“Geez, Dad. You can’t take all that guilt on. It will eat you alive. If you had known, you would have done the right thing, wouldn’t you have?” Anton asked.
“Yes, Anton. I loved your mother more than anything, but I have to admit I loved Katarina, and I thought if I stayed in her life I’d only complicate it. I stayed away because I thought it was the right thing to do for her and for you,” Dominic explained.
“Why me?” Anton asked.
“I didn’t want you to think I loved your mother any less,” Dominic said.
“Geez, Dad. Mom died over a hundred years ago and you haven’t been with anyone but Katarina since? I had no idea. I thought I had the corner on loneliness. You didn’t have to do that to prove to me you loved Mom. Mom loved you. She wouldn’t have wanted you to be alone for all these years mourning her.
“Wow...I have a brother. I always wanted a bother; like Devon and Blake. Have you told him yet?” Anton asked.
“No. I felt I needed to explain things to you first,” Dominic said.
“Right.”
“How do you feel about all this?” Dominic wondered.
“I don’t know... I guess...I wish I had known a long time ago. I wish we had gotten to grow up together, maybe even been a family. And Josh...well...I think he’s great. Seems though, we Larsen men carry loneliness around like it is a badge of honor and Josh is no different. I think that is one of the first things we need to work on as a family!” Anton admitted.
Dominic laughed and nodded in agreement. “Have any suggestions on how I, or we, should tell him about all this?”
“Oooooh! Yeah. That’s going to be a bit of a shocker for him, isn’t it?” Anton said.
“Do you think I should contact his adoptive parents and let them in on my findings and his lineage?” Dominic wondered.
Anton made a face and said, “I don’t know, Dad. I think maybe that should be Josh’s decision. It might be nice for him to have a haven to go back to where no one is the wiser, if this whole vampire thing freaks him out,” Anton explained.
“I suppose you are right, I just would so like to know everything about his childhood and what I missed.”
“Maybe in time you’ll get that. But for now, it’s not your place. As for how to tell him…I don’t know. If you want me to be there, I’m willing to do that. Just tell him what you’ve told me, just cut out the Prof. Hadley stuff; that made things rather confusing. So when do you think you’ll tell him?” Anton said.
“I think the sooner the better. What about you?” Dominic said.
“I agree.”
“Maybe this evening after dinner. Will you join me?” Dominic asked as he stood up from behind the desk.
“Definitely,” Anton answered as he stood and walked around the desk.
Dominic greeted him with open arms and hugged his son and said, “Thank you, Anton. I love you, son.”
“I love you too, Dad,” Anton answered with a hard pat on his dad’s back.
*****
That evening as dinner wound down and people were excusing themselves, Dominic asked Josh if he might speak with him.
Josh exclaimed, “Sure, Dominic. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, I mean, I hope so. It’s just that some information has surfaced that involves you and I would like to talk to you about it.”
Puzzled, Josh’s face showed concern, but he agreed to meet Dominic in the study. Dominic made eye contact with Anton.
“Ummm. Josh, would it be okay if Anton joined us? It involves him too.”
“Of course. No problem,” Josh said.
A few minutes later Anton joined Dominic in the study and closed the door.
“You doing okay?” he asked his dad.
“Nervous. Really nervous. This could go badly in so many ways....” Dominic was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Come in, Josh,” Dominic said as Anton sat down. A worried Josh entered and closed the door behind him, then crossed the room to a chair next to Anton in front of the ominous desk.
Anton spoke up, noticing Josh’s hesitance. “Dad, maybe we should sit over by the fireplace. No matter how old I am I’m always a bit intimidated at talking to you behind that huge desk.”
“Oh! Sure! I never knew that, Anton. Yes. I suppose I can see that. Josh? Would you join us over there?” Dominic suggested.
“Sure,” Josh said, feeling a little better and less like a little kid being sent to the principal’s office.
When they were all seated, it took a few fumbled starts on Dominic’s part to get things moving.
“I asked to talk to you because I’ve found out some information on your biological parents...Well, maybe I should go back a little farther...Do you remember our conversation the night of the engagement party? When I asked about your parents?” Dominic asked.
Looking confused, Josh first looked at Anton, then at Dominic and replied, “Yes.”
“You told me that evening about your biological mother, Katarina Jannson,” Dominic said.
“Yes. And you said that you had met her,” Josh said.
“Yes. I did. The thing is that I knew her quite well. Intimately, you might say.” Dominic looked at Anton for support. Anton nodded in encouragement.
“Oh,” answered Josh, but as if a light went on, he replied, “Well, that was well before my time. Are you worried I might not have approved or something? Is that why you are telling me this? I mean, Dominic, I think you are a great guy. It’s kind of nice to think that someone as nice as you looked out for her once...”
“Josh. It’s a bit more complicated than that.”
“Oh? How? It’s not like you’re my father or anything, I mean, that was almost two years before I was born,” Josh said.
With a heavy sigh, Dominic looked down at his hands and thought for a moment, and while he did this, Josh looked to Anton for answers. Anton, however, didn’t feel it was his place to step in just yet; after all, the bucket of beans had only been half-spilled. When Anton didn’t reply, Josh looked back to Dominic who was now wringing his hands trying to find the words to say.
