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Kane Ch. 01

By: kalamazoo707



Kane scowled as he got dressed for the evening, after six-hundred plus years of being it still galled him that he couldn't go out during the day. Although born a vampire, he hated his life; he wanted to be human more than anything that he could think of. He wanted it even more than finding his mate, the truth of it was this; he didn't want to find her. He wanted to grow old and die alone; he was at a loss as to why he hated his life so much and why he had never accepted it. His only comfort was that he could eat human food, he didn't care about the whys or how of it, it was the one thing that kept him sane.

He was honest with himself, he was a bastard. He used women indiscriminately; he didn't care what they looked like or even if they were with someone. From his point of view, if he had to live forever it was going to be on his terms and no one else's. He usually had a different woman every night, it kept things simple and eliminated the possibility that one of them would fall for him.

Most of his friends and family had given up on him a long time ago. Tired of his excesses and his lack of regard for the needs of others, "Fuck em" he muttered as the memory of the last time he had spoken to his brother came back.

He ran his hands through his long blond hair and smiled at the reflection in the mirror. He wouldn't have any problems picking up women; he never did even when he didn't use compulsion. All he had to do was give that lopsided grin that women found so appealing and it was all over. It was more than that though, women were also drawn to him because of his height-he was well over six feet six inches tall in stocking feet and was muscular, not body builder muscular but he looked like he spent a lot of time in the gym.

He felt particularly horny tonight and decided to use a driver, why go to a hotel when he had a perfectly good car that would do nicely. He picked up the phone and called George who was one of his very few remaining friends and driver.

"George, thirty minutes." he said and hung up.

Kane's favorite place to pick up women was the karaoke bars; he himself was a singer and liked to look out over the audience to select the woman who would provide his entertainment for an hour or so. Once he spotted her, he would sing to her and place a mild compulsion on her to follow him outside, then he would remove the compulsion giving her the option to stay or go, most times they stayed. Tonight he was going to a new place; it was just as well, the other places were getting to know him a little too well.

Carla slowly dressed for the evening, she really didn't want to go but her Friends Dina and Mary had insisted; they were tired of her crying over Justin who had dumped her for a prettier, lighter skinned and much smaller version of herself. He wanted to remake her, he didn't like her size or the clothes that she wore, he hated her glasses, he wanted her to quit her job and make him her only priority. The final straw had come when she found him searching the internet for skin lightening cream.

"There's nothing wrong with my color!" she had screamed at him.

"Come on baby, a shade lighter is all I'm asking." he replied.

When she refused, he left and a week later was spotted with someone else. That had been a two months ago and Carla hadn't been out since. Now as she fixed her hair which she cut after Justin left she took in her appearance. Halle Berry she wasn't, twiggy she wasn't but she wasn't by any means ugly, she toyed with the idea of contacts but couldn't imagine sticking something in her eyes. She wore very little if any makeup; she had little patience for that kind of thing. At the last minute she remembered to put on her lipstick. 

Thoughts of Justin popped into her head, and she pushed them away; her friends were right. If he had really loved her as he said he did he would have accepted her as she was dark skin and all but he hadn't and now... Before Justin, Carla had been fun loving, dancing and karaoke were probably her most favorite things to do other than reading a good book and watching movies. Tonight, her friends were hoping to bring that part of her back. The last thing she did was put on a little perfume, which was something else that Justin had dictated.

"It makes me sneeze." he complained.

A car horn beeped outside, Dina had insisted on picking her up afraid that if they trusted her to drive herself that she wouldn't show up. They were right she admitted to herself as he grabbed her purse and house keys.

Kane surveyed the bar; it was a nice enough place he decided as he sipped on a rum and coke. He hadn't spotted anyone that drew his attention but the night was young. He had already looked at the list of karaoke songs and made his selections, he tended toward the seductive and sexy songs that catered to his smooth baritone but could sing about anything if he chose to. He found a table toward the back that faced the door, he wanted to see who came in, and he took another sip of his drink and wondered what his first lay of the night would look like.

"Carla come on! We just got here!" Dina said pulling on Carla's arm.

'I know but I don't think I'm ready for this." Carla protested.

"That's what you said last week!" Mary said taking a hold of her other arm and pulling her toward the door.

"Fine but can we at least sit in the back?"

Dina and Mary looked at each other and shrugged.

"Fine, but just so its not too far back, its hard to see anything especially if there's a bunch of tall people in front of us." Dina said.

Carla chose a table in the middle of the room satisfying everyone, just as she sat down; the nape of her neck tingled, someone was watching her.

