A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

Thank you for all of your support, it meant so much to me. The PM that was sent to me by this person was worded in such a way that had me filled with doubt that other people were feeling the same way towards me.

The cleanest jist of it accused me of taking all the chances off other people to post stories and posting too many stories with different plotlines. They 'requested' I take my time so they could upload theirs first.

Chapter 19: Mina

Catherine helped Mina from the car, passing her the crutches. Mina smiled at Catherine accepting them gratefully from her. She lifted herself up taking care not to use her right leg. She hobbled into the foyer.

Vlad grabbed her waist and sped her to his main room, carefully placing her on the sofa. Erin smiled at her mate's thoughtfulness.

"Thanks Vlad." Mina told him gratefully, the short journey from the car had made her sweat from the effort.

"How's Jonno?" Erin asked quietly.

"Improving." He was improving but far too slowly for it to make much of a difference – he was still critical he'd been sent back in for surgery when they'd found more internal bleeding. She didn't want to think about it she needed to be strong now more than ever.

Erin shared a look with Vlad, it wasn't a good idea to keep things bottled up inside but this wasn't the time or place to get her to talk.

"But I'm not here to talk about Jonno." She didn't mean it in a nasty way; she needed something to distract her from the health of her son. "You need our help, I'm here to give it. The Truce is still in place, now more than ever."

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Vlad felt like crying out triumphantly as he explained the situation to Mina. Mina nodded as he explained everything interjecting ideas that Vlad had already had and useful questions to help her understand what she was up against.

"I didn't think anything of Sethius survived."

"The bone did, and now she needs a clean mirror, that's where I need your help." He paused, as Mina nodded for him to continue. "I need to know the names of every vampire the Guild turned to dust four years ago." Vlad knew it was an unusual request.

"Sure Vlad, we have it on the system…"

Ingrid looked at the Grand High Vampire in confusion, she cut Mina off quickly. "We have a list of the vampires who were slain by the Guild."

This was news to Vlad. "We do?"

"Yeah, Dad collected them when he was Regent…" Understanding came to her, "You didn't know."

"No I didn't." He spun to face the Count who was looking like a goldfish. "Why didn't I know about this?"

The Count shrugged. "It's not like you needed them."

"Until now."

"How was I supposed to know?" Vlad cried as Renfield handed Mina and Catherine a cup of coffee. He looked at the drinks. "I need soy blood." He muttered, the blood would make him think more clearly.

Vlad poured a glass of soy blood for his wife, handing it out to her. Erin reached for it but hadn't grasped it fully before Vlad let go, sending it and its contents to the ground.

"I'll get it!" Wolfie cried as he dove to the floor, picking up the goblet for Erin with a smirk.

Erin looked surprised at first but nodded gratefully to him. "Thanks." She whispered ruffling her brother in law's hair affectionately.

Catherine looked at Wolfie a smile on her face, "I wish my brother would have done that at his age."

"He doesn't do it all the time." Erin smiled.

"I'm going to do it now." He looked at everyone, his chest puffing out. "I'm getting a niece or nephew." He told them explaining his actions.

Catherine and Mina's eyes flickered to Ingrid who stepped back in surprise. She hadn't expected them to think it was her. "Its not me!" In fact she was offended, she might have been a rebel but she wanted what Erin and Vlad would have. Children inside marriage or mating, granted Erin clearly had been pregnant before the ceremony.

They looked at Erin, noticing for the first time she was glowing. Vlad looked just as happy, a twinkle in his eye that wouldn't fade.

Mina smiled at Erin, offering her a heart felt: "Congratulations."

"Thanks."

Vlad handed Erin a fresh goblet with more soy blood, brushing his lips against her forehead lightly. "I'll see if I can find that list…"

Erin nodded watching as Vlad looked over his shoulder at her flashing her a smile before vanishing from the room.

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Mina grabbed her crutches, hoisting herself up, immediately regretting not slipping her gloves on as the handles came into contact with the blisters on her hands. She'd been desperate to walk of hobble. She couldn't look at her son in the hospital bed opposite her all day long, she needed to do something.

She'd told Catherine not to contact Vlad until she could hobble, if he raced to the Guild he'd be putting his family at risk. Although she wasn't thrilled at Catherine's refusal to help their ally although she understood the legal issues behind it.

Mina hobbled closer to Erin, she leaned down to whisper in her ear, "If you ever need any help or advice about the baby I'm here." She placed a hand on her shoulder.

Erin smiled gratefully, she didn't want to ask her mother, she didn't think Stephanie Noble had been the best parent in the world to her. Erin felt nervous though, Vlad knew more about pregnancy than her which she found… odd but Erin had a feeling that Vlad had been given 'the talk' early on.

Erin had been told when she was younger in vivid detail from the wedding night to the delivery as she'd be married off at twenty one but she'd never really paid attention. The only thing she actually remembered was being told that being with Vlad would always hurt her, that hadn't been true so she knew she couldn't trust what they'd told her.

"I mean it Erin, anything you want to ask I'll try and answer it."

"I might have a few questions." She whispered, looking down in embarrassment.

Mina felt a rush of maternal instinct towards the young girl slash vampire in front of her. "I wasn't brought up as a slayer Erin, I was brought up as a breather. I'm not like them, I've been through it so I know a thing or two."

