Part 4
"So it will be a December baby," Dave said looking so happy that he just wanted to shout to the world that his mate was expecting their first child, with hopefully, many more to come.
It was several months later and was nearing Christmas. They had made love for days after the two of them had gotten back from their first shopping trip only stopping in order to drink more blood, as that was very important, particularly in Penelope's case.
Penelope was gaining control rapidly and while Dave still watched her cautiously whenever she fed, he allowed her to do the luring and the hypnotizing herself instead of him doing it like he had the first time.
He hadn't had to caution her about taking too much after that first time and she was doing splendidly, even though she was only a few months old.
"Yes, near Christmas, though it probably won't be exactly on the 25th," Penelope said.
"Well, it's certainly a marvelous Christmas gift," Dave said grinning from ear to ear, and had been ever since he had first heard that his wife was pregnant. He couldn't seem to stop himself actually, because he was so happy.
"Yes, our first Christmas together and we get an extra special present," Penelope said also grinning happily, as she loved Dave more and more every day they were together and having a baby by him was just icing on the cake as far as she was concerned. "It's really too bad that my parents will never get to meet their grandchild," Penelope added looking sad at that thought. "Or any of my siblings either."
"I know it upsets you to be away from your family," Dave told her gently as he gave her hand a squeeze of understanding, "but I'm glad you understand why we don't dare visit any of them, your parents or any of your siblings."
"I know why it's necessary that I cut off all contact with them," Penelope promised him. "Us Garcias have always pretty close though and if only my father hadn't been so unreasonable about vampires we could go up to Texas and visit them for Christmas. I know my mother at least would be ecstatic to see both of us."
"Are you still getting visions of the future?" Dave asked curiously. "I've been meaning to ask you that ever since you were turned into a vampire a few months back, but I haven't had the chance. I wasn't sure if your power would manifest, as a vampire, because if it did it would be incredibly enhanced. You still have your ability to do magic as it wasn't taken away with the transformation, but as for the ability to see the future I'm not really sure. I know you mostly had visions when you were sleeping before, but since you can't sleep anymore I'm wondering if it's manifesting in another way."
"No, I'm not," Penelope shrugged, "but that's not surprising since I did get them mostly when I was sleeping as you said, not when I was awake. I'm not sure if my power is dormant, or if there just hasn't been anything for it to show me. If I don't have any visions for say a year then I would say it's gone for good, but until then I'm just going to assume that it's only going to show itself when needed just like it did back when I was entirely mortal. I didn't have future dreams every night, not even every week or month for that matter and sometimes I did get them when I was awake, so we'll just have to see."
"It would be nice if you still had it as it would help us avoid dangerous situations," Dave said, "but if you don't, then you don't and that's fine. It has been known for a magical to lose that kind of power when they go through the change, but in others it enhances it and it's still unknown why that happens. Some of our kind believes that it has something to do with how strong the talent is or perhaps, the genes that make it possible. I've gotten along just fine for the last 800 years without being able to see the future and I don't see it being any different just because I have now found you."
"It would be nice to have such an advantage though," Penelope said and Dave agreed immediately with that.
"It would be, but it's not really necessary," Dave shrugged, then immediately changed the subject back to Penelope's pregnancy. "I can hardly wait until our baby is born as I've never had a child that is so special to me. I love all my children that I've had over the centuries, but when it comes to your mate's children they're always special."
"All babies are special, but still, I understand what you mean," Penelope told him that she gave his hand a squeeze as the two of them walked the streets of Baton Rouge Louisiana, getting the lay of the land and learning the city.
"Now that you're pregnant you're going to need too hunt at least twice, maybe three times a week and drink much more than you normally would," Dave told her. "If it's just a single baby than you'll need twice the amount of blood as normal, but if it's twins then you'll need three times the amount. I'm afraid it varies from baby to baby and woman to woman."
"Are twin vampires common?" Penelope asked in surprise, as she had never imagined that a vampire could have more than one baby at a time, but then she had never really thought much about the species at all, except for Dave when she had started getting those dreams of the future.
"They're not exactly uncommon," Dave shrugged. "Really, we're just like any other species and capable of having twins or triplets, but mostly we only have one baby at a time. For our kind to be able to have children at all is a marvelous, wondrous thing to us considering what we are and mostly each child is treasured, though we certainly have our bad eggs, just like any other species does. For a lot of mortal women if they do have multiples they often die giving birth, but I'm sure that will change as medical technology improves. Right now, it's very dangerous to give birth to more than one, although that's not true for a vampire women of course."
"So if I just happen to be carrying twins..." Penelope began.
