Eyes Like Ice

I gazed emotionlessly out of one of my large bedroom windows, watching as rain pattered against the glass. The raindrops were big, undoubtedly rather heavy as a result of this, and I couldn't help but wonder how they weren't ripping leaves off of the many trees I could see. I used to find myself the slightest bit irritated by having nothing but these oaks and maples to look at, but now, I couldn't bring myself to care. Having a bunch of bright flowers to gaze upon would've irritated me more, so I supposed I was lucky to have these dull trees here.

Another wave of pure exhaustion hit me, and I leaned against the chilly window, a hand going to my flat stomach almost instinctively. I'd been suffering from these random bouts of fatigue for almost two and a half months now. They'd started only three days after I'd learned that I was pregnant, but Miss Lumberton had brought a Levellua specialist in for me, and he'd explained that this was normal. The combination of the baby taking what it needed from me and the odd magic that kept me from looking big and pregnant siphoning off some of my energy occasionally was what caused these tiring spells. He had also said that I seemed healthy enough, and he'd confirmed that the baby was doing okay during his last visit a few days ago. I was to call him if my exhaustion got too severe, however.

Lightning lit up the dark sky suddenly, and I assumed that was what had caused the lights to flicker off a moment later, leaving me with only what the lightning's illumination could provide. Without the lightning, I was in almost total darkness.

The familiar scent of ashes reached my nose after a few seconds, and I soon had a cold, pale hand over mine. The male's other arm wrapped around me, pulling me back into a muscular body. I then felt a head laying across my own. My eyes closed as a gentle rocking began, just a slight, soothing sway. Back and forth...Back and forth...

"Are you all right, Raven?" Spike asked softly, his voice just as relaxing as his gentle swaying.

"Yes, Spike," I replied, my voice quiet, but still annoyingly empty of emotion. "I've already made it clear that I can't be harmed by the lightning in here."

He let out a short, quiet sound, something resembling a chuckle, and I knew he was smiling. He smiled a lot these days, but only around me. "I actually meant are you all right now that the power went out, but it was silly of me to assume that you would be afraid of such a thing."

"Very silly," I told him, my pale eyes focusing on the rain-covered window once more. They darted down to our hands when I felt him move his. My body tensed the tiniest bit as he slid his hand beneath my shirt, gently moving it to my stomach once again, but I quickly relaxed against him, moving my hand away from my stomach when he began to caress the area. He stopped swaying, and I watched, almost fascinated, as he rubbed my stomach.

He was always so gentle with me now, like he was afraid he would break me if he moved too quickly or touched me too hard. I knew he would be the same way with our baby. The faintest smile reached my lips to match the slight happiness that flowed into me at the thought, filling my usually empty emotional void with an odd, pleasing warmth. He would make such a great father...

"I love you, Raven," he whispered, just as he had been doing periodically everyday for the past two and a half months.

I wanted to tell him that I loved him, too. I really, really did. Yet all I could manage was my usual, "I know."

He nodded once, seeming to be doing so to confirm something for himself. "Good," he said quietly, the slightest hint of sadness entering his tone.

The doors to my bedroom began to open almost as soon as Spike had finished speaking, causing the vampire to quickly move away from me. I missed the feeling of his hand on my stomach and his body against mine, but I knew it would be bad if Dominick or Riley saw Spike and me being too...lovish with each other. Technically, I wasn't supposed to be too close to any of the males, but when I was alone with one of them, we tended to ignore that rule. Each of them got their own kind of affection from me, and, as far as I knew, none of them knew about what I did with the other two.

Dominick entered the room with Riley thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, an evil grin on his face that I could only see because of my excellent night vision. "Dinner, milady," the Levellua said, bending his knees in a mock curtsy. "I found him napping in the kitchen."

"Put me down!" Riley whined as he struggled to free himself from Dominick's grasp.

"Relax, human," the Levellua ordered while walking over to my bed. He dropped Riley on the recently made black sheets none too gently, saying, "There. You're down."

