NightOwl95 - Yeah, I just don't think I can feasibly drag this out any further, pretty much everything is resolved. I do admit, I'm sad to see the end of this! But by the end of this chapter, everyone is - All Grown Up - !
There IS an epilogue of sorts - a short amount of each of the three teens POV. Which should be put up right after this. And I know the last chapter does not flow with this, but trust me, that resolution is in here!
-AGU-
Bertrand had to help Adrian fix his tie, and Ingrid was off making sure Erika and Aurelia were dressed and ready to go. "Don't be nervous son, this is what you want." "I know dad, but you know... What if Erika changes her mind?" Smiling to himself as he heard Adrian call Bertrand 'dad', Adam stepped back into the room all done up himself. Emil was the one to soothe his brother, shaking his head fondly and taking advantage of his reflection to fix his hair - he still dyed it black every month or so. "As if. You two are disgustingly perfect together. Now come on, some time before the sunrise is preferable."
"Coming from the human. There's irony." Adam didn't resent Adrian's choices, Emil being best man was a big step in brotherly acceptance on both sides. The Count agreeing to conduct their binding was something of a surprise, but also meant he was totally on board. "You guys good? Only, someone has to deliver Erika down the aisle. Got the rings other dad?" Bertrand gave Adam a look that clearly said "you question my organisational skills?", then leant down and kissed him. "Of course. Go join the ladies, I've got the boys covered. And yes, I made sure the camera was charged too. Off you go, overprotective cretin." Bertrand had been taking lessons in affectionate insults from Ingrid.
Flitting off to the room containing Ingrid, Erika and Aurelia, he leant over to kiss his sister, then looked at his daughters. "You look beautiful, all of you." "Mostly me though, right?" Aurelia grinned up at him, showing she had all of her milk teeth in place now. "Of course little madam. Everyone ready?" He got three nods, and then a harried sounding "sorry I'm late! Driving in heels, nightmare!" from the door. "Evening Jessie!" Jessie ambled into the room, looking everyone up and down and pulling off the black and blue dress code pretty well herself. "Oh, you all look wonderful! Aura, you're so big." "Oh, not you too!" Jessie grinned, ducking down to pick up the little girl.
"I like being called Aura. Makes me sound mys... mystery..." "Mysterious?" Jessie supplemented. "Yeah!" Aurelia brushed down her midnight blue dress, mimicking her mothers actions - normally it would be black and red, but the blue was sort of a nod to their family trait of blue eyes, particularly as three of his four children had inherited Adam's dark blue.
"You three go through, tell Wilson to start playing when the boys are all in place." They went, leaving Adam and Erika alone. "Ready baby girl?" She rolled her eyes, fussing nervously with her hair. "Ready. Just... Nervous. Getting married before your dad. To your brother. Bit weird when you say it out loud." Indicating she should sit down next to him, Adam smiled reassuringly. "Emil is your brother. Adrian is your soulmate. I got lucky, I had two. Just because I'm not traditional, doesn't mean you can't be. Don't think about the things that don't matter, just go out there and marry the man you love."
His daughter smiled, then her eyes sparkled with a couple of tears. "Thanks dad. You're right." Teaching to tuck a stray wave of black hair back behind her ear, he kissed her forehead gently. "Of course I'm right. Now, are you ready? I can feel everyone else is in the room and" the piano started, indicating they should go. Erika stood up, shuddered once, then straightened up properly and smiled so wide it looked almost painful. "Let's go."
If asked, nobody could remember the specifics of that night. Adam remembered Ingrid looked heart-startingly perfect, and that he could hardly wait to get her back to their bed. Aurelia clapped loudly, uncaring of the bizarre nature of her family and just cheering for her big brother and sisters marriage. He vaguely remembered the dagger Bertrand gave Erika for her birthday being the blade they used to cut their hands and bind their blood. And they had a photo album full of smiling vampires and humans together, memorialising the night. But mostly, all they could remember was the happiness that pervaded every moment, and that Emil spilled strawberry punch over Wilson's white shirt, and inadvertently got engaged to him in the ensuing play fight on the floor.
Wolfie had apparently already agreed to it - he didn't have a human birth certificate, and so couldn't marry the human males. He was obviously going to be Emil's best man though. "Well, dog is man's best friend." The Count interjected, and everyone fell about laughing at the look on Wolfie's face. He joined in too, and that was just... it.
