Happy Re-Birth-Day.

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Characters: Josef; Emma; Beth; Mick; Coraline; Sarah; Lance.

Rating: M Some coarse language; adult themes.

Many thanks go to Erinn, who translated Mick and Emma's dialogue from English into French. Merci beaucoup, Erinn. (And mistakes – if any – are mine.)

Many thanks also go to my treasured and adored beta, the wonderful Allegrita.

A/N: I was dared to post this warning, so here it is ~ this is the saga of Josef & Emma Kostan - not Mick St. John and Beth Turner - so if that is not to your taste, then I respectfully suggest that you find a nice MickBeth story to enjoy instead.

Happy Rebirthday. Chapter 1.

It felt strange to be at Mick's door without Coraline; it was the first time in months that I'd shown up alone. So I paused outside Mick's door, and took a long moment to force the anguish of my most recent argument with Josef into the back of my mind. My brother had enough problems of his own, without me dragging mine in and thrusting them in his face.

I braced myself and knocked on the door.

Mick answered promptly, with a big smile on his face.

He seemed to be in high spirits, so I matched his smile and said, "Bonsoir, M. St. John."

"Bonsoir, Mme. Kostan. Entrez s'il vous plait," Mick said, and ushered me inside with a courtly bow.

"Merci beaucoup."

"Avez-vous soif? Du sang, peut-être?" he enquired.

I was a little thirsty, and since Beth was there, too, I accepted his hospitality.

"Ça serait apprécié, merci."

"Hey, you two!" Beth called out. "English please. And Mick, since you're offering, I'll have a coffee."

"Hi, Beth," I said, and then I walked over and gave her a hug.

She hugged me warmly and then pulled back and gave me a long appraising look.

"I see you've been shopping with her, again."

I smiled and did a turn in an inelegant parody of a fashion model.

Mick smiled and said, "Very nice."

Beth looked at him and said, "Emma used to have such an individual style. Now she just looks like Coraline."

I sighed and in response to that, Beth rolled her eyes. She and Josef both claimed that I'd picked up the habit of sighing from Coraline, but I said that they'd just never noticed before how often I did it. After a moment – and against my better judgement – I decided to offer an explanation with regard to my new wardrobe.

"Beth, Coraline and I look good in the same colours, and she's been helping me choose more elegant and timeless designs so that I look more ... um ... appropriate next to Josef. I'm not trying to copy her, at all – but she does have great taste in everything."

Although I had been thinking of the earrings Coraline had chosen for Beth in Sydney, Beth had apparently taken 'everything' to include Mick. She walked over and slipped her arm around his waist in a casual but unmistakably possessive gesture.

Thinking that my attempts to become bi-lingual were a less contentious issue, I said, "By the way, I apologise for constantly turning up here and yakking away to Mick in French. But I need all the practice I can get."

Mick smiled and said, "Emma, you're always welcome in my home – you know that. And you're actually doing really well for someone who's only been learning a foreign language for a few months. Coraline was saying just the other night that you're a quick study. We're both really proud of your progress."

"Truly? I'm surprised, because the sad truth is that I can still only understand Josef if he wants me to."

"Yeah, I feel the same with Mick," Beth said in a tone that suggested that she wasn't really interested, yet she simply wanted to insinuate herself back into the conversation. "My high school French is so different to his version of the language."

"Well, I don't even have high school lessons to fall back on. That's why I asked Coraline to teach me, since French is her mother tongue–"

Beth cut me off with a glare and the words, "Emma, please don't use the words, Coraline, French and tongue in the same sentence."

I was speechless. I glanced at Mick and his mouth was hanging open. He looked down at Beth, as though he was about to speak, but then he just gently pulled away from her, left the room and went into his office.

So I turned my attention back to Beth.

"That wasn't nice, Beth – not nice at all." I was annoyed, but tried not to let it show too much. I reminded myself of what Josef had said to me earlier about Beth feeling insecure – especially now that she found herself part of such an oddly connected group of five people that consisted of four vampires and one human – so I did my best to understand Beth's perspective and tried hard to be patient. "You know, it never ceases to amaze me that your eighty-something-year-old boyfriend is more easily embarrassed than my four-hundred-year-old husband." I shrugged. "Times change, I guess. Fancy taking a little walk while poor Mick recovers his composure?"

