The Vampires Of Livix Twin Pack (Volumes #2 & #3)

by Smith, J Gordon

  “Messes with your head.”

  “Yes.” Shannon looked at me, “If I gave advice, and that is all it is, I’d suggest thinking hard about it. You don’t want to rush into some relationship that deep at your age. But work up some sort of plan. A lot of people and it depends on the profession you choose, take a few years off work and do some freelance projects or get family to help while they stay partly “in the game”. Many look into starting some sort of business that you don’t have to go to a regular corporate office. The Internet and a shipping company give anyone global reach.”

  “One of the patent graphics designers that Marilyn uses is a stay-at-home mom in Wisconsin that works by email and video conferencing.”

  “Yes, like that.”

  “Not that I do Computer Aided Design work, but the patent drawings have strict style specifications for the inventors and she does them for Marilyn. Fairly inexpensive considering other options.”

  “A Home office is a great low overhead business option.”

  I drank more of my pop.

  “I’ve been helping a few businesses in town with their book keeping and yearend financial reporting needs. It’s a lot less complicated than the work I did at General Motors for their Treasury group but it’s also much more personal with fewer politics. Unless you count the hair pulling knock-down fights between my kids.”

  “That’s funny,” I laughed.

  “Getting corporate experience is valuable in acquiring contacts and domain knowledge though.”

  “I’ll have to get a husband before I need to worry about that.”

  She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, “Not any more with current science but it’s a good idea.”

  “I love my nieces and nephews – but I’m not ready for my own.”

  Shannon glanced at the big clock on the hallway wall, “You decided to see me with nothing else planned?”

  “No. Well. I wanted to talk.” I fidgeted. I pulled up my socks and straightened back the legs on my jeans. Shannon watched me. I knew she waited. At last I said, “Don’t tell Mom.”

  “Uh oh. Why? Are you pregnant?”

  “No.”

  “What then?”

  “Vampires are real.”

  “– MOM!!!” Joanna yelled.

  Julie ran out holding her head. Her eyes full of tears and her face reddening, “Mom!! Joanna hit me!”

  “Oh let me see,” Shannon said, then like a drill Sergeant, “Joanna, get out here.”

  Joanna tiptoed to the corner of the hallway and peered around. Julie stomped in a circle under a full steam of blubbering explaining words. I heard “not sharing” … “hitting” … “my pillow”.

  “Joanna, what happened?”

  Joanna’s voice ramped up to concern levels and sped along like a race car, “Julie took my pillow so I took hers and Josh wasn’t sharing and James is sitting on all the pillows.”

  Shannon said after inspecting Julie’s head and not finding any real injuries, “I want you sharing or I’ll put the tent away. Do you want me to put the tent away?”

  Joanna said, “No Mommy.”

  “Off you go Julie. Play nice.”

  Joanna stomped back into the bedroom, “James! You have to share or Mommy will put the tent away!”

  “You understand?” Shannon yelled to them. “We’ll start with timeouts next.”

  Murmurs of dejected consent filtered back. I could envision how their shoulders hung low.

  Shannon said to me, “That will hold them for about fifteen minutes.” She stood up, “The real days of a stay at home parent.”

  “You’re selling me on this pretty hard. Where are the cuddly bunnies and romping puppies like the television commercials?”

  “One of those Realistic Job Preview opportunities.” Shannon stepped over to the kitchen and opened a cabinet, “You have any plans for the rest of the day?”

  “No, why?”

  “I have a feeling we’re going to need this … and these.” She set a bottle of wine and a pair of small wine glasses on the coffee table. She flipped out the curly pig-tail of a bottle opener to spin into the cork.

  “Aren’t you worried about spilling it on the carpet?”

  “You haven’t seen what four little kids do to carpet. Fruit juice with extra dyes over there – why do they need to put more dye in? Ground in mud and mulberries stamped through the house from the tree in the back yard over there. I could go on and on. This is white wine anyway.” Shannon twisted the opener into the cork and eased the tang up. A short pop and the cork came out. She filled each glass to their equator.

