Epilogue as told by Alex

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Minutes old and he has already bitten me. He quietly sucks on my thumb, slowly drinking.

"You are going to be a handful young man."

His eyes are barely open but I can see his mother in him. Those beautiful blue eyes, the fair skin and the insatiable blood lust.

"Ok that's enough."

He whimpers as I pull my thumb out of his mouth.

"Does he have fangs already?"

I nod as I pass him back to her, pulling back this lips revealing his gums, two tiny little fangs sit just outside of the gum.

"Well that is going to make breast feeding fun." she mutters.

"No, watch."

I move him closer to her chest, his little nose wiggles and the fangs recede. She lifts her shirt and he latches on like a normal baby. She winces at first.

"Still hurts." she groans.

I sit on the edge of the bed, watching him feed. I touch his soft brown hair, he is perfect.

"Thought about names?"

"Maybe something from our fathers?"

She smiles softly.

"Lucian Alexandru?"

"What about Dale?"

She frowns.

"Dale Winston Collins."

"So maybe, Lucian Alexandru Winston Eliade Leonte?"

He stops feeding and turns into a butterfly.

I huff.

"Back down here young man."

He flitters back down to Alina and sits on her chest, turning back into the baby, falling asleep.

"A real handful." I groan.

The maids fuss over my wife, quickly helping her get ready while Lucian is asleep. My mother steps into the room, slipping in and quietly moving to my side.

"The photographer is ready to go."

She wanders over to the crib, watching him as he sleeps peacefully. I stand beside her watching him sleep, she rubs my back, knowing what a long journey it has been. Convincing Alina that this path was the right path, keeping Finn away from her. How close I came to not having this, my son, my wife. I was so stupid. Alina has so much weighing her down now, with the pregnancy and now Lucian's birth, the whole Finn saga and that damned card from her last reading. Something big was brewing, Miranda as always was reluctant to hand over information until she had spoken to Godfrey. But we had managed to extract some pieces of information. A prophecy of four women was coming true, the first of these women was Alina, the second woman had already been found. The clock was ticking and Miranda was frantic, even though you could hardly see it, if you looked close enough you could see the fear in her eyes.

It takes just over an hour for the photographer to take all of the official portraits. Keeping Benton and Anica quiet and well behaved was a problem. My mother frowned at Erianna, I could tell she was being told off in her head. But Lucian was an angel. Slept through all of Benton's chattering and Anica's crying. And then there was my parents surprise, when my mother announced so long ago that she was pregnant, it was a surprise but of course not unusual. They had spoken about another child for quite some time but it was delayed due to the pressure of finding Alina in time. Two little babies rest on my mother's lap a boy, Marcos Javier and a girl Lidia Beatrice, they both screeched and gurgled as they bit their little fangs on their teething rings. Five young children to keep settled for long enough to have a picture taken was a complete nightmare. Alina's parents watched on with amusement, patiently waiting for the photographer to finish.

Tsar languidly wandered into the room, jumping up on Alina's lap.

"Just like his namesake." she mutters.

I grin at her, knowing how she now has two cats that sleep on her and how much she loves it. I pick up the cat and put him on the lounge. He meows at me, almost like he is objecting to being disturbed. Tough luck cat. Lucian stirs and wakes, Alina looks a little distressed, concerned that he might turn into a butterfly again and fly off.

"We will be quick, ok?" the photographer tries to reassure her.

She nods as she props him up onto her chest.

"Behave yourself young man." she whispers to him.

It is almost like he understands what she says to him, he lays in her arms and doesn't make a sound, he is a wonderful well behaved baby. 'He will make a great king one day' she said to me in those few moments after his birth. 'We will not force him to marry someone he doesn't know, he will choose his own love, he will choose his queen, human or dark being, it doesn't matter, what matters is his happiness.' I agreed with her, as much as I love Alina, I did not like the fact that I had an arranged marriage and I will not force that on my son. His happiness is all that I want. Welcome to the world Prince Lucian.

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