Note: Please see Chapter 1 for warning, copyright and disclaimer information.

Reunion

We followed Corrine out to the farmhouse where the porch light was on, waiting for us. When I got off the bike I took of the helmet and shook out my hair, feeling Mac's eyes on me every second.

As I sat the helmet on the seat, he drawled, "I see Corrine's been dressing you."

I flushed at the approval in his voice. "Well, you know she's just so stubborn it's hard to refuse her." Not that I hadn't wanted to look nice for my lover.

"Just like her mother," he said with a smile.

"She's persuasive," I admitted, "or persistent, or whatever that word is. She's also waiting for us." Corrine had walked ahead and was standing at the bottom of the porch steps.

"We have all night," he replied as we walked toward her.

"Some people sleep at night," I reminded him.

"It's six-thirty," he told me. "And I'm sure they heard us pull up."

"I'm sure they did, I'm surprised they're not at the—" At that moment, Alaster opened the door and looked out at us.

"Hello, Corrine," he said softly to her.

She came forward and kissed his cheek. "Hello, Grandfather."

"Did you have a pleasant day?"

"Yes, I did," she replied. "Thank you for letting me use the car."

"She's got him wrapped around her little finger already, doesn't she?" he leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Noticed that, did you?" I asked softly, smiling. "Just wait, it'll be your turn next."

Alaster looked past Corrine at us as we climbed the steps and our daughter moved to one side. "Macalaster."

"Good evening, Da," Mac greeted him.

He smiled. "I won't ask you how you slept."

Mac chuckled as they shook hands.

"Eliza," Alaster said pleasantly to me.

I knew Mac wouldn't like it if I called him 'Mr. Brennan' so I settled for a simple, "Sir." Now wasn't the time for an argument.

"Did you have a good day as well?" Alaster asked.

"Yes, thank you."

"I'm glad you enjoyed the village," he said, including Corrine in the statement and stepping back to let us inside.

"Ladies first," Mac murmured as Corrine walked ahead of us.

"Are you trying to put it off?" I whispered as I went forward.

"No," he said almost sounding offended. "Ladies first."

"Ah, Grandmother," Corrine murmured, walking forward and hugging the older woman.

"Good evening," Noinen replied, returning Corrine's hug but looking over her shoulder at Mac.

"Good evening," I told her.

"Good evening," she repeated, staring at Mac almost as if she couldn't believe he was standing in her house again.

Mac let go of my hand and took a step toward her. "Hello Ma."

She came closer, still looking as if she thought he'd fade away any moment. She reached up to touch his face and he leaned into her caress. When she assured herself he was real, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

Mac held her while she cried softly until she got a hold of herself again. She pulled away and ran her hands down his face, shoulders and chest, almost as if she was checking to see if he was hurt. I remembered doing the same thing to Corrine on many occasions when she was much younger.

Finally she stepped away and they smiled at each other as Alaster took her hand and gave her a handkerchief to dry her eyes.

"How have you been?" Mac asked her.

"Better now that you're home with us," she told him.

"For a bit," he said gently.

"Come on in," Alaster said after a moment. "Let's go into the great room and have a seat."

"Let me take your coat," Noinen added.

Mac took off his jacket and hung it on the rack that stood near the door. When he turned for mine, I didn't want to give it up.

"That's okay," I told him. I didn't want to give up my weapons and I didn't want his family to know how little I trusted them. Most of them, anyway.

"Elizabeth," he said in a low warning voice.

I glanced at his parents. "If I take the jacket off," I whispered, "then I have to remove the stakes at my back."

"I'm the only vampire here," he reminded me just as quietly.

I could have reminded him that a stake to the heart can kill other things just as easily as a knife, but I didn't want to say it out loud. After a long moment I reluctantly pulled the stakes from my back and shoved them into a pocket of the leather jacket and handed him the coat. He hung it up and we followed his parents and Corrine into the great room.

Siofra and Glenn stood up when we entered the room, watching Mac and I warily. What did they think we'd do, kill his parents at the door? Corrine walked over and greeted them warmly with a hug. They returned her greeting while still keeping an eye on us.

"Hello, Glen, Siofra," Mac said when Corrine returned to Alaster's side.

Glenn nodded. "Mac, Eliza."

Siofra walked across the room and gave Mac a hug.

"Evening Sprite," he murmured softly.