  “So what is this about Vampires?”

  “This is pretty good.” I said. “What brand?”

  “Pinot Gris from Monte De Oro winery in Temecula. From when Michael and I went out on our anniversary.”

  “I thought you went to San Diego when Mom watched your kids.”

  “Temecula is less than an hour from either San Diego or Los Angeles. We went for the wine tour.”

  I pulled the glass away from my lips, “You’re giving me some of your anniversary wine?”

  “No. We joined the wine club and get quarterly shipments. I have another couple of mixed cases under the basement stairs. I’ve been intending to have a grownup party one of these days.”

  “Rather than kids birthday parties and play dates?”

  “Yes.”

  Then I thought I better get back to my story, like peeling a bandage off, “The ultimate bad boy biker dude with tattoos wouldn’t be any worse.”

  “I’m not sure I believe in vampires. They are fine entertainment for books and movies though.”

  “I didn’t believe either, at first.” I pushed myself back into the couch, “It started with little things. Like amazing reflexes. Incredible speed and sense of hearing and sight. I saw those before he told me. This only validated what he told me.”

  “Did he tell you the truth? Have you seen him … be a vampire?” Shannon pulled a blanket across herself from the back of the big chair she sat in. She took a big gulp of wine.

  “I’ve never seen him feed. If that’s what you mean. I’ve seen him kill other vampires. And at least once came too close … he could have slipped and drank me.”

  Shannon reached forward and tipped out more wine into her glass, “You better tell me the whole story.”

  The story poured out of me as we drank the wine. From my first time seeing Garin step into the coffee shop out of the rain through the running, the escape, the attacks, the love, the fear, and the violence. My decision to break it off. Too much.

  The kids weaved in and out asking for help to hang blankets over chairs in their room transforming the mundane objects into a fortress guarded by ferocious stuffed animals. A lot of dinosaurs did guard duty.

  Shannon asked, “What are his good qualities?”

  “Educated, talented, great with his hands –”

  “– Oh yeah!?” she raised an eyebrow.

  “Yes. No. You’re awful.” I wanted to toss a pillow at her if the kids hadn’t taken them all, “And ambitious in spite of family wealth –”

  “– because of compound interest over centuries,” Shannon set her glass on the end table, “Which makes me ask: is he centuries old? Like creepy centuries old? Even if he looks younger?”

  “No! But his family is old.”

  “A lot of pros but a big bad negative in the con column.”

  “Yeah.” I drained my glass. The bottle seemed empty too.

  “I guess I’m still having trouble believing. Are you sure he’s a vampire?”

  “Yes.” Concern washed over me, “Promise you’ll keep the secret?”

  “Who would believe me?”

  “Some.” I remembered the Militia’s sign at the Victorian Festival. Seemed like long ago but only weeks since the parade. “They fear pitchforks and torches.”

  “Can vampires even have family? Is there a future in the relationship?”

  “I think so. Th
e vampire trying to take the company from Garin is dead. Real dead not undead.”

  “– Mommy, what’s a vamp’s-ire?” Josh asked at her elbow. I hadn’t seen him come back in the living room.

  Shannon said, “You should go play with your fortress.”

  Josh waddled over to me and pressed a small brown bear against my chest, “Grizzly protects you. Don’t be sad.”

  “Aww,” I hugged Josh, tears welling along my lower lids, “Thank you.” My voice cracked with, “You better go play.” I wiped my hands across my face.

  “Now what do you think of kids?”

  I smiled through the tears, “Still not yet. But your sales techniques are improving.” I sniffed. “A lot.”

  After her son left the room Shannon said quietly, “Trouble breeds trouble … much more trouble. I’m glad you stopped that relationship.” Then I saw her face flinch, “If he wasn’t a vampire or had money would you still want him?”

