Dedicated to NightOwl95, for your absolute brilliance in helping me and encouraging this story.

-AGU-

Emil

It should turn his stomach, he knows it when he sees them together. It turned his stomach when Erin told them, in one of her periods of anger about their father leaving. He understood the anger, he felt it too - his father had abandoned them, took his sister and just vanished without a trace. Still, he didn't need reminding. All the time. At least monthly, his mother would sit him down and find a different way to express a rage for it, ever since he was about eight.

Adrian did his best, and their grandfather was pretty good to them all things considered. But ultimately, he knows his mother resents him for reminding her of Erika, for being a living reminder of the man that left them. And for having the 'gall' - her word - to have gotten his sister pregnant too, because while she accepted a confused teenager overwhelmed by mental instability and emotions, Adrian was a stark reminder that Adam had been in love with Ingrid, still with her when he fathered not one, but two children with Erin.

Adrian didn't know what to do with the information, though he had never, ever gotten angry at his mother for it. Unlike Erin. His mother and Adrian's mother had had several arguments about it, when Erin had slipped up and called Adrian an "inbreed", and Ingrid had shot back with calling Emil a "half breed." Only the boys intervention had stopped them possibly killing each other, and they mostly made the effort to avoid each other where possible. When Adam had come back, the two had managed stiff, stilted conversations with he and Adrian, and them both present to explain Erika was the innocent party. Erin had even told him he could get to know his father, but she still fed his anger.

Emil didn't always understand why he was so angry, except he was trapped in this body gearing up to be a vampire, and it didn't fit him. And then his father appeared, full of guilt and apologies and fear, but he took everyone's anger without complaint, made every effort to be as accommodating as possible. Then he had saved Emil's life, and the Counts, and Erika had ashed their mother for being willing to let Emil die. They barely knew them, but both had been ready to die or protect them because they were family. And Emil realised, he could be a part of that. But only if he accepted something - Adrian and Erika loved each other in a way he could never understand.

He knew almost immediately, because Adrian had been sick about it, cried and gone into bouts of almost silence. After fourteen years where Adrian was pretty much all he had, it was terrifying to watch his brother fall apart. And that was when he realised - Adrian had accepted his sexuality without reservation, and Adrian had had no more control over the genetic attraction thing than Emil did about being gay. So he told them to stop fighting it, and they were both clearly so happy he couldn't not be happy for them.

It was weird, and illegal and wrong, but they were happy and smiled and held hands, and with a little work, they learnt to be siblings as a three, even when they had something else as a two. It was uncomfortable watching them kiss, knowing Adrian had feelings for their sister that he should never, ever have. It wasn't until Aurelia was born that Emil truly understood, when Ingrid and Bertrand and Adam were all looking down at her, and he realised that as messed up as anyone else would think their family was, it actually worked.

Aurelia was like Adrian, her parents were brother and sister. And she was still this perfect little creature who stole his heart, and Emil knew being her big brother meant accepting where she came from. And that meant accepting Adrian and Erika. With no reservations. And so he did.

He became a teacher, and then he became an uncle. And when he got older, he even taught his little sister, his little brother, his niece and his nephew. Wilson and Wolfie never pressured him about his decision on turning human, nor turning back. It wasn't until he was about forty, watching his reflection age while everyone in his family stayed young. Wilson aged too, but Erika and he were so similar in looks it was like seeing himself near death while Erika stayed young, immortal. Being human had been what he wanted, but the older he got, the more their family grew, Emil wanted to be around to see it.

When Emil first approached his father about it, he made him talk it through. Over and over. And he appreciated it greatly. The last thing they both wanted was Emil regretting his choice. Wilson and Wolfie were part of the conversations too, as it affected them both. Eventually, when he was forty three and had been legally married to Wilson for over twenty years, Emil made the choice and his father bit him. It hurt like nothing he had ever experienced, his fathers eyes full of apologies but it was worth it. Now he was undead again, Emil could go through another ceremony - he got bloodbound to Wolfie. It wasn't a legally binding thing to the vampire world, because Wolfie was an illegal hybrid, but it didn't matter.

