Again, apologies. I got two of my other active stories completed so that takes the pressure off from juggling five of them. I need to control myself better.

-YD-

Adze smirked as Vlad stared, aghast, at the paper in front of him.

"Now you don't need your sister and her illegitimate brat."

Vlad bit back a growl, still fighting nausea at the proximity of his wife, who had apparently raped him to get herself pregnant.

Or at least, to give that illusion. Vlad would ask, but Adze was highly unlikely to admit if that was the case.

"Ingrid and Adam stay. One, Adam is the Dracula heir. Two, he's male and you might have a girl. Three, you might not make it to term. And four, most importantly... we both know that baby probably isn't mine."

"What?"

Vlad had accidentally forgotten for a split second - Adam was in the room.

"Adam, go find your mother please?"

The boy bit his lip, looking between Vlad and Adze but knowing better than to argue. He left the chess board part-played, got up and left the room with some confused and somewhat distressed looks back at the married couple. Adze scowled at him the entire time, turning her venom on Vlad as soon as Adam scampered away.

"As I was saying. You've been in more coffins than Mrs Nosferatu. You might not carry to term. Until gender is determined and that baby is even born so we can see who the daddy is, you don't get to use it as a way of demanding anything. Are we clear?"

Vlad was close to throwing up, fists clenched to try and stop his hands shaking and his skin felt too tight. But his voice came out icy and unwavering, and Adze scowled more viciously. She turned to sweep from the room in a foul mood, but she was stopped by Ingrid. Vlad could only watch as Ingrid pinned Adze to the wall by her throat, getting up in her face but still looking completely in control.

"You speak to my son like that again and you won't be undead long enough to find out who's the daddy. Are we clear?"

She didn't wait for an answer, dropping Adze heavily and Vlad's treacherous wife stumbled, hissing. Sometimes Vlad forgot Ingrid had taken Vlad's power-bite, but then when she flared up it was clear.

"You're nothing but a back up!"

Ingrid kept her cool while Adze devolved, losing to her anger so easily.

"Oh please, they pushed you at Vlad to seduce him into biting breathers. You couldn't even seduce him to knock you up! You're a failure with a meaningless title. Now get out of my sight before I put you out of all our miseries."

Growling, Adze stormed off in a flit fast enough to rattle the entire room. Several chess pieces fell over. Adam peered around from behind the doorframe, then looked up at his mother.

"Would you really kill her?"

Vlad couldn't have prepared for Ingrid's heartfelt, genuine answer if he had had a years forewarning.

"I'd do anything to protect you son. You know that."

Adam lit up, cuddling Ingrid around the middle tightly and she returned it happily. Vlad ached to see it. He wanted to be Adam's dad. He wanted Adze's baby not to be his, for all complications to be gone so it could just be the three of them.

"Hey, tighten your shields. You're projecting."

Ingrid hissed, and Vlad clamped his mind down tight lest Adze come nearby and wriggle in through his weakened shields. Ingrid nodded to say he was blocking again. Adam lppked confused.

"What are shields?"

Ingrid gestured that Vlad could take that one, clearly trying to calm down from the minor altercation with Adze still.

"Vampires are telepathic, we can send and receive images and messages with our minds. However, if you aren't shielded then bad guys can go mooching through."

Adam listened intently, then nodded.

"Am I shielded?

"Kind of. Child vampire brains tend to be too chaotic to bother reading. It's like looking through a blender for an apple seed."

He frowned, trying to picture it if his scrunched up eyes were any indication. Then he smiled.

"That does sound silly. You wanna finish our chess match now Vlad?"

He nodded eagerly, then turned to the table where their game was a shambles of fallen pieces.

"Adze kinda messed it up, sorry Adam."

Adam held up his hand, headed over and rearranged the board in silence.

"I think that's where we were at before. I definitely had both your knights and you had my queens side castle... yep."

Vlad blinked, stunned. He was pretty certain Adam was on the jugular too.

"How did you remember that?"

"Uh. I just did? I don't know."

He might be biased, but Vlad still reckoned his son was an unprecedented miracle. Smart and funny and caring - he had Ingrid's wit and brilliance but he also seemed to have Vlad's heart and soul.

"Well. Let's finish this match then."

Vlad was still unsettled by Adze, but Adam calmed him and Ingrid was around. It was as much as he could settle while his wife was home.

"Checkmate!"

His son often beat Vlad at chess anyway, but his distracted mood wasn't really helping any. Still, it was time spent with his son, and to Vlad that was time well spent.

"Vlad?"

"Yeah?"

Adam moved his pawn on the reset board, then looked up at Vlad.

"If Adze's baby is yours and it's a boy, will we have to leave?"

Vlad shook his head, knowing with certainty in his dead heart that he would never voluntarily give up the boy before him.

"You two are only going to leave if you choose to. Adze can't change that you're the Dracula heir, and that means you stay where the Blood Mirror is until you're sixteen."

Vlad moved a knight, deciding strategic thinking beyond him and just aiming for legal moves.