"Then we would have to find a vampire doctor that knows how to cut into your stomach and have at least one of the babies delivered that way, because it's unlikely that both of them will be facing heads down. There're plenty of vampires out there that know how to do that even if they never went to medical school officially, because our species has been around for a long, long time and intelligent for a lot longer than any other species. We might want to locate somebody who knows something about delivering babies anyway just in case of complications, as it is better to be safe than sorry and all that. Unfortunately, vampire doctors or even those that know how to do it that aren't technically doctors are few and far between and we might not be able to locate one, so we'll just have to cope on our own if that happens."
"So how do you cut into a vampire's stomach considering our skin is as hard as diamond?" Penelope asked curiously. "I mean no ordinary knife is going to work on us."
"We have tools of our own," Dave told her to seriously, "and they're not for the general populace."
"What kind of tools?" Penelope asked.
"Knives made out of a vampire's fingernails and toenails," Dave explained seriously. "Sometimes our kind goes to the bad and since you can't put one in prison, because mere iron bars would never hold them, they are hunted down and destroyed by enforcers of the vampire council. Before that happens however, their finger and toenails are extracted very painfully and made into the knives that we use."
Penelope made a face at that and Dave couldn't blame her for really his mate was such a gentle soul, well, for the most part anyway.
"So after that I'm assuming that the vampire is given blood in order to heal up the incision," Penelope said, changing the subject.
"Exactly," Dave agreed giving her hand a squeeze. "I know it's not very pleasant to think of the death of another being, but trust me, you can't put a vampire in prison. Once they go down a certain road, well, they almost never come back, so killing them by fire is the only way to deal with the situation and we might as well make use of the things we need since those vampires are going to be put to death anyway. If you do happen to need a baby cut out of your belly or really just giving birth in general I'll bring you a victim in that case and in fact several of them since you don't want to kill them and then they are hypnotized to forget the entire incident. Giving birth, whether or not one of our kind need an operation is the one time that a vampire female cannot hunt for themselves as they are to weak and that is no slight on you or any vampire female as that's just the way things are."
"I understand," Penelope said meaning it. "I knew things were bound to be different as a vampire, then they were as a mortal, even if magical folks are considerably longer lived then humans or even shifters, who are also relatively long lived. There are certain things I didn't like about the mortal world and I knew the same was bound to be true of the vampire one as well. However, I don't regret being turned into a vampire so the two of us can be together for all time, as I would have been miserable without you, just like you would have been miserable without me."
"Now that's the absolute truth," Dave agreed fervently, as he gave his mate's hand another gentle squeeze and also added a kiss on the cheek for good measure.
"Besides, nobody likes every single thing about the world around them or the people, as it's only natural to dislike some things or some people," Penelope said. "Mortals can be incredibly cruel, as I'm sure you are aware and also very uncompassionate and unforgiving. Believe me, I knew some people like that in Houston who could do nothing, except talk nastily about other people, usually behind their backs, or do their best to get them in trouble."
"Very true," Dave agreed, "but there are also a lot of compassionate, forgiving kind, generous people in the world."
"There are, as I knew some people like that too, as I knew plenty of them, back in Houston," Penelope agreed.
The two of them walked side-by-side in silence for awhile and Dave felt more content and happy then he had in a very long time. With Penelope at his side, who he had thought looked stunning, even when she had been completely mortal, now that she was transformed into a vampire stunning didn't cover her radiant beauty. Her hair was still blonde, but somehow seemed more perfect then she had before her transformation, somehow even more blonde and also softer, with more volume. Her brown eyes seemed to somehow sparkle with an inner light, when they hadn't before, she seemed to have more curves then before and her walk was now sex incarnate. Also her face was somehow even more beautiful and he had seen more then one man looking at his Penelope, as if he wanted to approach her, but he simply gave them an intimidating glare, subtly displayed his wedding band and the men had backed off immediately.
Penelope hadn't noticed the way the men's eyes followed her whenever she was out in public with him and she would never believe him if he told her, so he just didn't mention it.
So many of the men in her hometown had just ignored her because she was too intelligent and they knew it or she simply wasn't beautiful enough for them. Whatever the reason it didn't really matter, because she was Dave's now and would be for all time.
"Have I told you, you look particularly gorgeous today?" Dave complimented his mate.