Wilson was turned too - with his aging mothers blessing - and the three relocated to Transylvania, near where Erika and Adrian had moved, but further away from their three parents. To most of the VHCs knowledge, Bertrand and Ingrid were an item but as his official advisor, Bertrand lived with the Grand High Vampire. His deputy, Roqueloire knew different, but overall - their deception worked. His father kept a very quiet track of his little sister, visited his mothers grave every couple of years and when his little sister died, Adam went to the grave site the night of the funeral, alone. It was his last moment as Adam Giles, he said. Though they all still knew him as Adam, he no longer introduced himself as such - Adam was for family, Vladimir Dracula for everyone else.

Emil took up work at a vampire boarding school, teaching the now legalised Dimidius children how it was possible to be a vampire and embrace your humanity. Wilson and Wolfie worked in the Transylvanian blood banks, ensuring the constant success of the cease fire. Though he sometimes looked out longingly into the sunshine through UV filtered glass, when Emil lay in their custom coffin for three with his two partners, he felt at home with every choice, every event and every person that had gotten him here.

Adrian

When Adrian heard where he truly came from, it horrified him. He wanted to be angry at his mother - she had knowingly, repeatedly had sex with her own brother. Every time there was a mention of incest in a book, on a news article or in a crude joke made by one of the people at school, he shuddered. What if someone knew? What if he had some weird genetic illness because his parents were related? He read up on it over and over, desperate to understand where he came from. Some of these people born from it were mentally ill, or had awful problems because their genetics were too close. Armed with that knowledge, Adrian made a concerted effort to be a calm, rational person, never angry. And always took care of his health, even knowing he was immortal and nothing would actually affect him, but the fear was relentless.

Then he met Erika, and it was like his world toppled over on its axis. He saw the same thing in Erika's eyes, but it couldn't happen. They were related. It was wrong. It did make it easier to accept where he came from. If it had been half as intense as his feelings, and they hadn't known to start with... It let him understand. But he and Erika fought it, forced themselves to be siblings and nothing else. Erika told their father, because she said she had always told him everything. From the sounds of it, Adam Giles had made every effort to be the best father he could be. He honestly believed him when he said if he had known, he wouldn't have left, and that was what pushed Adrian to give the man a chance.

Learning the truth, hearing it all first hand, it was easy to see how everything had spiralled. On some level, he forgave his father for leaving that night on the roof. He tried to tell Emil, but his brother had been utterly twisted by his mother for years. While Adrian and his brother were close, near inseparable, there were some things even Adrian couldn't fix. Their father managed though, cracking Emil's built up walls and slowly, surely repairing the damage Erin had wrought. When Malik and Elisabetta had almost killed them, there wasn't a second Adrian didn't believe his father wouldn't have died to protect all of them in a heart beat. And when he took that poison from Count Dracula, he realised - he didn't want to lose his father, this man he hadn't known two months but they were family, that was all that mattered.

He and Erika, consoled by the safety assurance from Count Dracula, eventually gave in to the feelings. It was a while before they went 'all the way', and he had expected it to be awkward, tainted by their blood relationship. It wasn't, it was soul-deep, powerful bonding, the actual physical pleasure a dim second compared to being so connected with her. Erika was perfect, perfect for him and the fact they had the same father didn't come into it when they were together that way, Erika's naked body driving anything but how much he loved and desired her from his mind.

Emil went above and beyond, learning about genetic sexual attraction, and accepting that his brother and sister were a couple. And then above that, accepting Adam and Ingrid. And Bertrand. All three vampires took on the mantle of parents for all three teenagers, and then there was a new baby sister. And then a new baby brother. They got to rebuild their strange family, and grow up with their new siblings the right way.

Adrian took the job offer with the Council, partly because he didn't know what else to do, and partly so he and Erika could, after their bloodbinding, build their own life. After a year or so, they moved to Transylvania. They visited Garside at least twice a month, watching Aurelia and Icarus grow up and mocking Emil for being a teacher. Bertrand had always been a teacher, a tutor, a guiding person. Emil used to flame his homework when he got angry. It was an amusing shift, but his now-human brother was happy. Eventually, Adam, Ingrid and Bertrand had to leave Garside before anyone noticed they still weren't aging, especially next to their children. They too, moved to Transylvania, the better for the Grand High Vampire to maintain his position.

