
she and her daughter had been separated for any longer than just a shift
at work.

        Once they were downstairs, Vachon took her hand and led her back
to the car.  "Where are we going, Hon?"  Tracy asked as Vachon slid over
to cuddle against her while she drove.

        "Home.  For now."

        "For now?  Vachon..."

        "It's a Valentines surprise.  You have to wait."  He cuddled her
and rode with one hand sitting as high up on the inside of her thigh as
Tracy would allow while she was behind the wheel.

        When they got home, Tracy pulled into the garage and climbed out.
"Now what?"  Tracy wrapped her arms around her husband and let her hands
slide down his back til her fingers slid into the back pockets of his
jeans.

        "Ummm."  Vachon ran his fingers through Tracy's hair.  "I still
love the smell of your hair.  Always have and always will I guess."  He
kissed her gently, then pushed her away.  "Wait here a minute.  I have to
get something."

        Tracy sat on the hood of her car and watched as Vachon went out
the open garage door and out into the alley from which they had just
entered.  A few minutes later, she could hear the muffled sounds of
Vachon's voice as he spoke to someone, and then the sound of another
garage opening down the alley.  Another minute later, and her husband
poked his head around into their yard.  "Eyes closed?"  He called quietly
enough not to disturb the neighbours while still loud enough for her to
hear him from the garage.

        "Closed."  Tracy still had the tendency to screw up her nose when
she closed her eyes like that, something she had never outgrown from her
childhood.  If asked, she was quite capable of closing them without
squinting as well, but unless she deliberately remembered to not squint,
she always did, and it was something Vachon found very endearing.

        She could hear sounds that she couldn't distinguish.  Then his
voice spoke.  "Okay.  You can look now."

        Tracy opened her eyes and was looking at a bright new motorcycle
that was either identical, except for the colour, to the one Vachon had
got her to pick out if she were ever to buy a motorbike, or the same one
repainted.  The paint job was in Tracy's favorite two colour combo; a deep
purple that was dark, midnight amythest she'd once heard it called, and a
particular shade of golden yellow that complimented her hair made a
lightningbolt design across the purple. The helmet matched the bike and
was hung on the handlebar.  Balanced on the seat was a large wrapped box.
Vachon handed it to his wide-eyed wife, then took her other hand and led
her into the house.

        Once they were inside and seated in the livingroom, Tracy opened
the box, pulling the wrapping from it, and dropping it on the floor.
Vachon grinned from ear to ear as she lifted the lid of the box.  Inside,
in her colours matching her new bike, was a ladies heavy leather bike
jacket and a pair of leather pants.

        "Try them on."

        Tracy looked at the windows, ensuring they were secured so as not
to be visible to their neighbours, and began to shed her clothes.  Vachon
watched, then smiled and darted upstairs briefly, returning in short
order with another garment.

        At Vachon's prompting, Tracy shed everything and then without a
bra pulled on one of Vachon's thin white t-shirts.  Since she'd had
Bonita, and had breastfed her, her chest was a little more ample than it
had been when they first met.  But as Vachon loved to point out to her
whenever the opportunity presented itself, she still looked great without
a bra, and this was no exception.  Then he helped her into the leather
pants, convincing her not to wear underwear with them.  "I don't believe
I'm doing this," Tracy had commented, shaking her head.  They had a zipper
that ran completely around, continuing instead of stopping where a normal
zipper would so that it went all the way up the back to her waist.

        Vachon kissed her hand then walked around her admiring the view.
"You know, Hon, you really are gorgous!"  He refrained from touching her
for now and pulled from inside the jacket a matching leather vest that
Tracy had missed seeing.  He slid it over her shoulders, and then stood
behind her, slowly doing up each snap, gently and seemingly innocently
caressing her body in the doing.  He'd picked out the style of the vest
carefully.  It was one that when done up, if the woman wearing it was so
inclined, it could be worn with nothing under it and still cover
everything - barely, and yet with anything worn under it, even something as
minimal as the thin white tee, it suddenly looked seductive and classy,
in a rebellious sort of way.  Vachon touseled Tracy's hair, and then undid
the top snap on the vest.  He admired his handiwork, and then undid one
more, which without the tee would have exposed all of her assets instead of
just most.  Then Vachon put the matching jacket on her, kissed her, and led
her to the garage.

        "I'd love to take the bikes, Hon, but it would be a little too
cold for you at this time of year on them, and I don't want you to get
sick.  We'll take the car and cruise on the bikes when it gets a little
warmer, in the spring."  Vachon opened the passenger door for Tracy, and
then went and climbed into the drivers seat himself.

        "Where are we going now?"

        "I want to stop at the Raven and show you off...  You'll be the
prettiest girl there, Trace.  Then we have reservations, and they know to
expect us during the night."

        "Where?"

        "Actually, it's a place I know across the border, just a short
drive beyond Detroit.  The owner is one of us, and there are rooms that
are safe for us.  He's cool.  I won't have to take any bottles with us,
which will be better going through a border crossing."  He leaned over and
kissed Tracy passionately.  "Happy Valentines day, Love."

        Vachon pulled Tracy's keys from her purse and handed the bag to
her.  "Now, I've made sure I've got a licence for these," he gestured to
encompass the car, "but that doesn't mean I've driven them in a long time.
Last time I drove one of these, I had to get out and crank the engine
first to get it to start.  Watch me and tell me if I'm doing this wrong."

        Tracy rolled her eyes and slid close so she could instruct as
necessary.  Life with a vampire was far from boring!

----

        Nick and Natalie, Tracy and Vachon, and Urs celebrated the
children's second birthday with a midnight party out in a bit of park
where they could see the waterfront and watch the twinkling reflections of
light play across the ripples in the lake.

        As Bonita got covered in icecream, Muppy, as everyone now called
the dog, came over beside her and began licking her face, eliciting a
series of squeals and giggles from the girl.  Then she threw her arms
around the growing dog and hugged him, proclaiming "Me loves Muppy,"
which got her nose licked again and started her giggling anew.

        Richie looked at Natalie.  "Mommy, me gots doggie too?"

        Natalie and Nick exchanged glances.  "Well, sweetie, I don't know
right now.  We'll think about it, and we'll see if we can.  But no
promises."

        Tracy looked at Natalie quizzically.  "Bonita, you and Richie stay
here with your daddies and Auntie Urs and play with Muppy.  Mommy and
Auntie Nat are going to go for a little walk.  But we'll be back in just
a few minutes."

        Bonita wasn't one to cry when Mommy went to work or anything.  She
looked up at Tracy, smiled, and nodded.  Then she held her arms up and
said, "Hug!"  Tracy went over, picked her up and hugged her, then set her
down beside Richie.  The two women turned and and walked off a little ways.

        Once Tracy figured they were out of earshot, even for the men's
vampiric hearing, Tracy asked, "So why the look when Richie asked about a
dog?"

        Natalie nodded at a bench a little ways back from the path, and
they went over and sat down.  "Nick and I talked about getting a pet for
Richie.  We'd like to.  But... we don't think this is the best time to do
so."

        "Why not, Nat?"  Tracy frowned, trying to think of any possible
reason.  "You think it might not get along with Sidney?"

        Natalie laughed.  "I wish it were that simple.  Sidney's old now,
for a cat.  I've been a vampire since before you and Vachon got married,
and you guys have been married now closer to 6 years than 5.  And I knew
Nick for over 6 years before I joined him...  And Sidney was almost 4
years old when I met Nick.  So that's... between 15 and 16 years old.  If
it were just that, we'd just wait til he goes, because it probably won't
be long.

        "Nick and I have discussed it, and we know we're going to have to
move on soon.  He's been here and involved with mortals for about 13
years.  As long as it was just him who didn't age, we figured we could
play it as him being one of those people who look a non-specific 30ish
from about 25 to 45, and seem to just wake up one day aged to their real
age.  I know you don't see them often, but I've known a couple of people
like that.  But now since I'm not aging either, we figure we'll have to
move on before the kids are school age.  We won't have a choice.  And we
don't want to get him a pet only to have to leave it behind or spend
months in quarantine.  So we'd rather wait til after we've moved on before
getting him a pet."

        Tracy smiled.  "So, get him a pet, and when you go through
customs, just make sure that Nick lets them know the animal has already
gone through quarantine..."

        "Tracy!  But it won't have.  It wouldn't be safe."

        "So you make sure you get every possible inoculation for it before
you go, and then the last few months you make sure you don't let it
anywhere near other animals, other than Sidney if you still have him by
then."  Tracy lost her smile now.  "Really, you're going to have to move
on?"

        "Yeah.  I knew Nick for a number of years before you met him.
People are already beginning to get suspicious.  We're already thinking
about different places.  Nothing definite and nothing immediate.  But
we're already planning for it."

        They began to walk back to their families.  "What about Bonita and
Richie?  I think it's been so great that we've been able to let them be
together as much as possible.  But if you move on..."

        "Well, Trace, don't forget that Vachon is one of us too.  It'll
only be a matter of time before he has to move on too.  If you want to
come with us, that would let us keep the kids together.  But it'd mean
having to make a clean break from your family.  So it's something you'll
need to think about seriously before the time comes so that when the time
comes, you're not trying to make that sort of decision without enough time
to do so."  Natalie put her hand on Tracy's arm.  "Even if you decide not
to come with us, we'll find some way to keep you informed of what is
happening with Richie."

        They were just about back to the clearing where they had had the
birthday party.  Tracy wiped a stray tear away.  On impulse she reached
out and grasped Natalie's hand, pulling her towards herself and into a
hug.  "Thanks, Natalie.  I don't know what we'll do yet, but thanks for
giving me the time to figure it out...  And thank you for that promise."

        As the two women walked back into the clearing a moment later,
Nick and Vachon looked up from where they were playing 'airplane' with the
two children as Urs looked on.

        Nick smiled and put Richie on the ground.  "Go see mommy."

        The little boy tried to run towards her and staggered sideways,
plunking down on his butt.  "More dizzy, Daddy."  He laughed and held his
hands up to Nick to spin him again.

        "No more, Richie.  Not tonight.  Daddy's an old man.  Daddy's
tired."

        Urs tried to stifle a snicker, almost succesfully.  "Being a
parent is good for him, Nat."  As Natalie scooped up her son from the
ground and got a big hug for her efforts, Urs added, "Oh, the boys made
a decision.  They want to make sure you all get together at least once a
month for the kids to be able to all do some sort of family activity
together with both sets of parents."  She smiled sadly.  "It sounds like a
really good idea to me."

----

        It was almost a month later, and Tracy had just left for work.
Vachon made a phone call as soon as he was sure Tracy was gone for the
evening, and then he dressed his daughter to go out.

        It was about 2am when a phone call came in for Tracy.  Since she
was in the washroom, Nick took the call and took a message.  When Tracy
returned a few minutes later with a coffee in hand, Nick smiled and
beckoned her over.

        "Your husband called, Trace.  He left a message for you."

        A frown played across Tracy's face.  "Is Bonita okay?  Vachon
almost never calls me at work."

        Nick smiled.  "She's fine.  He asked me to tell you that he took
Bonita shopping and wants to bring her by to show off her new outfit to
you."  Nick was smirking now.  Vachon had told him what he'd bought.

        "What?  You know something!"

        "He wants Bonita to show you.  She's wearing it.  They should be
here shortly."  Nick went back to his computer and the case he was
researching background info on a suspect for, leaving Tracy fidgeting.

        It was about 2:20 when an officer showed Vachon and the little
girl he held by the hand to Nick and Tracy's desks.

        Nick looked up, sensing another of his kind, and smiled at Vachon.
Tracy was talking to Captain Reese in his office.

        Nick picked up the phone and called Reese's intercom number. When
he spoke up, Nick told him Tracy's daughter was here for a quick visit.

        It was just a moment later when both Captain Joe Reese and
Detective Tracy Vachon came out from the office.  Standing on top of
Nick's desk, telling 'Unco Nick' a long story of some sort, stood the
tiniest 'biker chick' that Reese had ever seen.  She was outfitted in a
set of biker leathers that matched her dad's exactly, right down to the
biker's boots.

        The little girl had a bigger audience than just her 'Unco Nick'
however, and most of the people within proximity were looking at and
listening to the captivating little girl with the beautiful long hair and
big doe eyes.  Until she saw Tracy.  Then her story ended, and she called,
"Mommy!"  Nick lifted her off of the desk, and she scampered straight over
to Tracy and threw her arms up in the air indicating she wanted up.

        "Wow.  You look just like Daddy!"  Tracy picked up her daughter
and hugged her.

        "Daddy to spris you.  We comed here.  Me gots a... a... a hard
head too like daddy.  It goes here."  Tracy and Joe watched as the girl
mimed putting on a helmet and the strap from it.

        "Daddy bought you a motorcycle helmet?  I don't think you're big
enough to ride a bike yet without falling off though, sweetie."  Tracy
looked at Vachon.  "She looks really cute, Hon, but she's not old enough
to be safe for her to ride behind you.  She'll fall asleep or something
and fall off."

        "It's okay Tracy.  You can get baby and toddler seats that attach
to the bikes.  They are not common, but they do exist.  It's on my bike
outside.  Come take a look, you'll see she's safe in it."

        Many of the other officers around the precinct came to take a look
too, since most had never seen the child seats for motorcycles either.
Tracy and Captain Reese went out to look at it, while Nick and Vachon
waited inside for them to return.  Once they had alleviated their concerns
as to the little girl's safety, they returned back into the building.

        One of the booking officers came over with a camera, and took a
couple of photos of Bonita with her new leathers.  The fellow gave one
photo to Tracy, and one to Nick.  "I know Natalie would want to see this,
Nick.  This ones for her," he said, and handed Nick the photo.

        Tracy held her photo down to show Bonita.

        Bonita squealed.  "Dat baby a biker tzick like me!"

        As the rest of the precinct got back to work, there was a lot of
amused laughter about the last comment made by Detective Tracy Vachon's
little girl, before she fell asleep in her mother's arms, was handed to
her dad and was carried out by him to go home.

----

        Natalie lay in his arms, asleep, as Nick caressed her.  Natalie
wiggled slightly in his arms, and a slight sound escaped her mouth that
sounded rather like a quiet purr.  Nick smiled and kissed her cheek,
which woke her up.

        "Nick?"  Natalie's voice was sleepy, just crossing that threshold
between wakefulness and sleep.  "I thought I heard Richie."

        "Shhh.  He's with Trace and Vachon, remember?  For a couple of
nights..."  He smiled and pulled her close as she fully woke and realized
their son was not home this day.  Nick allowed his hands to caress
Nat, and it was not long before she reciprocated.

        "So how long are they keeping him for?"  Natalie pulled her hand
up and looked at the matching bands on her finger.

        "Long enough for us to have plenty of time for this..."  Nick
dove under the covers and began to molest his new bride joyfully.

        "Nick!" She flipped the covers down and pulled his face up.  He
looked at her with such an innocent expression on his face that he could
easily have been mistaken for an angel.  Natalie couldn't help but smile.
"Tell me, and then we'll play.  But not before."

        "For a week...  It seemed right for us to have some sort of a
honeymoon, afterall.  We've only been living together for about the
past... what... 7 years or so?"  Nick sat up and pulled Natalie's hand
where he could admire the rings too.  "You do like them, don't you?"

        "Yes...  They're beautiful, Nick.  You know that already.  But I
love you more..."  The rest of Natalie's thought was cut off as Nick
kissed her.  As their tongues dueled, Nick rolled onto his back, pulling
Natalie with him.

        Nick pulled his mouth away from hers and asked, "Tell me again
your reasons Nat.."

        Natalie spoke quietly, enjoying the feel of their bodies next
to each other. "I figured the fall equinox would be a great symbology,
especially with it being a full moon this year."  She leaned down and
kissed Nick before continuing, although his hands still caressed her.
"I thought it was a great way to symbolize the equality between night
and day, with one not dominant over the other.  They're equal, just
different.  I thought that was something that was really important.  At
least to me it is."  Natalie stopped to nuzzle Nick, then continued.
"It can also represent 2 aspects, man and woman, in balance with one
another.  Neither one dominant over the other."  Natalie thought silently
to herself how although Nick was usually pretty good about it, he
sometimes still tried not to talk to her about things, falling back into
the old medieval thinking of 'protecting' her.  She knew Nick tried hard
not to fall into archaic thought patterns, so Natalie chose not to point
this part out any farther.  Nor the more obvious symbolism of the human
and vampire natures living in harmony within an individual.  He'd see that
himself someday when he was able to truely accept it. "The full moon was
great too, because not only did it help to allow the mortal guests to see
better at the outdoor ceremony, but it's very fullness could also
represent the full life that we'll have together, Nick."

        Natalie faded, reliving her hours old memory of their wedding.
They had arranged for the ceremony to be held outdoors, in one of the
parks, performed by a judge who was the husband of one of Natalie's
co-workers.  Grace had been the matron of honour, and Tracy and Myra her
bridesmaids.  LaCroix had reluctantly agreed to be Nick's best man, and
Vachon and Captain Reese were his groomsmen.  Richie was the ringbearer
and Bonita the flowergirl, under the watchful eyes of Urs and Screed.

        The ceremony had begun about 11:30pm, and at 12:01am September 22,
the date of the autumnal equinox, Nick and Natalie Knight were pronounced
married.  Once again the Raven was closed to the public for the reception,
with the same arrangements having been made to ensure the secrecy of the
vampires in the midst of so many mortals.  Because of being a private
function, Bonita and Richie were even allowed to attend the party for a
while, about the only time that children would be allowed within the
confines of the club.  Shortly before 2am, as Urs was preparing to take
the toddlers and transport them safely to Tracy and Vachon's where she
would wait with them until Trace and Vachon returned home, a rather
unexpected guest showed up at the Raven.  When she had seen Janette's
entry, Natalie had expected a scene.  Instead, Janette was very pleasant
and had presented Natalie with an envelope in which was a gift certificate
for one of the city's more prestiegous hotels for a week in the honeymoon
suite.

        Nick smiled, and once again began to kiss his new bride
passionately, drawing her out of her reverie.  Natalie responded in kind,
and it was not long before the two newlywed vampires were enjoying every
pleasure the other's body had to offer.

        "I want to make you as happy as you've made me, Nat.  Let me make
love to you tonight."  Nick began to caress her body in all the ways he
had ever discovered she enjoyed, both as a mortal and as a vampire.

        After they had made love several times, and he new that his
beautiful bride was tiring since she was so much younger a vampire than
he, Nick left her lying in their bed and went to get some bottles for them
both.  He brought in a long stemmed rose with the bottle and presented it
to Natalie.  He sat beside her as they both drank, and then told her to
relax.  Nick slipped quietly out of the bedroom in their suite and into
the bathroom.  Nick drew a warm bath in the double tub, pouring a portion
of a fragrant potpourri designed for the bath into the water before placing
candles around the bathroom, and bringing in two glasses and a bottle of
warmed blood.  Then he returned to the bedroom and convinced Natalie to
allow him to lead her with her eyes closed.

        When she opened her eyes in the romantically lit bathroom, her
senses were overwhelmed.  The candles, the potpourri, the blood...  She
looked at Nick, stunned.

        Nick kissed her.  "Come, my love."  He led her to the deep twin
tub and assisted her into it, then he went and flipped the switch starting
the whirlpool jets, and climbed in beside her, poured each a glass, and
then sat in the relaxing bubbling fragrant water cuddling Natalie, his
beautiful wife.  He cuddled her and caressed her, and when she finally
fell asleep in his arms in the tub, he turned the tub off, blew out the
candles, and carried her to their bed.  His final waking thought before he
joined her in slumber for the remainder of the day was how much he was
going to enjoy this week with her in the wonderfully equipped honeymoon
suite.

----

        It was summer again, and this year Natalie and Tracy were getting
a laugh because of how excited 'the boys' were at the idea of taking the
kids to the CNE.

        Soon the big night arrived, and the Vachon and Knight families
were joined by Auntie Urs and Uncle Screed. As soon as the sun went down
they headed off for noise, lights, and excitement of the fair.

        Natalie, Tracy, and Urs stood and watched as the three grown men
took great delight in introducing the children to bumper cars.  Nick had
Richie belted in beside him, but Bonita had begun to cry, wanting 'Unco
Scweed' to ride with her.  So now Vachon was standing guard making sure
to keep his little bumper car between theirs with the little kids and
those of the older boys, who were out to knock into everyone they could
with as much impact as possible.

        When it came to the end of the time, Richie was pointing at it,
asking, "Daddy! We go more?  PEEEESE???"  Bonita, however much she
had seemed to enjoy it at the time, seemed quite content to come running
back to Mommy.  Natalie looked over at Vachon and pointed towards him.