Kane almost choked on the sip of rum and coke that he had just taken, his head snapped toward the door where three women had just walked in, his vision locked on the one in the middle automatically dismissing the other two. 

"No." he muttered to himself, "damn it no!"

Whoever she was, he didn't want her not even to fuck.

"NO!" he screamed silently as he watched her sit down with her friends.

Carla looked around the room to see if she could spot whoever it was that was watching her, seeing no one; she shrugged off the feeling and ordered a long island iced tea. A few minutes later the emcee was on the stage welcoming everyone.

"Who's going to be out first singer for tonight?" he asked.

"Get up there!" Dina urged Carla.

"No! It's been too long." Carla replied.

"It's like riding a bike, you don't forget so get up there!" Dina said raising her hand for Carla.

The emcee saw her and nodded.

"Folks, we've got our first singer for tonight! Come on up here sweetheart!"

Dina made Carla stand up and pushed her forward when she tried to sit down.

The emcee held out his hand to Carla.

"Come on sweetheart, don't be shy,"

Having no other options or so she thought; Carla made her way up to the stage.

"What's your name honey?" he asked.

"Carla." she replied softly.

"Welcome Carla, let's give her a hand for being the first singer for tonight!"

Carla blushed and wished that she was anyplace but where she was.

"What are you going to sing for us tonight?" the emcee asked.

Carla quickly looked through the list and picked the shortest song that she could find, sang and practically ran off of the stage.

Kane's heart stopped as he watched Carla go on stage, he noted that she was perfect; built the way he thought a woman should be built. She was short barely reaching 5'3 and that was being generous and full of curves and places to hold on to while making love. He fought to stop this train of thought; he wasn't going to give in to this! Her voice tore through him, it was beautiful soft and melodic. Kane shook himself, he wasn't going to do this, he wasn't! But even as he thought it, he knew that she would be the one that he would fuck. The protector in him surged forward and he pushed it back, she had friends; she didn't need him.

Kane made his way to the stage, he already knew what he was going to sing, it would be the most seductive song on his list and he would sing it to her, take her to the car, fuck her and leave. Like every other woman in the place, Carla was enthralled with him; aroused by him and she wanted him. He sang to her, his blue eyes glued to her brown ones. After the song, he walked up to her, placed a small compulsion on her and her friends and held his hand out to her. Carla took his hand and gasping at the contact.

"What am I doing?" she asked herself as she allowed herself to be led outside.

Kane smelled her arousal, it was a sweeter smell than that of every other woman in the room, he smiled at her as she allowed herself to be led from the bar. He whistled and his car pulled up, George got out and opened the back door. Returning to the front seat, he put up the partition and turned up the music. Wasting no time, Kane kissed Carla intending for it to be his perfunctory "before I fuck you" kiss but it turned into something else, it turned into an "I want you kiss." Kane abruptly pulled away, this wasn't how it was supposed to be. He pulled Carla into his lap straddling her legs on either side of him as he pulled her skirt up over her hips and to her waist. He began a slow grind against her, his cock hardened at the contact. He reached down and moved her panties to the side, lifted her and slid into her. Carla cried out but made no move to stop him even though her brain was screaming at her that she didn't know this man.

Kane felt his orgasm begin and he wanted her to come with him, he had never cared about that before but now it was important. As he thrust into her, he ground against her hard, she came first with him following shortly afterwards.

Carla slumped against him, what in the hell was wrong with her? She had just had unprotected sex with a complete stranger and he was angry.

Kane rested his head against the head rest, he had to get out of here and he had to make her forget.

"Carla, look at me."

When she looked at him, he saw her tears; she had just done something that she never thought herself capable of.

"Carla, this never happened; if you see me again you won't know me."

To his shock and horror Carla just looked at him with a confused and humiliated expression on her face.

"Why don't you want me to remember?"

Kane looked at her and tried again, this time she climbed off of his lap, got out of the car and straightened her clothes and walked away without looking back. Kane watched Carla walk away, this had never happened before. The partition came down.

"Ummm Kane? I don't think that compulsion works with all mates, at least that's what I understand."

Kane glared at George.

"She is not my mate now get me the fuck out of here!"

Five years later

Carla smiled at the blue-eyed five year old.

"Time for bed."

"Not yet mama, I have to finish!" he objected.

"I'll make a deal with you, five more minutes then you brush your teeth and go to bed, deal?" she asked.

Ian looked at her as if trying to decide who was getting the better end of the deal.

"Alright," he said as he turned his attention to the book he was reading.

