First let me say that the show is ripping off my story! I'm not one for spoilers so please don't share, but I mean really! So they're making it into a son or whatever, but really, it makes me wonder if they're reading my fic…HELLO CBS WRITERS, I'm WILLING TO THROW IDEAS AROUND IF YOU EVER WANT TO CHAT!!

Okay, enough with the self-soliciting, back to the important author notes. Silverware if the common term though most stuff we use is technically flatware. As I was typing I wrote silverware and gawked, Josef wouldn't have silver anything!

Also I try and stick to the fact that vampires are nocturnal, so I flip my terminology, i.e. 'Getting up in the morning' becomes 'getting up in the evening' and 'all day' becomes 'all night.'

And before you ask, I'm a history major, so yeah; all the historical references are accurate to my knowledge. Only one more chapter till the big reveal!

Enjoy!!


Children Still Know Best-Present day LA

Josef paced his office nervously. He listened to Mick's answering machine pick-up for the tenth time. "Damnit," Josef growled, slamming his phone down. He had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a hold of Mick for the last hour and Mick wasn't picking up.

I'm always there for him, why the hell is he not picking up? Probably locked in that double wide freezer with Beth. Josef growled at the thought that Mick was enjoying himself—with Josef's fledgling none-the-less—when Josef was in need of a friend.

The door to Josef's office clicked open and Josef spun around to see Elizabeth staring at him. "What's wrong?" she asked before he could say anything.

"Adriana's father will be here today."

Elizabeth smiled. "So, he's just another man, you've dealt with them before."

"He's an old vampire and he's Adriana's father! I have to make a good impression because I'm asking for his daughter's hand in marriage and I already have two strikes against me. One, I'm way too old for her and two, I got her pregnant before I asked to marry her."

Elizabeth stifled a chuckle. It was endearing to see Josef this worked up about meeting Adriana's father. "Uncle Josef, the world's changed since your day. If Adriana's said yes, it's a done deal. Her father has no say in your marrying her."

"But he does. He's from my time. He could be my biological father! And his word is final, no matter how much Adriana likes me. If he doesn't trust me, he'll take her away from me and I'll never get to see my children." Josef collapsed onto the couch. His greatest fear was losing Adriana and their children and the man coming to dinner had the power to do just that.

Elizabeth crossed the room and sat next to Josef on the couch, placing a comforting hand on his. "I'm going to give you the same advice I did years ago. Be yourself. This man should like you for you. Adriana does. And her values can't be too different from the man who raised her."

Josef took a shaky breath. "You're right. I was just hoping to have some friends in the room. Mick and Beth would help keep the conversation going and make it a friendlier, more relaxed dinner."

Elizabeth smiled. 'That's a good idea. Have you invited them?"

"I tried, but they're not answering."

"Give them time. It's only 4pm. Beth's still young. She's probably sleeping."

"Or making love to her fiancé."

Elizabeth's faced paled. That was her best friend and grandfather. Elizabeth tried to hide her disgust, but Josef was too perceptive.

"What's wrong, Lizzy?"

"Nothing important right now. We'll talk later, I'm going out."

Josef finally looked at her appearance. Jeans, T-shirt, tennies. Nice but not dressy enough to be joining the other freshies on their club circuit. Josef knew where she was headed. "Is this the first time you'll be seeing him since getting back?"

Elizabeth looked down for a second and then back at Josef. "Yeah."

"Why haven't you gone sooner?"

"I wanted to make sure I'd be here for a while before seeing him."

Josef grinned, for the first time that day. "So you're staying for awhile?"

"Of course. How could I miss your wedding, or Beth's?"

Josef kissed Elizabeth on the forehead. "Good. I wouldn't want it any other way." Elizabeth smiled at him and got up to leave, but before she reached the door, Josef stopped her. "Bring him home with you. I'd like to see him too." Elizabeth nodded to indicate that she heard him and disappeared. Josef sank back into the couch and tried to clear his head. He picked up the phone and dialed Mick again. "Please pick up, buddy."


Beth rushed into Josef's living room. "I'm so sorry we're late. I just didn't want to get up this evening. Is he here yet?" Beth was almost tripping over herself. Josef chuckled at her frazzled appearance compared to Mick's calm demeanor as he followed her in with the bag of groceries for Adriana's meal.

