vampires of san francisco 07 - suckers lost and found (17 page)

“I’m looking at my schedule and I have a late afternoon opening. I’ll need specific equipment. Do you think your Djinn can handle that? It would be a nightmare to get it to top side.”

“I’m sure he will be accommodating especially since he wants his vampire fiancée to get pregnant too. It looks like we will be keeping you in a lot of business.”

Dr. Hildebrand laughs.

“It would be my pleasure. I’ll see you at four. Have Aidan call me and I will tell him what I need.”

“I will. We’re keeping this a secret for a couple more hours.”

“Doctor – patient privileges are officially invoked when I take you on as a client and that would be now. So don’t worry about anything you ever tell me.”

“Thank you, Dr. Hildebrand,” Lily says in a cheery voice. The second time I’ve heard that level of happiness in her voice. The first time was when we said our wedding vows. 

“You are most welcome, Lily. I will see you soon.” He hangs up. I hug Lily close to me. 

“I have to call Diel and get the portal started. I’ll ask him not to tell Hannah until we can all get together.”

“Call him, sweetheart. I’m going to check in on Manda,” she says.

“Be careful in there,” I say to her back. I’m getting that stool for the bed today. I don’t want her jumping up and down. I may even ask Aidan to get it for me. I realize how happy I am and rejoice that my Lily took pity on a man in despair who turned out to be a Djinn. Aidan gave us a miracle.

“I will,” she says and waves her hand over her shoulder at me. 

I hear Lily singing. Hmm… she doesn’t sing. She has a beautiful voice, though. I better call Diel or I’ll keep her from leaving the bedroom.

“Diel? Hey, it’s Sebastian. How are you doing?”

“Hey, Sebastian. Pretty good. You know, running after two kids non-stop. I can’t believe Hannah’s still nursing. That’s the only time they don’t want our attention. But I’m loving every minute of it so I can’t complain,” Diel says. The contentment is evident in his voice.

“I have a couple of things I have to tell you. But you have to keep both a secret from Hannah until we can gather the whole family together later today.”

“Shoot. You know, Hannah will try to devil it out of me.” I smile, appreciating his pun.

“You especially have to keep it from Hannah. Lily would kill me if Hannah knew before Lily gets a chance to tell her.”

“What’s this big secret? You’ve got my full attention.”

“Lily and I are pregnant. Aidan gave us the opportunity for a wedding present.”

“Holy shit! Oh, this is big… I can’t believe you want me to keep it from Han. She’s going to kill me when she finds out I knew first.”

“I know, but I want Lily to have her moment.”

“Totally understand, dude. But why are you telling me now instead of later?”

“I need a favor. Actually, I’m prepared to pay handsomely. I need a temporary portal set up between our atrium and Dr. Hildebrand’s office. He said he would make house calls and he thinks Lily will be able to have a home birth.”

“That would be so cool. I’ll get it set up in the next ten minutes. All you need to pay for is the licensing and permit. It should be around fifty thousand.”

“I’ll wire the money wherever you need right now. I have my laptop here. Can you give me the information?”

“Yeah, just a minute, let me get to my office. I’ll call Aidan and have him zap me over to construct it. It will be faster that way. Wait, does Aidan know?”

“He heard me yelling when we found out.”

“Damn, that guy has some major mojo.”

“I know. I’m going to owe him for the rest of my life for this. Even with it being a gift, I’ve never thought I would be able to become a father.”

“I just emailed you the info for the transfer. I’ll wait until it gets sent. The licensing and permit will be within seconds of the transfer and then I can build it. That’s one thing that’s cool about Hell. They took all the red tape out of the building codes.”

“Excellent. I just wired everything. You should be good to go.”

“Checking now… yep. We’re cleared. I’ll hang up and call Aidan. See you soon.”

“Ciao.” I hang up feeling like this is really happening. It’s all surreal.

Lily came back in the room while I was on the phone. She’s in front of the mirror with a hand on her stomach. I walk up behind her and place my hands over hers. She smiles at me in the mirror and I kiss her neck. No baby bump yet but I have a feeling we will be checking every five minutes until it is there.

“Diel will be here shortly so I need to get dressed too. I love you.”

“I love you too. I’ll have Aidan get something to eat for Diel. I need to get some champagne iced for everyone later. Hurry honey.”

