Kane Ch. 02

Ian had come down the stairs for something and Carla was in the kitchen making a cup of tea when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Ian, don't answer it!" she called out as she hurried to the living room.

Too late, Ian had already opened the door and was saying hello to...her heart stopped; it was him, Ian's father. He looked just as she remembered but there was something very different about him.

"Ian come over here." she said, her eyes still glued on Kane.

Ian looked at Carla and then back at Kane his blue eyes flashing.

"Obey your mother." Kane said, his eyes flashing at the boy.

Ian hesitated and then smiled.

"Ian, why don't you go upstairs and put in a movie?" Carla said.

"Really? I can stay up?" he asked excitedly.

"Just this once." Carla said.

Ian ran off afraid that Carla would change her mind. She waited until she heard the movie start and the door close before turning to Kane.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Kane was totally unprepared for meeting his son face to face, he was struck by the boy's beauty; there was no denying who his parents were, he was a combination of the best of both of them. He was glad that he had made contact even if it was brief; the boy was already having urges that he didn't understand. In the few seconds of contact, Kane was able to give very brief instructions to Ian telepathically which to Kane's relief he understood. He liked the name Ian and wondered why she chose it.

"Carla, I..."

"You what? She demanded as tears ran down her face, "What do you want?" she repeated.

Kane heard and felt her anger.

"Carla, my name is Kane Brenin. I was hoping to talk to you and explain..."

Carla cut him off.

"Explain? After five years? How did you find me?" Carla asked.

"A friend helped me. Please may I talk to you?"

"About what? How I followed you to your car and rutted with you like a common whore?"

"I'm sorry about that night, if you'll let me explain..."

"Are you here to take Ian away from me? Because if you are, I will kill you."

Kane held up his hands in surrender.

"I didn't know about Ian until recently and I'm not here to take him from you. I just want to talk and that's all."

Carla gave him a wary look.

"Why now?" she asked.

"That's part of what I want to explain to you, haven't you been wondering about that night? Why you came with me so easily?" he asked.

She did want to know why she did something so out of character for her. Reluctantly she let him in; Kane glanced around the room and followed her in.

"You have fifteen minutes." Carla said as she sat as far away as she possibly could from him.

Kane nodded, fifteen minutes was more than he thought he'd get. He started over with his name.

"As I said my name is Kane Brenin and I have absolutely no excuse for the way I treated you that night and for the past five years. I am so sorry that I left you, I had no idea that you were pregnant..."

"How could you? You didn't even tell me your name and then you had the gall to try and hypnotize me when we were finished. If I hadn't said my name on stage, would you have even asked? Do you have any idea of how that one event changed my life? I couldn't even come up with a good story as to how I ended up pregnant with a white man's baby. To this day my friends don't know what happened that night and I refused to tell them."

"Carla, I understand that you're angry and you have every right to be but give me a chance to explain, the only thing is its going to take longer than fifteen minutes."

"Talk." she said and sat down, "you have thirty minutes starting now."

Kane waited until she was sitting before he sat.

"I don't even know where to begin, the night that we met... no, that's not a good place to start. The night that I met you, I was angry a very angry and bitter man. I have a condition which at the time I saw as a curse, I'm allergic to the sun and I have been since... a long time. Anyway, I felt like that I was being cheated out of something and decided to live my life as I saw fit no matter who got hurt. The problem was that no matter what I did, my condition wasn't going to change. I was a selfish bastard, I know that but at the time I didn't care, that attitude drove away my friends and family with the exception of one person and I almost lost his friendship as well. For the longest time, I thought that all I wanted was to be alone, when my last friend walked out on me I found out that being along wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Fortunately when I called, he came back. I have many bridges to mend but I wanted to start with you."

"Are you dying?" Carla asked.

"No I'm not dying." Kane replied puzzled by her question.

"So this isn't a bucket list type of thing, you're not going around trying to make your peace with those you've wronged?"

"No, I want to apologize and do right by you and Ian." Kane replied.

"Are you looking for absolution?" she asked.

"No, Carla..."

"Good, because if you are; go to a priest, I can't give you what I haven't even given myself."