"I mean, we would've been here earlier, if we knew…" Beth continued to babble excuses. Josef rose from the couch and crossed the room to where Beth was rushing around. He stopped her hurried movements by placing his hands on her shoulders.

"Calm down, Blondie. Everything is going to be fine."

Beth was taken back. "Yes, but…How are you so calm?"

"Lizzy gave me some good advice earlier. I'm taking it."

"Liz? Is she here?" Beth looked around Josef to see if she could spot her friend.

"No, she went out for the evening. This is a little out of her league."

"Where's Adriana?" Beth was still shaky and Josef grinned at her.

"Why? You nervous Beth?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"What do you mean? I'm not nervous." Josef distinctly saw Mick shake his head from behind Beth.

Josef's grin broke into a full out smile. "Beth. Don't lie to me. I'm a vampire with 400 years on you and I'm your sire. All you had to say was 'Mick and I were having sex.'"

Beth paled. She stared at Josef, afraid of his reaction. Josef held a serious face for a moment and then broke down laughing. A moment later Mick joined him.

"Beth, you can't fool a vampire. I can smell it. It's part of life, don't be embarrassed."

Beth nodded. "Will he be able to sense it? I don't want to come across as a whore. That might look bad on you."

Josef smiled. "Thanks for the concern, but this will help me more then anything. Knowing that my fledgling has another man to take her desires out on will help show my devotion to Adriana." Josef looked over Beth's head to Mick. "Thanks for that, buddy."

Mick smiled. "No problem."

Beth turned to glare at Mick. "You planned this?" Her eyes bled silver and Mick backed up a step. Josef's fledgling was a force to be reckoned with. Josef grinned and walked out of the room a lot happier. Mick's poor word choice and Beth's embarrassment amused him and put him a much better mood.


Josef found Adriana in their room, sitting at the vanity. She looked as nervous as he had earlier. "Hey, baby. What's up?"

Adriana sighed. "I'm afraid he's going to think that I should be with a human instead of a vampire and he's going to take me away." She turned to look a Josef with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to leave you."

Josef wrapped his arms around Adriana (the best he could, she was eight months pregnant after all). He leaned in a laid his head on her shoulder, mindlessly rubbing her belly. He concentrated on the small, fast, twin heartbeats coming from her and he relaxed. All that mattered to him was wrapped in his arms and wouldn't get the chance to hold it for much longer. "I'll never let anyone come in between us. As long as you want me, I'll be here, waiting for you."

Adriana choked on a sob. "Damn these stupid hormones. I should be happy to see my dad."

Josef chuckled. He'd become very familiar with her hormones over the last eight months, but had to say this was one of her more enduring phases. Anything where he was not on the receiving end of her temper was fine with him.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's go downstairs. I promise it will make you feel better."

"How?"

"Beth has Mick backed in a corner and she's giving him a piece of her mind."

Adriana smiled. "Sounds like fun." Josef helped her to her feet and then down the stairs.

Adriana smiled as she watched Mick trying to dodge Beth. She and Josef chuckled as the other couple made a very public display of the complications of their sex life. Beth was demanding for Mick to tell her the truth and Mick was trying to deflect the blame to Josef. "As your sire, he should have explained all this to you."

"Don't you bring him into this. This is between you and me."

Mick was saved by the sound of a car pulling up. Adriana stiffened and Josef became quiet as the four listened to the sounds of footsteps approaching the front door. Josef looked at Adriana who gave him a reassuring, yet nervous, smile and they headed to the door, arm in arm. "Remember, Adriana, I will always love you," Josef said before reaching for the door.

"Love you too, Josef," Adriana replied. Josef smiled and open the door. With those words he was ready for anything.


The party sat at the table in silence. The only sound came from the muted clinking of Adriana's silverware actually white gold. Even if Josef didn't use it he didn't want weapons in his house. Beth tried to silently clear her throat, but she gained the attention of everyone at the table. "Well, Mr…Adriana's father. What do you do?"

Adriana's father, an imposing man, even with his diminutive stature, looked at her. "I have enough to get by. I do what I want, but if you're asking what I do to keep the boredom at bay, well then I'm an innkeeper. I own a resort up North that caters to vampires."