What Dave said was true, at least in his opinion, as Penelope was wearing a very expensive dress that was casual and made for just going around the town. It was made of very sturdy linen that would take many washings and wouldn't wear and tear easily, but it was still from a very expensive name brand, as there would be no cheap gowns from the Sears catalog for his mate as she deserved only the best. Of course, thanks to the fact that Penelope had magic as she had been a witch before she was turned into a vampire she could clean both their clothes using her talent instead of using a large tub filled with soapy water and washboard, as Dave well knew that wore out clothes really fast no matter how sturdy they were and it also took forever to clean clothes that way depending on how much laundry there was. Linen was an expensive commodity, especially as fine as the threads that had been used in his mate's dress was, but he had no problem with buying expensive clothes, as she only deserved the best as far as he was concerned. The reason linen was so expensive at least in America was it had to be imported from somewhere like Europe, as they were the ones that produced the finest of linen thread. He would have no coarse clothing on his, Penelope's body as she only deserved the very best. The dress was of the newest mode and was dyed a deep brown, which matched his mate's eyes as well as his own. Also she wore a hat as that was the style as a lady never left her house without one, although Dave would prefer if his Penelope wouldn't wear one, as it covered up her gorgeous blonde hair, but since styles changed all the time he said nothing.
"No, you haven't," Penelope said and she would have blush had she been able to.
"Well, you do," Dave complimented her sincerely. "You look absolutely spectacular in that dress that fits you like a glove."
"It should since it was designed for me specifically," Penelope blushed. "I've never had my own personal designer before."
It went unsaid that she never could have afforded something like that back before she and Dave had met.
"Well, I think the hours of fittings you had to go through, were more than worth it," Dave said, as he openly admired his mate's body in the dress that she wore.
"Yes, it took forever, but at least I'll never have to go through that again, since I won't be able to again weight," Penelope said.
"Except when you're pregnant, just like you are now," Dave corrected softly. "However, the marvelous thing is that you'll be back to your original shape once the baby is born."
"I suppose I will need some maternity wear, although I won't be wearing it for very long," Penelope said. "However, I think I'll just get it off the rack as there is no point of having something made for me, since I won't be pregnant for more than a couple of months and I'll probably only show above my clothes for the second half of it."
"I want you to only have the finest clothes available," Dave said firmly, "and nothing off the rack will do. Not for the woman I love."
"But Dave there is no point wasting money on having clothes made, when I'll only be wearing them for such a short amount of time," Penelope protested vehemently.
"Money doesn't really matter to me," Dave told her fondly. "After all, what's the use of having it if it's not used to make us happy? There is no point of it just sitting in the bank. Our baby will also only have the finest clothes available even though they outgrow them so fast."
"Now here's where I definitely must protest," Penelope told him how to tone firm. "For the baby at least we'll be buying stuff store bought as they grow way to fast to go to the expense of having things made for them and this is true even of human infants. Since vampire children grow at least three times as fast there is absolutely no point of wasting money. We are going to do exactly what my parents did when me and my siblings were young and that is buy stuff that is slightly to large and let them grow into it. We'll have to buy larger then most parents would, simply because vampire children grow so incredibly fast. Also if they don't rip their clothes, because they grow so fast we can use them on our other children as there is no point of buying new until it's all worn out. Once they are all grown up to where they're not going to grow physically anymore then we can have their clothes made for them and not before."
"I suppose you're right," Dave said after moment not bothering to argue, because vampire children did indeed grow incredibly fast and were all grown up after just seven years. They did outgrow their clothes in a matter of months at the very most and while he didn't mind spending the money, there was no point of wasting it, as his children wouldn't get much use out of what was made for them.
"In this case I am," Penelope said firmly. "I know you have a lot of money, but vampire children would outgrow any clothes you had made in a matter of a few weeks or less. I don't see any point of having clothes made, so store bought will just have to do."
"Alright, in this case I concede defeat," Dave said graciously. "However, I will add one caveat and that is that none of our children will be wearing hand-me-downs because we are not poor and therefore there is no need to hand down clothes like so many families have to do. We won't throw good clothes out, but we'll give them to some kind of charity organization or something, so that other children can get use out of them."
"And it will probably be the best clothes that those children have ever owned," Penelope said approvingly. "That's a fine idea and I heartily approve. There're plenty of poor children that could use good clothes, ones that are sturdy and aren't going to tear just because the material is so flimsy or at least patched so much that little of the original cloth remains."
Dave smiled at his mate's approval, as he would do anything to make her happy and he certainly didn't mind giving the clothes to charity when they could no longer be worn by his children, which was a problem that he'd had in the past, as he'd had a few children before he had met Penelope in his 800 years. He had nothing against charity and in fact he gave to several charitable organizations, ones that helped world hunger and children.
"So do you want to son this time or a daughter?" Penelope asked Dave suddenly.
