Chasing the Moon

I was sitting on Aiden's couch with Aiden's head in my lap as I played with his hair. He was still unconscious and I finally got to see how nerve-wracking it was to wait for your love to wake up. I watched him for any sign of stirring, as did his parents. His dad was holding his mother's hand so tightly that it was turning white!

"You have an awful lot of explaining to do," I warned them, glancing up at them. They nodded, holding each other even tighter. My eyes darted back to Aiden as I watched his face carefully. He had better wake up soon or anxiety would be the death of me!

"Gabby," he groaned, turning onto his side. My face lit up and I threw my arms around him. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he smiled softly. "Love you."

"I love you, too, honey," I whispered, kissing him softly. He was grinning as he sat up, but I watched as the memory of a half hour ago played in his mind. All of a sudden he had a pained expression on his face.

"Mom, dad," he choked. "What is going on?" They took in a deep breath.

"Aiden, I only wanted to protect you," his mother whispered softly, her eyes glistening as tears formed in them.

"Protecting me from what? The fact that I'm a cannibal?!" He jumped to his feet and pointed at her, mouth hanging open. It seemed like something I'd see in a comic book and laugh about, but he was entirely serious so I held the laughter back.

"You're not a cannibal," she chided, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. I really felt the love!

"Then," he took in a deep, shaky breath. "What am I?" That question just shattered my glass heart. I had wondered that myself so much, but I had never gotten an answer. I didn't want Aiden to go through that, too.

"Honey, maybe we should sit down," she muttered, not waiting for an answer as she sat down on the couch beside me with her husband. Aiden plopped carelessly down beside me, grabbing my hand. I kissed him quickly and allowed him to pull me onto his lap and kiss the top of my head a few times.

"Tell me," he begged, his voice cracking. I felt his lip quiver as he pressed his lips to the top of my head, kissing it once more.

"Aiden, as you know I'm not your real mother," she started, swallowing hard. Aiden nodded, wrapping his arms around me tightly. His hands were shaking. "Your mother, well, she wasn't a werewolf. Your father met her when he was attending a ball of an old friend. She and him immediately hit it off and thought they were in love. Seven months later they had you, but Celeste then decided she didn't want anything to do with a werewolf man and a half-breed son. Aiden, your real mother was a vampire."

I stared at her in shock, not believing this at all. Aiden's grip on me loosened and out of the corner of my eye I saw this vacant look in his eyes. I kissed his cheek, anxious. Was he okay?

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Aiden asked with a voice surprisingly stern. His hold on me tightened again and I almost couldn't breathe. I almost had to tell him that I wasn't going anywhere so he could loosen up!

"I didn't want anyone to know," his dad intervened. "If word got out that you were even half vampire, they'd have made me get rid of you. You're my son and I'm not giving you up. As far as I was concerned, you had no mother. You were just my perfect baby boy. Not the cutest, but nonetheless you were mine."

Okay, this so wasn't the time for jokes about him being the ugly duckling!

"I honestly don't know what to say to you at this point," he admitted, looking down. "How could you not tell your own son what he is?"

"I was hoping that since you didn't know, you wouldn't show any vampire qualities. I'm sorry, Aiden. I just didn't want anything to happen to you," he whispered, biting his lip.

"Gabby, I need to get out of here," Aiden whispered in my ear. I nodded and stood up only to be swept off of my feet and into his arms.

"Where are you going, Aiden?" his mother commanded, standing up.

"I'm going to find my real mom," he barked, glaring. "Maybe I'll be able to trust her to tell me everything!"

"Aiden, don't—!" His dad interrupted her.

"Aiden, if you really want to see her, then..." He stood up and grabbed something out of the jewelry box on the small table in the middle of the room. "You can use this ring to track her down." Aiden snatched it out of his hand, glaring.

"Thanks," he muttered dryly.

"I need to tell Zach before we go." He had a concerned look on his face and I laughed. "And don't worry, my lying has gotten considerably better."

"Then, my love, let us go to your Vampire Lair."