Probably late but Halloween Roulette has kicked off and I've got the brain consistency of pudding.
-YD-
"Now what did you promise?"
Adam blinked up at his mother. Vlad watched, bemused by disciplinarian Ingrid telling her son not to break any rules.
"Not to mention anything about vampires and not to wave garlic at Vlad, no matter how funny I think it may be."
"And?"
Adam pouted.
"No wandering off."
"Ok. Off you go."
Vlad was still enthralled that Ingrid was allowing this, but he wouldn't look a gift bat in the mouth. Adam wrapped his arms around Vlad's middle, ready for a tandem transformation.
"Are you gonna be ok?"
"What? Your pregnant wife is not exactly a threat to me."
Ingrid looked totally at ease, not the slightest bit concerned about being alone with Adze in the castle. Vlad didn't love it, but he also knew Ingrid could more than take care of herself. And that she wouldn't stake Adze; not until they knew if her baby was his.
Adam had no clue he might be a big brother in under a year.
"Vlad? Are we going?"
"Sorry, was I spacing out again? You ready?"
"Yeah!"
The boy was so excited for such a simple thing, it warmed Vlad's cold insides to see. He wrapped his arms securely around Adam, closed his eyes and shifted. Tandem transformations were difficult, and Vlad had to be very careful what he thought about when he and Adam were one being temporarily.
They landed about a mile from the supermarket so no digital surveillance cameras picked up a bat turning to a man and boy. Adam stuck to his side as they walked, Vlad enjoying his anonymity as much as the cool night air. The young boy seemed as excited as ever to be walking through streets lit only by the occasional house light in the distance and the stars in the sky.
"It feels weird to be outside. I know the castle has some grounds but this is out out."
"Yeah. I like being out and not having to think about work."
"Don't we have to be invited in?"
"Technically it's not a dwelling as nobody lives there."
The twenty four hour store was unofficially inspired by the vampires that frequented it; Transylvania had a habit of being up at night whether breather or biter. Only the peasant villages still dotted around tended to adhere strictly to the daylight hours.
"Wow. This place is big!"
"We can look around all you like, up to" Vlad checked his watch and calculated the sunrise "four hours. Firstly, I'll pick up what we came for."
Adam stared at the mountain of peanut butter on shelves, wide eyed and awestruck.
"What's the difference?"
"Mostly? Very little. Some have reduced sugar or salt, but you don't really need to worry about that. Then there's smooth, crunchy and creamy. You have the smooth one at home, but you can try the others if you like?"
"What if I don't like them?"
"I'll eat them, don't worry."
Reassured, Adam picked them out and placed them in the basket Vlad had to keep remembering not to levitate. They carried on, and Vlad suspected he was in trouble for buying Adam a bunch of books and dvds. The boy wasn't spoilt but he also could get away with murder, having learnt the pleading innocence face from the master herself - Ingrid.
"Ok. Now tea and hot chocolate, plus milk and I think we're done. Don't tell your mother about the DVD's or she will have my head."
Adam giggled and nodded.
"I promise. What's that?"
"Flavoured hot chocolate. I'm quite partial to mint flavour myself. Ingrid used to like orange, I'm not sure she drinks it anymore though."
The boy was studying the different options with a furrowed brow when one of the night staff recognised the regular and approached him.
"Evening Vlad. Still lacking a tan I see."
"It's Transylvania Evan, nobody has a tan."
Evan chuckled, brushing artificially blue hair from his face. He spotted Adam adding sachets of different cocoa to the basket next to Vlad's feet.
"That your kid?"
Vlad almost said yes. He caught himself just in time.
"Nephew. Moved with his mom to these parts a few months back."
"Huh. He looks like you."
"So does my sister. Strong family resemblance all round."
Adam tugged his sleeve.
"I'm done Vlad. Hi, I'm Adam."
Adam, effortless with etiquette already, held his little hand out to shake. Evan took it with a smile.
"I'm Evan, your uncle is in here all the time."
"Your hair is cool."
Evan grinned wider.
"Thank you. I like your dragon."
The large purple lizard with wings on Adam's shirt was apparently one of his favourites, naturally came out when he discovered they were going outside. Adam ran a hand over it, front to back like he was petting a cat.
"Thank you."
Evan got called away to clean something, so Vlad picked up the heavy basket full of stuff and took it to the service to pay. Adam enjoyed helping bag stuff, bizarrely, but whatever made him happy Vlad mused.
"Ok, we should be getting back. You missed lunch."
