"You do know I'm almost one-hundred, right?"
"Doesn't change the fact of who you are,” his sire said with a worried look in his eyes that he quickly masked.
Scott wasn’t sure why his sire was worried. He knew what would happen the day he turned one-hundred at the end of the summer. He was prepared for it. It was said Demigods received their imperium or manifested abilities when they turn one-hundred years of age. Scott wasn’t sure what his powers would be, but he was excited to find out.
Maybe it will enhance my empath abilities. Whatever it is, I’ll take it with stride.
"Tell me you do the same thing to TaNia and Roman," Scott said.
"Of course. I consider all three of you my babies. But it is well known, just as your Bearer is the favorite son of Odin, you are our favorite child.”
"They must hate the way you baby them.” Scott smiled and scrubbed his face, trying to get his emotions back under control.
"Just a little bit more than you do. Trust me, your brother and sister have their own issues they don’t like talking about,” Armand told him. Scott chuckled trying to think of his big brother crying like a baby in his sire’s arm. Roman was six foot two with muscles from head to toe. "So, tell me about your music, how's the band going?"
Grateful for the change of subject, Scott updated his sire on the band and the new song he was writing for Vale Valley's summer festival, but he was stuck on one part. He also talked about his idea about opening a club with Chance.
“Sounds like you’re doing great. But I wish you hadn’t given up singing to become a psychiatrist," his sire said.
"That's a new one...son disappoints Sire by becoming a doctor and not a singer." Scott smiled. “I still write music, but it's just for my band. Wanting to sing and write professionally is no longer my goal.”
"Oh, shut it, you know what I mean. I'm proud that you're a doctor, it's an admirable profession as well as the reason why you became a psychiatrist. But you're also a fucking brilliant musician, and your voice even make heavenly God’s angels cry."
"Thanks, Sire. But I use music as my outlet now. If I wrote or sang professionally, I'd hate it. I think Alec’s death helped me realize I have a different dream. And I love what I do. I think I’m helping my patients. I see things I wasn’t able to before, and I take that as a good thing.”
"I get it, son. I’m proud of you, so don’t think otherwise. Sometimes the path we set out for ourselves is not always the right one, but we’ll always find out what we are meant to do in the end. It’s why I'm here to talk to Rosemary."
"I thought it was because Bearer was making a movie?"
"That's part of the reason. This is going to be his last movie."
"What?" Scott was shocked. He knew how much his bearer loved acting and being praised and adored. "Why?"
Armand went to answer, but the doorbell rang.
"I'll explain later," he said as he walked by Scott to go and open the door.
* * *
"You want to run for President?"Scott said, looking at his sire to see if he was serious. “Tell me you’re joking.”
They were sitting around the table, and Scott couldn't wait to dig into the warm peach cobbler and fresh ice cream his sire had made for dessert. He missed really good southern cooking, and no one did it better than his sire.
“I would never kid about something so serious. It has always been in my plans to run for president.”
"And father is okay with it?" Scott asked. When his sire had given up his political career ten years ago, he thought that was it, but becoming president was something different. “Better question, what does Grandsire think of you doing this?” Scott knewhis grandsire Vladimir Dracul was not very accommodating when it came to humans or their politics. He hated the way humans thought of supernaturals as myths and fictitious.
“Let’s not talk about him right now. I’ve never been able to convince my Sire on why I wanted to do this. And your Bearer is fine with this decision,” Armand answered. “He and I made an arrangement that I will step back from the political spectrum for a short time and give him time to become an actor. Our deal was after ten years, he would stand beside me when I run for president." He turned to Rosemary. “And I want you to be my campaign manager. I know you just accepted a new position at the college, but you still have time before you—"
"Yes," Rosemary said, cutting Armand off.
"You didn't even let me finish with the speech I prepared."
"My dearest friend, I've been waiting for this day to come. You might not remember, I know why you're running, and I know you'll win."
"I do remember," Armand told her. “And I think the time is now. Vale Valley exceeded our expectations. But we need more towns like this. Our people need a place to be themselves, and I can’t think of any other way to protect them.”
“I’ve never disagreed with you on those points. You saw a town in need, and when you asked Ermaline, Trenton, and me to set up Vale Valley, it wasn’t because we had to, we wanted to. I’ve made a home here for my family to grow and for other supernaturals and humans who feel like outcasts to feel safe. But now it’s time for us to expand. So, yes, I’ll be proud to stand with you.”