Carla always looked at Ian with a mixture of feelings, bitter because his father didn't know about him, bitter because the bastard didn't even tell her his name and just disappeared without a trace, sweet because this precocious little boy brought love and laughter into her otherwise lonely life. Ian would be tall like his father and would be a heartbreaker with his curly sand colored hair and blue eyes that were like his father's, his skin was dark but not nearly as dark as hers. Ian's father was the first and last white man Carla had ever been with, he had been the last man she had ever been with period.

It hadn't been easy explaining her pregnancy to Dina and Mary, in end she let them believe whatever they wanted. The only thing they were sure of was that Ian wasn't Justin's son because Justin was black and obviously, Ian's father was white. Carla never told them the details of that night and hadn't planned to. The more pressing question was what she was going to tell Ian when he asked about his father.

The past five years hadn't been kind to Kane but that was mostly his own doing. He still hadn't accepted what he was and he hadn't acknowledged Carla for who and what she was. He actually tried to think of her as little as possible and when he did, he would go find a woman to fuck just so they didn't look anything like her. But yet when he went to the karaoke bars, he looked for her, George had finally had enough.

"I'm done! For the past three centuries I've watched you flop around like a fish out of water and for what? Because you refuse to accept who and what you are, in case you haven't noticed, I'm the only friend that you have left and that's about to change. What the fuck is wrong with you? Oh wait! I know, you won't accept who you are and you left your mate to fend for herself. Do you know what really pisses me off? I would give anything to find my mate and you found yours and you don't want her, what the hell is up with that? How can you call yourself a man and a vampire-oops my mistake you don't want to be a vampire. Anyway let me start again, what kind of man are you that you would do that to your mate? Even human men have more honor than that! What you did to her was wrong and you know it, but you can still fix it, I'll help you.'

Kane listened without comment until George was done talking.

"Are you finished? I didn't ask for your opinion, if you don't like what I'm doing there's the door and don't let it hit you in the ass on the way out."

George looked at Kane and shook his head; he turned around and walked out the door closing softly behind him.

That had been a week ago, Kane quickly found out that being alone wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He missed George and his "go fuck yourself" attitude but he refused to give in, he wasn't going to call him. That resolve lasted another three days. During that time Kane came to grips with a few things, one he was a vampire, no amount of wishing and praying wasn't going to change that and it was about time he accepted that. Secondly, he had hurt his mate in the worst possible way by denying her his love and protection and thirdly, he had to find her.

Kane picked up the phone and put it down again, he didn't even know if George was still around. He picked up the phone again and hit speed dial. George answered after the fourth ring.

"Yes?"

"George, it's me Kane."

"How's the hermit life going?" he asked.

"You were right." Kane replied, about everything." he added.

"Thank God!" George said, "I'll be right over."

As he waited for George to come, Kane walked around his penthouse apartment. The shutters were up giving him a full view of the city, his thoughts wandered toward Carla; was she safe? Had she married and had children? If she had it would serve him right. 

George popped in several minutes later.

"Glad to see that you've come to your senses, so what is it that you want to do?"

"I have to find her." Kane said.

"It's late now but why don't we hit the karaoke bars tonight starting with the one that you met her at?" George suggested.

"Carla, come on already!" Dina called out.

She didn't want to do this, she wanted to stay home and grade the online essays that were just e-mailed to her.

"You promised and my mother is on her way." Dina added.

"Alright! But no karaoke places right?" Carla asked.

"We're not going to a karaoke bar I promise. I heard that O'Malley's has really good hamburgers, I thought that we could go there." Dina replied.

Carla hadn't been anywhere near a karaoke bar, as a matter of fact she rarely went anywhere since Ian had been born. She was only going now to shut Dina up. 

"Mom Mom!" Ian squealed as he ran over to Regina, Dina's mother.

"Hey there baby boy! How are you?" she asked as she hugged him and gave him a kiss on his cheek, "you're getting so big and handsome! We'd better start warning the girls." she added.

Carla cringed, it was true that Ian was a good looking boy and would grow up to be a handsome man but she didn't want him to be known as a heart breaker; she wanted him to be known for the respect that he had for others. She took great pains in teaching him that respect; she could only hope that he remembered it as he grew into adulthood. She found herself thinking about his father at the strangest times, like now; was he married now and back then? Did he have children? She tried to push him out of her mind angry that she was even thinking of him but she couldn't deny that there was a connection of some kind between them which was crazy because that was the one and only time that they had eve met. She could still feel the self loathing and anger that radiated from him and even now wondered what that was all about. This time when she tried to push him out of her mind, she was successful. She Kissed Ian on his head after making him promise to be a good boy and to go to bed as promised.

