Epilogue
My phone played the notes of ‘I’m Not A Vampire’ by Falling in Reverse.
“Hi, Tristan. What’s up?” I asked, glad for a breather. I finally caved in and agreed to let Matthias train me (‘At least some self-defense, Vic!’) and I was regretting my choice as sweat poured down my back.
“Good afternoon. Are you still considering getting a cat?” Tristan asked.
“Yes? Why?” I asked.
“I can get you a cat,” Tristan said then coughed. “But, um, I need to know the answer to a second question. Do you want a baby?”
My brain screeched to a halt. We have talked about this, having kids, in the most loose of terms. There was no agreement, no expectations, no plans. But maybe there was an opportunity. Did Tristan find a kid for us to adopt?
But wait, wasn’t he talking about a cat?!
A baby... a cat... a baby cat...
A cat baby?!
“You have a cat-shifter baby!” I yelled into the phone. “Don’t you?!”
“ We have a cat-shifter baby,” Tristan corrected. “If you want.”
A baby that was going to attack me with a double dose of cuteness. A baby that was going to be a challenge to raise as none of us was a shifter. A baby that needed me. Tristan wouldn’t blindside me with this otherwise.
“Yes,” I said and my voice cracked. “Yes, I want a baby.”
Just a day later I cradled a six months old baby in my arms. The boy had small black tufts of hair on his little head and I wondered if all of his kind had this coloring. After all, he was a puma shifter.
“His mother died unexpectedly. If he was another kind of shifter, like for example a lion, he would be taken in by the extended family or raised in a group. But pumas don’t have structures like that and I couldn’t bear the thought of little Oscar ending in the human system or being passed from one supernatural group to another,” Tristan explained quietly, his finger caressing one chubby cheek as Oscar tried to latch onto his hand without success.
A year earlier, in the quiet darkness of the night, as we hid under the covers, Tristan told me about the two kids he had hundreds of years ago, about the family he had lost, so I knew how monumental it was that he wanted to try again.
He trusted me to build something lasting with him, a future that wouldn’t go up in flames.
“A baby,” Matthias said from the side. His voice held so much astonishment as if he saw an alien and not a tiny human.
When I extended the bundle towards him he took a panicked step back.
“He is the size of my hand. What if I drop him? What if I squeeze too hard? Please tell me he is more sturdy than a regular human baby. You know, like a cat. You can bowl a cat!”
“Do not bowl our baby,” I said sternly, pressing Oscar back to my chest.
“Our baby,” Theo whispered. He looked like he was going to cry. That wouldn’t do. I wanted to welcome the newest addition to our family with positive vibes.
“Come here. All of you,” I said. “Give me and Oscar a hug.”
The three vampires gathered around me and careful arms settled around me and my baby.
“Our baby!” Theo laughed and Matthias dared to smooth the curls of black on Oscar’s head with infinite gentleness. “We need to snatch Esther back from whomever she is babysitting for because, boy, we are going to need her help.”
We all shared smiles, the joy eclipsing any apprehension we had. I knew the next decade was going to be full of chaos, and challenges, and love.
So much love.
After all, there were four of us to give it to the little boy in my arms.