"It doesn't matter either way," Dave shrugged, truly not caring what gender he got as he and Penelope would be having a lot of children over the centuries. "Not to me anyway, as I'll be fine with either one as we'll have plenty of opportunities to have more."
"Good," Penelope said pleased, "as I know a lot of men prefer to have sons, particularly for their firstborn."
"I know," Dave agreed, "but that's definitely not me. I'll be perfectly happy to have a daughter if that's what we get. Besides, we'll probably have several in the next five or six years so I have plenty of opportunity to have sons."
"Well, that is one advantage to being a vampire and that is I'm not going to get worn out from birth after birth," Penelope said.
"No, you definitely won't die during childbirth like so many women do," Dave agreed, "which means we can have as many children as we like and actually there is no way to prevent it anyway, so we'll just have to take what comes."
"You know I wonder if that potion I mentioned awhile back would work on me now that I'm a vampire," Penelope mused.
"You know I don't know," Dave admitted doubtfully. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try to stop you from getting pregnant when we don't want anymore for awhile, but since we can still eat I suppose it's possible that it might work."
"Yes, I think we'll try it sometime in the next few years as I want a way to stop getting pregnant when we don't want anymore right then," Penelope said. "I don't want to be getting pregnant every few months or more and since we're going to be spending much more time in bed than most couples do we'll be having a lot of children if we can't find a way to prevent it. I don't want to be constantly pregnant, as I want time for the two of us to be able to enjoy ourselves without having to worry about children."
"Yes, I can certainly understand that as being pregnant can be painful even for a vampire," Dave agreed easily, "even if they can't die from wearing out their bodies. Also vampire babies in the womb are incredibly sturdy and we aren't about to lose one. Well, not unless it's within the first few days because they grow so incredibly fast and are soon past the stage that causes mortal women to lose a child and miscarry."
"Well, at least that's one heartache we won't have to deal with then and I for one am very glad. I know what my parents went through when they lost a child unexpectedly even if I wasn't born until afterwards," Penelope said cheerfully, as the two of them strolled around the town holding hands.
"Yes, miscarriage happens in the best of families," Dave said, "except for vampires. Of course, it can happen to them to it's just very, very rare, so in all likelihood we'll never have that heartbreaking experience, because it would take something really drastic for us to lose a child, like somebody hitting you in the stomach with the force of a sledgehammer in the first few days of your pregnancy."
"That's actually happened?" Penelope asked blinking in surprise.
"Not that specifically, I'm just saying that it would take that amount of force," Dave explained, "You also have to consider the fact that you would have to catch the female vampire unaware and then be able to get in a surprise blow, which is why it's such a rare event and usually some sort of bad luck."
"Well, that's good then," Penelope decided and Dave just grinned fondly at his mate.
"So since it's finally starting to get dark are you thirsty, since we're out anyway?" Dave asked.
"Not at the moment," Penelope considered as she determined that her throat was not burning, "but you know I'm in the mood for some of that chicken alfredo that we had before I was turned into a vampire."
"Your wish is my command, my lady," Dave said. "We'll see if we can track down a place that has that on their menu, although I don't know how likely that is, but if we can't we can fix it at home."
"You know what kind of surprised me that you knew how to cook," Penelope giggled, "as men do not do the cooking where I come from, as they either have enough money to hire a cook to do it for them or they have wife or they eat out all the time."
"I like to cook," Dave admitted quietly enough that no one except for another vampire would be able to overhear him. Actually, the two of them had been talking very quietly to each other so that nobody could overhear their conversation unless they got up very close and personal and the streets were not that crowded. "I had to find someway to keep myself occupied, because until recently I didn't really have anyone to share my life with and so I learned mostly by trial and error, but I also had my mother to help me and so she taught me how to cook a lot of the dishes I now know including the chicken alfredo. I'm always learning new dishes and I do have numerous cookbooks stashed at various houses that I own. Our memories are perfect that's true and we never actually forget anything, but still, if you haven't cooked a particular dish in a long time it doesn't hurt to have the recipe on hand. Our kind can eat so there was no reason for me not to learn how to cook and sometimes I just feel like preparing a meal at home, something specific, that I couldn't find out a restaurant of whatever city I was in. Every country I've been to, which is quite a few have their own specific recipes or even their own ways of fixing something that was created from another country."
"Well, I don't see why both of us can't share the cooking duties since both of us know how," Penelope said. "I was taught as a little girl as my parents thought that I'd one day get married and I'd need to be able to cook for my husband and eventually my children. This was long before I started having those dreams and occasionally daytime visions about you. All my sisters were taught how to cook actually, which is quite common, since it is considered a traditional woman's role."
