Louise Ch. 13

"Don't you think that I would know if I was pregnant?" she asked. "Nathan, I know that you're worried, but don't be. I'm fine, I promise."

Slowly Nathan began to relax. What Louise said had merit, and she wasn't worried about it. Maybe the sausage made her sick. But what about the fevers?

"I'm sorry." he said stroking her face. "You mean so much to me, and the thought that I could lose you...I guess a little of the obsessive side of me is showing." he added with a weak smile.

"I don't see it as being obsessive." Louise replied. "I see it as being cared for and loved but, what are you going to be like when I do get pregnant?" Louise teased. "You'll have an ulcer before the baby even gets here."

Nathan laughed.

"You're probably right." He replied.

Suddenly, he tensed.

"Someone's here. Stay put until I come for you." he said with a quick kiss.

A few minutes later, he was back in the bedroom followed by a tall, thin, female vampire.

"Sweetheart, this is Gretchen Matthews. Her mate Eustace has been instrumental in helping our family deal with its past."

"Hi, I remember seeing you at the reception." Louise replied with a smile.

"Hello." Gretchen replied with a warm smile. "I'm sure that Nathan told you how I know the family."

"He did. "Thank you for coming." Louise replied. "But as I told Nathan, I'm fine. It was the smell of the sausage that made me sick."

"I can buy that." Gretchen said as she sat on the side of the bed. "But what about the fevers? The pain when you miss a feeding is understandable, but the fevers aren't. You're way past the point where you should be having them."

"But I feel fine even when I have them." Louise replied. "I don't even know that I'm having a fever unless Nathan tells me. At first I knew, but lately I haven't been able to tell."

Gretchen thought for a moment.

"Louise, when was your last menstrual cycle?"

"Two weeks before Nathan and I mated... why?"

"Just asking, I want to be thorough." Gretchen replied. "Is it alright if I examine you?"

"Sure, but you won't find anything." Louise replied.

An hour later, the examination was complete.

"Well?" Nathan asked impatiently. "Is she alright?"

"She's perfect." Gretchen said with a big smile. "How do you feel about being parents?"

Louise and Nathan looked at each other speechless.

"But I didn't hear a heartbeat!" Nathan said when he had gotten over his shock. "How can that be?"

"I don't know." Gretchen confessed. "But Louise, you are pregnant. You just didn't present in the normal manner meaning the nausea, tender breasts and so on. It seems that your primary symptom is fever, and your olfactory sense is affected. Let me ask you this, after you turned, did the intensity of your lovemaking decrease?"

"No." Nathan replied. "That was why I thought about a pregnancy, but when I didn't hear a heartbeat and she didn't have any of the other symptoms, I became worried."

"Well, I assume congratulations are in order?" Gretchen asked.

"Definitely!" Nathan exclaimed, and then looked at Louise who had a shell-shocked look on her face. "Sweetheart?" he called.

"What? Are you sure that I'm alright?" Louise asked now worried. "If I didn't know that I was pregnant how do I know that the baby is alright?"

"You knew." Gretchen replied. "The fact that you always felt well was your indicator that all is well with the baby. If that changes, then you need to call me immediately. I'm going to leave with you what Katrina affectionately calls horse pills. They're prenatal vitamins that I want you to take with your meals. I also want you to start walking and make sure that you get plenty of rest. I'll be back in a couple of weeks to check on you, and please, call me with any concerns."

Nathan saw Gretchen out and returned to the bedroom. He sat on the bed next to Louise, and gently touched her stomach.

"I'm thrilled." he assured her.

"Me too." Louise whispered. "Nathan, we're having a baby!" she exclaimed as she sat up and threw her arms around his neck.

They spent the rest of the morning discussing when to tell everyone.

"We can tell your family at the gathering and go from there." Nathan said. "Sweetheart, are you really alright with this? It happened much sooner than I thought it would."

"I have to admit that I'm still surprised." Louise said. "But I'm happy and scared at the same time. I don't know anything about babies."

"Neither do I, but we'll learn together and I'm sure that we'll get plenty of advice." Nathan said. "Stay put and rest, I'll check on the casserole."

"I'm not an invalid." Louise replied. "Just get rid of the sausage and I'll be alright."

