"For what it's worth," Liz grunted, letting down a very heavy pile of boxes and a suitcase in Sebastian's new-old room, "I'm sorry."

"Is okay. It was meant to happen."

She looked back at him, still not knowing how a goth boy like him could be so sweet to a baby. Because the second her boyfriend appeared at her door, Liam only would stop crying if he was being carried by the human. And he didn't seem bothered by this; instead, he was delighted.

"And thanks for helping me, by the way."

Liz snorted, walking back to the front door to fetch more heavy boxes. "You get the kid under control and I carry the heavy boxes, that was the deal."

Sebastian cooed at the baby in the carrier strapped around his body, hiding the blush under his hair. "Having an inhuman girlfriend has its perks."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Having a boyfriend who likes kids has its perks."

"You don't?" he sounded confused.

The vampire stopped in her way to Seb's room, two boxes that Sebastian had labeled as "books and comics" in each hand. She thought about her answer, debating if she should give the short or the long answer.

"I don't, especially babies. I mean, it's not that I hate them... I know that they are tiny creatures and need adult supervision," she shrugged, "it's just I wouldn't like to have one of my own. Not that I could anyway."

That made him follow her to the other room, watching as she dropped the boxes next to the bed.

"You can't have children?"

"Ahh, I missed your indecent questions about my body!" she smiled.

"Uh-"

"Nah, I don't. Vampires can't have kids."

He looked down at the sleeping baby in the carrier.

"Turned vampires can't. Purebloods sure as hell can. And they take advantage of it." She made a face, remembering family reunions.

"I see…"

When she passed by him, she carefully slammed him against the wall, not letting the height difference thwart her menacing stare.

"Why the interest? Do you want any?" she leaned in, minding the sleeping infant between their bodies.

The young man blushed and bit his lip. "I do like kids… but, uh…" his ability to form words was dwindling for each centimeter Liz was getting near his lips.

"Because-"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the front door slamming open, heavy breathing heard over the sound of stomping boots.

"Sebby!"

Both jumped, bonking their heads together.

"Mom? Over here." He called as he rubbed his sore chin, where Liz had headbutted him.

"Oh, Sebby!" the crying mess of Robin, something Liz didn't think she'll ever see, emerged from the opened door.

The woman beelined to his son and stopped in her tracks when he made a gesture for her to lower down her voice. Finally, she looked down at the baby that was miraculously still sleeping with all this noise.

"What…?"

"His name is Liam." He said it like it explained everything. Liz snorted before adding. "And he is my sister's kid. I'm watching him for a while."

"Yeah, that." Sebastian looked again at his mother, "and since she's helping me move my things, I…" his voice trailed off when Robin started crying again, jumping to hug him, careful with the kid.

Sebastian didn't seem that much comfortable with the hug, but tried to endure it. He had seldom seen his mother cry.

"First of all, Demetrius did not have any right to kick you out." She murmured in his hair. From the corner of his eye, the young man saw Liz smile and quietly leave the room, closing the door behind her.

"I know-"

"And he is sure as hell going to pay for this."

Sebastian chuckled, amused by the mental image of Demetrius finally having what was coming to him. Robin wasn't done, though:

"Maru told me everything…" she kept going, tightening the hug, "what he said… it was wrong in so many ways, but," Robin sniffled, "the worst part is how he accused you of something you aren't."

The young man breathed in slowly. Huh. The whore part. Yes, that.

"I know-"

"Oh, Sebby, please…" why she was begging, he wasn't sure, "please ignore him. Come back home."

Instead of answering, Sebastian carefully pushed his mother back, smiling softly. If he noticed how her breath was caught at one of his rare sincere smiles, he didn't say anything about it.

"I'm okay, mom."

Robin's face was a mess, all red and covered in snot and tears, but she chuckled nonetheless.

"I see."