As Kane dressed for the evening, George sipped on glass of warmed blood. Curiosity got the better of him; he wanted to know why Kane had changed his mind.

"So what changed your mind?" he called into the bedroom.

"Your leaving for one." Kane said as he walked out of the bedroom, "it didn't take me long to realize that being alone isn't all that its cracked up to be."

"But you didn't call." George commented.

"No and to be honest, I wasn't sure that you'd talk to me. I also needed the time to think and George, you were right about everything. I am what I am and nothing will ever change that, I have wronged my mate, you and my family and I need to start mending those fences. George I humbly ask your forgiveness for my mistreatment of you and our friendship, I also ask that you help me find Carla. If you can't do either of these things, I understand."

This was huge! Kane Brenin apologizing? George had no memory of it ever happening.

"I'm here aren't I? I never stopped being your friend but I couldn't watch anymore and yes you are forgiven and yes I will help you find Carla."

Kane breathed a sigh of relief, he could have looked for her alone but the extra pair of eyes and ears would help.

Carla and Dina stood in front of O'Malley's looking at the sign.

"KARAOKE NIGHT TONIGHT!"

"You said that we weren't going to a karaoke place." Carla said softly.

"This must be new; I haven't been here in awhile. Let's just go in and get something to eat. I promise not to volunteer you."

Reluctantly, Carla agreed; lunch had worn off a long time ago and a burger did sound good. It was early enough there wasn't a long wait for a table, once seated; Carla ordered a long island iced tea and began to relax. It did feel good to be able to talk to an adult about adult things, there was only so much that you could talk to a five year old about no matter how intelligent he was.

The first place Kane and George went was to the bar where Kane had first met Carla. Silently, they stood in front of the boarded up building.

"Well" George said, "Let's check out some other places."

They went to several places not bothering to go into some of them simply because Kane thought that they would be too rough for Carla. Two hours and six bars later, Kane was frustrated; now that he had decided to find her he was impatient.

George saw the sign for O'Malley's and showed it to Kane.

"It can't hurt to look and besides I'm hungry." George said.

As soon as Kane walked in, he smelled her.

"George! She's here." he whispered suddenly nervous.

"Good, now go and do what you do best."

"I can't." Kane whispered.

"What in the hell do you mean you can't? You've been singing your way into women's clothes for years!" George said not understanding what the problem was.


Kane Ch. 01



"I know but I don't want to get into her pants, at least not now; I want to talk to her." Kane replied as he watched Carla. He noticed that only one of the two women from before was with her and wondered where the other one was.

"Then do it and good luck."

Carla felt an itch on the nape of her neck and looked around, Dina saying something distracted her.

Kane walked around the back of the room making his way to the front of the room. He got the attention of the emcee and made his request.

"Ladies and gentleman, we have a man here who wants to sing to a very special lady that he says he hasn't seen in five years-ok dude you're up."

Carla stopped mid sentence when she heard Kane's voice. She looked up and saw him looking directly at her; tears sprang to her eyes as she jumped up and ran out of the room. She had no desire to see the man with whom she had acted no better than a common whore. Dina followed her out confused as to what was happening.

"Carla..."

"Take me home now." she said crying.

"Carla, what happened?" Dina asked concerned.

"Take me home now or I start walking!"

"Ok, let's go."

Kane saw the moment Carla recognized him, he watched as she ran from the room followed by her friend. What did he think would happen? That she would come running into his arms? He finished the song and ran from the stage.

"George?"

"I just saw her leave, we can still catch her."

Ian was already in bed when Carla got home, she was tempted to wake him just so he could distract her with his many questions about the universe. Dina tried to find out what had upset her so much but Carla had refused to answer, how was she going to explain that the man on stage was Ian's father? She showered and changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She tossed and turned before finally crying herself to sleep.

Kane stood across the street from the small but well kept house, at least she wasn't married and for that he was grateful; it would have complicated things. George stood next to him.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked.

Kane nodded and vanished into what appeared to be the living room, he glanced around taking in the laptop on the coffee table with a stack of papers sitting next to it. Then he saw several photographs of Carla with a child, had she married and the man left her? Or was the child a relative? He wondered as he took a closer look. The breath went out of him as he looked at the picture, he recognized the eyes-they were like his. Guilt drove him to his knees, not only did he leave Carla alone and unprotected, he had left his child as well. A child! He had fathered a child and he... Kane vanished from the house, he had to think.

