Castle Brabant, 1211

Nicholas DeBrabant was pacing outside the doors of his wife's chambers. Every once in a while, loud shouts would come from the room. The shouts always made Nicholas even more scared than he already was. He was afraid the shouts meant that his wife was dying.

"Why don't you sit down, Nicholas?" Damian DeCamillo, his brother-in-law, said "All that pacing can't be doing you any good"

"I'm too nervous, Damian" Nicholas replied, turning to look at Damian "Weren't you nervous when Ahana was giving birth?"

"Of course I was" Damian said "You remember, don't you? I was a wreck! Your mother finally had to get some of the guards to take me away for a little while so I could calm down"

Nicholas was still pacing.

"Do you need me to get the guards for you?" Damian asked, with a laugh

"Nicholas!"

Nicholas and Damian turned when they heard Rinaldo and Adan, Ahana's brothers, run down the hall.

"We came as soon as we heard" Adan LeAcelet said "How is she?"

"She's been in there for hours" Nicholas said, softly "It started last night"

"Don't worry, Nicholas" Rinaldo LeAcelet said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder "Everything's going to be fine. These things take time"

Just then, there was a loud wail. Everyone turned towards the door as it opened and Fleur DeBrabant walked out.

"Oh, Nicolai!" she said "That was a miracle. A true miracle"

"How is she?" Nicholas asked "How is Valeria?"

"She's resting" Fleur replied "Your daughter put her through quite an ordeal"

"My daughter" Nicholas said, a smile spreading across his face

"Yes, Nicolai" Fleur said "You have a beautiful baby daughter"

Nicholas smiled. Rinaldo, Damian, and Adan looked at each other and smiled.

"Come in and meet her" Fleur said, taking her brother's hand in her own

Nicholas could only nod as Fleur pulled him into the room. He could see Valeria sleeping on the bed, her body drenched in sweat. He saw his mother and sisters-in-law gawking over a small bundle.

His daughter.

"Oh, Nicolai!" Madame DeBrabant said "She is so precious! A true DeBrabant, if I do say so myself!"

Nicholas smiled as Renata DeCamillo, Valeria's sister, pulled away the blanket covering the baby's face. The baby was truly beautiful, the most beautiful baby Nicholas had ever seen.

"Why don't you hold her, Nicholas?" Ahana DeCamillo, Damian's wife, said, passing the baby into her father's arms

Nicholas carefully took the baby out of Ahana's arms. Almost immediately, the baby opened her eyes and smiled a very small smile at him.

"Look at that!" exclaimed Fleur "Not even 10 minutes old and she is smiling!"

"What are you going to name her, Nicolai?" Renata asked "What have you and Valeria discussed?"

"Valeria and I actually made an agreement" Nicholas said, smiling at the women in his family "If the baby was a boy, she got to pick the name. If it was a girl, I got to pick the name"

"So, what did you pick?" Fleur asked

"The newest member of the family is…" Nicholas said, looking back at the baby in his arms "Alexandria Marietta DeBrabant"

"Oh, Nicolai, how beautiful!" Madame DeBrabant said

"Well, we shall leave you now, Nicolai" Ahana said "Give you some time alone with your new daughter"

"Thank you so much" Nicholas said "I am indebted to you for what you did"

"Don't worry, Nicolai" Renata said, smiling "It's what families do"

Nicholas smiled as the women walked out of the room. He looked back at his daughter.

"Hello, Alexandria" Nicholas said softly to the baby "I'm your Daddy. Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you. You will always be safe"

&&&&&

"Daughter?" Natalie said "From before you were a…?"

Nick nodded. "She was born when I was 17" he said "I brought her across 17 years later"

"So, you were married?"

Nick nodded. "Her mother's name is Valeria DeCamillo" he said "We were married until our daughter was 14. We got divorced and went our separate ways. Our daughter opted to stay with me when the divorce happened. We only reunited once our daughter had been brought across"

"Why did you bring her across?" Natalie asked "Was she dying?"

&&&&&

Castle Brabant, 1229**

"My mother, sister, and daughter have not seen me since I left for the Crusades" Nicholas DeBrabant said, turning to his travel companions "I'm not disappearing again without seeing them one last time!"