"Just because woman are taught doesn't mean that all of them are any good at it," Dave said, "but that doesn't include you, because you are an excellent cook and I always enjoy preparing a meal with you."
"Yes, it gives us a way to spend time together that isn't in bed," Penelope told him softly with a smile kissing his cheek.
"As much as I enjoy making love to you, we need to do other things together," Dave told her and Penelope nodded in complete agreement.
"Absolutely and since we can eat cooking is an excellent way to pass the time," Penelope agreed.
The two of them continued to walk in companionable silence as they looked for a restaurant that they could dine at.
~~~Runaway Love~~~
"Push, love! Push!" Dave urged Penelope with love infused into his voice. "Just a few more pushes and we'll have our baby."
His mate had been in labor for several hours now, as unfortunately, being a vampire did not prevent the pain of labor or the hours it took for a vampire infant to be born. It was the 22nd of December and very close to Christmas, although fortunately, the baby had decided it was ready to be born as he had plans for him and his mate for the holiday that wouldn't be interrupted with Penelope being in labor during it. He and Penelope had been interviewing perspective nannies for the last several weeks and finally had hired an older lady that had never been married and had made a career out of being a nanny to other peoples children. Megan was human, but didn't have a stigma against vampires like so many people did and both Dave and Penelope felt that she would fit right in and help with any children they had.
Megan had her own room and had been told that vampire children needed to be fed every hour for the first four weeks and then three times a day for the rest of the year and then after that they would be old enough to tell her when they were thirsty. Luckily, vampire children had an easier time learning to control their bloodlust then mortals who were turned into vampires and therefore the more animalistic part of them were like children in an adult body and took them time to mature a learn that killing humans in order to feed was a big no no. They were taught not to kill unless the situation required it and then how to dispose of the evidence, so that if the body was ever found there would be no way to tell who did it.
They intended on helping Megan, as she was only there when they wanted to be out of the house without the children in tow or in their bedroom making love. Unlike some poor parents who didn't have the money to hire anyone they had no intention of spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at home. They still intended to spend plenty of time with whatever children they had and also take the children out on outings, so that Megan would have time to herself. Megan was happy with the arrangement, as she would get time to sleep or do whatever she wanted and would only watch the children when their parents were gone on a date or busy doing something else. One of the reasons that Megan was very happy was because it had been made clear to her that it wasn't her sole responsibility to raise whatever children they had. She would certainly help and that they were going to do a lot of the raising themselves, so she was only there for when they were busy elsewhere.
Megan definitely liked the freedom of her new position as it gave her a time to do other things and she also had free access to the library that the Rossis were still buying books for.
Megan stood in the corner of the room out of the way watching as her new employer urged his wife to push and was envious of the obvious love that he bore for her and she for him. She had once been loved like that, but her fiancé had died before their marriage much less having any children and so she had never married nor had any children of her own. Thanks to that terrible accident that had taken Richard's life she had gone on to be a nanny to several households over the last 30 some years. She had a feeling that she would be remaining with the Rossis until the day she died, as they were already talking about having several more children over the next few years. Thanks to her new mistress being a vampire there was no possible way that she was going to die in childbirth, like so many women did due to complications or get to old to bear them.
Besides, despite being vampires they were generous and kind as they were paying her double what she normally made and nobody before them had been as generous, even when they could afford to be.
Finally Megan came out of her thoughts when she heard the cry of a baby as the doctor they had found had finally delivered a beautiful little girl and Dave just beamed with happiness as he cradled the little vampire girl tenderly in his arms.
"She's gorgeous," Megan said, as she came forward.
"We certainly think so," Penelope said tiredly.
"I'm going to go get us a couple of volunteers for you and our beautiful daughter to feed off," Dave told his wife and Megan. "I'll be back within half an hour."
"You go, we'll be here," Penelope promised him tiredly.
Dave left after kissing his mate on the forehead and Penelope said, even as she cradled his daughter in her arms. "I really wish there was a way to feed her from a bottle and then a cup as it would be much simpler, at least until they're old enough to be able to hunt on their own."
"Who knows maybe a way will be invented in a few decades," Megan suggested, safe in the knowledge that vampires did not kill their victims when they drank from them only taking enough to sate their thirst or at least that's the way most vampires were. She was not unaware however, that there were just as many bad vampires as there were bad mortals, ones that actually killed their victims on purpose. But she knew that the Rossis fell into the good vampire category, because she had watched them feed several times from a distance and they had always released their victims when they had enough, hypnotized of course, with nothing more than a foggy memory of what had happened to them if they remembered anything at all. She had been told that most mortals didn't remember what happened to them and just assumed that they had been attacked or maybe fallen unconscious if they were extremely drunk, so whatever they remembered, if anything, would be highly suspect if they told anybody.