        Nick frowned a second, not understanding what Natalie meant, and
then smiled.  Grinning at Vachon who had now caught up to them, he
answered Richie, "Well, Uncle Javier didn't get to ride with anyone
before.  He was all alone.  So if you want to go back on it, why don't you
ask him if he'll go back on it with you?"

        "'kay!"  Richie hopped over beside Vachon, reached up to take his
hand, and began pulling him back towards the line-up.  "Go more!"

        As the rest of them watched, Bonita pouted and looked at Tracy.
"He *MY* daddy!  Why he take Richie?"

        Tracy lifted up her daughter and perched her on the fence facing
her. "Because you wanted to ride with your uncle before, so Daddy had no
one to ride with him.  And Richie wanted to go back on it, so Daddy is
going with him so that Daddy get's a turn to ride with someone."  She gave
her daughter a hug and then lifted her down.  Turning to the other adults,
Tracy added "Seems someone is jealous...  Think it would help if we all
take turns with who goes with them on the rides?"

        Later, many rides and games and several prizes later, they stopped
for ice cream at one of the of the ice cream stands.  Then they took their
cones and sundaes over to a table and sat down.  Soon the adults were
chatting, watching as Richie and Bonita played and tried to share their
ice creams with some of the stuffies that had been won for them.

        Suddenly, Bonita asked Richie, "You like Daddy.  Me see you
teeth?"  Richie stepped before her and opened his mouth.  "Oh.  You teeth
not  pretty like Daddy's.  Them's too little."  Bonita looked down at her
ice cream and licked it.

        Richie began to cry, threw the last melting bit of his ice cream
in Bonita's face, and then ran to Natalie.  "She mean!" he gasped out
between sobs.

        Natalie hurriedly picked Richie up and carried him to a poorly lit
spot, where the fact that the child's tears were red would be unnoticed.

        After a few minutes of Richie sobbing to Natalie about how mean
Bonita was and Bonita sobbing to Tracy about how bad Richie was, the two
women soon got the children calmed down, cleaned up, and distracted from
their previous discussion by suggesting everyone go up on the big ferris
wheel so they could all see the pretty lights.

        Natalie made both Richie and Bonita promise to sit still, hang on,
and not wiggle.  Soon their turn to be seated came.  Because this was the
big wheel, there was room for all of them if they didn't mind sitting
cosy.  Instead of the standard type of swinging bench seat most smaller
wheels have, this was a circular suspended `car' with 2 half-circle
benches facing each other on either side of a central post.  Urs, Natalie,
and Nick climbed in on one side, while Screed, Vachon, and Tracy sat
facing them.  Bonita sat on her father's lap, while Richie sat on his
mom's.  As the wheel stopped with them at the top while other passengers
were disembarking and new riders took their place, the two children were
looking around at the different things being pointed out to them by
various adults.  Once the ride started going around, without the stops for
passengers, the two kids, who were both sitting forward to hold onto the
post, began to hold each other's hands, their earlier fight forgotten in
the excitement they were having.

        As they were getting off the ride, Screed suggested the children
might like the petting zoo, so they made that their next stop.  While they
all enjoyed it, it seemed to the women that all the guys, but especially
Screed, had as much fun with the petting zoo as the kids did.

        Once it was time to go home, they took their prizes and souvenirs
and headed out.  Screed was carrying most of the stuffies that had been
won for the children.  He had the tails of a couple tied together and
thrown over his shoulder and several multi-coloured snakes wrapped around
his neck, in addition to the armload of stuffies he actually carried.
Nick expected to do well on the shooting games, but Tracy had surprised
him, being a better shot on it that he.  After letting Screed rub it in
about `Defective Knight, bested by the likes of 'er,' meaning of course a
mortal, Tracy had finally explained that the aim was off on them and that
she'd had a boyfriend one summer who had worked there previously and
showed her the tricks to many of the games.  Nick hadn't managed to get a
big prize from the shooting games, whereas Tracy had gotten several.
Natalie had won a couple at the booth where you have to remove the ring
from the spinning coily thing without letting the ring touch it.  Urs had
won a couple of prizes at the skee-ball game, which she carried. Screed had
shocked people with how well he did on the whack-a-mole game, except of
course his own party.  Somehow they had expected him to excel at that.  And
Vachon managed to scare Screed with a crossbow.  It was for one of the
games, but Screed had lagged behind and when he rounded the corner he nearly
ran into the thing.  Vachon had done quite well, getting a couple more of
the giant stuffies for the kids.  Nick finally found a game that he did well
with - the ones where you have to use a squirtgun to shoot water into the
clown's mouth.

        Screed had laughed heartily at 'Defective Knight being a better
shot with 'that thing' and suggesting maybe Nick should take one to work
as his weapon.  This was how Screed had gotten the task of manhandling the
giant load of stuffies.

        They managed to get themselves and all their goodies on the
streetcar, which they took as far as King Street, where they then took the
subway, getting off at the Yorkdale stop.  From there they found their
cars parked in the parking lot of the Yorkdale Shopping Centre, and they
diverged from there.  Screed and Urs decided to go to the Raven, while
Tracy and Vachon belted a now sleeping Bonita into her child seat.  Richie
waved at the others as they drove off, but before they got home he too had
fallen asleep, cuddling a big purple, orange, and green snake.

----

        It was Christmas again, and this year Tracy's mortal family were
all coming over on Boxing Day.  Tracy's brother and his family were
coming, which was good, but this would be the first time that Tracy's mom
would be spending a day in the company of her ex-husband's new wife, and
Tracy was more than a little nervous.  Tracy herself knew little about the
woman, except that her dad had told her over the phone, "She's younger
than your mom is, Tracy."

        Tracy wanted there to be some nice 'leftovers' from Christmas
dinner to be able to serve her family.  It wouldn't do to have her dad's
occasionally endless curiousity piqued if there seemed to be a lack of
holiday delights about.  Since Tracy had never been much interested in
cooking, having little need for it as a general rule, she had never
bothered to learn much beyond the absolute basics.  But now...  Well, this
was the reason that Tracy was spending her Christmas Eve getting some
serious cooking lessons from a vampire.

        Urs, Nick, and Vachon were keeping Bonita and Richie, now 3 1/2,
entertained and out of the kitchen, while Natalie taught Tracy how to
prepare the things that had been traditional holiday fare she had known as
a child, both from her mother's kitchen and later from her grandmother's.
The list of 'leftovers' that would be available for her family on Boxing
Day, thanks to Natalie's teaching, would include turkey, gravy, dressing,
both mashed and baked potatoes, veggies, cottage cheese and cranberry
peroghies, and baked apples with carmel sauce on crushed graham crackers.
Bonita and Tracy had a meal on the varied fare, and Bonita's favorites
were the peroghies and the baked carmel apples.

        The Knights and Urs stayed for the day on Christmas day and
celebrated their Christmas that night.  During the evening of Christmas,
there was a knock at the door.  Vachon went to answer it and soon came back
in carrying a very large box, which he sat in the middle of the livingroom
floor.

        "It's from Screed.  I recognize his handwriting.  He must have
paid a fortune to get it delivered on Christmas."  Bonita and Richie were
scampering about the box with was much larger than they were, trying to
pull it open.

        Urs scooped the kids up, one under each arm.  "Come sit on my lap
until we can see what's inside it.  There might be a letter or something.
Besides, we don't know if it's one big present for everyone or if it's a
bunch of little stuff or what.  You two need to learn to be patient."  She
kept a firm grip on the two squirming kids while Vachon used a knife to
cut open the tape.

        Inside were presents for everyone, as well as a cassette, which
Vachon played.

        "'ey matey - I know 'o'll be openin' the carton!  Merry
Christmas! Give the tikes lots o' 'ugs an' kisses from Uncle Screed..  I'm
doin' well in Vegas, I am.  Don't 'spect to be back until Febuary, but I
don't want the kiddies to miss their presents.  Bonita and Richie - You
two 'ave a 'appy Christmas, ok.  'ope you enjoy your gifties.  Love ya
both!"

        Vachon pulled out a large box wrapped in silver tinfoil.  It was
labled "Bonita's".  Vachon set it aside until he found another huge parcel
labled "Richie's".  Then he called the children out to get their gifts.

        Bonita's was a collection of dolls from around the world.  Every
one had traditional attire for her country.  There were 30 dolls in the
set according to the back of the box of one of them, 5 of which were rare,
but Screed had all 30, including the rare ones.

        Richie's was a collection of the lego type blocks but for the
younger kids, the medium sized ones.  His box contained 8 various playsets
of the blocks.

        After the children were enjoying playing with their toys, Vachon
pulled out gifts for the adults.  For Vachon there was a huge 18k gold
ring with the logo for his motorcycle on it.  Nick's was a custom
painting, probably made from a description of the car and a photo of the
Knights.  It was Nick behind the wheel of his caddy with Natalie sitting
beside him, Richie on her lap, and the sun shining brightly on them.
Tucked into the corner of the frame was a note which read, "I know how much
your dream means to you.  I don't understand yours, but I know how much
they mean.  Never give up as long as it's still important to you."  Natalie,
Urs, and Tracy all received similar pendants.  Each was on a 14k chain
although the charms differed.  Tracy's was a dog with turquoise beads for
eyes.  Natalie's was a cat with green eyes that looked to be maybe chinese
jade, and Urs' was a unicorn with a tiny carved pearl for it's horn and two
tiny onxy beads for it's eyes.

        Vachon sat looking at the gifts his friend had couriered up to
them.  "I think he means it when he says he is doing well there."

----

        It was March when Natalie was called to the scene of a vehicular
accident.  Since it didn't look anything remotely resembling a homicide,
Nick and Tracy were not there.  But Natalie blanched when she saw the
deceased.  She quickly called the officer in charge over and spoke to him,
letting him know who the woman was.
        ***

        Nick and Tracy were radioed to return to Captain Reese's office.
As they entered the building, another officer pulled Nick aside, telling
Tracy that Reese wanted to see her in his office.

        After Tracy left Nick talking with the other officer, he
explained, "You'll want to book Tracy off for a few.  Do you know any of
her family or friends who can spend some time with her?"

        "I've met her brother, but he doesn't live in town.  Her husband
is my cousin, distantly.  So I guess I'm family.  Why?"  Nick was really
worried.

        "Natalie recognized one of... her customers... at the scene of an
accident she was called out to.  She died at the scene.  Natalie said it
was Tracy's mom.  We don't know for sure yet, but it looks at this point
like she caused it.  Looks like she was driving drunk and rammed into a
school bus.  No one else died, yet, but there's several kids in pretty
serious condition.  A highschool sports team of some sort.  It looks like
she just drove straight into the side of the bus.  We won't know for sure
until we get all the witness reports and get a tox report back on Mrs.
Vetter, but that's how it looks right now."

        Nick looked pale.  "Oh, God.  Poor Tracy.  She didn't get along
too well with her mom, but this'll kill her."

        "Reese wants you to take the rest of the night off too.  Tracy
will have to go ID the body.  There's always a chance that Natalie mistook
the victim for Tracy's mom because of a resemblance.  He wants you with
her."  The office door opened and Reese looked out.  Seeing Nick, he
gestured him over. Nick could hear Tracy sobbing inside.
        ***

        That was the first time that Nick had really spent much time in
the presence of Tracy's dad.  There was something about him, something
Nick could not put a finger on, that made him think of LaCroix.  Maybe it
was the fact that he seemed determined that everyone around him should fit
the mold he had decided they should go in - the control thing?  Nick
wasn't sure, exactly, but he found it eerie to be in the elder Vetter's
presence any longer than necessary.

        Nick had been there for Tracy, as had Vachon, Nat, Urs, and even
Screed.  But when Tracy's dad had joined them at the morgue, instead of
offering Tracy support in her grief, her father had monologged with an
endless supply of callous and ill-timed comments like, "I'm glad we're
divorced - I wouldn't want that to affect me," "I knew the way she was
going it would end this way," and "She was just a lush, Tracy.  Don't
waste your tears on her."

        Natalie had finally taken Tracy's dad aside and told him that
regardless of the situation or his own feelings toward his ex, the fact
remained that Tracy's mom was dead, and there was no way that Tracy
couldn't feel some grief at the loss; so while it wasn't a problem for
him, he had better damn well offer his support or get the hell out.  He
had relented, but it seemed to Nick that the commissioner now harboured a
dislike of Natalie.

        After the funeral, which Tracy's brother and sister-in-law were
able to come back for, Tracy finally broke down and asked Natalie if they
could talk.

        "You remember those things my dad said that night?  He's right you
know.  But you're right too.  Even with all her problems she's still my
mom, and I did love her.  I feel the same way my dad does, but then I feel
guilty for thinking it, because how can I say I loved someone and then be
glad they died even if it's because I know she wouldn't have forgiven
herself for hurting those kids?  I wish it had never happened, but that
can't be changed and I'm glad she didn't make it, and then I think ~how
can you profess to love someone and be glad they died?~ - you know what I
mean, Nat?  I just don't know what to think anymore.  I don't think I want
to think anymore, because it hurts too much."

        Natalie held Tracy as she sobbed, knowing that as difficult as the
situation was, it was a good thing that Tracy was dealing with it and not
holding it all in, hiding her emotions from everyone.  Until Tracy had
finally opened up to her, Natalie was worrying since she knew that many
alcoholics began their abuse by bottling up strong emotional reactions of
some sort, and that in some cases it tends to run within a family.  So she
had been concerned until then that Tracy might have been on the same path
her mother had taken.

----

        It was a warm summer night and the Vachon and Knight families had
spent it in a park having a midnight picnic for one of their "family
night"s.  Bonita and Tracy had eaten while the others had had their
drinks, and the adults sat talking, watching as the 4 year olds played
together.

        "Tracy, have you given any further thought to what we spoke about
a while back?  It's time for Nick and I to go.  We can take maybe a year
maximum, but it's now at the point of being sooner-the-better.  Basically
we're just figuring out where we really want to go, and then we have to
leave.  Have you given it any thought?"  Natalie sat sipping a glass of
bloodwine and looked at the younger woman questioningly.

        "It's really time?"  Tracy looked at Natalie, frowning.

        "People are really getting suspicious.  When it was just Nick,
well, that can be someone who just doesn't age as fast as most people.
But now with me too...  I look the same as I did almost 10 years ago,
Trace.  They don't like it if you stay where you have connections to the
mortal world when you are brought across in the first place, and now I've
been here going on 10 and Nick for a long time before that.  So we have
no choice."  Natalie sighed, thinking Tracy had not given their talk about
this last year any serious thought.

        "Well, actually Nat, we did talk about it.  Unless you are
planning on going somewhere were there's some reason we can't go," Natalie
frowned, uncertain what Tracy meant by this, but made herself stay focused
on Tracy's voice as she continued, "we'll come too.  My only serious tie
here is my dad, which isn't really a tie I enjoy; my brother lives out
east, so there isn't anything there either.  I mean, yeah, I've got
friends I'll miss, but look at who I hang out with - Vachon aside, since
he's my husband.  I hang out with the guy I work with and his wife, whom
we both work with somewhat, my husband's... daughter I guess you'd have to
call Urs, odd though it sounds, and another of their kind who I guess for
all practical purposes you'd have to call my husband's best friend.  I
really like the arrangement we have for the kids to still get to be
together as much as possible, and although I may not like to leave here, I
think it would be far harder on the children to suddenly be torn apart
from each other."

        Tracy smiled and continued, "Besides, you haven't heard the news,
have you?"  She grinned wider as both Nick and Natalie looked at her,
confused.

        "No." Nick and Natalie spoke in unison before Nat added, "What
news?"

        "Oh, you know how my dad has been bugging me much less the last
few weeks?  I found out why."  Tracy paused long enough that Natalie was
beginning to wonder if she was going to have to force it from the younger
woman's mouth.  "Seems his new wife of almost a year now I think, is
pregnant.  She's only what - 5 years younger than me?  Have you heard the
rumours going around work about him and then dead silence when I walk in
the room because they think they'll offend me with it?  If I thought this
was more than just midlife crisis or whatever you want to call it when a
guy my dad's age goes through it, then I'd be happy for her...  But as
is, well, I guess I just don't quite know what to think."  Tracy sighed.

        "Really?  Nadine is expecting?  When?"  Natalie was ammused by
this turn of events.

        "Actually, she'll correct you if you call her that.  She says it
like 'NAD-in'.  But yeah, she's due in Febuary I think.  And Dad is all
excited at this turn of events, and he's not so busy trying to control my
life any more.  If we're going to go, for me sometime before the novelty
wears off is probably the best time, because that way my dad'll have other
things here to keep him interested, and he won't want to follow me when he
retires next year."

        Natalie smiled as Richie and Bonita scampered over to the swings,
and both children began calling out "Push me, Daddy!  Push me!"

        As Nick and Vachon went over to go play with the kids, Natalie
spoke, "Actually, Nick's been in North America mostly for over a hundred
years.  He's left for short times but most of the last hundred have been
in San Francisco, Detroit, Vancouver, Chicago, travelling the south and
west, and here.  We haven't finalized where we want to go or what we want
to do when we get there, but we've been giving it some serious thought.  We
figured our choices were Canada/US someplace, Western Europe, Eastern
Europe, Asia, or Australia.  We decided not to include Africa, since we
decided it'd be too hot for you and Bonita if you decided to come.  Plus
it's harder to go to poorer parts of the world for me as a new vampire
because I don't yet learn languages easily enough, so I'd stand out and be
a lot more noticible, which we don't really want either.  That's why we
decided against South America too.  Nick spent enough time in Asia as to
be able to probably consider it, but still recommends staying to things a
little closer to what I'm used to culturally for the first few moves."

        Bonita convinced her dad to sit and swing with her on his lap, and
Richie soon followed suit, sitting on Nick's lap.  The two women laughed,
then continued their conversation.

        "So anyway, Trace, we decided on someplace in Hawaii if we decided
to stay on US or Canada soil, the British Isles somewhere for Western
Europe, Germany or Poland for Eastern even though they're not exactly
what you tend to think of for Eastern Europe.  Or someplace in Australia.
Nick doesn't think Asia would be a good idea yet, although we figured if
we decided to go there that Hong Kong would be the best because although
it's part of China again, it's still got a very strong western flavor to
it apparently.  I don't think I want to go to Germany or Poland, so we're
likely looking at the British Isles, Australia, or Hawaii."

        "Have you ever been to Hawaii, Natalie?  It's really lovely, but
it gets some nasty rain, at least it did the fall when we were there.  I
wouldn't want to go there because I'd be afraid that one or more of you
guys were caught out in that kind of storm, and I'd be really worried."

        "Ok.  So that leaves Australia or the British Isles.  Any
observations on either of those?"

        Tracy frowned.  "I'd like to go to Australia sometime, but I don't
know if this would be good, because my dad has relatives he talks to out
there.  If he told them I had gone out there, they'd start looking for me
likely, and then I'd have other relatives to watch out for.  If I have a
say in it, then I think England or one of those other ones there would be
better."

        "There's apparently a larger population of us in London.  Because
of you and the kids, we don't want to be someplace where there's too many
of us, since we don't want to draw attention to ourselves.  Having an
overly efficient enforcer take notice of us would be all we'd need.  But
we still want a big enough center that we can live in or nearby and not
draw the notice of the mortals particularly too."

        "What about someplace in Ireland?  My dad has some distant
relatives there but not ones close enough that he kept in touch with them.
He doesn't even know their names or anything.  You have to go back into
family records about 2 or 3 generations to find names, and his mom had
some contact with some when she was a kid, but so far as I know she never
kept that up except one."  Tracy smiled, watching the kids playing.  "I
sure wouldn't know them to see them, and I doubt very much they'd know me.
But we did go out there for somebody's funeral when I was a little kid, the
last of the ones my grandma had contact with died at just over a hundred, and
we went out with Grandma for the funeral.  I was probably their age," Tracy
pointed at the children.  "I remember it was really pretty, although some
of my relatives spoke funny, at least according to my perceptions then.  I
think that was the first time I heard anyone speak Gaelic."

        The two women smiled as their youngsters were suddenly racing for
them, their dads convincing them that their moms were lonely without them.
Soon they were each listening to their child's stories, the more serious
discussion put aside for the time being.

        As Richie began to tire out, the Knights began to make ready to
head home.

        "Leaving already?"  Vachon asked as he saw Natalie directing Nick
to assist Richie in collecting his toys and such.

        "I think so.  Someone's getting pretty tired.  He's had a rather
exciting night.  I think he'll go to bed right after he takes a bath."
Natalie looked over at Richie as he took Nick's arm and cuddled it,
something he only did when he was quite tired, and nodded.

        Vachon grinned mischievously.  "Mind one more for the day?"  He
looked at Bonita who was nearly asleep in Tracy's arms.