"How are you feeling tonight?" she asked, looking down at his leg.

He hadn't been limping, but she must have remembered his injury. "Better."

"Good." She glanced at me and her face went cold. "Eliza."

I wanted to respond just as coldly, but Mac squeezed my hand and I could see Corrine looking at me encouragingly. I made myself reply a lot warmer than I wanted to. "Good evening Siofra."

I sat down on the couch while Mac took the wine over to the sidebar where Alaster helped him pour it into wineglasses. Once the wine had been passed around, Mac sat down next to me and I listened as the group small talked.

"You bought some new clothes, I see," Siofra murmured with a pointed look at my shirt.

She hadn't liked what I'd worn in Nashville and she obviously didn't like what I was wearing now. Mac and Corrine were dreaming if they thought she would ever warm up to me, but I'd play their game as long as they wanted me to. I opened my mouth to say something sickly sweet, but Corrine spoke first.

"Oh no," she said defensively while not trying to sound defensive. "Actually she bought that before they traveled to Europe."

Siofra gave a weak smile. "Well, it's a nice shirt."

I smiled past my irritation. "Thank you."

"Oh, my gosh," Corrine said suddenly. "I forgot that bag in the car, Eliza."

"You want me to get it for you?" I offered. Anything to get out of the house for even a minute would be good.

"No, I'll go get it," she told me. "Relax, I'll be right back." She sat her glass on the low table and excused herself.

"Where are you living now?" Noinen asked Mac after Corrine had gone.

"I've been living in Los Angeles for the last five years or so," he told her. "I'm planning on moving to Salem."

"Washington?"

"Massachusetts."

His mother looked at him expectantly and when he didn't continue she asked, "Is there something special in Salem?"

"A few things," he told her. He squeezed my hand and I couldn't stop myself from blushing.

I looked down wondering just how special he'd find Salem if we couldn't 'renegotiate' the contract with Ford. Still, he'd be close to Corrine wouldn't he? How hard would he fight his clan to be with me? How hard would he fight me if I couldn't bring myself to become a puppy?

"Isn't that where Corrine is living now?" Alaster asked.

"Oh, yes," Noinen replied.

"Going to school in Boston for psychology I believe," he added.

"So where is the rest of the party?" Mac asked, looking at Glenn.

Siofra answered. "Well, they thought they'd give us a little bit of time before they came back, although Cara is supposed to be here."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing her," Mac said.

Her hesitation was slight, but it was there. "She's looking forward to seeing you too."

"So I hear," he murmured with a smile.

"Where did you live before Los Angeles?" Noinen asked. She still had years of news to go through with him and I didn't think she'd be discouraged from learning all about Mac's life, especially when no one else would tell her anything about it.

"We moved around quite a bit," he told her, "stayed at a lot of the chantries in whatever city we were visiting. We spent a little bit of time in Salem, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco." At that point he realized he was rambling. "And several other places."

"We," she said thoughtfully. "That would be you and…?" She looked at her husband.

"Dougal," he supplied, his voice carefully empty of emotion.

"Yes," Mac acknowledged.

An awkward silence filled the room and I'm sure all of them were wondering how to change the subject. Discussing the fiend who'd changed Mac probably wasn't a good topic for pre-dinner conversation given that Mac would have been the only one with anything good to say about him.

Luckily Corrine came back in right then and sat down on the arm of the couch next to her grandfather. Mac watched her and smiled to himself.

"I picked up something for you grandmother while Eliza and I were shopping today," she said over Alaster to Noinen.

"That was thoughtful of you," she replied, "but you know you didn't have to."

"But I wanted to." She pulled the clock out of the bag and handed it to her grandmother.

"Oh, Corrine," Noinen said with an awestruck tone to her voice, "where did you find this?"

She smiled. "At one of the antique stores downtown."

"Thank you," her grandmother told her. It was obvious that she really liked the clock. Corrine had told me earlier that Noinen had been looking for a clock of that type to replace the one Alaster had been unable to fix.

Corrine pulled the large box of expensive chocolates out of the bag and handed it to Alaster, who took it with a smile.

"Thank you," he said as he opened the box. He took one and passed it around the room. When everyone had taken one, he ate one more and sat the box aside. "It's good to see that you had a good day in Galway," he told Corrine. "Thank you for the chocolates."

