Perhaps an hour later a noise startled him and Bill looked up from his work. The light from the screen illuminated the room. Isabelle stood barefoot in the middle of the kitchen, bright eyes focused on him.
"I'm thirsty. Can I have a drink of water?"
"Certainly." Bill rose from the chair and filled a juice glass with water from the tap.
"Thank you," She said politely. She drank the water in big gulps, never taking her eyes off Bill's face. "Why are you so pale? Are you a vampire?"
Sookie was not here to give direction. The child's question was straight forward and matter-of-fact. Her mother must have told her about vampires, shapeshifters, and other supes. Sookie would not want her children to grow up ignorant of the supernatural world. After all, they were a part of that world.
"Yes, I am," Bill said.
"I have a book about vampires," Izzy said. "Wanna see?"
Before he could protest that she ought to head back to bed, Izzy crouched and fished a stack of small books out of the diaper bag Sookie had left beside the table. She pulled out a chair, almost tipping it over in the process. Bill moved to help, and when she looked at him expectantly, lifted her onto the seat. He sat across from her as she searched through the books.
"This one," She said. She held it up so he could see. I Know a Vampire, the title proclaimed.
"I have this one, too." She held up another: I Know a Shapeshifter, Bill read. He wondered who was writing these books, for children no less. Explaining the unknown. He knew a few adults who might benefit from reading them.
"My daddy was a shapeshifter," Izzy said. "He could turn into a dog!"
"I know," Bill said. "I've known your daddy for a long time."
"Mama told me. I don't have the witch book. Mama said we could get it if I was a good girl in the car."
Bill smiled at Sookie's bargaining. He remembered his own promises of candy at the store if the boys sat still on the hard uncomfortable benches in church those long ago Sundays.
"Will you read it to me?" Izzy asked, thrusting the book across the table at him.
"How about we read it tomorrow?" Bill suggested. "Vampires stay up late, but little girls should be in bed."
"But I'm not sleepy," Izzy protested, as he helped her slide out of the chair.
"I bet if you get in bed and snuggle up to your mama you'll feel sleepy."
Izzy stopped at the bottom of the stairs, peering upwards. "It's dark." She looked at Bill.
Bill smiled. "Yes, it is." He took her hand and together they walked up the stairs. Bill quietly turned the doorknob. Sookie was on her side, facing the door, one hand curled on the pillow. He watched as Izzy crawled into bed and snuggled against her mother. She gave a little wave and closed her eyes.