        Natalie looked at Vachon, puzzled a moment, until she became aware
with her other senses of just how aroused the other two were.  "Sure."  She
shook her head, "Don't you two ever get enough?"  Nat smiled as Tracy
blushed clear to her toes, she was sure, and stepped over to her friend to
take the sleepy child.

        After the Knights had left, taking Bonita with them, Vachon began
to walk through the park, hand in hand with his wife.  "Sounds like you
finally decided for sure."

        "Yeah.  I don't want my dad trying to control me all my life.
This is the best chance for me to leave that behind."  Tracy let go of
Javier's hand, wrapped her arm around his waist, then slid her hand into
his back pocket.

        "You're sure?  Once the decision is made we can't go back.  You'll
have to lose contact completely as soon as possible.  It has to be your
choice."  They had wandered into another part of the park, complete with
another playground.  Vachon sat down on a swing and lifted Tracy onto his
lap, facing him.

        "I'm sure."

        Vachon smiled and began to undo Tracy's vest.  "I'm glad we took
the bikes tonight."

        Tracy ran a hand through her husband's wild curls.  "You are?"
She tried to look innocently at him.

        Vachon had his wife's vest open now and caressed her. "Definitely."
He deftly began undoing two sets of zippers, explaining, "I saw this in a
video once, Trace.  I'd like to try making love to you this way."

      ----

        As they let the swing slowly bring them down, relaxing together
until it stopped, Vachon whispered, "Definitely.  You won't usually wear
this except when we take the bikes someplace."

        Suddenly Vachon whispered, "Shhhh" and seemed to be listening.
Tracy felt them lift off of the swing, straight up in the air.  As she
gasped, Vachon put his mouth over hers, muffling the sound.  He held
Tracy tightly so she wouldn't fall.

        Just then a pair of police officers pushed through along another
path into the clearing where they had just vacated and the swing still
moved, now empty of it's occupants.  Both Tracy and Vachon could hear them
discussing how they were sure they'd heard a couple of kids back there,
and since the swing was moving they were certain.  They watched as the two
officers searched them out, not ever thinking to look straight up - why
would they - and finally left talking about how they should go and impound
the bikes they saw back there.

        Vachon lowered them to the ground long enough to get their
clothing pulled back together properly.  He lifted his wife in a more
secure manner and flew back to the motorcycles, getting there before the
two cops got back to their patrol car parked next to them.  They would be
half way home by the time the cops returned to the parking lot, or at
least far enough as to not be worth following.

        As Tracy and Vachon raced back to their house, Tracy wondered
absently if the two patrolmen would have had the foresight to take the
licence numbers of either of the two bikes.  If they had, she might
possibly have some interesting explanations to come up with at work
tomorrow.

----

        It was November 30th, and Nick held the computer generated message
in his hand and read over it... read over them, actually.  They were
letters of resignation for himself, Tracy, and Natalie, according to the
story they had come up with.  It was the truth, after a fashion, but only
the parts necessary to be told, with absolutely no extras since that might
require embellishments, and Nick and Natalie still felt that Tracy couldn't
lie very effectively.  This way, if there were any questions, they would
have to be directed to Nick, or possibly Natalie, but they wouldn't have
to be answered by Tracy.

        Each letter was tailored to the individual and their respective
job, but it came down to Nick had inherited some land and a minor title in
Europe, and Nick and Natalie were moving to the other side of the Atlantic
as a result.  Because of the children, and not wanting to seperate them,
Tracy was resigning as well, and her family was crossing the world with
them.  Dec. 30th would be their last shifts with the police force and
coroner's office.

        Captain Reese had been pleased for Nick but concerned over the
fact he would be losing two of his best detectives.  He pointed out to
them that in the time they had been partnered together, he had seen them
progress from where he was constantly having to remind them of the fact
they were partners to where they now were; where they were the most common
recipient of the partners of the month award, and the others pairs of
officers were always competing to see if anyone would give them any
competition for the award.  "You two have gotten it 7 times in the last 18
months.  You're good at what you do.  I remember when you were constantly
reminding people, Tracy, of the fact that you were a good cop.  Now there
is no question of it, as everyone knows how hard it is to get that award,
and you two get it more often than anyone else.  Not just in this
precinct, either.  It'd department wide.  Only one other pair of officers
have gotten it at this precinct in that time, and they were day shift.
You're sure this is what you want?  Both of you?  You've both worked
really hard to be the team that you've turned into."

        Tracy and Nick looked at each other and smiled, somewhat
wistfully.  Nick answered first, "Well, Captain, for me it would be pretty
much impossible for me to not accept the inheritance.  I know this has
been a tough decision for Tracy to make, but she does have the choice.  As
for myself and Natalie, well, as much as we'll miss people here, we're
both looking forward to it.  It's going to be a new life for us over
there."  Nick put his hand on his partner's shoulder and squeezed it
reassuringly.

        Joe looked at her and asked, "What about you, Tracy?  We've
watched you grow so much over the time you've been here.  Are you sure
this is what you want to do?"

        "Yes, Cap.  I really enjoy being a part of the police force, but
now that I've got my wonderful family, my work has to take a back seat to
them.  Nick and Nat adopted Richie because of his health problems, but
thanks to them Richie and Bonita have still been able to grow up together,
still family.  Richie and Bonita know they are brother and sister but
that they have different parents.  I don't want to split them up.  I'm
going to miss everyone here, but I have to do what's best for my family,
and keeping Richie and Bonita together is what I want."  She reached
across the desk and put her hand on Joe Reese's arm.  "Yeah.  I'm sure.
It's a hard decision to make, but it really is no decision at all.  And
it's exciting too, since it'll mean getting used to a whole new way of
life for us.  I don't know what I'm going to do over there yet, but I know
whatever I do, that I'll enjoy it."

        Reese nodded.  "Okay then.  If you're both sure, I'll send these
in right away."

        There was a knock on his door, and then it was opened by another
officer.  "Sorry to intrude Captain, but we're getting several reports for
the same address.  One reports a couple of jumpers on a roof, a couple
report people fighting on a roof, and a retired RCMP who called said he
thought it looked like a domestic gone real bad.  We've already dispatched
several cars, but the last call just now said the guy had pushed the woman
off and is now acting like he wants to join her.  You finished with these
two yet?  Looks like we'll need 'em."

        Reese shook his head.  "Yeah."  He grabbed his 'lucky mug' "Santa"
had given him last Christmas that was supposed to be 'guaranteed' to make
the water cooler work and headed towards it.  "Go on.  I'll fax that over
tonight.  But we're going to make you work for your last month.  Go on,
now.  Get outta here."  He tried vainly to get a mug of water.  Much as he
liked his 'lucky mug', it didn't help when the cooler seemed to hate him.

        By the time Nick and Tracy arrived on the scene, there were a few
officers up on the roof trying to talk the man away from the edge and a
whole lot more trying to keep the rubber-necks back.  Because of the
threat of the man jumping too, although there was a body lying there
smashed on the sidewalk, as soon as an officer had gone in long enough to
ascertain the woman was indead dead, everyone had again been moved back
until it was safe to get in to the body.  Natalie was already there
waiting to be allowed in to examine the body, so Nick and Tracy joined
her.

        In a very hushed voice so none but her husband and Tracy could
hear, she explained she had been here for almost 10 minutes and had
managed to hear more than anyone else ground level could.  The man was
raving on about how his wife was a "slut," and he couldn't stand that
she'd let anyone with enough money have her.  Because he loved her too
much to let her continue on with being any man's lover, he had "destroyed
her and sent her to hell."

        "God.  I can't believe what some people do in the name of love.
Sounds like something your creepy... father... would do a show on."  Tracy
turned to Nick and whispered to him.

        Just then the man's voice keened loud enough in spite of the wind
that even Tracy could here him, "She'll be mine in Hell!"  As they watched,
horrified, the man lunged over the low ledge on the building roof and
plummeted toward the ground, toward his own death.

        Tracy saw his body hit with a thud and the immediately visible
result of such a fall, and turned away, retching.  She ran behind Nick's
car, where she was blocked from the sight of most of the onlookers as well
as unable to see the two dead bodies, and unceremoniously emptied her
stomach of all contents.

        Natalie and Nick went over to check out the bodies, then Nick went
in search of his partner and found her leaning against the trunk of his
car.

        "Watch your step, Nick...  Sorry.  I don't know why it's getting
to me this much.  I mean, I didn't feel great when I got up, but it seemed
to have passed so I thought I was okay.  Maybe I have a flu or something.
I've seen jumpers before, Nick."  Tracy looked at Nick and smiled,
sheepishly.  "It shouldn't get me this bad."

        "Don't worry about it, Trace.  It can hit anyone harder sometimes,
especially if you're not feeling well to begin with.  I'm going to get a
uniform to take you home.  Tell Vachon to get your car if you think you
might need it, otherwise Nat and I can pick you up tomorrow.  But you are
going home to get some rest.  Wait here.  I'll get a uniform for you, and
I'll book you off."  He smiled reassuringly and then left.

        The next night was Natalie's first night of her 'weekend', and she
received a phone call from Tracy, who was off sick again, asking if it
would be okay to come over.  "I wondered if you could take a look at me,
Nat, and see if there is anything wrong with me besides having the flu?"

        It was less than an hour later that Vachon sat watching cartoons
on Nick's giant TV with Richie and Bonita and keeping them out of
mischief, while Natalie examined Tracy upstairs in the master bedroom.

        "I'm not seeing anything that makes me think flu, Trace.  Any
chance you're pregnant again?"

        "I shouldn't be.  I mean, yeah, I've been taking that new medicine
you gave me to help my chances, but I don't think I've been on it long
enough.  It's funny... We had the twins before, but then when we were
trying, it wasn't seeming to happen.  But I'm sure I haven't been on it
long enough to be that."

        "Well, have you had anything else, any changes in your body's
rhythms or anything?"  There was nothing to make Natalie think anything
was wrong, but Tracy was definitely ill for some reason.

        "Well, some.  It's slowed down, but it's still happening.  You
can't be pregnant then, can you?"

        "In theory, no.  But I've known people who've had it happen, and
what you're taking is a hormone, Tracy.  It could be artifically causing
things to occur...  I'm going to run a lab test on you, since the
medication you've been taking might make a home test less accurate."
Natalie patted the mortal woman's shoulder then went in search of her
medical gear.

        After getting a sample from Tracy, Natalie took off briefly into
the night sky, taking the sample with her so it could be tested as soon as
possible.  After she had begun the test, she flew back, having asked Grace
to call her at home as soon at it gave a definitive result one way or the
other.  Just before dawn Grace called.

        Natalie got off the phone and turned to face Tracy and Vachon,
whom she had invited to stay the day.  Nick, who had just come home from
work, looked at her puzzled.

        "Well, Trace, I hope you've still got Bonita's baby furniture and
stroller around.  You're going to need it."  Natalie grinned at the
surprised and excited couple sitting before her.  "Oh, and stop taking
those pills.  You don't need 'em.."  Natalie sat beside Nick, as they both
watched Tracy and Vachon unconsciously put a hand on Tracy's stomach.

        "For people who aren't supposed to be able to have kids without
medical intervention, you two sure have a knack for the impossible."  Nick
looked at his partner and smiled.  "Congratulations," he added.

----

        Christmas came and went, and Joe had informed them that the
precinct was having a good-luck & bon-voyage party for them on the 30th,
instead of that being their final shift.  A hall had been rented for the
event, and without the Knights' or Vachons' arranging it, it had somehow
managed to have a bartender from the Raven "moonlighting" as the bartender
for the event, mysteriously with beverages available for Nick, Natalie,
and Vachon.  Natalie knew it had somehow been the doing of either LaCroix
or Janette, but the bartender was refusing to say.

        It turned out to be a fairly big party, since the precinct had
extended the invitation to the previous precincts of both Nick and Tracy,
as well as inviting Natalie's co-workers.  There were going away gifts for
all of them, including some nice toys for the kids, annonymously donated
via the bartender, since the children were too young yet to understand if
their parents got gifts and they didn't.

        Nick whispered to Natalie that it had to be Janette's doing, since
that was the sort of thing she would do, but not LaCroix.  They both knew
that Janette was keeping a watchful eye on them, but they didn't know if
she was actually in Toronto or just had the aide of others who were.

----

        By the end of January the Knights and Vachons had settled into
their new lives in the Dublin area.  Nick had acquired an estate with a
residence big enough to hold two wings, sufficient in size for allowing
privacy for two related families while still housing enough common area
for comfortably hosting guests.  The way the building was designed it
seemed intended to house at least 2 generations or branches of a family
with ample enough space for easy privacy.  It was perfect for their needs.

        Under the surname of Vasquez, Tracy and Javier opened a little
country pub, since Tracy had decided not to attempt to get on with the
local police due to her pregnancy, or after because of her children.

        Natalie had expected something like 'Cavalier' or 'Cheval' for
their new surname, but Nick had surprised her.  The paperwork that
Aristotle had provided for them was, at Nick's request, in the name of 'de
Brabant'.  Natalie was settling into her new job working as a night shift
emergency room physician at a charity hospital, and Nick was really
enjoying his 'new' career teaching Archaeology.

----

        Bonita and Richie celebrated their 5th birthday.  Tracy and
Vachon, with Nick and Nat's approval, gave Richie a dog of his own.

        Richie opened the box by ripping open some of the air holes. When
he saw the small pup inside, he gasped, pulled her out, and cuddled her.
It was an Irish Setter pup.  She was a beautiful coppery red and had a
black collar with  rhinestones set into it.  "Auntie Tracy!  He's so pretty.
Does he got a name yet, or can I name him?"  Still cuddling the dog, he
clambered into Tracy's lap, in spite of her swollen belly, and hugged her
tightly.

        "What do you say, Richie?"  Natalie prompted.

        Richie blushed.  "Oh.. Sorry.  Thank you Auntie Tracy and Uncle
Vachon.  Thank you lots!"

        Tracy smiled and added, "No, she isn't named.  We thought you'd
like to do that.  Oh, and she's a little girl puppy."

        Richie looked up at her briefly before leaning down and hugging
and kissing his new pup.  "She's almost the colour of a new penny.  Can I
name her Penny?"

        Soon, after the excitement of the rest of their presents had worn
off, the adults took the children outside.  One of the help for their
estate that was pre-arranged by Aristotle before their arrival, stayed
inside with the little pup.  Richie had wanted to bring her but was told
it wasn't a good idea yet, so until they got out to the stable he had a
little pout on his face.  When they all entered the stable, two previously
empty stalls near the door were now occupied... Inside each was a shetland
pony...

        While they were all enjoying the occasion, Tracy had to leave to
go back to the house and rest...  Natalie estimated she was a month from
due, but Tracy figured she was a month overdue by the way she felt...  She
hadn't felt that big even when she'd had the twins...  Oh well...  She
remembered how the twins had been a surprise last time, and wondered as
she lowered herself down if she was in for another surprise this time...

        "Well, this time we're prepared in case," she said absently to
no one in particular.

----

        It was just a couple of days into summer when Tracy went into
labour.  Vachon called the hospital, and Natalie spoke to her supervisor.
Since Natalie had previously warned him that her "sister" was due anytime,
he had already made certain to have sufficient coverage so that Natalie
was able to leave.

        It was late afternoon on June 24th when Tracy gave birth to
another daughter.  Whereas Bonita had looked like a little female version
of her dad, the new girl looked like a miniature Tracy.  She was a big 7
pounds, 15 ounces and was tall, or long for a newborn, at 23 inches, with
long thin limbs, at least for an infant.  She seemed bald at first glance,
but in truth had a very fine, very blonde fuzz on her head.

        As soon as she was born, and Natalie had cleaned up the child and
ensured both child and mom were ok, she took a small blood sample from the
little girl to analyze.  Before the results were back, however, she noted
when checking back with Vachon that as soon as Tracy had tried to feed the
girl she had latched rather firmly to her mother's breast and had seemed
not to have any problems feeding.  Unfortunately Tracy wasn't yet producing
enough milk to satiate the hungry child.

        Later, when Natalie came back from her lab, set up in an unused
room in her and Nick's wing of the estate, she was able to confirm that
Tracy's new daughter was healthy and totally unaffected by the vampire
virus.

        Early the next morning, once Tracy had managed a little rest, Nick,
Natalie, and Vachon sat on chairs brought into the bedroom, with the two
men holding the twins on their laps, reminding them to be quiet because the
noise might scare the baby.

        The two older children watched, fascinated as Tracy nursed the
infant. Bonita asked, "How can babies live on just milk?"  Natalie smiled,
imagining the images of milk cartons she was sure were in the child's
mind, and explained that babies' bodies were intended to live on just milk
til they were older, which seemed to satisfy Bonita's curiousity.

        Richie then asked, "Does she got a name yet?"

        "We've decided to name her Kelsey Ann."  Vachon reached over and
stroked Richie's puzzled face.  "What's wrong, Richie?"  He added.

        "Bonita's my sister even though we gots different mommy & daddy
'cause I got 'dopted, right?  So is...  is...  is Kelsey...  Is she my
sister too?  Or is she just Bonita's baby sister, not mine?"

----

        It was about 9:30 on Christmas eve when the butler came in and
announced the arrival of a guest.  Although both Natalie and Tracy were
getting used to the idea of having hired help around, neither of them was
yet comfortable with it.  Both women felt, to varying degrees, like they
didn't belong, like the poor relative of the rich family whom they visited
occasionally.  When Nick told him to show their company in, the man
disappeared briefly.

        Tracy looked at Nat.  "Will you ever get used to this?"

        "I doubt it, Trace.  What about you?"

        Tracy shook her head.  "I wonder who's here?  Were either of you
expecting company?"  She looked around as both Nick and Nat shook their
heads.  Then Natalie nodded at Vachon, who was looking idly at the
fireplace, avoiding eye contact.  "Vachon!  Who's here?"

        Just then the door opened and the butler showed in Screed,
followed immediately by Urs and another young woman.

        "Merry Christmas, Matey!"  Screed spoke up, looking around for
Vachon.  Seeing him, he rushed over, hugged him, then began punching him in
the shoulder.  "I 'eard yous 'ad anodder one, ya ol' dog!"  He looked for
Tracy and saw her sitting quietly on the sofa, nursing Kelsey.  He walked
over and sat beside her.  "Congrats, Tracy.  Bein' a mom suits ya.  It
really does!  Wot's 'er name?"

        Before Tracy had a chance to answer, Bonita had scampered over and
climbed up on Screed's lap.  "My little sister is Kelsey.  It's her 6
month birthday today.  But you know what?  Both me and Richie got dogs
now, and on our birthday Uncle Nick and Auntie Nat got us both ponies!
Come and see 'em."  Bonita hopped off his lap and began dragging him
towards the door.  "You coming, Daddy?"  She tossed over her shoulder at
Vachon.

        As Vachon and Screed left with Bonita and Richie, Urs turned and
introduced the rest of them to her young friend, whom she introduced as
Carly.  "After you came out here, Screed wanted to go back to the London
area, and I decided to stay there for a while myself.  While I was there,
I ran into Carly.  She was a school teacher for a few years, until she
came across about a year or so ago.  Anyway, she'd been figuring it all
out on her own since whoever brought her across I don't think realized
they had.  She was left for dead.  I've been teaching her as much as I can
since."

        "Hello."  Carly smiled shyly.  "I had been a vampire for only
about 6 weeks when Urs found me.  When she told me about your children,
she wondered if I might like to teach them, since it would be too
dangerous to send them to school with other children at this time.  If
you'd like a teacher for the kids, I'd love to.  I really do miss
teaching, and I love children."  She shrugged and looked toward the two
moms.  "Urs thought a vampire could teach them about both the vampire and
mortal worlds, and teach them the need for secrecy with anyone else."

----

        Life was fairly uneventlful for a while, until late one evening a
year and a half later.  It was early fall and Natalie had been at work for
only an hour or so when she saw that she was being watched.  As soon as
she was able to take a couple of minutes, she walked towards the
distinguished looking gentleman and saw him remove his reading glasses to
his shirt pocket.

        "Liam."  Natalie wasn't certain what to make of the fact that he
was observing her but chose to be courteously neutral.  "I usually try
and take my dinner break around 11 or so.  There's a little place still
open at that time around the corner.  Would you care to join me on my
dinner break?"  She hoped he wasn't aware enough to be able to tell that
her heart was pounding.  It wasn't something a vampire usually did,
inviting a hunter to dinner, and understandably she was rather nervous.

        "'Twould be by pleasure."  Chief Inspector O'Neal reached out and
grasped Natalie's hand, which he drew towards his mouth and kissed her
knuckles.  "I look forward to seeing you later."  He smiled then, turned,
and walked towards the exit, whistling softly as he left.