“I’m not sure how to say this without it being a shock, so I suppose I should just say it and then explain afterwards,” Dominic admitted.
“Oookaaay!” Josh said, rather worried. “Did you find my mother? Is she okay?
“Your mother is fine; in fact, I am looking after her and trying to get her released to a facility here in Connecticut, where I can be closer to her and hopefully watch her recovery more personally,” Dominic explained.
“Oh! Okay,” Josh said.
“I mean if that is okay with you, Josh. You have a say in this too.”
“I...I...don’t know. I’m not sure I really care one way or another. I’ve never known her,” he admitted.
“I know, Josh...and I think that is my fault. It’s also my fault that she has been in the psych ward all these years,” Dominic said.
“You? How could that be your fault?” Josh asked.
“Dad...you are getting off the point,” Anton interrupted.
“Right. I’m sorry. I suppose I’m making this more confusing than it really needs to be. I....Josh....I am your father,” Dominic said.
Josh went white and confusion washed over his face as his eyes glazed over. There was nothing but silence in the room for several uncomfortable moments before Dominic continued.
“I know this must come as a shock to you; believe me, it was a shock to me too – however, probably more of a pleasant one for me than for you, I suppose. I do have one regret and that is going behind your back to obtain a hair sample from your brush to have a DNA test done, but I simply had to know if my suspicions were correct and well, I may have overstepped my boundaries.” Dominic watched for a reaction from Josh, but when he got nothing he could read, he looked at Anton.
Anton watched Josh for a moment, even tried to read him, but Josh had recently become very good at shielding himself, so there was nothing to read. Anton said, “Jos
h? Are you okay?”
As if Anton’s voice had somehow lifted the fog that had come over Josh, he answered, “Yes. I mean....Yes, I guess...DNA test? So you’re sure then? You’re my...father?”
“Yes. I can show you the test if you would like to see it,” Dominic offered.
“But....no...I believe you...so....how long were you with my moth...Katarina?” Josh asked.
“Just that fall when I filled in for a professor,” Dominic answered.
“But that can’t be then...I don’t understand,” Josh said.
“I’m not surprised. I’ve gone about this badly. I hope you will forgive me someday. See, when a vampire and a human conceive, I mean....” Dominic started.
“Josh, what Dominic is trying to say is that a pregnancy between a human and a vampire can be up to eighteen months. Like vampire age is about one year to every four human years, the pregnancy kind of splits the difference. Nine months for a human pregnancy times four is thirty-six months…the average time for a vampire/vampire pregnancy…divided by two for the human parent and you get eighteen months. However, sometimes it can go as long as twenty-four months.”
“That’s a long time to be pregnant,” Josh stated.
“It is. Especially when you are alone and you don’t know what is going on,” Dominic admitted.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, no wonder your mother was in psychiatric care. Most likely, Katarina didn’t know she was pregnant until probably the last six months of the pregnancy when she would have started showing. If she hadn’t been with anyone intimately since me, then she would be very confused as to how and when she got pregnant. Most likely, no one would have believed her. If only I had known, I could have explained things to her. Maybe she wouldn’t have been put under psychiatric treatment all these years if she had known I was a vampire,” Dominic explained.
“So you never loved her then? It was just a fall fling and you never saw her again?” Josh asked.
“Yes and no. I did love her, but I had been raised that vampires were not to be involved with humans. My father had always said that it would only complicate a human’s life and make the blood line impure. I had instilled that in my own son; that was what I knew, and then I met Katarina and all that flew out the window. It took every ounce of willpower to leave her behind that December. I somehow felt I was being unfaithful to Sophia and Anton, but there has not been a day that has gone by that I haven’t wondered where Katarina was or what life would have been like if I had succumbed. And now...knowing that I could have had a family again....Anton could have grown up with a brother, and you...would have had a different life too. You would have grown up knowing why you hear others’ thoughts and how to control them.”
“Ya...I guess things would have been different. So what does that make me? A vampire? A human? What?” Josh wondered.
“It doesn’t change who or what you are, Josh. You are still human; it just explains your telepathic abilities. You may or may not be stronger and faster than the average human, but you are still the caring, quiet young man we’ve all gotten to know and love the past few weeks. For me, now, even more so. I couldn’t be more proud to have you as a son; that is if you could someday think of me as your father.
“I envy your adoptive father - all the events I missed over the years as you’ve grown up. I hate too that I’m the reason Katarina’s missed out on her son’s life and accomplishments. Maybe neither of you can forgive me for that, but if I had known about the little miracle growing inside of her, I would have moved heaven and earth to include you and her in my world with Anton. Anton and I have led pretty lonely lives up until now. If I hadn’t been so pig-headed with my father’s voice as my conscience, well...’What if’s’ don’t mean much to someone put up for adoption and never knowing his parents or why he has the powers he has. I’m just grateful you came into the hands of the Brenners. Though they couldn’t help you with the telepathy, they certainly gave you their love and raised you to be a good-hearted soul,” Dominic said.
“So...what happens now?” Josh asked.
