Carrie's eyes widened even further at the physically impossible feat of strength before her. She looked back at Teren, panic clear on her face. "What?" She finally whispered.
He walked to her slowly, careful to not make her bolt. Opening his mouth, he extended his fangs to her. She screamed and our children covered their ears. Calmly, Halina said, "Stop that immediately." Carrie stopped immediately. Her body shaking lightly, she looked over at Halina. She seemed conscious of the fact that she hadn't willingly stopped screaming; she was even swallowing like she was trying to still make it happen.
Teren sighed and stepped in front of her. She shook as she watched him and he smiled around his fangs. "I won't hurt you, Carrie." He shrugged. "I'm still me."
Her shaking eased a bit as she ignored his fangs and stared into his eyes. Not removing herself from the wall, she shook her head. "Oh my God, Teren...that's not possible."
He lightly touched her arm. She flinched back from his cool touch, maybe now realizing why he was so cold. "I'm sorry...but it is." He removed his hand from her. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you this back then. I think if I had, and you'd left...I wouldn't have had a problem wiping your mind."
She relaxed against the wall as that word echoed in her brain. "Wiping my... What are you talking about? What are you going to do to me?" She started to inch away from him a little bit, but that brought her closer to Halina, so she stopped. "Are you going to hurt me?" she asked, looking back at him.
He tilted his head and I stood up to stand beside him, clenching his hand again. Carrie looked between our hands and his teeth, seemingly unsure how I could stand so close to him. Just as he was about to answer her question, Julian beat her to it. "Daddy's nice, Daddy don't hurt."
We all looked over to him, at his little brow scrunched in a frown. I wasn't sure what my children thought of Carrie's reaction, but it was obviously bothering Julian. Carrie seemed to realize this too and instantly slapped a smile on her face. "Oh, I know that, sweetheart. I was just...kidding around." She laughed lightly, but I could hear the nervousness behind it.
Walking over to my children, I picked them off of Halina's body. "If you two go upstairs and get ready for bed, you can sleep with Mommy and Daddy tonight, okay?" They both grinned and turned to run upstairs. "Remember to brush!" I called up after them.
Twisting around, Carrie was staring at me flabbergasted. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare them," she said quietly.
I smiled at her concern and shook my head. "We freaked you out, it's understandable."
Straightening, she looked back at Teren, his face sad, his fangs extended. "You're...a vampire?"
He nodded, looking over at me as I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him. Meeting her eyes, I dropped my own fangs. "We all are...and we have no desire to hurt you."
Halina snorted derisively, but I ignored it. Luckily, Carrie ignored it too. "But, you are going to...wipe me?" She cocked her eyebrow and looked between the two sets of fangs before her.
Teren and I slipped our teeth up at the same time. Smiling sadly, he said, "I'm just going to fix a mistake. We don't let anyone remember us, and I never should have let you remember losing the baby. That was...selfish of me."
The scent of fear easing from her, she shook her head. "I won't remember you?" She looked back at Halina, her own tall form inches higher than the teenage vampire's. Swallowing at the blank look on the intimidating woman's face, she twisted back to Teren. "But not all of you is a bad memory." She smiled warmly, her body relaxing as she took a step forward. "Most of you is a good one." She flushed slightly as she glanced at me. "A very good one," she whispered.
I flushed too as I remembered Alanna commenting once that sex with a vampire was...unforgettable. I had to imagine that, even new at it, Teren had been...skilled. Forcefully shoving the idea of them tangled in a bed together from my mind, I firmly compressed my lips.
Teren smiled slightly and looked down, maybe remembering his mother say that as well. Peeking up at her, he softly said, "It will be easier for us both...if you don't."
She sighed, looking over his face. Shrugging her shoulders, she shook her head. "Will it hurt?"
Teren smiled widely, placing his hand on her arm. She didn't flinch away this time. "No, of course not." He laughed once, a hint of sadness in the sound. "And for the first time, I actually believe that this won't hurt me either." I squeezed his waist, resting my head on his silent, loving heart.
He looked down on me and then back to her. "You taught me so much about being careful, being cautious...about how dangerous my secret could be. Because of what we went through, I knew I had to take the chance and let Emma in. I had to let her love me, as me. And luckily for me, she did." He laughed lightly as I felt that flush come back. Teren sighed softly. "I thank you, for showing me that."
She smiled and nodded at Teren, then swallowed nervously when Halina took a step forward. Stepping up to Carrie's side, Halina tilted her head. Flicking a glance at Teren, she coolly said, "Did you tell anyone about Teren getting you pregnant?"
Carrie swallowed and shook her head, her gray eyes wide. "No, aside from my horribly rude conversation with Emma," her eyes swung back to mine, apologetic, "I don't talk about my miscarriage." She shrugged, still looking at me. "I mean, even before they passed away, I never told my parents who the father was." Her eyes glanced over at Teren. "It was...private."