Nathan started to argue, but then decided that he wanted his pregnant bride where he could see and touch her. In the back of his mind, he reminded himself about the tendency to become obsessive. Now that Louise was pregnant, the desire to protect her, and now their child had grown.

"Alright," Nathan said, "but you have to tell me if you don't feel well."

"Oh lord." Louise moaned, "Between you and Kevyn I won't be able to take a breath in peace. I promise to tell you now can we go eat dinner?"

*******

Leon tossed and turned in his bed. He couldn't get Nadine out of his mind. Not only was she beautiful, but she was a genius. He had never felt as drawn to a woman as he did her, and he didn't understand why. They had only spent an evening together, but he felt as if they knew and understood each other like people who had known each other for years.

In four more days, he would be going back to Pittsburgh although he really didn't want to. He was honest enough with himself to admit that Nadine was a large part of his not wanting to leave. He was tempted to throw caution to the wind, and stay in the hopes of finding a job and a reasonable place to live. But what about my things in Pennsylvania? He wondered.

"No problem." he muttered. "Barry can pack it up for me and ship it."

He finally dozed off still undecided about what he was going to do.

*********

Gene woke up with the hangover from hell. He stumbled to the shower, turned the cold water on full blast and got into the shower.

"Damn!" he cursed as the cold spray hit him. "Gene that was stupid." he said to himself. As the fog in his brain began to clear, he gradually adjusted the temperature of the water until it was comfortably warm. He made a promise to himself that he wouldn't take another drink for as long as he lived if the Sinclaires' would invest with him and the firm. The amount no longer mattered. The Sinclaire name on an account was all that he needed in order to save his job.

He wondered if Louise had said anything to Nathan, and hoped that she hadn't. It had been a mistake to approach her about talking to her husband.

"I looked weak." Gene muttered, and then realized that he had looked weak from the very first time he encountered the Sinclaires. "Fuck!" he exclaimed as the realization hit him. As far as he knew, he had one more chance to rectify the situation. He had to approach one or both of the Sinclaires' at the gathering. He began to practice in his mind what he would say to them, and hoped that it would be good enough.

*******

Juliette went through her outfits several times trying to decide which one to wear. Hans had assured her that whatever she wore would be fine since he was making dinner at his house.

"Make sure that you behave yourselves." she said for the tenth time.

"Mom relax!" Wanda said. "We'll behave."

"I know." Juliette replied. "I'm sorry."

"Wear the gray slacks with the light blue top." Wanda suggested.

"Why that outfit?" Juliette replied.

"I don't know." Wanda shrugged, "It just looks nice."

After changing her mind several times, Juliette decided on the outfit that Wanda suggested. Juliette's stomach did flip-flops whenever she thought about her dinner with Hans. She hadn't told him about the gathering at Kevyn and Patrick's. She wanted to see how the evening went before she invited him.

How the kids felt about him was obvious. They liked him, and he liked them. The big point in his favor was Celeste who was acting more like a normal five year old, and wasn't as withdrawn.

"Would you be alright with Miss. Sasha if I went to get my nails and hair done?" Juliette asked Wanda.

"We'd be fine without her." Wanda replied.

"I know you would, but if she can't stay with you then I'm not going." Juliette replied.

She was proud of the fact that she never left her children alone no matter the reason. She had gotten into trouble on more than one occasion when Celeste's sitter cancelled at the last minute, and she had to take her to work with her.

"Would you prefer that I call in?" she asked every time it happened. "I would love a day of sitting around and watching movies with my baby."

That was all it took to shut the manager up. He knew that there was no way that he could do her job as well as his own. In addition, Juliette had a way with surly customers that no one else in the office had. Celeste had never been a problem during those times. She stayed in Juliette's office and colored or looked at books until lunch and then until it was time to leave.

"You know, on second thought, my nails look fine." Juliette said with a smile. "Why don't we watch a movie or something?" she asked.

"Can we go to the pool?" Victor asked.

"Yay! The pool!" Wanda chimed in.

"Then the pool it is." Juliette said. "Go get ready, and Wannie, help Celeste."

*********

As they finished dinner, Nathan decided to bring up Leon.

"He's a good man."

"Yes he is." Louise replied.

"He says that he's a night shift supervisor at the steel mill."

"Dad got him a job there before he died." Louise replied.

