CH29

It was now 2 weeks later:

Jim and Johanna were sitting there in space looking at this one huge storm dancing. "What do you think?" Johanna was right behind her husband again as they both watched the screens.

"I'd like to give this storm some time to calm down a little or at least move some." Jim would settle for almost anything, not what it looked like they were going to have to do.

"You think the girls are in there?" Johanna and her husband had left the safety of their little storm, but didn't have the Hunter ship anywhere on their scanner.

"I wish I knew, however if it is what I think it is, we can at least replenish our blood supply. As for our fuel, we can work that out after we are on the other side. Provided we can get on the other side." Jim points out their one major obstacle.

"You still think it's a barrier?" Johanna asks him. Johanna was forced to rely on her husband's expertise. It was one of the reasons their family had lasted as long as it has.

"Oh it's a barrier alright. The question is how much of a barrier. It is obviously keeping the storms out, just will it keep us out as well? And then there is the storm itself. Damn thing is so huge we don't have the time or fuel to go around it. So we got through it. … Hopefully." This time Jim crossed his fingers in front of his wife.

Johanna reached out and uncrossed his fingers. "The girls are in there babe, we just need to find them." And Johanna kisses the side of his head.

"I've done maintenance on every system I can think of. You need to handle any hull breeches or fires we get going through this thing. … How are the refrigerators and the EMH?" Jim asks.

"The lone refrigerator that has the three whole blood bags we have left is presently on emergency power. I took it off the ships main power. It should last as long as our fuel does. And I've downloaded the EMH onto a drive so I can re-load him if necessary. All the other systems are off-line." Johanna answers his question.

"Better strap in then, there's no time like the present." Jim tells her and watches his wife take the other chair and secure her straps.

"No matter what happens, I love you babe and I'm proud of you." Johanna blinked back her tears.

"I love you too." Jim smiles at his wife. Happy that she came into his life. "Here we go." And Jim applied thrust and charged for one edge of the storm, praying for the best.

Tom and Josh were both racing around their ship trying to patch all the holes in the hull with only the emergency lights operational. They had run out of food 2 days ago and had decided to try and run through the barrier they had encountered.

It was two hours later when Tom and Josh met up on the bridge. "How are we?" Josh asks since Tom was sitting in the pilot seat.

"I'm not reading any hull breaches so we got them all it would appear. …. Three of our emitters are fried, leaving our entire port side exposed. It'll take both of us hours to replace them and require an extended time doing a spacewalk.

Problem is we don't have the time to spare. We have no food and only about a week's worth of water, and only enough fuel to get to the other side of this system. If there is somewhere to land that has an atmosphere we won't have enough fuel to make it back into orbit." Tom explains.

"So what is out there?" Josh asks.

"I've got 8 planets, 4 of which are gas giants and the other 4 are rocks. Two are in the so called sweet zone, so those two may be promising. … I've got no ships on scans. There are no other ships but us in the system." Tom explains.

"Communications?" Josh asks.

Tom shakes his head. "That system is fried and will take us days to repair, provided that we have the parts. We won't be sending any signals or receiving anything anytime soon, if at all." Tom is forced to tell him.

"It gets worse I'm afraid. Our rear scanners are just plain gone." Tom is forced to tell him.

"Meaning someone could come up our ass and we wouldn't know it until after it was all over." Josh hates this part of the news.

"Not until we see each other in our next life." Tom agrees.

"How can there be no ships in the system? Someone created that barrier. I don't know of anyone who has that kind of technology. Just think what it took to design such a system, let alone the power requirements." Josh didn't understand. It had Tom shaking his head too.

"I'm setting course for the two planets in the sweet zone, it's our best option." Tom fires up the thrusters and sets course for the closer of the two planets.

Kate unlocked the front door of the loft and stepped inside closing and locking the door. The entire front door and the wall itself had been replaced. Rick had, had all of it replaced.

The lock on the door had also been replaced too. It now required a coded magnetic card run across a reader along with a normal key to unlock the door.

And then just inside the door along with other locations around the loft there were these little LCD panels that allowed you to view an angle from any one of the almost countless video cameras spread out all around the building, including the roof. Each of the eight mini screens was about two inches across, two across and four down, all in black and white.

Kate could even see her shuttle sitting on the roof. In order for that camera to be installed Kate had been forced to move it for a whole day. Rick had told her that the front door would now need to be blown open with explosives. Normal weapons fire wouldn't have any effect on it.

Kate had only just finished closing and locking the door. "MOM!" And Kate got slammed into by Alexis who wrapped her arms around her legs. It got Kate to kneel down to her level. "Hi honey, how's my girl." Kate wrapped her arms around her and kissed her head.