Beth nodded, so I walked over to the open door to Mick's office and cleared my throat.

"Come in, Emma."

Mick didn't meet my eyes, so I tried to sound especially casual.

"In case you've forgotten the date, tomorrow is the first anniversary of my turning – my rebirthday or something. Josef is having a very exclusive little soiree in my honour and naturally we want you and Beth to be there."

Mick smiled but didn't look up from shuffling papers.

"We'd love to come, thanks. And ... ah ... is Coraline invited?"

"Of course – but she's in Paris on business for a few days and she's not completely sure if she'll be able to get back in time."

"Paris?" Mick echoed. "I'm surprised she didn't invite you to go along. The two of you seemed to have such a great time in Sydney, and several days among native Parisians would have been great language practice for you."

"Coraline did invite me to go – but Josef asked me to stay home."

Mick glanced up for a second before dropping his eyes down to his computer.

"Alright," I admitted, "Josef's actual words were: 'Emma, I forbid it.' Happy now?"

"Not really." Mick emphasised his words with a frown and a shake of his head. "Emma, Josef does love you ... it's just that sometimes he has a lousy way of showing it."

I swallowed hard to suppress the tears that threatened to fall, put my hand on top of the papers Mick had resumed fiddling with and said with forced brightness, "Beth and I are just going out for some air – we won't be long."

Mick looked up immediately and asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No thanks." I put my hand over my heart with a melodramatic flourish, and added, "And I promise faithfully that I'll take good care of Beth."

He smiled and said, "You're just a baby yourself, Emma. Who'll look after you?"

I counted the points with the aid of my fingers: "One, there's not a vampire in the entire country suicidal enough to hurt me ... not when I belong to Josef Kostan. Two, no human can sneak up on me. And three, Beth and I really need some time to discuss secret women's business."

Mick didn't look entirely happy with the situation, but he nodded anyway.

Beth and I left in silence and kept quiet until we reached the street.

"Beth, since you missed out on your coffee, do you want to grab one now?"

She nodded and steered me in a different direction to the one we had been headed in.

Now, if we could only find a place where I could find a nice glass of blood – since I had missed out on the one Mick had offered me – we'd both be satisfied.

After another minute of silence, I decided to speak my mind.

"Beth, I know that you asked Josef to deal with that photographer."

She stopped in her tracks and swallowed hard.

"Your husband – my friend – promised me he'd keep that arrangement a secret."

I didn't appreciate her tone, but I tried hard to keep my own polite and conversational.

"Josef didn't tell me ... well, not directly anyway. Several months ago, I overheard Josef talking to Coraline very early one evening. He'd let me sleep in, so they weren't expecting me to be around, but while I was eavesdropping, they realised I was there and lapsed into French ... which, by the way is the reason that I asked Coraline to teach me the language, so I don't feel so left out in the future."

I smiled to soften the impact of my words, but Beth either didn't notice or didn't care.

"So I take it that your new best friend has sent you to blackmail me into leaving Mick."

"Coraline isn't my best friend – it seems that I don't have one of those anymore – but she is a good friend. She didn't send me to do her bidding and neither of us is trying to wreck your relationship with Mick! But perhaps you should show her a little respect since she has known your secret longer than I have, and if she was really evil she would have used it against you by now."

Beth began walking again so I fell into step at her side, while I waited for her to collect her thoughts.

Eventually – without looking at me – she spoke.

"Emma, please believe me when I say that I know Coraline a whole lot better than you do. She probably only agreed to teach you French to get close to Mick again."

"As Mick and I have already explained to you – more than once – Coraline thought it would be easier for me to learn French by hearing two people conversing, since that's basically the way we all learn our native language as babies."

"Your husband speaks perfect French."

I bit my tongue and chose to ignore the implicit challenge in Beth's words. She already knew damn well why Coraline hadn't asked Josef to help me learn the language.