Riley glared in Dominick's direction, being almost blind in the darkness. I figured that that must have been unnerving, knowing that everyone but you could see perfectly while you saw only vague shapes.

I strode over to my bed and sat down on the edge of it, looking at the human stoically. "Have you come to offer me your blood again?" He'd been doing this a lot, having heard from my doctor that human blood was better for the baby than any other kind. The doctor had spoken to all three of the males as well as Miss Lumberton, so they all knew what they could do to help me. Of all the things my master knew she could do for me, the only things she did were pay for the doctor and avoid giving me things to do. I hadn't robbed a house since Miss Lumberton had learned of my pregnancy. I hadn't been in a fight since then, either. That was partially thanks to my master, but mostly thanks to Spike, Dominick, and Riley. They all protected me when the other two couldn't. Riley defended me at school, Spike watched over me at night, and Dominick was constantly around me during the rest of the time. Usually, at least two of them were with me, though, if not all of them.

Riley got a really goofy grin on his face at my question. Where Dominick's smile had been sexy, the human's was simply adorable. "Of course."

"Neck or wrist?" was my next question, which I asked even though I already knew the answer. The human glanced at Spike and Dominick, obviously not comfortable answering me with them there. "Would you please leave us alone for a few minutes?" I asked the vampire and the Levellua.

As usual, they both said a short, simple, "No."

I sighed and said tiredly, "Please?"

Both of the non-humans growled lightly, but gave in, just as they always did. I didn't turn back to Riley until the door was closed behind the other males.

Another flash of lightning lit up my room, casting bold, eerie shadows around the human and me as I reached out and ran my fingers along his throat gently. "Neck, I presume?" At his slow nod, I pushed him back into a laying position carefully, then moved to straddle him. After gazing down at him for a few seconds, I leaned down and, still being gentle, allowed my fangs to pierce his flesh.

I closed my eyes to better enjoy the taste of his warm, delicious blood, reveling in the intimacy of this whole event as he slid a hand up my shirt and began to innocently rub my lower back. I shivered at his touch, but kept draining his blood with steady pulls from his vein. Soon, his other hand was lightly caressing my stomach, just as Spike's had.

It seemed that, on some level, all three of the males thought of the child I carried as their own. Dominick and Riley were well aware that the child was Spike's, but I was sure that they, too, felt some strange fatherly bond with it. I had decided about a week into my pregnancy that all of them, Spike, Dominick, and Riley, would be allowed to partake in the raising of my child in some way. Even if Spike decided to get all possessive of the infant, I would make sure that Riley and Dominick were just as much fathers to it as Spike was.

This led to another thought. Would the baby be more Levellua or more vampire? If it was born with a Levellua Signum on its back, it was doomed to lead the hard life of a supernatural slave, for without a master, it would eventually die. But if it was born without the marking, making it more vampire than Levellua, it could live as it wanted to, leading a relatively normal life. Unless it inherited its father's sensitivity to sunlight...

I released Riley's neck with a sigh, hating myself as much as my lack of emotions would allow. I wasn't supposed to be thinking of all the bad things that could happen. I had specifically told myself not to. Yet here I was, wondering whether my baby would be bound to a master or unable to stand sunlight.

Suddenly, while I was still slightly distracted by my dark thoughts, a hand gently laid itself upon the back of my head. Just as this touch snapped me out of my ponderings, I felt myself being pulled downward. My eyes closed almost instinctively as a pair of human lips pressed ever so gently against my own. It was an innocent, chaste kiss, but I thoroughly enjoyed the contact, even more so than I would have if I wasn't aware that Riley had never kissed anyone else.

Only a few seconds passed before I pulled away, opening my pale blue eyes. I was almost shocked by the look in Riley's dark brown eyes. Even in the darkness, I could see how full of pure love and affection they were. His love for me had grown steadily over the past few months, going from a little crush to...this. Utter adoration and unwavering affection.

It was so strange...

"I love you, Raven," Riley whispered after gazing up at me for a few seconds.