"Vlad knows a lot…"

"Vlad would have been told about the importance of having an heir and probably when he turned sixteen." Mina thought the same as her.

"Erin you were taught to have children because you had to not because you wanted to until you met Vlad. There's a big difference between having children when you're in love and when you're not. I'm sure Vlad's told you about the importance of love in vampire pregnancies."

"Yeah."

Mina wanted to be sure, "Especially half fang ones?" Erin nodded, Mina gave a relieved smile. She was worried it would happen to Erin at first at least before she remembered that Vlad and Erin had something no other half fang couple had – love.

"How did I miss being told this?" Erin shook her head, why was she the one who always didn't know about these things? "I don't know anything about being a mother because I wasn't told anything and I can't ask Vlad all the time because I can't stand the fact he knows more than me."

Mina cupped the young woman's cheek, lifting her head up slightly to answer her question. "Because you were supposed to slay them Erin not fall for them. As for Vlad, Erin," She paused smiling, "He doesn't care that you don't know much about the pregnancy, just remember he didn't know that he'd proposed to you."

Erin laughed, Vlad didn't know enough about his own culture at the time, she'd learned alongside him.

"I'm here if you need someone to talk to."

"Vlad's okay with you being pregnant then?" Mina knew the answer so she didn't need to see Erin's questioning look, "You know when I told Eric that I was carrying Jonno I'd never seen him so scared." Mina laughed, "He went out and bought everything he could think of to try and protect him. He even bubble wrapped the vases. I was a month at the time."

"Vlad's not that bad." Erin smiled at her, "Although he knows what he needs to do, which is annoying."

Mina could actually picture that, "Like what?"

"A new coffin."

"It won't close if you're pregnant." Erin groaned, it would have been nice to have someone on her side for once, "Wooden ones…"

"Ours is metal, curved at the top with secure locks. A normal vampire can only open one lock at a time, Vlad can open all of them at once. He made sure I can too something about making it recognise me." She didn't understand the science behind it.

"Thinking of power you need to be careful…"

"Vlad's already lectured me on this."

Mina picked up on the one word that Erin chose, "'Lectured'?" It wasn't a word that usually came up in conversation it was more negative than the word 'talked' or 'spoke'.

"I may have thrown a fireball at his goblet of soy blood." Mina laughed, she could actually imagine that. "Then Mum tried to tell me to behave like a slayer wife." Her voice became little more than a whisper. She regretted her actions and swore never to do that again, but her mother had angered her. The fact she'd dared to tell her what to do annoyed her. "I didn't tell him the way I wanted to." Erin admitted softly, "It came out in an argument."

"What was the argument about?" Erin didn't take her eyes off the floor and Mina thought that she'd crossed a line. "Sorry Erin…"

"Vlad was forced to agree to an arranged marriage for our children so I could be Queen." Her eyes sparkled. Mina jumped back as Vlad appeared in front of Erin, she thought he'd be angry that Erin had told her but then she remembered it was Vlad.

Erin had spoken forgetting that someone was in the room.

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"You're no better than us!" Tom yelled at him, Erin had forgotten that they were in the room. "You argue that arranged marriages are cruel things and you arrange them for your own children!"

Vlad shot up, "It wasn't like that."

"My daughter was the exception. Vampires always take what they want. You're the reason they outlawed it amongst the Guild…"

"How dare you lecture Vlad like that?" Ingrid yelled marching up to Tom. "I was in the room when it happened slayer, Vlad didn't have a choice but he will undo it…"

Mina raised her hand, "About that…" Her words were ignored by them all.

"Don't forget he undid mine! He will undo our children's. I don't care what you think, you lost that right when you took me from Vlad. I don't want you to ever interfere in our lives or our children's unless we ask you too and I really can't see us doing that in the next fifty years." Erin's fists shook as she spoke, her anger growing Vlad stepped behind her and rubbed her arms up and down in a soothing gesture.

Erin gave them a scathing look, her eyes burning red before turning black. She had the urge to launch a fireball again but restrained and walked across to the window in the hope that she'd see something that would distract her, pulling from Vlad's arms. He let her go understanding what she needed to do.

Tom stood in utter shock at his daughter's outburst. "She can't…" He was going to say 'talk to him like that' but Erin was now Queen. The highest status she could ever achieve.

"I will undo it." Vlad told him sternly. "I will *never* watch any of my children being married off to anyone. I'm not *you*, I love my children and I don't see them as a means to status. I'm Grand High Vampire, there isn't a higher status. Even if I was just a Count I still wouldn't do it. I had a choice, they'll have a choice." Vlad's voiced was impassioned, he wanted them to understand.

Tom and Steph looked down, Vlad was everything they'd never considered for their daughter. He was the only person who matched Erin and didn't want to tame her.

"Robin?" Erin called over her shoulder. They looked at her confused as to why she called for him.

Robin was growing closer and closer to Ingrid's shoulder as he drifted off to sleep. "Hmm?"

"Robin!" She shouted louder at him.

"Who's been bitten?" He cried startling awake, he looked around the room frantically.

"Please tell me you told your parents that you were back."

He looked at her confused, she'd woken him up to ask that. "Why?" Vlad shot across to Erin's side, following her gaze.

Vlad answered instead with a growl in his voice, "Because they're walking up the driveway."

TBC

A/N: Thanks for reading.

Thank you again for all your support.