Adrian and Bias were outside playing on the waterslide as Isa watched from the back porch. It took everything in her not to jump up and snatch her precious baby boy from her husband/mate's arms and cradle him to her chest. Toby was only five months old, and watching Adrian clutch him to his muscular chest, then fly down the Slip 'N Slide at his immortal speed had Isa wincing and occasionally crying out in fear, though she knew that Adrian knew what he was doing and would never hurt their son.
Tobias on the other hand seemed somewhere between being as terrified as Isaline as Adrian ran across the yard at top speed, and then having the time of his life as they actually flew through the sprinklers. Those two had been at it for over two hours, and from the way her milk was dropping Tobias would be crying for Momma within the next thirty minutes. She still thought it was too soon for Adrian to be playing with her baby like that, but he wasn't going to listen to her complaints.
And then she started to leak.
"Ah, shit," She hissed under her breath as she stood up just as Adrian decided to use his powers to their fullest potential, looking like a flash of lightning when he ran. Toby squealed as they flew down the slide, and as soon as they stopped moving, he started to cry, his stormy grey eyes wide as he watched Isa walk across the yard at a human speed. She smiled when he stopped crying to grin at her as she took him from Adrian's arms, and by the time Isa had pulled the strap of her tank top down, and exposed her breast, the infant was already latching on, and sucking away, making the loud, borderline obnoxious grunting noises he made any time he was fed.
Adrian, soaking wet, and as sexy as ever, stood, and trailed behind Isa as she walked back towards the house to grab a blanket to wrap her wet baby in until he finished nursing and could be changed.
When Isa yawned, her precious son copied, his beautiful eyes squeezing shut for the duration before they were open, then rolling as he started to doze. His hair was curly, and a deep brown with blonde streaks, and he had inherited Isaline's doe eyes, but aside from that, Tobias looked just like Adrian, just as Isaline had prayed. He weight twelve pounds and could still fit perfectly in the crook of both of his parents' arms, definitely what one would call an arm baby. Tobias Marquise Lew was a quiet baby, but when he cried, it was loud enough to make everyone in his vampiric family's ears ring, and even the human side winced as well.
Having a father that owned and was the director of a daycare worked well for the quiet baby, and Adrian made sure that between himself, Isa, and both of their families that someone worked with Toby, lovingly known as Bias as well, in regards to cognitive skills, motor skills, index cards, and anything else. Isa remembered clearly the night she went into labor, and how she was in so make pain from her contractions that when it came time to push, her husband had taken it upon himself to make his woman laugh, and laugh she did, and she laughed Toby out. Adrian had sworn to her that their child would be reading by the time he was two, and walking before he hit ten months. When Isaline had asked why, he told her that he had to have the most intelligent child in the Lew and Ford families or else there wasn't a point. Thinking back, Isa warranted a fair chuckle, but the statement was definitely not worth the guffaws that she couldn't hold back in the delivery room. She had already been laughing, but that had thrown her over the edge for some reason.
Adrian said it was because she had just needed a good laugh. The last part of her pregnancy, Isa was somewhere between miserable because she was pregnant, and so happy that she was pregnant. The lethargy had her barely able to climb out of bed, the morning sickness rarely ever came in the morning, and she spent most of the time anticipating the next mood swing or outburst from Adrian. They never came, but Isa was smarter to believe that before she had seen it. They had gotten married in the courthouse about a week after Del woke up, and all of their closest family was there, and it was perfect. Isa wouldn't have wanted it any other way, and Adrian had kept to his promise of not having a bastard child.
Isaline's contractions had started while she was at Sweeties, about three minutes after opening, and she hadn't been in the store physically the two days before because the only place where she could be without being sick as at home. Thursday was going to be her day at work, and Toby wasn't going to take that from his Mommy. Those contractions were painful too, and Isa made it to the very end of the day. Kenny was walking her to her car when her water broke, and the eighteen year old had been the one to drive her to the hospital where James worked. Adrian, his family, and Isa's family all met them there, and Kenny demanded to be allowed in the delivery room.
The second best part of her delivery (after having her little monster out and in her arms) was the fact that Adrian let Kenneth cut Tobias's cord. Del, Max, Isaac, and Leo had all been fighting over who was to cut the cord, as they all felt it was something they all deserved, all the while, Tobias screamed at the top of his lungs, and Adrian shook his head in mock disappointment, and waved the wide eyed young man over.
Kenny was like Toby's big brother, and he loved the five month old. He was always offering to babysit, and that alone was why Adrian and Isa Lew now got to go out. They were making up for the fact that they had known each other three years, and been together one, then married one before they ever went on a second date, but that didn't really didn't bother either of them. Toby was the center of their universe.
