Writers block, thy name is pain in the ass.
I tried multiple times to write something for the interim, but it just kept getting harder and more frustrating and so I've done a time jump.
-YD-
"Jonno. Mina."
Vlad inclined his head, feeling like his whole unlife was immensely surreal at this point as he invited those two and their back up Slayers into his castle. Adze was eight and a half months gone; Vlad had the space to allow them to stay, though they had had to agree to the nocturnal lifestyle to stay.
"Hey Vlad."
The two Van Helsings obviously trusted him more than the other Slayers did, and Vlad tried to display his own trust by turning his back to them completely as he led them. Roqueloire was a little less keen to do so, having traded off with his daughter Talitha for guard duty over an irritable, heavily pregnant Adze. He walked to the side, eyeing them in turn as they eyed him.
The news had slowly leaked out about Adze trying to overthrow the Peace, and Vlad was struggling to keep Ramanga at bay with talk of imprisonment rather than execution. The vampire would simply burn down Vlad's castle if he suspected Adze was in there just waiting to be slain.
"Jonno, Mina, you remember Ingrid? That's her son, Adam."
They stared down at the bright-eyed boy with no small amount of awe. Ingrid was probably exactly as they remembered, the embodiment of queen of evil and utterly flawless, face a cool mask of indifference. While her son was all smiles, wearing clothes that were not black and red, had a bright coloured dragon on the front and was wriggling his sock-clad feet above the floor while perched reading a book and eating peanut butter sandwiches.
"Hi! I'm Adam."
"I'm Jonno. I went to school with Vlad and Ingrid. This is my mum."
Adam put down his book, brushing crumbs off his hand and heading to shake both Jonno and Mina's hands with a smile.
"Hello. You're safe from me, promise. I don't like blood."
Vlad couldn't help but chuckle slightly as his son returned to his food and book, leaving stunned silence in his wake at only eight years old. Ingrid having a son that wasn't interested in vampirism. That probably surprised most, but then they didn't know Vlad was his father, passing on his humanity to the boy. Rather than let Ingrid enjoy their shock for too long, Vlad continued introductions.
"Bertrand, you know. And the one eating pickles out of the jar is Wolfie."
"As in your little brother?"
Vlad nodded, and Wolfie turned to wave. He visited for a few days each month, happy to be a regular in Adam's life now.
"Yeah. Hybrids don't follow normal rules, who knew?"
Jonno frowned, clearly dredging up memories of Stokely and Garside before his mind gave him answers.
"Hybrid... oh yeah. I remember now. How old are you?"
"Officially? Thirteen. But I hit full maturity by the age of nine."
Not wanting to risk the slayers bringing up anything they didn't want Adam to know, Vlad indicated the door. The quicker the official part was over and everyone relaxed a touch, the better.
"Shall we?"
Adam watched over his book as Vlad led the others out, though Vlad knew the curious boy would undoubtedly have questions about the presence of slayers in the castle. He'd only really met Ray, at the occasional party. He had more contact with breathers from the late night trips to the supermarket than he had with slayers.
"Well he's a surprise."
"Who? Adam or Wolfie?"
"Uh, both really. But I meant Ingrid's son."
Vlad nodded, seating himself after pointing the slayers to chairs in one of the meeting rooms.
"To business. Adze is, at most, two weeks from giving birth. You are welcome to stay here until then if it appeases you, but you will remember you are guests in my home. We live as night creatures. I am the only vegetarian vampire, the others will be drinking bottled blood. Wolfie eats raw meat sometimes, and he may or may not spend the night as a wolf. There are to be no weapons drawn in this castle. No fighting. And Adam is not to know what is going on."
Jonno and Mina nodded, but the female Slayer with them frowned.
"What about food?"
"You are welcome to join us at mealtimes, or you can come on a shopping trip to buy your own food and set up in one of the four kitchens in this place."
The other male Slayer chimed in next.
"What if a biter picks a fight?"
Vlad shook his head.
"I won't. Roqueloire is my bodyguard, and will only react if he thinks I'm in life-threatening danger. Bertrand is Adam's tutor. Currently the only one, to reduce who comes in and out of the castle. Adam is a sweet eight year old who loves dragons and peanut butter. Ingrid... Ingrid doesn't like anybody, but unless you threaten her or her son, she'll most likely ignore you or insult you. Nobody in my castle is a danger to you."
They clearly didn't totally believe him, but Vlad knew he was being honest and there wasn't much more he could do than that.
"I'll show you to your rooms."
The castle was fairly expansive, and Vlad managed to find a spot with four rooms that had easy enough access to a kitchen, two bathrooms (a rarity in most castles) and it was only a few hallways down from the library.
"It's not hard to get lost, but if you keep going left you'll usually end up at the library and there's almost always someone around there. In case of emergencies though, use this."
