The Return of Nicholas Collins

His hands paused drying the glass and he growled, "Yes." He slammed the clear crystal onto the counter, somehow not breaking it, and picked up the other. "He as so much as confessed it to me, Rachel."

Rachel ran back over the events of that night and came to an awful revelation. She was the reason that Roni got attacked. Now that she knew that Chad had shot her, that meant he'd followed her into the city and that somewhere in the back alleys she'd lost him. So, instead of him attacking her, he must have gotten angry, found Roni, and decided that she made just as good of a target. Rachel felt a great need to apologize to Roni.

Nicholas finished drying the last glass and sat it down next to the other. He carefully refolded the towel and placed it beside them. Arms crossed in front of his wide chest, he leaned against the counter and stared at her. "Rachel, do you think that I was wrong for not wanting Chad dead, even after all the things he'd done?"

She stared at him like he was nuts, and she told him so. "I would think you were crazy for not wanting him dead, Nicholas." She walked over to him and placed her hands on top of his arms, "but do I think you were wrong, no."

She reached up and tucked a long strain of his hair behind his ear and then ran the back of her hand over his jaw. "You loved him, Nicholas, and very much. He was a link to another time in your life, one that brought you a short period of happiness in what is usually for our kind a lonely experience. The way I see it is that it would be wrong not to want to help someone you loved."

He covered her hand on his face with his and then pressed a kiss to her palm. "Thank you," he whispered against her skin.

Rachel twined their fingers together and led him out of the kitchen into the hall. They peeked in on Roni and found her curled on her side with her arm wrapped around a pillow deep in sleep.

Inside their room, the bed was freshly made and the covers turned back. With Nicholas standing beside it, she helped him from his jeans, skimming them down his long legs. A simple tug on the belt and a shrug of her shoulders had her robe on the floor and just as naked as him.

Rachel slipped beneath the cover and held out her hand to him. "Come to bed, love."

She smiled gently at him as he slid in beside her and pressed close, his head resting on her breast as her arms held him. Legs entangled, she caressed him as he lay there quietly, stroking his back and running her fingers through his still damp hair. As his shoulders began to shake and his tears dampened her skin, Rachel sent every ounce of her love through her touch into him until sleep claimed them both.

***

The next evening it was decided that they would return to their temporary home at John and Kelly's. Between the three of them it didn't take long to pack and leave the house as they found it, minus a bit of dust.

On the road, Rachel drove Kelly's jeep, with Roni riding beside her, and followed Nicholas back to the city. Both women were quiet, lost in their thoughts, each wondering what the future might hold for them. A couple of hours into the trip, Rachel turned off the radio and told Roni what Nicholas had said about Chad being the one who shot Rachel in the alley.

"So that means that, what, Chad attacked me because I was handy, instead of you?"

"I'm afraid so, Roni. It's basically my fault that you were attacked." She looked out at the road ahead, trying not to fidget under the girl's intense stare.

"Why would you say something like that, you were not the one who hurt me?"

Rachel's grip on the steering wheel tightened. "When I came into the city that night, I knew there was a strong possibility that I would be followed." She quickly glanced at Roni and tried to judge her expression only to find it blank. "When I ducked into that alley, I knew that with my speed I could loose whoever was tailing me."

Rachel slowed for a sharp curve in the road and when the jeep was again up to speed she continued, "Because of my actions, Sweetie, Chad took his anger out on you."

The silence that came from the passenger seat was more deafening than a rock concert to Rachel. It pierced her ears and made her so uncomfortable that she squirmed in her seat until she couldn't take it one more second.

"The reason I'm telling you all this, Roni, is because I wanted to apologize for what I inadvertently caused by my actions that night. None of this would have happen to you if I had listened to Nicholas and stayed home."

"Just stop right there, Rachel," Roni burst out, her voice harsh. "It's not your fault that some manic decided to take his frustration out on me."

Rachel jumped at the unexpected touch of Roni's hand on her arm.

"I've been attacked before, it's something that I had grown use to while living on the streets." She sat back, and out of the corner of her eye, Rachel saw the girl's hands twisting together in her lap. "I would have just chalked it up as another pervert after a young girl if you hadn't of told me."

Rachel heard her sniffle and fought to keep herself from crying.

"The difference between all the others and Chad's attack is that this time, someone stopped to help me."

"Humph, lot of help I was, you still got shot."

"Now that I've experienced it, I'd rather get shot than raped. Least with a gunshot wound the pain is mostly physical," Rachel looked over at Roni once more and saw the girl wrapping her arms around herself. "One good thing did come from being shot."