After Tobias finished nursing, and was fast asleep, Isa walked up to his nursery (where he rarely slept) and dried him off thoroughly, before changing his clothes. Upset because he had been stirred, Tobias started to cry, and not even a minute later, a dry and fully clothed Adrian was wrapping his left arm around Isa's waist, stomach pressed into her back, and his right hand was cupping their son's head, "What's wrong with my baby?"
Toby looked up at Adrian, and since he was propped on Isa's shoulder she couldn't see his face, but by the way Adrian was chuckling, Tobias had to have been smiling. That gummy grin had to be the most breathtaking thing Isa had seen in a long time.
The family of three stayed in that position, mother holding son, and father holding mother and son. They were swaying left to right until the baby fell asleep again, and Isa placed him in his crib before turning around and wrapping her arms around Adrian's neck, "No more water slides."
With a chuckle, Adrian let his head fall back as Isa pulled on the strands, then dipped down and pressed his lips to hers, "I love you, Sweetie."
God, it had been so long, and it still felt amazing to feel those words fall from his lips. Nicole had told Isa that she was stupid to stay with this man as long as she did, and Isa agreed, she knew it was dumb, but that last time he swore he'd make things better, he did, and it had taken her moths to see that he was being himself now. Adrian was being the Adrian that Nicole had so lovingly talked about. Isa didn't know if it was her, or Toby, but that beautiful Adrian Isa only thought was a myth was in the flesh, backwards-walking out of the nursery with her in his arms.
Just as the couple stumbled into the bedroom, Isa's shirt neglected, and Adrian currently working on her pants, the two froze when they heard a loud moan that sounded nothing like Isa's. Onyx eyes met, and Isa pulled her top back on, and walked downstairs to see who was in their house.
No one was.
Those moans were coming from out in the car.
Adrian snickered, and waved her over to the window where he pulled two blinds apart. They were in the living room on the far side, and that particular window looked out at the driveway. Inside a burgundy mini car sat Leo and the stripper (ex-stripper now) that Isa had pictured sleeping with Adrian earlier in her pregnancy that had gotten her into trouble.
An olive-toned leg was wrapped around Leo's waist, the other out of view, and from the way Leo was moving-even though both of them were fully clothed- he was still giving his mate the business. In his best friend's driveway.
Her name was Audra, and her head was tipped back, the passenger seat she was sitting in reclined almost all the way, as a set of nails dug into her side.
"EW!" Isa called loud enough for the mated pair to hear, then cackled when the two jumped apart so hard that Leo hit the back of his head on the windshield.
Audra looked over, saw Isa, who had completely opened the window, and laughed until her face was red as she climbed out of the car with the grace of...well a dancer, and made her way to the front door as she responded in a sing-song voice, "Like you haven't done worse! I haven't gotten my fuck trophy yet."
"Yet." Isa emphasized as she opened the door, then wrinkled her nose as the smell of her friend's arousal hit her, "Ew. Go freshen up, and then I'll properly greet you."
Audra giggled as she walked down the hall Leo's claimed room was down and headed to the bathroom, while her mate sat in the car his heat against the steering wheel, "Isaline Lew, I wholly loathe you."
Adrian only shook his head, and greeted the woman he had threatened to kill once upon a time.
Audra was immortal, and she was well off, and her job as a stripper only happened to be a hobby, which blew Isaline's mind. The woman was half siren, a fourth vampire, and a fourth werewolf, which had to be the strangest combination Isa had ever heard of, but she didn't shift, or have any characteristics of a werewolf. She drank blood, drank the essence from her man, which in her case were one in the same. Isa didn't question it, but being a vampire was hard enough for her, she couldn't imagine being a vampire plus something else. She had only recently gotten her gift under control. Well, gifts. That last month of her pregnancy when Tobias's powers had started to manifest, and wreak havoc upon his grandparent's house (the shed of Isa's parent's house had just collapsed as all the Ford children, plus Christian, and Adrian sat on the porch. Then it burst into flames.
After Toby was born, the elemental gift didn't go away, so Isa and Adrian's kitchen had to be redone one night when they had gotten into an argument that had started because Isa had had a flashback of sorts to the night Adrian had told her that he had slept with Bianca. The whole left side of the kitchen, and part of the hallway that led to the garage had at the minimum smoke damage, and the whole kitchen had to be redone. Isa's hormones were still out of whack, and she had cried about it for days, and then just stopped caring.
Adrian shouldn't have slept with that woman.
It was that night that Adrian had decided to take it upon himself to train a telekinetic elementalist with no idea on how to go about it at all.