“That’s up to you, Josh. With your permission I would like to get your mother out of treatment, if they haven’t done too much damage with medication after all these years. I’d like to get to know her again and see if there is anything left of what we had. If not, I still want to make sure she is comfortable for the rest of her days. It’s the least I can do for what I’ve put her through.
“As for you...I would very much like you to be a Larsen and all that entails. I don’t mean changing your name, that’s totally up to you; I mean being family - blood - to Anton, myself, Blake, and Devon. This is your home now, we - Anton and I, would like to share in your celebrations, your disappointments, and your life. The Brenners are family too, as far as I am concerned; of course, I’m not sure they will be quite as pleased to have a bunch of vampires to call family, but we’ll make it work. It’s very important to me to have them involved. They’ve bestowed a gift on this family that we Larsens can only try to repay - they took care of you when we didn’t know you existed,” Dominic told him.
“Wow, Dominic...I just don’t know what to say. I’m sure Mom and D...I mean, the Brenners would love to meet you.”
“Don’t you stop calling them Mom and Dad! They will always be your parents. I just hope that you can look to me and Katarina one day and think of us that way too,” Dominic said.
“Thank you, Dominic...I...”
“Look, Josh, nothing more needs to be said tonight. Anton and I have thrown a lot at you and you probably need to mull things over. Maybe talk to Melanie about how you are feeling about all this, but if you have ANY questions about anything, don’t hesitate to come to either of us. If you don’t want the rest of the family to know about this for a while, we can do that too. However you want to handle this is fine with us.”
“That’s right, little Bro...I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to have a brother. The things I have in store for you...camping trips with itching powder...frogs in your underwear drawer...” Anton said.
Josh’s face went pale.
“I’m kidding, Josh....or am I?” Anton laughed.
“Right...well, it’s a lot to digest. It’s weird, all this time I just assumed that my biological parents didn’t want me - that I was a mistake. Hearing the other side of the story now somehow makes things confusing but somehow complete - like wandering through life missing a small piece of a puzzle. It’s odd though, don’t you think, how this all came together. Starting with Lanie and Darby and finding my way here - like destiny’s wheel turning us in all directions to find us all standing together, bound by blood but first by friendship. It makes me wonder…” Josh thought.
“Wonder what, Josh?”
“It makes me wonder if the Bloodstone Heart had more to do with our destinies than we know,” Josh stated.
“Hmmm. I couldn’t say, but I don’t think anyone knew what it was capable of except maybe its maker, the Crone. But it is interesting that you bring up the stone,” Dominic admitted.
“Really, why?” Josh asked.
“Well, when the blast of the stone pelted through all of us and the altar room, a piece of stone fell away from the hearth and I found something in the crevice it revealed. I was going to show it to the family in the morning. I think it has something to do with the Larsen family and possibly the Ancient Ones. But for now, talk to Melanie. Get some rest and we will speak as a family in the morning,” Dominic said.
“Okay. Thank you, Dominic. Anton. Goodnight,” Josh said.
“Goodnight, Josh,” Anton said.
“Goodnight, son,” Dominic said. Josh smiled. He had heard Dominic call him son many times in the last few weeks, but tonight, it meant something different. It no longer was an endearing gesture of friendship between an older man and a younger one. No. Now it was a loving salutation from a father to his long lost son. It was comforting and though it felt a little odd, it felt right too. Josh nodded at both of th
em and headed upstairs for the evening.
*****
Not quite ready for sleep with all the thoughts running around in his head, Josh thought he would take Dominic’s advice and talk to Melanie. He softly knocked on her bedroom door. A sweet, melodious voice answered, “It’s open.”
Josh sighed in relief that she was still awake. He opened the door to find Melanie draped across the bed, reading a book in the soft lighting of the lamp on the nightstand. She looked up at him with a huge smile and that was all it took to melt him to his very core. There was something so amazingly comforting about this beautiful girl. It emanated off her like radiant light from the sun. Though they had been in each other’s company off and on for the last couple of weeks, it still took his breath away every time it happened.
There had been a time not so long ago when Josh couldn’t turn off his telepathic abilities and it pushed him into a life of dark isolation; but a late night walk to the corner store one dark, cold March night, that all changed when he quite literally ran into Melanie and saved her from slipping on some ice. His hand touched her skin and a jolt of electricity pulsed through him, filling in behind it sweet silence. Some kind of amazing connection happened between the two of them that night, and neither one of them had been alone since.
“It’s just me, Lanie. I’m glad you’re still up. I need to talk to someone or I’m going to explode,” Josh said.
A look of concern came over her face as she sat cross-legged on the bed, patting a place next to her lightly - an invitation for him to sit with her. He never broke eye contact with her as he walked across the room and sat down on the bed. Her striking blue eyes searched his for what was troubling him and she put her hand on his shoulder, softly rubbing it as if that would make everything go away. Her dark hair was up in a clip at the back of her head, revealing the slenderness of her neck; her long bangs framed her face softly along with some stray strands. When her hand touched his shoulder, he temporarily forgot all his problems and sighed heavily as if a huge load had been taken off his shoulders.
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