Chapter 40: Seperated Yet Again

Amanda's POV

"Now . . . where could my ride be?" I mumble under my breath as I step out of the departure terminal and into the cold St. Louis morning. The sun was shining overhead, but it was basically no use with all this wind blowing around the place. "He or she should have been here a half hour ago."

"We're here! Sorry we're late!"

I turn around to see Becky and, surprisingly, Nate running up to me with grins on their faces from down the sidewalk. Both of them were dressed to combat the cold, just like me and everyone else that was outside here in this great city. I love my hometown and all, but the weather here can get quite drastic when it wants to be, and I'm a vampire now.

"We would have gotten here sooner, but Nate decided to stop on the side of the highway in order to talk on the phone with one of his bosses," says Becky with a scowl as she even slaps her brother in the arm for emphasis. "Couldn't you have saved your argument for later?"

"After having me and practically everyone in the company worrying their asses off on who would be axed or not and then expecting half of us to take a big pay cut just when the holiday season is about to begin, do you really expect me to NOT stop on the side of the road in order to tell my boss I wouldn't be taking a pay cut, knowing exactly what kind of person I am?" argues Nate as he takes my suitcases from my hands. "C'mon sis, I thought you knew me better than that."

"Wow . . ." I say with an eyebrow raised as I move my gaze from one sibling to the other. "It sounds like things aren't going so well for the company you're working for Nate."

"It isn't actually . . ." Nate tells me bluntly as we start walking down the sidewalk. "The company I work for is no UFC, I can tell you that. . ."

"On the ride here, before he had his call with his boss . . ." said Becky with a smirk as she crossed her arms. "Nate here told me that he's actually thinking about quitting the company outright."

"Are you serious Nate?" I ask in slight shock as we cross the street to get to the parking lot that was reserved for family and friends that were picking up passengers. "That's quite a drastic decision, even for you."

"Oh . . . I'm very seriously considering it," he tells me grumpily as we began walking through the rows of cars. "I just haven't made up my mind yet."

"If you do decide to quit working with the company you're currently employed to now, what do you plan to do afterward?" I ask curiously as we reach Bob's truck.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to find another MMA company to sign with. If I can find one that's actually based here in St. Louis or somewhere close here in the Midwest, that'll be even better," he tells me with a smirk as he puts my bags into the trunk bed and closes the door with a loud thud. "Becky, since you just complained about my driving, how about you drive us back home?"

"Don't mind if I do . . ." said Becky as she eagerly took the keys out of Nate's hand and practically skips to the driver side door. Nate quickly takes the front passenger seat, leaving me with the back as we made our way out of the lot. "So 'Manda; do you mind telling us why you've flown back to St. Louis so suddenly? I mean, it's nice you're here and all because that means there's a greater chance that you'll give birth among friends and family, but you never gave us any heads up that you were coming into town today until you called hours ago to get a ride from the airport."

"Huh . . . I thought Randy would have called to tell you guys the situation," I say with an eyebrow raised as we pass through the airport's main entrance. ". . . I guess I was wrong."

"Situation?" Nate asks me with a suspicious look on his face. "What situation?"

"Hunters have come into the area where Randy is filming his movie," I tell them with a sigh. "The people in charge of the movie are rushing production so that they can get the filming done quickly, so Randy has to work these really long hours in order to get it done. Randy and I thought that if I just stayed in the hotel I would be safe from the hunter threat, everything would be okay, but last night changed all that for us."

"What happened?" Becky asks me unsurely as she drives us up the ramp that rejoins us with the highway.

"We overheard hunters talking after they exterminated a couple of demons that were staying in the suite next to us," I say with a shake of my head as I turn my gaze to the skyline of downtown St. Louis. "They know about the film being done by a supernatural cast and crew and that the WWE is one of the companies backing the production. They also know that Randy and me are vampires . . . and that I'm pregnant . . ."

"Oh . . . I see where this is going . . ." says Becky as I notice an intuitive look come across her face. "Our very overprotective brother didn't want to take any chances by leaving you alone at the hotel while he was out filming, so he decided that you getting out of the danger area was the next best option."

"That is correct . . ." I say with a shake of my head as I pluck my phone out of my purse. "And speaking of your overprotective brother, I promised I would call him once I got off my flight."

"And you didn't do it yet?" Nate asks me in mock amazement as he widened his eyes for emphasis.

"What?" I ask as I look for Randy's number in my contacts list. "I'm not allowed to forget things once in a while? Is forgetting things a crime now?"

"Nate . . . what have I told you about questioning pregnant women?" Becky asks in a disapproving tone as she sneaks a look at her older brother. "Once you question a pregnant woman, they will not stop questioning you back until you give up."