Kane was taken aback with her self loathing but he continued-time was getting away from him.

"The night that we met was a particularly bad night, all I wanted to do was fuck someone and it really didn't matter who it was. I was already at the bar when you got there, I saw you walk in with your friends and something happened that I had been trying to avoid, I wanted you and I don't mean to fuck; I wanted to make love to you. No woman had ever affected me that way and I didn't want it, I didn't want to feel that way about anyone. Instead of walking away, I decided to take you to the car and .... Do you remember when I kissed you? It was supposed to be the kiss I give to every woman before we ... well anyway, it turned into something else, something much more intimate. When I entered you, it was my intent to hurt you for making me feel things that I didn't want to feel, it never crossed my mind that you would become pregnant; I wouldn't have left had I known. I can only imagine what the past five years have been like for you and I know that there is nothing that I can say or do that can take away the pain that I've caused you and Ian but I would like to try."

Carla gave him an incredulous look.

"You used me? You didn't know anything about me but chose me to fuck because I made you feel something? What in the hell does that even mean? How many other women have you fucked because they made you feel something? How many children do you have floating around out there and by the way; Ian isn't your son, he's mine! You weren't here when I dodged the questions about the pregnancy or when he was born and it was obvious that his father was white, you weren't here when he almost died! So you're right, there's nothing that you can do about any of it."

Kane sat silently, she wasn't ready to listen but he had to know something.

"You said that Ian almost died, when was that?"

"Why do you care?" She asked.

"Please Carla, when did that happen?" he asked again.

"When he was born, it was some kind of weird blood thing. Of course they asked about the father and guess what? I had to tell them that I didn't have a clue about whom or where you were. They looked at me as if I was some kind of slut and you know what? I felt like one."

"I can only apologize for that, but is Ian alright?" Kane asked.

"He's fine, why?"

"I'm going to ask you to trust me even though I've given you every reason not to; I need to speak with him. I swear that I'm not here to take him away from you but I need to talk to him, you can even be in the room with us."

Something in Kane's voice alarmed Carla and she found herself nodding her consent, she wasn't going to let whatever issues she and Kane had interfere with Ian's welfare. Kane followed her up the stairs to Ian's room, his movie was still playing.

"Ian honey, this is Kane; we knew each other a long time ago. He would like to talk to you.

Ian stopped his movie and looked at Kane.

"Are you my dad?"

Carla and Kane looked at each other; they couldn't lie to the boy when they had to tell him the truth at some point. Carla sat on the bed beside Ian.

"Yes baby, he is but why did you ask that?" Carla asked.

"His eyes look like mine." Ian replied, "Is he going to stay with us?"

"We haven't talked about that, we haven't seen each other in a long time."

Ian looked at Kane again.

"Do you know anything about the universe? Mama doesn't and she gives the silliest answers." Ian said.

Kane held back a chuckle; it was obvious that Ian was extremely intelligent and precocious.

"I know a little." Kane replied as he sat on the floor in front of Ian.

"Where have you been?" Ian asked.

"All over, maybe I'll tell you about it some day but I am happy to meet you." Kane said touching the boys face.

"Didn't mama tell you about me?" Ian asked.

"That's a story for another time when you're much older but no, I didn't know about you. If I had, I never would have left you and your mama alone. Ian, have you ever felt funny? Like you're still hungry even though you've eaten?"

Ian's eyes flashed telling Kane what he needed to know.

"Alright, what do you do when that happens?" Kane asked well aware that Carla was completely lost.

Ian looked at Carla and then back at Kane, his eyes filled with anxiety.

"Ian, it's alright; I'm sure that your mama won't get upset, right?" Kane asked looking up at Carla.

"It's alright, you can tell him." Carla said.

Carla was confused by the strange conversation and the fact that Ian and Kane already seemed to have formed some kind of bond. Ian gave Carla another uncertain glance and then continued.

"I go to the back yard and catch squirrels and rabbits." Ian said softly.

Kane smiled and tousled Ian's hair.

"That's good, anything else?" Kane asked.

Ian gave Carla another nervous glance.

"Ian, it's alright, isn't it Carla?" Kane asked looking at the boy.

