Tags:
Witches,
vampire,
paranormal romance,
Young Adult,
Vampires,
Werewolves,
dragon,
witch,
Werewolf,
blood series,
teens 1419
that had come over Josh, he answered, “Yes. I mean....Yes, I guess...DNA test? So you’re sure then? You’re my...father?”
“Yes. I can show you the test if you would like to see it,” Dominic offered.
“But....no...I believe you...so....how long were you with my moth...Katarina?” Josh asked.
“Just that fall when I filled in for a professor,” Dominic answered.
“But that can’t be then...I don’t understand,” Josh said.
“I’m not surprised. I’ve gone about this badly. I hope you will forgive me someday. See, when a vampire and a human conceive, I mean....” Dominic started.
“Josh, what Dominic is trying to say is that a pregnancy between a human and a vampire can be up to eighteen months. Like vampire age is about one year to every four human years, the pregnancy kind of splits the difference. Nine months for a human pregnancy times four is thirty-six months…the average time for a vampire/vampire pregnancy…divided by two for the human parent and you get eighteen months. However, sometimes it can go as long as twenty-four months.”
“That’s a long time to be pregnant,” Josh stated.
“It is. Especially when you are alone and you don’t know what is going on,” Dominic admitted.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, no wonder your mother was in psychiatric care. Most likely, Katarina didn’t know she was pregnant until probably the last six months of the pregnancy when she would have started showing. If she hadn’t been with anyone intimately since me, then she would be very confused as to how and when she got pregnant. Most likely, no one would have believed her. If only I had known, I could have explained things to her. Maybe she wouldn’t have been put under psychiatric treatment all these years if she had known I was a vampire,” Dominic explained.
“So you never loved her then? It was just a fall fling and you never saw her again?” Josh asked.
“Yes and no. I did love her, but I had been raised that vampires were not to be involved with humans. My father had always said that it would only complicate a human’s life and make the blood line impure. I had instilled that in my own son; that was what I knew, and then I met Katarina and all that flew out the window. It took every ounce of willpower to leave her behind that December. I somehow felt I was being unfaithful to Sophia and Anton, but there has not been a day that has gone by that I haven’t wondered where Katarina was or what life would have been like if I had succumbed. And now...knowing that I could have had a family again....Anton could have grown up with a brother, and you...would have had a different life too. You would have grown up knowing why you hear others’ thoughts and how to control them.”
“Ya...I guess things would have been different. So what does that make me? A vampire? A human? What?” Josh wondered.
“It doesn’t change who or what you are, Josh. You are still human; it just explains your telepathic abilities. You may or may not be stronger and faster than the average human, but you are still the caring, quiet young man we’ve all gotten to know and love the past few weeks. For me, now, even more so. I couldn’t be more proud to have you as a son; that is if you could someday think of me as your father.
“I envy your adoptive father - all the events I missed over the years as you’ve grown up. I hate too that I’m the reason Katarina’s missed out on her son’s life and accomplishments. Maybe neither of you can forgive me for that, but if I had known about the little miracle growing inside of her, I would have moved heaven and earth to include you and her in my world with Anton. Anton and I have led pretty lonely lives up until now. If I hadn’t been so pig-headed with my father’s voice as my conscience, well...’What if’s’ don’t mean much to someone put up for adoption and never knowing his parents or why he has the powers he has. I’m just grateful you came into
Longarm, the Bandit Queen