And again, all I could manage was an apathetic, "I know." This didn't seem to affect him at all. He was probably used to it by now. Impulsively, I reached down and ran the long, thin fingers of one hand along his cheek. "You're so kind to me," I whispered.

He smiled softly as he laid a hand over mine, lightly pressing my palm against his cheek. "Not nearly kind enough," he whispered in return.

Before I could ask what he meant, Dominick's impatient-sounding voice filtered in from the hallway. "Are you done yet?"

"Yes," was my stoic reply, uttered as I gracefully moved myself off of Riley and the bed, allowing the human to slowly sit up. He reached up and touched his index and middle fingers to the puncture wounds my fangs had left. He mumbled something, and a slight glow illuminated his face as his wounds quickly healed. The light soon faded, leaving the human to lower his arm and get to his feet as if nothing had happened.

I marveled at how his healing abilities had grown since he'd first learned about them, barely noticing Dominick and Spike until they were standing to either side of me. Both of the non-human males studied the human's neck for a moment, but Spike was the one who said, "You've gotten good at that."

Riley grinned at the dark figure the voice had come from and said, "Thanks." The poor boy let out a frightened squeak when the next flash of lightning bathed the room in momentary brightness, followed by a clap of thunder that shook the windows.

I walked back over to the window and rested my palm on the cool glass, peering out at the trees. "This seems very foreboding," I commented vaguely, noting that the wind had picked up dramatically since I'd last looked outside. The branches of the trees were whipping about wildly in the never-ending breeze, leaves falling from them occasionally. Even as I watched, an entire limb snapped and crashed to the leaf- and twig-littered ground below.

"What does?" Dominick asked as he and the others walked over to stand behind me.

"Such a violent storm so late in November...It is not normal. It's usually too cold to storm altogether, let alone like this," I answered with a shake of my head, my eyes wandering to the dark clouds above the trees.

"Yes," Spike murmured, obviously pondering my observation. "It does seem rather odd."

I nodded, then absentmindedly stated, "I'm cold."

Dominick was the first to react to my statement, gently turning me to him and pulling my body to his before Spike could stop him. "Would you like me to take you downstairs?" the Levellua asked, merely smirking when Spike bared his fangs in an angry snarl. "I believe it's warmer there."

I nodded again. "Sure, but I can get-" Dominick picked me up before I could finish the sentence, though I decided to continue in a sigh, "Myself there."

"No, no. I'll get you there," the pale-eyed male told me, now heading for the door. Spike, no longer growling, opened it for us and rather reluctantly let us pass. He and Riley followed us to the entrance hall silently.

"Shouldn't it be colder here since we're near the front door?" the human asked, obviously confused by the hall's warmth.

"Miss Lumberton has never allowed my room to be properly heated," I informed him as Dominick carefully put me down. "Any room in this mansion will have a more pleasant temperature than mine."

Dominick stood behind me, unconsciously running his hands up and down my bare arms. "Are you all right now?"

Once more, I nodded. "Yes." Almost as soon as I said this, my legs gave, sudden exhaustion shoving aside all of my strength again.

Dominick caught me before I could get anywhere near the floor. Spike didn't even growl when the Levellua picked me up this time, too worried to be angry.

"You should sit down and rest," Dominick told me, heading in the direction of his favorite parlor. The one we ended up in was the darkest of the three in Miss Lumberton's mansion. It had dark, dark blue furniture, dark wooden tables, and dark blue carpet. The walls, too, were a darker shade of blue.

While Spike, Dominick, and I all made it into the room without incident, poor Riley ran right into the door frame. The collision was accompanied by a quiet thud.

"Ow," the human whined while entering the room a moment later, rubbing his nose.

Dominick snickered, gently laying me down on the couch. "You okay, human?"

"Yes, you big meanie," Riley mumbled, pouting and crossing his arms as he dropped into the nearest chair.

Spike had grown oddly still all of a sudden, standing by the couch and staring unblinkingly at the doorway. Dominick turned to look at the door as well, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Should we go see what it is?" the Levellua asked, still looking at the door.

"No. You should stay with Raven in case something happens," Spike stated. "Riley and I will go see what it is."

