ISFNE Chapter 31

Allison POV

"MOMMY! Uncle Edward's here! Come quick! Come quick!"

I sighed and turned away from my computer momentarily to see Ellie bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet at the top of the stairs. I smiled at her excitement, "Go get your brother and go on down, I'll be ready soon." She nodded enthusiastically and ran upstairs yelling Solomon's name as I tried to refocus on my screen. I heard Ellie dash down the stairs once again all the way to the bookstore followed more slowly by Solomon.

"Are you coming, Mommy?" he asked quietly coming up next to me and peering over the table ledge at my computer screen.

I leaned over and kissed the top of his head, mussing his hair affectionately. "I'm really sorry, honey, I'll be done as soon as possible, but I have to finish this first. Go ahead and catch up with your sister and bring Grams and Mr. Davenport upstairs."

"Okay," he said, getting on his tip-toes to kiss my cheek, before going down the stairs to the bookstore.

I turned back to the computer with another small sigh when I heard the back door open. Simon came up with a bag in hand, it had apparently started raining outside from the looks of his shirt. "How goes it?" he asked.

I groaned, "I'm not ready."

He smiled, "You say that every time," he said taking off his shoes and putting the bag down on the counter. "Is Davenport here yet?"

"Yes, Ellie and Solomon are down in the bookstore with him and Grams. I'm sure the rest of the group should be here soon too which is why I'm trying to finish up studying.

He walked up behind me wrapping his arms around my shoulders and kissing my cheek, "You're fine. You're going to pass."

"I won't with all these interruptions," I retorted, feigning annoyance.

"Come on, Faith, it's not till tomorrow anyways. Let's get everyone up here and start celebrating."

"Hey, I'm not the one who chose to have my French midterm on the twin's birthday!"

"French? Aren't you supposed to be getting an English major?" he teased.

"Je suis apprentissage français parce que je suis cultivé," I quipped, "contrairement vous."

"I think I was just insulted," he pretended to pout. I rolled my eyes. He sat down in the seat adjacent to mine. "Seriously, though, are you okay? Did something happen with you-know-who? You seem really tense."

I closed the laptop and looked up at him. "No, but you know every year that passes is more worrisome."

"Shouldn't it be the opposite? The longer it is the more it means there's hope he will never find you. Besides, like you say, he hasn't said anything to you in the past three years, why should year four be any different?"

"Cuz it could just mean that another year of anger is festering. That he'll be that much more outraged when he does find me. That he's refusing to reach out to me out of pure outrage."

"Or he's finally given up thinking you've completely moved on," Simon reasoned, as he had each year past. "Because you have moved on. Look at you. You're about to graduate, you're successfully raising the twins, you're running the bookstore, not to mention, you've got a pretty cute fiancé on the side," he said lightening the mood.

"You are incorrigible," I laughed.

He smiled, "Guilty as charged."

"We're coming up!" Ellie interrupted from the stairs, "Everybody came!"

"Of course they did! It's a very special day!" I laughed.

And up the stairs came the party: Ellie, Grams, Solomon, Chloe, Kyle, Kate, Grant, and Davenport. We exchanged quick greeting and began setting up for dinner.

"I'm so very glad we moved this up. It was the worst timing but I haven't seen my nephew in at least forty years," Davenport confided as we set the table. We still hadn't told the twins of their heritage or Grams of my supernatural involvement, though Simon was aware of Davenport's true nature, having guessed as I continued to visit with him. Davenport had been invaluable in the past few years with helping me prepare for possibilities that would arise with the twins and helping teach them covertly how to suppress some of their abilities. The twins loved him and he'd basically become part of the family, being dubbed 'Uncle Edward' for the twins. His nephew was finally coming by to see him and he'd been so ecstatic he'd accidentally scheduled over the twins' birthday. However, his affection for them was obvious and he immediately asked if there was a way we could celebrate beforehand.

"Don't even worry about it. We pretty much all had stuff come up. I have my midterm, Simon has to be on-call all of tomorrow morning and is taking someone's night shift, and even Grams has book club. On top of all that, the twins are going to want to go trick-or-treating so it's all good. Anyways, I hope your nephew enjoys his time here. What are you planning to do?"

"Mostly just catch up. He was on some big important mission in the last few years that he wants to tell me about and he'll catch me up on all the community gossip. Do you think it'd be safe enough to bring him by the bookstore and introduce you?"

I hesitated, "I don't know. I still don't know how close his ties are, or how well known my escape is or anything. If you can dig around carefully and he seems to know nothing then sure, introduce me as a mortal companion. Just…I need to be careful."