"Well," Beth stated, "All I know is that that whore has an ulterior motive for everything she does – or doesn't – do."

"Actually," I said through clenched teeth, "Coraline is a freelance photographer, not a prostitute. As for what she may or may not have done in the distant past ... to survive ... well, I don't know about her history because I haven't ever asked her about it."

Beth stopped walking again, so I halted also.

"Emma, can you really be that naive? Whatever happened to the nice Aussie girl I met a couple of years ago? You behave like you're so high and mighty now. You seem to think you're so special just because you're a ... just because Josef has made a claim on you. But trust me on this; as far as your beloved Coraline goes, the only way she knows how to relate to any man is by being a whore. How do you think she got Mick to marry her in the first place?"

I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly. I was beyond furious; I felt my fangs elongate and I knew my eyes had shifted to silver. After a full minute – once I felt I had regained sufficient control – I opened my eyes and addressed Beth. She appeared to have been completely oblivious to my transformation.

"Do you remember a few months ago, when Josef cracked that really bad joke about only marrying me because I'm good in bed?"

Beth regarded me quizzically for a moment, and finally said: "Vaguely."

"Do you think less of Mick than you do of Josef?"

"Of course not! What the hell are you talking about now, Emma?"

"If you honestly believe that Josef was only teasing me, then why do you treat Mick with such contempt by insisting that he only married Coraline because she was a fantastic fuck? Do you really believe that Mick is that shallow? Whether you like it or not, Beth, he loved Coraline with all his heart, and that kind of love doesn't just go away–"

Beth slapped me across the face as hard as she could, which wasn't hard enough to do any real damage but it was enough to make the vampire react, and I snarled at her before I could stop myself. Horrified, Beth took a step backwards, but fortunately she knew better than to run from me.

Even so, a small, savage part of me wanted her to run just so I could chase her.

I fought the vampire with every ounce of willpower I possessed. I took a step backwards and Beth took a cautious step forwards.

She tentatively reached out with one hand and said, "Emma, I'm so sorry ... I had no right to slap you ..."

I smelled Mick before I heard his footsteps, so I held my hand up to caution Beth to be quiet, and then turned to face my brother as he approached.

"You two have been gone for so long I was getting–" He broke off mid-sentence as he looked at my face, and his smile instantly dissolved into a frown. "Emma, what happened? Why are you crying?"

Mick then looked at Beth – who was also in tears – and he immediately embraced her.

"One of you tell me what happened! Now!"

"Beth and I just had a little misunderstanding," I said quietly. "Nothing we can't work out. I'll ... ah ... see you both later."

I started walking briskly back to Mick's place. I just wanted to get my car and go home. I heard Mick and Beth talking and I thought I heard Josef's name mentioned once, but I wasn't sure since I was deliberately trying to not overhear their conversation.

I was so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn't even realised that Mick was beside me until I felt his hand on my upper arm. I stopped and looked up into his concerned face; then without pausing to consider his feelings, I collapsed against him and wrapped my arms around him. Mick was a strong man who loved me, as well as an elder vampire, and at that time I needed the comfort and reassurance of both. He was completely rigid – because in the entire time we'd known each other, we had never hugged before – but after a few moments, he put his arms around me and held me until I was ready to let him go.

I pulled back and said, "I'm sorry, Mick. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"I wasn't embarrassed."

I chuckled softly and muttered, "Jeez Mick, has anyone ever told you that you're a lousy liar?"

He glanced towards Beth, who had almost reached us.

"Yeah," he admitted. "Beth has, actually."

"I have actually what?"

"Told me that I'm a lousy liar."

Beth looked at me and smiled warily, "Yeah, Mick is a lousy liar – but it's one of the many things I love about him."

The three of us fell into an uncomfortable silence while we walked back to Mick's home.

When we arrived, he insisted that I go upstairs with them rather than head straight for my car, as I had intended. I walked into Mick's apartment, only to find Josef standing in the kitchen looking slightly annoyed. I was shocked to see him because I knew what a busy night he'd been having – that and our argument were the main reasons I'd gone out in the first place – but I was so grateful for his presence that I completely disregarded his expression, and ran straight into his arms.