        Later, as Natalie saw him waiting for her in the lobby, she smiled
then turned to one of the nurses nearby.  "Christine, my friend there,"
she gestured towards the inspector, "and I are going around the corner to
Keiran's for dinner.  Since I'll be off the premises, I wanted to let you
know where I'll be."

        Christine nodded, then looked at Liam and waved.  Whispering very
quietly, she said "He's kinda cute, Nat.  Think he might go for a widow?
My Aunt's been alone for a few years, and my mom thinks it'd do her sister
good to find someone.  He looks about her age.  Tell me more about him
later?"

        Natalie rolled her eyes.  "Maybe."

        After they had seated themselves, Liam ordered a Lager and Lime
and a light meal and was quite surprised when Natalie ordered and sipped a
chocolate milkshake.  "I know you chose to join Nick.  I could sense the
change in you when I first saw you here a few months ago.  I've been
watching you both since then."

        Natalie slowly took a sip of her shake.  <Has he only watched us
individually, work and such?  Or does he know about Richie?>  Natalie
refused to show her inner panic.  "I'm here now talking with you.  I hope
that's a good sign."

        "I must admit that was a rather ingenious way of making sure you'd
be safe to have dinner with me, telling your young friend.  If I'd been
uncertain before, I wouldn't be now."  He took a bite of his dinner, then
added, "But it was an unnecessary precaution.."

        Natalie refused to allow her body to tremble from her nerves.
<Talk about a multi-faceted comment>, she thought.  Instead, she took
another sip,and said simply, "Meaning?"

        "Because Nick saved my life before when it would have been in both
of your best interests not to, and the fact that both of you are working
in fields that benefit humanity, I have decided not to do what I would
ordinarily."  He sipped his drink, then continued, "I know that Nick's
partner is here too, although she hasn't... joined," he euphimised because
of nearby patrons who might possibly overhear, "and I believe she is in a
similar situation to what you previously were.  But as long as you and
your party are benefiting society rather than preying on it, I have
decided to leave you alone."  He drained his glass.  "But I will be
checking on things periodically.  I sincerely hope you will not give me
cause to have to change my mind.  If either of you stop acting
benevolently towards us, I won't hesitate to do what I normally would.  I
want you to understand that."

        Natalie watched in stunned disbelief as the now elderly
gentleman smiled, placed enough money on the table for both his dinner
and Natalie's milkshake, and pulling his coat about himself, hurried
out into the night.  After she was sure he had left, she began to
shake.

        By the time she returned to the hospital, she was visibly upset,
and on seeing her in that state, her superior told her to go home and
rest, thinking she was the latest staff to be hit by the flu.  Natalie
didn't argue, she was in no frame of mind condusive to treating patients
at the moment.

--------

        It was about a month later when LaCroix arrived.  Just after
sundown the butler announced a visitor.  As soon as LaCroix was shown in,
Natalie gestured to Tracy to join her.  As soon as they had gotten far
enough into one of the wings as to make it unlikely that the elder vampire
could hear them without deliberately trying to, Natalie asked Tracy to
take the children and Carly and head into town.  "The only thing I expect
from that man, Trace, is the unexpected.  He can go from best friend to
worst enemy in less time than it takes to exhale.  Or back again just as
suddenly.  But the one thing I do know is that he thinks Richie should
have been destroyed at birth.  Take the kids, especially Richie, and go.
If he plans on staying any length of time, take them to visit Urs and
Screed.  I don't want him anywhere near Richie.  He wouldn't do anything
to Bonita or Kelsey, since they're mortal and not Nick's....  but I don't
exactly trust him at the best of times, and where Richie's concerned it's
worse..."  Natalie handed Tracy her gold visa.  "I need to get back and
see why he's here."  She hugged Tracy quickly, then turned and headed back
towards their surprise visitor.

        "... persist in joining your precious Natalie in this folly, then
you had better at least be responsible about it."  LaCroix stood before
Nick, neither one even looking up as Natalie re-entered the room.  Natalie
walked over to sit beside Vachon, giving him a quizzical look.

        Vachon whispered into her ear at a level geared to be a whisper
with other vampires around, "The way he's raving on, I expect you'll get
it too."

        As if on cue, LaCroix turned to the two on the sofa.  "You doctor,
I can understand having this folly.  You were a mortal when you learned of
us, and due to your... outlook, you seem to think of vampirism as some
sort of treatable disease.  But you, my young spaniard, ought well to know
better.  You may not be of an age with my Nicholas, but you are certainly
old enough to know the truth about us...  Why you persist in your playing at
mortality with a mortal wife and family is beyond me.  Even my poor
deluded son knows better than that!"

        LaCroix turned back to Nick.  "Remember what I said, Nicholas.
*If* you must persist in this foolishness that your beloved Natalie has
taken upon herself, then you *will* at least take your responsibilities
about it seriously.  I do not want to have to do what you yourself should
have again.  I hope you understand this Nicholas.  You *are* responsible
for them."  Lacroix opened the large window and disappeared into the dark
night.

        "Nick?"  Natalie looked at her husband, querulously.

        "I don't know what to tell you.  He's done something which
according to him, I should have.  I have no idea what.  I can't tell you
even what to prepare for.  And all I can ever sense from him anymore is
his general reaction, but I can't tell to what the feeling is in response
to."  Nick got up and began pacing.  "What's he done that we're going to
have to cope with, Nat?  What's in store for us now?"

....

        The next night when Natalie showed up at work, Christine raced
over as soon as she saw Natalie.  "Doctor de Brabant - I need to talk to
you."  The nurse grabbed Natalie's arm and ushered her towards a small
office and closed the door.  "Natalie, have your heard yet?"

        "Heard what?"

        "That friend of yours, that cute older man whom you had dinner
with last month...  he...  were you close?"

        Natalie noted the use of the past tense.  "Not really.  More like
one of those `under other circumstances' sorts of things.  By the time we
became friends we were of already differing viewpoints."

        "Sometimes you can work past that.  My mother's family is catholic
and my dad's is protestant."  Christine sighed.  "He was rushed in this
morning.  I recognized him when I came in and relieved the nurse who'd
been working on his case.  There was nothing we could do."  Christine
reached out and put her hand on Natalie's shoulder, trying to comfort her.
"We did all we could.  He never came to.  It was as peaceful as could be
expected, given the circumstances."

        Natalie had a sudden realization.  "Given what circumstances?"

        The nurse squirmed awkwardly, having opened a can of worms she'd
rather not have.  "Ahhh... well, he was assaulted...  The police are
looking at all his known associates.  They'll probably want to talk to you
too, since although I didn't think to mention that you were friends with
him, someone else possibly did.  It looks like it was probably on the
grounds of his religious beliefs."

        Natalie switched into her old inquiring coroner mode.  "Why do
you say that?  And what exactly *did* happen to him?"

        "Well, he was definitely mugged.  His wallet was torn, and his
wallet was empty of money.  But it was particularly violent, and whomever
did it, they think after giving him a knock-out blow, slashed his throat.
They wrote some disparaging remarks about catholics with his blood.  I
don't know what, though.  Do you know, was he catholic?  I know he had a
crucifix in his pocket.  Anyway, I wanted to let you know...  and to offer
my condolences.  I gotta get back to work.   Sorry."  She gave Natalie an
impromptu hug, and then hurried out of the room.

        Natalie pondered over what Nick and Vachon had told her.  Before
LaCroix had started his verbal assault on his son, Vachon, and herself, he
had spoken cordially for a few minutes with them, informing them of his
latest project in the mortal world.  He told them about his new club that
had struck him as 'reminiscent of the Raven with a decidely London punk
flavour' when he first visited it.  Upon seeing it once, he decided to
purchase the Belfast business and establish a similar relationship with a
radio there as he'd had with CERK in Toronto.  As a result, he was now
running a similar program to what he had as the Nightcrawler, in a similar
type of club.

        Natalie sat thinking...  Was it what it appeared to be?  Or was
this the work of LaCroix?  The more she thought about it, the more she
decided it was likely LaCroix.  This was likely what he was referring to
about having to do what Nick should have.  If it really were a mugging,
why make the religious slander...  and if a religious attack, then why
take the money?  And the slashed throat...  That had LaCroix covering for
fang marks written all over it.  There was only one person who would go
to such trouble to make  sure that they would be safe from the hunter and
go to such pains to ensure that it looked like a religiously motivated
event.    She sighed and made a phone call from the phone in the office
she was still sitting in.  She could tell Nick what she had been told, and
he'd come to the same conclusion she had. Should anyone be listening,
they'd not learn anything new from either of them.

--------

        Time passed rather uneventfully as the children continued growing.
Because of the fact that Richie and Bonita both loved to swim but almost
never had the opportunity to do so since most of the evening pool time was
spent in lessons and swim club practices, Tracy was very pleased for the
children when some mysterious foundation, choosing to remain anonymous
decided to build an indoor, public recreation facility with a lap pool, a
shallow splash & game pool, and a big pool designed like a beach, complete
with a wave machine.  The little indoor lake had one area of the big pool
roped off so that there was an area for the half dozen waterslides to
terminate in, as well as a designated area for diving boards of 3
different heights and a rope swing.  Tracy thought for not the first time
as she helped the now 5 year old Kelsey into her swimsuit that the
foundation that owned and ran the place must be operating it at a loss
for some sort of tax dodge, since she was sure it couldn't be making money.
It was well known that if you couldn't afford the listed user fees, all you
had to do was pay a token amount, even a single coin, to gain admission.
And it was open 24 hours a day as well.  "It must be nice to have that
kind of money.  Even Nick couldn't afford to do this."

        "What?"  Tracy smiled at Kelsey who looked up at her, wondering
what her mom was rambling about.

        "Nothing, sweetie.  Mommy's just thinking out loud."

        Soon they were all congregated around one of the picnic tables sat
around in such a way that you could easily forget you were inside a
building and think you were really outside somewhere.  Natalie took Kelsey
over to the play pool and watched as the others disappeared to various
areas.  Carly was with them and had been on a diving team when she was in
university.  Whenever she came with them, she'd go and spend hours
practicing her fancy competition dives.  The kids and Vachon loved the
whole complex, and Nick seemed to favour the wave pool while Tracy seemed
to favour the slides.  It was as if the complex had been designed with
their needs in mind.

        "Look Auntie Nat!  Who's that?"

        Natalie followed the youngster's finger and saw Bonita standing
beside one of the other benches a little ways away, talking with a boy who
looked to be just a couple of years older than her own 10 years.  She
perched on the edge of the table and leaned forward rather flirtatiously in
such a way that if she had any cleavage yet it would have been being
emphasized to the young boy.  As Natalie watched, Bonita looked around to
see if she was being observed, and obviously thinking she wasn't, took the
boy's offered hand.  He pulled her off the table and pulled her close enough
to kiss her quickly, then they walked over the stairs heading up to the
platform where the various slides began.

        Later, once the night was nearly over and they were watching a
movie at home, Kelsey blurted "Boni gots a boyfriend!  I seed him kiss her
and she let him!"  The adults all looked over at Bonita, who was turning
bright red.

        "I do NOT, Kel.  Mind your own business!"  Bonita got up and
walked over to where Muppy and Penny were curled up together with
their puppies and began petting them, ignoring the rest of them.

        "You kissed him.  Boni's got a boyfriend, Boni's got a boyfriend!"

        Bonita walked over to her little sister.  "Shut up!  He's not my
boyfriend.  And so what if he kissed me?  He's not my boyfriend or
anything.  He was just...  nice!"  Bonita punched Kelsey.  "Shut up or
I'll make it hurt next time!"  She stormed out of the room and ran to her
bedroom.

        The adults looked at each other, but when Nick opened his mouth to
speak, Vachon put his finger to his mouth, then turned to Carly.  "Would
you take Kelsey and get her ready for bed?  Maybe check on Bonita too?"
He looked over at Richie.

        "I know.  I'm going.  G'night."

        After they had left the room, Tracy asked, "Did anyone see what
really happened?"

        Natalie sighed.  "Kelsey pretty much summed it up.  Some boy
probably 12 or 13 seemed to be pretty taken with her, and she was actively
flirting with him.  He did kiss her.  Wait til puberty actually hits.
You're going to have a major boy-magnet on your hands, and I think she's
going to like it."

        Tracy sighed as she snuggled closer into Vachon's arms wrapped
around her. "God, I feel old."

        While the other adults were discussing the situation, Carly
slipped into Bonita's room after settling the younger girl into bed.

        "So?"  Carly smiled as Bonita jumped.  Entering and exiting
seemingly locked areas without being observed was something she had picked
up from Vachon, and in spite of her vampiric youth, she was nearly as
adept at as was he.

        Bonita shrugged.  "What?  You want me to tell you I done something
wrong and how sorry I am and it won't happen again?"  She looked at her
teacher/nurse/friend, pouting.  "I liked him.  He was a nice boy.  So he
gave me a kiss - that's not a big deal.  Why's Kel trying to turn it into
something I can get in trouble for?  I didn't do anything bad, so I'm not
apologizing!"  Bonita rolled over on her bed, face into her pillow,
hoping her tutor would leave.

        Carly sat down on the bed beside the girl and pulled her up to a
sitting position beside her, putting her arm around Bonita's shoulders.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong.  Neither did your sister.  She's your
little sister, and that's what younger siblings do - try and get their
elder brothers or sisters in trouble or embarrass them."  She looked down
at Bonita and wiped the girls tears away.  "You know, your mom used to
have a boyfriend."

        Bonita perked up, interested.  "Really?"

        "Yes.  Well, actually two at least if I understand what your Uncle
Nick mentioned correctly."

        "Two?  Really?  Who?  Does Daddy know?"

        "Nick told me about some guy who used to call your mom
'Button'..."  Carly waited while Bonita giggled.

        "That's one.  Who else?"

        "Your dad."

        "Daddy?  No way!"  Bonita grimaced.

        "There was a time they weren't married, you know.  A time when
they were just boyfriend and girlfriend.  And I'm sure before that a time
they just liked each other."  Carly smiled as Bonita looked practically
ill. "You know, this is normal sweetie.  You'll end up with a boyfriend
and Kel, being younger, will think it's gross.  But then when she gets past
the boys being 'yucky' stage and has a beau of her own, you can remind her
about how much she's teasing you now and repay her in kind.  It's human
nature.  It was that way when I was a little girl, I think it was that way
when your daddy was a boy, and you know how long ago that was.  And it will
be that way when your grandkids have grandkids."  She kissed Bonita's
forehead.  "Sleep now. It's nearly dawn, and I need to get myself to bed."

----

        Between Richie and Bonita's 11th birthday and Kelsey's 6th, Richie
made friends with a small group of boys of approximately his own age.  The
boys were all pretty well behaved, although they did occasionally get into
the more innocent types of boy trouble.  One evening Natalie returned home
to find Richie sitting in the dark cuddling Penny.  After a little
prompting, she discovered that the boys had gone to a mall and had gotten
in trouble from the mall security for throwing spitballs at pretty girls
who were walking past.  Natalie sometimes wished that Patrick wouldn't
drag the other boys along when he got into mischief, but then she'd think
back to the case where they had the gang killing done by a child far
younger than Richie, and decided that Patrick and his horde were far less
an evil.  Richie also seemed to be getting better at socializing with his
peers since taking up with Patrick's little group, and that was definitely
a good thing.  A co-worker of hers had reported seeing Richie and his
friends standing right beside the glass sided escalator at the mall once,
and that the boys were watching for girls going up the moving stairs in
short skirts and trying to look up the skirts.  Natalie sighed.  Most
often now the boys were going to the recreation center, no doubt watching
the girls in their swimwear.  At least it was harmless fun, not the
murderous gangs it could be or the teen auto theft rings that were
beginning to come to prominence in Dublin.

----

        Tracy had taken Bonita in to the mall.  Since Natalie had to work
for someone who was sick, she had first dropped off Richie and his friends
for their game.  The boys had decided to join an evening soccer league,
and this was supposed to be Nick and Natalie's week for the boys
car-pooling, Natalie's since Nick had a lecture on Wednesdays.  Now it was
just her and her 11 1/2 year old girl, who was in need of a new bra.
Tracy had bought her a couple nearly 2 months ago, however the girl's
development was fast enough that she now needed new ones.  Bonita had
brought her own money and wanted to buy more than just what her mom was
prepared to get her.  Tracy was trying to encourage her towards plain and
comfortable cotton sports-type bra's, which she finally took one of for
sports.  But the other one she chose in spite of her mother's protests was
a sheer black push-up style.  After convincing Tracy to go and pay for
those and meet her at the foodcourt in half an hour, she tried a variety
of other styles of underwear and tops, and finally buying for herself a
sheer lace camisole, a padded strapless bra, and a stretchy white tanktop
of thin material for 'next summer or as an undershirt'.  She knew her mom
would be upset with her choices but figured it was her money so why not
get what she liked?

        Bonita had always been a bit of a rebel, encouraged by her dad.
Now that she liked boys and had a body they liked as well, she was going
to attract their attention whether her mom liked it or not.  She'd go out
wearing clothing that was designed to make the boys ogle and things that
would emphasise her better than average endowment for her age.  Bonita
still favoured her Uncle Screed, however, and although if asked would have
denied it, she was now acting like she had a big crush on him.  Prior to his
planned arrival for an all winter visit, with false ID Bonita went into a
body art studio and got second pierces in her ears and rings in each nipple.

        She managed to hide this fact from everyone until the night he
arrived, when she decided to come out and say goodnight after changing for
bed, wearing a pair of sweat shorts and just her white tank top, which
pretty much hid nothing and clung to the blossoming figure of which she
was so proud, emphasizing the rings underneath the thin fabric.  As
Natalie and Tracy looked on, shocked, Bonita practically rubbed herself
all over Screed before heading to bed.  Natalie thought Tracy was going to
have a heart attack then and there!  She nearly did herself!

----

        It was only a couple of months after the twins' 12th birthday,
when Natalie got a phone call at work.  Natalie had to get hold of Vachon
at the pub to go and pick Richie up and take him home.

        Apparently Richie and two of the other boys from the little group,
along with Patrick, their leader, had been caught trying to sneak into a
strip club.  When they had been told they were underage and to go away,
each of the boys had produced fake ID.  Bad fake ID produced by Patrick
scanning his dad's driver's licence into the computer, then printing it
out with each of the boys' own photo replacing the real one.  The bouncer
called the manager out when presented with 4 different people obviously
underage all with the same name and address claiming to be 42 years old,
and the boys each had their parents called by the manager.

---------

        It was getting close to Christmas, and preparations for the
holiday were well underway.  Nick was at the university teaching his last
class before exams, and Natalie was at the hospital.  Urs, Screed, and
Carly had taken the 3 kids to the pool.

        Bonita was no longer coming on to Screed, after he finally had
convinced her that while yes, she was an attractive young lady, two things
meant that he'd never be interested in her that way.  When she questioned
him further, he had explained that while he definitely did love her, he
felt the *very same* way towards her as he had towards his sisters'
children before he'd left for a life on the high seas so many years ago,
so being called "Uncle Screed" was something totally appropriate to his
feelings.  Bonita had then asked what the second reason was, and had been
the indignant recipient of a hair tousling for her efforts.  "If oi ever
changes me mind on the way I feels fer ya an' oi does likey ya that-a way,
yer dear ol' daddy'd kill me, 'e would!  An' Screedy likes 'imself jus'
fine a-livin' the way 'e is now, thank-ee voiry much!"

        Bonita had pouted but decided she didn't want her dad to kill his
best friend and her favourite uncle so had finally stopped trying to
seduce him.  Screed smiled and shook away the intruding memory, looking
out to see where the kids were.  Richie was relaxing in one of the hot
tubs, Kelsey was playing in the wave pool, and Bonita, true to form, was
busy flirting with a couple of older boys.  Screed looked at Urs and
Carly.  "Oi does love 'er, but she shore is a handy-full.  She's got ol'
Hav-ee-ar-toe's devil-may-care attitudes, an' 'er mother's stubbornness.
Deadly combiny-ation, ladies; jus' a right might deadly."

        A few minutes later Bonita came over and sat down between Urs and
Screed.  "They want me to go up on the high diving board like them. No way!
I'll sit back here at the table with you guys and watch them."  As Bonita
watched the two older boys showing off for her benefit, she added absently,
"Oh, Richie asked me to tell you that he needs to see his dad, and since the
university is just a few blocks from here, he's left to walk over.  He said
he'd get a ride home with his dad.

    ***

        Nick was just finishing giving a lecture when there was a small
rap on the door.  The student who sat nearest it went to answer it.  She
returned a moment later, raised her hand and was immediately acknowledged.

        "Professor de Brabant, there's a boy out in the hallway.  He says
he's your son and that it's very important that he speak to you."  A
snicker rose from several of the students.