"You're welcome," she replied. "I have a few holidays to make up for."

Just at that moment the front door opened and Cara walked in. When Alaster saw who had come in, he stood up, as did Mac.

"Cara, we were worried about you," Alaster said as she came into the great room.

"Oh, I ran into a bit of a delay," she told him, "but I'm here." She walked closer and looked over Alaster's shoulder at Mac. She looked like she wasn't sure if she should hug him or stake him. I stood up to make sure she knew I wouldn't allow the staking. Her eyes slid past Mac at my movement and I knew she'd gotten the warning when she gave a little smile.

"Good evening, Cara," Mac said softly.

"Macalaster," she replied, trying to smile as she walked into the room. "It's been a long time."

"Yes."

"Hello, Cara," Corrine said pleasantly.

"Hi Corrine," she replied, kissing her on the cheek.

Mac stepped forward and Cara looked at him for a long moment. She let him hug her, but she wasn't overly warm about it. It made me wish I'd told her she had to be nice to him too.

When he moved back, he left his hands on her shoulders for a moment. "I was sorry to hear about Angus," he said softly, his voice wistful. "I would have liked to have seen him again."

Pain flashed through her eyes before she looked down. It was wicked obvious that she was still hurting from her husband's death. "I know he would have liked to see you again, Mac." There was an honesty to her voice that there hadn't been before.

Mac let her go and she went to sit next to Noinen. She greeted Glenn and Siofra, although she seemed a little cool to Glenn. For that matter, Mac's parents seemed cool toward him too. They must have still been pissed about him not sharing what he knew about Mac.

I watched everyone talking, staying out of the conversation as much as possible. I've never been one for small talk, especially with people who live normal lives. For real now, what do we have in common? Other than killing vamps, I mean. I didn't think Mac would like it if I started talking shop with Glenn and Siofra.

There was a lot of affection between members of Mac's family. Everyone seemed to have accepted Corrine into the family, although Cara was a little more reserved about it. His parents treated the in-laws as part of the family and I have to say that they included me in that too.

I was glad that Noinen and Alaster were treating Mac as if he'd never been gone, even though I caught Noinen tearing up a few times when she looked at him. I didn't think she was crying because he was a vampire, I think she was just happy to have him home again.

Corrine seemed to be getting along well with everyone, Alaster more than the rest of them. Then again, she'd always gotten along more with Gene than Martina, I think that she just knows how to deal with men more than women.

The family filled Mac in on family matters, births, weddings, deaths, and the like. Mac seemed to recognize the people they are talking about and was able to ask a few pertinent questions. After a while, Corrine, Siofra and Noinen went into kitchen to finish dinner. Jared and Bobby came in around seven thirty, just in time to eat.

When we sat down at the table, I was glad Corrine had insisted I get a makeover. It wasn't that everyone was dressed fancy or anything, but they were dressed well. Even Bobby was wearing an all black outfit that was the most formal I'd ever seen him in.

There was an awkward moment when I passed Mac one of the dishes, but he ignored it as he spooned a large helping onto his plate. After he handed the dish to Alaster, he licked at his thumb where some of the food had gotten at his skin. Everyone watched and although he must have felt like a bug in a jar, he sure didn't show it.

"Everything smells delicious, Ma," he said with a boyish grin.

After that the family seemed to accept that Mac could eat just like the rest of us and the meal went well. Jared seemed a little uncomfortable, almost like he hadn't spent a lot of time with the family. Bobby was more polite than he'd been, and I couldn't help but wonder why.

Cara filled Mac in on changes in the village, friends they'd once had in common. Then she asked about Stephen.

"The last time I saw him a week and a half ago," Mac replied, "he was going to cleanse someone in Salem. He was already talked about going to find someone in Mississippi."

"When he set out to find you we really didn't think he would," she told him. "How did he find you?"

Mac smiled. "He walked into a bar I was in. Apparently he had run into another of my kind in San Francisco and they were sort of… kindred spirits."

That comment made me cough and I covered my mouth with my napkin to hide it.

"Someone put him in contact with the right people," he continued. "I was in Las Vegas."

"I thought you said you were living in LA," Noinen said softly.

"I was," he replied. "We had traveled to Las Vegas for a mission, I had to help out with something. A rogue Kindred of another clan."

"So how did you find Eliza?" his mother asked.

