A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

I really need some help:

Should Vlad and Erin have a girl or a boy?

Chapter 10: Reaction

"You're not going to tell your Dad are you?" Erin asked quietly, curling into Vlad. Vlad looked down at her hair before kissing her forehead lightly.

"Dad has a habit of letting things slip, I'm not telling anyone unless you want me to."

Erin didn't really want too keep it from everyone but at the moment it seemed like it was the only option for them both if they wanted to protect the child as long as possible. Ideally they had until she began to show. "I don't want it to be a secret but…"

"The Council will use it against us, we'll tell everyone after your coronation when we're in control." Erin smiled up at him, tilting her head back to kiss him lightly.

"What do you want?" Vlad furrowed his brow at her, completely confused at her question. "A boy or a girl?"

Vlad could see her nervousness, she knew that one would be received well by their world the other wouldn't. "A healthy baby." He smiled at her, "I don't mind which we have as long as they're healthy."

Erin sighed pulling away from him, "Speaking of healthy, we won't be for much longer if we don't meet your dad when he returns later." Before Vlad could protest she'd left the comfort of his arms and was crossing the room preparing to get dressed.

Erin reached into the drawers pulling out a grey vest top; she paused feeling eyes on her back. Erin folded her arms and turned around to face Vlad.

"What?" She asked him with a small smile. Vlad shook his head and crawled down the length of the coffin to her side.

"Its just hard to believe that our baby is inside you." He whispered kissing her neck, forcing her to arch it so could explore more skin. There were no major changes that he could see but Erin's stomach felt a little firmer as he brushed his fingers across it.

"You'll be seeing the baby growing soon." Erin knew she'd be growing bigger but she didn't mind, she wasn't vain about her size. She wanted this child more than anything, extra weight came with it but she wouldn't trade it for anything.

Vlad smiled, to tell the truth he couldn't wait. He wanted to show the world what was making him so happy although at the moment he knew it was too dangerous for them all.

Erin realised they'd never move if she let him carry on so she reluctantly pulled herself from him again. "Get dressed," She whispered, smirking at the pout she was sure he didn't realise he was doing.

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Erin was swaying slightly as she stood next to Vlad while they waited for the sun to set and the Count to return. Vlad turned to her with concern; he brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ears.

"Go lie down." He told her quietly, she wasn't well enough to be here.

"I'm fine." Her face contradicted that as she closed her eyes and swallowed deliberately, before opening her eyes once more waiting for them to focus on Vlad again.

"You look as if you're about to faint."

"I'm not going to faint." She harshly whispered back to him. Vlad gave her a sceptical look but looped his arm around her waist to hold her to him just in case he wasn't going to take any chances. She rested her forehead against his arm, trying to ignore the light that was making its way into her eyes. Her head still throbbed from that blasted crown, Vlad had told her it would. She'd never tell him but it was comforting to know he'd had the same experience his first time with the crown as she had. She wasn't amused that she couldn't have a painkiller of any sort. Renfield didn't want to risk it with her being pregnant.

Erin suddenly tore away from him, turning a violent shade of black. Vlad seemed to sense what was happening before she did. He grabbed a nearby bin and held it under Erin's mouth. Erin gave him a grateful look just before she heaved her guts out.

Vlad tried not to pull a disgusted look as he pulled her back towards him. Erin wiped her mouth, she looked terrible.

"Erin you need to lie down." He whispered kissing her forehead.

Ingrid sped until her shoulder touched her brothers, "Is she okay?" Vlad jumped at his sister's contact, his mind being focussed on Erin and nothing else.

"A good time to start." She muttered referring to the morning sickness; she had been expecting it though. Vlad let out a bark of laughter before covering it with a cough to hide it from Ingrid and Erin. Erin noticed and sent him a look that could turn a vampire to dust.

Ingrid looked at her brother she hadn't caught what Erin had said. Instead she chose to focus on the return of her father. "Why did you have to bring him back?" Ingrid moaned, she'd been enjoying the peace and quiet from her father, the first peace she'd had in three years. Vampire law demanded that she live with him – now they had reconciliated sort of) – until she married.

"Because I need to get Chloe and her family off my back, Robin's with him and I'd rather I knew where my family was. Without Bertrand Dad's the authority on our kind."

Vlad looked at Ingrid as he mentioned Bertrand watching a careful mask cover her features, he wanted Bertrand back to normal as soon as possible but he didn't know how to make that happen just yet.

"Unfortunately." They all muttered at the same time before looking embarrassed at saying it out loud not bothering to realise that they all felt the same way.

"But…"

"Ninety seven years left Ingrid." Vlad reminded her of their one hundred year agreement to get on as a family.

Ingrid responded in Transylvanian, uttering a curse that wasn't clean enough to be repeated.

Vlad responded back instinctively, slipping into his former dialect. Erin rolled her eyes at them both before commanding them both to shut up, also in Transylvanian. Erin knew from experience that if they slipped into Transylvanian they usually ignored any form of English or any other language when they were addressed.