I nuzzle her neck until she wiggles out of my arms. I laugh and swat her playfully on the butt before heading to the closet. Aidan had our clothes moved over this morning.

I hear the doorbell while dressing so I finish dressing and head for the front living room. I find Diel and Aidan in the front room and sit down to some of the tea that Lily had Aidan summon for me. I shake both men’s hands first. I give Aidan an extra squeeze hoping I convey how thankful I am.

Aidan squeezes back. Then he stands up and gives me a very brotherly hug, patting me on the back. His grin is contagious. Lily is beaming. Glowing even.

“You know that you and Manda are next,” I tell Aidan.

“Oh my goodness, a baby Djinn. Will the baby have any of your talent, Aidan?” Lily asks.

“I’ve only heard of one other Djinn doing this and the baby was one hundred percent like the mother as far as magick went. So I don’t think so. Can you imagine trying to care for a baby Djinn?”

“Goodness, no. It would be near impossible. He would be popping out every other minute with no idea of where he went to.” Lily shivers with horror. “I think a baby vamp is going to be hard enough,” she says frowning.

“Cherie, between the two of us we can handle anything.” Her smile returns.

“Thanks, Bast. I love you. I love all of you. Thank you for doing this for us.” Her eyes shine, definitely hormones. I smile to myself, looking forward to the fluctuations in mood ahead. I’ll be at her side on each rise and dip of the emotional roller coaster.

“My pleasure,” Diel says as he hugs her.

“Mine too,” Aidan says as he gets in line for his hug.

“Let’s get to work on your portal. It should only take a few minutes. Where do you want it?” Diel asks.

“In the atrium, the room with the pool in it,” I say.

“I’m going to sit with Manda in case she wakes up. I don’t want her alone.”

“Thanks, Lilith. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Aidan tells her. We watch Lily leave the room.

“Aidan, Dr. Hildebrand wondered if you could supply the equipment he will need on this side. We thought that Manda would need it after us or at the same time, depending on your plans,” I say on the way to the atrium. “He wondered if you could call him to find out what he needs.”

“Of course. I will get whatever he requires. It’s a great idea to have the portal open. Maybe we can keep it open long enough for Manda to use it too?” he asks as he looks at me.

“Yes, I think that would be a great idea. We are going to set up one of the bedrooms just for the equipment and exams so you could have privacy when she is ready,” I say. “Diel, what do we have to do to keep it open?”

“I set the permit to have the option of making it permanent in one year. That way if you need a pediatrician from down under the portal will be there. Dr. Green is amazing with the twins and is in the same building as Dr. Hildebrand so it will be easy for him to access the portal.”

“I know Hannah really did her research, he sounds great to me. I want to ask him a few questions first, though,” I say. “With this portal open you guys won’t have to go to the public portals anymore. You can just come here.”

“That would be great. I’ve been thinking of putting one in Hannah’s house but I think we’ve outgrown it. We’re still debating on where we want to live.” Diel pushes a hand through his hair and grins. “I keep pushing for Pacific Heights, your neighborhood, but Hannah is a Berkeley girl. Where we end up doesn’t really matter to me. I just don’t want to put a portal into a house we will be selling soon.”

“That would be a bitch,” I say.

“I think Manda and I will be moving as well. I can always add rooms to my flat but it is a bit off the grid. If we have a child, when we have a child, I want to be near those we love. I think Manda will be amenable to that.”

Diel slaps his hands together disturbing our moment of anticipatory domesticity. I give Aidan a sheepish look and he grins back.

“Let’s get this portal done first or all is for naught,” he says slipping into his aristocratic speak.

We lead him to the atrium and show him the spot we want it in. When he starts chanting he raises his hands and light emanates from them. He looks every part the Demon. His eyes glow and his voice changes to something demonic and then it’s over. It gives me a shiver. 

“Sorry, I should have warned you I get a little spooky when I do Demon things.”

“Nonsense, your magick is very cool. I always wondered what it would be like,” I say, trying to make him feel at ease. But he’s right, if I didn’t know what a great guy he is and that he has my back I would have been running to get Lily out of the house. I shiver again internally.

“Hannah thinks it’s hot, but we all know she’s got distinctive tastes,” he says, laughing. 

“Hannah is a freak if that is what you’re trying to say. But we all love her dearly. She’s mellowed since meeting you.” Aidan slaps him on the back.

