Teren spent most of the night in his loft office with his dad, discussing details of transferring to the new ranch. Jack wanted to Teren to go, naturally, but wasn't going to push him on the matter. Even though they'd all moved together in the past, things were different now. Teren had a family of his own to consider.
Jacen, the blonde near-twin of his girlfriend, Starla, was walking the inner perimeter of the home with Hot Ben, discussing strategy if we were ever infiltrated. Jacen talked with the air of a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President or something. Ben eagerly listened to his advice like we were about to have World War III explode on our doorstep.
Jacen would have seemed more credible about his protection plans, if his girlfriend didn't take every opportunity to grab his butt or suck on his ear. It always affected him too. He'd pause mid-sentence and close his eyes before telling her that he had important work to do as he triple checked every point of entry. With his attention to detail, I was a little surprised I hadn't been frisked at the door when I'd come home.
After being dismissed for the third time, Starla sat beside me on the couch, folding her legs up on the soft leather. Popping a bubble in my ear, she looked over at me. I held my breath at the swirl of mint mixed with floral hairspray. Sometimes, I didn't know how Starla could stand the smell of herself; everything about her was so strong.
"So, Father says this dude's as good as toast, so I'm sure we'll be gone by the end of the week."
I nodded at her, hoping that as well. She sighed like she was the one put out though. Propping her head in her hand, she moaned, "I miss my room at the house." Her eyes closed as she began to reminiscence about the luxury she'd left behind in L.A. "I have the softest European sheets you'll every find." Her eyes binged open. "One thousand count." I blinked, not even knowing what that meant.
Starla twisted her lips and looked over at Jacen standing near the elaborate, wrought iron front door with Hot Ben. "Jace and I share a room now, so we'll be sharing one here too...for however long we're stuck here." Her eyes lit up as they traveled down his body. The heat in them was unmistakable. It made me really uncomfortable and I looked away. Not before I caught the equally prissy male vampire look over at her, though. The heat in his eyes was unmistakable too.
Mentally rolling mine, I wondered if I'd have to have the 'no sex in the house' speech with her. I really wasn't prepared to give the birds-and-the-bees speech to my children yet, and I doubted those two would think twice about the tiny, super hearing bodies that were just a few rooms away from them.
Standing to put my kids to bed, I muttered, "Well, the sooner this is over, the better...for all of us." Starla wholeheartedly agreed as I walked away from her steadily thumping heart. The heart I'd decided to help keep beating.
But, lying in bed later, I smiled at hearing the living heartbeats in my home - safe and secure - even Starla's.
A few more nights of family togetherness however, had me longing for our comfortable routine of just the four of us. Our house was in a constant state of flux - someone always coming or going. The Adams clan popped in for a few hours every night, sometimes staying very late into the evening. Hot Ben usually checked in before heading home to guard his fiance. My mom never left our place, sticking to the kids like glue, but Ash came and went for work and to see her boyfriend. She even chose that crazy time to invite the man over.
Pacing a little as she waited for him to arrive for "family movie night," since the entire clan was at our house again, Ashley went over the rules. "Okay, no freaking him out with inappropriate talk." She pointed at Halina, who had stuck pretty close to our house most evenings after returning from L.A. Halina shrugged and smiled wryly.
Ash sighed and looked over at Jacen and Starla. Starla had made a couple offhand remarks about my sister's looks when she'd first shown up, mainly that she knew some really great plastic surgeons. From what was now family lore, Teren had blurred over to her, tossed her on the front lawn, and wouldn't let her come back in the house until she apologized. The sprinklers in our yard had been on when he'd done it. Starla never said another disparaging word about my sister. I kicked myself for missing that little showdown.
Ash gave the two lovebirds a stern glare. "No, sucking face either." Starla bounced on Jacen's lap, crossing her arms over her chest as she pouted. Biting her lip, Ashley reminded everyone to act like regular human beings, so the love of her life wouldn't flee in terror.
Seeing her nerves, I stood up and put my arms around her. "It will be fine, Ash."
She nodded, leaning into me. "I know. I just really want him to love you guys." Peeking up at me, she tilted her scarred head. "Maybe this should wait until things are less crazy around here?"
Teren stood up and circled his arms around my waist. "If we always waited for the craziness to die down, we'd never do anything," he told her. His hand came out to pat her arm. "Everything will be fine."
Ashley nodded as Alanna and Imogen and Jack stood up. "We'll leave you to your evening with your boyfriend, Ashley," Alanna said warmly, giving my sister a hug. My sister started to tell her that it wasn't necessary for them to leave, but Alanna shook her head. "I know how intimidating it can be to meet the entire family at once. You introduce him to just yours."
Alanna tilted her head at Halina, silently asking her to leave with them. Halina frowned as she looked around our house, then nodded. Smiling at our home being just slightly less crowded for one evening, I looked over at Starla and Jacen. They'd tuned out everyone and were making out again. Tossing a throw pillow on them, I said, "Why don't you guys go with them? You could have...a little privacy."