"Do you think that he would move to California?" Nathan asked.

"I know that he likes it here, but what would he do?" Louise asked.

"I have a couple of projects that need a man like him. Of course he'll be paid and receive full benefits." Nathan replied. "I'm planning to talk to him about it at the gathering."

"Ok but I need to tell you something... Gene asked me to talk to you about investing with him."

"What did you tell him?" Nathan asked.

"I told him no, and that he needed to talk to you." Louise replied.

"The other day while we were watching the game, Gene left a folder by the refreshments." Nathan said. "That folder contained investment proposals which by the way were damned good."

"But he didn't approach you." Louise said understanding Nathan's point.

"No, and then he tries to go through you." Nathan replied. "I have little respect for anyone, whether they are vampire, human or any other species who tries to go through the back door."

"How much is he asking you to invest?" Louise asked.

"Twenty-million." Nathan replied.

"Are you serious?" Louise asked. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm sure as hell not going to give him twenty-million dollars, and I don't care who he is." Nathan replied. "I plan to pull him aside and talk to him. I may invest a small amount, and I'm only doing that because he is now family."

"And because of me." Louise murmured.

"Sweetheart, I would do the same for Barb even though I don't like her. Once we mated, your family became my family, and that means they will be protected and cared for as I promised."

"I really do think that I got the better end of this deal." Louise said. "Thank you."

"You welcome, and I disagree. Thank you for the wonderful wedding gift." Nathan said as he leaned over and kissed her cheek. "What would you like to do this evening?"

"Make s'mores on the beach." Louise replied.

"Then that's what we'll do." Nathan replied. "But you need to rest first."

For once Louise didn't argue. A nap sounded good.

*******

Hans was at the hotel by six-thirty. He walked by the desk, nodded at the vampire staffing the desk for the evening, and made his way to the elevator. He got off on Juliette's floor and went to her suite. He took a deep breath, and tapped on the door.

He could hear the sounds of feet approaching the door and smiled. Wanda opened the door, and greeted him with a huge smile that warmed him. Victor was next in greeting him, and then finally Celeste who had her head cocked to the side.

"Yes Celeste?" Hans asked gently. "Do you want to ask me something?"

Celeste gasped. Hans was the first adult to understand what the tilt of the head meant. Instead of answering, she gave him a shy smile and ran off.

"Alright guys, remember to be good for Miss. Sasha, and call me if you need me."

"Mom..." Wanda said rolling her eyes.

"We'll be fine." Sasha said from behind Hans. "I've got tie-dye kits and the tee-shirts as well as some movies. So go have a good time."

"Thank you Sasha." Hans said. "Victor, here is my private number if you would like to call to check on your mother. I am sure that you will help in the care of your sisters."

Hans handed the card to Victor and noticed how he stood straighter upon being given the responsibility of protector.

After saying goodbye, Hans offered his arm to Juliette.

"That was a nice thing that you did for him." Juliette said as they walked down the hall.

"I did nothing that he wouldn't have ordinarily done. I just simply acknowledged it." Hans replied.

He nodded again at the vampire at the desk when they passed by, and led Juliette out to his car, a 2012 dark blue Altima. He opened the passenger door, kissed Juliette's temple; and then helped her in.

"What does the kiss on the temple mean?" Juliette asked when he got into the car. I noticed all of the couples at the reception doing it."

Hans was stymied. He had wanted to get through dinner before they started talking about the mating issue. However, she had asked a direct question.

"It means that you are under that person's protection." Hans replied hoping that she would be satisfied with the answer.

"Protection?" Juliette asked. "Protection from what?"

"Protection from those who would harm them, but it means more than that." Hans replied. "If you will indulge me, I will explain everything when we get home."

Juliette nodded and wondered what the big secret was. Thirty minutes later, they pulled into the driveway of a modest house that was impeccable in its upkeep. Hans opened the garage door, and pulled into a garage that was neater than many houses.

"Come in." Hans invited after helping her out of the car.

"What are you making?" Juliette asked. "It smells wonderful."

"Stuffed pork chops, scalloped potatoes and asparagus. For dessert I have cookies and cream ice cream." he replied.

"Who ratted on me?" Juliette asked smiling.

"A little bird by the name of Celeste told me." Hans said with a smile. "Please, make yourself at home. May I offer you a drink?"