Let's just say they some damned good home insurance now.
Isaline chuckled at the thought, then took Adrian's hand and pulled him to the entertainment room while they waited on their friends to get themselves together.
The horror movie had just started when Isa looked up at him after letting a wishful sigh leave her body. Adrian's gaze met her with a frown, and he took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, and kissed her plump lips, then sucked on the bottom one roughly, "What is it, baby?"
"When are you going to paint me another picture?" Isa murmured, her lips moving against his in such a simple way that still sent heat down her body before it settled between her legs.
With a chuckle, Adrian thumped his forehead against hers, "Baby girl, I've got a whole series for you in my studio."
Immediately Isa perked up, "You're shitting me!"
"I shit you not," Adrian answered with a smirk as he leaned back into the couch, "And a couple more things, too. I was gonna let you hear about it when I released the copies to some museums, and the craze about Selias Fox still being alive erupted, but I guess you can go look now."
What, did you think she had given up her slightly unhealthy obsession with the bird painting that still hung above her bed, just because she was married to Selias Fox?
In Adrian's studio, Isa immediately caught on to the homage paid to her in each of the ten framed, scarily violent and graphic paintings hanging against the far wall.
In the midst of the chaos and darkness of the works, some in the corner, some right in the center, there was if not a dozen, at least one dried, dead rose.
On the last painting, which by far had the most carnage of the series, there was an envelope with her name on it.
Isa walked to the frame where it was tucked in, and when she opened it, the sweet smell coming from the dead, black rose hit her, and her eyes immediately started to water, her tears falling onto the page, and smudging the ink Adrian had written in.
My Beloved Isaline,
This part of me is over and done. Nothing more will come from this dark side of S.F. You've broken the hatred in me. You and Tobias fixed me. I was standing in front of my easel the night we brought Bias home from the hospital, and you both were asleep, and I painted that last one until I couldn't anymore, and then I stopped. My mind was blank, I stared and stared at that damned painting, all the blood, the gore that you love so much, and I couldn't do it anymore. It's done , and I did it for you, but I don't think I will ever be in the same headspace as I was these last three and a half decades to ever create something like the works I had been doing, and I thank you for that. I can sleep now. I can smile now.
I can breathe again.
So, here it is.
I know you only asked for one painting, but what kind of husband would I be if I only did the minimum? Average, at best, and for you, and for Ren, and for Tobias, I will never be that, I will be more. I will be exceptional.
Stop crying, you sweet, sweet, beautiful creature. This is my way of trying to at least make up to you, ease a fraction of the pain and turmoil I've caused you, and I know this doesn't even begin to be enough. I know you love your roses, and I will forever dry them for you, but this series is called Dried and Dying Roses, and just like my love for you, it will never die.
Just for you, my love.
-Selias Fox
Sobs and runs away from computer
GUYS I am so glad I'm finished with this book, you don't even undersrtand! I'm actually really sad, which I never thought would be the case ever.
Let me tell you a little bit about why I've been MIA in this bitch. Iwork at a daycare as a floater/sub, but some things came up, and yours truly somehow ends up being head teacher of the infant room. I love kids (babies to be exact) and I'm going to school to be a Nurse in the NICU so of course this is like the best hing to ever happen to me ever. I love it, being with my 4 little monsters, but this summer my baby brothers came to town, and they;ve been stayin with my granny, and so have I so that I could be with my babies before I got to Etsu in the fall. My aunt and her 4 kids live with my granny as well, and my granny is petty and said my aunt was on the computer too much so she cut off the internet and cable. Did i mention my grandmother is working on her disseration for her Doctorette? Yeah. She has no internet, so... you know, not good. Add in the fact that there's an 18 year old in the house with a computer that has an HDMI cord plug and Coraline (my favorite move), 3/4 Pirates of the Carribean movies (also my fabvorites) Charlie and the Choco Factory, The Grinch, MIB2, and Hoodwinked, and that's how I got my computer hijacked by 6 kids all under the age of 8. I literally come home and put a movie on for them and we all pass out, every night LMAO. 9 people in one house is stressful, and with the sketchy/raunchy stuff I write, it would be in my best interest to do so when I'm at home ALONE> My diabetes has been out of whack, insulin not working, and my pancreas is bein a complete ASS, the little chicken tender, which means I'm usually so tired I just pass out the second I get about 5seconds of quiet, but I'm trying guys.
I have freshman orientation on Wed and I'm going back to GA with me mummy thurs, and then the steady updates will flow once more.
Sorry for the wait guys, but it's been so crazy! I never intended to take this long to update!
What do you guys want to be updated next?