"It's alright." Carla replied wondering what he did with the animals and becoming more nervous by the second.

"I catch cats too but I make sure that they don't belong to anyone." Ian replied.

"You're a good boy, thank-you for telling me. Why don't you finish your movie, I need to talk to your mama for a few minutes." Kane said.

Ian looked at Kane and then at Carla.

"Can I call him daddy?"

The look in Ian's eyes broke her heart, they were so filled with hope that she couldn't bring herself to say no. Instead, she put the decision on Kane's shoulders hoping that he would say no.

Kane didn't speak for several minutes, just when Carla thought that he wasn't going to answer the question, he did.

"I would like that." he replied softly with tears in his eyes and then for the first time since his birth, Kane held his son. Ian returned the hug and closed his eyes in relief, everything would be alright now.

Carla watched the scene with mixed emotions, on one hand; she wished that Kane had stayed wherever it was he came from but on the other hand, Ian wanted and needed his father although he never said it.

"Mama can I finish my movie?" Ian asked.

"Sure, but as soon as its over brush your teeth and get into bed, I'll be back up to say prayers with you." Carla said as she kissed him on the head.

When they were back downstairs, Carla turned to Kane.

"What was that about? What does he do with the animals? What aren't you telling me and why did he think that I'd be upset?"

"Carla, calm down. He's fine but we need to talk and the sooner the better. I'm afraid that it's going to take much longer than thirty minutes."

Carla had the feeling that whatever Kane was going to tell her was going to change her life again. If it hadn't been for Ian she would have kicked him out.

"Alright, but I want to tell you something first; you gave that little boy permission to call you daddy, to him that means that you'll stick around and not disappear on him. I'm warning you, if you hurt that little boy I'll kill you. Do I make myself clear?"

Kane listened to the intensity in her voice, he had no doubt that she meant what she said and that she would indeed try to kill him if she felt justified but he had no intentions of giving her that reason. Inadvertently, Ian had given him a reason to keep coming around; she wouldn't deny the boy the right to see his father. He was still a long way from where he hoped to be but his foot was in the door.

"Carla, I have no intentions of hurting either of you." Kane said as he sat down.

"Really? If memory serves me right, you seduced me and then left, but back to our previous conversation; you used me and then threw me away because you didn't like yourself? What kind of person are you?" she asked, her voice filled with anger.

"Not a very good one." Kane replied, "And I would like to have a chance to show you that I'm not like that anymore, let me take you to dinner."

"Dinner? Really? Damn, you're going to feed me before you try to fuck me this time? No thanks!" Carla retorted.

"Alright, we go somewhere where we can take Ian with us, I can hardly fuck you as you put it with a child present." he replied just as angrily and then realizing that he had no right to be angry-but she did.

"Carla, I messed up alright? I can't change that but I'm here now and if I'm going to be involved with Ian shouldn't you get to know me a little better?"

He had just hit below the belt, he had used his child to get to his mother.

"Fine! We'll take Ian with us, now why were you asking him all of those questions?"

Kane hesitated, he wasn't sure of how to tell her that he and Ian was vampire.

"Carla..."

"Don't you Carla me! Now tell me what's going on."

Kane fought the urge to touch her; she was as beautiful as he remembered. He put his head in his hands, took a deep breath and looked back up at her.

"Carla, Ian is... different. Look, I really need to talk to you without Ian around. Is there someone who could stay with him while we talk? This is important."

"Tell me now."

"Carla, I really think...."

"I don't care about what you think, tell me now." Carla demanded.

"Is it almost Ian's bedtime?" Kane asked; if they were going to talk about this it would be better if he was asleep, he didn't want him to hear if Carla freaked out.

"Yes, why?"

"It would be better if I told you after he's asleep, you mentioned prayer time, may I listen?"

She wanted to say no, prayer time was a special time for her and Ian but she knew that Ian would ask if Kane was still here.

"Fine." she conceded although not gracefully.

They heard the sound of the toilet flushing and then the sound of water running signaling that Ian was about ready for bed. Kane followed her up the stairs for the second time that night fully aware that his thirty minutes had long come and gone. He watched the saw of her hips and behind and remembered with regret the one and only time he had felt her pressed against him.