Rachel let out a short laugh before she could stop it. "Oh really, and what might that be?"

"I met you. You and your friends have done more for me in the past few days than what anyone else has done since I became an orphan."

Rachel relaxed slightly behind the wheel for the first time since they got on the road. If Roni felt that way, then maybe she didn't hate her for all the terrible things that had happen. She reached over and very gently squeezed Roni's shoulder, knowing that the girl was still sore from her ordeal.

"There's something I want you to know, Roni, life around a vampire is, well unusual, but it's nowhere near as exciting or dangerous as these last days have been." She breathed in and let it out slowly. "I don't want Chad's attack in the alley and the events since then to make your decision, whether you stay with me or not, for you."

She heard Roni shifting in her seat and Rachel turned her gaze on her quickly. She looked only a second, but that second was enough to warm her heart when she seen the smile on the young girl's face.

"I've decided to stay."

Rachel let out a whoop of joy and thought that she could have floated them, jeep and all, back to Kelly's. "I promise you, you won't regret it."

"As long as you don't make that noise again, I won't either," Roni giggled.

Rachel's grin spread slowly across her face. "I must be doing something right, I've already embarrassed you."

The young girl's groan was all she needed to make her roar with laughter.

***

Midnight had come and gone by the time they arrived at John and Kelly's. Rachel hadn't realized just how much she missed her friends until she saw them walking toward the Jeep.

Rachel reached over the console and lightly shook Roni. "Wake up, Sweetie, we're here."

She stretched and rubbed her eyes as she yawned. Groggy, shadows under her pretty eyes, she looked around and grumbled, "I can't wait to crawl into a real bed."

Kelly didn't wait for them to get out of the SUV; she went straight for the passenger door and opened it quickly, pulling Roni into her arms.

"I'm so glad to see you, Roni." She stepped back and Rachel watched Kelly survey Roni from head to toe before she started rattling off a rapid fire list of questions. "Is there anything you need? Are you hungry? Why don't you come with me, they can unload the cars without us."

Roni threw Rachel a desperate look over her shoulder as Kelly all but dragged her toward the house. Rachel could only smile and wave to the girl while mentally telling her, Don't fight it, Roni, just let Kelly mother you until she's sure you're not damaged, it will be over that much sooner if you follow along.

Rachel snickered when she heard Roni's voice in her mind, Remind me to give Sarah a hug and my sympathy when you get up this evening, that is if I survive Kelly's smothering.

At the back door Kelly stopped and looked back and forth between Rachel and Roni. "You two need to work on guarding your thoughts better." Then she stuck her tongue out at Rachel and smiled as she rushed Roni inside.

Nicholas came up beside Rachel and put his arm around her waist, drawing her close. "It's good to see you smiling, Love," he whispered and then kissed her lips.

Her lips parted for his tongue as she sighed, cupping his cheek and leaning into the all too brief kiss.

"I'm happy about so many things, Nicholas. I'm happy that you're here, that we're safe, and, oh Nicholas, Roni wants to stay with me, even after all the bad things that have happen to her because of me."

He picked her up and swung her around before he set her down and gave her a quick hard kiss. "Rach, I couldn't be happier for you. You've finally got a child to give all that motherly love to."

She lightly slapped his chest, smiling, "I wouldn't exactly call her a child, but yes, I've finally got a child to love and I'll give her as much as I can for as long as she will let me."

He pulled her tight in his arms and pressed his lips to her brow. "Love, that little girl is starved for the love of a parent. Things might be tough in the beginning, she's had a rough life and learned to close herself off emotionally, but with a lot of love and security from the both of us, she will turn into a lovely young woman."

Rachel stiffened in his arms, her lungs locking up tighter than a vault as one word echoed in her mind, us.

"Us? What, what do you mean by that word, Nicholas?"

He took her hand and guided her down a small cobblestone path toward the back of the property where a tiny flower garden grew. Among the mixture of day and night blooming flowers sat a wooden swing made just for two.

Side by side they sat, one looking hopeful, the other in shock, daring not to hope a dream was about to come true.

"By the word us, Rachel, I mean you and me. The both of us, raising that sweet girl until she either runs screaming from the house or until she loves us back as much as we do her."

Her heart raced in her chest like it would take flight at any second, and Rachel felt the urge to fly right after it. She was scared of what he'd hadn't said and afraid to ask, but too much was at stake now not too.

"Is helping me with Roni the only reason you want to stay, Nicholas, because if so, you don't have to. I made her the offer with the assumption that you would leave when the danger had passed. And if you somehow feel responsible for what happen to her, don't. The last thing that girl needs to think is that she is a burden or an obligation to anyone."

