Author's note: This story has kind of been floating around in my head for a while. I finally got around to writing it. Eventually, when I have time, I'll put all of these one shots together in order.

Happy reading!

Laws and Rules

A Sydrian One Shot

By Danielle Cheri

"Sydney, your husband is on the phone." My mom called into the shop.

"I'll be right there. I'm just finishing up." I responded.

"I'll do it. He says it's important." She walked up to me and took the wrench from my hand.

Puzzled, I walked in and picked up the phone. "Sweetheart, if you're trying to convince me to skip work for an hour so I can come home—"

Adrian interrupted, "We have to go talk to Josh's teacher."

"What? Why?"

"She said he's been bullying and we need to meet to discuss the particulars."

"When?"

"I'm on my way there now."

"With Marti?"

"Yeah, she's sound asleep. It's nap time."

I looked up at the clock. "I hope the teacher doesn't mind my grease stains."

"If you can't make it, it's fine."

"He's my son, too."

"I know that, baby, but if you have stuff you can't get away from—"

"I can. I'll meet you there." I hung up and walked back into the garage. I told Mom about the situation and she smiled.

"Go. We can handle this for a while. We're not too swamped today."

I nodded. I changed out of the jumpsuit and cleaned off most of the smudges from my skin that I could get to.

Adrian waited for me in the parking lot with Marti asleep on his shoulder. He greeted me with a quick kiss and then we walked in holding hands. I was nervous. What had my son been doing?

Mrs. Williams met us at the main office and led us to a conference room. She heaved a big sigh and said, "Joshua has been telling another boy in class stories."

Adrian smirked. "What sort of stories warrant a conference with us?"

She gave my husband a hard look that wiped the smirk off his face. "He says you're a vampire. And that you and your vampire friends will suck his blood if he doesn't do as Joshua tells him."

At that, Adrian laughed so loud it startled Marti awake. "I'm sorry." He sobered and rubbed our daughter's back until she went back to sleep. "I'm guessing that this is giving the other boy quite a scare."

I jumped in. "Mrs. Williams, Josh has a very active imagination. I'm sure it's not helped by all the stories his father likes to tell him. He's not very easily scared himself. We'll have a talk with him tonight and let him know that this behavior isn't acceptable."

She smiled at me. "If that's what will get him to stop this. But honestly, Mrs. Ivashkov, he needs better discipline at home."

I returned her smile. "Mrs. Williams, my husband and I punish and reward our son as we see fit. I'm sure you understand that he is very much a little boy full of curiosity and energy and mischief. If we punished him at the drop of a hat, he wouldn't be the same. And we love our son the way he is. We won't squash his creativity because it's an inconvenience to others."

"He challenged another boy to a fight just today and told him that he learned from very highly trained Guardians how to break a bone without much effort."

Adrian snorted again and I shot him a hard look.

"We'll have a talk with him, Mrs. Williams. In fact, we'll bring him home right now." I stood and headed back toward the main office with my husband and the teacher trailing behind me.

"You're so hot right now." Adrian whispered in my ear.

"Not now." I snapped. I signed Josh out for the rest of the day.

We waited in the hall. Marti hadn't awakened. She stirred from time to time, but I think she was quite enjoying sleeping on her father's shoulder. Josh walked around the corner with a forlorn look on his face. I led him outside. None of us said anything until we got to our cars. I sat in the back seat of Adrian's car with Josh while my husband strapped our daughter into her car seat.

"Why are you being a bully, Joshua?" I asked gently.

"I want people to play with me."

"Do you think Uncle Eddie got people to play with him by threatening to break their bones?"

He shook his head.

"And to you think Aunt Jill got people to play with her by threatening to drink their blood?"

He shook his head again.

"We have told you more than once that you cannot under any circumstances tell people about us."

"But you're not one of us, Mommy." He argued.

"I'm just as much a part of this as you are, Josh. We don't go around telling people Daddy is a vampire. And we don't brag about friends that know how to hurt others. If you want friends, be yourself. And if they don't want to be your friend, then it's not meant to be."

"But I'm a Guardian." He argued.

"You're not a Guardian, Joshua." I said perhaps a little too harshly. I wasn't a huge fan with his innate desire to be a Guardian like the other dhampirs we knew. "You're a dhampir. And you're strong. But you're not a Guardian yet. You have to finish specialized training when you're older."

"Joshie, I like that you want to be someone special like a Guardian." Adrian said from the other side of him. "But there's more to it than just threatening and scaring people. If you really do want to be a Guardian, you need to learn that their job is to protect. They protect the Moroi from the Strigoi. But they also protect the secret of the vampires. When we get home, I want you to make an apology card for both these boys and give it to them tomorrow. And tell them you were only saying those things as a joke. We have to keep our secrets safe, Josh. I know it's hard and you want to talk about it, but you can't. Not with humans."

"Mommy and Grandma are humans." He pointed out.

"They're the exception, baby." He kissed Josh's temple. "I love you. Mommy and I both do. But you have to follow the rules of our people and of your school. Okay?"