"What about after that?"

Adam's big Dracula blues were hard to look away from.

"By then Adze will have gotten bored complaining about you and have found a new cause to storm around with sulks and tantrums."

Stifled giggling came from the direction of the little boy, and he moved a chess piece with a shaky hand as he trembled with suppressed laughter.

"Ok then. Why did you say the baby might not be yours?"

Vlad floundered slightly.

"Ah-"

Ingrid cut that awkward topic off for him.

"Adam, what have I told you about asking those sorts of questions?"

Their son looked to Ingrid sheepishly.

"To not do it?" Ingrid nodded and Adam added a mumbled "in front of you."

Ingrid heard him, but Vlad watched as she smirked out of Adam's eyeline. She was impressed. He couldn't help being amused at the boy being such a typical Dracula. Granted, he was all Dracula but still.

"Checkmate! Time for food?"

Adam finished trouncing Vlad soundly, then looked up hopefully.

"It is almost time for dinner. Want to help making it?"

"Yeah!"

He always did, but Vlad loved his excitable response and asked anyway just to see it. Adam tidied up the chess board without being asked, then hopped along at Vlad's side all the way to the kitchen. They made dinner together, chatting and laughing and Vlad felt almost normal again. His son was cleansing, purifying. Sanctifying.

Ingrid made an allowance for one DVD that evening, and Vlad hadn't wasted time - he found How To Train Your Dragon had a TV series and so he had obtained those discs for the very occasion of time with his son. Adam thrilled in it, fascinated by new dragons and laughing heartily at the jokes. When it came to daybreak and bedtime, he was still visibly excitable despite yawning.

Once Adam was in bed, Ingrid stood at her door waiting for Vlad to walk through it. He probably ought to feel pathetic that he couldn't sleep alone, but if Ingrid was willing to allow him into her coffin he wasn't wasting such a chance. They undressed, down to their underwear before they ventured into the enclosed space. Ingrid seemed to know Vlad was different that day, watching as he slid down the strap of her bra and pressed his mouth to the revealed skin.

"Are you ok?"

He wanted her badly, but they both knew it wasn't a certainty he could do anything.

"Not sure. Trying."

Ingrid let him, baring her throat willingly to let Vlad brush his lips along the most potent source of her scent. He could taste her already, fangs dropping down as desire started to build. Her bra came off easily, slid from her arms to expose the flawless marble of her naked breasts. Ingrid gasped as he cupped one in his hand, reacquainting himself with her body and her responses. He wanted to bleach every soiled memory Adze left him with, replace it with Ingrid's perfection as she surrendered to his nervous touch.

Her pheromones enticed him further, calling him to stake his claim on the arousal she was giving off. Nobody could own Ingrid, but Vlad could lay some ownership on the knowledge of what made her hot, made her wet, made her come.

Hungry lips caught his as Ingrid kissed him, tongue raking across his fangs with a moan. The sound sent a pulse of lightning through Vlad's body, sparks filling his groin. Unsure if he could actually utilise his erection without having a meltdown, Vlad focused instead on her and slid his hand down over Ingrid's abdomen, gentling fingers over her soft belly before they reached her underwear.

Ingrid parted her thighs immediately in welcoming, letting out sinful sounds when Vlad's fingers made purchase with her clit. If she minded that they were fooling around like teenage virgins again it didn't show, every response heated and hungry as her kisses became messy, broken on moans as he touched her.

When his hand stilled, Ingrid couldn't suppress a growl of frustration no matter how understanding he knew she could be.

"Get on top."

She clicked immediately, straddling him and pressing against his erection through their underwear. The position worked better if he was on top, but Ingrid was still making it work for them. Pale hands braced on her own slender thighs, Ingrid rolled her hips to grind along his erection and Lucifer did she look incredible doing it. Sweet, erotic sounds left her parted lips, Vlad's hands moving to cup her waist and his own hips slowly working into the rhythm.

Everything was different - no drug-haze, no half-dressed rut. Ingrid's scent and sounds and knowledge of Vlad's body were all so right, pushing Adze from his mind at last as Ingrid moved faster, scratched lightly down his chest. His stomach muscles flexed and contracted as pleasure built in his gut, Ingrid's arousal dampening fabric as they pushed each other closer. She cupped her own breast, rubbing the pebbled bump of her nipple and Vlad felt her thighs tighten on his hips, knew how it meant she was coming.

The sounds she made were all the push Vlad needed to join her, shuddering and bucking and panting as they rode the high together. Ingrid leant down, her hair brushing along his chest and collar bone before her mouth covered his. Sealing the act with something almost entirely unique to her, something Adze never did when she was taking something Vlad hadn't offered.

"You alright?"

The fact Ingrid asked touched Vlad, as though she needed to know he was still ok after the distractions of seeking climax.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm ok."