I grimaced, remembering walking in on them "testing" out my soundproof room last night; I'd nearly tossed them out on the lawn myself. Starla smiled brightly like it was the best idea she'd heard in awhile. The grin spreading across her lip-glossed mouth was the exact opposite of Jacen's. While she nodded, bouncing in his lap again, he frowned, trying to still her hips.
"Father told us to stay by your side." He shook his head, his demeanor serious. "He wouldn't approve of us leaving."
Starla twisted to look down at him, her lip twisting into an adorably cute pout. "Babe, it's just one night." She wriggled in his lap, making his face twist and his eyes flutter. "Besides, you talked with Father this morning. Their doing that raid thing tonight." She bent down to kiss his neck and his mouth dropped open. "Malcolm is probably already lighting up the sky," she breathed in his ear.
Swallowing, Jacen's eyes refocused on mine. "Perhaps you're right, one night wouldn't hurt anything." Shifting Starla off his lap, he stood and adjusted the obvious discomfort in his jeans. I bit my cheek to not smile. Sniffing, he causally tossed out, "Besides, Father wanted us to protect all of the Adams."
His pale eyes shifted to Halina. A worried look from hearing the word "raid" instantly evaporated off her face. Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back on her hip. "I don't need your protection." Her gaze flicked down Jacen's body, no taller than hers. They lingered on his personal area and a smirk drifted across Halina's face.
Starla stepped in front of her boyfriend. "Hey, Grandma. Eyes up."
Halina's smirk widened and she looked about to verbally rip off Starla's head, but Ashley intervened. "Hey, this is exactly the kind of stuff that I don't want Christian to see." Her hand flicked over to the twins lying on the floor, heads propped up in their hands as they watched the multiple vampires in the room. "Or them," Ash muttered.
Starla lifted her chin and pulled Jacen's hand, leading him from the house. Alanna and Jack said their goodnights to the twins and then followed after the pair that I could hear continuing their make out session in the driveway. Ashley exhaled in relief as a few otherworldly beings left the area. She was fine with what we all were, but she did want Christian to feel comfortable. I understood.
Halina and Imogen said their goodbyes to the kids, tickling them into laughing fits, then twisted to leave as well. Halina paused with her daughter at the door. Looking between my mother and sister, she frowned. She glanced up at Teren, her dark hair swirling around her as she shook her head. "Are you sure about us leaving?" She shrugged. "I could...stay close."
Teren slung his arm over Ashley; she shivered a bit, but smiled. My mother slung her arm around me. Smiling, Teren said," I've got these girls." He nodded his head out the door at the rest of his family. "You go protect them." Halina twisted her lips, then nodded. Looking over at me, Teren added, "Besides, it sounds like Gabriel is making his move tonight. This should all be over soon."
Halina sighed and Teren swung his gaze back to her. "Right, the raid...I should be there. I should be helping secure that...creature."
Teren frowned as Imogen laid her hands on her mother's arm. "Let Gabriel handle this, Mother," Imogen said softly. Halina looked back at her, her eyes torn. Sighing again, she shrugged. "It's probably too late anyway." She looked back to us. "It's probably over with." Halina sighed forlornly, like she'd missed out on the party of the year.
Smiling softly, Imogen waved goodbye and pulled her from the home. As I heard the gaggle of vampires dive off, I exhaled a long breath. With only my mother and sister left to visit, the house seemed three times as big.
When Christian showed up an hour later, we'd already put two yawning-with-exhaustion youngsters to bed. When Julian's last words to me were, "Starla and Jacen always kissing," I was extremely grateful that everything was going to be over soon.
My sister's entire face brightened as Christian stepped into our home. He was tall and lanky, with a fuzzy beard and graying hair, but his eyes beamed at my sister like she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Grasping his hand, Ash pulled him farther into the entryway to introduce him to a smaller version of our family.
Our mom was the first to officially meet him. Pleasantly plump, Mom was sort of what Ash and I would have looked like in the future, if life hadn't deviated us. Now, I was un-aging and Ashley's scarred body put her on a different path. But Christian's smile widened as he shook Mom's hand, maybe seeing the resemblance to the woman he loved anyway.
I got a little nervous as he approached Teren and I. Sure, I'd been dead for awhile now, but I hadn't had too much practice touching people I didn't know. Stepping in front of me, his aftershave tickled my nose. Tilting my head, I could clearly hear his surging heartbeat over my mother's and sister's. I listened to it for a second, fascinated, and maybe a little hungry. While his face didn't betray any of it, he was extremely nervous to meet Ashley's family.
Extending my hand to him, I prepared myself for his reaction. "Emma Adams, nice to finally meet you, Christian." My gaze flicked over to my sister before returning to him.
He didn't hesitate to grab my hand, shaking it warmly. As his heat traveled up my arm, I watched his eyes widen, just fractionally. I sniffed for any trace of fear coming from him, but didn't sense any. "Emma...nice to meet you."
Before his skin could linger too long on mine, Teren extended his hand. "Teren Adams, we're glad to have you."