She hugged him again, with less desperation this time. Sebastian hugged her back tightly, looking at his room over his mother's shoulder, his eyes stopping at the computer already set up at the corner (Liz insisted on getting that out of the way first), then at the numerous boxes full of things near his bed. The walls were still bare and he hadn't had time to decorate much, but there was time for that.

The room wasn't his basement, but it could work. Sunlight wasn't that bad, he had recently learned from a vampire, ironically.

"You can come back… if you want to," Robin added at the end, sounding hesitant. Sebastian jumped back to reality.

"Actually," he smiled again, breathing in his mother's shampoo, "I think I like it here."

"Hmmm, not that hard."

"Yeah, I know."

"But…"

"Shhh… don't move."

"Nghn," Sebastian bit his lip, trying to muffle a moan.

"C'mon cutiepie…," she whispered, trying to be careful.

The boy's breath was caught in his throat. The pain was sharp, and if he moved it would be worse, he knew.

"And… done!" The vampire smiled triumphantly, Liam in her arms after successfully detaching the infant from her boyfriend's skin.

Sebastian let out the breath he had sucked in, happy to be able to move again.

The kid had woken up crying in the middle of the night and bit him. The young man was positive that the baby didn't have fangs but it seemed like he was wrong.

"Are they out?" he asked, reaching for a bandage.

"Yup," she lifted the upper lip of the baby, flashing a tiny and perfectly white fang. "His first milk fangs." She said like a proud mom.

"He didn't have to try them out with me though," he rubbed his sore chest, where new tiny bite marks accompanied the fading ones from Liz. "It seems like biting me runs in the family."

Liz struck out her tongue, rocking the upset baby who looked about to cry again. She gave up after a moment and put the baby in her boyfriend's lap. The traitor immediately shut up and looked up at the human with big green eyes.

"That's because you are sweet."

Sebastian blinked and looked back at her, frowning. "Thanks, I guess?"

"No, your blood. It smells very sweet."

He processed that for a moment.

"Ok…? Are there flavours? Savory and sweet, and all of that?"

She snorted, flopping back on the bed. Maybe they should give up on sleep altogether. Sunrise was an hour or so away.

"Hm, I don't really know. Human's blood is affected by so many factors that it's difficult to really say that someone's blood is inherently one flavor," she yawned. Now that the crisis passed she was getting tired again. "And blood generally tastes like… blood I guess."

"Ok so let's say that people are like food," he laid down on his side beside her, the baby carefully settled between them. Liam giggled.

"Aha," she turned to face him, lowkey admiring his tired face under the moonlight coming from the window.

"Would I be like… candy?"

She muffled a laugh.

"Black licorice?" he smiled softly when Liz teased back.

"I've always been more of red licorice, but…" he shrugged. Both broke into laughter, careful with the baby between them, who joined in with infant giggles.

Once they calmed down, they just laid there looking at each other, listening to Liam's breathing as he fell asleep again, not feeling like talking again.

When the sun was peeking in the horizon and lighting up the room, Liz finally spoke.

"You are like a cup of hot cocoa."

"Hmm?" Seb opened his eyes. He wasn't asleep but was working on it.

"Yeah. Or maybe a mocca. Coffee and chocolate."

He smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the lips. Liam babbled something in his sleep but kept snoozing away.

"I like the sound of that. Honestly, I would bite myself too."

Liz looked at his partially healed bites from a few days ago, realizing that she would do it too, again. And she would never get tired of it.

Maru wasn't a gossip type of person.

I mean, she didn't see it as a worthy form of entertainment - because it was useless and because she didn't like talking about people behind their backs. If she had something to say, she would tell the person directly.

Now, that doesn't mean that when she entered Pierre's store and saw Abigail manning the register, she wasn't partially excited to see her brother's friend.

"Maru! Just the girl I wanted to see!"

Abigail wasn't her friend and it was a weird declaration. Of course, the purple haired girl wanted details about Sebastian's move. She opened her mouth to remind the girl that they were in a public space and that gossiping was wrong, when she was grabbed and pulled between the aisles, her back hitting one of them.

Maru blushed.