She smiled slightly as they kissed again, both having to remove their soiled underwear before they could curl back in her coffin. Vlad curled around Ingrid's back, the air full of their mingled scent and he felt much more at ease. Ingrid had that effect, and somehow she knew what Vlad's limits were even if he didn't. She had to kick him out before night fell, and Vlad had to regretfully shower to cleanse the scent from his skin but Ingrid surprised him with a heated kiss in the kitchen while Adam was brushing his teeth.

Dazed, Vlad poured himself soy blood and chewed on some Vamp Snax while Adam charged in, excited for tutoring - Bertrand was his tutor that night. He made himself peanut butter sandwiches and Vlad made a note to get more when he went shopping - twenty four hour breather supermarkets were his peaceful place. Nobody looked for him there and low populated times meant less temptation for Vlad to fight.

Just because he was the poster boy for peace and soya substitute didn't mean Vlad was immune to the thirst. He just proved it was possible to resist it.

Bertrand arrived on schedule, punctual as ever and cast a strange glance over Vlad while Adam was getting his books.

"I understand congratulations are in order."

Vlad felt sick.

"If you say so."

Bertrand cocked his head slightly, unsettling Vlad further as that knowing gaze took in his nerves, his anxiety and wariness.

"Ready!"

Adam appeared with his books, looking up at Bertrand with a grin.

"I wish all my students had been so excitable."

Oh, that was so aimed at Vlad. Admittedly he hadn't been the best student. Adam seemed to have clicked, giggling to himself as he followed Bertrand to the library.

"Well, he knows something is off."

Ingrid commented - Bertrand was allowed to be alone with Adam. She trusted his loyalty to Vlad if nothing else now.

"I'm pretty sure he knows a lot of things. But I'm his boss and you're a wild animal. He's not going to bring anything up voluntarily."

She quirked a slim eyebrow, flicking her gaze to where Bertrand and Adam had left for the library.

"Hmm."

"I uh, better go get some work done. I've spent all my time with him this week, which is amazing but I do have a race to govern."

Vlad made it to his study, but somehow work became a sloppy, hungry make-out session on his desk with Ingrid. Papers slid beneath her hand when she went to brace herself, the soft whines in her throat made him hard, but when her hand reached for his trousers Vlad flashed back. Lurching away from Ingrid, his whole body shook as those hazy memories attacked him.

She realised immediately what had happened, wrapping her fingers around his trembling hand until Vlad managed to ground himself. Tears were wet on his cheeks and his stomach was twisting, but Ingrid still stayed there, handing him a VHC monogrammed handkerchief from the pile on his desk to wipe his face. They were generally used to mop up spilled ink pots, not the intended purpose he was now using them for.

"I'm sorry I'm a mess."

She rolled her eyes, but Vlad found it oddly comforting that she wasn't a totally different person with him now.

"Don't be stupid. And don't blame yourself when its her fault. Vampires don't like to take responsibility for their own mess, don't start taking responsibility for hers."

He couldn't help chuckling, knowing Ingrid was totally right.

"I think it's a thing. Rape victims blaming themself."

Vlad had to call it that, he felt like any less severe words made it seem like he ought to suck it up because he had had sex. But he would never have touched Adze sober and untainted and she knew it, which was why Adze drugged him in the first place.

"Probably. But she doesn't deserve you beating yourself up for what she did. She isn't worth it. We get through these nine months until that grave digging bitch drops, and we go from there."

"We?"

Ingrid sighed.

"I have a vested interest. You're his father and his protection. And being a mother... I know I can't ash her until she has the kid because you would never stop wondering if it was your kid."

Vlad wasn't sure he could raise his rapists child, but he also knew he couldn't deny his own child regardless. It was a tough thought to process.

"Anyway... I was apologising that I can't... you know."

"Again. Her fault. If that was all that I cared about I could quite easily go elsewhere."

Vlad tossed the handkerchief into the bin, confused.

"Careful. I'm starting to believe you care."

Ingrid tensed.

"Be quiet."

It wasn't a denial. Vlad would take it. Ingrid had even acknowledged him over Adam when she said "you're his father" and that would stay with him for quite a while.

"Adam's tutoring will be over soon. You staying to work?"

Vlad looked at his desk, thinking. He shook his head.

"I'll do it later. Adam always has homework from Bertrand, I'll join him in the library after lunch."

"Was your work ethic always this bad?"

"No, I had nothing else to do with my time before. But I also hated my unlife. I prefer it now, even if it means rushing for deadlines because I was playing chess with Adam."

Ingrid didn't answer, heading out as though a dozen things hadn't happened in there.

"Ingrid, wait."

She stopped, turning around.

"What?"

"Can I take him out? Nowhere dangerous. I need to go to the store and I wanted to take him."

"A breather store?"

"Where do you think I buy peanut butter? O Neg and Otters?"

Ingrid rolled her eyes, thinking.

"Fine. I suppose something other than castle walls could be good for him."

Vlad beamed, which only made her roll her eyes again.

"Sap. Can we go before all these touchy breathy feelings make me spontaneously develop a pulse?"

"Fine by me."

-YD-

if you read my Vlad/Ingrid stuff you'll know I write way too much fluff and family mush.