"Like I'm one for giving up . . ." mumbles Nate as he shook his head.

"You were always the first one to give up whenever we played Scrabble . . ." I say with a smirk as I tap Randy's name so that his number could dial.

"My vocabulary isn't the greatest okay?" mumbles Nate as he shakes his head. ". . . Big whoop . . ."

"We allowed you to use a dictionary or a thesaurus, and you still were the first one to give up . . ." argues Becky. "We willingly gave you those advantages and you still quit the game every time we played."

"Do you know how long it takes to look up good words that are long yet easy to understand?" cries Nate as he turns on his sister. "It's a hard thing to do sis.'

"Hmm . . . I guess all those beatings Randy gave you when we were kids knocked a few screws loose out of that noggin of yours over the years," mumbles Becky as she shakes her head. "I'm amazed that you know how to pay your own taxes bro."

"Hello . . . I only care about the math that's supposed to help me in real life. Not all that calculus and trigonometry stuff . . . I could never understand those things." mumbles Nate as he shakes his head.

"You're not the only one . . ." I say with a chuckle as I bring my phone to my ear. "Randy feels the same way when it comes to math."

"Please tell me when your twins are older, you'll be the one helping them with their math homework," Becky pleads with me as she sneaks a look my way. "If you allow Randy to help those girls in that subject, expect to see some bad grades on those report cards."

"Yeah . . . I think even Randy will agree with you on that one . . ." I say with chuckle as I shake my head.

"Agree with what?" I hear Randy ask from the other side of the line, his voice sounding completely interested in what me and his siblings were talking about.

"About the idea of me being the one to help our twins with their math homework when they're older, especially high school math," I say with a smile. When it comes to you and math babe, well . . . it's just not pretty."

"Yeah . . . you're right on that account. If I hadn't passed my math class back in our senior year of high school, I wouldn't have graduated with you and your sister. I'd be stuck in summer school. . ." Randy tells me with a small groan. I could just picture him shaking his head at the memory right at the moment. "When it comes time for that, I'm leaving that job to you."

"Uh huh . . . I'm going to put you on speaker right now so you can talk with your siblings. You'll be quite interested to hear some of the latest developments that have been going on around Nate." I say with a smirk before I put him on speakerphone.

"Aw man . . . what did Nate do this time?" Randy quickly asks us, his voice echoing throughout the whole interior of the car as we continued our drive.

"Wow bro . . . as soon as you hear that there's some news about me circulating, you instantly assume it's bad and think I'm in trouble," mumbles Nate as he starts shaking his head. "It's nice to know how you really think of me Ran . . . I'm touched."

". . . C'mon Nate," says Becky, who already launched herself into a chuckle fit just minutes prior. "Can you really blame Ran? You do have a tendency to have bad news follow you everywhere you go."

"Uh huh . . ." mumbles Nate as he leans back into his seat, not even sounding like he was even believing what his sister was saying. "You keep telling yourself that Becky."

"Uh . . . so what are these latest developments that have been surrounding Nate lately?" Randy asks us curiously, bringing us back to the real topic at hand.

"Nate's thinking about quitting the company he works for . . ." says Becky a little too eagerly. "He says he's fed up with the way the company is treating its employees, so he's thinking about leaving the business before it gets any worse."

"So that it huh . . .?" asks Randy as his tone went all thoughtful. "Have you told Mom and Dad about this yet Nate?"

"I've talked to them about it . . ." answers Nate as he lets out a small breath. "They say I should do what I think is right for me, and right now I'm leaning toward leaving that company."

"Well then . . . if you ask me: I think you should do what your gut tells ya," says Randy.

"Well that's a typical to say . . ." mumbles Becky a she shakes her head. "Couldn't you have thought of anything else Randy? Like . . . something original?"

"Hey . . . what I just said is good sound advice and you know it Becky!" argues Randy as he went on the defensive. ". . . 'Manda babe, back me up here?"

"I'm not joining in this brother-sister argument," I quickly say with a shake of my head. "You're on your own babe."

"'Manda, can you please take Randy off of speaker phone?" Becky asks me with a smirk as she finally turns us onto an exit ramp. "Preferably before he spouts something else that is unoriginal?"

"That's cold sis . . ." mumbles Randy before I do what she asks of me. "You're not going to do that to me right babe?"

"Uh Randy . . . I just did," I say with a chuckle as I bring my phone back to my ear. I hear him let out a small groan in response, which only makes me let out a small chuckle in return. Sometimes, I just really like to mess with him. "So . . . how's the film shoot going? Any hunter sightings yet?"