Vlad handed them mini-receivers, earning himself strange looks.
"Bat tags?"
"They will pick up the unit I'm going to put in my kitchen. That room is almost never empty."
"Ah."
"Well. Settle in. I better get back before Roque blows a dust vessel thinking I've been slain in the five seconds he hasn't been guarding me."
Life with slayers in the castle was rather surreal. No more so than Vlad having to take them shopping though, he supposed. Ingrid was very much on the fence, but Adam had Dracula-puppy-eyed his way to permission to go with them. Mina opted to stay behind; there had to be a slayer in the castle at all times. Or a slayer wherever Adze was, more realistically.
"Vlad, look!"
Three slayers, the Grand High Vampire and a child walked into a store... Vlad thought it sounded like the prelude to a bad joke. Adam tugged his sleeve and pointed, where Vlad saw that apparently after putting peanut butter in sweets, 'Reeses Pieces' now had their own brand of peanut butter.
"You can have that so long as you'll finish the other jars first."
Adam pouted, but nodded. The two not-Van-Helsing slayers, who Vlad now knew as Simpson and Hex, watched in complete and utter confusion as the leader of the vampire race bent to the whims of his eight year old 'nephew'.
"Adam! Vlad!"
"Hi Evan! You changed your hair!"
Previously bright blue, Evan now had hair in a dusky green colour. Adam beamed up at him while clutcing a Reeces PB jar in his hands.
"Yeah. The blue was getting boring. Who're your friends?"
"This is Jonno, he went to school with Vlad. The other two are kinda quiet but they need food too."
"Well, I hope they cheer up a little. Catch you later little dude."
Adam 'fist bumped' with Evan, who returned to his previous task of stocking shelves as they continued on around the store.
"He's friends with breathers?"
"Adam will be friends with anyone who stays still long enough. I told you, he's a sweet kid."
For a second, Vlad thought Adam had disappeared somehow but he was quickly located at a stand full of toy dragons. Ingrid was going to kill him...
"Did we get stuff for mum too?"
"Yep. Now come on, it's already past dinner time and I don't want Ingrid complaining you don't have time to do your homework."
Little legs hastened to keep up as Adam bounced alongside him, their castle a welcome sight for all as they got behind closed doors again. Vlad was honestly emotionally fried and hoped for little more than some time with Adam before everyone retired for the day. The tension and anticipation was getting to him.
Ingrid was going to tell her son that he was their son, and Vlad was going to have to answer for his absence as a father. He was about to be a sole parent to the baby Adze was to bear; he had never expected Ingrid to take on the child as her own. He wanted to be a father, but it was still a daunting prospect. He hoped the reminder of how the baby was conceived would not taint the joy, and Ingrid was fairly certain it wouldn't.
But he still worried.
"Hey Vlad, wanna do this with me?"
Probably not having finished his homework, Adam held up a How To Train Your Dragon jigsaw puzzle, hope writ across young features. Deeply aware of their audience and not caring a jot for his reputation, Vlad smiled.
"I'd love to. Get your puzzle board."
Beaming, Adam pulled out the framed board that allowed one to put an incomplete puzzle to one side and come back to it later. They rarely struggled to finish, but it also allowed them to do a puzzle on the floor and still pick it up afterward. Adam plopped down on the floor and tipped the pieces out, looking up with cherub-like innocence when Ingrid stood nearby.
"Have you done your work?"
Adam nodded fervently, smiled up at his mother. Vlad had to fight to keep his eyes off her legs, elongated by criminal heels and topped with a velvet, crimson dress. The Slayers were sat over by the fire, watching the Dracula residents with curious eyes.
Well, except Jonno. Who was understandably checking her out. Ingrid would always have that effect on men. But best he not announce to them that she could seduce him with simply a look.
"I only had a bit to do because I finished all my work early today. Ask Bertrand!"
Ingrid glanced to the tutor, who nodded in agreement.
"It's true. I wish all my students had his work ethic."
That was said with a pointed look to Vlad, who shrugged.
"In my defence, Garside was a madhouse. And you did initially introduce yourself by threatening to slay my whole family."
Adam looked up, perturbed.
"Really?"
"It was to ensure Vlad admitted who he was, took control of it. As you can see, nobody was harmed."
Little lips jutted out in thought, and Adam looked to Vlad as though needing confirmation everything was ok.
"He wouldn't be here if I thought he was dangerous. Now find your corners."
They resumed the jigsaw until Adam was flagging, yawning into his hand and looking sheepish that he hadn't gotten away with it.
"Bed."
"Yes mum."
Adam went obediently, and after Vlad showed the visitors back to their rooms, he debated whether or not it was safe to go to Ingrid's room. Probably not.
He went anyway.