"I walked up to her in a bar she was working at," he told her.

Cara grinned. "Spending a lot of time in bars are you Mac?"

"No," he said with an answering grin. "I had originally been sent quite against my will to an alternate reality where I met the Eliza of that reality. She jogged my memory a bit and of course Stephen had the picture. Apparently he found her first—"

"In this bar," Cara interrupted.

"Yes."

"He's spending entirely too much time in bars," she murmured.

"He was working," Mac replied. "Not at the bar of course. He was drinking milk. When I regained our reality, he led me to her."

"That's quite interesting," Alaster said thoughtfully.

"Yes," Mac agreed.

Cara turned to Corrine. "So how do you know Eliza?"

"I've always known Eliza," she said simply. "My mom and dad own a farm in Maine and after I was born, Eliza lived nearby and worked on the farm."

When she looked at me, I smiled at her fondly. I had enjoyed working on the farm, it had been the first time I'd really spent that much time with animals and nature. Of course I'd loved being able to spend so much time with Corrine when she was little.

"I grew up with her, we were very close," Corrine continued. "I always told her things. I've always known her, she's always been a part of my life."

That seemed to impress the family and I didn't understand why. I mean, she was my daughter, after all. Shouldn't I want to spend time with her? Be there when she needed me? Protect her from the monsters that stalked the night?

When dinner was over, Corrine and I helped Noinen with the clean up while the rest of them went out to the patio behind the house. Corrine asked her grandmother about one of the dishes we'd eaten, and Noinen explained how to make it.

"I'll have to make that when I get home," Corrine said. "I really need to go soon, I've been gone from my classes for almost a week and I don't want to fall behind, even though I've really been enjoying myself here. Maybe I could come back on my next break."

"You would be more than welcome, Corrine," Noinen assured her. "When did you plan on going back home?"

Corrine looked at me. "Well, probably soon. This weekend. There's a friend I can talk to about one class, but I need time to find out what I missed in the other ones."

I nodded. "Glenn could probably see you back. Or Jared for that matter." I kept forgetting that Jared had learned new tricks since I'd known him in Baltimore.

"That's one little trick I need to learn," Corrine murmured.

When we rejoined the others, we passed an hour in pleasant conversation. Because everyone was focusing on Mac, it was easy for me to avoid answering questions I didn't want to. Around ten thirty it was obvious that Alaster and Noinen were getting tired and Mac knew it.

"I'd like to walk up to the point again," he told his father. "Is it okay if we leave the bike here and return for it a little later?"

"Of course it is, son," he assured him.

"Is the range out on the east acre?" Mac asked.

"Yes."

He turned to Corrine, but her attention was elsewhere. "Corrine."

She turned from her conversation with Cara. "Yeah?"

"Tomorrow evening?"

She nodded. "That's the next evening, yeah."

"We teach you to shoot," he said firmly. "Don't argue with me," he added warningly when she would have protested.

I covered my mouth to hide the smile on my face. It was good to see Mac come up against his own brand of stubbornness from someone else. Corrine was more than a match for him in that arena.

She gave him her patented 'Oh you think so' look. "We'll see."

Mac didn't let it get to him. He turned to his father. "Tomorrow night."

"If you'd like we could start in on her early in the day," Alaster offered.

"There is no need for me to learn," Corrine told them.

They turned as one to face her. "Corrine Mackenzie," they both scolded.

She looked at Alaster imploringly, but he wasn't budging. It was the first time I'd seen just where Mac got his stubbornness.

"It's best to be knowing how to protect yourself," he told her firmly. "Sometimes a knife doesn't get it done."

"I thought that's what Jared's lessons were supposed to be for," she replied.

"Sometimes that's not enough either," Mac told her. He was right, of course. If magic had been enough, we wouldn't be where we were today, would we? Mac would never have been embraced and I might have had that house with the white picket fence.

"Look," she said, trying to dismiss the subject, "I have a knife that Eliza taught me how to use and I can do it pretty well."

Mac's whole family looked questioningly at me but I tried to ignore it. What was I supposed to do, pull out a knife and show them how good I was with it? Would that make them happy? I think not.

"What do you do when someone's standing out of knife range?" Mac demanded.

I barely stopped myself from commenting but to me it was simple; if you're out of knife range, you throw the knife.

"Do you have it on you?"