This was the way that vampires could live in one area for quite a few decades without being discovered so long as they were careful not to be seen feeding, preferably even by their victims, so that nobody would have a chance of identifying them as some people might want to get revenge even though the Rossis hadn't killed them.
Megan now knew more about the vampire world then she had before as after she had been hired by the Rossis they had taken turns educating her about what was expected and also about vampire history and laws.
She was expected to keep her employers confidence at all times and since that's what she had done with other people she had worked for she didn't have a problem with that, just so long as they didn't commit some kind crime and she found out about it. You couldn't keep a vampire in prison, but she sure wouldn't be willing to work for them if they did break the law.
"I certainly hope so," Penelope said, "as it sure is awkward to have to bring several victims here just for me and whatever children Dave and I have. Once they are a year old they should be able to hunt on their own with supervision, but until then, Dave's going to have to be really careful that nobody sees him constantly bringing people into this house, even though they leave alive. A lot of people are curious by nature and we don't need anybody snooping around. I wouldn't want to have to leave in a hurry just to avoid the law even if we're not really doing anything wrong."
"I doubt it'll be a problem, because once the police find that vampires live here or anybody else they'll likely avoid you like the plague," Megan suggested delicately.
"Probably," Penelope said giving an unladylike snort of agreement. "At least we can pass for human so long as we're careful, as we can eat regular food even if it's blood that sustains us."
"I consider that pretty amazing," Megan said in a no-nonsense tone, as she was a really practical person.
"Yeah, it is, but I'm glad we can as I sure would have missed being able to eat," Penelope agreed. "However, even if I couldn't eat, well, I love Dave so much that I still would've runaway with him. At least I can't gain weight from eating anymore so I will no longer have to watch the food I consume, even if it's blood that keeps my body going now."
"It must be hard being cut off from your family," Megan said sympathetically who had been outraged when she had discovered that Dave had basically kidnapped Penelope that was until the two of them had explained why that had been necessary.
Penelope had explained that her father never would have accepted Dave or allowed her to associate with him, much less marry him. Dave had then explained that they were mates and exactly what that meant. Penelope had then admitted that she had runaway with Dave willingly because she had been having visions of the future for several years, just snippets of their life together. She had told her mother exactly what was going to happen though, as she accepted the visions much more easily than her father ever would have as he just would have caused a big stink and forbade her to see him. Her father just would've tried to keep Dave away from her and possibly even arranged a marriage for her and that would've led to numerous deaths in her family, so running away with Dave was really the only option. She was sad to be separated from her parents and also her siblings of course, but it was no worse than her brothers and sisters moving away once they married, even if they had done so with their father's blessing. If her father had only been reasonable when she saw her visions of the future then she and Dave would've been happy spending Christmas or Thanksgiving with them. Her father was a stubborn man and wasn't likely to change his views on vampires in general and Dave who had been courting her in particular, despite the fact that she had known they were meant to be.
After what she had been told, Megan was no longer mad at what Dave and also Penelope had done, but sad for her mistress, as being separated from people she loved was bound to be hard, especially since she couldn't even go back home for a visit.
"It is and I know I will continue to miss them even know when they die, but it wouldn't be so hard if only my father would be reasonable and just welcome Dave into the family because we are legally married and that's not going to change. I know my mother would spoil any grandchild rotten and pretty soon she would have numerous ones to spoil. Unfortunately, it's not my mother that's the problem. I don't really know what caused my father to dislike vampires or even outright hate them, but it doesn't matter anyway, because Dave and I are not going to break up. Breaking up is not possible anyway, because not only are we legally married there's also the mate bond to consider. Divorce between two vampires who are soulmates, well, it just isn't possible. Yes, I miss my family, I won't deny it, but I love Dave so much and I know that he is my present and my future," Penelope said in a tired sounding voice. She was indeed feeling very tired and she knew the reason why that was and so she hoped Dave hurried up and got back as she knew very well that blood would instantly revive her so that the tiredness would just disappear.
"I hope Dave hurries back soon, because I'm feeling very worn out and I know exactly why that is," said Penelope. "My throat isn't actually burning, which I find amazing considering how tired I feel after having given birth to our daughter, but I know it will be soon. I'm even more surprised that our daughter isn't wailing as Dave told me what to expect when vampire children are first born."