        Nick smiled and nodded.  "Okay.  Well, the lecture was over for
tonight anyway.  If you have any questions before your exams, you may wait
here for me, and I'll be back in just a couple of minutes to answer any
questions.  Otherwise, good luck on your exams."  He took the stairs to
the door where Richie was waiting two at a time.

        "What's the matter, Richie?"

        Richie looked around to make sure no one would see.  "Thith."  He
opened his mouth sufficiently for his dad to see his extended fangs.  "A
foo timeth in the latht foo weekth I've vit mythelv vy ackthident vecauthe
ov them.  Thith ith only jutht tharted thinthe I've got the latht ov my
adult teeth.  Vut thith time they won't go vack."

        The door opened a few feet behind Richie, and the students not
waiting to ask questions began to stream out.  Most waved, one stopped and
mentioned how much she had enjoyed his class, and one fellow came out
grumbling how he'd only taken the class to impress his girlfriend, and
that since they had just broken up, he wasn't going to even bother with
showing up to write the exam.

        Richie whispered quietly, hand over his mouth so no one would see
his fangs and knowing his dad's enhanced hearing would still be able to
discern what he said, "Tha'th a pwetty dumm weathon ta take a courthe.
Even if I ever did take a courthe fa tha kind ov weathon, I'd at leatht
have enuv thenthe ta w'ite the ecktham ahn get my cwedi'ths."

        Nick ruffled his still damp hair.  "Good.  Come on in with me, and
find a seat as far away from the students who've stayed as possible.
Hopefully, that way none of them will get too chatty and put you in the
spot of having to talk too much, okay?"  Richie nodded and followed his
dad into the lecture hall.

        By the time that the last student had left, Richie's fangs had
receded.  "They fixed themselves, Dad," he said, "I guess I bothered you
for nothing.  Sorry."

        "It's not for nothing, Richie.  If it's happening, then you need to
learn how to consciously control them so that if it happens sometime when
you're out or something you just have to go someplace alone for a minute,
like maybe the bathroom, until you can control them enough to retract them
yourself.  Let's go.  We'll discuss this more when we're enroute home so
that no one can accidentally overhear us, okay?  And I'm really glad that
you came to me, Richie."

----

        There was a couple of times in the past that Richie opened a door
or window before the sun had completely set, and although it was painful
for him, his burn used to be more akin to an ordinary sunburn, just in a
rather significantly shorter length of time than any mortal would get.

        This late May morning Moonbeam (one of Muppy and Penny's pups that
they'd given Carly, and she had named him that because while he looked like
a red malamute, he had a snow white tail, that if the moonlight shone on
it, seemed to reflect in an almost shimmery way) had gotten out during the
day, and Richie heard him barking outside his window.  He knew he had
previously burned a little, but he didn't want the young house dog to be
outside for the day, and had decided to bring him in.  As soon as he
opened his window, he could see the dog, but he realized his window was
too high up for the dog to jump in.  His window was barely in the shadow
at this time of day, but he figured he'd be ok long enough to jump out,
lift the dog up, and then climb back in himself.  As Richie lifted the
large dog, he shifted his weight and his stance to be more comfortable.
In doing so, he moved his leg into the edge of the sunlight, and let out a
howl of agony.  As he looked down, not only was his leg smoking, but it
was turning a seered black instantaneously.  Crying from the pain, he
climbed back in, secured his window against the now deadly sun, and went
looking for his parents.

        Nick had been awake and heard his son crying before he knocked on
the door, so was already up and trying to rouse Natalie, who slept more
soundly because of her vampiric youth, by the time Richie knocked on the
door.

        "Come on in, it's open."

        Richie pushed open the door, red tears running down his face, and
limped into the room.

        Nick saw the state of the boy's leg and picked him up, carrying
him over to the bed.  "Nat!  Richie's hurt!"  He spoke quietly but
forcefully, knowing that she'd sense from him the simple fear held only
for one's own when they're hurt, as well as hearing his voice.

        "Mommy..."  Natalie was waking and instinctively put her hand
towards Richie's voice.  "Mommy, my leg hurts..."  She sat up, forcing
herself awake.

        She looked at Richie sitting on the bed beside her and at Nick
who'd gotten her medical bag from the closet shelf and stood holding it.
Then she looked at Richie's leg and winced.  "He'll need blood, Nick.
Then I'll need to do some more tests."  Nick started to go for a bottle,
but Natalie reached out.  "No."  Instead she reached for a a small knife.
"This is like when he was ill as a baby.  He'll need one of ours, and his
body knows my blood."  She lifted Richie into her lap, wrapped her arms
around him, then drew the knife across her wrist, presenting it to him.
"Drink, sweetie.  It'll help the healing and the pain."  She began to
gently rock her son as he drank from her.

        The door pushed open a little further, and Bonita came in.  "I
knew Richie got hurt.  What happened?  I was looking for him."

        "Bonita, if you feel anything like that again, let one of us know.
Right now you'd be okay, but depending on how bad of an injury he's
received, you might not be safe."  Nick looked at Bonita who looked
sullenly at them.  "If you'd like to help, Bonita, you can go get Auntie
Nat a bottle of blood because after this she'll be hungry too.  Maybe a
couple of them."

        "Will Richie be okay?"

        Nick nodded.

        "Okay, as long as he'll be okay.  I'll get some.  Be right back."

        By the time that Bonita had returned, Richie had stopped drinking
from Natalie.  The burn on his leg was still as bad, but he seemed not to
be in such severe pain.  She brought in 3 bottles, which Nick took and
gave to Natalie.  Bonita came and sat beside her brother.  "What
happened?"

        "Moonbeam was outside my window.  I brought him in, but the sun
touched me.  It was never this bad before.  What's happening to me?"
Bonita put her arm around his shoulder.  As soon as Natalie had
replenished her own blood needs, she set to work dressing and bandaging
Richie's leg.

        Bonita sat beside her brother, trying to think of something to
brighten his mood.  "Hey, we're kinda like the Addams Family.  They're
running the old black & white episodes on tv, again.  Think about it.
They're weird...  if people knew you guys were vampires they'd think us as
weird...  We're just better at hiding it from the world!"

        Natalie and Nick exchanged glances as the kids bantered on, while
she worked on her son's leg.

        "If we're them, then you're Wednesday!

        "Yeah and you're Pugsley!" Bonita quipped back.

        "Yeah, well, your mom's mortal, so that means my mom and dad are
Morticia and Gomez.  That leaves Thing and Cousin It for your parents!"

        "No way!  My dad's spanish so he'd have to be Gomez.  That means
my mom's Morticia...  Cousin It would have to be your mom, because she's
got the longest hair of anyone here, and your dad would have to be Lurch,
because Uncle Screed would have to be Thing.  Thing's just a hand, but he
moves like a rat, and so Uncle Screed would have to be Thing.  Besides,
your dad is quiet enough and imposing enough when he wants to be that he
could be Lurch!"

        Natalie wasn't too pleased at being dubbed "Cousin It", but the
kids' banter was keeping Richie's mind off his burn, which made it easier
to treat him, so she said nothing.

        Natalie took a blood sample from her son, and left them bantering
in the bedroom while she took it to the lab.  By the time she returned,
Nick had sent the kids back to bed and was waiting for her.

        "Seems that the benefits he's had from having some human DNA are
lessening.  I don't know how long it's going to take, but I think we can
expect him to turn into a full vampire eventually.  Last week he mentioned
that he was beginning to get feelings about the people that the blood was
from when he drank a bottle, but I didn't realize what was happening, that
he was changing.  He told me that the person had been very much in love
with someone and was thinking of them when the blood was collected."
Natalie climbed in bed beside Nick.  "He'll be okay, won't he?  If he does
turn fully vampire eventually, he'll be able to handle it, won't he?"

        Nick pulled Natalie close and began carressing her.  "He's tough.
He'll be fine.  He'll probably handle it better than we will."

----

        May 19th came again, and this time it was the twins' 13th birthday.
Vachon had bought each of them a dirt bike.  And while Bonita thought it
would be good practice for her for when she could get a road bike, Richie
liked the idea of a dirt bike for it's own sake.  He was quite excited about
it, and although no one said anything, all of the adults present noticed
that his eyes were glowing from the extreme emotion.

        By the time of Kelsey's birthday, Richie had already come and
spoke to his dad, asking him how he coped with being around mortal women
when it was 'their time'...  Nick had explained how he handled it but
suggested he also talk to Vachon, since he didn't know if it was something
Vachon handled differently.  At Kelsey's 8th birthday, they went to an ice
cream shop, and Richie whispered very quietly after the waitress left
their table, "Thanks for the lesson Dad, Vachon.  I think it would be too
difficult to stay here otherwise."  Vachon had just put his finger to his
lips, and Nick had said to wait until later.  After the ice cream, they all
went to the recreation centre, and Richie mentioned to his dad that he
could smell the fear of a few of the people trying the diving boards.

        A few more months passed, and it was early fall when Natalie
received a call at work.

        "Hi Mom...  Are you on a speaker phone or anything where anyone
else might be able to hear?"

        "No, Richie.  I'm not.  What's the matter?"

        "Umm... well... nothing I guess...  except... I went out to hang
out with my friends tonight when the others went to the pool...  But I've
gone home now and they're still out, so there's no one here for me to
ask."  Natalie frowned, but he continued.  "Mom, how do I get down from
the ceiling?"

        Natalie rolled her eyes.  She knew that his vampiric abilities
seemed to be increasing according to how strongly puberty was affecting
him.  She sighed, not sure if she really wanted to ask but needing to
know.  "From the ceiling? What were you doing that put you up there?"

        Richie paused, significantly.  "Ummm, watching television."

        "Uh huh.  Watching *what* on television?"  Natalie already had a
pretty good idea, but since Richie had put himself into this predicament,
she was going to make him have to be honest about it.

        Richie sighed.  "I was watching a video, Mom."

        "And what video were you watching, Richie?"

        "Ummm...  One that I borrowed from Patrick."

        Natalie couldn't keep the smile off her face, in spite of
herself.  "Uh huh. Is this video of your friend's one that he is
*supposed* to have?"

        "Ummm...No, probably not."

        "I see..." Natalie grinned as she heard Richie groan.  "Just stay
put Richie.  I'll see if I can get home right away and if not, I'll get a
hold of your dad and send him."

        "It's not something you can explain over the phone?"

        "No.  But don't worry, I'll be home right away.  Bye."  She hung
up the phone and burst into an odd laugh somewhere between a laugh and a
cry.  The situation was funny, but she felt badly for laughing at her
son's predicament.  She auto-dialed, and got Nick.

        "Any chance you can go home early tonight?  I told Richie I'd come
home, but if he's been doing what I think he's been doing, I think he'll
be a lot more comfortable if you go home to him."  Natalie explained the
call and how she expected to find half his clothes still sitting on the
sofa out of reach.  "I think he'll be less embarrassed if you find him
that way than if I do."

---------

        About a month before Richie and Bonita's 14th birthday, someone
contacted Tracy and Vachon as proprietors of their pub to cater to a
fund-raiser community dance.  Since the dance would be beginning around
dusk and preparations would need to be made prior to the event, they
declined on the grounds that they had never handled catering before and
suggested someone else. They did promise to attend the dance, however, in
support of a worthwhile cause.

        The dance itself was on the first Friday following the twins'
birthday, and so they decided to all attend.  A couple of days prior to
the dance, Richie told his parents that he had asked Patrick's 13 year old
sister to attend and wanted to know if they could go past her house to
pick her up.

        It was during one of the band's intermissions when Bonita came up
to Tracy and Vachon, dragging a tough looking fellow along with her.  He
was dressed in a cross between the fashion of a stereotypical English
punker and an American Hell's Angel.  As he removed his leather jacket
that Vachon recognized as being in club colours, he sat down beside Bonita
and lifted her onto his lap.

        Tracy gasped and tried hard to turn it into a cough, when the boy
reached over and grabbed her beer, chugging it back, displaying the tats
on his arms in the process.  One arm was not yet completed, having the
blackwork only done for a particularly lewd and crude, if artistic,
design.  The one on his left arm was complete and had a less crude though
still offensive pictoral of what appeared to be a cartoon of a gang rape.

        From her perch atop this young man's lap, Bonita cuddled against
him as she spoke, "Chris, I want you to meet my parents.  This is my mom,"
she gestured to Tracy, "and this is my Dad." She now gestured towards
Vachon.  "Mom, Dad, this is Chris.  He's from Manchester, but he mostly
grew up here.  He's 17."  Bonita pressed a kiss onto her beau's mouth, not
caring what her parent's reaction to the young man was.

        Meanwhile, as Tracy was recovering from the shock of Chris and
seeing him slide his hands under her daughter's blouse, Natalie was having
a little excitement of her own.  Richie had come back to his parent's
table and asked Natalie to come outside with him telling her it was
urgent.

        Once outside, Nat found Patrick's sister Moira standing staring at
absolutely nothing.  "What's wrong, Mom?" he asked, worried about his
first date.

        Nat looked the girl over, but nothing seemed wrong, physically,
that she could determine.  "What happened, Richie?"  She sat the girl on a
bench and listened to her son.

        "The music was loud and was hurting my ears.  That wasn't an
excuse, it was real.  Anyway, when we came out here, we were talking until
they played that last slower song.  We were holding hands, and I was
thinking about wanting to give her a kiss, but then I could hear her
heartbeat.  I'd never noticed someones heartbeat before, and I followed
it.  When I tried to ask her if I could kiss her, she just looked at me
like this and repeated my question.."  Richie shifted his weight, squirming
slightly.  "Mom, did I do this to her?  Did I hurt her somehow?"

        "She'll be fine, sweetie.  Really.  You've just developed another
ability that you didn't have before."

        "Mom?"  When Natalie wrapped her arms around him, he continued,
"I'm turning into..." seeing a mortal couple not too far away, he
whispered, "a real vampire like you and Daddy and Uncle Vachon and the
others, aren't I?  All these changes started happening around the same
time when my friends voices started cracking.  Mine hasn't done that, it's
just getting... stronger and a little deeper without cracking.  But I'm
doing all this weird new stuff instead.  What do I do, Mom?  What do I
do?"

        Nat kissed his forehead and swept his longish hair out of his
eyes.  "I think so, Richie.  And all you can do is learn as much as you
can about things as they develop so that you can live as normal a life as
you can.  Coming to get me was the best thing you could have done."  She
stood up and stepped before Moira, pulling Richie to stand in front of her
even closer to the girl.  "Now, we're going to give her a memory - she's
had a wonderful time here and enjoyed your kiss," Nat ruffled her son's
hair, "but now she's getting a headache and in a few minutes is going to
tell you she needs to go home early in spite of enjoying herself.  You're
going to give her the memory, and I'll walk you through it."  Nat put her
hand on Richie's shoulder and leaned forward to whisper into his ear the
things he'd need to know about whammying as Richie set to work.

----

        It was late July when Tracy got a message left on an answering
machine which was the only way that anyone from their past lives in
Toronto could contact them.  Commissioner Reese requested Tracy call
immediately, regardless of the time, and speak to him about "an urgent
matter."  When Tracy called, she was informed that her father had been in
an accident, that it looked like he'd had a fatal heart attack at the
wheel.  "Of course we won't know for certain until the M.E. gets finished
with him, Tracy, but I thought you should know.  I know you tried to avoid
your dad at times, and I don't know what state your relationship with him
was in when you left, but I didn't know if your ste... if your dad's wife
would have any way to let you know or not."

        Tracy began to cry in spite of herself, so Vachon took the phone
and finished speaking with his wife's one time captain.

        It was a few minutes later when he re-emerged from the study, a
sad smile on his face.  He looked at Natalie, who was holding a sobbing
Tracy, and then at Nick.  "Reese thinks it important for you to go back
for the funeral, Tracy.  And I think under the circumstances, it would
look odd if we didn't all go, since we were all there when... you know."
He flashed back to the memory of Tracy's mother at the morgue but pulled
himself out of that memory very quickly.  "I already told him we'd come
back, and I took the liberty of arranging for the loft to be in a
habitable condition when we get there, since that's the only place big
enough for all of us that's safe.  I hope you don't mind, Nick."

        He smiled wanly and looked at Nick and Nat.  "Now, it's time for
make-up aging lessons before we have to leave, because we have to leave
tomorrow night."

        ***

        As was to be expected, since Tracy had no contact with her dad
since having gone to Ireland, she was virtually left out of the will, with
nearly everything being left to her 9 year old half sister and the child's
mother.  Tracy was left all of her father's police awards, however, and a
box of odds and ends that must have been important to him, although she'd
never seen them before.  It contained photo's and clippings of Tracy
throughout her life up to the point she'd left for Ireland.

        Although they had come to Toronto for Tracy's father's funeral,
during the month they were there, they all made visits with old friends
and co-workers.  Natalie had to arrange a visit with Grace, who was now a
new grandma.  Grace met Natalie at a Dairy Queen store, and after they had
visited for a while, Grace's son and girlfriend and their 2 month old baby
joined them, and they all met up with the rest of Natalie's family for an
evening at the CNE.

        A few nights later Nick, Natalie, and Tracy went to visit
Commissioner Joe Reese.  They arranged that on his next evening off he
and Denise would meet them and Vachon for a late dinner at another Dairy
Queen, then to go to out to a club for a couple of hours while the kids
went to a movie.

        There were other friends and co-workers that they visited with,
while Vachon spent most of their visit showing the kids the sights that
Richie and Bonita didn't remember and Kelsey had never seen.

        The last evening before they headed back home to Ireland, the
members of the 96th who'd been there when Nick and Tracy had left, took
Nick and Tracy's families out for dinner, having arranged for members of
the 96th who had transfered in since to trade shifts as necessary so most
could attend.  They were rather impressed with the children since until
the visit none had known about Kelsey, and Richie and Bonita had been
pre-schooler's at the time they'd last seen them.  One of Tracy's casual
friends from so long ago couldn't get over how they had all begun to pick
up an Irish accent somewhat, and Kelsey's was so strong some had a hard
time understanding her at first.

----

        It was early spring a number of months later as Bonita & Richie
approached their 15th birthday when Tracy's 45th birthday came around.  To
celebrate, Vachon decided to take Tracy to London, just the two of them,
to get away.  Vachon hoped their time away alone would bolster Tracy's
waning morale.  She had put on a few pounds over the years, slowly mind
you, but was now about 25 pounds heavier than when she'd met Vachon back
in Toronto.  She also had a couple of places in her hair where she was
noticing grey, although with her being blonde, no one else was really
noticing it much.  Vachon thought she still was slim and thought there was
nothing wrong with having filled out a little bit after having given birth
to 3 children.  Tracy didn't see it that way, however, and worried she was
'getting fat'.  Vachon smiled, remembering back to new years eve, when
Tracy had made her diet and exercize resolution.

        @>--->--->---

        As Tracy had made her resolution, Natalie had whispered to Urs who
was up with Screed for the holidays, that she was envious of Tracy who had
nothing to worry about.  "The only reason I don't look older than my age
is because of the vampire," she'd explained, "since ladies in my family
tend to age in fits and starts.  Presumably my mom was the same, but since
I was a kid when she died, I don't know.  But both of us would likely have
been like my grandma, looking early 30's from about 25 to somewhere
between 35 and 40, then over the course of a few weeks suddenly looking 50
something.  Then late 50's suddenly looking 70 or so.  I'm enough older
than Tracy that were it not for the vampire, people would probably think I
was her mom and the kids' grandma."

        Tracy had overheard in spite of their whispered conversation but
took it the wrong way.  "I can't help that I'm the only God damned adult
around here that's aging!" She spat, furiously.  "How the hell do you
think *I* feel watching you all in your eternal youth?  It's hard enough
on me as it is without having you two laughing your fat asses off at me
about it!  I don't need this shit!  I thought you were my friends!"  Tracy
began to cry in spite of herself.  "I really thought you were my friend,
Natalie."  She'd left hurriedly for her own bedroom, Vachon close on her
heels to comfort his wife.

        ---<---<---<@

        That was the first that any of them realized Tracy was now
uncomfortable with herself.  Vachon hoped to spoil her in London for her
birthday, and that in doing so, she'd feel better about herself again.

        When they arrived at their hotel, Vachon took her into his arms.
"Tracy, I know you've been upset lately.  I want you to know that I think
you are beautiful.  To me you're more beautiful than the day we met.  I
don't want you to think your gift is because I don't like the way you look
or something.  I do.  To me the changes that have happened to your body
are the result of you giving me some beautiful children, and the only way
I'd dislike the changes would be if I thought the children were a mistake.
They weren't.  But I know *you* are unhappy with yourself now, Tracy, so
this holiday is for you, in the hopes that this will make you feel better
about yourself.  I'm doing this because I love you, and I want *you* to be
happy."  He leaned over and pulled Tracy into his embrace.  "I love you,
Trace.  Happy birthday."

