Chapter 2

Howard had invited Roxanne and Derek to dinner to the Vietnamese restaurant.

"Wow!" Derek said with enthusiasm. "This stuff is hot!"

"Well, that's' how you chose it."

Roxanne did not say anything. She was still unsure as to how to handle real food. She was relearning the knife and fork (learning chopsticks on top of it seemed a bit much).

They did see it, but knew it was better not to comment on it. Both Howard and Derek had gone through that awkward phase.

"Can you believe that these people came to the U.S. with the clothes on their back?' Frances said.

"Were they boat people?" Howard asked.

"Yes."

"How did they come here?"

"They needed sponsors, and well, Barnabas volunteered. " Frances said. " Next thing we know, we have Vietnamese. A lot of them went into fishing... They already knew how to fish, so they managed. They started making some food that they sold on the sidewalk. and, well now we have a Vietnamese restaurant."

"Do they know about Barnabas?"

"They found out. But they had been told that they had to adjust to the ways of then U.S. so they figured out that he was part of the strange ways of the U.S. that they had to live with... They have become quite cool about everything."

"I guess that after escaping on a rickety boat, in danger of being caught by pirates, or being turned away, and all those risks, everything is easy to deal with." Howard sighed. He knew about putting things in perspective...

"Yes."

"By the way, you know that we are getting married? " Derek said.

"Married? You two?" Howard was a bit surprised. "That was fast."

"You have any objections?' Roxanne asked.

"No. Just that it was quick., You two coming down there, aren't you?"

"Yes. I remember that you promised me the Department of Education."

"And you'll get it, don't worry. You know what to expect there, of course."

'Basically, we are starting from scratch there." Frances said. "I managed to train a number of nurses' aides and first responders. People who can do ninety percent of the work, that is routine work, and leave me to tackle the other ten."

"I know that it is going to be no picnic there. I don't expect it to be."

"We got a whole country to make over, all by ourselves" Howard's voice got dreamy. "And we are going to do it right. We'll spend the rest of our lives there, and we are not going to be tempted to forget about it, the way people outside will."

"They will not forget!" Derek defended them. "I know them, and we can trust them to keep their word."

"Yes. But we will not be their first priority. I don't blame them. It is just the way it is going to be. With us, we will live with it all the time."

"I know what it is like to be in a reality you can't get out of." Roxanne said. "At least, there are no bullets flying there."

"No bullets and no fear of the secret police. But it will have its own challenges. But we are well qualified for it."

"Then I propose a toast." Derek said. "to the Nelsons, and the Pearces, and their new country."

"So this is Eliot Collins" Amy said, as Vicky picked him up.

"I am afraid that I failed with David," Vicky said. "If he can abandon his child like this, I must not have taught him well."

"Come on, Vicky" Carolyn sighed. "You did your best. You do not remember the kind of problems David had when you met him. He is alive, and not in jail, so that is something."

"Still, to abandon a baby... Both parents walked away from him... To be abandoned thus" Vicky could no help remembering her own childhood, as nobody's child.

"He's not alone He's got me." Carolyn said. "He's got Edmund as a brother."

"Has Edmund accepted him?" Amy asked.

"Yes. Maybe it is the novelty, but he seems taken up with him."

"How about Roger?" there was an edge to Vicky's voice. "does he treat his grandchild better than he did his children?"

"Roger is OK." Carolyn's tone indicated that Roger was not to be discussed. Yes, he was a lot better since he was taking medication. But she still was angry on how it had been forced on her.

"How about Adam? Is he OK?"

"Why shouldn't he be? He is now painting mermaids, and that keeps him busy."

Upstairs Adam listened to them. He hoped that the visit ended and that Amy and Vicky left without asking to see his paintings.

He did not want to share his mermaid with them.

But he might have to, now that Carolyn had mentioned it. So, he had to put on his "guests" face, fake cordiality, and talk about color and light, and get very technical. And how important the sea was to the community... and... and all the speeches that he prepared in case anyone wanted to know why he painted mermaids...

"You know my opinion." Megan said calmly to Delia "you cannot be sure that you are free of the desire for the whips and chains."

"It is not pretty."

'No, but it is something that you need. Maybe you are free of it now, but maybe not... Look, you did it for years, discreetly, and you had a good job, and you hooked up with Derek, who is a decent sort. Then one day you decided that you should not do it. So what do you do? Start playing it for real, and hooking up with a severely disturbed woman, which ended in your being arrested, losing your job, and then ending up in Wyncliffe. "

"It was that whip... the slave ship's whip."

"Maybe, but if you had been playing it regularly you'd not have been so attracted to it. Look, you see me? You know what I have to do? What do you think would happen if one day I decided that drinking blood is awful and that I should fight it:? I can tell you what. I'd go crazy from hunger, and then when I could not stand it anymore, I'd attack someone and I would be so desperate that I would hurt or even kill them. That's what happened to Barnabas for a long while. It was not until he got into his head that he had to do it, no excuses, that he became a good neighbor. So it is with you.. If your are diabetic, and don't take your insulin you go into a coma. If you have high blood pressure and don't take your medication, you die. If you have a mental problem and don't take your medication, you end up in the nuthouse. And if you need SM and don't indulge, you end up a criminal."

"So.."

"So you need a job. And I can help you get one. I don't know if you have figured it out, but vampires hang around the health care community. We all have qualified as first responders and nurses' aides. Which mean that I can recommend you to a place that needs a nurse. The person you will talk to will be like me, and will know about your requirements."

"I would have to leave Collinsport."

'Where everybody knows your scandalous story. People can make your life here hard. Better that you should start a new life somewhere."

"Helping out vampires?"

"When they need it. But mostly being a nurse. Think about it. Then come tomorrow tell me what you decided."

Delia left and Megan sat down to consider her one big problem. Angelique's baby.

Ideally, Angelique would let George have the baby. Then they could leave for Boston again..

The idea of raising a baby with two mommies and one of those mommies being a vampire was not one to tempt her.

On the other hand, giving the baby to George meant raising a baby with two daddies, one of those being a vampire, not an improvement...

Maybe Angelique and George could get hitched, and she and Barnabas...

Not even funny...

Quentin was having a drink quietly by himself when Carolyn came in and sat by his side.

"Are you trying to seduce me, cousin?" he asked, without lifting his eyes from the numbers he was adding.

"We are cousins, after all. We are family."

"Distant cousins. And we were once married So, why are you here, forgetting that you are a married woman?"

Carolyn shrugged.

Quentin looked at her. "What? Any problems with Adam?"

She shrugged again.

"What is it? What is wrong with you two?"

"He acts as if he has done nothing. He does not tell me anything. Just has Megan come and force me... force me as she does, so that Roger becomes an outpatient and takes his meds... Of all the dirty, underhanded tricks..."

"Damn it woman! Did you ever tell him that? Did you ever ask him? How stupid can you be? I was the one who called Megan."

'Why?"

"Because, even you did not want to see it. Roger was a going to kill somebody one day. I know."

"It was you?"

"Yes, it was me. And you have been given Adam the silent treatment, punishing for something he did not do, not even bothering to explain..."

"It was you..."

"Yes, my spoiled rotten cousin. If your mother was anything like you, no wonder your father ran away on her and you. And I will not blame Adam if he runs away on you and finds a woman who deserves him."