Ingrid met him with all of her usual fire, clothes melting away beneath hungry hands as they undressed each other, her legs around his waist in almost no time at all. Vlad still held the completely certain belief that he could never tire of this, her feral heat and lusting growls. Ingrid arched and gasped, moved with him in a perfectly practiced synchronicity.
"Blood Ingrid" Vlad breathed the words, voice strained with pleasure "I won't last."
"Al-almost there."
Was her needy reply, Vlad now solely responsible for bearing her weight as Ingrid snaked her hands between them, one on her nipple while the other touched her clit. His thrusts stuttered in shock at the sudden erotic display, a hissed warning of pain she would inflict if he stopped the reminder Vlad needed to resume his thrusts. She tightened around him, squeezed his cock in a silken vice and he choked on what could have been a plea for mercy as he came shuddering and panting.
Ingrid was no better, hands scrambling for purchase on his shoulders as her thighs clamped on his hips, trembling in his hold with moans muffled in his neck. Nails scraped over the knot at the top of his spine, threatening to completely ruin already shaking knees. He managed to get Ingrid back on her feet, though neither sibling was especially steady as they kissed lazily, her fingers stroking over his scalp.
They settled in her coffin, moved against each other more slowly, felt more purpose in their deliberate motions and Vlad tasted deeper feelings in Ingrid's kiss, though it could have been wishful thinking. Maybe she was simply aware of how their unlives would change soon, when Vlad was at the beck and call of a newborn baby. When he couldn't spend hours at a time in her coffin, limbs twined as they shared a forbidden passion, basked in pleasure neither could give up.
"Have you decided what you're gonna name the baby?"
Ingrid quizzed and Vlad was surprised, since she scarcely brought up the baby first, only discussed it when Vlad initiated such a conversation.
"Not yet. It's all been a bit surreal to be honest, and while I hate her dust and she deserves the penalty for her crime, I sorta struggle to think about how cruel it is to keep anybody as some kind of incubator, only alive until their function is done."
His sister frowned, rolling on her front and leaning her head up to observe Vlad where he laid staring up at the ceiling.
"Adze would not think twice about it. If she were a guy, she would keep a dozen incubating spawn to further her cause. I know you have your delicate breather-ish morals that somehow passed on genetically to our son, but the only alternatives were killing the baby too, or letting her go to take the kid away and raise it as some ego-centric, psychotic garlic brain like her and her father. One she knew you and your conscience could never kill."
She was right. Ingrid was always right. And she didn't coddle him, spoke directly and ensured Vlad was getting straight-up truth, not dancing around anything. There were exceptions, like his trauma response or their son, but Ingrid would always be Ingrid.
"Get some sleep. You'll have to leave earlier than usual, since I suspect the slayers will struggle to sleep all night when they're not naturally nocturnal."
Sure enough, Vlad was kicked out rather early that afternoon, showered, dressed and sipping soy blood before the sun had even fully set. At least the slayers wouldn't be able to smell Ingrid on him, should he be spotted wandering the castle he could just say he struggled sleeping. Which was sort of true. It was a struggle to sleep when Ingrid was intent on waking him and getting him out of her room.
Adam was in the kitchen first after Vlad, gave him his customary morning hug and started on making himself breakfast. Jonno wasn't long in finding them there, holding his bat tag monitor and rubbing at his tightly curled hair, mussed with sleep.
"Morn-... no, evening."
"Evening Jonno. There's tea and coffee in that cupboard."
"Beautiful."
Hex and Simpson presumably stayed in the kitchen nearest their quarters, but the Van Helsings apparently could not resist the lure of seeing Dracula life at it's most domestic.
"Don't you have work?"
Jonno quizzed as he perked up over a mug of coffee. Vlad shook his head, checking Adam was out of earshot.
"Paternity leave. The Grand High Vampire is expected to take this last brief moment to hire all the staff possible to ensure his interaction with his offspring is as minimal as possible. That is not my intention, but I'm not gonna complain about time off. Someone will come get me if there's an emergency. Or else use some terribly unskilled telepathy."
"So you intend to be a part of your child's life?"
Mina asked, side-glancing at Roqueloire who was sipping regally from a goblet.
"Absolutely. As much as vampirically possible."
She seemed surprised, but the woman fell silent and accepted a fresh mug from her son. Vlad stretched a kink out of his back, then considered his nights potential activities.
Life with slayers was oddly easy to adjust to, if surreal. The tension in the air grew exponentially as potential due dates approached, several of them for Vlad. He was sat in his study, slung across a chaise lounger for long, tedious reading sessions as he studied up on ways to avoid a blood feud with Ramanga when the heart-starting call came from the deepest guts of the castle. The frantic tone told of what was happening.
"Vlad!"
-YD-
I'm intending to have this wrapped up by ch 25.