Adam looked surprised to find that out.
"So did you."
They were outside, it was deserted, so Vlad felt safe enough to answer.
"I had soy just before we left, it's important I'm fed before I'm around people. Never tempted then."
"Oh. That makes sense. I can try all the different peanut butters when we get back!"
"Yep. I'm sure Ingrid will love that."
Adam giggled, but then he looked suddenly serious.
"You ok?"
"I wanted to say yes."
"To what?"
Adam looked up at him from the bottle of water in his hand that he had been sipping from.
"When Evan asked if I was yours. I don't have a dad and you're really nice to me."
A sharp pain seemed to tear through Vlad's heart at hearing that. He almost broke there and then.
"C'mere."
He boosted Adam up onto a low crumbling wall, sturdy enough to hold him in some places. It seemed better to say it to his face rather than looking down on him from a height.
"Growing up, me and Ingrid only had dad. It's ok to only have one parent. And Ingrid loves you so much. I'm serious, I never saw her happy when we grew up the way I see her happy with you."
Adam bit his lip but then nodded.
"What about you? Do you love me?"
There it was again. Adam unashamed to seek love and reassurance.
"I do. I'll do anything to protect you, I promise."
He beamed, leaning forward to hug Vlad tight. Vlad fought back tears as he was cuddled by the warm, living boy he sired.
"Thanks Vlad. Lets get back so I can hug mom and eat peanut butter."
They headed back to the castle, landing in the living room through the little window left open for that exact purpose. Vlad closed it and they took their haul to the kitchen, where Ingrid found them putting away various 'breather nonsense' as she called it.
"Vlad bought me some books and a guy with blue hair told me he liked my dragon!"
"Sounds like you had fun."
"I picked these because Vlad said you used to like them. I thought maybe you might want some now so you can drink with us."
He held out the sachets of orange flavoured hot chocolate, watching Ingrid take them. Vlad suspected she was going to drink them whether her altered taste buds enjoyed them still or not. He wasn't certain she wouldn't like it, but Ingrid was funny like that. Still adhering to certain vampire standards though Adam's big blue eyes could easily change most of them at least temporarily.
"Anything else while you're on a roll?"
Adam nodded, then reached out to hug his mother.
"I love you mum."
Ingrid was clearly surprised but also obviously touched as she hugged him back.
"I love you too son. Now finish what you were doing."
Vlad smiled to himself; watching that boy unlock Ingrid's heart with the simplest things was sweet as could be.
"What did you do while we were out mum?"
"Painted my nails. Painted them again. Bought blood on His Grandness' tab, which is always funny to say since he doesn't drink it. Then I went for a fly."
"What else?"
Ingrid suddenly looked very uncomfortable. Vlad couldn't help but leap on it.
"Yeah Ingrid, what were you doing?"
She rolled her eyes.
"I watched a horror movie."
"Mum! You watched a TV?"
"Once."
Adam giggled to himself while he stacked milk in the fridge, and Vlad threw his sister a wry grin.
"I got new DVDs. You still pretending you hate tv?"
"Horror movies and How To Bore A Dracula are two very different things."
Vlad chuckled to himself as he put away the cupboard stocks.
"Please mum?"
She stood no chance against that face. Vlad saved her the trouble of answering.
"It's two against one. Dracula Democracy in action."
Ingrid even had hot chocolate as they sat watching a movie, though Adam didn't see her bemused expression at how riveted he was by the children's tv show. He was a wickedly intelligent little boy, but there was absolutely still childhood left in him.
"Oh! I forgot to try all the peanut butters!"
"You want to have a peanut butter sandwich now and dinner later or wait until dinner?"
"Uh... I'm hungry now!"
Vlad supposed that was his answer. The look on his face during taste tests suggested creamy peanut butter was not for him. The crunchy was a hit though, so Vlad claimed creamy for himself and left Adam with the other two happily.
"We bought stuff to make that cake you like too mum."
Ingrid quirked a slim eyebrow in Vlad's direction. He felt a quiver in his chest, remembering the heady sexual tension the first time they made Ingrid's preferred sweet treat.
"Really?"
"Well we were low on baking stuff anyway and it's about to be his birthday. So we got a lot of bakery stock."
"I'm gonna be eight!"
Adam was so proud of that fact, Vlad's own memory of his eighth birthday not a happy one as he had realised he was halfway to vampirism age. Adam didn't seem upset about his future as a vampire, but then he also seemed to appreciate the human side of himself until he transformed too.
