"That's wonderful." Toni smiled at him, and he smiled shyly back, his cheeks dimpling.
"Uncle Connor said you were nice. He said you know how to kick a--"
"Whoa, Uncle Connor talks too much." Shanna removed her coat, then turned to her son. "Let's get you out of that jacket."
While Shanna hung up jackets on the hooks by the back door, Radinka unloaded groceries from the remaining bags on the table.
"We weren't sure if you had enough food here." Radinka set a carton of milk in the fridge, then grabbed the kettle from the stove. "I'll make everyone a nice cup of tea."
Constantine eyed the bags of fruit still on the table. "Can I have a banana?"
"Here you go, sweetie." Shanna handed him one, then stashed the bags in the fridge.
Toni was about to offer Constantine some help when she realized he didn't need it. He peeled the banana, then bit off a piece while he studied his book.
He pointed at a word. "Is this house?"
She peered over his shoulder. "Yes, it is." What a bright little boy he was. She wondered if he was Shanna's from a previous relationship. Surely Vamp men weren't able to have children. "Thank you for coming today."
"We were happy to." Shanna hooked the empty tote bags on the pegs with their coats. "A delivery man's bringing a tree around noon. We always decorate one for the guards."
"Oh, that's nice." With all the turmoil in her life, Toni had forgotten that Christmas was coming soon.
Radinka set out three cups and saucers on the counter. "We saw those women out front with their posters. I can't believe they're behaving so silly."
"Yeah." Toni sat next to Constantine. "It's crazy."
Shanna shook her head. "Poor Ian. I heard he really had to suffer to get his older looks." Radinka made tsking noises as she placed a teabag in each cup. "Gregori told me he's doing a television interview tonight with Corky Courrant."
Shanna made a face. "That's a disaster waiting to happen."
"Why?" Toni asked.
Shanna bit her lip, considering. "I should leave Ian a note, begging him not to do it. Is he in the basement?"
"No, he outgrew his coffin. He's on the fifth floor." Toni winced. "In your husband's bedroom." Shanna laughed. "Well, looks like I'll get some exercise. Be right back." She strode from the kitchen.
Toni was tempted to go with her. She'd seen Ian only once this morning, right before calling in her eight o'clock report. She'd risen at six-thirty A.M. and was having breakfast in the kitchen when Phineas and Dougal had come in for a bedtime snack before retiring to the basement. She'd hoped to see Ian, but he'd gone straight up to the fifth floor without stopping by to see her. Why had he not wanted to talk to her? She was a bit worried that he'd actually hit it off with one of those fifty Vamps he'd dated last night.
The kettle whistled, and Toni jerked back to the present. She had to stop thinking about Ian so much.
Howard strode into the kitchen. "Those women are psycho! One of them hit me with a poster when I told her Ian wasn't here."
Toni winced. "Sorry. They do seem awfully determined."
Radinka handed Howard a cup of tea. "Such nonsense. Are they still there?"
"I got them to leave, but I'm afraid they'll come back." Howard drank some tea. "I'd better check on the guys. Is Ian still on the fifth floor?"
"Shanna's already on her way up there." Radinka set a cup of tea in front of Toni.
"I'll start in the basement then." Howard gulped down the rest of his tea, then left the room grumbling about crazy women.
"Is this truck?" Constantine looked up at Toni, then pointed at another word.
She glanced at his book. "Yes, it is." He had finished his banana. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Can I have some milk?"
"Sure." Toni hunted through the cabinets, but couldn't find any plastic cups. She'd have to give him a glass. She set it in front of him, and he drank without hesitation.
She sat next to him. "How old are you, about four?"
He grinned with a milk mustache. "I'm almost two."
Toni gaped, then shut her mouth quickly since she didn't want to embarrass the little boy.
"You're...sure?" "He'll be two in March." Radinka added some milk to her tea. "He's very clever, isn't he?"
More than clever, Toni thought. He was a wonder child.
"Is Toni with us?" Constantine asked.
Radinka tilted her head, considering Toni. "She may not know it yet, but I believe she is." What did that mean? Toni sipped her tea with a growing sense of confusion.
"Do you want to see what I can do?" Constantine backed away from the table and spun around. "That's great!" Toni smiled appreciatively.
He gave her a dubious look. "I haven't done it yet."
"Oh, sorry." Toni's mouth dropped open as the young boy slowly rose to the ceiling. "Oh my gosh."
Radinka sat at the table with her cup of tea. "He's very special."
"I'm back." Shanna strode into the kitchen. She picked up her cup of tea and glanced around the room. "Where's Tino?"
A giggle from the ceiling drew her attention, and Shanna snorted. "I should have known." She gave Toni a wry look. "I've been trying to teach him to clean the ceiling fans."
"He--he's floating," Toni said lamely.
Constantine giggled and performed a front somersault.
"Oh, now you're just showing off." Shanna sipped some tea. "You should see him and his daddy play basketball."
"I blocked Daddy's goal by sitting in the hoop," Constantine boasted.
"He--he's really Roman's son?" Toni asked. "How--?"
"Roman's a genius. Don't ask me how, but he inserted his DNA into human sperm." Shanna patted her stomach. "We're expecting another one in May. A little girl."
"Oh. Congratulations." Toni watched Constantine float down to the floor. She couldn't believe it. Shanna and Radinka were sipping tea like it was entirely normal to breed half-human/halfvampire children.
"Did you ask if it was okay before you levitated?" Shanna asked her son.
"Yes, Mommy." He climbed back onto his chair.
"That's good." Shanna sat across from him. "We've been teaching him to be careful about levitating. It's not something we want just anyone to see."
"Like Grandpa." Constantine drank more milk.
"I'm afraid so," Shanna agreed. "My dad is the head of the CIA Stake-Out team. They'd like to eliminate all vampires from the planet."
Toni winced. "That's got to be a little awkward for family reunions."
"Tell me about it. Fortunately, my dad's crazy about his grandson, so he's ignoring the Vamps and concentrating on the Malcontents. But if he found out that Tino's inherited some unusual genes, it could cause a problem."
The little boy slumped over his book. "Would Grandpa not love me anymore?"
"Oh, sweetie." Shanna rushed over to hug her son. "He'll always love you. We all love you so much."
"We sure do." Radinka's eyes glimmered with emotion as she regarded the little boy. Toni felt a tiny twinge of envy. How lucky this boy was to be so loved. She'd always wanted her mother's love, but it had never happened. Her mom had gone on to marry the man of her dreams and have two more children. Toni had never been welcome there. Her only experience with maternal love had been from her grandmother, and that had ended abruptly when she was thirteen. When she had failed her.
When Toni had first entered the Vamp world a few nights ago, she had expected to find a scary place filled with creepy characters. Instead she'd found a group of Vamps and mortals who were caring and compassionate. It was obvious that they looked out for one another. Shanna had run up five flights of stairs just to leave Ian a note.
Was she with them? That was the question Constantine had asked. With a small shock, Toni realized she could be an accepted member of this extended family--a family that cared for one another and trusted one another. She could be a part of it all. Never rejected again. Never made to feel like she wasn't good enough.
It was so...tempting. But alarming, too, for she already had her life planned out with Sabrina. Sabrina was her family, not these people in the Vamp world. As soon as the mess with Sabrina was resolved, Toni could leave the Vamp world forever. Two days ago she'd been eager to leave. Now she was starting to feel...wanted. And valued. For the first time, she realized she was getting pulled in two different directions.