"Yep." She looked defiant, and I wasn't sure if I believed she really did.

"Draw it," he demanded, standing up. I sighed because I knew what he was planning to do. I just hoped it drove his point home without upsetting her.

Corrine looked really confused, but she got to her feet and reached behind her back. Before she got very far, Mac had his gun drawn and pointed at her head. His index finger lay along side the barrel, not anywhere near the trigger.

"Bang."

I glanced around the room to see everyone's reactions, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Noinen seemed taken aback, Bobby and Cara didn't seem too happy, but the rest of them didn't look too surprised. In fact, Alaster almost looked like he'd expected it.

Corrine on the other hand seemed stunned. "Like I could pull a gun that fast anyhow," she said defensively.

"You're mother can do it," Mac said grimly.

I winced at the expression on her face. It was like the wind was taken from her sails and she looked away quickly. Instantly I knew what the problem was; I wanted to tell Mac that Corrine's mother was in Maine, that I was still Eliza to her and knowing that I'd given birth to her hadn't changed that in her heart.

"I don't know about drawing a gun that fast," I murmured, "but I can draw a knife a hell of a lot faster."

"That's what I was talking about," Mac agreed, letting the gun drop to his side.

"Or a stake," I added under my breath.

"Okay," Corrine said tonelessly. "Whatever."

Mac and I were going to have a conversation about this. He shouldn't be pushing her this way. Just because he welcomed the news that he had a daughter didn't mean she welcomed the news that we were her parents. That's not to say that I thought she didn't like the idea, it's just that it would take some getting used to for her.

"Sometimes your magic is not enough," he said almost harshly. He put the gun away and held his hand out to me. "Shall we?"

"Yeah." I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet.

Bobby shook Mac's hand, still seeming a little wary about having a vampire this close to him without killing it, but he said goodnight anyway.

Mac hugged his sister and shook Glenn's hand. Siofra was being marginally nicer to me and I wondered exactly what Mac had said to her in order to bring that little miracle about. Cara hugged Mac and kissed his cheek.

"It's good to see you again, Mac," she told him. I was glad to see that she actually meant it.

Mac smiled. "It's good to be seen."

Noinen gave her son another hug, probably the tenth or so of the evening. I'd lost count hours ago of the number of times she'd touched him in some way or another.

He shook hands with his father. "I've got the gun for Corrine in my coat, if you'd…."

Alaster nodded. "I'll walk you to the door."

Corrine looked a little reserved, but she let Mac hug her and kiss her cheek.

"It's for your own good, dear," he told her, his voice soft as he touched the side of her face.

"Yeah, I know," she said reluctantly. "I know."

"That delivery boy?" he added with a meaningful look. "He was one of Prudence's…."

"Puppies," I supplied.

"Ghoul," he corrected.

I blinked at the hard tone of his voice. "That's what I said."

"I don't know what a ghoul is," Corrine told him.

"Something we'll discuss tomorrow evening." His voice had gone soft again and I wondered if he was regretting his harshness with her earlier.

"Okay."

"But he's been taken care of," I assured her. "Quite thoroughly from what I understand."

"Yes," Mac agreed. "Good evening, sleep tight."

"I'll see you tomorrow," she told him.

I could see the strain on her face and knew I couldn't wait until tomorrow to talk to her about it. "Are you going to walk us out?" I asked her.

When she nodded, we followed Mac and his parents into the hall. Mac handed me my coat and I put it on. Without thinking I took the stakes from the pocket of the jacket and put them at the small of my back where they belonged. His parents gave me a strange look when they saw me do it, but I wasn't going to explain my habits to them.

Mac put his own coat on, took the bag out of his pocket and handed it to Alaster.

He opened the bag and took a look inside. "Oh, good choice on this. It will be a good first gun for her." He looked up at Mac. "Your choice?"

"Yes."

Alaster smiled. "I see that you didn't forget everything."

"No," he agreed with a smile. "But I chose it more for the concealability. I pray she never has to use it."

His father nodded. "But if she does at least she'll know how."

Corrine got a stubborn look on her face at that, I knew she wasn't happy about being made to learn how to use a gun.

"Good night," Mac said, giving his mother one last hug.

To my surprise, she hugged me too, as did Alaster. Corrine and I followed Mac outside and his parents stood arm in arm in the doorway watching us go.