Chapter 15:

Sam POV-

As luck would have it, Danny and I were forced to sit directly across from Vlad. Danny was tense, but I'm sure that I am not much better as I angrily stabbed at my steak with a knife.

"Ooh, craving meat, are we?" Vlad asked coolly. It wasn't a question; not really, it was more like an observation designed to get a rise out of me.

I didn't feel like I really needed to justify that with a response as I stuck the chunk of meat in my mouth.

"So, Samantha," ugh, he used my full name in that same condescending tone that my parents did, making me want to place my steak knife directly between his eyes, "How far along are you?"

"Twelve weeks," I answered meeting his smug glare without faltering.

"Oh, really?" Vlad questioned in the same 'not-a-question' way that he did before, because, obviously, he knew that I was only five weeks along, not twelve, "And Maddie and Jack tell me that you two are having twins?"

"That' right," Danny answered curtly, glaring at Vlad, "Now, tell me, Vlad, did you actually have a reason for coming here or did you come just to interrogate Sam about her pregnancy?"

"Oh, Daniel, of course I had a reason for coming here: to spend time with your father (Vlad gritted his teeth) and your lovely mother, of course, it just seems that the easiest form of conversation is over what has become the largest source of gossip in town as of today," Vlad lied smoothly.

Funny, the way he talked about the gossip seems like he was proud, drinking in the fact that his evil plot had caused such a talk around the town.

"Tell me," Vlad smirked, "Do either of you have any names picked out yet?"

"We're waiting to find out the sex before we decide on any names," I replied, simply, without inflection or emotion.

"Ah," Vlad said, "You wouldn't name a child after me, would you?" This was seen as humorous by Danny's parents, who laughed (but I noticed that Mrs. Fenton laughed more tightly than Mr. Fenton).

"No," Danny and I replied unwaveringly in unison, glaring at Danny's arch rival.

"Suit yourselves," Vlad held up his hands in mock surrender, "But any child named after me would have been successful," another fake joke, that made Mr. Fenton laugh.

"…and a thieving fruitloop," Danny muttered almost inaudibly, but I could tell that Vlad heard when his expression turned angry, before he once again regained his composure.

"Well," Vlad clasped his hands, "I can't think of a better pair of teenagers to get pregnant. You two seem…capable, of course, if you should want to give up your children, perhaps I can be of assistance. As you know, I do not have a family of my own, and I have wanted one for a while," Vlad suggested.

"Not interested," Danny stated.

"Are you sure? Two children, even strong and healthy children can be a handful," Vlad persisted.

Judging by the way he said "…even strong and healthy…" I knew he meant "…especially with your abilities…" Danny and I said nothing, we just glared at him, and I felt Danny put his hand on my knee protectively.

"No? Alright, well if you change your minds, you know where to find me," he stood up, "Thank you Maddie…Jack, for inviting me to dinner, but I really must be leaving now."

Once the door had closed behind him, I heard Danny breathe a sigh of relief, I, on the other hand, was still pissed, and I buried my knife in the last piece of steak.

"This was great Mads," Mr. Fenton said, giving her a kiss and picking up his plate, "But I'm gonna do work in the lab."

"M'kay hun, I'll be down in a minute," she replied, and once he was out of earshot, she turned to us, "Now, I know that Vlad is a creep, but maybe you two should not have acted the way you did."

We said nothing, seriously, what could we say? 'But he's the one who caused this in the first place! He's the reason I got pregnant! And now he wants our kids so that he can mold them to be his perfect half-ghost children!' Yeah, that wouldn't work.

There was definitely a part of me that wished that Danny had told his parents the truth, and then we could tell his mom exactly the concerns we have about Vlad. But, at the same time, I knew the risk it would take to actually tell them, they might disown Danny, or experiment on him, or, maybe experiment on me now that I am carrying his children and are beginning to develop ghost powers myself.

His mom merely sighed at our silence, pursing her lips, and leaving the room.

"Danny?" I asked, and he looked up at me, still with anger at Vlad in his clear blue eyes, "Do you think that he will kidnap me while I am still pregnant, or do you think he will wait until after the babies are born?"

I didn't bother to question whether or not he would kidnap our children, because, at this point we both knew it was inevitable. He is going to kidnap them. The questions now are how and when.

Danny thought for a moment, like he really didn't want to answer that question. I know he wishes that he could say that Vlad wouldn't kidnap the babies, but he can't.

So finally he answered, "I don't know…after…probably, because he can make kidnapping children look more staged than kidnapping a pregnant woman."

I evaluated the logic in this response, and finally decided that Danny was right.

If he kidnapped me, that opens up all these questions about why someone would kidnap a pregnant woman. But kidnapping children? That, unfortunately, happens all the time. And, Vlad would, no doubt, plan it to when Mr. Fenton was asleep on the couch, just to make him seem irresponsible and at fault for the kidnapping.

"The babies' rooms are going to have to have a killer security system," I said finally. Danny said nothing, but I could already see the gears in his head turning.