"Yep. Anything in particular you want to do for your birthday?"
Humming as he counted out eggs, Adam nodded.
"Watch Dragons!"
Ingrid gave Vlad a look that suggested she wholly blamed him. He couldn't really argue.
"You're getting obsessed with that breather box."
Adam defended himself with a cheeky grin.
"I just wanna see all the episodes! There's a lot of them!"
"Hmm. We'll see. Your eggs escaping."
Sure enough one was rolling away, but Adam deftly caught it and started doing the mixing. He was naturally good at guessing needed amounts out now, only used scales and measuring equipment sparingly. Vlad had to do very little, but joining Adam was always a pleasure.
The cake was cooling on the side waiting for its glaze before they knew it. Ingrid was eyeing it over her glass of A negative, the smell of chocolate and blood orange lingering in the air and even Vlad's stomach was rumbling despite a big glass of soy. Once it was glazed, Adam took his slice and promised to be careful as he headed to his room to read his new books.
Ingrid was eating her own piece in delicate bites, knowing full well Vlad was watching. She had a faint smear of glaze on the side of her mouth, so Vlad took a chance and reached out to wipe it off with his thumb before popping the mess into his mouth to lick off. Ingrid watched, placing the plate behind her with only a small amount forgotten as they kissed. Her mouth was tart and sweet, sharp with a mix of blood and blood orange and chocolate as she invaded his mouth with her tongue.
Vlad pulled back, head spinning with desire and Ingrid's enticing scent flooding his body like heat in his breathless corpse.
"I... I should make dinner."
Ingrid's half-hooded eyes suggested she had better uses for just about any flat surface in the kitchen, but Adze was home and Adam was still up. It was too risque. Plus Vlad's ability to do anything beyond kissing was hit and miss at best still. Shaking his head, he focused on sensing said wifes presence. She was in her quarters still, the other end of the castle. Adam in his room. Vlad felt compelled to tell Ingrid what happened earlier.
"Adam said something to me earlier."
Naturally she was on high alert.
"What?"
"That he wished I was his dad."
Ingrid looked highly suspicious, so Vlad elaborated on the conversation with Evan as he diced meat and vegetables for a soup that ought to balance out the sugar Adam had ingested that night, and what Adam said on the walk back.
"What did you say to him?"
"That it's ok to have one parent, especially when it's clear you love him more than anything. His next words were about coming home to hug you and eat peanut butter."
She absorbed it for a minute.
"Did you want to tell him?"
"You know I do. I'll always want him to know who I am, but I would rather have him here. If I told him then you would ash me and leave. What would that achieve other than to upset him?"
Vlad dumped everything into the pot, turning a low flame on to slow cook it - Adam wouldn't likely surface for another hour yet while trial testing all his new reading material.
"I always planned to tell him one day his father was dead. Of course, I wasn't expecting you to end up in our lives."
That hurt. Ingrid had planned to keep them apart forever.
"You're dead. We're all dead."
"Exactly. It wouldn't have been a lie but he wouldn't have looked for you."
"Why?"
His hand was shaking so bad Vlad had to put down what he was holding.
"Why what?"
He turned to face Ingrid, but he couldn't meet her eye.
"What did I do so wrong that you would have kept him away from me forever?"
Ingrid turned away from him, as though she didn't want to answer. Vlad was honestly surprised she did; they had only cohabited so well because he learnt not to ask questions.
"You married someone else."
That replaced ache with anger; Vlad had tried.
"You turned me down! I said I'd leave with you and you said no. I would have let the vampire world fall to pieces for you and you left anyway. How is that my fault?"
Ingrid shook her head.
"You wouldn't. You couldn't. I know you. As soon as the peace fell apart you would have wanted to come back and fix it all."
He got it. Ingrid didn't want him. Not all of him. His peace and love and respect for human life were dealbreakers it seemed.
"Then why did you come back?"
"I told you. For Adam. Don't forget, I denied the VHC for over a year."
Vlad shook his head.
"And to hell with my feelings right? Just like back then."
"What do you want from me? I let him spend time with you. I didn't raise him how dad raised us. For garlics sake I let you sleep in my coffin. I can't... this is getting too complicated. You're right. I should never have come back here."
He was more attuned to Ingrid than anybody else, so Vlad knew when she was gone. Her energy had become part of the atmosphere in the castle, and her loss was keenly felt. Adam must have felt the shift himself, looking pensive and concerned when he came back to the kitchen.
"Where's mum?"
-YD-
Whoops fluff to angst again I'm terrible