As if Penelope's word were some sort of signal, her daughter, who had been silent up until then immediately started crying. "I shouldn't of said that as I believe I set her off with my words," Penelope said. "I hope Dave hurries back as our daughter sure does have a loud wail."
"Every child I've ever been nanny to seems to have a loud cry so long as they have a healthy set of lungs," Megan said.
"I know, I've been around enough babies to know that their cries are often loud enough to wake the dead," Penelope said with a tired smile. "I believe it's just worse this time because of my supersensitive vampire hearing and I'm still getting used to my more advanced senses, particularly my hearing and sense of smell as I've only been a vampire for less than a year. Now really we are extremely lucky because she won't cry to be changed or because she is sick only to be fed and according to Dave that stage will pass really quickly compared to mortal infants."
"Yes, it will," Dave said from the doorway.
Both Penelope and Megan looked startled as neither had heard him approach and Penelope at least should have.
Dave just looked amused, but said nothing as he guided two men into the room both of whom seemed to be almost sleepwalking.
"Here you go, bella (beautiful)," Dave told his gorgeous wife.
"Thank you," Penelope said politely, as Dave guided the first man who was tall and slender over to where she lay in their bed.
Dave had the man kneel down and then lean forward until his neck was closer to Penelope's mouth and Penelope took that as invitation it was and her fangs came out and she immediately snapped onto the man's jugular, drinking rapidly from him until she felt his heartbeat start to slow and she forced yourself to breakaway.
Dave was immediately there and put the man to sleep with one forceful command and soon he was snoring softly.
"Do you need the other?" Dave asked.
Penelope assessed how she really felt, but then shook her head. "I feel much better actually, although I'm sure I'll have to feed again tomorrow, but I should be able to get back to my normal routine and go hunting with you."
"Alright then," Dave said. "Now, for our gorgeous daughter whom we still need to name."
"The sooner you get her fed the sooner she'll stop wailing loud enough to wake up the neighbors and then we can name her," Penelope told him and Dave simply grinned at that.
"Yeah, she does have a good set of lungs on her, but then all vampire children do," Dave agreed and took his beautiful daughter from his wife's arms and offered her the second man's neck.
The as yet unnamed little girl, immediately snapped her fangs into the man's jugular doing it on pure instinct once she was close enough as she couldn't even crawl yet much less walk yet, since she was less then an hour old, although in a few weeks that would no longer be the case.
Megan had been watching this and decided immediately that he never wanted to watch a vampire feed again, because even though they didn't kill their victim she couldn't help, but put her hand up to her own neck since she was mortal as well. She hated to imagine the same thing happening to her, even though she knew the Rossis were good people, vampires or not. Knowing intellectually about how they fed hadn't bothered her one bit, but to actually witness and it was totally different and she never wanted to see it again for as long as she lived.
Dave noticed this and looked at her sympathetically seeming to know in what direction her thoughts were going.
"A lot of people are disturbed at seeing a vampire feed unless they are another vampire, especially up close and personal," Dave told her gently. "From now on you don't have to witness this part of it if you don't want to, although I appreciate that you were here for Penelope until I could return."
"How did you know what I was thinking?" the older lady asked amazed as well as disturbed.
"Experience," Dave explained quietly. "I am centuries old after all and I have encountered every single type of behavior known to mortal or vampire kind. I'm also very observant and I saw how your hand went up to your neck as if to protect it from the bite of a vampire. Mortals might understand intellectually what we are, but it doesn't mean they want to see how we feed in order to get our true substance, even if we can eat regular food as well. Most mortals have very vivid imaginations and I'm sure you can't help, but think about that being yourself. However, you don't have to fear either Penelope or I as we would never harm you, much less kill you."
"I knew that already or I never would have taken the job," Megan told him looking directly into Dave's eyes, which Dave thought was very brave of her, especially since she knew what he was and that neither he or Penelope were mortal. She knew exactly what he could do to her if he was of a mind like hypnotize her and drain her body of blood entirely for example. "I knew you were good people, despite how so many mortals fear your kind. I won't say that fear is unwarranted, but then, I'm old enough and experienced enough to know that vampires are just like mortals and they're good ones and bad ones."
"That there are," Dave agreed, as his daughter detached herself from the man's neck, as she was too small to get more than that a few sips of his blood. Dave put the second man to sleep and then said. "He won't even feel weak once he wakes up, as our daughter is too small to need much blood, although that will soon change."
"But you'll have to go back out again in just a few minutes to get someone else," Penelope pointed out. "Or maybe we could just keep this guy asleep and at least keep him until morning."
