'Til Death (Conversion Trilogy # 3)

Chapter Five: Grandpa Gabby

Chapter Five: Grandpa Gabby

Giggling woke me up. Giggling and my feet being licked. That woke me right up. Jerking my knee forward to avoid Spike’s early morning affections, I ended up smacking right into Teren’s…unmentionables. That woke him up too.

As the twins clamored up onto our bed, he rolled onto his stomach, groaning. “Emma… I know I’m a tough vampire and all, but some things still really hurt.”

His voice was pained and irritated and I couldn’t stop the chuckle. “I’m so sorry, babe,” I laughed out, genuinely feeling bad, but amused by his tone.

He peeked an eye up at me, his face not sharing in my amusement, but then Nika threw herself on his back and a smile finally broke out of the tight line of his lips. “Morning, Daddy!” she yelled, chipper as could be.

He gently shushed her, then twisted to hug her. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

A shaft of light fell across the two of them, highlighting the close-knit pair. Julian crawled into the space between Teren and I, snuggling his warm body into mine. “Hi, Mommy,” he muttered sleepily, not quite as awake as his sister. I clutched him to me, savoring the snugly affection of my little boy. I kissed his head and laid my cheek on him, glancing over at Teren tickling Nika. He looked back at me then too, smiling at the image of the close-knit pair beside him.

As Julian started to fall back asleep in my arms, Nika stopped her giggling and looked down at him. “Julie likes that, Mommy.” I tilted my head at her, but her eyes were on my hand rubbing circles into his back.  I smiled and hugged him tighter, feeling connected to him through my daughter.

“Thank you, Nika,” I murmured quietly.

She smiled brightly, bouncing on Teren’s stomach. “Daddy, can we go help Grandpa outside?”

Teren chuckled, halting her continuous pounding on his body. “Of course.” Raising an eyebrow at her, he added. “I don’t think Grandpa can run this place without us.”

Nika nodded and leaned down, like she was telling him a secret. “I know, Daddy. He needs our magic.”

A look passed over Teren’s face then that I knew was pain…grief. He knew that his father was aging, they all did, and there was nothing that could be done about it. He was human, his life was finite. Teren successfully changing me had pretty much been a miracle, Gabriel had confirmed it. Most mixed turnings were fatal to the human. And Halina wouldn’t bring someone into a full vampiric life, not that Jack wanted that life. He’d made peace with his fate long ago, and while he grieved for the future loss that Alanna and Teren would have to suffer through, he had shown no desire to live for all eternity. It was sad, but it was also a part of life.

Teren’s face regained his warmth as he held his daughter, our new life to help dull the sting of the old life passing. “You’re right, sweetheart. We’ll go help him after breakfast, okay?”

She nodded eagerly, bouncing on his chest again. I felt Alanna exit her rooms and start to head downstairs. Nika felt it too and twisted her head to watch. Twisting back to Teren, she kissed his nose. “I’ma go help Grandma.” She scrambled off his body as he nodded.

I watched her leave, skipping out the door. Shaking my head at her brightness, I looked back to him. “She gets her morning peppiness from you, you know.”

Teren, looking thoughtful as he stared out the door, blinked, then looked over at me. “What?” he asked distractedly.

Carefully shifting my sleeping child to the pillows, I sat up on an elbow and placed a hand on his arm. “Hey, you okay?”