"Ok, tell me the details. Did Sebby move on his own? Who proposed first? Is there a mermaid pendant on the horizon?"

Abby's face was close, too close, but her words made her stop for a second.

"What?"

"You must know something. They have been dating for a little while but Robin would have made a comment if they were to get married-"

"Abigail, what in the heavens are you talking about?"

In that moment, Maru saw a glint of recognition in the other woman's eyes.

"You don't know," she whispered, letting Maru's nurse uniform free from her fists.

It wasn't difficult to connect the dots, though. "Now that makes a lot of sense."

Abigail chuckled in response. "Yeah, they are quite obvious. He hadn't told you anything about it?" The nurse gave her a look. "Ok, ok, I get it. You guys aren't that close."

"Correct."

"But you do know something, right?"

Maru really really didn't want to talk about the details surrounding his brother's move, but she was aware that Abigail wouldn't speak a word about the farmer and Sebastian if she didn't offer anything in return.

And she wanted to give the good news to her mother. What? She did not like gossip but her mother did. And it made Robin happy.

"Maybe," she craned her neck trying to see if there was anyone else in the shop. Not a soul. "Demetrius and Sebastian fought."

Abigail nodded slowly. It was common. "But…?"

"...", Maru bit her lip. Knowing what she did now, Demetrius' words sounded harsher. "It was about Liz."

Both nodded at each other in understanding.

"Ouch."

"Yeah," Maru breathed out. "It wasn't pretty."

"And Robin was here in aerobics."

The nurse nodded again. "Of course dad picked a fight when mom wasn't home. She would have ripped him a new one." Abigail snorted. "Now it's your turn."

"They are dating."

"Aha."

"Since the day we went to the beach."

Maru nodded. He answered her a few texts and even sent her an emoji that day. It made sense now.

"And…?"

The other girl was vibrating with enthusiasm as she picked her phone, scrolling through a conversation before showing her the screen. A photo of her brother. Naked. On Liz's bed.

Something she didn't need to see.

Well, he wasn't totally naked. He was covered from the waist down. But still, it was much more skin than what she was used to seeing from her brother.

Even so, she just looked up from the phone and said, "He does look like a vampire."

"And so does she. Isn't it perfect?" Abigail's face was split by an enormous smile, obviously the idea of the two resident vampires of Pelican town being a thing was equal parts amusing and cute.

Who was she kidding? It was cute.

Maru was going to say something else when the doorbell rang, announcing new patrons of the shop. Abigail sighed dramatically and rushed to the cashier, but she froze mid step. Maru stepped out of the aisles to see what made her stop, when she herself was frozen in her place.

"Uh, hello?" Liz said with a small smile, her big parasol folded in her hands

But that wasn't what was shocking.

It was the real baby in the carrier around Sebastian's body, who was carrying his own parasol, now folded in one hand. Somehow Maru expected his other hand to be on Liz's, but it was on the baby's back to support him as he slept away.

"Hi," Abigail croaked, her eyes bulging out of her head. She opened her mouth to ask, probably, who that baby was and where it came from. But instead she said, "you guys work fast, huh?"

Maru closed her eyes. Instead of the chaos and panic she expected, she heard someone sigh heavily and someone start laughing. Probably Liz.

"Sam said the same thing," Maru opened her eyes to find a giggling Liz trying to explain while Sebastian looked from the side, leaning on the wall murmuring something about being too young to be a dad. "It's my nephew! Meet Liam,"

Both girl's eyes snapped back at the baby sleeping comfortably against Sebastian's chest.

"He only calms down if he's near Seb," Liz shrugged as she explained.

"It's my natural charm," Sebastian deadpanned with the most dead-inside face he could with a baby strapped to his chest.

"The thing is at least I don't have to feed and change the baby."

Maru arched an eyebrow. "I didn't know my brother was so good with children."

"Oh, no, he isn't," the farmer pointed at the young man with her thumb. "But he tries."

"Excuse me, but who broke the speed record at changing the diaper this morning?"