"Burden? Obligation? You idiot!" He jumped up and walked to the other side of the tiny garden, combing his fingers roughly through his hair. He glared at her, seeming to struggle with himself to keep from shouting at her. "Even if Roni wasn't in the picture, Rachel, I would still want there to be an us."

He came to her, dropping to his knees and taking her hands into his. "I love you. I've loved you for so long that I don't remember a time that I haven't." He kissed the back of her hand, caressing the backs of her fingers with his thumb. "I've been an even bigger idiot than you. I should have never pushed you away, but I thought that what I did by pushing you away from me was for the best, instead it only made us both miserable."

Nicholas gazed into her eyes and his heart broke at seeing the tears that streamed down her face. "Now we're together again and I want to make things right." He leaned close and sipped a red tear from her cheek. "If you'll have me, Rachel, I promise to love you for as long as this world allows us to exist, and then, I'll love you even beyond that."

"Oh Nicholas," Rachel cried, falling to her knees, capturing his face between her hands and kissing him with every ounce of love she had for him. "I've never stopped loving you, Nicholas, never."

He placed her hand over his heart, their brows pressed together as they rocked in each others arms. "I love you and I want you to know that Roni already has a place in my heart. Since the day that I turned you, Rachel, I've wished that I could have given you a child. At first as a way to replace the child that you were pregnant with by Dunn, but as the years passed that idea changed until it was only my child I longed to see you with."

She couldn't believe the things Nicholas was telling her. It was unreal to even image that he had those kinds of thoughts, much less wanted the same as she, a child that was a part of them both.

"Why, why didn't you ever tell me about any of this?"

He scooped her up into his arms and cradled her against his chest after he sat down in the swing.

"I couldn't bring myself to be so cruel as to tell you my wishes, my love, because what good would it had done you? I couldn't give you a child, same as now, but we've been given a gift."

"You mean Roni?"

"Yes, Roni." He rested his chin on top of her head, stroking his hand along her spine. "Like you said, we may only have her for a few years, but she is our one chance of being parents together."

Rachel pulled away just enough to see his face. She rubbed her fingertip across his lower lip and then over the dimple in his chin. "I use to wonder what kind of father you would be."

He tossed his head back and laughed out a loud.

"Shh, you'll wake the neighbors," she said, trying to muffle his laughter with her hand over his mouth.

"I would have made a great dad and I can't wait until Roni goes on her first date and I get to interrogate the boy." He grinned into her upturned face. "Which do you think will intimidate and scare the boys more, my glowing red eyes or a flash of my fangs?"

"Oh, you are terrible," she chuckled and then flashed her eyes at him. "I'll flash the glowing eyes at them and you show off those sexy teeth. I bet they won't last ten seconds."

He raised his eyebrow slowly. "Well, if they can't last longer than ten seconds of intimidation by us, then they are not worthy of our daughter."

Rachel shook her head, softly laughing as she got to her feet, her hand out to him. "If we want a chance at being immortal parents then we best go inside, it's almost dawn."

Hands linked they walked up to the house. Nicholas paused before they opened the door. "You realize that you have to make an honest man out of me, don't you? We've got to set a good example for Roni."

Rachel tugged on his hand trying to pull him the last few steps to the door. "Be quiet, you fool, you'll wake the whole house."

He pulled away, crossing his arms over his chest, looking vulnerable. "No, not until you ask me to be your husband."

Rachel sighed, wondering if she could put up with a carefree, but loveable, Nicholas. "Two questions, Nicholas, and how you answer those questions will decide if I will take you as my husband."

He rubbed his hands together and grinned. "I'm ready. Fire away, my love."

With an eye to the east and the approaching dawn, Rachel moved in, pressing her breasts against his hard muscular chest. "First question, will you give me sex whenever and wherever I want it, even when you're not in the mood or have one of those oh so conveniently timed headaches?"

She struggled not to chuckle as she unbuttoned his shirt, licking her way downward as more of his skin became exposed.

He growled and laughed at the same time as he pushed his fingers into her hair and held her mouth to his burning skin. "Yes, yes you can fuck your husband whenever the urge strikes you, Love."

She moaned against his nipple and lightly bit him, trembling as his blood gathered on her lips.

"Mm, correct answer, lover. Now for the last question and the most important one." She stood on tip toes and wound her arms around his neck, his arms going around her to hold her body securely against him. "Will you love me forever no matter how many times I disobey one of your he-man orders?"

His lips hovered above hers, their breath mingling, combining together as they breathed only for each other. "Forever and beyond, my love."

The End