"Kane? What happened?" George asked.

Kane couldn't speak; he looked at George with tear filled eyes.

"George." he said when he could speak.

"I left her alone....she had my child and I fucking left her alone!"

"What? Kane are you sure? Maybe it's the child of a friend or relative."

"No, he's not... his eyes are like mine."

Carla woke up thinking that she had heard something, she listened for several minutes and then relaxed, she fell back to sleep with thoughts of Ian's father on her mind.

When Carla woke up, Ian was already awake and on his laptop. She fixed them a quick breakfast and gave him his assignments for the morning; she had taken Ian out of daycare after she landed a job teaching online English classes. She didn't particularly enjoy it but it paid the bills and allowed her to stay at home with Ian. While Ian did his schoolwork, she checked the e-mails that had come in overnight from her students and replied to those that needed a response. After that she graded several essays and emailed the grades to the author along with any comments. By the time she was finished with half of them, it was time for lunch.

Carla made each of them a plate containing a sandwich, carrot sticks and a few baked potato chips along with a glass of milk for Ian and water for her. As they ate Ian chattered about this and that but mostly about the universe, he loved looking at the stars at night and could point out the major constellations something that Carla had never been able to do simply because it wasn't something that she cared about.

"Mama? Why are you so sad today?" Ian asked.

The question caught her off guard.

"What? I'm alright, I was just thinking." she replied.

Ian gave her what she called the "I don't believe you" look and finished his lunch.

"Hey, why don't we take the afternoon off and go to a movie?" she asked.

Ian gave her a surprised but delighted look.

"A movie? Can I have popcorn and soda?" 

Carla laughed, this is what she needed.

"Yes to the popcorn, we'll see about the soda." she replied already knowing that he would get it.

Kane lay on his bed, a bed that he had shared with so many women that he lost track and came to a decision, he would sell this house and buy another one. He didn't want Carla to sleep in a bed that he had shared with another woman, that he hadn't made love to them was immaterial, he had sex with them. He mentally ran through the list of his houses in his head, there were three others that he needed to sell and George would have first dibs. He thought about Carla and what she must have gone through and how frightened and alone she must have felt. He wondered how she explained the pregnancy; he wondered what she named their son. Fortunately, he looked well and happy with no thanks to him he thought grimly.

Tonight he would go to her and hope that she would at least hear him out but whatever happened, he was never leaving them again. As he closed his eyes, another thought hit him, the boy was vampire and without the guidance of an adult male, he would grow up to be dangerous, he had to convince her to at least interact with the boy.

Ian loved the movie and was thrilled when he was able to have a soda with his popcorn.

"Thank you mama!" he exclaimed as they waited for their refreshments.

A woman standing nearby was watching with interest.

"So well mannered and he's absolutely adorable, he's going to be a heartbreaker if he isn't already." the woman said.

Carla smiled politely and hurried Ian along. Ian did have his father's good looks Carla admitted to herself and he would probably be just as tall. She wondered how she could remember so many details about the man given that they weren't even together for more than a half hour. She chalked it up to one of the mysteries of life and settled in to watch the movie.

Kane was up early unable to rest, he called George and told him that he had first dibs on any of the houses that he would email him about.

"I need to make a fresh start so could you do me a favor? Search the website and see what's posted. I prefer new and email me the list. Thanks."

Ian wasn't hungry for dinner since he filled up on popcorn at the movie theater, Carla set him up for his bath leaving the bathroom door open in case he needed something and she could check on him. Ian was four when he decided that he no longer needed help with his baths or getting ready for bed, it was a bitter/sweet moment for Carla. Her baby was growing up and she so wasn't ready for that but he was also showing that he would be a capable adult.

After his bath, Ian settled in his bed to read, he was a voracious reader reading far above his age group.

"Not too late alright?" Carla asked as she kissed his damp hair.

Ian gave Carla a look that she couldn't identify, impatience? Then she could have sworn that she saw his eyes flash. When she looked again, they were their normal shade of blue; it was the light she decided as she closed the door behind her.

"Mama?" Ian called.

Carla opened the door and peeked in.

"I love you." Ian said softly before going back to his book.

"I love you too." she replied as she once again closed the door.

Kane anxiously waited for dark. His stomach churned with nervousness, what in the hell was he going to say to her? "Hi honey I'm back?" whispering a silent prayer for help, Kane walked across the street, up the steps to Carla's house and knocked.



Kane Ch. 02



Ian had come down the stairs for something and Carla was in the kitchen making a cup of tea when she heard the doorbell ring.

