48 - Time Flies

Maia was overwhelmed by suddenly having four hungry newborns to care for, but she was immensely relieved when Braeden and Alex came racing through the nursery door.

“Uncle Brae and Daddy Alex to the rescue!”

Braeden and Alex were understandably thrilled by the birth of the quads, and they helped Maia start feeding the three vampire infants, Blake, Bronwyn and Corbin, immediately.

Then, while Maia fed witch-baby Christopher, Braeden and Alex set up the two infant play mats they brought as baby gifts and settled Bronwyn and Corbin in them to watch the swinging toys overhead, while Blake was rocked to sleep in the baby swing.

Meanwhile, Aylin and Arielle played nicely together with the dollhouse.

Alaric practiced a drum roll in celebration of his and his sisters’ upcoming birthday party, which Maia had invited Daddy Parker and Grandma Arianne to.

Happy birthday Aylin!

Happy birthday Alaric!

Happy birthday Arielle!

The fairy triplet children went outside to play with their birthday presents.  Alaric got a remote control robot.

Aylin played with her jack-in-the-box, but out popped a very creepy clown!

She got so scared she nearly choked on one of her wing sparkles.

But her IF Hesper made her feel better.

Arielle had trouble getting her new kite to fly at first.

But she eventually got the hang of it.

In the meantime, Maia followed through on her flirtation with Wulfric Sekemoto.

And when no one was looking, they woohooed in the treehouse.

Later that evening, Maia held a birthday party for Rowan.

Now that Rowan was a teen, Maia gifted her a potion to make her IF, Patterns, real.

And then Maia taught both girls to drive.

Afterwards, Rowan began practicing her witch magic under the watchful eye of her older sister, Isabelle.

And Sebastian got some more werewolf hunting practice in with Wulfric.

The following day, the teens all went to prom, and Sebastian was crowned Prom King while Whisper was crowned Prom Queen.

And Maia got her baby bump.

Shortly after, the infant quads aged up to toddlers.

Blake

Bronwyn

Corbin

Christopher

The toddlers all began bonding with their IF dolls.

And then it was time for potty training.

After the babies were put to bed for the night, Maia got a visit from the vampire brothers.

“We wanted to let you know that we think it’s time to let Tessa know about the vampire babies,” Braeden explained to Maia. "We plan on hunting tonight first so we're at our strongest when we confront her tomorrow morning."

“Once she lets us in the two of us will overpower her, and when she confesses to our parents’ murders and their burial location we’ll get her locked away. She’ll never be a problem for us or anyone ever again, so you don’t need to worry,” Alex added. “We’ll stop by tomorrow night and let you know how everything went.”

Maia couldn’t help but worry, but it seemed like the Delling brothers had everything under control.

Tomorrow was a day she was definitely looking forward to.

Hamilton never felt better than when he was out on a hunt with the scent of his prey downwind. His life felt much less complicated then. He loped across the countryside, tracking the tangy odor of blood and ashes and dust that marked the passage of vampires, hoping that soon his quest might end and he’d discover the vampire spawn the Lady Delling had charged him to find. Only then would he escape the curse that caused his ever-dominant wolf instincts to permanently overshadow the logic and reasoning of his human mind.

He stopped running when he reached the road. The vampire smell was strong here.  Hamilton waited cautiously and gazed across the asphalt and saw two vampires leaving the residence of his mate and mother of his pups.

Hamilton growled low in his throat as his hackles rose. He was willing to fight them both to the death if necessary, but it seemed as though the vampires were leaving, so he kept himself hidden beneath the darker shadows of the trees.

Once they had sped off, Hamilton slunk across the road.  Though the men were gone, he still smelled the faint odor of vampire, and began sniffing around the yard to track the source.

Here he smelled traces of wolf pup, and witch pup and sneeze-making, dusty fairy pup. He scented the air in ever-widening circles until he came to a window, and peered in.

Vampire pups!

Hamilton let loose a howl of triumph. After so many years, he'd finally found exactly what he'd been seeking! 

He raced back to the home of Lady Tessa, eager to share with her the news that would finally set him free.

