Epilogue: Caleb
“And they lived happily ever after…”
I put down the book, knowing fully well that neither of the two young girls in front of me had understood a single word of it.
“Well,Iliked the story,” Benji said with a grin. “Even if Luna and Lark care more about the new rug.”
We sat together in a loose semi-circle in the nursery with our daughters in the middle. I’d just finished reading them my newly published children’s book, which wouldn’t have existed without Adriel’s help. He helped me finish my draft and get it to a publisher - and since the Tenebrae conglomerate owned the company, Adriel was able to pull some strings to get it published as soon as possible.
He chuckled now as Luna fell forward on all fours and dribbled into the rug. She slapped the cutesy bat pattern.
“Oh, dear. Not quite as coordinated as your cousin, are you?” Adriel said.
“She’ll catch up,” Benji promised. “She’s only three months old. Soon she’ll be grown up enough to terrorize you.” He lifted Lark up by her arms until she stood upright and playfully bared her teeth at him. “Just like this one. Oh, put your fangs away.”
Behind him, Pierce laughed. He was rearranging the many toys in the nursery. With two little girls using the nursery now, the ratio of babies to stuffed animals had become ridiculous.
“I suppose none of us really knew what a dhampir child would be like until we had our own,” Pierce mused. “But despite all the warnings, I’d say it hasn’t been so bad.”
“That’s because most half-vampires were raised by one parent or another, right?” Benji offered. “I remember reading about that while I was pregnant with Lark.”
“That’s right,” Adriel said. “Since our children have both the alpha and omega parent in their lives, they won’t fall prey to ‘choosing’ a side, so to speak.”
I picked up Luna, who was trying to lick the rug, and snuggled her close. “That’s right. Isn’t it, baby girl?”
Luna let out a tiny defiant squeak that might have been a growl. I laughed and gently pinched her cheek.
“By the way, where’s Theo? Usually he loves hanging out with the girls,” I mentioned.
“He’s actually helping Maxwell tonight,” Pierce said.
“Oh, you mean with moving?”
After the excitement of Caleb’s birth died down and things for the rest of the family began to settle into normal, Adriel and his brothers had the task of figuring out what to do about Maxwell. We all felt it wasn’t fair to him to have been pried away from his life because of Margaret, and then forced to stay at the mansion - even though he insisted that he enjoyed giving Benji and I medical care.
In the end, they came to a compromise. They all trusted Maxwell not to blow the family’s secret - the one about a house full of vampires - and in return, he could operate a new medical business of his own on a property owned by the Tenebrae conglomerate. It was close enough to walk from our home, and Maxwell was free to come and go as he pleased.
Still, I got the feeling that there was one young alpha in particular he was more eager to visit than anyone else…
“Well, I’m glad Theo’s the one helping him,” Benji said. “Even though he’s small, he’s a strong alpha and can probably carry all that medical equipment one-handed. Good thing, too, since Maxwell barely looks strong enough to crush a fly.”
“Don’t tease him,” Adriel added. “He is the one who delivered both your babies, after all.”
“I only tease him because I love him!” Benji objected. “Seriously, I don’t know what we would have done without Maxwell.”
“Me neither,” I said, sighing. “He even helped me out so I wouldn’t have to have a c-section.”
As he spoke, Luna clambered out of his arms and on to the rug again. This time she didn’t stop crawling until she crossed the room and pounced on Adriel. Once again I was surprised at her growth rate - a human child wouldn’t be so agile and surefooted at her age. I was just glad that she was finally old enough to drink her own blood from a sippy cup, and I didn’t have to down any more of it.
“Silly girl,” Adriel murmured with a smile, scooping her up. She laughed as her dad lifted her above his head.”
“That reminds me,” Pierce said. “We should get Theo to add to our nursery mural, since Luna’s joined us.”
I glanced to the wall where Theo’s art stood. It was a cute painting of the vampires in the family as bats flying protectively around Lark, depicted as a human with a halo, bat wings and vampire fangs. I imagined Luna alongside Lark in the mural and smiled.
“I’d like that,” I said. In a lower voice I added to Benji, “But maybe if he andyou know whoget together, he might as well hold off so he can add them all at once…”
“What are you two whispering about?” Adriel asked with a playfully quirked brow.
