The good feelings of discovering Mael’s vampiric nature was starting to wear off when David had to face the fact that his mother was not on board with raising a vampire child.
“I’m just saying, shouldn’t it be with its’ own kind?” Edith spoke quietly with David, who simply shook his head angrily. The fact that she was still trying to weigh in her opinion drove David up a wall. He didn’t know when he’d given her permission to say anything about his life, or who was in it, but Edith wasn’t waiting for permission.
“Michael is a fully-functioning adult vampire and can handle anything Mael throws at us.” David pointed out the obvious answer, and he was on the winning side. Edith knew that she shouldn’t say anything, but she couldn’t help herself.
“I understand that, but still. What if he hurts the other children?” Edith asked, resting both of her hands on her hips.
“Mael is still a fledgling until his body is done developing. He doesn’t need blood yet.” David rattled off exactly what Michael had told him back when they were still concerned over which species Mael was. It wasn’t an issue to raise a growing vampire because they still required things of nutritional value, as well as animal blood or high quantities of meat. Basically Michael, without the side-effects.
Edith nodded, taking a deep breath. This was her way of giving up an argument she knew she couldn’t win. David had seen it many times when he was a kid. Edith and her husband, Julio, weren’t always the best match. Both were alphas, and both were unwilling to give up their argument. David learned the value of compromise through them.
“When is Cole coming?” Edith asked him, changing the subject like she always did when she felt she couldn’t win. Cole had called a few minutes after Mael’s big moment, and said he’d run into some small car trouble. That was code for ‘I forgot about it, I’ll be there soon’. David knew him too well sometimes.
“He had some car trouble.” At that, Edith shook her head and turned around. She mumbled something about how Cold should really stop using duck tape to solve every problem, and then left the room.
Michael was in the other room, explaining the situation to Mael, who was taking it well.
“I’m like daddy?” He asked, excitedly. Michael nodded happily, and David joined them on the couch. His sister, Marie, and her husband, Carl, sat on a smaller two-seat couch that was only ever used by guests.
“That’s right, Mael. You’re like me. Show me those fangs again.” Michael prompted, showing his own fangs. There had been very few times in the company of others that Michael felt comfortable showing off his fangs like this. But now that he was responsible for teaching Mael how to control his own abilities, he was able to do everything without feeling bad about it.
Michael never assumed that David was at all uncomfortable by the sight of his fangs, and even on numerous occasions, David had proven that he really did like them. Michael could, however, sense the discomfort in David’s side of the family. The sight of fangs made them afraid, because they’d been so used to fighting off werewolf blood-high vampires who were always coming after them. Michael had to admit, the wolf’s blood was intoxicating.
“So when’s Cole coming over?” Michael turned to David. David had taken a small seat on the armrest next to Michael, and Michael always enjoyed pulling David onto him from the armrest. David got comfortable next to Michael and then pulled Mael into his lap.
“Late as usual. He’ll be here eventually.”
“And your dad?” Michael questioned. The blood in David’s face went white as the thought occurred to him. The only person in this world that David wasn’t able to win against was his old man. The old man had definitely put a dent in his life, from the time David was a kid. David was a natural born alpha, and a Zodiac at that. The only problem his father ever saw was that David was a girl.
David wasn’t transgender because his dad didn’t believe a woman could be an alpha though, don’t jump to conclusions. David was the way he was because that was who he was. His father would most definitely not think that though.
“He agreed to come for dinner. He’ll be here probably the same time that Cole is.” David nodded slowly, but wasn’t actually absorbing the information like he normally did. Julio was a tough alpha, and had seen a lot of Pack wars in his day.
Cole was set to takeover anytime whenever he got his shit together, which didn’t seem very likely. This technically also made him an alpha of his own pack, but no one would follow him. Marie and her husband Carl were the current leaders of the Starlit Pack, which was a small pack that David had been born into.
“It’ll be fine. Stop worrying about it.” Michael said, trying to bring David back into his thoughts. It was vain effort since nothing was really getting through to him. David had his own worries. He worried that he wouldn’t accept David’s chosen gender, or David’s children, or his mate, a vampire. He worried that his family would receive the same judgemental treatment that he’d received for nearly half his life.
It was David’s life goal to offer a home where nothing was treated abnormal, only different. He’d accept anything his children told him, and he’d do it in a calm and composed way. David had taught himself to be this way, because he’d feared becoming his father.
“Dear, you look so pale. You’re father is going to be fine if you have a clear conversation with him, just like you had with me.” Edith tried to sound apologetic, but she knew the way his father might react just as well as David did. Edith loved her husband and mate, but she knew that they were also alike in the way that David feared most. Edith could only hope that love would win over the judgement.
“I’m going to start dinner. Naomi, would you help me?” David asked, and Naomi got up from the couch and shoved her phone in her pocket. She had been apologizing to Nico since the day before in hopes of making it up to him. So far, it looked like he just wasn’t going to come over anytime soon. Not after the things Edith said.
“Sure, dad.” She said absentmindedly. Before she’d even thought about it, she realized that she’d called David her dad, which he really wasn’t. David was careful not to point it out and make her feel weird about it though.
Mael and Bear both called David and Michael dad or daddy, but Naomi had grown up with other parents, her real parents. She never talked about them because what they did to her was hard to even think about. However, when she called David her dad, she’d felt this warm sensation that spread throughout her body. It was a happy feeling that she’d long forgot about. It was this feeling, that pushed her to want to say it again. She was getting adopted, so why not?
“What’s for dinner, dad?” It was a weird way to start a conversation, but David wanted to encourage her. He wanted her to feel like she belonged here, in their family. So often it’d only been Bear and Mael because they were younger, and David saw that.
“I was thinking something like rice and beans. You’re grandpa really loves them.” David responded, pulling a pan from the bottom draw and setting it on the stove. Naomi was surprised and glad that David was able to say that he noticed the change without actually saying that he noticed it. Naomi had wanted to call David her dad since the first time she’d met him.
Naomi was closer to David that she was with Michael, simply because David had been the one to find her. Back when she was abandoned, Naomi had nowhere to go, and was left out in a blizzard in the middle of december. Even as a powerful snow elemental, she was only seven. Her will to live was crushed, and she was basically dying. Naomi owes everything to David.
“Grandpa is Cuban, right?” Naomi played along, loving how the words rolled off her tongue. She enjoyed how the Cuban in David always showed through when he cooked. Naomi could tell that David was nervous, even afraid of his father, but at the same time, she knew he wouldn’t give in.
Naomi always saw David as the one acting like the glue to keep them all together. David worked so hard to get here in his life, to have a fiance, and kids, and a happy family. She was sure that this was David’s dream all coming true.
“That’s right. My grandparents moved to Miami and then he was born about fifteen years after that. I’m pretty sure he lived in Cuba for a little bit, but I’ve never been there.” David explained, as he started the beans.
“Maybe you should go sometime.” Naomi said, pulling out the steamer. She brought a pot of dry rice over to the sink and started rinsing it. Naomi brought the pot back over and got the machine to start steaming it.
“I don’t know. Anyways, let’s fry a few vegetables. I know he’ll like that too.”
David was trying his best to make his father comfortable, and Naomi knew it. She figured that he was thinking that making his favorite foods would somehow make this easier. It was a short straw to grasp at, but she wasn’t going to burst her fathers bubble.
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