The dining room smelled like Sunday night dinner in the South. Pot roast, turkey, green beans, mashed potatoes, candied yams, and corn on the cob were on the menu. Dessert was homemade apple pie with freshly churned vanilla ice cream for topping. It was food for the spirit and soul. It was the type of atmosphere to smooth over angry moments and bad times. Yet, the wonderful smells could not cut the heavy undercurrent of death.

There is a saying that when a mood is uncomfortable, one can cut tension with a knife. The expression was a gross understatement as members of the Brood and Family faced off. Eyes had intense glares while lips curled in anticipation. Senses were heightened and guards were up. The Brood held their stance, holding the food and giving warm smiles. The Family, however, were ready to attack at the drop of a hot plate. If any member of the Brood breathed the wrong way, the Family would not have a problem ending their lives. Melina gripped her knives while London and Nitro were in a defensive stance. All they needed was one motion from Dave and Rock, and the Brood was finished before they had a chance to get started.

"Batista! Rock!" Edge greeted as he saw them walk downstairs. "Nice for you to join us."

"What do you want now?" Dave asked.

"We're here to have a nice quiet meal—just the ten of us. No Hunter, no Taker, no Steph. I think it's time that we all got along, right?"

"No." Dave said flatly.

Edge slightly frowned and put his arm around Dave's shoulder as Dave stared at him. "You know what happened between me and Kimberly was so long ago, Dave. I mean, I already forgiven you for what happened to Christy."

"Oh yeah. Didn't Christy say you were the best fuck she's ever had, Dave?" London smiled.

Edge shot London an evil stare before he turned his focus back to Dave. "Hey, if I was up to something, I wouldn't have brought all of this food. I would've just killed you, right?"

"You are up to something and it's cute that you think you would kill me." Dave replied as Trish walked downstairs carrying their daughter.

By now, Edge's calm and collected demeanor flew out the window and aggravation took its place. "Look, man. I'm hungry and I brought the damn food." He stated. "Look, nothing has been done to it. It's not contaminated or anything. Are we going to eat the shit or what?"

Silence brushed across Edge's lips upon seeing Nevaeh. Stephanie commented on how breathtaking she was but that description did not do Nevaeh justice. She was a replica of a porcelain doll—the type that one would look and stare at but dare not to play with. Her skin was a deep buttercream color, reminiscent of her father. She had full lips that formed a small 'O', when closed. Her dark hair framed her cherub face and dare anyone say, she looked like an angel. She was more breathtaking when she opened her eyes, letting her hazel eyes sparkle. She was truly the product of Trish and Dave.

"We'll eat." Dave said. "But after that, you and the Village People are leaving."

Edge was so focused on the baby, he almost forgot Dave was still speaking to him. "Fine, fine by me. Will Trish and the baby be joining us?" He asked.

"They'll be by my side the entire night." Dave said as the Family gathered around him.

Perfect. Absolutely perfect. "Shall we eat?" Edge smiled.

------------------------------------

The dining room was always the source of gatherings for the Family. A long Italian oak table was the centerpiece of the room. Candelabras were in each corner and held seven half-burned candles apiece. An overhead crystal chandelier lightly danced against the breeze from the open windows. It was a perfect setting for the Family and their victims.

Every Friday night, Dave, Taker, Rock, and the "kids" as they referred to Melina, Nitro and London—would gather around the table to celebrate life and the afterlife before they headed out to their various functions. In the beginning, Dave, Rock and Taker nurtured the kids as they became stronger on their own. Often, the kids would come home with many questions, thirsty for more knowledge and wanting to become stronger.

Maybe the older vampires prepared the kids too well. Dave and Rock ate their meal while the kids watched every move the Brood made. The food was delicious—not too salty, just the right seasoning. The wine was a perfect complement to the taste palate.

Yet, the cordial mood did not hide the obvious invisible divider at the dinner table. The groups hated each other passionately. During the night, both Family and Brood members were on civil ground with each other. Well, they were trying to be on civil ground with each other.

"So Melina…" Lilian said as she cut into the pot roast. "What have you been up to?"

"You know, the same 'ol, same 'ol. Killing bitches and having fun doing it. Yourself?" Melina asked.

"I'm doing wonderful." Lilian smiled. "Just wonderful."

"You finally got that medical procedure?" Melina asked.

Lilian shook her head in confusion. "What medical procedure?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were going to finish the sex-change operation?" Melina smiled.

Lilian licked her lips and sighed. "I'm going to let that go."

"You should. Not too many guys like he-shes." Melina smiled.

While the female vamps traded insults, the male vamps were just getting started. London and Nitro ignored Jeff and Carlito by participating in their own conversation about video games. Acquiring the latest game console, Nitro and London had a never-ending debate on who was the best, despite how lame the games were. "Man, I so outdanced you!" Nitro shook his head.

"You got lucky, motherfucker. You got lucky." London countered.

"Asshole, I'm a stripper for a living." Nitro shrugged his shoulders. "You honestly thought you could've beaten me?"