"Of course, my dear, I would never jeopardize you like that. I'll update you if there are any whispers you should know about after he leaves."

"Whispers? Who's whispering about my Allison?" Grams asked, walking up.

"Nobody, Eleanor, I was merely saying I'll catch Allison up on any good gossip I hear from my nephew," Davenport covered smoothly.

"Well I've got plenty from book club if you're hurting for some," she said with a wink. I laughed and turned as I felt a tug on my shirt.

"Should I get out forks and knives or just the forks?" Solomon asked.

I picked him up. "Neither! Because you are the birthday boy so you get to sit down with your sister. Ellie! Come sit with Solomon, it's time to eat!" I said, setting him down at the table and retreating back to the kitchen counter to serve the meal.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

"They're so big all the sudden," Chloe gushed to me as we sat on the couch with a glass of wine, "seems like only yesterday they were babies."

"I know," I said softly, toying with my necklace.

She put a hand on my shoulder in comfort, "You've done such a good job with them, Allison, they're amazing."

I smiled, "Thank you. How about you and Kyle? How's married life? Any plans for a family?" I asked.

She laughed, "Oh no, I don't think I'm ready for that kind of step yet. But someday? Maybe," she said with a soft look over at Kyle and then at the twins.

"Sound judgment," I said with a nod, "No need to rush into anything, obviously."

"Speaking of rushing into things, what about you and Simon?" she asked with a playful nudge.

"Oh no no no, not you too! You just stopped with Grant and Kate!" I whined, "And they won't leave us alone about it either. Also, you were literally the one just talking about big steps and not being ready."

"They're engaged, Kyle and I are married, we just want to see you guys settled for good as well! You guys are perfect."

"That's all well and good, but I'm still finishing up school and running the bookstore! And Simon is only in year two of his residency. We've got too much on our plates."

"Oh, please, ever since Grams moved out you've practically been living together with the amount of time he spends over here," she pointed out.

"It's not like that!" I defended.

"You guys are practically common-law married at this point! What does it really change?"

"It changes things, I don't know. I'm – we aren't there yet."

"Aha! I knew you were the one holding out! Simon would marry you tomorrow if you let him."

My cheeks flushed in embarrassment, "Someone has to be logical about it! Surprisingly it's me," I said drinking a little more than usual of the wine in my hand.

"That's BS and we both know it. Come on, tell me why you're stalling," she said in amazement her tone changing to one of a more serious nature.

I sighed and set my glass down on the coffee table, "It's not like I said 'no' I only said 'not yet'. We're still engaged! And he was completely understanding about it and still is."

"What's holding you back? The twins? The awful jokes?" she leaned in conspiratorially, "Was it the sex? Is he bad in bed?"

"Chloe!" I hissed, scandalized, my face flushing scarlet as she laughed.

"What? It's a valid reason!"

"I wouldn't know," I said picking up the wine glass and taking another long sip.

"You liar! The night you guys got together! You're lying through your teeth if you say you didn't do it."

"Okay, okay, yes, but only that night. Nothing more."

It was Chloe's turn to look scandalized, "You haven't slept together in over three years?!" she stage-whispered. "Pardon my French, but what the fuck? No pun intended." She added.

"Votre français est terrible," I said under my breath.

"Allison, I'm serious," she said, "what's up?"

I took a deep breath and another sip of wine, "It's just it was a really big leap past all the building blocks of a relationship! We basically slept together on the first date. BEFORE the first date!"

"It's not like you were strangers or anything though, there was history to fall back on."

I shrugged, "It was a one-night sort of deal. It felt strange to go back to it without building our relationship like normal people, and at this point it would be strange seeing as we've been waiting this long," I laughed as the memory came to me, "I actually asked if his proposal was about getting back into my pants if I remember correctly."

Chloe let out a slow whistle, "I guess I applaud you but damn, Allison!"

I shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal, Chlo, but thanks for the concern." At this point a pair of arms suddenly hugged me around the neck, "Mommy! Can we have cake now?" Ellie asked, poking her head between me and Chloe having climbed on the back of the couch.

"Ellie, you know you're not supposed to climb on the furniture like that," I chided gently, pulling her over to sit in my lap, "but I guess it is about time to get started," I smiled.

"Sorry, Mommy," she said quickly, "I was just excited about cake."

I couldn't help but laugh at that, "Well, alright, let's get to it, Birthday Girl!" I said setting her on her feet and standing up. "Excuse me, Chloe, I have some cake to serve."

