Human Purity Alliance (Hypernaturals 4)

You Are Family Now

Jessica looked down at Morgan on the bed. "Morgan, at the time I was not happy that happened. I admit that. That taught me that I am not quite as long-viewed as I thought. Not about Adrian. It would be different if you were some air-headed floozy. You are a very smart, honest, capable, self-assured woman therefore very sexy, even to me. You are exactly his type. You two get along well. Nothing against Helen. Their relationship: Adrian and Helen's, is of a different sort. Yours and Adrian's would be far more like mine and Adrian's, and that is a little threatening. I am not going to lie."

Morgan shook her head negatively "Not going to happen, Jessica. I would not try to get him away from you under ANY circumstance. Now, I cannot be affected like I was. I am in control and I am staying this way."

Jessica took a breath. Reset. "At the same time Morgan, I never blamed you for any of what did happen. Not your wanting him then and there. I never blamed Adrain for fanging your cute boob. He is never anything but honorable. As he said, there is a difference between wanting and doing. You are family now. You are part of us. Whenever you are read you just need to talk Adrian into cooperating with the inevitable. I am watching you be every bit as stupid and clueless about him as he is about Helen. One idea: get that little cabin you had at the Conclave and have another private hot tub party. Be a good place to start. Or right here. In this bed. well: not this exact bed. I broke this one. In our shower. Up to you." She smiled and patted Morgan's hand.

Morgan looked over at me and gave me a look. "It will take both of us coming around to that infamous Vampire long-term perspective on such things, and that will take a while. Or... Or me deciding that my Dad needs a grandchild."

Jessica shrugged "Probably less time than you think to come around. To make a short story long, when I first became Vampire thanks to Helen I was in a bad place. So depressed. Raised old school Catholic. I mean really old school. Over a century ago and the Hispanic version to boot. Having sex outside of marriage? Damn near unthinkable, and so I wasn't. If you can imagine me living a chaste life, I was. I hated it. Until Helen came along and eased me into her bed of course. That would not have happened had I not been in that place, and feeling like there were no choices. Then... Vampirism. The monthly need to drink blood. The intimacy of that for me, of course, meant drinking from a man. Physically young again, with the hormones to match, same as you are now, and disconnected from humanity in some unique ways. Also, the ways that you are now, Morgan."

Jessica gave an ironic smile. "I am amazed after that how quickly I adapted to the idea of having sex with a different man almost every single month. I may have hated my husband, but I did not hate men in general. Now I needed them for blood and lust. Ways that could be satisfied and with no consequences. You know what? I got laid whenever I wanted, which is damn often and much more than once a month, and by whomever I wanted. Men come in all varieties, shapes, sizes, and colors, and I tried them all out, one testosterone filled flavor at a time. All of them."

Jessica paused for emphasis "Hot and cold running sex on demand and lonely as hell! Almost as bad as being an aging spinster, but not bad enough to make me stop working through the human male variety pack. Helen was there to spice things up. I may not normally 'roll' that way, but she was always there, always a friend, never pushy. Men were transient. Helen wasn't and isn't."

Jessica looked at me with a great deal of affection. "Then Adrian. I was going to do it. Break the unwritten rule about getting into a relationship with a human. To be with the same loving, caring, decent man, even if only for a few decades. I wanted that so much, but I never considered having it until after Adrian and my first night together. Variety pack be damned: having a reliable lover and being in love? It's a gift. It is a gift you, my Morgan, have and will want to unwrap. You are at your hormone carbonated peak, girl. You will be until you die. I repeat what I told you that night you turned. Never feel guilty about loving my good man. You have an unlimited get out of jail free card, should you get over your cheap ass selves. Even if you just need to get laid by a Vampire boy over and over to burn through your new bodies lust, not to have a baby. Hell: Marry us. Whatever. I mean it, Morgan. I only extend this to you and Helen. Never apologize for loving Adrian, because that is insulting, and I can totally kick your ass. You can train with me for hours, but you insult me or him that way, and you are hitting the carpet, lady."

Morgan nodded along with Jessica's pep talk and Angel's blood told me that even though she appeared outwardly cool to the things Jessica said to her, and even though she has her scent on lockdown, I can read her temptation. Morgan cannot see herself ever letting go. Her self-respect is in the shitter right now. To fix it, she needs to be Morgan. The version of herself that she knew from before. "What we need to solve is the problem we have from HPA humans right now. I appreciate everything you are saying and it means more to me than I can possibly tell you. HPA first, my love and lust life after." Morgan said, then added, "I have to say that it is a little weird being on the other side of that situation, after being a human in the Vampire world for so long."

I gave a bitter laugh. "Try killing a drug dealer with your bare hands a few months in. Everything about you changes when you suddenly wake up and realize which side of that line you are on."

My mom looked a little troubled at that. "Therein lies something we can never really prepare a human contemplating the change. Jessica and I can have all sorts of supportive treatments ready to get a human through physical trauma. We cannot really convince anyone that their whole world will be different. The way ones perspective changes when instead of living for at most a century you might live for several thousand years instead. Neither you, Morgan nor you, Adrian, have left behind your human point of view. Jessica just said that she thought she left it behind, only to find she still has some very human traits. She's been at this over a century." She paused, added, "Still, Helen seems to have adapted."

I laughed at that. "I am willing to bet Helen was a firecracker when she was human, too."

Mom looked troubled, and it quickly became clear what bothered her. "You know Jessica? I hear that story about you and Adrian, and every time I do I realize how little a part of your life Ben and I will be if we do not take the change. You will hardly know us before we are gone, by your lifetimes' lights."

Jessica gave back the frown. "I know. That bothers me all the time. I knew my biological parents for such a short time... I don't want that to happen with you, too. I also don't want to short sell the problems on this side of the change either."

Mom did not reply.