"I feel fine mom." Alexis rolled her eyes. Her dad and Kate had been asking her that for days.

Kate had relented and had taken Alexis back out to her ship to undergo the procedure to have some of Kate's vampire DNA bonded to Alexis's system.

Kate still worried about what this would do to Alexis, however Rick hadn't been concerned. "Our baby is going to be half vampire and half human Kate. This just means that Alexis will be just like him or her. … Besides it will make Alexis more yours than it does Meredith's." It was the last straw Kate needed to agree to this procedure.

Kate wanted any trace of that witch removed from Alexis's life, she had done enough damage already.

There had been a minor amount of discomfort for both of them; however it had only lasted a few days.

Thanksgiving with Lanie had been great. Lanie had spent the entire day with them. Alexis had taken Lanie's hand as soon as she got through the front door and dragged her up to her room to show it off to her.

They came back downstairs and watched a movie while Rick spent his time in the kitchen cooking. Alexis had run for the kitchen when the movie was over and rewinding for the next one.

"You look happier than I've ever seen you Kate." Lanie commented.

It got Kate to start smiling. "Yeah I am happy. I'm still worried about the baby though. I mean I only drink blood, how is that going to translate to a half human baby?"

"The baby develops using the nutrients you provide it. So long as you remain healthy, so will your baby. There's nothing to worry about. … Now after the baby is born is going to be more interesting. Will he or she drink milk like a human or blood like a vampire or will it be a mix of the two.

You're about to make history Kate, I've never heard of anyone having a hybrid human/vampire baby before. This is new territory. … I'm just glad you found that drive with the EMH that your mom left for us. He is going to come in real handy in the future." Lanie had kicked herself for thinking Johanna would leave them with a useless EMH since she was a genius at programming.

"How is Alexis?" Lanie also knew Kate had let the EMH take some of her vampire DNA and bond them with Alexis's system.

It got Kate to smile. "Alexis is her normal happy self if not more so. Somehow being half vampire has made her even happier than she ever was before." Kate chuckled.

"I'm still dying for your parents to find us and hear Alexis call you mom for the first time. It'll really blow their minds if it is a few months from now, like 6 months or more." Lanie was teasing Kate again.

It earned Lanie a light swat to her arm, but Kate was grinning wide thinking the same thing.

"It's hard to tell as much as we've moved around, but you might be 20 now." Lanie pointed out.

"LANIE, not so loud." Kate chastised her. "We don't know for sure and Rick loves these kinds of occasions. I'd never hear the end of it if Rick thought he had missed my birthday." Kate wanted to just celebrate it in peace, with no big fanfare.

"IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!" Alexis yelled out. This was followed by a crash in the kitchen. "It's whose birthday?" Rick had heard his daughter.

Rick was over into the living room in a flash. "Kate?" Rick glared down at her.

"I don't know for sure. A year here and a year on the mining moon we were at last are likely not the same. I could have turned 20 months ago or next month for that matter." Kate tells him.

"Details, details. We need a birthday cake." Rick commented. "And birthday balloons, birthday presents and of course we have to sing happy birthday. … Right pumpkin?" Getting Alexis to nod her head enthusiastically.

"I can't believe you didn't tell us. I am so going to get you for holding out on us. Its Thanksgiving Day so all the stores are closed today. OK, tomorrow is now officially your birthday." Rick was suddenly all happy, and then it changed just as fast.

"That means I have to go shopping for a birthday present on the Friday after Thanksgiving! … OH GOD!" Rick ran his hand down his face. Tomorrow was going to be hell, he just knew it.

Lanie and Kate had gotten their first ever Thanksgiving. Alexis had been thankful for Kate being her mommy. Rick had been thankful for Kate landing on his roof and letting them love her.

It was also Lanie's first time at watching Rick and Alexis eat food while her and Kate drank from their warmed up blood bags. Noticing that neither Rick nor Alexis cared. Alexis had even called it Thanksgiving blood.

Rick had spent the time after eating cleaning up while Lanie, Kate and Alexis watched a movie, with Alexis cuddled in close to Kate. It had Lanie grinning at Kate watching the two of them cuddling in close seeing how obvious they loved each other. Kate had mouthed "Shut up" at Lanie as Lanie teased Kate with her eyes.

"Where's your father?" Kate asked Alexis picking her up to hold Alexis in her arms after stepping into the apartment.

"Downstairs, putting blood in the refrigerators." Alexis explains.

Kate had forgotten that Rick had arranged for his friend to restock the refrigerators for her and Lanie today. "That means you get to come with me and cuddle on the sofa. I need some loving." It got Alexis to smile, only too happy to snuggle with her mom.

