Divided

I could sense her anger all the way from my office. I quickly put my quill down and ran to the door. She was storming down the hall, her black hair flying behind her and her green eyes furious.

“Jacob Dragomir!” she screeched at the top of her lungs.

“Lillian,” I said, stepping in front of me but she shoved me to the side. “Lillian, calm down my love.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” she yelled and slapped me. “Now where is he!?”

I sighed. “First you need to at least take a few deep breaths.”

She glared at me. If looks could kill….

She obeyed and closed her eyes.

“Now what did he do this time?” I asked.

“He desecrated Adelpha!” she screamed, her anger back and my jaw dropped.

“Jacob would never do that! Are you sure it was him?”

“I caught him doing it!”

“Well, what did he do? Did he break the statue? Draw on it?”

“He turned it to face the wall!” she yelled and I tried to stop a laugh from escaping.

“He turned the statue,” I said slowly, “and that’s how he desecrated it?”

“Don’t talk to me like that, Roan,” she hissed.

“Sweetheart, are you certain you’re not… overreacting?” I asked carefully. “I mean, you are three months along and you can-”

“Just shut up and tell me where our son is!” she said, putting her hand on her belly.

I sighed. “I’ll go with you,” I said. “I don’t want you murdering the boy before he gets to meet his sibling.”

I offered my arm and she gripped it tightly. I smiled to myself. Lillian Greentree always had a temper. I couldn’t blame her; not when a demon possessed my elder’s body to try and force our son to become a full vampire. We thought he was trying to make her be a vampire when the demon was starting to manipulate the child.

Unfortunately, the barrier that had separated our two worlds had killed our first child. Lillian had still been terrified when we got pregnant, though, and kept her distance from Elder Donne. It upset him but he understood. With this child, she was being cautious still but she was more open to Elder Donne being in the same room.

We found Jacob in the greenhouse. He was leaning against the counter and stroking a dead leaf with his pointer finger. He didn’t speak as the plant glowed green and returned to its original state.

“Jacob,” Lillian began angrily but I stopped her.

“Go check on dinner, Lillian,” I sighed, picking up on my son’s true emotions. “Go,” I added when she looked ready to argue.

She glared but turned on her heel and left. I closed the doors and leaned against them.

“Talk about it,” I said but he kept his back to me.

“What’s there to talk about?” he asked in a low voice. “Yes, I turned it around. But do you know how creepy it is to try and study about Caricus while Adelpha stares at you?”

I smiled. “Yes but you know how your mother feels about that statue. What’s really upsetting you?”

He finally turned around and, though his face was hard, I knew he was aching.

“It’s my birthday,” he said and I nodded.

“Yes.”

“And yet, after 20 years of life, I still don’t know what I am,” he said.

He flopped himself down on the floor and I knelt in front of him.

“You are my son,” I whispered.

He glared at me. “What kind of son looks like me!?”

I sighed. “What do you mean, Jacob? You are a very handsome young vampire and-”

“But I’m not a vampire, Father,” he snapped. “At least not a full one. I mean, you have black hair while Mother has red. Me? My hair is so blond it might as well be white. Your eyes are blue, hers are green. Turquoise, Father! Who has turquoise eyes!?”

I waited patiently until he got it all out. He glared at the floor. It was true that he was unique. Aside from his elven ears and fangs, he thought he didn’t look anything like us.

“You know what I see?” I asked and he looked at me. “I see your mother’s nose. I see your father’s lips. I sense your mother’s temper and your father’s gentle side fighting with each other. I see your mother’s ears and your father’s fangs. I see my son.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“That’s easy for you to say, Father,” he muttered. “I can’t even leave the palace without people gawking at me!”

“I know you’re not going to want to hear this,” I said and he started to groan, “talk to your mother about that.”

“Why!? She’ll just give me some stupid metaphor!”

“Actually, you’ll find she knows more about how you’re feeling than you think she does.”

He huffed. “All right. Where is she? Can you tell?”

I tilted my head to the side and searched the castle. I chuckled.

“I’ll go with you. It seems she’s ready to give you your birthday present.”

He looked interested and stood, following me up the stairs to his bedchambers. I felt bad for him and wished I could relate to his feelings of being an outsider. The best I could do, though, was remind him of Lillian. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve told him to talk to her about it. Maybe now he will.

When we got to his bedchambers, Lillian was fussing with the box and I smiled. She always wanted everything to be perfect. Inside were my parents, as well.

“Happy birthday,” my father said, hugging Jacob and he returned it.

He kissed my mother’s cheek as she beamed at him. She made a gesture with her hands and he laughed. Somehow, she was able to communicate with him like she did with my father. It didn’t surprise me too much. My mother spent a lot of time with Lillian while she was pregnant and I had a feeling her presence is what gave Jacob the ability to understand her.

“She says it’s time for me to cut my hair,” he said and I chuckled.

His hair went down to his shoulder blades but he didn’t want to cut it. I knew it was because he wanted to keep part of his elven heritage. And yet he still was at odds about his ears…. This kid. I laughed quietly to myself.

Jacob had always been conflicted growing up. He struggled for many years about accepting his identity. There were many nights where he and I sat awake as Lillian slept. He confided in me that he wanted to experience both lives without having to ostracize himself more than those around him have. He had a few friends, mostly servants that were born at the same time, but others gave him a wide berth. It broke Lillian’s heart and that’s when she did some research.

“Okay, time to show him,” I said, pulling her away from the box.

It was shaking slightly and Jacob hesitated, looking at us. We nodded encouragingly untied the black ribbon. He took the lid off and dropped it, his mouth agape.

“How did you find one?” he breathed, taking the rattling egg out carefully and placing it in the fire.

I smiled. “Your mother spent at least three months poking around.”

He stood up immediately and hugged Lillian.

“I’m sorry I moved Adelpha,” he mumbled and she laughed, crying a little.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart,” she whispered.

“When will it hatch?” my father asked, looking at the egg curiously.

“When did you get it?” Jacob asked.

“One month ago,” I answered. “We’ve followed the proper guidelines.”

Jacob nodded. He was an expert at these things and I could feel the waves of excitement pouring out of him.

“Then it should hatch in….” He trailed off, counting on his fingers. “Five hours.”

“That soon!?” Lillian gasped. “But the book said it would take six months!”

“Come here,” he said and knelt in front of the fire. We joined him and he pointed at some of the dots. “See how they’re darker?”

“Yes,” she nodded, leaning forward.

“That is the indicator of how old the egg is. You say you got it last month? I think it was probably five months old when you got it.”

“Five hours is pretty specific,” Lillian said. “How can you tell that?”

He smiled. “Because it’s already hatching, Mother.”

“Where!? I want to watch!”

I laughed softly. Lillian was always so fascinated about things new to her. I knew her anger with Jacob was gone. The air around the two of them was tender and I loved it.

“It’s in the back right now,” he said, getting comfortable. “But, if it follows the typical pattern, then it will crack from the top down.” He smiled. “Did you mean to get a girl?”

“It’s a girl?” I asked, sitting beside him.

He nodded. “The shell is pale pink. Can’t you tell?”

“Nope,” Lillian said, crossing her legs.

“Your eye color makes it to where you can see things we can’t,” I said softly and he turned a little pink.

“It’s starting!” Lillian gasped, pointing at the top of the egg.