"Water is fine." Juliette replied as she looked around the kitchen. "Do you live here alone?"

"Nadine lived here until two years ago." Hans replied. "She lives a few blocks west of here."

"Were you ever married?" Juliette asked.

"No." Hans replied nervously. The conversation was moving along faster than he wanted it to. "Please excuse me; I need to check on the meal. Feel free to make yourself at home in the living room."

Juliette went into the living room and looked at all of the pictures of Hans with Nadine. That he loved, and was proud of her was obvious. She started at what she thought was the earliest photos and made her way to the most recent ones. Something about the pictures niggled at her so she started back at the beginning, and made her way back to the most recent ones. What....

"Dinner is served." Hans said from the doorway of the dining room.

"Oh, ok." Juliette said still looking at the pictures.

Dinner passed quietly with Juliette eating every bite, and then offering to help clean up not taking no for an answer.

"If you insist, but I wash and you dry." Hans said.

"You have a dishwasher." Juliette said, "Why do you wash the dishes by hand?"

"I like the old way of doing things." Hans replied. "Everything has become so technical, and it feels good to do something in the old way."

"You don't like technology?" Juliette asked.

"I do, but there are times when it becomes a hindrance." Hans replied. "Take email for instance, no one writes letters or calls loved ones on the telephone. It has become impersonal."

"I see your point, but what about Skype? It allows friends and family to talk face to face across the world." Juliet said.

"True." Hans said. "Juliette, during the drive here, you asked a question about the kiss on the temple. I also saw you looking at the pictures of Nadine and me. I would like to explain some things to you."

Juliette hesitated, and then allowed Hans to lead her to the living room. Three hours later, she knew the whole story. Her first reaction was fear that she was with a crazy man, and then it was disbelief.

"A vampire?" she asked several times. "Nadine too?"

It wasn't until Hans showed her photographs of him and Nadine that spanned a hundred years that she finally believed him.

"What do you want with me?" she asked still not sure if she believed him.

"You are my mate." Hans said

"Mate?" she asked. "Wait... do the Sinclaires know what you are?"

"They are aware." Hans replied not wanting to say too much.

"And they're ok with this? Did you do something to make my kids like you?" Juliette asked.

"Yes the Sinclaires are fine with my being a vampire, and I did nothing to make your children like me." Hans replied. "I love children, and they seem to like me, but Juliette, lets talk about your children. I am thinking of Celeste in particular. Has she been different since she's been here?"

"Yes but..."

"When did you first notice the change in her?" Hans asked.

Juliette thought a minute before answering.

"The flight here...What are you saying?"

"Children are often very perceptive. They often see what adults do not. Celeste knows what I am, and so do the other two even if they aren't consciously aware of it. Now let's talk about you. You were attracted to me as much as I was attracted to you. Am I correct?" Hans asked.

When Juliette didn't answer, he continued.

"That is what we call the pull of mates. There was anothe chosen for me, but she wanted me no more than I wanted her. I begged and prayed for her to be taken from me even if it meant my spending eternity alone or probably dying."

"What happened to her? And why didn't she want you?" Juliette asked.

"She is alive and well." Hans replied. "We are not together because she broke our bond. I was to the point where I was going to accept her when she denied me not once, but several times. She didn't want me because I wasn't rich enough for her. She only saw that I was a manager of a hotel, and that placed me beneath her. I didn't want her because she was and is a taker who doesn't know how give or return love. She equates money and material possessions with love."

"She was stupid." Juliette murmured. "How do you know that I'm your mate and what about the kids?"

"I felt and feel for you what I should have felt for her. I want to protect you and the children. Juliette, I care for you and them. I don't want you to leave California. Will you at least think about what I've told you?"

"Umm ok... I think that I need to go back now." Juliette replied.

Hans drove Juliette back to the hotel in silence. He didn't want to interrupt whatever thought processes she was going through. He wanted to touch her but refrained. When they got back to the hotel, he walked her back to her suite.

"Good night Hans."

"Good night Juliette. Thank you for having dinner with me." he replied and started to walk away. He turned back to see Juliette still standing by the slightly open door. He walked back, took her into his arms and kissed her. "You belong to me." he thought at her not knowing if she could hear him or not.