        The first week of their visit to London was spent taking Tracy to
to the best spas, salons, and boutiques London had to offer.  The second
week of their visit they spent seeing all the sights and nightlife that
interested Tracy in the historic city.

        When they returned 2 weeks later, Tracy had once again had her
hair, which had grown out over the years to be almost as long as Natalie's
now waist length waves, cut and styled in a slightly longer version of the
page cut she had worn when she first met Nick, Natalie, and Vachon in
Toronto about 20 years before.  It was slightly longer, being just below
the shoulder rather than shoulder length, but it really did suit her well,
and she'd had her hair coloured to match her own natural colour so the
grey of which she was so aware was covered.  Vachon had purchased a pair
of top of the line french bicycles, because Tracy wanted to start riding
to work for the exercize.  After talking with the dietician at a couple of
the spas, they had recommended more exercize rather than an actual diet
for her, since from their talks they felt she was eating healthy and not
overeating. They had also put together a weight training program designed
to tone and redefine her muscles, and since Vachon had spoken to Nick, by
the time that Vachon and Tracy returned to their home, a weight machine
with all of the apparatus included in Tracy's workout routine had been
delivered to the house.

        With the new make-up and clothing, as well as the total make-over,
Tracy was very pleased when Richie came up to her on her return, hugging
her in greeting, and told her she looked like the way he remembered before
they moved from Toronto.  Vachon had to agree, the make-over, etc. had
made her look close to 10 years younger.

---------

        It was late summer after the twins 15th birthday, when a nurse
came to Natalie's office at the hospital.

        "Sorry to bother you, Natalie, but there's a young lady out here
in the emergency room insisting she needs to see a doctor and equally
insistent she won't see anyone but you.  Do you mind taking another
patient tonight?"

        Natalie smiled wanly.  "Sure, Christine.  If she doesn't look
injured or ill, send her in to my office here.  I have a pretty good
suspicion as to who it probably is."

        As Christine opened the door a few minutes later, Nat spoke
without looking up. "Hi Bonita.  What's the matter?"

        "Natalie, how do you do that?  It's eerie!"  Christine shook her
head as Natalie smiled enigmatically.

        After the nurse had left and closed the door again, Bonita spoke.
"It's the heartbeat, isn't it?  Daddy says each person's heartbeat is
almost like a signature or a fingerprint."

        "Yes.  But that isn't why you came to see me here, is it.  Tell me
what's the matter, Bonita."

        "By me coming here, you have to see me as a patient right?  And
that means you can't go and tell my folks, right?"

        Natalie shook her head.  "Bonita, unless something is life
threatening or of earthshattering importance, even at home if you ask me
to keep your confidence, I will.  I want you to know that."

        "I know, Auntie Nat.  But this way makes it easier for me to know
that.  You know?"  She smiled at Natalie in a way that reminded Natalie of
the <I'm sweet - you don't really want to give me shit> look that Tracy
used to use occasionally on Reese so many years ago when he was annoyed at
her for some reason; usually back then it had been for not knowing where
Nick was.

        "Okay, I'm not going to tell your parents.  Now that you have my
solemn word, will you tell me what's the matter?"

        Bonita looked down at the floor, fidgeting.  "I think I might be
pregnant, Auntie Nat."

        Natalie wasn't really too surprised.  "Well, we can run a test to
find out for sure."  As Natalie wrote up the labwork order, she asked, "If
you are, is it Chris's?"

        "Well... yeah."  Bonita spoke hesitantly.

        "Okay, take this to the lab."  She gave her the directions to get
there. "After that, I want you to come back here and we'll talk.  The test
they use here now takes about 20 minutes.  I've put on the lab request for
them to call my extension with the results."

        ***

        Bonita knocked on the door, pushing it gently when Natalie called,
"Come in."

        "Okay."  Bonita looked rather nervous.  Like she expected to get
into trouble.

        "Bonita, I want you to relax a little.  I am going to ask you some
questions, but they're the very same questions I'd be asking any other
girl your age who came to me for a pregnancy test.  I'm not going to be
any harder.... or any easier... on you because your my niece.  Got that?"

        When Bonita nodded, she continued. "Why were you hesitant to
answer when I asked if the child, if you're pregnant, would be your
boyfriend's?"

        Bonita shrugged, then said in a very quiet whisper directed toward
the floor, "'Cause one time I did it with one of his friends, just to get
even when he was being a jerk, you know?  But I don't think I coulda got
pregnant then 'cause... well, I've had... well, *it's* happened since
then, and it shouldn'ta if I were, right?  So yeah, it'd be Chris's if I
am."

        Natalie sighed, and began her standard safe-sex speech, complete
with the standard "not only are you sleeping with your partner, but you're
effectively sleeping with every partner they've ever had and that each of
those partners has ever had", etc.  Natalie was just finishing her lecture
when the phone rang.

        "de Brabant."  After Natalie listened to the information, she hung
up.  "Well Bonita, you can relax on that score.  You are not pregnant.  If
you're expecting to continue to be sexually active, though, I would like
to get you on birth control pills.  But you need to remember that's
exactly what they are.  Birth control.  They are not STD control pills.
They haven't developed that yet.  So if you are unsure as to where Chris,
or anyone else you might end up with, has been, you still need to make
sure he wraps it.  Understood?"  She gently tapped Bonita's forehead,
eliciting a slight smile as she nodded.  "Good.  But before we can get you
started on the pill, we need to do an exam.  Good idea anyway because we
want to make sure you haven't already picked up anything and just don't
know it yet. Come on, we'll get you into an examining room and into a
gown."

----

        During the year and a half to follow, Natalie followed Richie's
biological and blood chemistry changes with renewed interest.  By the time
Christmas came around when the older kids were 16,  Natalie realized she
had partially been right about her theory way back when she had been so
shocked that first time Tracy had told her she thought she was pregnant,
before Tracy had miscarried.

        Richie had lost the last of the benefits from his human DNA a few
months ago, and his labwork showed him fully vampire now as well.  Natalie
now realized that the effects of the dead virus on Richie WERE like an
immunization, just not in the way she had once anticipated.  Instead of
making the body resistant to infection by the vampire virus, it had held
back the full effects of the vampire until such time as the vampire virus
seemed to consider the host to be physically mature.

        Natalie muttered under her breath as she looked into the
microscope, though no one was around to hear her, "Personally I'd consider
16 a little on the young side, but hey, it obviously doesn't,  and it's
not like there's anything I can do about that."

        It was now obvious under the microscope that the vampiric DNA was
asserting dominance over the human DNA, and that symptomatically, Richie
was now fully vampire.  Natalie speculated that as the vampire genetic
code strengthened, Richie's abilites, which were currently on par with her
own, would probably strengthen right along with it.  Of course, this was
just an educated guess, but she felt certain enough about it that if
something else different were to happen, she would be extremely surprised.

        Natalie was even more sure as time passed, since by the twins'
17th birthday, Richie's abilites were beginning to surpass her own,
although her learned skill with using them was still beyond her son's.

---------

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
		     ------AUTHOR'S NOTE------
For this PG version I don't know how to rewrite it without the severe
language and graphic violence that caused me to put the original
version as ADULT...  So what I'm going to do is put one section with
little arrows (--> ) at the beginning of each line and sumarize what
transpires without the course language or graphic nature.  Hope this
makes sense.  -Micki
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

        It was ony a few days after Kelsey's 12th birthday and little more
than a month past the twins' 17th, when Natalie had another visit at work.

        Christine came into the room where Natalie was stitching up some
nasty looking cuts and punctures in a teenage boy's arm caused by getting
stepped on with metal cleats when he slipped and fell during a soccer
game.  "Sorry to interrupt, Doctor, but you've someone asking to see you.
Did you want me to take her to your office again?"

        Natalie smiled.  Christine had such a wonderful knack of telling
you things in a professional manner without telling your other patients
anything and still without having to be rude and whisper.  "Sure.  Tell
her I'll be there when I'm finished up here.  We're just about done."

        A few minutes later, Natalie entered her office.  "Hi Bonita.
What's th..."  She didn't get a chance to finish before she was cut off.

        "Auntie Nat...  I need to see you.  I'm really scared this time.
I..."  Bonita grabbed a tissue from Natalie's desk and wiped her tears.
"I think I messed up really bad."

        Natalie pulled her chair around so as to sit beside her distraught
niece and pulled her into a hug.  "Tell me."

        "Well, I messed up one month on those pills...  But only missed a
couple of days so I wasn't too worried.  When it didn't happen, I just
figured because it's a hormone that missing it had screwed me up, you
know?  Well, the next one should have started on Kel's birthday, but it
still hasn't and I didn't mess up this time on them, I was really careful.
I'm scared, Auntie Nat.  I'm really scared now."  Bonita began sobbing and
leaned in to Natalie's embrace.

        After a few minutes, Bonita pulled herself together.  "Don't tell
anyone I was crying... please?  I don't want anyone else to know.  I gotta
stay tough, you know?"

        "I promise I'll not tell, Bonita."  Natalie stroked the girls face
and pushed some of her wild locks from her eyes.  "Now we need to send you
down for a test.  Will you be okay?"  Natalie was concerned about how
Bonita's tough facade was crumbling away tonight.  Even as a baby she'd
been `tough' and could handle anything.  It was strange to see this girl
cry, and it worried her a little.

        "Yeah, I'll be fine."  She wiped her face once more and suddenly
put on a nonchalant mask as she reached for the paper to take to the lab.
"Want me to come back here again after?"

        "Please do, Bonita."

        "'Kay, back in a few."  She waved at Natalie then turned and
hurried down the hall.

        After Bonita got back, Nat took her to the cafeteria, having noted
on the req for them to page her to phone for the results.  While Bonita
sat eating her cheesburger from the Doctor's Cafeteria, the page for her
to call was announced.  "Want to bring it with you to my office, Honey?"

        Bonita nodded, and they headed back.  When they were back in the
office with the door securely closed behind them, Natalie called.

        After she got off the phone, Natalie put her hand on Bonita's
shoulder.  "I want you to stop taking the pills, Bonita.  You were right,
Sweetie, you are pregnant."  She watched as Bonita sat the last of her
burger down on her fries and began sobbing into her hands.  "Don't tell
mom.  Please don't tell mom.  She'll kill me!"

        "She wouldn't kill you, Sweetie.  She won't be happy, but she
won't kill you.  You really should talk to her."

        "No way!  Mom's too old and stodgy.  She doesn't know what it's
like to be young!  It's so much different now from when she was young!
I'm not talking to her 'bout this.  No way.  She'll kill me!"

        Natalie bit her lip and tried not to laugh.  She could picture a
young Tracy having the same reaction to telling her Dad if this had
happened to her at that age.  "Okay, so what about your dad?"

        "He won't be pleased, but I don't think he'd kill me.  He's pretty
cool as far as parents go.  Most of my friends think both him and Mom are
pretty cool, but they don't know her.  I think Dad can handle it."

        "Okay, want me to phone him and get him to come down?"  Then you
can talk with him.  Your mom'll have to know, but maybe he'll be there
with you when you tell her."

        "Yeah...  Okay.  I wish she didn't have to know.  I wish nobody
had to know."

        About 5 minutes after Natalie called Vachon, he arrived at the
hospital and was shown in to her office.  As soon as Christine closed the
door, Bonita stood and hugged her father tightly and began crying again.

        "Do you want to tell him, Sweetie, or do you want me to?"

        In answer, Bonita stepped back away from her dad and looked down
at the floor.  "Daddy, I'm sorry.  I...  I'm pregnant.  Don't let mom
kill me!"

        Vachon was stunned.  He pulled his daughter to him and wrapped his
arms around her and stood blinking.  ~Why would she think Tracy would kill
her?~, ~My little girl?  pregnant?~, and ~I'm going to be a grandfather?~
all ran through his head, but instead he looked at Natalie and asked,
"You're sure?"  After he saw Natalie nod, he stepped slightly back from
his daughter and turned her face towards him.  "How'd this happen,
Bonita?"

        Natalie looked at Bonita, smiled, and asked her, "So why is it that
a good number of the fathers or uncles or other concerned *males* ask that
question when some relative get's pregnant?"  Bonita giggled, though it
sounded like she was also about to cry again.

        Natalie nodded and gestured to the chairs in her office, sitting
in her own chair as they both sat.  "Bonita needs to decide what she's
going to do.  Educated guess, I'd put her about 6 or possibly 7 weeks
along."  She lowered her voice to a bare whisper, "Abortions aren't done
here, but there are other places they are, so that is an option.  If it's
what she chooses, it'll have to be really soon because arrangements have to
be made, and it's not good to do them past 3 months.  Or she can carry it
and keep it, or carry it and give it up for adoption.  But it has to be her
decision, and I think you and Tracy too.  She's scared to tell Trace."

        Bonita looked up at her dad.  "Will you tell her for me?  And
there is no choice for me.  I couldn't get rid of it, and by the time I
carry it 9 months I'll be attached to it, so I won't want to adopt it
out."

        "Let's go tell her together?"  He looked at Natalie.  "So when is
she due?"

        "Like I said, it's best guess right now.  But I'd estimate mid
February.  She's still got a long way to go."  Natalie stood and gave both
of them a hug.  "It'll be okay, Bonita.  You'll see."  Then she watched as
they left.

----

        It was about a week into July when Bonita arranged to meet Chris
alone, without the gang he usually hung out with.  It was late afternoon
on a bright sunny day, and they had met in a somewhat deserted area of a
local park; deserted for the reason that come dusk it turned into a sort
of lovers stroll area, but being that this time of day were mostly people
with families and this area had no picnic sites nor playground equipment,
the families were elsewhere.

        As Bonita got off her bike, Chris pulled up and climbed off his
own and pulled Bonita into an embrace, kissing her deeply.  She pulled
gently away and took his hand, leading him towards the railing from which
they could see the pond and the children playing on the far side of it.

        "Hey Bon, I know you know I like it when there's a risk of
discovery, but isn't this a little too public for you?  You've never been
this brave before."  Chris began to unbutton Bonita's blouse, but she put
her hand over his, stopping him.

        "I need to talk to you, Chris."

        "Talk?  About what?  We're good together.  What's there to talk
about?"

        "Chris, I...  I...  I went to the doctor.  I'm going to have a
baby, Chris...  Your baby..."


-->
--> Chris beats the living daylights out of Bonita, accuses her of the
--> child being someone elses, and leaves after trying to cause her to
--> miscarry.
-->


        Bonita lay in the dirt, sobbing from both the physical and
emotional pain for several minutes before a young man came running into the
clearing along the path.  "My kids were playing by the water and saw him
attack you.  I've called the ambulance, and my wife is waiting to direct
them over.  Are you okay?"

        Bonita shook her head, sobbing.  "No.  No ambulance."  She winced
with the pain of breathing.  "Take... me... home... Aunt... is a...
doctor... we... live with... them."

        "It's not a good idea to move someone with such bad injuries.  I
gotta send you to the hospital.  I've got a cel, you want me to call your
family?"

        Bonita nodded, slightly.  "Most.. work night... might... not... be
up."  Bonita told him the number that was only known to family and passed
out before he finished dialing.

        ***

        When Bonita awoke, she was in the hospital, the nurse Christine
sitting beside her.  She tried to speak, but her throat was too dry.
"Wat..er," she rasped, and Christine jumped, surprised she was awake yet.

        She filled a cup with water, put a flexible straw in it, and held
it where Bonita could sip.  "Can you tell me your name, dear?"

        "Bonita," she spoke groggily and hoarsely, but clearly.

        "Do you know why you're here?"

        "Chris... he beat me up for being pregnant...  God, my stomach...
he kicked me... my baby?"

        "Natalie phoned and told us you were pregnant.  As far as the baby
goes, you should be fine, but we've started you on a medicine to help
insure traumatized pregnant patients don't miscarry.  You'll also need to
stay in bed for while.  He kicked you higher on your abdomen and broke a
couple of ribs.  You're going to be pretty sore for a while, dear.  Your
nose was also broken but they think it'll set straight.  Your mom is
already driving in, and Natalie is arranging for some time off so that once
we know you're okay to be moved, she can care for you at home.  She says
she and the rest of your family will be in as soon as possible.  But your
mother should be here soon."  Christine looked at her watch and began
taking vitals again now that Bonita had woken.

        ***

        She had only been in the hospital for a couple of days, but it had
been longer than she cared for.  Now she had been lying in her bedroom for
3 days, Tracy and a couple of the servants doting on her during the day,
Natalie and the rest of the family at night.  Tonight she was angry.  Not
at her family but at her decidedly ex-boyfriend.  "What a jerk," she said
under her breath as she reached for the telephone and dialed.

        ***

        Urs answered the phone and was surprised that Bonita was calling.
"Hi Bonita.  You sound... tired?  Are you okay?"

        "No."  As Bonita began to cry on the phone, Urs grew very worried.

        "What's the matter?"

        "Auntie Urs, do you know how I can get hold of Screed?  It's
really important."  Bonita sniffled.

        "He's here.  Wait, I'll put him on."  Holding her hand over the
mouthpiece of the handset, she spoke, "Screed, Bonita.  She wants to talk
to you, and she's crying."

        As Screed stood and walked toward the phone, he said to Urs, "Wot,
me litt'o Boni cry?  Never!  Mus' be bad, poor girl, mus' be right bad."
Taking the receiver from Urs, he spoke into the phone.  "Wot's a matter
wit me litt'o Boni, now?  You okay?"

        "Uncle Screed, I'm pregnant, and when I went and told Chris, he
beat me up so bad I was in the hospital, and if Natalie wasn't a doctor
I'd still be there."  She started sobbing hard, while Screed made soft
comforting cooing sounds into the phone.  After a minute or so, she
continued, "Chris took off."  She elaborated when Screed prompted, on what
exactly Chris had said and done, filling in the whole picture for him.

        As Bonita and Screed spoke, Urs was watching Screed's eyes change
and his fangs drop.  She didn't know what Bonita was telling him, but she
had never seen him this angry in the hundred or so years she'd known him.

        When he hung up, he turned to Urs.  "Still got 'at snap-a-roonie
of Boni and Chris from yer last litt'o visit?"  When Urs pulled it out
and handed it to him, he replied, "Oh, goody...  'at's a nice clear glossy
of the bloke, 'tis.  Oi'll be needin' 'at a while."  He took the photo
and disappeared.

---------

        Screed found the London branch of the gang by matching it's
colours to those worn by Chris in the photo.  From there it was little
work to 'convince' the leader he owed Screed a big enough favour from a
few years ago to tell him where he could find Chris.  Although the
carouche wasn't as adept at whammying as the so-called 'real' vampires
were, he could still pull this off.  He was just glad the fellow wasn't a
resistor.  Of course, it was just a matter of convincing him of the past
favour.  Screed knew enough people from that crowd over the years to know
they had their own code, and so as soon as he convinced the fellow of the
owed debt, he released his control.

        "So wot d'ya want wit 'im, anyway?" the man had then asked, in the
same accent as Screed.

        "Me niece is... was a member in Dublin.  'e got 'er pregnant.
'at's their business, even if she is a kid.  Bot 'e put 'er in a
'ospital, 'e did, after 'e beat 'er an' tried to git 'er to miscarry.
'at's crossin' family, 'tis."

        "Your niece was a member?  She wasn't just 'is doll?"

        Screed produced the photo of Chris and Bonita both in matching
jackets, though he wasn't certain if the jacket she wore was her own or
not.  "Wot d'ya think, mate?"

        The gang leader looked at the photo, frowning.  "Wan' some 'elp on
'im?"  When Screed shook his head, the fellow went on, "Yeah, family.  I
know.  Bot I 'ave a favour...  Bring me 'is jacket..  If 'e lives an'
comes lookin' fer it, 'e'll 'ave to see me, and I'll 'ave a thing or two
to *say* to 'im meself."  He gave Screed the address willingly.

----

        Summer passed, and Bonita had recovered from her physical
injuries.  She was still deeply troubled by the beating, however, and had
frequent nightmares about it in one form or another.  Sometimes she was
just reliving it as it actually happened, sometimes it went further and he
killed her or did make her miscarry, and sometimes they were even worse.

        By mid September Vachon and Tracy felt that a little holiday might
make things a little easier for her.  After speaking with Urs and Natalie
since Nat was her doctor, they decided to send her to stay with Urs for a
little while in London.  Nick presented Bonita with an international debit
card of the type that was now beginning to replace traveller's cheques at
many banks, with 50,000 pounds on it.  Of course, they could be used to
draw funds in whatever currency the machine they were being used in dealt
with.  That was the big draw with them.  He had kissed her and told her not
to ask when she had asked him how much was on it.