Riley squeaked at this. "Go see what what is?!" he asked, half panicking.

"That's the problem," Spike said as he grabbed the human's wrist and pulled him out of his chair. "We don't know yet." Riley squeaked again as he was dragged out of the room, and then, there was silence.

"I don't think there's anything wrong," I told Dominick after a few seconds, my voice slightly weaker than it usually was.

"We don't know that for sure," Dominick stated, kneeling beside the couch. "It's a foreign scent, so it could be something bad." Then, he kissed me, being more rough and passionate than either of the other males dared to be. That was how this particular male showed his love, though, so I responded in kind.

His hand was soon on my stomach, remaining on top of the black fabric of my tight-fitting T-shirt. He pulled away after a moment, only to press another hard kiss against my lips a moment later. Then, finally, he pulled completely away from my lips. I opened my eyes and looked up at him, ever so slightly disoriented now.

"I love you, Raven Guthrie," he murmured to me, beginning to plant little kisses all down my pale neck.

I shivered, enjoying this more than I should have, yet still, all I had to say was, "I know."

The male's warm hand finally slid up my shirt, though it went no higher than my stomach. His other hand was resting by my ear, his fingers stroking my silky black hair. I watched his ear twitch slightly just as I heard Spike and Riley approaching. Quickly, he gave me another kiss on the lips, this one more gentle than the others, then he moved away from me, sitting in the chair Riley had been occupying earlier.

He glanced at the vampire calmly when Spike and the human walked into the room. "What was it?"

"A guest of Miss Lumberton's," Spike replied, eying the Levellua suspiciously. He glanced at me, but I just looked up at the dark ceiling, silent.

After that, the four of us lapsed into a somewhat comfortable silence. I stared at the ceiling while the three guys stared at me.

Once I had finally regained a decent amount of my strength, I got to my feet and calmly walked past the males. They glanced at each other, then followed me out of the room. As we made our way down a few hallways, the lights gradually flickered back to life. My eyes quickly adjusted to the sudden brightness, but Riley remained disoriented until we reached the entrance hall. Dominick didn't seem to mind the light, and Spike seemed to need only a moment more than him to get used to it.

I opened one of the double doors at the front of the mansion, finding myself gazing out at a yard covered in leaves and other debris. The wind had stopped, and no more rain fell. The lightning and thunder had also ceased. With the absence of the storm, all that was left was a chilly November night, basking in the silence and calm it was accustomed to.

I turned to Riley and stepped out of the way of the open door. "You should go home," I told him simply. "It's a school night."

The human went wide-eyed. "I forgot it was Sunday!" He hurried toward the door, pausing in front of me. He almost leaned in to kiss me, but he stopped himself once he realized that Spike and Dominick were still watching us. Instead of a kiss, he offered me a weak smile. "Bye, Raven. I'll see you at school tomorrow." And with that, he left.

I sighed tiredly as I turned to Spike and Dominick. "You should go as well. It's almost eleven."

"But one of us always stays with you," Spike said, seeming slightly stunned.

"Yeah," Dominick agreed, also appearing a bit shocked. "Either me, Spike, or the human."

"Sometimes all of us," the vampire added.

I shrugged, still standing beside the open door. "I know, and I appreciate that, but I need some time alone."

"But what if someone attacks you?" Spike questioned worriedly.

"No one will attack me." My eyes narrowed the slightest bit to reflect the slight anger I felt. "Besides, I could defend myself if someone did. I'm pregnant, not weak."

"But..." Dominick trailed off when I turned my glare to him.

"Thank you for wanting to help and being so concerned, but I'll be fine on my own for one night." Spike opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out because I aimed an even fiercer glare at him. "Good. Bye," I said slowly, emphasizing each word in an attempt to get them to understand my meaning.

The males finally gave in, both mumbling a hurt good-bye as they walked past me. I closed the door behind them, then allowed my back to rest against the smooth surface. I heaved another tired sigh and let my body slide down to the floor, my long legs stretching out in front of me.

God. Being pregnant sucks.