While Jeff was in his own world by writing poetry, Carlito was tired of being ignored and hastily interrupted the conversation. "I can beat both of your gay asses." Carlito dared.

London and Nitro stop arguing mid-debate and turned towards Carlito. London then looked at Nitro. "Did you hear that, Nitro? He said he could beat my gay ass."

Rock and Dave shook their heads as they prepared themselves for the upcoming banter. "Oh shit." Dave muttered.

"This is going to be good." Rock smiled.

Nitro leaned over towards London. "So you like to beat gay asses?" Nitro asked Carlito.

"That's not what I meant!" Carlito said. "You two are gay!"

London and Nitro looked at each other and smile. They leaned towards each and locked lips. "Sometimes." London smiled.

"You two are pansies." Carlito pointed. "You're fucking gross."

"Yes, we're bisexual. Why? Do you want us to suck you off, Carlito?" London asked.

"Did you want London to tickle your balls while I stroke your cock?" Nitro teased.

Carlito spit out his food in disgust. "Not cool! So not cool!"

While the men were out-grossing each other, Stacy admired Trish and Nevaeh. Nevaeh's bassinet was placed in between Dave and Trish for obvious reasons. Every once in a while, Trish would glance at her daughter to see if she was doing alright and went back to eating her meal. For as long as Stacy could remember, Trish longed to be mother and made no secret about it. Trish was natural around small children and often volunteered at community programs helping underprivileged youth. "How are you doing, Trisha?" Stacy asked.

Trish looked at her former best friend and roommate. If someone told Trish that her and Stacy would be members of vampire families, Trish would have died in laughter. Just a year ago, they were watching Gilmore Girls on TV while painting each other's toenails. They had Girls' Night Out every Friday and hit the latest nightclubs. Now they barely knew each other. "I'm fine." Trish replied quickly.

"Beautiful baby." Stacy commented as she motioned towards Nevaeh. "What's her name?"

"Kimberly Nevaeh." She answered.

Edge looked at the baby. "Kimberly, huh?" He smiled. "Beautiful name."

Dave and Rock looked up at Edge, who shrugged and smiled again. "What? It is."

"We should hang out again, Trisha. It's been a while." Stacy said as she ate.

"I'm really busy." Trish yawned. "The baby has taken a lot of my time."

"I'm sure you could make time. Besides, you need to get out of the house sometimes." Stacy smiled.

"She's fine being at home." Rock interrupted.

Stacy shrugged. "Just a suggestion, that's all." She then smiled at Trish. "But the offer is still on the table."

Trish felt uneasy as a cold streak rushed down her spine. "Thank you."

Once dinner was over and dessert was served, the Brood left the Family's home. Despite the snippy remarks by both sides, dinner was surprisingly cordial. Too cordial for Dave's liking. "What was that about?" Nitro asked.

"They were scaling the home." Dave replied. "Why else would they be here?"

London yawned. "Well, we'll be ready for them. That is, after I take a nap. I'm going upstairs. Good night."

"Yeah, we're going to head upstairs for a quick nap before we head out tonight." Nitro said as Melina yawned.

"Alright. I'll let Taker know what happened tonight." Rock said as he yawned. "Damn, yawning is contagious."

"No, it was that turkey." Melina commented. "The pot roast was the driest shit I had ever had but the turkey was great. But I'm going to bed. I need to rest up before I kill tonight." She said as she headed upstairs as the other Family members followed suit. One by one, all Family members retreated to their respective bedrooms and fell quickly asleep.

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Another expression is that the city never sleeps. Whoever thought of that definitely had the Brood in mind. They spent the last hour driving around the city, waiting for the Family to fall asleep. They were growing impatient and anxious by the hour. "Can we go back now?" Lilian asked as she drove around.

Edge smiled. "Oh yeah. We can go back now."

Edge knew Taker was out of town for a biker's convention and Hunter was occupied with his own agenda, making a family dinner with the Family the perfect setting for his plan. He knew that Dave and Rock were going to have eyes on him the entire night and anticipating any trickery. Brainstorming for several days, Edge came up with a plan that was so genius, he was amazed.

When the Brood was preparing dinner, Lilian purposely cooked the pot roast too dry so the Family would only eat the juicy turkey. She also injected more L-tryptophan, a natural sedative known to cause sleepiness in people, so the Family will be fast asleep and defenseless against Nevaeh. It was the simplest form of trickery—and the most brilliant. The Family would have never seen it coming and they didn't.

When the Brood arrived back at the home, all of the lights were off—a strong indication that the Family were sound asleep. Stacy quickly exited the SUV and scaled the outside home. She jumped up to the master bedroom and peered in. Dave and Trish were sound asleep in their bed while Nevaeh was right next to them in a bassinet. She then opened a window and casually walked to Nevaeh's bassinet. She picked her up and headed downstairs out the front door. "Here she is." She smiled as she handed the baby to Jeff.

"You'll be gone from your Family for a short while. It'll be okay, Kimberly." Jeff cooed as he carefully got into the SUV.

"Like taking candy…" Edge then stopped himself as he admired Nevaeh. "…from the Family."