        After she had left, Nick had phoned Urs and told her how much he'd
given her, and that both Bonita and Urs were to spend it frivolously, but
that he wanted to see Bonita come home with at least a few items of
designer maternity clothing, now that the girl was beginning to show. Nick
figured from all he had heard that if shopping was supposed to be
therapeutic for many women, then he'd indulge them.

        ***

        It was Bonita's 3rd day with Urs when her the nightmare hit.  Both
Screed, who was staying in Urs' basement for the duration of Bonita's
visit, and Urs woke up to a horrible thrashing and screaming coming from
the livingroom.  Urs got there first and realized Bonita was dreaming.
She was already trying to wake her when Screed came in.  Just then her
eyes flew open, wild in their terror.  Both Screed and Urs were trying to
comfort her, as she slowly realized that whatever had been terrorizing her
was just a dream.  She clung to Screed, sobbing.

        "Tell me, Boni, me litt'o chick-a-dee, wot it is wot's frightened
ya so?"  He sat rocking her, stroking her wild dark hair and pushing it's
tangled locks from her eyes.

        Bonita sobbed.  "I dreamt I already had the baby."  She stopped
and took a drink from the glass Urs handed her, then continued, "My baby
was just a couple of weeks old when Chris came back.  In my dream I wasn't
living at home, or if I was, they were all away or something."  Bonita
frowned, trying to recall her nighmare before it slipped away completely.
"Someone knocked at the door, and I opened it.  It was Chris.  He came in,
pushed his way in because I tried to stop him.  He was trying to kill the
baby."  Bonita started sobbing against Screed's chest.  "I'm so scared.
What if he comes back?  What if that's not just a nightmare, what if he
really does come back, you know, a premonition?  I won't let him kill my
baby!"  Tears streamed down her cheeks, spattering both Screed's shirt and
her own.

        "Bonita, I'm only going to tell you this once."  Screed looked up
at Urs who was shaking her head in the background.  "Ya don't 'ave ta
worry about 'at.  Chris'll never come back an' 'urt ya or yer litt'o baby
ever again.  Never.  Do ya unnerstan'?  Never again."

        Bonita looked at Screed, wide-eyed, her expression eerily like one
of her father's.  "Screed?  What did you do?  Is he dead?"  Bonita was
trying to imagine what Screed would have done, since she knew he preferred
rat blood to human.

        "Doesn' matter, me litt'o sweetlin'.  He won't be a-botherin' ya
ever again.  'At's all wot matters."  Screed kissed her cheek.  "Oi'll
stay 'ere wit' ya while ya sleep if you like.  I gotta look after me
litt'o Boni right."  He moved to the end of the sofa and tucked her pillow
against his hip.  "'ere now, ya put yer 'ead down on tha' pillow and tuck
yerself in, an' Oi'll be right 'ere if ya needs me."

        ***

        By the time Bonita returned in early October, her nightmares had
stopped, and she was in a much better frame of mind.  True to Nick's
instructions, Urs had taken Bonita shopping and out to see the cultured
side of London's nightlife.  They had gone to several plays, seen a couple
of concerts, and shopped like Bonita had never shopped before.  Urs
wouldn't tell her how much was on the card either, although she did tell
Bonita she didn't need to worry about 'can I afford this' at any of the
shops they went to.  Urs told Bonita she was keeping track and not to
worry, she'd let her know *if* she needed to cut her spending, but Bonita
never heard.

        When she returned, she had a half dozen designer maternity outfits
as well as many non-designer ones, and surprising to all of the family was
the fact that there was no bike leathers in the ensemble.  One biker-style
jacket, but the dressy style rather than an actual one for wearing on the
road.

----

        It was Christmas time again, December 17th, and preparations were
well underway.  Screed and Urs had come up for the holidays, and Bonita
was very excited about seeing them again.

        Tracy was sitting on the sofa, feeling very tired.  One of the
house staff came in looking for her, but stopped when they saw her, their
question forgotten.  "Excuse me, Tracy, but are ya okay?  You're not
looking well.  You haven't really looked proper for a few weeks.  Is there
anything I can do?"  The older woman stood looking at Tracy, worriedly.

        "I'll be fine, thanks.  I think maybe I'm just fighting a flu or
something."

        The woman walked over and pressed her hand to Tracy's forehead.
"Ya don't feel hot or anything, dear.  Can I get you anything?"  When
Tracy shook her head, she left, now in search of the doctor.

        ***

        "Natalie, I don't need to go to the hospital for tests.  Really.
I don't."  Tracy looked at her with the same look she once use for Reese
when she thought she was about to get in trouble.

        Natalie opened the car door.  "Yes, Tracy, you do.  And I'm not
going to let you ruin my reputation by doing something rash like dying or
having a heart attack on me when you live in the same house.  What do you
think my co-workers would think?"  Natalie knew that Tracy still, after
all this time, related well to what other people thought and figured she'd
argue a little less.

        Once they got to the hospital, Natalie sent Tracy to see the heart
specialist.  After a whole battery of tests, he came to the same
conclusion Natalie had by allowing her vampiric sense free roam with her
medical knowledge: Tracy had developed a heart condition for which she
would need to take medication, and until they knew if the medication had
stablized it, would need to really watch her activites so as not to push
herself too hard.

        They drove most of the way home in silence, before Tracy finally
began to speak.  "Nat...  I'm getting old, aren't I?  I mean, my uncle
Sonny, he was around 40 when he first started having trouble with his
heart.  And you know what happened to him.  When I saw my brother at my
dad's funeral, he had to take something for his heart at one point.  It's
our family's way of our bodies telling us we're old isn't it?  What about
Bonita and Kelsey?  Will they end up sick like this too?  Maybe I
shouldn't have had them?  This isn't fair to them."  Tracy began to cry,
so Natalie pulled the car over and hugged her.  Once Tracy seemed okay
again, she resumed their homeward drive.

        "First off, Tracy, many people have heart conditions, whether
they're older or not.  I don't think your uncle's was caught in it's early
stage from what I understand, and that might have made a difference.  But
even if you are right, you've got to look at it this way, and I'm talking
about from your own perspective here, not from worrying about your kids.
 -Do you regret any of the choices or decisions you've made?  Any of
them?-"

        "No.  I love being a mom, and I love Vachon very much.  I don't
think I'd be as happy as I am if I'd ended up with anyone else.  I just
can't imagine being with anyone else.  I wouldn't want anyone else to be
my kids' dad."

        "So you wouldn't change anything?"

        "No.  Well, yeah, there's always the things that if you had more
information at the time you might have handled differently, but I don't
think that's what you mean.  You mean choices like marrying a vampire,
having a family, being a cop, choosing to stop being a cop because of the
kids.  Those sorts of things, right?"  When Natalie nodded, she answered
again, "No.  I'm happy with my life, that way.  I just don't like getting
old.  First Bonita's pregnancy.  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about
being a grandma, but it's scarry too.  Grandparents are a symbol of age.
Now my heart.  I don't want to get old, Nat."

        "Trace, there's always the other option, the one you don't like to
think about.  It would fix any ailments, like your heart.  And it'll stop
you from aging.  But you've always purported to want to stay mortal.  If
these things are that important to you, it might be time to re-evaluate if
you still feel that way now in light of... recent developments.  But
that's something only you can decide.  In the meantime, keep on your
medicine.  You don't want to screw that up and then decide to stay as you
are.  But it's something you'll want to think about and that you'll want
to talk about with Vachon at least, maybe your family too."

        As they climbed out of the car at their home, Kelsey came running
out to meet them.  "Mom, Mom!"  She threw her arms around Tracy and hugged
her tightly.  "Are you okay?"

        "I'll be fine, Kelsey.  I'm just a little tired is all."

        "While you were out, Corey phoned.  He's the younger brother of
one of Richie's friends."  Kelsey blushed slightly.  "He wants to know if
I can go see a movie with him tonight.  Daddy said I'd have to ask you."

        Tracy looked at Natalie.  "It's inevitable, isn't it?"  When Nat
nodded her agreement, she sighed and turned back to her younger daughter.
"So what happened to boys being yucky and wanting to get a scholarship to
medical school, hum?"

        "I can still do that, Mom.  We're just talking about a date...
sorta.  I'm not planning to go and marry him or anything!  I still want to
be a doctor like Auntie Nat."

        "Yeah, go ahead.  But I want you to phone your dad after the
movie.  Maybe he'll take you guys for pop or something."  After Kelsey ran
off back into the house ahead of them, Tracy turned to Natalie.  "I *am*
old, Nat.  Kel's going on a date.  Bonita used to be the one we had to
watch out for... Kel hated boys and has been studying extra hard in hopes
of a scholarship to medical school... Now she's going on a date."  She
shook her head and headed towards their wing of the house when they
entered, away from the common area.

        ***

        Between Christmas and New Years Eve, Tracy seemed somewhat
distant.  She seemed to enjoy the company and companionaship of those who
sought her out, but unless someone went out of their way to encourage and
include her in their activities, Tracy seemed alone and rather
introspective.  Slightly after midnight of what would make it technically
New Years Eve, Tracy asked Vachon to go for a walk with her.  After
bundling up for the weather, they headed out towards the little brook that
ran through one of the pastures.

        Once away from the rest of the family, Tracy spoke.  "Vachon...
I've been doing a lot of thinking this past little while..."

        "I know."  He kissed her nose, gently.  "And?"

        "The kids are getting so grown.  Boni's going to be a mom soon
herself.  Kel has herself a boyfriend now, of sorts.  I know she says
otherwise still, but you've seen how she practically glows when he calls
or she speaks of him.  My babies aren't babies anymore."  Tracy shivered,
and Vachon couldn't tell if it was only because of the chill air.  "I'm
nearly 50, Hon.  You've been making yourself look older to match me for my
benefit, but..."  She saw her husband open his mouth but put her finger
over his lips and continued, "I know...  You, Nat, even Nick say I look
more like 40 than 50, but I'm still closer to 50 whether you guys think I
look it or not.  Now this thing with my heart.  I'm really scared.  I want
to live to see my grandkids grow up.  I want to see Kel's children when
she has them, though I hope she waits til she's a little older than her
sister...  I don't know if that'll happen.  I'm tired all the time.  If we
didn't own the pub, if I was working there rather than being able to hire
the help I need with it, I'd have to quit or take a leave of some sort.
I..."  Tears began to form in her eyes and course down her cheeks.  "I
guess the main reason I always said no before to becoming a... " Tracy
looked at Vachon, blushing slightly after all this time as she whispered,
"a vampire," her voice rose back to normal.  "I guess a big part of it is
because I'm scared of it...  of what I'll become.  What if I can't handle
it?  But now I have to face other fears.  What if my heart gets worse
quickly?  What if I don't live to see my grandchildren, never mind see
them grow up?  I have to look at which is more important to me...."  Tracy
took her husband's hand and pulled it tightly around her.  "I think, if
you don't mind having an old lady for a fledgeling, I think I'm more
scared of not seeing my kids live out their lives."  Her tears ran freely
down her cheeks, unchecked.  "I'm still scared, but will you...  will you
bring me over?"  Tracy put her head against Vachon's shoulder and cried.

        "You'll never be an 'old lady', Trace.  But yeah.  If you're sure
that's what you want.  Do you want time to get things in order?"

        "Not really.  I think I'm better to just do it and get it done."

        "You want to do it tonight?"

        "Yeah.  Make it a New Year in more ways than one.  Let's go home?"

        In answer Vachon picked her up and flew back to the house with
her, touring the estate slightly in the process.  "Next time you won't
need me to carry you, Trace, unless you want to be carried."

 ---------

        As soon as Tracy had adjusted to the bare basics of life as a
vampire, she and Vachon spent a couple of weeks with Urs in London so that
when she returned looking younger, she could say she'd been to a 'health
clinic' in London.  Let people think that the light wrinkles that had
begun to form on her face had been removed by the new medical procedure
that everyone was raving about.  They needn't know that in truth the
circles below her eyes had disappeared once the vampire had 'fixed' her
heart and she was no longer constantly tired, or that the wrinkles, with
the exception of a few little laugh lines, had almost spontaneously
disappeared because they had only just begun to develop, and as such, her
skin was not yet etched beyond what the vampire could repair.  Tracy's
greatest relief, however, had nothing to do with the physical benefits or
the fact that she now looked a healthy early 30some; it was the fact that
since she had become a denizen of the night, she didn't have to worry
about being left behind, growing old, and dying alone.  Vachon wasn't
certain if Tracy was even aware of this fear, but he'd know it from her
blood when he had drained her and brought her across into his world.

----

        From about the time that Bonita had begun to be noticeably
pregnant, Richie's friend, Patrick, had begun to dote on her, and by about
the time that Bonita's parents returned from London, they had begun to
date.  As a result, it came as no surprise that when Bonita delivered a
healthy baby boy on Valentine's Day, she chose to name him Patrick Michael
Vasquez. Anyone seeing Patrick and Bonita with 'litle Paddy', unless they
had reason to know otherwise, were congratulating the young couple on
'their' new baby.  He was little, at 6 pounds even, and had dark hair like
his mother, although his seemed to have a hint of reddish highlights.
Patrick was quite pleased by this since although little Paddy got them
from Chris, he had the same reddish tones and was quite pleased whenever
people would assume the child his.

         By the end of February, there was once again discussion of
'moving on'.  Bonita wanted to stay with her family, but she also wanted
Patrick in her life since things had gotten pretty serious between them,
and he had taken to calling himself "Daddy" or "Da" to little Paddy.
After a lengthy discussion with Richie during which she told him she and
Patrick were even talking, though just talking, of maybe getting married,
they decided to take Patrick out for a midnight barbeque.  Once they got
out to the lake, Bonita decided that it would be warm enough for little
Paddy so long as he was bundled up for the chill.  As Richie set about
preparing the hibatchi and lit it carefully, Bonita sat in the back of the
car beside the basinette and changed Paddy before bundling him up to go
outside.  She strapped on the snuggly and placed the sleeping baby in it
then walked over to join the other two.

        Richie looked up, and Bonita nodded as she watched him place some
weiners on the grill.  She sat beside Patrick on the log they were using
as a bench.  After her discussion with Richie, they decided that the best
way to tell him would be pretty bluntly, but let him see the proof at the
time, much like the tale they had both heard of Nick & Nat's first meeting,
although in a more relaxed environ.

        Richie saw them sitting and knew it was time.  He let his eyes
glow slightly and his teeth drop.  Turning towards them, he asked with
only a slight lisp past his fangs, "Phatrig, will you take thith over?
I'm getting hungry mythelf and I need to feed.."

        Patrick jumped up, startled, but Bonita put her hand on his arm.
"It's okay, Patrick.  Really."

        "Holy Mary!  What in the hell is this?  Some sort of sick joke?"
He eyed the two skeptically, then turned to Bonita.  "You're alright with
this?  I don't know what's going on but you do and it's okay with you?"

        "You know how Richie was adopted by Nick and Natalie because he
was sick as a baby?  This is why.  They were better able to look after him
than my mom was."  She knew Patrick loved puzzles so waited giving him
time to begin putting it together.

        "They're like that too?"  Patrick asked after a moment.  When
Bonita nodded, he added, "and your dad I assume?  But you and your mom
aren't, what about your little sister?"

        "Kel isn't, but mom is now."

        He watched, stunned, as Richie came back from the car with a
blood-bag, sunk his teeth into it, and drank.  When he'd emptied it, his
fangs receded, and his eyes returned to their normal colour.  "Was that
really blood?" he asked.

        Bonita answered, smiling.  "Yes.  They don't *have* to kill now,
you know.  Except in a real emergency, maybe.  And it's not like lots of
people believe. They can't turn into bats or mist or stuff."

        "Vampires?  You're telling me your whole family is vampires?"
Patrick plunked back onto the log while Richie put the weiners into buns
and added cheese and some slices of cooked bacon he'd packed.  Richie
handed Patrick and Bonita both hot dogs, then sat beside his sister.

        "Yeah.  None of us should have happened because mom shouldn't have
been able to get pregnant from my dad as I understand, but she did and
we're here.  Richie was the only one born with the condition though.  But
neither me nor Kel have the vampiric genetics."

        Richie added, "Ever wondered why you never see me eat anything
besides ice cream things?  Well, now you know.  Dairy is the only thing we
can tolerate besides blood, some more than others.  I was like this when I
met you, Patrick.  Some of my abilities didn't develop into useable skills
until I hit puberty, but I'm still the same person you met and became
friends with.  We're not supposed to be telling you any of this you know."

        "Then why are you?  Aren't you scared I'll tell others?"

        "Without seeing it, who's going to believe in vampires?  But
there's more than that.  I trust you.  My sister loves you, and I think you
love her and little Paddy.  We're going to have to move soon.  A bunch of
people who don't age can't stay in any one place too long or they draw
attention to themselves.  We have to move... soon."

        Paddy woke and started to cry.  Bonita reached under the snuggly,
opened her jacket and blouse, then unbuttoned a little flap in the
underside of the snuggly which allowed her to nurse him.  Her son latched
onto her firmly, very hungry tonight.  "I asked Richie to tell you so
you'd know.  That way when we have to go, you'll know why..."  She reached
out and grasped her boyfriend's hand, "and maybe if you think you can
handle living with a pack of vampires, maybe you can come too?  I hope
you'll consider it because I know I love you and I know Paddy does too.
Think about it, but figure it out soon because we'll have to leave very
soon and if you want to come along, preparations for you will need to be
made too.  Bonita slid under Patrick's arm and snuggled against him as she
fed her son.

----

        They were all ready to leave by early July, except for Tracy and
Vachon who had to stay a little longer to make new arrangements after the
buyer for their pub fell through.  They would be following as soon as they
could, however.  Patrick was making plans to legally adopt Paddy once he
and Bonita, whom he'd proposed to on her 18th birthday, were married.

        Urs and Screed were making plans to follow as well, although
exactly when no one but them knew, if even they.

        Nick and Natalie settled onto a farm just a little outside of
Perth, which had several houses on it as well as accommodations that
reminded Nat of university dorms for the farmhands.  Natalie wasn't having
trouble calling their accommodations a bunkhouse, but she was having a
hard time getting used to calling the farmhands jackaroos.  She'd been
told that women in that occupation were jillaroos, but there were none
on their farm when they took ownership.  Nick had already arranged that
he, Nat, and Richie would have one of the houses, another for Tracy,
Vachon, and Kelsey, although Kel was staying with them until her parents
came out, and a third was now occupied by Patrick and Bonita with little
Paddy.  There was a small guest house as well, which they expected Screed
and Urs would inhabit whenever they were around.  There was also a trailer
on the property not far from the bunkhouse, which belonged to an older
couple.  He was the foreman of the Jackaroos, and his wife cooked for 'the
boys' and generally looked after the cookhouse.

        Their new identities, in spite of Nick's protests to Aristotle
that it would be too hard for Natalie yet, were as Nathan and Nicoleen
Chevalier.  Nick had no doubt that LaCroix had called in a favour of some
sort for Aristotle to be that unrelenting on the names this time around.
Nick was quite pleased and quite surprised with the way Natalie took it in
stride.  She had said "Colleen, I guess I'll go by.  I had a cousin I lost
contact with after my parents died whose name was Colleen.  I can handle
it Nick.  Don't worry."  And Natalie was able to handle it well.  She'd
read over the identity information Aristotle gave them, for all of them,
and memorized it all.  Richie was no longer Richie; he was Erik, their
nephew whom they took in when his mother Nicolette, Nicoleen's twin, died
in a traffic accident when the boy was 2.  Aristotle had arranged new
identities for Tracy and Vachon as well: Teresita and Juan Valdez.  Nick
smiled thinking about Tracy's reaction to that when they had first gotten
their identity package from Aristotle before leaving Ireland.  "Juan
Valdez!  Who in the hell is going to believe that?  Anyone who drinks
coffee will laugh their asses off!  Jeez...  And Teresita?  What kind of
name is that?"  Nick couldn't help but smirk when Vachon had told her it
was one of the Spanish forms of her own name, and she had turned bright red
and began apologizing to her husband.  Nick knew that if someone had told
him 25ish years ago when he'd first been partnered with her, that she'd be
a vampire now and she, the spaniard, and the carouche would be more his
family than his own maker or sister, he'd have thought the person telling
him was crazy.

        With a little bit of whammying to assist his credentials of having
gone through a police academy elsewhere prior to moving to Australia, Nick
was able to get on with the local police department, although the only
position available on steady nights was at the central dispatch.  They did
transfer him from desk duty to traffic violations about 6 weeks later when
someone retired from there.  Natalie was settling into a teaching post,
teaching forensic pathology at the University of Western Australia.