Marissa POV

As we sat in a meeting with the North American council I could tell Eric was tense. Tenser than usual. It was that day again. Today marked five years since the birth of his child. A child, that in every way, didn't seem to exist. Five years and four months since Faith had escaped, five years since she'd had the child, four years and eight months since she'd last contacted him, and four years, six months since she'd done something no bride had before: severed her bond.

We'd been at a complete loss of what to do after that. Eric had been broken for almost three months and recovering for a year, traumatized at the pain and loss that came with his bond being severed. Had he been a lesser vampire I don't know if he'd have survived. I'd always heard that vampires who lost a mate they were deeply bonded with could go insane, I'd never truly believed it until I'd seen Eric's case. It was on par with Elizabeth; it'd been painful to watch. His disappearance, however, had repercussions, which we were now trying to contain. The Dracula does not simply disappear without preamble for a year. We'd had to visit all of the counsels and do damage control to make sure he still appeared as the strong and powerful leader he was. I could tell Eric wasn't listening to this meeting however. His jaw was locked and he had a far-off look in his eyes. He was probably trying to contact Faith. It never worked, though he tried each year regardless.

"Dracula, if everything sounds in order to you then, would you mind telling us what led to your sudden withdrawal from our society?"

I could see Eric's eyes narrow, they always asked this question. So far, small excuses and shows of force had been enough to quell and insubordination. "It's simple really, I had a threat to my position from Xavier. I was forced to withdraw and quash this uprising as well as hunt down some stragglers," he said, his voice measured but also leaving no room for commentary or question.

"Sire, there is rumor of a lost bride, we only want to confirm -" they trailed off as Eric frowned.

"They say that after bonding completely with a mere mortal that I was unable to keep her fasted? Does this sound like a believable story to you?"

"Well, no, sire, but we-"

"Cannot even a fledgling track a mate once bonded?" he interrupted rhetorically, his volume increasing slightly.

"Of course, we only thought-"

"Thought what? That you were not in the presence of your superior? That your leader was so weak a simple human could escape him?" he spat, his wrath growing with each word. "Must I remind you of my heritage? Do you doubt my power?"

"We meant no slight, Dracula, we only worried given what happened last time with-"

"Silence," he commanded, surprisingly controlled after his previous show of temper. "We are not here to speak of her or the councils' previous failings. You will not let me down next time as you did the last. The subject is closed. If you have any other concerns state them now."

The silence was quite absolute as Eric stood and exited with Max and me in his wake.

"They were a lot easier than the European council," I finally ventured as we got into the limo.

"They're further away from the seat of power, I've been keeping better relations with them because of Faith's location, though they don't know that, and they are eager to stay in favor with the Dracula," Eric said dismissively.

Silence fell. "Did it work?" I asked quietly. "I could tell you were trying in the meeting."

He sighed and I saw the pain he was holding in peek through for a moment, his indifferent front coming down now that the meeting was over. "I would've said something if it had. It never will, I don't know why I bother continuing to try."

Max shrugged, "It doesn't do any harm. And if any bit of the bond remains it's possible. Especially today being what it is."

Eric shook his head sadly, "She completely destroyed every part. Of this I'm certain."

"Where do you want to go now? We saved this counsel for last so we could stay here and continue searching more personally," Max asked.

"Somewhere urban. Faith always thrived on blending in. We have to continue sifting through the thousands."

Caleb POV

I stepped off the plane eager to get out the city. It had been ages since being here and I found it wonderfully familiar. Flying over had been nostalgic, looking down over places I'd been when I'd last visited. I quickly cleared customs, not even bothering to speed the process with any influence, bypassed the baggage claim as I had only the small suitcase beside me, and started toward the exit, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. After circling a second time I finally spotted him and broke into a smile.

"Caleb!" he said joyfully, "Oh, my boy, it's been much too long," he said, giving me a hug that I happily returned.

"It truly has. It's been what, thirty, forty years?" I responded.

"And you look not a day over twenty-nine," he said with a sly wink.

I laughed at that, "And you not a bit over sixty," I shot back.

"You must catch me up on everything," he said as we started walking to the car, "It all sounds so exciting what with a secret mission and all."

"It was, Uncle Edward, it still is to be fair. Although you are understandably sworn to secrecy."

"Let's start with coffee," he said with an amiable smile.

A/N: Hey friends! Sorry for the month+ without an update. Life's crazy right now. Big stuff is coming. Prepare yourselves if you have been keeping up with this ridiculously long series of events. I literally never planned for this to take this long, but I have an overarching ending in sight, I just have to actually write my way there. Hope y'all are at least enjoying whatever this is. Love you all, especially if you read these random author's notes (don't tell the other readers I said that though) ;)