Over the following months, Ashley learned to have a measure of control over her vampiric tendencies with Nikola's help. She spent the majority of her days in Helen's office, being tutored by her mother, and sometimes Will or the Big Guy would have to take over when Helen left for a mission. She went through a couple growth spurts, much to Helen's and John's dismay, but they took her clothes shopping when she outgrew outfits that they had bought her only two weeks prior.
"Henry!" Ashley whined. "Mommy said that you had to!"
"I don't want to watch it," snapped Henry. "Can't we watch something else? How about Spider man?"
"That one's boring though."
"Henry!" yelled Helen from down the hall. She threw him a stern look.
"But Doc! Can't you have Will or the Big Guy watch it with her? This is the tenth time this week that she's tried to make me sit through that movie. Heck, I bet even Kate would be thrilled to watch it with her."
"She's missed you, Henry. You've been gone for six weeks."
"Yea, because I had important business to take care of in San Diego."
"Seriously, dude, you went to Comic Con, again?" Will teased from behind. Everyone turned to him. He carried a big stack of paperwork.
"So what if I did?" Henry countered defensively.
"Henry, if you don't watch Beauty and the Beast with my daughter, so help me God, I will take away your computer privileges for a year!"
"Alright. Alright, I'll watch it with her." Henry cringed as Helen walked by toward Will. He looked down at Ashley, and sighed when the young girl gave him a triumphant grin. "Ok, little brat, come here." He bent down to pick her up, and carried her to the entertainment room. "You're getting too heavy for this, you know that, right?"
Once in the room, he sat her down on the couch, and went for the shelf with her movies. He turned back to her. "Are you sure you want to watch Beauty and the Beast?"
"Yes!"
He grumbled under his breath as he got the DVD out, and put it in the player. He looked down when Ashley snuggled closer to him at the start of the movie. His eyes softened, and he relaxed. Yup, definitely Ashley, but cuter this time around.
"You called for a meeting?" Kate asked as she walked into Helen's office. She looked around. Will and John were already there, and Big Guy came in behind her.
"Tomorrow is Ashley's birthday. Judging by her dental records, I have concluded that this new incarnation of my daughter is going to be eight." Helen looked around at the group surrounding her office.
"Wait—you want to throw her a party," Will concluded, pointing at the older woman comically.
"What else am I supposed to do, Will?" She turned to Big Guy. "I will need your help baking the cake."
"Do we have the ingredients?" he grunted.
"Yes." She turned back to Will and Kate. "I will need you two to decorate, but make sure that Ashley doesn't see you. I have Henry distracting her with Beauty and the Beast."
"Are you serious?" Kate snorted. "Oh, he's going to get a ration of shit."
"Language, if you please," snapped Helen. She shot Kate a disapproving glare before turning to John. "I assume that you still know how to cook."
"You are correct."
"You can cook?" Kate looked baffled, yet amused at the same time. "Aren't you from the 1700s, or something?"
"I was born in 1857," corrected John. "And yes, I do know how to cook. Men of my era still learned how to prepare meals."
"Whatever." Kate rolled her eyes. She turned to Will. "C'mon, before Magnus yells at us." She grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him off.
Helen sighed heavily. "I am right here." After everyone except Big Guy left her office to do her bidding, she got up. She walked with the sasquatch into the kitchen, and silently got out all the materials she would need for a cake.
Late that night, Helen found herself filling out her daily paperwork. Ashley had been put to bed, none the wiser about what was planned. Most of the resident abnormals were sleeping.
She sighed heavily as she leaned back in her chair. So much has happened this past year, she mused with a sad smile. She opened her eyes, and picked up the phone, dialing a very specific number.
Helen inhaled the cold morning air as the sun's rays hit the buildings of the city that surrounded her sanctuary. She exhaled slowly. I suppose it is time to wake Ashley.
She closed her eyes before stealing herself away from the rooftop. She took the elevator down to the residential level. She then walked down the halls until she stood outside Ashley's room. As she reached for the doorknob, she pulled back uncertainly.
"I could wake her, if it is too much for you, Helen."
She froze when she heard John's voice. Her body stiffened when she felt him stand directly behind her. "I will wake her," she said. She turned the doorknob slowly, and looked on Ashley's sleeping form.
Her daughter laid, curled up in her blankets. The sun touched her golden hair, making her appear to glow. Her expression was more peaceful than Helen ever remembered it being in the past.
Such innocence, but she's still one of the most dangerous abnormals that I house in this sanctuary, and yet she has more freedom than most.
Tears moistened her eyes. She squeezed them away, and walked the length of the room to Ashley's bed. She sat at the foot of the mattress, and gently stroked her daughter's soft hair. "Time to wake up, sweetie," she coaxed softly.
Ashley groaned, and shifted away from Helen's hand. A wide grin spread across her still sleeping face.
"Do I have to get Big Guy in here to scare you?"
Her eyes snapped open. She struggled with her growing fangs and claws. She cried out with fear.
"Helen!" John ran in, and pulled Helen away. He looked at his daughter with a haunted expression. He pulled Ashley close, careful not to get cut by her claws. "You can control it, Ashley. Remember: there is nothing to be afraid of while your mother and I are there for you." He grimaced when her claws grazed his chest, but he refused to let go.