"That's actually a good idea, as it will save me from having to go back out until we release this fellow in the morning, that way I won't need to go out every hour as our daughter is too small to do him much damage, even if she drinks off him several times. So a name for our gorgeous daughter," Dave said cradling the little girl tenderly in his arms, as he had taken her from Megan's arms as soon as he was free to do so.
"I was thinking Melinda after my mother," Penelope suggested.
"I think that's a fine idea," Dave said immediately knowing that Penelope's mother would have supported their relationship, but that her father would have had the final say and he might not even have listened to his wife in this case. In fact, that's what Penelope's visions before she had been turned into a vampire seemed to indicate. "I know your mother would have supported our marriage and spoiled any grandchildren rotten."
"Yes, she would have," Penelope agreed softly seeming rather melancholy and Dave knew that she missed her family, even if she loved him and their daughter. Dave couldn't really blame her for missing her family though, considering how she had left only leaving them a letter. Yes, Melinda Garcia had known it was going to happen, that did not mean that she likely wasn't very sad that it had to be this way, because her husband was such a stubborn man.
"I'll tell you what," Dave said. "You write them a letter and I'll have our photograph taken and send them off by mail so that your mother at least knows that you are happy. We'll just have to make sure that we don't give any indication what city we are in, much less our address because I wouldn't put it past your father to come here and try to drag you back home despite the fact that you're much stronger than he is now."
"He probably would," Penelope agreed suppressing an unladylike snort. "I mean he approved of my other siblings marriages, my sisters anyway as my brothers were free to marry, even without parental approval and so long as they were happy, but since I supposedly had the atrocity to fall in love with a vampire he is never going to approve of me getting married. Well, not unless he somehow works out that my happiness is all that matters, just like it mattered for my sisters in particular. However, he's a stubborn man and unfortunately, there's really no way for me to contact him, except to send a telegraph and that's to public."
"Well, you write them a letter and we'll include a picture as I said and I'll make sure it gets delivered, even if it will take at least a couple of weeks to get to Houston and that should at least make your mother happy to know that you're alright."
"I'll do that," Penelope said looking a little happier, although Dave knew she probably wished that she could visit her parents in Texas and that she hadn't had to runaway like she had.
"I know it's hard to be separated from your parents," Dave told her gently, even as he held his daughter in one arm and his other snaked around her back.
"It is, but at least this way they live, as I saw what happened if my father had stood between you and me and trust me, it wasn't pleasant. Besides, I'm happy with you, just so you know and I meant what I said over a month ago and that's I would have been miserable without you. Sure, I wish things were different and that my father didn't have such a stigma against vampires, but things really are best this way. Do I wish we could go home for Christmas? Or Thanksgiving next year? Of course, I do, but it just wasn't meant to be. Besides, now I'm a vampire too and it's very likely that my father would try his best to attack both of us and not just you, as his hatred for our kind runs deep."
"His love for you might override his hate of vampires," Dave delicately suggested.
"It might," Penelope admitted, "but then it might not. I suppose it depends on how deep his hate of our species is."
"Love is supposed to conquer all, particularly hate," Dave said.
"It is, but it doesn't always turn out that way," Penelope said with a sigh. "Let's forget about my father and his rather unreasonable attitude where vampires are concerned. While I do understand that a lot of mortals fear them and just as Megan said a few minutes ago their fear is not entirely unwarranted, but I really don't think it's fear that has made father loathe vampire kind so much."
The two were silent as they watched their daughter who was wide awake and looking around the room as she lay in her dad's arms.
"You know Megan and I were just discussing that its very awkward to have to feed a vampire children in this way," Penelope said, as she looked at the man who was still fast asleep over in a corner of her and Dave's bedroom and would remain so until morning so long as they didn't make to much noise.
"Yeah, it is," Dave admitted, "but don't worry to much honey, this guy isn't going to be missed for a long time as he's a bum and we plan on releasing him in the morning anyway and get someone else and with nothing more then vague memories that he was ever here. People who live on the street for one reason or another are not going to be missed by anybody except other bums and while it's sad that some people have to live that way it sure is convenient for vampires. The police don't have the manpower or the time to try to find somebody like that," Dave said looking over at the man in the very shabby clothes.
"Or the interest even if they did have the manpower or the time," Penelope said shaking her head looking sad, even if it was awfully convenient. Unfortunately, people were put on the street a lot times by bad circumstances, through no fault of their own and often never got back on their feet.
"Unfortunately true," Dave admitted.
The two of them were silent as they held their precious daughter and both knew there would be many more children in the future.
~~~Runaway Love~~~