A/N: Disclaimer in Chapter 1.

Sorry it took the site a day longer than they thought to investigate and block this 'author' but I'm back and there should be no more problems now so I'm over the moon. I am no longer (hopefully) being reported for copying from myself. It's a little laughable considering people can copy from others without being reported while you can't borrow from yourself.

Chapter 47: Focus

The experience had shaken Erin as she sat slightly curled on the small sofa in the room. Vlad stood behind and gently rubbed her upper arms up and down in a soothing manner.

Erin didn't speak she just stared at the floor. It had been a disturbing feeling, she'd felt empty the moment she'd let her anger take over it was as if the link that Vlad shared with the baby, or rather his reflection did at the moment, had been severed and she felt that for the merest of seconds.

Vlad moved slowly around the end of the couch, Erin remained motionless before her eyes flickered up to him and she moved across slightly. Vlad took the opportunity and sat down before Erin could move again.

"You okay?" He asked her quietly, even though he could tell how she felt. It was unnerving him how quiet she was.

Erin didn't respond verbally instead she leapt towards him, catching him by surprise, wrapping her arms around his chest. Vlad slid backwards and hit his head off the back of the corner of the sofa thankful that it was made of material and stuffing rather than oak or beech. Vlad responded by wrapping his arms around her, his right one on her lower back (rubbing gently) and his left around her waist holding her to him.

He felt Erin snuggle into his chest and he moved his legs so they were stretched out in front of him, Erin shifted her weight to mimic his actions so she was lying on top of him.

"I'm sorry." She whispered into his chest. That got his attention, gently he manoeuvred his hands around her to grasp her chin and raise her eyes to look at him. He saw her eyes were puffy and black but there weren't any tear tracks – yet.

"What for?" He was genuinely confused. Erin didn't have anything to apologise for.

"I could have lost the baby." She whispered, "I'm so sorry I never meant…" Vlad placed the softest of kisses to her lips in an attempt to quieten her.

"It wasn't your fault, you had a right to be angry. Augustus should have known how you'd react. You didn't know you'd lose the link, I was just as angry."

"I should have known better. We're the first Vampire/Half Fang couple to even carry a child this far, I've been so scared that I'll do something to lose the baby and it nearly happened a few hours ago…"

"Erin there wasn't any fluid that showed you were having a miscarriage or even came close to having one." He refused to acknowledge that it could have been worse if they hadn't managed to calm her down so quickly.

"I had cramps Vlad, it felt like my insides were being ripped out!"

"Indigestion causes cramps." Vlad reasoned with a shrug. Erin gave him an indignant look as he shrugged before kissing him lightly with a smile. Vlad was always an optimist. "It could've been that blackcurrant and soy blood mix you made."

"So you're saying I had indigestion?" She could see in his eyes he didn't believe it himself, he only wished that what he was saying was true.

Vlad gave a sigh, Erin propped her head on his chest. "I just don't want to think about what almost happened for too long. It could have been worse but it wasn't." They could be trying to comfort each other over a now empty stomach but their child was safe and still inside Erin. "I could have lost both of you Erin, I didn't though. We'll have this baby and we'll have more." He leaned up to press his forehead against hers, "I can't lose either of you. I love you both."

Erin smiled at him before lowering her head down to his chest. "Love you too." She whispered, closing her eyes. They snapped open as something Vlad said finally sunk in, "More?"

Vlad blushed lightly before coughing in an attempt to disguise it. "Just rest Erin."

She nodded; she could always quiz him on it later.

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Ingrid gingerly knocked on the door to her brother and Erin's room, she was a little afraid of what she might find in there at first.

Seeing no answer she gently poked her head around the door, only to see Erin and Vlad spooning each other.

The sight caused a small smile crossed her face, Vlad couldn't stop being protective of Erin even in his sleep.

The couple had somehow twisted around so Erin was on the edge of the couch, her back firmly pressed against Vlad's chest in a comfortable position. Vlad's hands were crossed protectively over Erin's bump, making sure that nothing could harm the child while they slept.

Erin moved suddenly muttering something that Ingrid couldn't understand only for Vlad to kiss her neck lightly and immediately she calmed, her whole body relaxing as if nothing had happened. Vlad moved his head slightly, keeping his nose buried in her hair, clearly ready to comfort her again if she needed it.

Ingrid was already regretting having to wake them but she needed to talk to them. It couldn't wait any longer.

Ingrid didn't want to touch her brother; experience had told her Vlad couldn't be woken by being shaken by anyone other than Erin – no one could be as gentle as Erin waking him and he always responded instinctively to the sensation. Ingrid was rough and even though he didn't have fangs she didn't want to chance it.

"Vlad." She tried quietly, she didn't want to wake Erin but she knew that it would be futile soon enough. "Vlad." She tried a little louder, her brother did move this time but only as if he was trying to block out the noise. "VLAD!" This time it worked.

Vlad jolted awake, glancing around the room frantically before wincing as the sudden action caught up with him and the muscles in his neck spasmed. Erin only shuffled backwards closer to him sensing the slight gap between them that his actions had caused – clearly she wanted to be closer to his warmth.

Erin hadn't woken as Ingrid had feared.

Vlad dropped his head back as he realised that it was only Ingrid. "What do you want?" He asked her softly, an edge to his words – he wasn't happy at being woken.

Ingrid didn't see any point in beating around the bush. "We need to go back to Racalud's home and retrace your steps. See if we can find where your reflection may be hidden."

Vlad jumped as Bertrand appeared in front of him; clearly he'd been waiting until Ingrid had woken him to enter. Vlad rolled his eyes, he understood how Erin felt when he used to do that to her. Erin seemed to sense his jump and began to stir.