Even with all the assurance in the world, and certainty they would be good parents, Adrian was terrified when Erika fell pregnant. They didn't have a gene pool, they had a gene pond. Every month, she grew rounder and glowed with life, but he was scared, more scared than he had ever been in his unlife. When their little girl, Emily - after her doting uncle, naturally - was born, Adrian cried and cried as he saw the perfect little girl. He was much less terrified when their son, George, was born three years later. Emily was small, petite but fiery and tough, bossing her little brother around but fiercely defending him if anyone dared pick on him at their vampire children's school. George was quiet and shy, but powerful and intelligent to boot.

Their children were never seperated, and weren't actually told the particulars until they were both almost adults. They both met and married other people, people they were in no way related to. They accepted it eventually, though Emily spent about a week barely talking to her parents. George brought her around in the end, reminding his sister they had no control over being seperated, or the feelings it engineered in them. And without it, they wouldn't be alive. Over time, Emily thawed and accepted it.

Dropping back into the castle, where Erika was just putting their youngest grandchild Ana-Leigh to bed, Adrian tossed his council robes aside and pressed a kiss to his sisters mouth. "Hey you." "Hey yourself. How was council? Did you see dad?" Adrian didn't answer for a minute, indulging in the sense of peace he always got with Erika in his arms.

"Yeah. He sends his love, says he expects us all over for the annual Dracula dinner next week." With them all busy, their own kids and jobs and homes, while they saw each other plenty all year around they made a special effort for a full family event once a year, every year. "What's it our turn to bring this year? I swear if Emil brings tomato juice passed off as AB- again mum will kill him." It took time, but now Emil and Erika both called Ingrid mum too. Trying to remember, Adrian shrugged. "So long as it's not your too-sweet cake again? I don't think anyone minds."

Erika waited until they were out of the baby's room, then chased him. "And what's wrong with my cake?" "Nothing. If you want your fangs to fall out after a mouthful." Intentionally leading her to their coffin, Adrian let his sister pin him, cheering in victory and flashing the smile he had fallen in love with over a century ago. "You're in trouble now!" Leaning up to kiss his sister-turned-wife, Adrian smiled back. "Can't wait."

Erika

Erika had always loved her father. Absolutely, completely. Almost as much, she had always loved Bertrand. Even before she understood relationships, she saw the way the older vampire looked at her father. And he was brilliant to her too, reading to her and teaching her everything, helping with school work. He taught her to dance, somehow always had a camera ready to record her dad doing daft things or capturing happy family moments. Bertrand was unlike anyone else Erika had ever encountered, four hundred years of wars and blood and history, he was big and muscly and strong but a gentle giant, picking her up like she was fragile and precious - just like her dad did. Even when Adam explained Bertrand wasn't her father too, it didn't change her mind.

So when Erika found out the life that had been left behind in Stokely - her dad had been with his sister, and Bertrand knew! - she was a little bit horrified. She gave him the chance to explain - He hadn't known at the start, and by the time they found out it was far, far too late to take it back. They had tried, and her dad had been a half-dead wreck after two months, racked with guilt and nightmares. After that, and given that he had given up most of his life to give them a chance, Erika couldn't stay mad at them. She just... didn't want to hear about it again. And it wasn't mentioned again, even when they were getting ready to go back, having no idea what they were going to walk in on.

She had brothers, plural. One like her, half human/slayer, angry and sad about so many things. And then there was Adrian. Even without asking, or knowing, she knew instinctively he was Adam and Ingrid's son. As surely as she suddenly understood the undeniable, gut-wrenching heartache of falling for your own blood. They hadn't said a word to each other, but the feelings were like being struck by lightning, overwhelming and painful in their intensity. Her dads minor meltdown served as a distraction enough that nobody noticed the world shifting beneath them, for her at least. And for Adrian too - she saw it in his face. Erika was never blamed for what had happened, accepted on the whole by Erin, Ingrid, Emil and Adrian - she hadn't been a year old when they left, she didn't exactly have a choice.