He nodded. "I'm sorry I was a bully."

"Just don't do it anymore." I climbed out of the car and pulled Adrian off to the side. "Do you want me to come home?"

"I think I can handle the situation." He ran his hands down my arms. "But if we put him in his room for the rest of the afternoon and set Marti up in the studio, you and I can make out on the couch for a while."

I laughed and kissed him. "Or I could go back to work for a couple more hours and then bring supper home. You can paint with Marti and Josh because I think he only needs to spend an hour in his room writing his apologies and thinking about what he's done. And then once they are both in bed tonight, you and I can do a bit more than make out."

One side of his mouth tilted up. I could see his fangs poking against his lips as they stretched across his teeth and it sent a shiver down my spine. In a good way. "I think I like the sound of that better. Chinese?"

"Spring rolls and fried rice for the kids. Kung pao chicken for you. Sesame chicken for me."

"And some egg drop soup."

"Egg drop soup. Got it." I pushed myself up on my toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Love you."

"Love you. Don't work too hard."

"I'll try."


When I got home that evening, I heard laughter coming from the studio. I sat our food down on the kitchen table and then followed the happy sounds of my family. The three of them had a large canvas against one wall and were taking turns throwing globs of paint at it. They had it all over the place and themselves. Thankfully, Adrian had put a cloth on the floor to gather most of the splatter.

"I'm home." I said during a slight lull in the laughter.

"Mama!" Marti exclaimed and ran toward me, covering my work clothes in fresh paint.

I laughed. "Hi, baby."

"Me paint with Daddy." She said happily, her brown eyes dancing.

"And it's beautiful, Marti." I kissed her cheek and put her down. "Josh?"

"Yeah, Mommy?" He turned his face up toward me. His look was very much like his father in that moment. I could forgive him anything when he looked at me like that.

"Did you make your apologies?"

He nodded.

I kneeled in front of him. "Are you going to do it again?"

"I already told Daddy I wouldn't."

"I just wanted to make sure. Let's all get cleaned up and then we can eat. I brought Chinese home."

Both kids cheered and ran for the stairs. Marti was still a little unstable.

I followed. "I'll get Marti cleaned up. You help Josh find clothes."

"If only I could shower with you." He whispered, pressing a kiss to my lips.

"If only." I crooned back. I ran up the stairs. "Marti, I sure hope you aren't smearing that paint all over the place."


"And then Hopper let out his musical cry. And Sydney knew something was wrong." Adrian said, turning the page in his hand-made book. "So she used her magic and fought back triumphantly. And she saved Adrian and all the cats from the evil witch." He turned another page. "But not before the house caught fire. She collapsed and Adrian carried her outside to safety." He closed the book. "The end."

"Again!" Marti demanded.

"Not tonight, baby. It's late." He picked her up and carried her to her room.

I sat down on the edge of Josh's bed and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders.

"Mommy did that stuff really happen?" He asked around a yawn.

"It did." I admitted, brushing his hair away from his face.

"You don't use your magic."

"I don't use it unless I need to."

"To keep the house safe."

"Yes. To keep you and your sister safe."

"But the stakes do that."

"My magic is extra. It keeps all the bad people out, not just Strigoi."

He yawned again.

I kissed his forehead. "Sleep, baby."

He rolled to his stomach and looked at me expectantly until I started rubbing his back. He was asleep a short time later.

I watched him for a while.

"Pst." Adrian said from the doorway.

I looked up.

He smirked at me and winked and then tilted his head toward our bedroom.

I laughed. "You are such a horn dog." I grabbed his hand and pulled him toward our bedroom.

"You promised, Sydney." He pulled my shirt over my head as he kicked the door closed.

I laughed again and reached around him to lock the door. "Did you put the gate at the top of the stairs?" I wrapped my arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around my waist. "Yes."

"And you're sure Marti's asleep?"

"Baby, I tired them out with the paint tossing on purpose." He walked me backward until my legs hit the mattress and I tumbled backward, pulling him on top of me. "It's been weeks."

"We have kids."

"Yeah, well, we used to do it at least once a week. We're down to once a month. I don't want it to end up being once a year."

"It wouldn't only be once."

"What do you mean?"

I smirked and held up my hand, counting off on my fingers. "Christmas, our anniversary, your birthday, and my birthday. Four times a year."

He laughed and pressed a kiss to my mouth. "But you're too hot. I can't just do this four times a year. I need it at least once a month. Once a week would be better. Every night the best."

"We're both too tired most of the time for once a night." I rolled him onto his back and straddled his hips. "We're not that young anymore. And we have kids now."

He sat up and pushed my hair away from my face. "Do you ever want any more?"

I shook my head. "Two is plenty. Don't you think so? I love them. I love spoiling them." I kissed him and tugged at his shirt. "No more talk of kids. No more talk about how we never do this anymore. Let's just do it tonight."

"I like the sound of that, baby." He crooned, rolling me onto my back once more.