Erin smirked slightly, she wondered if Vlad would teach their child Transylvanian like he'd taught her. She was still learning, there was so much he had to teach her. There were many different dialects of Transylvanian, so for him English was very simple to grasp.

The sound of a sonic boom brought them out of their small world to the current one with a bang.

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The Count had heard rumours, rumours he'd hoped to be untrue. He should have known better than to leave Vlad to his own devices, this was the consequence of his actions.

Wolfie seemed blissfully unaware of what was happening and the eight year old threw himself down on the couch, happy to be back in a familiar place.

Robin bobbed nervously beside him, hoping to stop the motion sickness wracking his stomach. He gave them a wave, he expected them to greet him in kind, at least until he saw the careful expressions on all their faces.

Robin didn't dare trust himself to speak, at the moment he felt that if he opened his mouth the nausea would show itself violently.

The Count marched up to his son who was doing a marvellous imitation of a statue. His expression appeared to be set in stone. He'd given up on reading Ingrid long ago so he looked across at his daughter in law hoping to get some information from her but only saw her rocking with her eyes closed as she tried to stop herself from being sick.

"What's wrong with her?"

Ingrid found something she had in common with her father. "That's what I'd like to know?"

"Olga put the crown on Erin, its just lingering effects." Vlad wondered how long they could get away with that line. From Ingrid's expression she'd stopped believing them already.

The Count automatically placed his fingers on Erin's forehead, relieved that she wasn't burning up. "Renfield's already checked her over Dad, she's healthy. She just needs to get the crowns power out of her system."

The Count seemed to accept Vlad's words at face value and Erin felt herself relax from the tense posture she hadn't realised she'd been in. "Is it true we're in a vampire war?"

Vlad looked at Ingrid, he didn't look at Erin. Technically she still didn't have a say in this until she was crowned. "Yeah, I didn't have a choice. Olga refused to wear the crown forcing Erin to wear it. She still wouldn't give up control and I wasn't going to let her get away with it so she declared war on us. We're split in half." Or thirds if a pacifist group emerged not to mention small factions who'd take advantage of the distracted Grand High Vampire and his cousin to make their own moves towards the throne.

"A vampire war, awesome!" Robin spoke, grinning.

"Its not 'awesome' Robin!" Erin snapped at him, Robin immediately sobered Erin hadn't snapped like that before at him. She looked positively terrifying. "Vampires will be killed, we'll have to fight, this won't be a world for children to be born into…"

"Erin!" Vlad spoke cutting her off before she revealed too much. Erin shot him an apologetic look.

"Sorry." Robin whispered, "When are Jonno and Mina coming?"

This was the part none of them had been looking forward to explaining.

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They'd been right in the reaction the Count had to their summarising of events. To say he wasn't thrilled was an understatement.

"So you're on your own?" The Count roared at his son, "The last Grand High Vampire wouldn't have let her live, do you have any idea how stupid you've been to let her live? None of our kind will survive and how many do you really think are on your side? This is suicide! I've never…"

Erin couldn't watch anymore, she saw Vlad being beaten down emotionally by the Count. Vlad didn't deserve this reaction.

"Switch sides then!" Erin finally snapped at the Count. "Go over to Olga's side it seems you've made up your mind already…"

The Count looked at her shocked, she was fearsome, even more so because she was 'ill'. He should have known better than to think Erin would stand aside as he reprimanded his son. "You asked me back…"

"We needed Robin back. His family are asking questions, Chloe might be responsible for what happened to Jonno and Mina. If you think this is such a lost cause join the other side, otherwise I don't want to see you ever talking to my husband like that ever again."

"He's my son!"

"He is your ruler, you do what he says. No questions asked." Erin shouted back passionately, she wasn't going to stand by and watch as Vlad's fears were brought forwards. He needed to be confident if he was going to win. "You lost the right to tell him what to do or even talk to him like this when he turned eighteen."

"He lets you get away with too much!" The Count roared at Erin.

Vlad stepped in between them before there was the minute chance a fireball could be thrown at his wife. If a fireball clipped her in her current condition then they could lose the baby. "Yes I do." Vlad told him sternly. He gave Erin a lot more leniency than anyone else, it had never crossed his mind not to. "I trust Erin to set me straight and I trust her to do the right thing in the interests of our kind. She will be Queen so I suggest that you be careful what you say to her." Vlad told his father angrily before adding mentally, 'Especially now.'

That earned him a sharp slap to the arm, he rubbed it looking at the innocent expression of his wife. He was right her hormones would get the better of her soon.

"So what are you going to do?" The Count didn't like being put in his place by Vlad or his wife but he had to be careful. "You need support so where are you going to get it from?"

Vlad and Erin looked at each other, there was no one they could think of that would be willing to help them.

Ingrid tipped her head and looked at the couple. "There is someone who might be able to help us."

It took a few moments for Ingrid's suggestion to sink in, for them to understand who she meant.

Vlad's answer was automatic, he knew he had Erin and his father's full agreement with his answer. "No."

TBC

A/N: What do you think?

I'd be grateful if you could help me decide whether it should be a boy or a girl. I'll go with the majority.

Thanks for reading.