  “Can he still be gorgeous?”

  “No – average. What’s the man behind it all?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe I should spend more time with him?”

  “Think about it … you’d bring a vampire into the rest of our family’s lives?”

  “I know.”

  “Around my kids.” Shannon’s voice increased slightly in volume and speed, “I put helmets on my kids when they ride bikes and safety seats in the car and double check the seat belts are tight and fully latched. Stuff Mom never did for us, but not Mom’s fault because no one did back then.”

  “I remember riding in the back of a pickup sitting on the wheel wells too.”

  “Everyone did.”

  “But since we know I don’t want to encourage you on this. Promise me you’ll stay away from him?”

  “Yes.”

  “No difference than dating gangsters, drug dealers, or thugs. It’s dangerous not only for you but for my family. My kids.”

  I decided getting out of this particular conversation sewer would be good, “How did you find Michael?”

  Shannon relaxed, “College Halloween party. We danced. He had drunk too much and smelled of burlap. Every time I’m in the craft store or the home supply warehouse and I smell burlap I remember that night.”

  “Why did he smell of burlap? Popular cologne? I’m not sure I’d like that.”

  “He dressed up in a crazy peasant outfit he made himself using a burlap bag tied with thick cord like a medieval peasant. Then he had a cloth on his head. He quoted lines from some old television show with every beer. I still have a picture,” Shannon went to the book case that filled a whole wall at the side of the living room and retrieved an old photo album. “See?”

  “That’s funny.”

  “He’s not too wild side but I like some predictability.”

  “After that good hands crack you gave me, does that predictability extend into the bedroom?”

  “No. We both work on spontaneous.” Shannon put the photo album away, “We remind each other about sex. Easier since I cut caffeine when having kids. Though I really craved it after those sleepless crying baby nights. Years of working in an office drinking coffee and caffeine-laced pop I used to get migraines. Now I think my headaches came from withdrawal symptoms of caffeine imbalances. Michael doesn’t get angry and mean either since he stopped.”

  “So you don’t have any communication issues with Michael?”

  “Here’s a hint on husbands and the whole communication problem in popular media. Communication for husbands includes intimacy in the bedroom – their version of the conversation. A lot of wives neglect that. They claim too many caffeine-induced headaches. A relationship disconnect with an initiating conflict. Wives want the communication leading into intimacy. Husbands won’t be communicative unless you’re actively intimate.”

  “That would be more useful if I had a guy.”

  Shannon got up and pressed the television power button and flipped the remote to their media center input. I saw a splash of XBMC and an Ubuntu operating system icon.

  “Hey, that’s the same operating system on my computer. Garin installed it for me.” A pain shot through my heart. I wasn’t getting over him as much as I thought.

  “Michael put ours in. It’s been nice. The kid’s videos are on a hard drive now rather than on the living room floor getting stepped on. We stream content from Amazon. I thought you’d like to watch a movie with me?”

  “Sure.”

  Shannon flipped through the pictures of movies, “Do you have any other possible guys you know to date?”

  “You’re not preparing to fix me up.”

  “No. My friends are married or I only know older guys. None of them had kids young enough to date you.”

  “This guy from the coffee shop asked me out.”

  “Tell me details.” Shannon sat down in her chair, “He’s normal, right?”

  Hunger tugged at me, “You have any chips?”

  “In the snack pantry.”

  I retrieved the bag of potato chips lurking there and flopped on the couch.

  “Chips!” exclaimed James, sitting next to me with hands ready for the bag opening ceremony.

  “They never hear you when it’s bedtime but the crinkle of snack bags brings them running.”

  The other three rushed out and lined up next to me on the couch. Like four little poodles licking their lips in anticipation. “You don’t let them have these often do you?”

  “No.” Shannon got out of her chair and went into the kitchen, “kids, over here in the kitchen. I have some vegetables for snacks. Maybe Aunti Anna can have some too? Then you can have a few chips.”