"Ian, don't answer it!" she called out as she hurried to the living room.

Too late, Ian had already opened the door and was saying hello to...her heart stopped; it was him, Ian's father. He looked just as she remembered but there was something very different about him.

"Ian come over here." she said, her eyes still glued on Kane.

Ian looked at Carla and then back at Kane his blue eyes flashing.

"Obey your mother." Kane said, his eyes flashing at the boy.

Ian hesitated and then smiled.

"Ian, why don't you go upstairs and put in a movie?" Carla said.

"Really? I can stay up?" he asked excitedly.

"Just this once." Carla said.

Ian ran off afraid that Carla would change her mind. She waited until she heard the movie start and the door close before turning to Kane.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Kane was totally unprepared for meeting his son face to face, he was struck by the boy's beauty; there was no denying who his parents were, he was a combination of the best of both of them. He was glad that he had made contact even if it was brief; the boy was already having urges that he didn't understand. In the few seconds of contact, Kane was able to give very brief instructions to Ian telepathically which to Kane's relief he understood. He liked the name Ian and wondered why she chose it.

"Carla, I..."

"You what? She demanded as tears ran down her face, "What do you want?" she repeated.

Kane heard and felt her anger.

"Carla, my name is Kane Brenin. I was hoping to talk to you and explain..."

Carla cut him off.

"Explain? After five years? How did you find me?" Carla asked.

"A friend helped me. Please may I talk to you?"

"About what? How I followed you to your car and rutted with you like a common whore?"

"I'm sorry about that night, if you'll let me explain..."

"Are you here to take Ian away from me? Because if you are, I will kill you."

Kane held up his hands in surrender.

"I didn't know about Ian until recently and I'm not here to take him from you. I just want to talk and that's all."

Carla gave him a wary look.

"Why now?" she asked.

"That's part of what I want to explain to you, haven't you been wondering about that night? Why you came with me so easily?" he asked.

She did want to know why she did something so out of character for her. Reluctantly she let him in; Kane glanced around the room and followed her in.

"You have fifteen minutes." Carla said as she sat as far away as she possibly could from him.

Kane nodded, fifteen minutes was more than he thought he'd get. He started over with his name.

"As I said my name is Kane Brenin and I have absolutely no excuse for the way I treated you that night and for the past five years. I am so sorry that I left you, I had no idea that you were pregnant..."

"How could you? You didn't even tell me your name and then you had the gall to try and hypnotize me when we were finished. If I hadn't said my name on stage, would you have even asked? Do you have any idea of how that one event changed my life? I couldn't even come up with a good story as to how I ended up pregnant with a white man's baby. To this day my friends don't know what happened that night and I refused to tell them."

"Carla, I understand that you're angry and you have every right to be but give me a chance to explain, the only thing is its going to take longer than fifteen minutes."

"Talk." she said and sat down, "you have thirty minutes starting now."

Kane waited until she was sitting before he sat.

"I don't even know where to begin, the night that we met... no, that's not a good place to start. The night that I met you, I was angry a very angry and bitter man. I have a condition which at the time I saw as a curse, I'm allergic to the sun and I have been since... a long time. Anyway, I felt like that I was being cheated out of something and decided to live my life as I saw fit no matter who got hurt. The problem was that no matter what I did, my condition wasn't going to change. I was a selfish bastard, I know that but at the time I didn't care, that attitude drove away my friends and family with the exception of one person and I almost lost his friendship as well. For the longest time, I thought that all I wanted was to be alone, when my last friend walked out on me I found out that being along wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Fortunately when I called, he came back. I have many bridges to mend but I wanted to start with you."

"Are you dying?" Carla asked.

"No I'm not dying." Kane replied puzzled by her question.

"So this isn't a bucket list type of thing, you're not going around trying to make your peace with those you've wronged?"

"No, I want to apologize and do right by you and Ian." Kane replied.

"Are you looking for absolution?" she asked.

"No, Carla..."

"Good, because if you are; go to a priest, I can't give you what I haven't even given myself."

Kane was taken aback with her self loathing but he continued-time was getting away from him.

"The night that we met was a particularly bad night, all I wanted to do was fuck someone and it really didn't matter who it was. I was already at the bar when you got there, I saw you walk in with your friends and something happened that I had been trying to avoid, I wanted you and I don't mean to fuck; I wanted to make love to you. No woman had ever affected me that way and I didn't want it, I didn't want to feel that way about anyone. Instead of walking away, I decided to take you to the car and .... Do you remember when I kissed you? It was supposed to be the kiss I give to every woman before we ... well anyway, it turned into something else, something much more intimate. When I entered you, it was my intent to hurt you for making me feel things that I didn't want to feel, it never crossed my mind that you would become pregnant; I wouldn't have left had I known. I can only imagine what the past five years have been like for you and I know that there is nothing that I can say or do that can take away the pain that I've caused you and Ian but I would like to try."