Halina grabbed her arm, swinging Carrie's attention back to her. "Good, then this will be very easy for me."
Carrie started shaking again as Halina held her arm and her gaze. Stepping forward, Teren cupped her cheek. "Don't be afraid, you won't remember any of this."
She nodded, a tear filling her eye and dropping down her cheek. "I'll miss you."
Teren smiled sadly, his own eyes filling. "No...you won't be missing anything, Carrie." I sniffled back my own tears as Teren twisted to his great-grandmother. "Take it," he whispered, his tears finally falling. "Take it all."
Chapter 7 Happy Birthday
Teren woke me up the next morning with soft lips on my neck. Murmuring good morning, he sighed a content, cool breath into my ear. I smiled and shivered, twisting to wrap my arms around him. Exhaling in a long, satisfied way, he squeezed me so tight I had a little trouble breathing.
Pushing him back a little, I laughed when I could breathe again. "Good morning to you, too." Glancing over his shoulder at his clock, I frowned. "It's so early, why are you up?"
He shook his head, his pale eyes glowing with phosphorescence and happiness as he watched me in our still dark bedroom. "I just couldn't sleep anymore."
I frowned, my glowing eyes flicking over his face. "I know yesterday was hard for you, are you okay?"
He inhaled a deep breath, letting it out in a rush. "Yeah, I feel great. Like a weight has been lifted, a weight I didn't even realize I'd been carrying. I feel...free." He chuckled and rubbed his nose along mine. "And I owe it all to you."
I giggled as his nose ran along my cheek, his lips running up to my ear. Sliding my hands up his back, I pulled his body into mine. "I didn't do anything, Teren. Last night was all you."
I smiled as I remembered his last moments with Carrie. Halina had looked her in the eye and calmly given her a new life. She'd been told that she'd never had a serious boyfriend in high school, that she'd never been pregnant before, that the name Teren Adams meant nothing to her, and upon leaving our home, she would forget everything about the man standing before her.
Under Teren's guidance, Halina then told her that she was going to stay in the city, enjoying the remainder of her two week vacation, then she was going to go home and enjoy her life. Teren also threw in that she was going to confidently ask her boss out on a date. He'd smiled widely after Halina had rolled her eyes and imbedded the suggestion.
I'd been a little shocked with the ease that Halina had wiped her clean. Once Carrie had been escorted to a cab and sent to a hotel that Teren had reserved for her, I'd made the mistake of proclaiming my surprise at how simple it was to Halina. She'd looked at me like I'd offended her. "You expected something...grander?"
Shrugging, I'd only managed to come up with, "Well, yeah, actually."
Her response, as typical, had been better than mine. "The human mind is exceptionally pliable. All I have to do is tell you what to believe, what to do, and you do it." Smirking, she finished with, "Truly, you are not much different than the cattle."
I was still trying to not be too offended by that.
Teren paused in sucking on my earlobe. "You did so much for me, just by being there." He pulled back to look at me, his playful eyes suddenly serious. "I don't think I could have done it without your support." The glow highlighted our sheets as he looked down. My vamped-up vision could make out a section of the glow that was brighter, a ring directly around the iris. It was beautiful.
"I should have done that ages ago, but I was so scared to let go." He smiled and looked up at me. "But it was easier than I thought it would be." His fingers came up to caress my cheek. "Because of you. I didn't really lose anything, because I still have you." Tilting his head, a look of pride on his face, he added, "I kind of feel like I grew up last night."
I laughed softly. "Well, welcome to being an adult."
Chuckling, he kissed me softly. "That's what I get for marrying an older woman." I gently smacked his arm and he chuckled again. "What? You are almost out of your twenties."
He raised an eyebrow and I smacked him again, harder. "And you already are, even if you still look perfect."
His grin turned devilish. "Perfect?"
I sighed and looked him over. "Yes...perfect."
He looked me over as well, the thumb on my cheek stroking my skin. "Not as perfect as you," he whispered.
I sighed softly again, placing my hand over his on my cheek. He leaned in and we kissed tenderly, arms and legs and bodies tangling together. Just as I was pulling him on top of me, our light kissing getting more intimate, a foot kicked me in my rib. Breaking apart from his lips, I glanced over at my son beside me. I'd nearly forgotten that I'd told them both that they could sleep with us. Quite a feat, since I could feel them in my head. Without looking, I knew with certainty that Nika was on the other side of Teren.
He glanced over at her fast-asleep body, then shifted to my side. Grinning at me crookedly, he shrugged. "Want to go outside? It's been a long time since we've had sex in the car?"
I laughed out loud, then slapped a hand over my mouth. It was too late though. Nika immediately sat up and looked over Teren's shoulder. "Morning, Mommy!" she exclaimed brightly. Inwardly, I groaned. If was too early for me, it was way too early for them.
"Morning, sweetheart," I whispered, hoping that at least Julian was still sleeping. No such luck.
"Quiet, Nick," he mumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.