Love Sucks

“Is it safe to come in?” asked Rollo from somewhere in the hallway.

“Yes, dear,” said Greta. “She’s just had the baby. Come see for yourself…”

I smiled back at Rollo, and kissed my baby. “George, what is the baby’s gender? I mean, we’ve got to settle on a name soon. I can’t call it baby forever.”

“You had a beautiful baby girl,” said George as he put his arms around Greta. “And I’ll bet anything you name her would be just as sweet as she is.”

Henry sat next to me on the bed, and for a moment, I’d forgotten what he had done to me, and let him sit with me on the bed with our baby. “She’s so beautiful,” murmured Henry. “Just like her mother. What name should we give her?”

“How about Isolde?” I said. “Any objections?”

“Eh,” said Rollo. “I don’t really like it all that much. How about Orla?”

“Hmm,” said Greta. “It’s not too bad, Orla I mean. I like it. What do you think?”

“It’s perfect,” I smiled. “Just like she is. My little Orla…”

“Orla…” whispered Henry as he gently stroked her smooth baby skin.

“My granddaughter,” sighed George happily. “Miss Orla Carson. I know she will grow to be a beautiful girl. I couldn’t have wished for a better granddaughter…”

“My own daughter,” said Henry as Orla’s tiny fingers closed around his pinky finger. “I never thought… not in a million years that I could ever help conceive a child, and it to be so sweet and gentle like our Orla. We must be not fully cursed after all…”

Oh boy, would we ever eat our words, but at the time, we were so enraptured by Orla’s birth.
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Greta and George had left the hotel room to go for some coffee, and Rollo felt like going for a nice cold beer, so he left with them. That left me with Henry and the baby to myself.

“Gia,” said Henry. “I have to tell you something. I have to explain myself…”

I came back to reality in a jolt, the baby’s hypnotism over me faded in an instant. “Henry, get out of here NOW.”

“No, I am not leaving you and Orla,” said Henry firmly. The baby began to fuss, and I held her closer to me, rocking her gently. “I love the both of you more than anything, and now you are going to have to sit here and listen to me whether you like it or not!”

“Henry, I SAW the evidence on you!” I hissed. “You had ash all over you. And mind you, you were completely NAKED!”

“I did not sleep with anyone but you!” growled Henry. “I was set up! Dad had the ashes analyzed and it wasn’t human remains! And the hair was that of a horse’s! Gia, I swear to you that I have been faithful to you since the day we fell in love.”

“Why would anyone try to set you up like that?” I asked, seeing the truth in his eyes.

“You have an idea as to why a certain someone would want to set me up like that,” said Henry, and it clicked in my head. Andrew fucking Blood.

“That bastard! I’m going to kill him with my own hands!” I yelled, making poor Orla cry. “I’m sorry baby, mommy’s just a little pissed off. Henry, would you like to hold her?”

His eyes widened, and I put Orla in his arms. He held her as if she was a piece of glass, ready to break at any time. He started to hum, and Orla cooed and reached to touch his face. “Yes, my beautiful daughter, I am your daddy. And I love you more than words can say. I will do everything and anything to protect you and your mother. I promise…”

“Are we going to get Nausicaia involved in this?” I asked as Henry put Orla back in my arms. “It would be good to have her fight the wolves.”

“She’s not the only person who is going to be there,” said Henry. “We have a coven in Washington state that will be flying here to Italy to meet us tomorrow. I’ve never met this family, but I heard they know plenty about wolves, and any information they have will be useful in order to win the war.”

“What are their names?” I asked curiously as I breastfed Orla.

“I didn’t catch all of their names, but their last name is Cullen. Most of them are old vampires like me, but there is one who is a halfling, and one who has recently been turned,” said Henry. “The family is around our ages, with the exception of one of their sons who dates back to the civil war.”

“Interesting,” I said as Orla had finished. She looked up at us with her beautiful brown eyes, and her arms were outstretched to Henry. “Aw, precious Orla wants her daddy again. How sweet!”

I let her go to her father, and Henry cradled her in his arms. “Do you have any more blood Henry?” I asked. “I feel a bit lightheaded.”

He reached in his pocket, and pulled out a long, thin test tube of blood. “This is the best we can do before you can hunt again,” said Henry as I downed the blood. “We can’t hunt here, we’ll have to wait till we get back to New Jersey. Vampires aren’t widely known here, or anywhere really. We try to keep ourselves kept under wraps. It keeps us from being staked or being chased by a mob.”

I nodded, pulling the blankets around me. Henry got into bed, still holding Orla, and kissed me. Orla started cooing happily. “She’s got to have some hidden talent,” I smirked as Henry put his arm around me. “Her mommy can morph, her dad controls the weather, and her uncle has x-ray vision and is a telepath. But what could she possibly be?”

“Only time will tell, Gia,” said Henry as I closed my eyes and fell asleep.