Carla gave him an incredulous look.

"You used me? You didn't know anything about me but chose me to fuck because I made you feel something? What in the hell does that even mean? How many other women have you fucked because they made you feel something? How many children do you have floating around out there and by the way; Ian isn't your son, he's mine! You weren't here when I dodged the questions about the pregnancy or when he was born and it was obvious that his father was white, you weren't here when he almost died! So you're right, there's nothing that you can do about any of it."

Kane sat silently, she wasn't ready to listen but he had to know something.

"You said that Ian almost died, when was that?"

"Why do you care?" She asked.

"Please Carla, when did that happen?" he asked again.

"When he was born, it was some kind of weird blood thing. Of course they asked about the father and guess what? I had to tell them that I didn't have a clue about whom or where you were. They looked at me as if I was some kind of slut and you know what? I felt like one."

"I can only apologize for that, but is Ian alright?" Kane asked.

"He's fine, why?"

"I'm going to ask you to trust me even though I've given you every reason not to; I need to speak with him. I swear that I'm not here to take him away from you but I need to talk to him, you can even be in the room with us."

Something in Kane's voice alarmed Carla and she found herself nodding her consent, she wasn't going to let whatever issues she and Kane had interfere with Ian's welfare. Kane followed her up the stairs to Ian's room, his movie was still playing.

"Ian honey, this is Kane; we knew each other a long time ago. He would like to talk to you.

Ian stopped his movie and looked at Kane.

"Are you my dad?"

Carla and Kane looked at each other; they couldn't lie to the boy when they had to tell him the truth at some point. Carla sat on the bed beside Ian.

"Yes baby, he is but why did you ask that?" Carla asked.

"His eyes look like mine." Ian replied, "Is he going to stay with us?"

"We haven't talked about that, we haven't seen each other in a long time."

Ian looked at Kane again.

"Do you know anything about the universe? Mama doesn't and she gives the silliest answers." Ian said.

Kane held back a chuckle; it was obvious that Ian was extremely intelligent and precocious.

"I know a little." Kane replied as he sat on the floor in front of Ian.

"Where have you been?" Ian asked.

"All over, maybe I'll tell you about it some day but I am happy to meet you." Kane said touching the boys face.

"Didn't mama tell you about me?" Ian asked.

"That's a story for another time when you're much older but no, I didn't know about you. If I had, I never would have left you and your mama alone. Ian, have you ever felt funny? Like you're still hungry even though you've eaten?"

Ian's eyes flashed telling Kane what he needed to know.

"Alright, what do you do when that happens?" Kane asked well aware that Carla was completely lost.

Ian looked at Carla and then back at Kane, his eyes filled with anxiety.

"Ian, it's alright; I'm sure that your mama won't get upset, right?" Kane asked looking up at Carla.

"It's alright, you can tell him." Carla said.

Carla was confused by the strange conversation and the fact that Ian and Kane already seemed to have formed some kind of bond. Ian gave Carla another uncertain glance and then continued.

"I go to the back yard and catch squirrels and rabbits." Ian said softly.

Kane smiled and tousled Ian's hair.

"That's good, anything else?" Kane asked.

Ian gave Carla another nervous glance.

"Ian, it's alright, isn't it Carla?" Kane asked looking at the boy.

"It's alright." Carla replied wondering what he did with the animals and becoming more nervous by the second.

"I catch cats too but I make sure that they don't belong to anyone." Ian replied.

"You're a good boy, thank-you for telling me. Why don't you finish your movie, I need to talk to your mama for a few minutes." Kane said.

Ian looked at Kane and then at Carla.

"Can I call him daddy?"

The look in Ian's eyes broke her heart, they were so filled with hope that she couldn't bring herself to say no. Instead, she put the decision on Kane's shoulders hoping that he would say no.

Kane didn't speak for several minutes, just when Carla thought that he wasn't going to answer the question, he did.

"I would like that." he replied softly with tears in his eyes and then for the first time since his birth, Kane held his son. Ian returned the hug and closed his eyes in relief, everything would be alright now.

Carla watched the scene with mixed emotions, on one hand; she wished that Kane had stayed wherever it was he came from but on the other hand, Ian wanted and needed his father although he never said it. 