Josef said curtly, "You smell like Mick."

In that moment all the stress I felt at keeping secrets from Mick – to say nothing of the confusion and hurt I felt over Josef keeping secrets from me, and most recently the fight with Beth – reached critical mass and I exploded.

"Oh, for god's sake, Josef, all Mick did was give me one very stiff and reluctant hug because I was crying! Jesus Christ!" I was so angry that before I could stop myself, I threw in everything but the kitchen sink. "You both trust her and forgive her no matter what she does," I spat, as I pointed over my shoulder in Beth's general direction. "How long will it be before you trust me? When will my flaws be forgiven?"

Josef allowed me to push him away then, even though he could have easily held on since he was not only far stronger than me but his reactions were much faster, too. I rubbed my face roughly; angry at the tears that obscured my vision. My gaze met Beth's for a few seconds and I saw that her tears flowed freely; then I raised my eyes to Mick's face. Bad move, I realised instantly. He looked so bewildered and hurt. That was the last straw for me, because – in this matter at least – Mick was the only innocent person in the room.

I took off towards the stairs at a run and didn't stop until I reached my car.

I drove to the beach because I needed time to think and besides that, there was nowhere else to go. Although I felt painfully alone, I couldn't go home until I was ready to face Josef; going back to Mick's place was out of the question; and Coraline – who always knew what to say – was still in Paris, probably strolling through the Louvre.

So I sat on the sand and hugged my knees to my chest. For a long time I stared at nothing and allowed to cold, salt-laden air to give me some comfort. Growing up, I had always preferred the beach at night-time anyway. The appeal of deliberately roasting under the blisteringly hot sun of a typical Australian summer had always escaped me, yet I had always found the rhythm of the waves immensely soothing to my spirit.

This night, however, I found no comfort there because the memories crashed over me as relentlessly as the waves that hit the shore.

Well, I'd made it through my first year as a vampire.

And what a year it had been: first my turning then my wedding; meeting and being befriended by Coraline; being 'adopted' by Mick as his baby sister; more recently my friendship with Beth degenerating until it hung by a thread. The past twelve months had also proven to be an ongoing struggle to find my place in vampire society and to learn how to be an appropriate vampire consort to Josef. That issue had been driven home with the sharpness of a stake to the heart the night I had been introduced to the terrifying Lance DuVall, after his sire had sent him to offer the family's official congratulations to Josef on the event of his marriage. Admittedly, I was always shown respect as Josef's 'property', but I had yet to earn respect in my own right.

Perhaps I'd never be able to step out from Josef's shadow.

I felt like I'd been cast adrift in eternity.

Josef loved me – I knew it – but he was also busy with a number of sudden and serious business problems. Mick loved me and made as much time for me as he could, but he had a job to do and a relationship with Beth to nurture. Coraline always made time for me when she was here, but now she was in Paris without me, which still rankled because Josef had actually forbidden me to go. And Beth seemed to be in a constant state of semi-annoyance with me because when push came to shove – as it had all too often in recent months – my loyalty was always on the side of the vampires. I didn't know what she expected from me.

Where else could she seriously expect my loyalties to lie?

I dropped my head onto my knees and tried to force my mind into a comfortable state of blankness.

It almost worked.

It must have been well after midnight when Josef finally settled down behind me and wrapped me protectively in his arms.

I put one of my hands over his and asked, "How long have you been here?"

"The whole time ... a few hours ... ever since I followed you here from Mick's place. And Emma – I think you should know that I've killed people in the past for less than what you did and said to humiliate me in front of Mick and Beth tonight."

"Are you threatening me, Josef?"

"No, Emma. I don't make threats," he said evenly. "Threats are for those who lack the courage to do what needs to be done."

I nodded. At that moment I actually didn't feel as though I had much to lose. I steeled myself and waited.

Abruptly, I found Josef kneeling on the sand in front of me, holding my face in his hands and staring deeply into my eyes.

"You think I'm going to kill you?" Josef demanded in a voice thick with pain.

"Well that's what you just said ..."