Her head moved from side to side before she pushed herself up sideways. She rubbed her eyes, feeling all the tiredness in them. She recoiled backwards as she saw their guests, trying to cover herself before remembering that she was still decent.

"Why are you in our room?" Erin asked, she clearly wasn't fully away as her comment came out ruder than she intended.

"We're going back to get Vlad's reflection." Bertrand told her simply.

That seemed to wake her and she sat up more rigidly. "Back as in 'back to Transylvania'?"

Vlad nodded, "Yeah."

Erin pushed herself to her feet. Standing tall and rubbing her stomach lightly – a habit that had developed. "I'm coming with you." Her voice was firm, she wasn't leaving Vlad to do this alone.

Vlad shot up from next to her, he grabbed her elbow and spun her around to face him. "You're staying here." He wasn't having her put herself in danger again.

An idea came to Ingrid, "Erin coming might be a good thing." That drew daggers from her brother, she shrugged them off pretending that they didn't bother her like they used to. Vlad had only grown worse at that type of scathing glare and she now felt intimidated by it. Erin rolled her eyes and hit Vlad in the shoulder forcing him to lose the look. "Erin can use telepathy to find him, we all know he's capable…"

Bertrand shook his head, "Whichever reflective surface Vlad's reflection is in would reflect the telepathy back at her; there would be no way she can contact him. Its only a one way connection, Vlad followed the sound of the telepathic contact when he faced his reflection he didn't respond telepathically to it."

Erin looked across to Ingrid, nodding her thanks. Ingrid seemed to support her in it even if her idea hadn't been foolproof. "I'm still coming."

Vlad looked at her, shaking his head frantically before gesturing down to her stomach. "Erin you're pregnant."

Erin rolled her tongue at Vlad stating the obvious. If he wanted to play the card of blocking her going with them then she was going to play a higher one.

"I'm pregnant not confined to bed. I'm going Vlad." Erin told her mate, giving him a glance out of the corner of her eye. She didn't take her eyes from him and caught the way he bristled.

"How are you going to get there?" He asked folding his arms over his chest,

"Bertrand can carry me like before." He harrumphed at her logic and growled as Bertrand nodded. "Vlad I'm Grand High Vampire in your 'absence', something I can't wait to get rid of." Erin clearly hated the sole responsibility as much as Vlad had. For the first time she understood why he wanted to share his power so desperately. "I am going even if I have to make it an order." She told him sternly.

Vlad opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself biting his tongue, there was no point in letting it develop into a full-blown argument – he'd never win with her hormones the way they were at the moment.

"Fine." He muttered, "But I want you to be careful. Think about the baby instead of me." He told her fiercely. When it came down to him or the baby he wanted her to focus on their child, not him. Their child would ensure their kind survived and continued even if he was killed.

"Vlad…"

"Promise me Erin." He didn't want her to lose their child as well. He was asking her to make a choice.

Erin didn't want to answer him directly; she knew Vlad knew all the loopholes in his words. "I'll do what I have to." She answered tersely. She would evaluate the risks then chose to act. There was no way she was leaving Vlad alone at any point. If she could save him she would and nothing would change her mind.

Bertrand looked behind them, out of the window as the twilight hours were approaching. "Get ready. We need to leave as soon as we can."

YEKNODELTTILYEKNODELTTIL

Erin struggled with the zip on her jacket, "Vlad!" She called, her voice echoing down the corridors.

It took a few moments but Vlad eventually jogged into the room, coming to a halt in front of her.

"I've grown." She whispered gesturing to the zip on her leathers. She'd managed to join it but she couldn't get it over her stomach. She didn't expect to be growing like this at three and a half months, well it was the breather equivalent of four and a half. She thought she'd at least get another month of use out of her leathers.

"You look beautiful though." He whispered with a smile as he gently moved her hands from the zip. Leather didn't stretch so he knew it would be a waste of time trying to zip it up at all. He pulled the jacket from her, it was the problem with vampire formal wear – it always had to fit snugly.

He reached over to the wardrobe and handed her is more comfortable formal jacket. Erin took it from him with a grateful smile and slipped it on. This time the jacket did do up all the way. He rubbed his chest slightly as he felt a small pain there.

"You okay?" Erin asked him, noticing his actions.

"Just pulled myself when Ingrid woke me." He smiled reassuringly at her, he would be fine. He had woken awkwardly. Erin looked at him but he gave her a firm nod showing that he would be fine. Erin was reluctant but she accepted his word for it.

"What do you think?" She asked him teasingly, there was no denying to the casual observer that they would know that she was wearing a man's jacket.

"It suits you." Vlad whispered quietly, brushing the collar slightly to remove some dust that had gathered there.

"Its your jacket." She answered.

Vlad shook his head, Erin didn't understand. "Being pregnant, it suits you."

"Oh." She ducked her head down as she felt embarrassed. He pressed a kiss to her lips, before it had chance to deepen a knocking on the door drew them apart.

Ingrid and Bertrand hovered in to doorway, Ingrid's arm was through Bertrand's holding him tightly to her. The way she was clutching at him showed she was nervous about going back with the possibility of facing Olga.

Vlad moved back from Erin, squeezing her hand lightly before moving next to his sister ready to leave.

"Ready?" He asked her softy. Erin looked around before nodding. Bertrand gently pulled Erin closer to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist as she had done with Vlad years before – it was the most secure way to travel.

Ingrid shrugged into a small drawstring bag, it was a strange sight to see. "What's in there?" Vlad asked her curiously as Ingrid pulled him to her.

"Supplies." Was her only answer as she shot into the air and towards Transylvania.

TBC

A/N: Thanks for reading.