"Oh." Beth didn't know how to answer that. She hadn't even been a turned a year ago. She knew nothing about holding the boredom at bay—everything was so new and exciting to her that there didn't seem to be enough hours in the night.

"What does your resort offer?" Mick asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Anything you want. The climate is wonderful for vampires and it's dark most of the winter, so you can come and go at your pleasure."

The conversation died down again and the party went back to silently sipping at their glasses. Beth couldn't stand it. She had to break the silence. "I'm sorry, but what's your name? How old are you? Where are you from?"

Adriana, Josef and Mick cringed. Those were some of the most personal questions you could ask a vampire. It was considered rude to bring them up at a first meeting. But to all their surprise, Adriana's father chuckled.

"I guess its hard to talk to someone if you don't know their name. Please call me Raj. As for your other questions, I'm old enough to have witnessed first hand the last great religious war of Europe."

Beth looked confused. "World War II? Mick fought in that too."

Josef chuckled. "No, Blondie. Not World War II. What is the education system coming to? The last great religious war in Europe was the Thirty Years War from 1616 to 1648. It was the last major continental war until the Great War and then World War II, but those were political wars, not based in the religious struggle of Catholicism verses Protestantism."

"Oh," Beth was slightly embarrassed. "Why would they fight? Isn't Catholicism and Protestantism the same? I mean, they both believe in the Bible and Jesus."

Raj chuckled. "You'd think, but they've been at each others throats since Martin Luther nailed his challenge to the door of that church. The worst part is getting caught in a war that has nothing to do with your religion. I was born a Muslim."

Josef snorted. "Try getting drafted to fight when you're a non-believer," he challenged.

Raj looked at him. "You fought in the Thirty Years War?"

"Yeah," Josef took a deep swig, finishing off his glass. "I was young and stupid. It was in one of the bloodier battles that I decided I was never going to die."

Raj smiled at Josef. "Whose side were you on?"

"Technically, the Protestants. My homeland got mixed up in the Second Defenestration of Prague and we were defeated."

"So you're from the Eastern block?"

Josef grinned. "Yeah, but I haven't been back in years. It was my mortal home. I had no desire to go back once I was turned. How about you? Adriana said you were originally from India."

"By today's standards, but I'm sure you understand, your homeland is no longer called what it was when you lived there." Josef nodded his head. "Mine neither. I lived in the Mughal Empire and was born under the rule of Akbar the Great, but today it is part of India."

"The maps changed a lot even within the girls' life time. The fall of the Soviet Union in 1989 and 1991 caused a ripple effect through all its territories," Mick piped in.

Josef and Raj looked at each other and broke down laughing. "Mick," Josef explained. "When I was born there was no Soviet Union, there was no socialism or communism, or fascism or capitalism, or democracies. It was a monarchy or nothing. The United States wasn't even a British colony, the United Kingdom didn't exist and Australia was still populated by aborigines and the dodo wasn't extinct."

"You saw a dodo?" Beth asked excitedly, pure fascination in her eyes.

Josef chuckled. "No, they were native to the Indian Ocean, but the point remains, animals that walked the planet when I was born are now extinct."

Adriana smiled and grasped Josef's hand. He gave her a loving look and kissed her on the cheek. Realizing his actions had an audience he quickly pulled away and looked at Raj. Raj smiled and nodded his head for Josef to continue. The grin on Josef's face could have warmed the coldest heart. He kissed Adriana and the evening continued in pleasant conversation, dominated mostly by Josef and Raj reminiscing about the 'old days,' making even Mick feel young.

Elizabeth stood in front of the imposing building. She had been standing there for more then 10 minutes. She just couldn't figure out what to say. I haven't seen him in year. Will he remember me? Does he even want to see me?

Elizabeth took a deep breath and walked through the door. There was a hassled looking woman sitting behind the desk in the lobby. Elizabeth headed over to her, not sure where to go.

"Hello. I'm here to pick up Josef Smith."

The woman looked up at her, evaluating her clothes and appearance. "Name and relation?"

"I'm Elizabeth Smith. I'm Joey's mother."


He he he…you just thought that 'Joey' was some random kid she was watching, but he's not…

I'll have more on this new development next update, but it might be awhile, so until then enjoy the last two episodes, heck it looks like the show might be writing my updates for me!