Helen watched with fearful eyes. "John!"
Ashley shuddered as she regained control. She looked up at her parents with tearful eyes. "I'm sorry," she cried.
John forced a grin. "It is naught but a flesh wound. Your mother can patch me up later. But for now, you have presents to open." His smile widened as he watched Ashley's face suddenly light up. "Happy birthday, Ashley." His chest swelled with pride as he said those three words.
"Go to the kitchen, Ashley," Helen ordered softly.
"Helen, it's her birthday. Let her open her presents before breakfast." John pretended to look aghast.
"I am still her mother, and she needs to eat in order to remain healthy."
"But Mommy!"
Helen closed her eyes to block out the image of Ashley's pleading face. After a moment, she resigned. "Alright, but eat breakfast when you're done." She turned to John. "Tell everyone to meet us in my office." She lifted her daughter into her arms, and hugged her tightly, burying her face in Ashley's hair. She squeezed her eyes shut, and prayed that the day would last forever.
"Mommy, you're hurting me," Ashley squeaked.
Helen's eyes shot open. She loosened her grip. "Sorry." She carried her daughter out of the bedroom, and down the hall to her office.
Everyone was already waiting for them. A banner hung across the office that read: Happy Birthday Princess. "Happy birthday, Ashley," they all sang in unison.
Ashley squealed with delight, and wiggled out of her mother's arms. She ran over to John, and hugged around his legs, almost knocking him over from the impact. They both laughed as John scooped her up, and lifted her into the air.
Helen watched the interaction with soft eyes. "Alright. Who wants to open her presents?"
The little girl wiggled out of her father's arms. She smiled brightly as Big Guy brought in a large box, overflowing with wrapped boxes. One such gift that she pulled out was a larger box from Helen and John, that she discovered was a big screen television set. Her jaw dropped when she saw it. Helen and John both smiled widely at her reaction. Ashley continued to unwrap each of her presents: a handmade leather pouch from Big Guy, a jewelry box from Tesla, make-up from Kate, Twilight from Henry, and a Disney Princess dress set from Will.
"Really, Tim? You had to get her Twilight of all movies?" Tesla grumbled as Ashley ate her waffles.
"Hey, every girl her age has that movie," retorted Henry.
"Yes, but now she's going to think that vampires sparkle!" Tesla looked genuinely disgusted as he stared at the cover of the DVD. "It's a disgrace really that those movies are so popular! Vampires cannot sparkle—unless they are homosexual loons."
Ashley looked up from her breakfast with an evil glint in her eyes. She finished eating before Tesla could catch the expression. She scooted down from her chair when she was finished, leaving Helen to clean her plate, and ran over to Will. She swung his arm up and down vigorously. "Can we play now? Please?"
Will looked down at her serenely innocent face. He looked as though he were in a great deal of pain as he looked down at her. Before breakfast, she had made various hints that she would make him her guinea pig for her new make-up set. He sent Kate a glare, who giggled.
"Oh, go on, William. I'm sure she'll make you real pretty."
He glanced up at Helen, then at John. He gave into Ashley's request at John's glare. He followed Ashley to her room. Well—he was more dragged there than actual following.
Ashley made him sit on the floor while she got out her new make-up collection. She started out by putting lipstick on, and smeared it all over his lips, just like clown make-up, same shade too. She then moved on to doing his eyeliner in black, which again, got smeared all over his face. She finished by applying blue eye shadow, but was a bit more conservative with this application.
Will endured his torture, though much to his horror, Kate was in the doorway, watching and taking photographs. He glared whenever Kate waved at him. No, he would never hear the end of this one.
"All done!" Ashley announced proudly. She dragged Will to his feet, and dragged him down the hall to Helen's office, passing by Kate, Henry, Big Guy, and Tesla (all of them looking adequately smug at her make-up job on Will). She found her mother placing a book back on the shelf.
When Helen turned around, and saw Will, she could not help but to laugh at his look of utter shame. She hugged her daughter close. "What's this you've done?"
"I made Will pretty!"
"That you have." She shot a half-hearted glare at Will when he opened his mouth to argue. "Why don't you let Will wash up? I have another surprise for you."
"What is it?" Ashley asked immediately.
Helen chuckled at her daughter's enthusiasm as Will quietly excused himself. "Come with me to the front door." She carried her daughter down the stairs to where the front door was. "Go open it." She set the squirming child down, and watched her run to open the door.
Jane stood on the other side with a young looking nun standing next to her with a bag of overnight clothes.
"Jane!" Ashley tackled her friend, much to the nun's disapproval.
"I have heard many stories of this place, but never have I been in here," the nun said to Helen as the girls greeted one another.
Helen simply smiled. "I will have Jane back in the morning." She paused. "Assuming that I can separate them."
"It is a blessing that Jane has found a friend. She doesn't fit in with the other children of the orphanage."
"What happened to her parents?"
"No one knows. They just disappeared one day. Jane's aunt sent her to the orphanage shortly after."
"That's a shame," Helen murmured solemnly.
"Yes, well—she is in the Lord's hands now." The nun smiled before taking her leave.
Disclaimer: Yes, Jane is back. She will make appearances in future chapters. Sorry about the long wait. College is a busy life.