Kate didn't know what was keeping Rick, still it was nice to just sit and hold Alexis and bury her nose into her hair and breathe her in. The smell of Alexis didn't do for her what the smell of Rick did, however she did enjoy it. Now she had a reason why.

Alexis was all but sitting in Kate's lap. "Mom?"

"Hhmmm, what honey?" Kate was relaxed and Alexis's question was intruding on her quiet time.

"What do you want for Christmas?" Alexis needed to think of something to give Kate.

It got Kate to suddenly think of Christmas. Rick had explained the part that most interested him. Kate was pretty sure there was more to it than decorations and presents, however all of the commercials on TV tended to suggest otherwise.

"I have what I need most. I've got you and your dad." Kate answers her question and bends her head down to kiss the top of Alexis's head. "What do you want for Christmas?" Kate turns the tables on her.

Alexis had Kate and she was now a vampire just like Kate, there wasn't really anything else she wanted most in the world. So Alexis shook her head.

"Well you think of something, you let me know." Kate pulled Alexis in a little tighter.

Kate could smell Rick entering the apartment before he had even tried to close the door. "There you are." Rick moved over to the sofa to kiss Kate's head. "Your refrigerators are all full again. I've even added a small Honda generator to the room to serve the outlets they are plugged into. So if the power goes out all one of us needs to do is making sure it has fuel.

"You want some lunch pumpkin?" Rick calls out over his shoulder as he walks for the kitchen.

"Thanks dad." Alexis adjusts her position up against Kate, until Rick calls to tell her that lunch is ready.

It got Alexis to sit at the table with Kate right behind her. "Lunch is served your majesty." And Rick places a plate with a warmed up blood bag on it in front of Alexis." Rick was doing his best to keep from grinning at his little joke.

"DAD!?" Alexis looks at him.

"What pumpkin, one not enough? We wouldn't want to spoil your dinner, now would we?" Rick countered, trying mightily not to smile.

Kate however was behind Alexis so couldn't see her and Kate was ready to burst out laughing, which wasn't helping Rick any since he could see Kate's face.

"Dad?" Alexis looked at him complaining that this wasn't lunch.

"I thought you were a vampire now. Vampires drink blood." Rick was about to fail keeping a straight face.

Kate however saved him since she couldn't take it anymore, not that looking at Rick's face was helping any, and burst out laughing.

Kate was clutching her stomach and was doing all she could to remain standing as Kate stumbled around using whatever she came across to help remain standing.

It was now all too much for Rick as he started laughing with Kate. "Drink, … drink up pumpkin. It's, …. It's good for you." Rick tries holding his breath to see if that would help.

"It tastes yucky." Alexis whispers out.

Kate puts herself back together just long enough. "You've tasted blood before?" Kate looks down at her.

"I caught her in the refrigerator taste testing one of your blood bags the day after she got some of your DNA." Rick explains.

It had Kate stumbling around laughing her ass off all over again.

"Fine, I'm sure Kate will drink it. At least she knows good blood when she tastes it." Rick pushes the plate in front of Alexis aside and goes into the kitchen to pick up the sandwich he had already pre-made for her.

A few minutes later both Rick and Kate are sitting at the table, with Rick eating his sandwich and Kate drinking Alexis's discarded blood bag. The EMH doctor had told her to drink more often for the health of the baby.

Everything was fine until Alexis turned to glare at Kate about her dad's little joke and Kate's laughing. The look Alexis gave her caught Kate in the middle of sucking on her straw, when Kate had to start laughing again.

This caused the straw to slip out of her mouth and Kate sprayed part of the contents of her mouth all over Alexis. Who now had little drops of blood all over Alexis.

"I'm so sorry honey." Kate was mortified that she had just done that, but was laughing at the same time. Which set off Rick to start laughing.

Kate grabbed the paper towel in front of Alexis and started wiping at the blood spots, except all this managed to do was smear it over Alexis's skin. Kate gave up using the paper towel and leaned in to kiss the spots that had blood on Alexis, and use her tongue to lick up the blood.

"Ooooo, mom?" Alexis could feel Kate's tongue.

Kate looked embarrassed and Rick started laughing all over again.

Kate went back to sucking on her bag. "I think you better go shower pumpkin and change your clothes." Rick tells her.

Alexis gave up on her sandwich and trudged up the stairs glaring at the two of them. As soon as her bedroom door closed, Kate and Rick gave up trying to hold it in any longer and started laughing again.

In the end it took Kate going up to Alexis's room to get her to come back downstairs. Kate found her all cleaned and changed sitting on her bed. "I'm sorry honey, we shouldn't have teased you. It was wrong." It was however a heck of a lot of fun!