"What the hell has gotten into you tonight, Emma? When you left for Mick's place after our argument, I had hoped you'd return home happy. Spending time with your brother normally cheers you up. Why not tonight?"

My words rushed out in barely coherent babble.

"Beth and I had a huge fight and she said that I was behaving like I'm high and mighty and then she slapped my face and I vamped out and Mick turned up just in time and he apparently contacted you and then you were there and I just wanted you to hold me but instead you practically accused me of having an affair with Mick and–"

"Emma! Stop!"

Josef's tone held the authority of a sire – not the love of a husband – and I closed my mouth instantly.

"That's better," he said. "Now, we're going to deal with this in order of importance. First, I do not think for a second that you and Mick would ever have an affair; I know you two love each other, but not like that. Anyway, Mick already has enough trouble with the two women in his life, plus he – along with every other vampire – knows what I'll do to anyone who ever lays a hand on my wife. And beautiful as you are, sweetheart, no woman is worth the suffering they'd endure." Josef paused and shook his head as if confirming his own statement. "Anyway, Emma, the simple fact is that I don't like Mick's aftershave and I could smell it on you – that's all I was saying. I like you to smell like you – or me – but no-one else. Also, Emma Kostan, you should feel high and mighty – after all, you're mine. My fledgling. My wife. And as for the human slapping you, if you gave her a fright, well done ... she deserved it." He paused, and then added softly as an afterthought. "But apparently I'll need to have a word with Beth about the danger of getting physical with vampires ... particularly very young ones."

Josef released his hold on my face and put his arms around me. He pulled me tight against his chest and held me while I cried. Beth's cruel words were still haunting me, and after a while, I collected myself and decided to ask my husband a question that I believed I already knew the answer to, yet I still wanted his opinion on the subject.

I blurted out, "Is Mick still in love with Coraline?"

"Of course he is! Mick loves Coraline the way I love – never mind."

I froze.

"Finish your sentence, Josef."

"Why?"

"Because I need to know if you were about to say: Sarah."

"What's this about, Emma?" Josef spoke a little too casually. "I told you all about Sarah back in Sydney."

Josef never lied to me, but he was not above simply trying to avoid my questions, either. I pulled back and looked into my husband's beautiful brown eyes, and my undead heart shattered. I suddenly wondered if someday – if Sarah recovered from her preternatural coma – I'd be in a similar position to the one Beth now found herself in with Mick and Coraline.

Josef smiled and said, "Now you're just being silly–"

I silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"Please don't say anything else. For a four-hundred-year-old man, you still have a lot to learn about women."

I suddenly felt so cold, in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with physical temperature.

Without taking the time to question the wisdom of potentially provoking another argument, I asked, "What's happening to us, Josef? I feel like I'm losing you by degrees."

"Emma," he said softly, "that connection I've felt with you from the night we met ... the one that allowed me to know your thoughts ... it's breaking down fast. I don't know how to stop the decline or even if I should try to. I've never had that kind of connection with anyone else before in four centuries and I miss having it with you. I suspect that it has a lot to do with you being a vampire now; the stronger you become as a vampire, the weaker our connection gets."

"Josef, the telepathy isn't our connection – our love is!"

I searched my husband's face for a sign that he believed me – agreed with me – but I failed to find that comfort. So I extricated myself from his embrace, and for the second time that night, Josef let me go when I really needed him to hold on to me.

A chasm had opened up between us that I had no idea how to bridge – and for the first time I wondered if there was any point in even trying.

*****

A/N: English translation.

Mick answered promptly, with a big smile on his face.

He seemed to be in high spirits, so I matched his smile and said, "Good evening Mr. St. John."

"Good evening, Mrs. Kostan. Please come in," Mick said, and ushered me inside with a courtly bow.

"Thank you very much."

"Would you like something to drink? Blood, perhaps?" he enquired.

I was a little thirsty, and since Beth was there, too, I accepted his hospitality.

"That would be appreciated, thank you." [That sounds a little stilted in English, but it is apparently correct French grammar.]

"Hey, you two!" Beth called out. "English please. And Mick, since you're offering, I'll have a coffee."