[b][center][u]January, 21st, 2002[/u][/center][/b]

[i]Renee’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she felt the satin soft skin of her “partner’s” arms wrap around her upper torso. This was wrong on several degrees, Renee felt. Her brain seemed to agree with her, and she [b]nearly[/b] urged herself to pry out from the slender freckled arms. But her heart said otherwise, and she only pushed herself deeper under the sheets, pressing bare skin against bare skin. For the first time in ages, Renee Miller felt content. Voluptuous lips, as blood red as roses, planted a soft kiss on her cheek.

Audrey Porter’s lips lingered like a ghost’s touch on Renee’s cheeks. Her junior by quite a few years, Audrey was still in the prime of her twenties. Their relationship had started out purely professional; Audrey had been working alongside Renee in a decent paying internship. The women had bonded, and what started off as a mutually platonic relationship had dived into something much stronger after Jason had left a pregnant Renee to take care of their unborn daughter alone.

A wail arose from the room down the hall, and Renee snapped into action, wrapping herself in her robe faster than The Flash himself. She pitter pattered down to the end of the hall room, a short distance from the master bedroom; Renee lived in an apartment building. Thus far, with two adults and a baby space wasn’t a problem. In fact, it was advantageous in a way. Renee could always hear Jane, and right now, that was important. She would never be more than a few feet away from her daughter as nights, and it comforted her some to know it.

Audrey had followed behind timidly, and when Renee scooped the skinny little bundle up, she peeked over her shoulder shyly. 

“She’s so cute.” She squealed as quietly as possible, “Looks just like you.” 

Renee appreciated Audrey’s attempts to exclude Jason from all things relevant to Jane. The woman almost regretted naming giving her daughter a name beginning with ‘J’. It very closely served as a reminder of her father. Although, Audrey was [b]right[/b]. Jane was the spitting image of Renee, even now in her infancy. 

“Hold her,” she said, pushing the baby into Audrey’s arms. There was little hesitation. In a matter of moments, the freckled woman was cooing down at the little girl as though she’d given birth to Jane herself. 

“You’re trip is coming soon.” the brunette piped from between the cooing. Her face seemed relaxed, but Renee could feel the tension in her body. Neither wanted to leave the other. 

“I know.” Her eyebrows knitted together. She and Jane would be leaving Audrey…it was only for two weeks, and she had convinced herself it wouldn’t be a bad trip. It was a great idea, Audrey had encouraged. Get away from New York for a little while. Forget about Jason, and the horrible toll the pregnancy had taken on her education…[/i]
[b][center][u]Autumn, 2008[/u][/center][/b]

[i]”How are you. How is [b]he[/b].”

“Fine, I’m fine. More importantly, how are you?” 

“Good. Things are going well. I miss you, so, so much.”

“You’re coming down for the winter, right?”

“Uh-huh. He won’t try to…make me one of you too, right? I mean…does he know.”

“I think he does. I mean, we’ve got very few friends Audrey. We’re not a big circle of people. I’m sure he keeps tags on me…and you. The both of us.” Renee’s eyebrows arched. There was a commotion going on in the lower floors. It wasn’t the noisy kind of commotion you’d expect to be typically associated with the word. Rather, some dull intuition told Renee that the fireplace longue was being occupied by more than just her vampiric family, and that, to her, was a commotion. How often had they received guests in the past month or so? Renee couldn’t remember any, and if there had been, she had clearly not been paying attention. 

“Audrey, I have to go. We’ve got guests, and I think I wasn’t invited.” Renee could almost feel the smirk across the phone line. 

“I’ll see you later. Send Jane my love…I love you Renee. Try not to fall for anyone else.”

Renee scowled. Audrey had fallen under the strong impression that living with two men would make Renee prone to falling out and in love again. Which, in a sense, was possible. Not so much because of her infidelity, but rather all revolving around attraction. There was no denying both sexes got the same love from the women. But she was a dedicated lady, and if she respected Audrey, she would never find herself cheating.

“I love you, too, dummy. I’ll call you later.” And with that, she hung up. Retreating to her room, she changed from flannel pajamas she’d been gallivanting around in, to something much more formal. A fitted suit pants, and a white button up shirt. Jane lay sprawled on Renee’s bed, head buried in a book that Renee was sure was too advanced for the six year old to comprehend. Still, it was encouraging to see her daughter take such an avid interest in reading. A girl just like her mother, Renee decided.

“Baby, are you staying up here?”

“Yeah, mom. I wanna finish this book.”

“Ok, just don’t overdo it. You might get a headache. I’m going downstairs. Seems as though we have guests.”

Jane simply nodded, and Renee was sure her words had gone in one ear and straight out the other. She shook her head, before making the quick paced journey down the spiraling stair case to the first floor study.

She wasn't surprised to hear Viktor's voice floating from behind the study doors. He was the oldest of Dracula’s present children, and she believed, the most trusted out of the two of them. Like a shadow to Lord Dracula, it was common place for the two to be together. He was by far Renee’s senior, and she envied the years of education he had an opportunity to. On the bright side, she too would have the capability to learn, and learn, and learn. She would have to put that ability to developing a new talent one day, she decided.

Patiently, she waited outside the study, head cocked as the waited for the invitation from Lord Dracula to enter. She was never too presumptuous with him; regardless of his affections for his children, she would have rather avoided irritating him whenever possible. If he so wanted her inside to greet the guests, he would call to her. If not, Renee would entertain herself in some other way.[/i]

[b][center][u]2014[/u][/center][/b]

Impatience was a good word to describe Renee’s current feelings. In between helping twelve year old Jane with homework and waiting for the family’s newest arrival, she was getting the jitters. The castle had been boring as of late. A new addition to the family would spice things up, and the woman was eager to meet this person.

Jane was becoming more self-aware. She had, at some point, grasped what her mother was, what Viktor, Maxwell, and Lord Dracula were. It had taken her some time, but she had figured out. Renee couldn’t tell if that was disapproval she saw on her young daughter’s face; since when did twelve year olds have a moral compass? 

The two waited in silence. Every now and then, Jane would frown and look out the window and Renee was sure it was in anticipation of seeing the new meat. In a way, she was eager to hypnotize her daughter into forgetting all about her apprehensions; at the same time, she was positive the road to good parenting was allowing your child to have [i]some[/i] opinions. Therefore, the silence continued as they waited for the assembly of the rest of the family.