"That is all very well and good, Nicolai" Janette DuCharme replied "But, you presume a great deal that we are prepared to die for one thing which we are not"

"They are my flesh and blood!"

"Not anymore!" Lucien LaCroix yelled, walking over to him "Just get on with it!"

"Nicolai?"

The three vampires turned at the sound of the voice of Fleur DeBrabant.

"You're back! Nicolai!" Fleur said, running into her brother's arms "Oh! My dearest brother, thank God you're home! Can it be you after all these years?"

"And, you a woman now!" Nicholas said, smiling at his sister "I can't believe my eyes. My little flower has blossomed. My little Fleur!"

They hugged. Janette and LaCroix looked away from the display of brother and sister affection.

"You must tell me everything!" Fleur said, pulling away from Nicholas "The Crusades! The adventures!"

"I do not mean to be rude" Nicholas said "But, we are sick from travel without rest and we have been injured in a skirmish down the road"

Fleur turned to Janette and LaCroix and walked up to LaCroix. "What terrible misfortune has befallen on you all?" she said "This gentleman's suffering is very great!"

LaCroix flinched at Fleur's touch.

"Nicolai!"

The group turned at the sound of Madame DeBrabant.

"A miracle!" she said, hugging her son "After all this time, I was certain you were killed in battle."

"Where's Alexandria?" Nicholas asked

The happiness on Fleur and Madame DeBrabant's face automatically disappeared.

"Where's Alexandria?" Nicholas asked again, nervous

"Upstairs, Nicolai" Fleur said "In bed"

"She is very sick, Nicolai" Madame DeBrabant said "Valeria is with her right now. It doesn't look good…"

"No!" Nicholas said "Take me to her, now!"

Nicholas fought back tears as his mother led him up the small stair case, with Janette close behind, not knowing what was happening between Fleur and LaCroix.

&&&&&

"Nicholas…" Valeria said, as she watched her ex-husband rush into Alexandria's chambers "Thank God!"

"How is she?" Nicholas demanded

"Not well, Nicholas" Valeria said "She's dying. The doctors don't think that she will make it through the night"

Nicholas's eyes filled with tears.

"I'll give you some time alone with her" Valeria said, leaving the room.

"Alexandria…" Nicholas said, causing Valeria to stop and watch from the doorway "My angel. Don't worry. I'm home now. I'll save you"

Valeria watched as Nicholas bent down and bit Alexandria's neck. Her eyes widened only a little. Why hadn't she thought of that?

A few moments later, Nicholas lifted his head off of Alexandria's neck. He fed her some of his blood. The turning process was now complete. All that was left was for Alexandria to wake up a vampire.

Nicholas turned to see Valeria standing in the doorway.

"Valeria…"

"Not to worry, Nicholas" Valeria said "I know what you did and what you are. I am one as well, as is everyone else in the family"

"You mean…?"

Valeria nodded. "You're not the only vampire in the family" she said "Everyone but Fleur and your mother are vampires"

"I couldn't let her die" Nicholas said "I had to save her"

"I know, Nicholas" Valeria said "I know"

&&&&&

Nick nodded. "She had gotten sick a few days before I arrived at Castle Brabant with LaCroix and Janette" he explained "Valeria, who was already a vampire at the time, was already at the castle when we arrived. My mother had sent for her because the doctors all said that there was nothing that could be done to save my daughter"

"That must have been horrible"

"It was" Nick said "I couldn't bear to see my daughter in pain. So, the night I came home, I brought her across."

"What was her name?"

"Alexandria" Nick replied "But, as the years went on, more and more people started calling her Alex. Now, she goes by – or went by – both names."

Just then, the room was suddenly in an uproar. Nick and Natalie looked at each other and then went to quickly find Captain Stonetree.

"Captain!" Nick yelled "What's going on? Do we have a case?"

"Unfortunately" Captain Stonetree replied "And, it's going to be a very personal one for this entire team"

"Why, Captain?" Natalie asked "What happened?"

"It's Schanke's daughter" Stonetree replied "She's been kidnapped"

**Just wanted to remind everyone that some of those lines in the 1229 flashback were taken from the episode "Be My Valentine". They are not mine!

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