"It was your idea to get my DNA." Kate reminds her.

"I love you." Alexis whispers. She only wanted to be more like her mom and less like her other mom, whom she still hated. Being more like Kate would accomplish that.

"And I love you too Alexis. … I just hope you don't regret this decision when you're 16 and have developed a taste for blood. Or worse grow fangs that won't retract like mine. Everyone will make fun of you." Alexis may think it's cool now, but what about after puberty?

Alexis however didn't care. Kate was her mom now; Alexis had selected her and wanted to be just like her. If that meant drinking blood. … Maybe she could find a way to change the taste.

"Come on honey, back downstairs. We still have the rest of the day to go do something. Get you out of the house and into the fresh air." Kate gets up and reaches out to Alexis. "Maybe you can put on your big warm coat and we can go to the park." Kate offers something that might get Alexis up and moving.

Turns out there was a park not too far away. Washington Square Park on the north side of the college Kate and Lanie were attending. It wasn't the biggest park, though it did have a large fountain in the middle.

It did however have a hot dog vendor and Rick stopped and got a hot dog and shared it with Alexis as they walked.

Alexis was soon between Rick and Kate with a hand in each of theirs. "1, … 2, … 3, …" Rick and Kate would swing Alexis forward and then back behind them, getting Alexis to giggle.

"1, … 2, …. 3, …." Swing!

By the time they make it home, everyone has red noses and red ears. This was followed by cuddling to warm up on the sofa while watching a Christmas love story on the Hallmark Channel.

Alexis was asleep with her head in Kate's lap and Kate mindlessly stroking her hair while watching the movie, leaning up against Rick.

When the movie ends Kate finds that Rick is asleep too. "So only the vampire is awake." Kate silently chuckles at this situation. A vampires prey is so comfortable with her that they are sleeping on her. Not to mention that one calls her mom and the other got her pregnant.

Kate extracts her from Rick's arm and carries a sleeping Alexis upstairs and changes her clothes for her and tucks her into bed. "Good night honey." Kate strokes her hair again and kisses her forehead. And just stays right there looking at her sleep.

She loves me so much that she wants to be like me. She even wants me to bite her.

Kate lowered her head till their foreheads touched and then Kate squeezed her eyes closed tight and breathed her in.

Blinking back tears Kate went back downstairs. She had one more to get into bed.

Lifting up Rick was just as easy, however Kate had to be more careful taking his clothes off to keep from waking him.

Kate then removed her clothes and went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face, before returning to bed. Climbing into bed and lifting the covers up over them and then snuggle into Rick, creating a nice warm cocoon to sleep in.

Kate went to sleep staring right into Rick's closed eyes with her lips just a fraction away from his, feeling him breathe on her. Breathing in his smell that still made her feel weak and loving it.

Kate could feel Rick's lips and they were doing amazing things to her. She was buried under the covers and didn't see Rick, but someone who could only be Rick was kissing and licking in just the right place.

Kate knew she was moaning and trying to get away from that tongue while at the same time get even closer. It was so intense and so enjoyable.

Kate's eyes opened and she was in Rick's bedroom, in his bed, and she was naked. And Rick's head was between her legs with his tongue driving her insane.

IT WAS REAL AND NOT A DREAM!

Kate was stepping out of the shower with Rick right next to her after making love to each other in the shower yet again.

Kate was beginning to adapt to have an unimaginable number of orgasms because of Rick. It was all Kate could do to remain standing as she used the lavatory counter to keep herself standing as she looked into the mirror and saw all of the marks on her body that Rick had left behind.

Rick showed up right behind her and looked at her into the mirror and Kate could see and feel his hands work their way up her body till they were palming her breasts.

Kate was watching it all in the mirror and couldn't believe that she was wet yet again, how was this even possible? Then Kate could feel him between her butt cheeks. My god, he was hard yet again.

Kate was brushing her teeth knowing Rick was in the kitchen making breakfast and had told her he would have a blood bag ready for her too. Kate had told him that since she was pregnant she would need to be drinking more often now.

Kate looked at herself in the mirror while she brushed, as a smile came to her face. Rick had taken her from behind with her hands planted on the countertop watching herself and the faces she made as Rick fucked her. Until they both came and Kate saw the face both of them made as they came together.

If it wasn't for Kate's hands on the countertop and Rick still holding onto her from behind while still inside her, Kate knew she would have collapsed onto the floor. Her vampire legs were now made of liquid rubber.

Now she was seeing a smile on her face with her mouth filled with toothpaste. It was a smile of pure love and Kate was loving the look, and the man who put it there.