"You can't get married in a church. Just saying." Emil looked over at him in confusion, periodically twisting the engagement ring on his finger. "Why? I mean, I'm not religious but now I'm curious." Telling Wilson he was done being measured, Adam stepped back and turned to his son. "Because your family are vampires. Vampires and churches... Bad mix." Emil hummed in understanding, taking his turn to be measured for his suit.
"Where's Bertrand? My other father in law?" Adam chuckled, remembering his lovers disgruntled face. "Finishing his lesson plans. Smart, organised and still managed to put it off to the last minute. In fairness, Icarus is very cute." Icarus was their son, outwardly Ingrid and Bertrands but just like Bertrand with Adam's four children, he was Icarus' father too. Almost two years old, he had the most startling, almost transparent bright blue eyes, and Bertrand's amazingly curly hair. Aurelia adored being his big sister, saying it was her job to make sure he grew up as awesome as her.
"Right. Suits all measured up. That's everything but having them done. Ready to get married next month?" Emil smiled again, as he always did when they brought up his upcoming marriage. "When I was your age, you couldn't get married married. It was a civil partnership. Now it's equal." "The funny thing is, you still look my age." Emil had a couple of inches height on him now, though as Erin had been shorter than Adam, he had no idea where it came from. Maybe it was because he aged like a human now. So his son was the one to place hands on his fathers shoulders, then pulled him into a hug.
Pretending to flail as though he couldn't breathe won him another smile - Emil was so happy now, a world away from the angry teen vampire Adam had met when they first landed at Garside for Erika's transformation. "Go on, go make sure all your stuff is in order for the supply teacher. You don't want to go off on honeymoon and realise you forgot a lesson plan." Emil jumped up, hurrying off. "I miss being super fast sometimes." Adam wasn't sure he was supposed to hear that, because Emil never said anything about his two years as a biter. Ever. Though, super speed was a fairly innocuous thing to miss about being undead he supposed.
As it turned out, Adam was the type to always cry at weddings. Ingrid mocked him, Bertrand handed him a handkerchief and Icarus poked his face until he smiled again. It was perfect, and Emil didn't stop smiling through the entire ceremony, but then neither did Wilson or Wolfie. It wasn't a huge thing, but the family was there and that was all they needed - the older of his children had all inherited Adams distaste for the spot light. Unlike Aurelia, who delighted in it. And Icarus, who hadn't had cake before and was an excitable bundle of child vampire, sugar fuelled and hyper all night long.
"Come on little man, bed for you." Icarus sulked, blowing raspberries the whole way to his bath, distracted by floating toy castles and then again until he was in bed. Three and a half minutes into Adam singing, Icarus was out cold. Bertrand and Ingrid peered in, watching their youngest child sleep. "Aurelia's down for the night too. Adrian and Erika have gone back to Transylvania, and Jessie and dad are drinking heavily. That means you are ours." Even after the last few years, with Aurelia and Icarus and their kids growing up, the heat and love between the three only grew, and Adam had no problem letting his two lovers 'drag' him to bed.
Ingrid relaxed against his chest, idly tracing a finger around one of the old argentalium scars there. "Still can't believe you let him name our son Icarus." Chuckling, Adam stretched up to kiss Bertrand reassuringly. "None of them had your initial, and I happen to think a guy who died flying too close to the sun is a fitting name for a vampire. First name not French or Romanian though." Icarus was a Greek origin name, but the unique name suited their little boy perfectly - his eyes definitely made him stand out as much as his name, they were like glacial ice but full of warmth and love for his parents, his family.
Ingrid hummed, pulling him back down by his hair to kiss him again. Bertrand pressed against his back, fangs slicing his scarred shoulder open again, and he gave himself over to them again - there were no two people he trusted more with his body and his heart. When they were done with him all over again, he felt their hands reach the waterproof dressings on his hips. "You didn't get hurt, we know that. You heal too fast anyway. So explain." Rolling his eyes, Adam stretched out on the bed. "You two have no sense of surprise. Go ahead."
They pulled off the dressings, showing the small tattoos he had on his hips. One was a pocketwatch, Bertrands initials inked beneath it. The other side carried a bat, ID etched on each wing. "I can't marry you guys, obviously. But I could still put something on me that shows there's nobody else I would rather spend eternity with. Don't touch" Bertrand withdrew his hand a little, tracing over the air above to follow the chain of the pocketwatch "they are still a little sensitive." He replaced the large plasters, promising they would come off permanently tomorrow. "Like you said, I heal fast."