"None so far, but there has been an increase in security after I told the movie heads what we heard last night from those two hunters," he tells me with a small hint of annoyance in his tone. "Those hunters have been a real pain in the ass since filming started . . ."

"Hey . . . just focus on doing your job," I say as I look out my window. "The faster you get through that movie, the faster you can come back home."

"Now that sounds like a plan to me . . ." Randy tells me cheekily. "So . . . have the girls been kicking your insides today?"

"They've stopped for now, but they were up and at it while I was on the plane," I tell him as I pat my stomach gently. "Like seriously, I feel like I could pop any day now."

"Well . . . try not to give birth while I'm not there okay?" Randy tells me adamantly. "I want to be there when it happens."

"Babe . . . the girls will be born when they want to be born. If you're not here and my water breaks, they're still going to be born anyway, Viper or no Viper."

"Ooh, you tell him girl!" Becky suddenly exclaims as she turns onto the street where her parents' house was at.

"If it helps, I could videotape the birth so Randy could watch it later . . ." suggests Nate as he suddenly jumps back into the conversation.

"Come into the room with any kind of camera on while I give birth and I'll make sure I'll have your eyes pickling in a glass jar come the next morning, you hear me Nate?" I instantly threaten as I feel my eyes go red and my voice take on a serpentine hiss, which is something I haven't done in a while to tell you the truth. "Do I make myself clear Nate?"

"Yes ma'am!" Nate shrieks like a scared girl as we pull up to the Orton residence. "No cameras while you're giving birth. That's a promise."

"Babe . . . did you just go all Anaconda on my brother?" Randy asks me knowingly as Becky parks the truck in the driveway. "It sounded like you went all Anaconda on him."

"Yeah . . ." I tell him bluntly as I undo my seatbelt. "Can you blame me?"

"Since I basically heard the whole conversation you and my siblings just had, without the need of speakerphone . . . yeah I can't blame you for that one," he tells me supportively as we all exit the car. "Please punch my brother for me will ya?"

"Will do . . ." I say with a smirk as I watch as Becky and Nate walk over to the porch. "I guess I'll leave you to your movie filming now. Have fun."

"Will do . . . and babe, before you hang up, can you please do me this one thing?" Randy asks me hopefully as I make my way up the porch steps.

"Alright . . ." I mumble suspiciously as I raise an eyebrow. "What do you want me to do?"

"When you get back to the loft, don't go into the bedroom that's right before ours," he tells me urgently as I slowly walk up the steps. "That room is where the nursery is and I don't want you looking in there before the product is done."

"Aw . . . can't I just get a sneak peek?" I ask hopefully as I walk inside the house right behind Nate. "Just a glimpse . . . So I can see what I should expect when the project is done?"

"No babe . . . no peeking into the room till it's done," Randy tells me in a fatherly tone. "And no peeking into the minds of anyone else involved in the project to see what the nursery looks like, you hear me?"

"As if you can enforce that rule . . ." I say with a smirk as I lean against the wall. "You're not here to keep watch you know?"

"Oh . . . I know," says Randy as his voice gets all challenging. "But I do have family and friends in St. Louis that won't mind helping me stop you from peeking into the nursery. I'll even enlist your own family to help me pull it off . . . and we both know how much your mom loves preserving surprises."

"Great . . ." I grumble with a scowl on my face as I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Alright . . . you win. I won't look into the nursery until it's complete. I promise; Divas honor . . . Happy now?"

"Yes . . . yes, I am," he tells me proudly as I walk into the kitchen. "I have to get back to filming babe. I love you and I'll see you soon. Bye babe!"

"Bye, and love you too!" I say with a smirk before I hang up the phone at my end. Once I put my phone back into my purse, I look up to see that Nate was already rifling through the fridge while Becky was opening a can of soda. "Is anyone else home?"

"Nope; the parents and grandparents are at the city coven's HQ for a meeting with all the senior members of the coven to discuss this year's plans for the holiday season, so they won't be back for some time," explains Nate as he continues to look through the fridge. "Becky, where are all the other blood bags?"

"They're all gone," Becky quickly tells him with a smirk. "Grandpa finished the last one just last night before he went to bed. If you want another one, you're going to have to go the nearest hospital to get one."

"Fine . . . you know what? I'll do just that right now," Nate tells us with a smirk as he turns to me. "'Manda, can you please come with me? If I'm going to pull this little retrieval trip off, I'm going to need your mental prowess in order to do it."

"I'm going to come with, not only to make sure you get enough blood bags to replenish the supply in the house and not just for yourself, but also to make sure that 'Manda doesn't exert herself." says Becky as she took a big swig of her soda.