“What brings you into my presence, Hamilton?” Tessa asked, her eyes glittering dangerously.  “Have you brought me a vampire child?” She glared at Hamilton and looked pointedly at his empty arms.

“No, my Lady, but I have returned to bring you news....”

“Useless mutt!” Tessa screeched as she leapt from her seat. “I’ll give you news!”  And she began beating Hamilton with a rolled up newspaper.

Hamilton cowered beneath her beating, but managed to yelp, “I bring you news of not one vampire child, but many!”

Tessa took a step back and raised an eyebrow. “Speak, dog," she demanded, pursing her lips.

“While searching for a single vampire child, I instead found several vampire toddlers; siblings. I believe they are actually your step-grandchildren, since it was your stepsons I saw leaving the residence.  I.... I didn’t know which one you’d want, and thought such a decision should be yours, so I came to inform you rather than take one myself."

“My step-grandchildren?  Oh, this is too perfect! And why choose one vampire companion when I can have them all?”  Tessa rubbed her palms together while she laughed wickedly. “But it seems that since you’re such a failure, I must eliminate the obstacles and get them myself. Now where are they?”

“They’re at Seven Towers.  But... you’re not going to hurt the children or their mother, are you?  She’s my mate, and my own pups live there, too.”

“Your mate has obviously chosen others over you if she has only recently given birth to my step-grandchildren,” Tessa said cruelly.  “But she will come to no harm... if she cooperates.”

“And you had better not act on any heroic notions you have of protecting her! You will remain here like a good dog until I return, if you expect me to keep my end of the bargain and allow you the ability to transform back into your human self. Now stay!”

After Tessa left, Hamilton paced the floors of her manor, waiting for her return.  He swore he’d make things up to Maia later.  Somehow.  But he needed his will back in order to have any chance of success. He had difficulty thinking rationally as a werewolf as it was, but when he was around Tessa, his judgment was clouded even further.  He realized now he was under her mind control, as well as being overpowered by his inner wolf. He had to obey Tessa Delling for the time being, but as soon as he was himself again, Hamilton decided he was going to destroy her. He only hoped that he would get the chance to make things right again.

 Braeden and Alex finally arrived at Tessa’s manor shortly before dawn.

They pounded on the door and rung the bell repeatedly, but though the lights were on, no one answered.

They waited and waited, and eventually the sun rose. The sun began to burn the brothers, but they knew they couldn’t give up trying to get to Tessa.  The blinding sun and the pain of its scorching rays distracted them and they never saw Tessa slip out of a side door. But they looked into a window near the front entrance and saw a werewolf staring out at them.

“Come on, man, we can see you in there! Invite us in already; we have an important message that our stepmother is going to want to hear, and she’s going to take it out on you when she finds out you stopped us!” Alex shouted.

Hamilton formally invited the two vampires into Tessa’s home.

“Took you long enough!” Braeden raged. “We could’ve been piles of ash had we been out there much longer! Now go let our stepmother know we’re here.”

“Tessa isn’t here, so you’ll have to wait along with me.” Hamilton said crossly. “She’s gone to fetch her vampire grandchildren and I don’t know how much longer she’ll be.”

“WHAT? How does she even know about them?”

“I told her.”

“Do you have any idea what you have done??  Do you realize how much danger Maia and all of her children are in now, including your own kids??”

Hamilton put his hands up defensively. “I’m bound to Tessa and under her control; I could do nothing but obey her commands to find her a companion and heir. I never imagined my search for a vampire child would lead to Maia’s home! But when I told her, Tessa promised she wouldn’t hurt Maia if she cooperates.”

“YOU IDIOT!  You’ve ruined everything! And Maia will die before she lets Tessa lay a finger on any of her kids!”

“Then, please! Do what I can’t and stop Tessa!”  Hamilton begged.  “I’d gladly suffer through anything she wants to do to me if it means Maia and the children are safe!”

Suddenly Alex received a text. 

It was from Maia.

Without a second thought, Braeden and Alex raced out into the deadly sunlight and back to Maia’s, hoping they wouldn’t be too late.