"I found it." Bertrand landed back in their room, cobweb residue and dirt smattered over his clothes, his skin, even his hair. But the object in his hands was what truly drew the eye, though to some it would look like little more than a crudely carved wooden sceptre of sorts. "Hidden very deeply in a cave system that hadn't been touched in over two centuries. The smell was... interesting. Handle this carefully, I need a shower." Adam took the staff carefully, laying it out on his desk while Bertrand went to get cleaned up.
Ingrid came over, holding a sleeping Icarus a safe distance away. "Is it the real deal, you think?" Adam nodded, running a hand over the aura of the object. "I can feel it. No idea where dad found this, but he didn't make it himself. The Staff of Carpathia." It had taken a little over a year, a year in which Adam had been tentatively holding a mindwipe on Miss McCauley. When they explained the truth, that they were vampires, she actually took it surprisingly well. But as his father had said - "she can't handle life with a vampire. And I don't want to bite her, I love her just the way she is."
So Adam removed the knowledge, but it was shallow and needed tweaking to not interfere with their living at Garside. Without making the headmistress faint at the sight of them anyway. Adam and Bertrand had researched and done all sorts of fact-finding missions, and finally, it had come to fruition. Here in the attic, they had a cure for vampirism. Now they had to convince the Count.
"You must be joking! Me! Want to be a breather!" Adam expected the resistance, and knew where he was going with this argument. "Yes. You might be the prince of darkness, Lord of the dead, but I've watched you. Why do you think you're all mellowed out with a thing for breather women? Maybe your immortality fun has run it's course. You should think about it. You could marry Miss McCauley and live happily ever after. Or you can run a school, be alone and hurting. Your choice."
It was another month before the Count even considered having another conversation about it, but he knew the message had hit home. "But I would get old, and wrinkled and I would die. Me! Dead. Not just undead, really, properly dead." "But you would also be alive dad, alive enough to feel the sunlight, a heartbeat, to truly appreciate the feelings you have for that woman that loves you. Look at Emil - he stepped out of the shadows and he's barely stopped smiling since."
This argument went back and forth for weeks, wavering back and forth and yes and no. In the end, Aurelia was the one to sway him. "You like humans grandpa" no amount of scolding would stop her calling him that "because you want that. Don't fight what you want, that's not the Dracula way." Adam had been confident this was what his father ultimately wanted - he still remembered just before he was poisoned by Elisabetta, promising to pretend to be a breather, and give up biting to be with her. They just had the chance to make it a reality.
It must have looked truly bizarre, standing there in front of his father wielding this enormous wooden stick. It wasn't as dramatic as Emil's dance in the sunlight had been, over in seconds as a sort of dark lightning sparked before fading before a heartbeat began. "Congratulations dad, you're alive."
Within hours, Adam had reversed the mindwipe, and they had told her what 'Mr Count' had done to ensure they could be together. Reporting his father to the VHC as dead by fangcephalitis was difficult, because Adam was trying not to laugh as he pictured his father eating garlic bread like it was the most amazing thing in the world. He had to sell the school - it was a conflict of interest to marry the headmistress if you owned the place, but Miss McCauley kept her job and as they stood getting married (breathers used So. Much. White!), Adam cried all over again.
When Icarus had finished school, Aurelia already having completed her human education, Adam knew he couldn't really put it off any longer. Georgina Giles had died, not even forty from the same cancer that took their mother. He went to their graves, just once, by himself to say goodbye. There was nothing of his human life here anymore - except Emil, but he wanted to teach, and Wolfie and Wilson were both in England. His whole family could fly there in an hour, so they would still see each other plenty.
His father was gone too. Six hundred years, the inspiration behind almost every vampire story ever told, the impaler of Wallachia, and he died a happy man, married to a wonderful woman and both were utterly, absolutely human. Count Dracula became Salem Smith (out of nostalgia, or perhaps because of Adam's birth certificate, who knew), and Adrian took the mantle of Count Dracula. Where Adam came from, human and vampire halves, they were both gone. Now it was about where he would go, the things he had built and would keep on building, with his family.
"To Transylvania then." It was like leaving Adam Giles behind - Ingrid, Bertrand and Roqueloire still called him Adam, but that name was family only now. To the rest of the world, he was Vladimir Dracula, Chosen One, Grand High Vampire. Icarus wasn't yet over the novelty of being able to fly himself, his icy eyes alight with excitement as they landed. "Welcome to the homeland of the vampires kids. Home sweet home."
-AGU-
Enjoy the epilogue, it has some more future-type stuff.