        Tracy and Vachon were finally able to come out in early September.
They settled into their new home on the ranch with Kelsey, though they
found it a little quiet without Bonita under the same roof.  Tracy was
glad of the changes that her elder daughter had undergone, seeming so much
more mature and much less wild, although she was unsure if it were
motherhood or the beating that had caused her to change.  Either way Tracy
was pleasantly surprised by the maturity she saw in Bonita on her arrival.

        After a month relaxing and doing nothing, Tracy decided she really
missed being a cop and decided to see if she could also get on with the
local police.  She was initially told there were no positions available,
but when told she had gone to the same academy as Nick had, said they'd keep
her in mind.  A few weeks later after a vehicle accident because of a high
speed chase, one officer had died and another on long term disability, Tracy
was contacted and hired.  She was a little dissappointed not to be partnered
with Nick, until she found out that they didn't have the partner system that
she had known in Toronto.  Being that she was at the same precinct that Nick
had been transfered to after his brief stint answering phone calls, it did
mean that they were able to work together sometimes, however, which helped
make it easier to hide their true natures from the other officers.

----

        Urs and Screed showed up for Christmas, and having known Vachon
much longer than Tracy, Nick, or Natalie had, were not fooled by his
innocent expression.  Urs drew Vachon aside.  "Tell me, Vachon.  You've
got something planned."

        "It's a surprise.  You won't tell anyone, especially Trace?"
When Urs looked at him that way, he knew she'd never betray his trust, so
smiled and continued, explaining the store he was in the process of buying
out, and how once he actually owned it, it would run at night too with a
manager and a few staff during the day and himself and an employee at
night.

        "Urs had looked at him aghast, "You!  Really?  No way!  You're
pulling my leg, right?"  When he shook his head indicating the negative,
she had burst out laughing. "No one will believe it!  Screed will think
you're crazy, you know.  Where did that idea come from?"

        Vachon had only shrugged.

        ***

        It was only a few weeks into January when he did anounce to the
rest of the family that he'd bought a store and made some changes to the
way it was running.  Since it was in Fremantle, he explained, he figured it
would be a good market for 24hour operation and took them to see it.  It
was a bookstore with an attached coffee shop patterned after a large
American chain although smaller and nothing to do with it.  The focal point
of the coffee bar area seemed to be a capuccino machine that given the rosy
glow of the light above, seemed to reflect dark pink.  He called over a
woman for introductions.  "This is my wife, Teresita, my cousin Nathan, and
his wife Nicoleen.  Like me, they all have nicknames so you'll likely hear
them as Trace, Nick, and N.. er.. Colleen."  He smiled, shaking his head
and introduced his staff.  "This is Anne, and she'll be working the nights
with me."

        Natalie smiled, seeing Tracy's expression.  Anne was fairly short
with long dark hair.  It was obvious that she really admired Vachon, and
Tracy seemed more than a little bit jealous.  Natalie smiled as she reached
out to shake the woman's hand, listening as Anne said how much she liked
books and was so glad that Juan seemed to care more about the customers and
books than the money than most other business owners she had met.  Although
it might or might not include a physical attraction, Natalie was sure that
Anne's interest in Vachon had more to do with his knowledge and caring
about people than anything else.  Natalie also realized that Tracy would
realize it soon herself, but until she did, she knew the young vampire
would be incredibly jealous and trying not to let anyone know.

---------

        As the twins 19th birthday approached, Natalie ran another series
of tests on her son.  It seemed to all that his innate abilities seemed
about on par with his biological father.  Natalie was able to confirm that
his human DNA was now entirely non-dominant, still present to host the
vampire element, but totally inactive in any other way.  ~Just like Vachon
and Tracy, as well Nick & I,~ Natalie thought to herself.  As he was
learning more about what he could do with his abilites, they were now
close to matching Vachon and definitely surpassing the younger vampires.
~He's inherited 450 or 500 years of the vampire abilities without having
had to live it, yet. By the time he's that age, his abilites will likely
be on par with what Nick's are now,~ she thought to herself.

        May 19 came, and on her 19th birthday, Bonita announced that she
and Patrick had set a date.  Since they wanted a spring wedding, they were
planning the big event for Oct 21.  Patrick said that most of his family
would not be able to afford to come out, and that with them all having
new identities, he felt it might be best if after their wedding, they
planned a little trip back to Ireland.  He knew his parents would find a
way to come out for the wedding, so wanted to let Bonita's family know now
to expect them, giving them time to prepare an explanation for him to tell
them on their arrival for why they no longer used the names they had been
known by in Ireland.  Patrick also filed to legally adopt Paddy so it
would be done by the time of their wedding.

----

        It was just after Kelsey's birthday that Natalie was at the
university preparing for her next class when there was a rap on her office
door.

        "It's open..."

        "Dr. Nicoleen Chevalier," her department head spoke, "this is Dr.
Andrea Jacobbs.  She's here to tell you about a new project involving both
her hospital and this university."

        "Hi."  Natalie stood, and reached out to shake the new arrival's
hand, then began to gather her notes.

        Dr. Jacobbs smiled.  "Well, we're not the only parties involved in
this project, Nicoleen, but we're it, locally.  The U.N. is trying to set
up a global network of disease research centres.  Under their guidelines
we are establishing the ADCC, the Australian Disease Control Centre, but
it will have 2 separate research facilities, one here in Perth and the
other in Sydney.  We'd love to have you join us.  You'd have facilities at
both the hospital and the university here.  You probably don't have much
time right now, as I understand you are preparing for a class.  But give
this some thought, and get back to me.  I can give you more information
any time you need it.  It was nice to meet you, Nicoleen."  She handed
Natalie a card with her work and pager numbers printed on it but quickly
wrote her home number as well.

        ***

        A few days later, Natalie met Dr. Jacobbs at the Creamery, a
wonderful little ice cream establishment and part of a small chain of
such businesses.  After Natalie had ordered a small shake & her companion
a coffee, they drove back to the farm, engaged in friendly converstion.

        Natalie introduced her family and Tracy's by the names they were
now using and explained that theirs was an extended family.  As such,
before she made any decisions about a change of occupation, she wanted her
family to have the opportunity to hear all about it too and to ask
questions as well.

        During the following hour, Andrea explained in greater detail the
types of things that they would be involved with and the types of duties
Natalie would have as one of the senior research co-ordinators.  Tracy and
Kelsey were most impressed with the fact that if Natalie agreed to the
position, she would be the person to whom each of the researchers or
research teams would report to.  Her main responsibility would be to
evaluate the research already done and evaluate if they should continue on
the same track or not.  She would also look for overlooked or prematurely
discarded research angles to see if any of those needed to be followed up
on, and if exclusively or in conjunction with the current research paths.

        Natalie was very interested in the position but was concerned with
the hours.  After receiving assurance that she could choose her own hours,
Natalie explained the reasons she had established for the necessity of
working nights.  She was reassured that would not be a problem, and that
she could still work nights if she preferred.

        Nick asked if his wife would have opportunity to work on research
herself, or if she would only be handling administrative duties.

        Andrea explained that an effective senior research co-ordinator
was expected, under current guidelines, to get 'hands-on' involvement with
each of the projects they were overseeing, just not the labourious and
time consuming 'leg-work'... "If and when a breakthrough occurs because of
one of your researchers or research teams, you'll have the responsibility
of co-ordinating that information with the researcher and adminstrator,
presumably myself, and preparing it for both dissemination into the
appropriate medical fields as well as, if necessary, preparing media
packets explaining the results and effects for the interested laymen."

        After Natalie had again driven Andrea back to pick up her car, she
returned home to discuss the matter with her family.  By the time she and
Nick were ready to retire for the day, Natalie felt it was time for a
career change.

----

        Preparations were underway for Bonita and Patrick's wedding, when
Urs and Screed arrived with Miklos.  With him present it came as no
surprise to Nick and Natalie or to Vachon when LaCroix showed up a short
time later, unannounced, with a reluctant Janette.

        LaCroix's first duty, he insisted, was to 'examine' Richie,
Kelsey, Bonita, and Patrick the way an enforcer would, to see if there was
any sort of danger to the community at large because of them.  He refused
to say anything more, although Janette was reassuring one and all that
LaCroix was not an enforcer, just wanting to ensure he wasn't apt to lose
his 'wayward' family to the sometimes overzealous judgement of one.

        Tracy finally asked the awkward question plaguing her since
LaCroix's insistance on interviewing the children, in spite of Vachon's
whispers not to.  She asked in a tone which refused to be artificially
placated, "So if you are *not* an enforcer as we've been told, what gives
you the right to examine them all like that, and how do you know what
criteria the enforcers would have were one to come knocking right now?"
Tracy folded her arms across her chest and stood her ground as the one
time Roman General tried to stare her down.  As much as she felt like
crawling away to hide somewhere under that cold glare, Tracy stood her
ground, glaring back her best.  Urs, Screed, Vachon, and Miklos were now
half expecting LaCroix to kill the young vampire.  "I know how the others
all act around you, and I assume I'm probably being stuborn and headstrong
in challenging you, but damn it, the girls are my daughters; although Nick
and Nat adopted Richie, I still gave birth to him; and Patrick is about to
become my son-in-Law.  You bloody-well better believe I'm protective of
them.  If someone you had little dealing with came and began examining
Nick or any others of your children, how the hell would you feel?  I'm
just demanding my right to know, just as you would!"

        LaCroix began to smile.  "Touche.  Just as *I* *have* done."  He
stepped back and took a seat at the end of the sofa, gesturing to Tracy
to sit as well.  "I chose not to accept the position as I had a young
fledgling of my own to ensure the adequate training of," he nodded in
Nick's direction, "but I *did* establish the guidelines that the enforcers
would use, and therefore, I know their guidelines better than many of
them.  It was expected I would take the position of Master Enforcer, in
part because of my experience as a Roman General, however, when the system
was established, I was not able to take those responsibilities...  But I
*do* know the rules better than most of the enforcers do, since, as I
said, *I* established them.  Had any of the children been a danger to us,
I would only have insisted on correcting that danger through teaching
them whatever had been overlooked, or if necessary, with the mortal ones,
through hypnosis.  I would not have hurt any of them... Tracy... Or should
I say, Teresita."  He smiled at the young blonde vampire, took her hand
and kissed it, then stood.  "I wish to retire now.  Where are our rooms?"

        ***

        It was about a week later and just a few days before the wedding
that Patrick and Nick drove out to the airport to meet Patrick's parents.
Accommodations were getting interesting, but the foreman of the jackaroos
had told Nick they had an extra bedroom since their daughter had married,
and if they needed it for wedding guests, to feel free to use it.  This
was where they had decided to put up Patrick's parents.  Carly was still
with Tracy and Vachon, so Screed was staying on their sofa.  Urs was
staying on Nick and Natalie's sofa so that the house usually occupied by
herself and Screed when they were around, could be used by LaCroix,
Janette, and Miklos.

        While they were driving back to the farm, Nick explained that it
was important that they remember that the names they would hear people
called by would not be the names they were used to hearing.  "I'm not
supposed to even say this much, so please forget this, but one of us saw
something and are now in witness relocation.  We've all chosen to
participate so as not to break up the family.  My wife and I are no longer
de Brabant.  We are Nathan and Nicoleen Chevalier.  I go by Nathan and my
wife by Colleen usually.  Richie is our nephew Erik, whom we adopted.
While Bonita and Kelsey are still Bonita and Kelsey, their surname is now
Valdez, and their parents -you remember them from the pub?- they are now
Teresita and Juan.  Those are the names we are known by here.  So if you
forget any of our names, please feel free to ask any of us, but if there
are others around whom you do not know, please do so discreetly."  Nick
looked at Patrick who smiled, before adding, "That said, how was your
flight?"

        ***
end of part 15a of FAMILY 3: Revelations
comments are welcomed by the author at: <mickilyn@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>
===================
  ____________________________________________________________
 /  'Micki' Lynn McCormick <mickilyn@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca>  \
<    T+Vpack-listmom  Vaq.  N+N  DP  LP#6  LCfp  FoSiL  NKB    >
 \   NVC  closet-NA  UA   Seducers  Ravenette  Cousin  FoRP   /
  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Subject:      FAMILY 3: Revelations (15b/15)


        ***

        Patrick and Bonita's wedding went smoothly.  Among the guests who
were not family were Anne from the bookstore, a few of Nick and Tracy's
co-workers who'd had the opportunity to meet the kids on several
occasions, Natalie's supervisor - Andrea Jacobbs, and a few young people
of similar age including one young family just slightly older than Bonita
and Patrick whom they had made friends with in their year and a half in
Perth.  Of course most of the jackaroos were there too, since Patrick had
been learning to be one.

        The reception was being handled once again by LaCroix, although
Mrs. Whitley was not pleased about having people who were not her mucking
about in her cookhouse.  Miklos was tending the drinks for all, once again
ensuring that the mortals and vampires kept their beverages straight.

        The gift opening was held as part of the reception, but before any
partying really began.  There were many cards and letters and gifts from
friends and relatives back in Ireland that had been brought with Patrick's
parents.  Both Bonita and Patrick were totally shocked when they opened
the envelope from Nick & Natalie, which held a card and a letter wrapped
around another envelope.  Patrick and Bonita read the letter, then looked
over the contents of the inner envelope.

        "Uncle Nathan, Aunt Colleen?"  Bonita was careful to use their
current names in spite of her excitement.  "This must be some mistake..."
Bonita looked over at Nick and Nat, quizzically...  Seeing them shake
their heads, she smiled and added, "You're really giving the farm to us?"

        Nick smiled.  "The document sealed inside explains in more detail,
and we can go over it with you later.  Until Patrick has learned enough
about it to take over the full responsibility of running it, we'll
continue to be the trustees for it... But yes, once you sign the
documents, this place is yours...  It'll be in name only still for a
while, as long as we are still your trustees."

        After everything had been opened, the reception began to pick up,
turning into a full party.  During Bonita & Patrick's dance, Paddy came
toddling out to them.  He pulled on Patrick's pantleg, holding his arms
up, repeating "dada".  Without even thinking about it, he scooped up
Paddy, and the dance continued with them holding their son as they danced.
Urs caught the bouquet, which made Vachon smile.   Most of the rest of the
night Urs was pretty much inseparable from Richie, while Carly and Screed
seemed to be having a pretty good time of things themselves.

        Next evening when people began to rouse, Nick was surprised
(although Natalie wasn't), to see Urs coming out of Richie's bedroom with
him, clad only in a long t-shirt.  Natalie ended up taking Nick aside and
reminding him that although the kids had grown up calling her Auntie Urs,
she was *not* their aunt.  When this didn't seem to reach Nick, she added,
"Don't forget, Richie is now *fully* vampire.  He's going to have to live
as one.  And while we have tried to minimize their contact with the
community for their own safety while they were growing up, that also means
that Richie doesn't know any others of us than we've let him know.  What
'single' female vampires are here, Nick?  Think about it... Besides Urs,
there is Janette whom he doesn't really know and is here with LaCroix, and
Carly, whom he's grown up with her as his teacher...  Besides, he could do
a whole lot worse than Urs.  They're both happy around each other.
Vachon's noticed it.  Watch the way he smiles when he sees them spend any
time together.  If they're happy then what's the problem?"

        When they returned, Urs had found some jeans to pull on but was
still sitting beside Richie with her feet curled under her, leaning
against him on the sofa.

----

        It was only a few months later, early January, when Urs spoke to
Vachon about something that was concerning her.  "We both know how Nick
and Natalie are trying to get back their mortality...  Richie is happy as
he is, though.  But I do not think it's likely that they'll teach him to
hunt.  I know we don't need to very often any more, but it is something I
think both Richie and Tracy should learn... " Urs smiled up at Vachon,
"just in case.  It'll just make them weird if you talk to them about it.
You know how they are.  Javier... will you take them out and teach them?"

        Vachon sat a moment, thinking about what Urs had said.  ~She's
right, they do need to know.  I should have taught Tracy before this.~  He
chugged back the rest of his bloodwine.  "Yeah."

        A few nights later, Tracy and Richie found themselves accompanying
Vachon on an outing.  Vachon took to the skys, touring the city from the
air and enjoying the lights and nightlife.  From above, they soared
through the Northbridge district and its seedier sights.  They passed
above Garden City shopping centre where there was a night crew repairing a
broken water main with a small section of the parking lot dug up.  They
passed above both Murdoch and Edith Cowan Universities before Vachon
finally decided they were ready to pursue his true agenda.

        They finally headed along the Swan River and then up the cliffs
and past the War Memorial, coming to ground among the Gum and Eucalyptus
trees towering high above within King's Park.  Vachon knew Tracy would
balk at hunting if it were pointed out she might need to someday hunt a
human, so chose not to point it out.  He knew full well that both Tracy
and Richie were smart enough to transfer the skills to human prey if
necessary.  Instead, he picked out a Wallaby and began to stalk it.  He
explained what he was doing quietly, knowing that the others' vampiric
hearing would catch it.  Eventually he captured the creature in spite of
the valiant fight it offered, including a painful shin resultant from it's
kick that would probably have broken his leg were he mortal.  Although
animal was not his preferred choice for a meal, he drank his fill,
then took the carcass out over the river to dump it.  Vachon knew that
such a precaution wasn't as necessary with an animal's body but figured
it better to establish good habits from the beginning.

        After they had rested and relaxed a little, Tracy spotted a big
kangaroo.  Nudging Richie's shoulder, she gestured in its direction.
Whispering so quietly that her two vampire companions had a hard time
hearing her, she asked, "So, wadda ya think, Richie?  Think we can handle
him?"

        When he nodded his agreement, Tracy and Richie took off in joint
pursuit of the large creature.  They had times of chase interspersed with
the animal turning and fighting them.  Tracy took a kick from a muscular
leg that broke her arm.  Her eyes began to glow.  This was no longer a
game.  Very soon thereafter, between her and Richie, they managed to
capture it, and both fed from the beast.  Tracy took more blood than
Richie because of her injured arm knitting itself back together.
Afterwards, Richie took the animal's body out over the river and disposed
of it the same way he had seen Vachon dispose of the wallaby's remains.

        When they returned, Richie was all excited about the evening's
events and ended up telling first Urs then everyone else all about it.

        Once everyone had gone to bed for the day, Natalie cuddled into
Nick's arms.  "Nick?"

        Nick brushed a wisp of hair out of his wife's eyes, and saw a
troubled expression on her face.  "What's the matter?"  He kissed her nose
gently.

        "I know you don't want to think about this, Nick, but we need to.
Richie is happy being a vampire.  He's happy with Urs, and we both know
she loves him too.  But...  I have made some significant breakthroughs in
my research over the last few years...  Nothing significant in being the
actual cure, so I've not told you, because I didn't want to get your hopes
up until such time as we can actually come back from this...  I now know
I'm on the right path, Nick, and I expect that from the point I'm at now
it'll be less than 5 years to an actual cure that'll work for us both..."
Natalie began to cry.  "I hate to ask you this...  I want you to
understand that I want to be mortal again too, *with you*, but I think we
have to look after our son's needs first...  And I think that right now,
as he's beginning to revel in his vampiric nature, to continue to work on
our cure will give him the message that we disapprove of vampires and,
therefore, of him.  We can't do that to him...  After he's had a few years
living as an adult vampire, I think it'll be easier for him to accept that
after over 800 years you've tired of it, and that I want to be with you
regardless of as a mortal or as a vampire...  That our desire for
mortality doesn't mean we are unhappy with him in any way, simply that the
lifestyle is no longer for us.  But right now I think he'd feel we were
abandoning him, emotionally at least.  Nick...  I want to ask you to let
me put my research aside for a few years...  20 maybe, not abandoning it,
but merely putting it on hold for what will be a short time for us as
vampires.  I know now I'm close.  I said within 5 years...  It could
possibly even be less than a year if that's all I concentrate on.  Let us
finish out this 'lifetime' here, and then when Richie and Urs are ready to
move on, we'll move on too, knowing that soon thereafter we'll be able to
go for a walk in the park, enjoying the sunshine with our children...  I
will always love Richie and he is our son and always will be our son -
were he not I'd not be asking such a painful request of you," Natalie's
tears ran freely down her cheeks.  "For our son?"

        Nick thought about it for several long minutes, the longest
minutes of either his own or Natalie's experience.  He finally cupped her
chin and tipped her head towards his own.  "Just until he's realized that
our search isn't a condemnation of him, right?  Then you'll work on it
again?"  When he saw Natalie nod tearily, he answered slowly and quietly.
"Then yes.  We'll wait a little while."  He gathered Natalie into his arms
as they both cried, tears of joy and sadness mixed: joy at the nearness of
the cure and the knowledge it would actually become a reality, sadness at
the necessity of the wait...  And relief that he still had his Natalie
and a future with her so long after Toronto.

---------
end of FAMILY 3: Revelations
Thank you for reading this, and I hope you enjoyed it.