The portal shines like a new penny. A bright copper gooey hole.

“Thanks, Diel. It looks great. How do we keep just anyone coming in?”

“We’ll password it. Give Hildebrand the password and Dr. Green if you choose him. You should be safe.”

“Great, how do we set that up and I’ll call him with the password,” I say.

Diel comes over and we discuss it. He waves his hand across the portal and it shimmers purple for a second then goes back copper. I call Hildebrand to give him the password. We decided on Goodwill as the password. It is the last year Lily will be able to use that last name. 

“Aidan, can you pop me home? I need to get back before Hannah gets suspicious.”

“No problem. I don’t hear Manda yet so let’s go.”

As they wink out, I go to Aidan and Manda’s room. Lily is sitting in the bed, behind Manda, stroking her hair. She’s woken up. When she sees me, she hisses. I hold my hands up to let her know I mean her no harm.

“Shh… Manda dear, Sebastian is my husband and mate. He’s one of the good guys. He helped rescue you. It’s okay, Manda. I won’t let anyone hurt you. You have a lot of people around who love you now.”

Manda leans her head back to Lily’s shoulder. Lily hugs her and Manda wraps an arm around Lily’s to hug her back. Just then Aidan pops in and Manda eyes him warily but she doesn’t hiss. This is good.

“Manda, love, are you hungry?” 

Manda groans and nods. Aidan transmanifests out again and is back in seconds with a human. Manda tries to leap at him but Lily is firmly holding her.

“Manda, honey. We have to do this with care, remember? No tearing into him and only enough to fill you but not harm him. You’ll still feel hungry but your body will have had enough until this evening. Then we will get you another. Do you understand me?” Lily asks her.

“Y-yes,” Manda answers.

“Let’s go then. I’m going to be behind you to help you quit when you need to.”

Lily maneuvers them into position and Manda strikes. Manda is making pleasurable sounds while she eats, like she did when she was human. Lily gently nudges her to see if she will quit on her own and Manda hesitantly relinquishes her lunch.

“Very good, Manda!” Lily says. I also tell her she did a good job and she smiles a small smile. It is the first we’ve seen.

“Manda, my love, may I hug you?” Aidan asks, looking unsure of himself.

Manda blows out a breath she didn’t need but at the same time I know it comforted her.

“Yes, A-aidan.”

The smile that breaks out on Aidan’s face is remarkable as he hugs Manda. She even tries awkwardly to hug him back. Lily is shedding more tears. I forgot to ask Dr. Hildebrand about that. I will make it a priority for his visit this afternoon.

“Manda, can I help you dress?” Aidan asks.

Manda smiles the sweetest smile at him and nods. Lily and I take our cue to leave. We go back to our bedroom. I pick her up before she has a chance to jump up on the bed. I pull her onto my chest as we wait for Aidan and Manda. I’m starting to feel some hope there. Manda is doing exceptionally well. I think it helped that she had been around us prior to her turning.

Aidan and Manda knock on our open door and come in. Manda is wearing couture and heels. She has on pearls and her hair is piled on top of her head. They are holding hands and Manda seems a bit more relaxed.

“I think we should do something about this house, Lilith,” Aidan says. “What do you say, Manda? Want to see me do some magick?”

Manda cautiously nods her head and looks at Lily for approval. Lily jumps up, smiles and claps her hands.

“Yes please, Aidan. Oh Manda, this is going to be so much fun. You let us know when you are hungry again, okay?”

Manda nods again. I don’t think she feels as comfortable around us all as she does with just Lily.

If those vampires weren’t already dead, I would kill them again. I pick Lily up off the bed and carry her to her next adventure, decorating.

FIFTEEN / LILITH

We walk into a huge foyer, from there the rest of the house opens up. The air is stale and musty. First thing I need to do is air it out. The floor plan is open and I like it that way. Everything is on one floor. As we go from room to room we notice little things the house offers like original art deco fixtures and stained glass windows in small alcoves and above the door. I open windows as we go. We make our way to the indoor pool. The room has beautiful mosaics in a Mediterranean style. Everything is in blues and white. Except for the pulsing portal to Hell. It shines bright with its copper hues. After that we go to the master bedroom. The bedroom has an actual Tiffany window in it. The wine cellar already has our wine we sent back with Aidan in it. Our Persian rugs have arrived and all the other purchases we made on the cruise.