The Rega Rose Michaelis took the Lady Eleanora Michaelis to an out-of-the-way guestroom, so that the party wouldn't disturb her. The Regon Jean Michaelis, upon assuring himself that the girl was in good hands, made another phone call.

"Hello? Lutefisk?"

"Father?" Sebastian's voice sounded tired.

"Salo! Nice to hear your voice again. Listen, it's about the girl."

"How is she? Is she safe? Where is she? When can I see her?"

"She's as happy as a strawberry in whipped cream; she's perfectly safe; she's with your mother; and you shouldn't see her for a while; she's rightfully upset."

"She is not rightfully upset. She should not have run away."

"Oh, shut it, lentil seed; we've all run away from home once or five times in life."

"But—But I did her a favor! I killed her tormentor!"

"Sebastian," Jean said in a surprisingly gentle voice, "you're a father, and you're a father of a girl. And all fathers want to protect their children no matter what—believe me, I know. And all men want to be the hero to the damsel in distress—and fathers love taking this too far. Case in point."

"But I helped her. What I did for her was good."

"And, just between you and me, I agree. I didn't know her, but what I gathered from the cupcake's blood—don't yell at me; you know I was going to bite her at some point—the woman was the bitchiest bitch-face that ever bitched a bitch. I agree that it's better that she's dead, but still: you shouldn't have killed the woman in front of your daughter."

"It was an emergency."

"You should have fought through the father-mentality and repressed your animal instincts and regained the presence of mind to kill her in a better time and place."

"She was attacking Eleanora."

"That's no excuse. You should have defended the girl and then dragged the bitch off somewhere else to finish the job."

"But…Why doesn't she like me?" Sebastian couldn't restrain a small whimper. "Why isn't she thanking me?"

"Children are strange," Jean mused. "In some ways, they're smarter than us adults. And in some ways, they're much dumber. They feel more passionately than we do and they don't act rationally when it's good for them to do so."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm talking about the children who witness their adulterous assholes of a father cheat on their mothers—and they don't tell someone. I'm talking about the children who will do anything to prevent a divorce, the ones who want to keep the family together for as long as possible even when it's clear to an outsider that the family will be much better apart. I'm talking about the children who defend their parents to the death, even when the parents have almost caused their own."

"Please get to the point. It's late and I'm tired and I haven't been eating well."

"WHAT?! You haven't been EATING?!...But I'll yell at you for that later. The point is, children do strange things when families are involved. You know, I know, everyone knows that the woman was a monster. But to sweet Eleanora, all that matters is that the woman was her mother—and you killed her."

"But…But…"

"Give it time," Jean said. "Eventually all of those children from those dysfunctional families realize that, in the long run, it was better for the family to fall apart than for it to stay together. Eleanora's a clever little fairy-cake—she'll figure it out much quicker than most human children will. So just give it time and eventually she'll discover—on her own—that it's better that the cambionic vessel is dead. Don't rush her and don't come over. I swear that the moment she realizes it, we'll tell you to come over."

"But I don't want to wait."

"None of us do. Patience is not one of the unholy virtues. But sometimes, you just have to wait. The instant I heard that Rose was pregnant, I just wanted to slash her open and remove the little bundle of joy at that very moment!—but I restrained myself, I had patience, and look what reward I got! A cute, darling little demon for a son and a sweet, intelligent vampire for a granddaughter. What more could I want? So sometimes, patience is necessary, for the greater good. For all those involved. Understand, sweetie?"

"I understand," Sebastian said quietly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, what's all this about you not eating?"

"Goodness, just look at the time," Sebastian said quickly. "Well, it's getting late; got to run; big day tomorrow…"

"Why? What happens tomorrow?"

"Oh, just another case that the young brat and I are investigating. Something about a circus. I'll talk to you later!"

"Don't hang up the phone you sneaky little piece of spam; it's time for your yearly nutrition lecture…"

"Sorry! Busy!...Father?"

"Yes crumpet-cakes?"

"Take care of Eleanora for me," he said quietly.

"I'll guard her like my own," Jean said and hung up.