"Ah . . . well that's a nice thing to do," I say with a smirk as Nate walks past me and into the hallway. "But is there any other reason as to why you are coming along?"

"I just want to see what kind of reasons Nate will come up with in order to trick the nurses at the nurse's station," she tells me with a small smirk in place as we follow after her brother. "You got to admit it . . . Nate does have a penchant for making up creative reasons to give hospital workers when he's on a blood run."

"That's true . . ." I say with a shake of my head. "I remember this one time he told a nurse he was at the hospital because he developed chronic diarrhea for eating a bad bowl of gumbo."

"Yeah . . . that sounds like Nate," says Becky as she lets out a small chuckle. "I don't care what reason he comes up with, I just know that I'm going to get a good laugh out of it afterward."

Normal POV; Hours later with Randy

"I think the work hours are getting a little longer each day . . ." mumbled Randy as he walked toward his suite with another bag of Chinese takeout in hand. "I'm starting to lose track of time because of it."

The Viper took out his key card and quickly swiped it through the lock. Once he opened the door and swung it open, he instantly noticed something was amiss as soon as he sniffed the air. He slowly walked into the suite and closed the door behind him quietly before switching on the light, scanning the room to see if anything was amiss.

"You know . . . I can smell you guys pretty easily from where I'm standing," said Randy as he called out into the suite. "You should just come out now! It would certainly save me some time from finding you two."

"Wow . . . I see you're someone that goes straight to the point," said a female voice that Randy recognized as the same voice that came from the next suite just last night. A woman whose blonde hair was cut into a pixie style walked out of Randy's bedroom with a small smirk on her face with a large machete in hand. "That's usually how I like my men."

"Uh huh . . ." grumbled Randy as he placed his Chinese takeout on the coffee table. "May I ask why you are in my suite . . . Sydia?"

"Ooh . . . you know my name? I'm honored." said Sydia as she brought her free hand to her chest. "How do you know my name . . . if you don't mind me asking . . . Randy?"

"These walls are not as thick as I thought they would be . . ." said Randy as he snuck a quick look at them. "My mate and I were able to hear you and your friend Neo quite clearly, to be honest."

"Oh . . . well that's convenient," said Sydia as she began to twirl the thin hilt of her machete in between her fingers. "It would explain why I your mate's not here. Care to explain where she's at now?"

"Like I would ever tell you that . . ." Randy practically hissed as he clenched his hand into a fist. "She's long gone now, and you will never find her."

"Oh . . . I'll find her, eventually . . ." said Sydia as she slowly began to walk into a circle, Randy responding by doing the exact same thing. "If I can't get the answers out of you, then I'll find another way to find her. Maybe when I find her, I'll find the rest of your family too."

"I wouldn't count on it . . ." grumbled Randy as he cracked his knuckles, inwardly ready for a fight. "Do you really think you can beat me?"

"I think I can, especially considering I dipped my machete here in a tub of Scarlett Vervain; a highly concentrated, highly potent tub of Scarlet Vervain might I add," said Sydia as her smirk grew even bigger as soon as she saw the small hint of worry show on Randy's face as he eyed the blade in her hands. "One slash with this will paralyze you, guaranteed. Another slash may kill you, if you're lucky. But one thing's for sure, if I touch you with this blade, you will be a goner."

"Pfft . . . like I'd let you touch me with that blade . . ." challenged Randy as he crossed his arms.

"Someone's getting cocky . . ." said Sydia as she let a small grin show on her face. "What makes you think you can evade me Mr.? Don't even dare try to say you have the better speed and agility because I know ways to counter a vampire's reflexes, so don't even try it."

"Now look who's getting cocky . . ." said Randy as he let a small smirk come across his face.

"Shut up!" Sydia suddenly exclaimed as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You're dead Orton!"

"No I'm not!" said Randy as he showed off a little smile that showcased his sharp canines. "You are!"

"You bastard!" said Sydia as she leapt for him, but she suddenly stopped in midair and dropped her machete, her hands coming straight to throat as if the sir somehow gained a mind of its own and started choking her. The sounds of the doorknob jiggling soon gained Randy's attention, and he turned around to see the door slowly swing open to reveal the woman just behind it.

"Sorry I'm late . . ." said the woman as she took off her fedora and dropped it onto the coffee table. "Traffic was a surprising nightmare to say the least."

"Nah . . . you're right on time," said Randy as he shook his head as Sydia continued to struggle. "It's nice to see you again Monica."

"It's nice to see you too Randy," said Amanda's twin as she let a chuckle escape past her lips. "It's nice to see you too."

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