  The poodle team bounded across the living room and hopped into chairs at the kitchen table. Sad faces when they saw the vegetables as promised. They poked at the carrots and celery while Shannon put out little tea-cup bowls and filled them with some chips. “Eat half of that snack and you can have some chips.”

  “My negotiator sister at work.”

  “You wait. You’ll get to do this someday.” Shannon put a bowl in front of each child and instant happiness lighted their faces. “You’ll find they are not much different from corner office VPs though.”

  “I hear our movie starting,” I grabbed the bag of chips and a fistful of carrots.

  “Mommy, I want to color.”

  “I want to draw.”

  “Me too.”

  “Yes!”

  Shannon got up. “Tell me what I miss.” she rolled out a stack of bins with paper and crayons and other art supplies.

  “Mommy, I want to paint!”

  “And me too!”

  “No, we’re not painting today. Too much mess and supervision needed for that.”

  “Oh …”

  “But Mommy!”

  “No, you can do a lot with crayons and the pencils in here.”

  “Ok.”

  “But I want to paint!”

  “No Julie. This weekend we can do some painting. Or chalk on the driveway.”

  “Chalk on the driveway? Yes!” Julie ran for her shoes.

  “Julie, it’s still raining outside and I said tomorrow.”

  “I can get my boots on and my rain coat is in the closet!”

  “No you’re staying inside. Here is some paper.”

  I laughed. I knew this went on all day. “Chief snack factory and entertainment hub.”

  “Won’t be so funny when you have some of your own,” Shannon smiled.

  Shannon had the kids settled in for a while. “Ok, we’ve got about thirty minutes.”

  “You talk like a Director between meetings.”

  “You laugh …” Shannon sat down by the television. I didn’t have too many details on the movie events since I had watched her and the kids. We quickly figured out the movie villain got closer to tying the hero to the railroad tracks.

  “Aunti Anna.” Joanna said next to my ear.

  “Yes?”

  “I made this for you.” she held out a sheet of lig
ht blue construction paper. Stick figures for her whole family and me scattered around the page. She wrote in child lettering, her R’s backward while her S’s looked like twos. Our names blazed under each picture in red crayon. A lot of hearts floated like butterflies around the page.

  “I made you something too!” said Julie. She scribbled a flock of people and no words.

  James rushed over followed by Josh, “And us too!”

  “Aw, so sweet. These are fantastic.” I said looking through the drawings and at the little faces – perfect little nieces and nephews.

  “You can take the pictures home,” suggested Joanna.

  “These are really great drawings. Thank you.” I gave them each a hug.

  Shannon smiled, “James, why don’t you take those over and lean them against Aunti Anna’s purse?”

  “OK.”

  I asked, “What’s happening at the castle?”

  “The princess is held hostage by the evil robot.” said James as he came back.

  “Where did you learn the word hostage?”

  “Police TV.” James said.

  “How are you watching police shows?”

  “You’ll see …” Shannon grimaced. “Long nap and up all night. But mostly it’s from television advertising their own shows about ‘what’s up next’ over and over again all day.”

  I winked at Shannon, “James, why don’t you take your brothers and sisters and rescue the princess?”

  “Good plan,” Shannon said to me, “you’ll do ok.”

  James led the troop of children marching toward the blanket castle.

  “Those are really nice drawings. Did you put them up to it?”

  “Nope. That is their work.”

  “They’re really cute. I’m hanging the drawings on my refrigerator.”

  -:- -:- -:-

  “Michael, I appreciate you driving me back home.”

  “No problem Anna.”

  “I could drive.”

  “I’m not sure what she thought. You split a bottle and only had minimal snacks.”

  “I’ve had wine before.” I didn’t add that I’ve killed before too. My mind flashed to slicing the knife through the neck of the vampire Yashar.

  “Maybe. But your sister and I are responsible for you.”