"Yeah? And who had to do it for the last three days because someone was too chicken to try?"

"Are you calling me a chicken?" Sebastian smiled. "Nobody calls me-"

"Chicken!" both said before breaking into laughter.

Maru and Abigail shared a look, both parts delighted and disgusted by the cuteness in front of them. The purple haired girl even made a gagging motion.

"Anyway, I'm taking care of the baby until my sister deals with some stuff at home."

"Everything okay?" Maru couldn't help but ask. By the look Sebastian and Liz shared, it wasn't good.

"I hope so. It's just… Liam's father… It seems like he did some nasty stuff."

Demetrius' words resonated in her head. What kind of things did Liz's family get into? She looked at her big brother, wary of the situation. He shook his head.

The mood sobered at the shop, and Abigail tried to redirect the conversation.

"So… were you going to buy something?"

"I thought you were supposed to say "How can I help you"?" Sebastian accepted the help and walked farther into the building.

"Today I'm in control and I set the rules," she stuck her tongue at him.

As the friend bickered, Maru looked back at Liz with a worried expression. "Are you sure that everything is okay?"

The farmer nodded, but smiled. "Yeah, my sister is stronger than she looks."

"I mean you. And…" she looked at her brother.

"Ah. Um… we are okay," she bit her lip, "but maybe you should ask him directly."

There was a small pause.

"He needs his sister." Liz added at the end. She didn't want to get in the middle of whatever was going on in Robin's family, but Demetrius kicking her boyfriend out of the house had stung deep.

"I know." Maru looked thoughtful for a moment, but then smiled. "You really like him, right?"

Somehow the farmer didn't blush at the question, but her expression did call for it.

"Maybe."

"Your sister seems nice." Was what Liz said as they walked back to the cottage.

Sebastian took a chewing gum from his hoodie pocket and put it in his mouth. He said he wanted to not smoke in front of the baby, who was sleeping away in her arms. Sebastian said his shoulders were starting to hurt from carrying Liam the whole day they've been doing errands around town.

"Huh?"

"Back at the store. She asked me about you." He rolled his eyes.

"If she wanted to know about me she could just ask mom. That's what she always does anyway," he shrugged, but looked down at the path, obviously bothered by it.

"Dunno," Liz sighed, "obviously it's not my family, but I think she is… scared of you?"

"Scared?"

"I felt like she wanted to ask you, but found me more approachable."

"Dude, I was the one with a baby babbling in my chest." He snorted.

"Not exactly dark and mysterious."

"And we don't want that, right, hun?"

Liz gave him a look that should have been menacing if Liam didn't decide to fart at that moment. The vampire made a face, pinching her nose.

"Could you…?"

"Diaper change?" Sebastian wasn't happy about it, but he understood if it smell bad for him, baby poop was torture for a vampire.

"Yeah, I-"

"Oh," a new voice interrupted Liz, "so you are the bastard sister."

Both jumped and looked at the farm, where a stranger waited for them at the door of the cottage.

"And you are…?" Liz quietly put the baby in Sebastian's arms, not missing how the stranger's eye followed every move.

"That's not important."

"Oh yeah, it is. Because you are trespassing."

"So this… farm," he meant to use another word, by the way the corner of his lips curved down, "is yours? A halfling?" The man arched a perfect eyebrow, like he couldn't understand. His already perfect posture straightened more, and he brushed some invisible lint in his pristine blue suit. "Huh."

"Please, leave." She tried to disable the situation.

"Or what?"

She clicked her tongue. This man was a pureblood by his shitty attitude, but she didn't know who he was.

"Or I'll make you leave."

He chuckled. "You and what army?" He made a gesture at Sebastian and the baby. "I just want the kid. You can even keep the blood bag, I'm not hungry." He smiled like he was doing her a favor.

"Over my dead body." She shared a look with Sebastian and he nodded. He had to be ready to run.

The pureblood smirked, taking a wide stance with his feet. "So be it."