Always making sure their dad knew she didn't blame him, knew he wouldn't have left those boys if he had known he had left Erin and Ingrid pregnant, Erika slowly got to know her mother and brothers. Always there, itching beneath her skin was the sheer need to be close to Adrian. She fought it, even pushed at her father about him clearly falling back into the relationship with Ingrid. She knew how it felt, and she could see the raw emotions in him - he was powerless against how much he still loved Ingrid. But she also knew he had tried, tried to fight against it when Ingrid first kissed him - Bertrand told her, wanted to make sure Erika didn't get caught in their cross fire because the Dracula siblings could be explosive. In the end, it had been quiet and slow, a general awareness it was happening only confirmed by Ingrid kissing him goodbye one night.

When Emil was the one to say "kiss her you idiot", and when Adrian finally pressed his mouth to hers, the sense of right and love and at last, it didn't matter they were only teens, or related. It was just perfect, and Erika thought she may not have stopped smiling for about a week. Adrian was far more hesitant than she was, particularly when it came to sex, but their first time was perfect, far more than even she had expected. His ''proposal' probably left a lot to be desired to most, but actually it suited their family perfectly - a little awkward, and a family affair. Their bloodbinding was quiet, private - family only, though with three parents, two more siblings, Wolfie, Jessie, Wilson and of course their grandfather, family meant more than a couple of people.

Moving to Transylvania was rough at first - Erika hadn't been away from her dad for more than a day or two since she was born. Adrian was supportive and understanding, and they visited and then they became parents themselves. She knew her brother was petrified at first, and she couldn't imagine what Ingrid must have gone through with Adrian, not knowing and being alone without the father. Even without the Counts assurance they would be ok, Erika was confident their child could only be amazing. When she first saw little Emily, and Adrian burst into tears, Erika knew she was right.

Adrian worked at the Council, and Erika worked elsewhere - part of the team who kept eyes out for future immune children, she was one of the people who helped put the kids lives back together again. Complete with picture updates from the slayers guild - Assan and James were glowing commendations in the success of that project - she actually felt like she made a difference. Her dad was obviously the one who liked to dust whole clans, but he was just like that.

Little George was something of an accident - they had wanted more than one child, but originally they had wanted to err on the side of caution and not have their ages too close together. Because clearly, some things ran in the family. However, during one... or two days in their coffin, stolen between their jobs and raising their fiery tempered, brilliant daughter, Erika and Adrian hadn't been careful enough. Their father gave his blessing to name little George just that, and he actually seemed quite touched.

Erika knew that no matter what he was told, or how many times Ingrid smacked him, their father would forever carry some guilt for running out on them. However, while she understood he had missed fourteen years of his sons lives, and done irreparable damage to his relationship with Erin (subsequently leading to attempts on almost every member of his family, Dracula and Giles inadvertently), if he hadn't seperated them, then things would be so different. Looking at George, with her hair but his fathers face and temperament, and Emily, with her mothers fire and slender build, she wouldn't change what they had now.

When Erika became a grandmother, it was almost a century after she became a mother. Which was probably a more common timeline for vampires than Adam and Ingrid had gone with - they weren't even twenty when they became parents, not yet fifty when they became grandparents and therefore not even a hundred and fifty when they became great-grandparents. Amusingly, Bertrand was over five hundred himself by then, but she supposed age didn't matter when you were immortal.

She and Adrian still had play fights, inside jokes and sometimes they argued like bat and wolf. But it was like being married to her best friend, and every year when they celebrated their anniversary, it only seemed to further impress just how perfect they were together. Even now, when he was hiding behind a chair with her bottle of O neg. He didn't even like it, he was just winding her up. Pretending to walk in the other direction, she darted around the table and lifted the bottle from her now pouting husband. Taking a sip, she leant against the table with a smirk. "You really need to grow up some time." She had barely placed the bottle down when Adrian was standing between her thighs, leaning down to kiss her with a grin. He pushed his hips to hers invitingly, winking. "I'll have you know, I'm all grown up!"

-AGU-

And with that, this is over! And I won't lie, I got pretty sad writing this out because I'm sad to see this story go. Still, I like to think I ended it at a good point, rather than flog a dead horse? To everyone who stuck with Adam's Story through to Vl-Adam-Ir, then watched them All Grow(n) Up, you're all awesome!