Ian was sitting on the side of the bed when they went into his room; he broke out into a big smile when he saw that Kane was with Carla.

"Ok kiddo, let's say our prayers." Karla said sitting on the edge of the bed. Kane moved closer to the bed just to be closer to them.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to god my soul to keep if I should die before I wake I pray to god my soul to take." Ian and Carla said this part together and then Ian took over.

"God bless mama, mom-mom, Aunt Dina and now my dad. Thank-you for letting him come home and please help mama not to be so mad. Amen"

Carla was speechless, had it been that obvious? Kane was surprised as well, it seemed that Ian had some psychic ability or he was very intuitive but Kane suspected that it was a combination of the two. Carla fought back tears as she kissed Ian goodnight.

"Don't cry; it's going to be alright now." Ian told her as he hugged her.

After Carla moved away, Kane knelt beside the bed and kissed Ian on the cheek. As he pulled away, Ian spoke to him telepathically.

"She's really mad at you, but we need you."

Kane jumped, pulled back and looked down at Ian whose eyes were already closing. He and Carla really needed to talk; maybe it was for the best that they did it now.

Carla led the way back downstairs and sat down, what she really needed was a drink; for someone who had been gone for over five years Kane knew how to cause a stir, little did she know that there was more coming.

"I need a drink, do you want one?" she asked only out of common courtesy.

"Sure, whatever it is you're having is good." he replied.

Carla went to the kitchen pantry and got down a bottle of rum and grabbed a can of coke from the fridge, she had bought the rum five years ago but had never opened it. At the time, she questioned herself as she did now. She put ice cubes in glasses and mixed the drinks; she had never had rum and coke in her life her drink of preference being long island iced tea. She put the drinks on a tray with napkins and carried them out to the living room.

"I only had ingredients for rum and coke." she said as she handed him a glass careful not to touch him.

"That's fine, I happen to like rum and coke."

"Alright, now start talking." Carla said coolly.

"I want to ask you something first, do you consider yourself a straight shooter?" Kane asked taking a sip of his drink.

"If you're asking me if I like to be coddled then the answer is no, just say whatever it is that you have to say and be done with it." she replied, impatient.

Kane wasn't sure of where he should start, and then decided to start with Ian; that was the most urgent thing right now. Fortunately, he found them before anything had happened. Ian seemed to have an innate knowledge of what he was and took steps to protect Carla even without fully understanding why but he needed a male vampire to teach him.

"Carla, when I said that Ian was different, that was an understatement. I don't know how to tell you this because it's going to sound crazy, Carla; Ian isn't human and neither am I."

He gave her some time to let his words sink in.

"Not human? Are you a druggie? Of course he's human and so are you!" Carla protested.

"No Carla, we aren't; we are both vampire."

Carla stared at him as if trying to see if he was joking. When she was young she used to believe in things that go bump in the night and to some degree she still did but vampires? She sat her glass on the table and stood up. The room started to spin.

Kane watched her carefully but didn't speak as she put her glass down and stood up; the moment her knees began to buckle he was at her side catching her before she hit the floor. He lifted her easily and sat in the chair that she had just vacated and settled her in his lap. She felt as good as he remembered he thought as he cuddled her closer. He took in her features starting with her short curly hair-it was that way the last time he had seen her. He traced a finger down her cheek finding her dark brown skin soft and supple finally tracing the outline of her lips. Before he could stop himself, he kissed her fully aware that he was taking a liberty that he wasn't entitled to but he would be, maybe not soon but he was going to have his mate and son with him no matter how long it took.

Carla opened her eyes to see Kane's sky-blue ones looking down at her. As soon as she realized where she was, she panicked.

"Let me up!" she hissed.

Kane released her but watched for signs that she might faint again.

"Vampire?" she asked as she walked around the living room a little unsteadily.

"Yes."

She was now in protective mode; her only concern at that moment was for Ian.

"He was drinking the blood of those animals?" she asked wondering why she didn't question why he liked to be outdoors so much or why she wasn't seeing so many strays or squirrels around.