Beyond My Reach

Disclaimer: Castlevania belongs to konami not me. I am making £0.00 out of this fic, it is written purely because I have a burning need to create. Although I would like to own Alucard . . . then he'd be mine.

Rating: PG-13

Setting: Pre-animated series.

Authoress note: Lisa faces a problem she never expected to have.

Chapter Three

While pregnant, Lisa had imagined many things about her soon to be born son. She had found it odd that the parts she had looked forward to most were the dull chores of life: eating, sleeping, bathing, etc. She had been excited to feed her son, to put him down for sleep, and to bathe him. She had imagined softening the water with potions and cremes, scenting it and checking it wasn't too hot, before lowering her infant into the sweet-smelling basin and cleaning him of whatever grime he had accumulated. The whole affair had seemed almost reverent and comforting to her.

That was not what she was witnessing now.

She was getting used to her husband ruining her image of parenthood. So, it was not that much of a surprise when instead of sweet-smelling soft water in a basin her husband and son were both immersed in the chill, hard water of the subterranean areas beneath the castle.

"A flooded dungeon is not what I imagined," she muttered.

"Before you start." Her husband called to her from a little way out into the water. "I tried the whole basin thing, and it was a disaster."

"This is a disaster," Lisa muttered under her breath.

"I heard that," Vlad called back, sounding far too amused for Lisa's liking. "The brat kicked a hole into the copper basin within five minutes of him being in the damned thing, flooded half the kitchen out."

"You're exaggerating."

"Regardless, it was a mess." he lifted their overly amused infant son out of the water, holding him aloft much to his delight before lowering him back into the water at speed. The child howled. Lisa raised an eyebrow. He was far too developed for his age. At a month he shouldn't be able to do most of what he did, he should still be new. He shouldn't be howling with glee every time his father manhandled him.

"Since when do you worry about mess?" Lisa couldn't help but smile at the laughter of her son, despite her concerns over his development. "You must have an army of invisible cleaners. How else do you explain it?"

"Explain what?"

"That this castle isn't covered in dust, that whenever I finish with a book, it magically returns to its shelf. Why are my clothes always clean and in the wardrobe in the morning?"

"The castle." Her husband started wading back over to her. "The castle doesn't enjoy being untidy."

"The castle?" Lisa raised an eyebrow. "This building, this machine doesn't 'like' being untidy?"

"It's more than a building or a machine. I thought you might have noticed that by now?"

"Yes." Her husband settled at the edge of the water, their child in his arms. The infant delighting in creating as much noise and splash as possible. "I had noticed that there was something I didn't think you were telling me. Do you mean to say this place is alive? You expect me to believe that a building is alive?"

"Not in the traditional sense, but yes, I imbue it with-" he was interrupted when their child decided his father was not paying him enough attention and started trying to hurl water at him.

"You're being remiss." Lisa smiled. She reached a hand into the water, wincing at the chill, and cupped a handful of water onto her boy's head. Her son grinned at her. "He likes water so cold?"

"I doubt he feels it the way you might," Vlad breathed. "If he's anything like me, he'll hardly notice it. But even if he feels it, he doesn't seem to mind it."

"Is there a reason you're in there with him? Or did you just fancy a wash?" Lisa flicked water at her husband.

"Well, being only a month old, his ability to swim is… well, it's rubbish." Vlad grinned at his son, who laughed. "Your rubbish." The boy laughed again, grabbing hands, reaching for his father, who held him at his waist. "You like being rubbish, well, fantastic, low expectations for you."

"I didn't mean for you to let him swim," Lisa said. "But most parents don't bathe with their child every single time they need a bath.

"It's easier. When I attempted to wash him at the edge of the water, I ended up soaked through."

"I suppose this lays to bed the rumours of your people being harmed by water," Lisa made a gesture at her half-submerged naked husband. Vlad laughed.

"My people are all different, some are harmed more easily than others. Those of us that are more durable lose our vulnerability to water first." He ducked abruptly under the water, taking their son with him, but returned to the surface a moment later.

"Did you have to take him under, too?" Lisa's heart was hammering in her chest.

"He's rather… wriggly at the moment. It wouldn't be safe to ask you to hold him just to get my hair out of my eyes."

"I suppose." Lisa couldn't help the sadness in her voice. Her husband watched her for a long moment.

"Next time we'll set up one of the larger bathes in the castle, warm the water, and we can try together."

"Seems like a lot of hassle," Lisa mumbled. "Just so I can help bathe him."

"You'd get hypothermia in here." Vlad gestured to the flooded dungeon. "Besides, who says it's just for you? I rather enjoy bathing with you." He deliberately leered at her. She put her hand on his head and pushed down. She knew she couldn't push him under if he didn't let her, but it was one of her favourite things about him was that he played with her, often 'letting' her overpower him, or pretending to be wounded if she struck him in jest. He disappeared under the water, making a fuss as he went. This time, though he held their son above the water, the boy grinned and laughed.

Lisa couldn't help but join him.

"You think mummy should drown, daddy? He is a brute, making such comments." She grinned at their son, who babbled at her.

"I suppose you're right, he is a kind of useful." She pulled her hand off her husband's head and out of the water. Her fingers were numb.

"You are cruel," Vlad said, mock upset. "Drowning me because I said you were beautiful."

"You did not call me beautiful. You made crude insinuations about bathing with me." Her smile ruined her harsh tone. "And you have your son to thank for your continued existence. He told me to let you up because you were useful." Vlad looked at the infant he held.

"You, boy, have inherited your mother's cruelty."

"Don't call him boy," Lisa said. "Or brat, or any of the other unflattering names you have given him."

"I will stop calling him such when you give him a name. A good one, mind you."

"I will, but it's difficult."

"That it is." Her husband stood up and stepped out of the water. He walked to the pile of towels that were not here when they arrived. Lisa pointedly did not wonder about where they had come from. She watched her husband wrap their boy in enough fabric that he was effectively trapped. "Hold this a moment." He handed him to her. "Tell me if he gets wriggly again." She watched as he dried and dressed for a moment before looking at their boy.

He was beautiful, despite being only a month old. His hair was white blonde and curling, though now it was stuck to his head in a wet mess. His eyes were also golden as he stared at his mother, suddenly serious.

"Your beautiful." She smiled softly at him. "My little boy." Her son continued to stare at her, his expression serious. It felt like he was looking at her and seeing her. She was being weighed and when he smiled at her, she knew he had not found her wanting. She leaned down and kissed his head, listening to him gurgle while she did so.

"Adrian," she said to him when she pulled back. She felt her husband's hand on her shoulder as he came to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back into him. "Our Adrian."

"Adrian," Vlad repeated. "It suits him." Lisa leaned back against him, turning her head as she kissed his chin and, for the first time since she'd given birth, held her infant son without fear as her husband held her.

"Our family," she whispered.

End Fic

In my head, it has always been Drac who named Adrian, not sure why but it has. Then I started writing this.

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