"Mama can I finish my movie?" Ian asked.

"Sure, but as soon as its over brush your teeth and get into bed, I'll be back up to say prayers with you." Carla said as she kissed him on the head.

When they were back downstairs, Carla turned to Kane.

"What was that about? What does he do with the animals? What aren't you telling me and why did he think that I'd be upset?"

"Carla, calm down. He's fine but we need to talk and the sooner the better. I'm afraid that it's going to take much longer than thirty minutes." 

Carla had the feeling that whatever Kane was going to tell her was going to change her life again. If it hadn't been for Ian she would have kicked him out.

"Alright, but I want to tell you something first; you gave that little boy permission to call you daddy, to him that means that you'll stick around and not disappear on him. I'm warning you, if you hurt that little boy I'll kill you. Do I make myself clear?" 

Kane listened to the intensity in her voice, he had no doubt that she meant what she said and that she would indeed try to kill him if she felt justified but he had no intentions of giving her that reason. Inadvertently, Ian had given him a reason to keep coming around; she wouldn't deny the boy the right to see his father. He was still a long way from where he hoped to be but his foot was in the door.

"Carla, I have no intentions of hurting either of you." Kane said as he sat down.

"Really? If memory serves me right, you seduced me and then left, but back to our previous conversation; you used me and then threw me away because you didn't like yourself? What kind of person are you?" she asked, her voice filled with anger.

"Not a very good one." Kane replied, "And I would like to have a chance to show you that I'm not like that anymore, let me take you to dinner."

"Dinner? Really? Damn, you're going to feed me before you try to fuck me this time? No thanks!" Carla retorted.

"Alright, we go somewhere where we can take Ian with us, I can hardly fuck you as you put it with a child present." he replied just as angrily and then realizing that he had no right to be angry-but she did.

"Carla, I messed up alright? I can't change that but I'm here now and if I'm going to be involved with Ian shouldn't you get to know me a little better?"

He had just hit below the belt, he had used his child to get to his mother.

"Fine! We'll take Ian with us, now why were you asking him all of those questions?"

Kane hesitated, he wasn't sure of how to tell her that he and Ian was vampire.

"Carla..."

"Don't you Carla me! Now tell me what's going on."

Kane fought the urge to touch her; she was as beautiful as he remembered. He put his head in his hands, took a deep breath and looked back up at her.

"Carla, Ian is... different. Look, I really need to talk to you without Ian around. Is there someone who could stay with him while we talk? This is important."

"Tell me now."

"Carla, I really think...."

"I don't care about what you think, tell me now." Carla demanded.

"Is it almost Ian's bedtime?" Kane asked; if they were going to talk about this it would be better if he was asleep, he didn't want him to hear if Carla freaked out.

"Yes, why?"

"It would be better if I told you after he's asleep, you mentioned prayer time, may I listen?"

She wanted to say no, prayer time was a special time for her and Ian but she knew that Ian would ask if Kane was still here.

"Fine." she conceded although not gracefully.

They heard the sound of the toilet flushing and then the sound of water running signaling that Ian was about ready for bed. Kane followed her up the stairs for the second time that night fully aware that his thirty minutes had long come and gone. He watched the saw of her hips and behind and remembered with regret the one and only time he had felt her pressed against him.

Ian was sitting on the side of the bed when they went into his room; he broke out into a big smile when he saw that Kane was with Carla.

"Ok kiddo, let's say our prayers." Karla said sitting on the edge of the bed. Kane moved closer to the bed just to be closer to them.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray to god my soul to keep if I should die before I wake I pray to god my soul to take." Ian and Carla said this part together and then Ian took over.

"God bless mama, mom-mom, Aunt Dina and now my dad. Thank-you for letting him come home and please help mama not to be so mad. Amen"

Carla was speechless, had it been that obvious? Kane was surprised as well, it seemed that Ian had some psychic ability or he was very intuitive but Kane suspected that it was a combination of the two. Carla fought back tears as she kissed Ian goodnight.

"Don't cry; it's going to be alright now." Ian told her as he hugged her.

After Carla moved away, Kane knelt beside the bed and kissed Ian on the cheek. As he pulled away, Ian spoke to him telepathically.

"She's really mad at you, but we need you."

Kane jumped, pulled back and looked down at Ian whose eyes were already closing. He and Carla really needed to talk; maybe it was for the best that they did it now.

Carla led the way back downstairs and sat down, what she really needed was a drink; for someone who had been gone for over five years Kane knew how to cause a stir, little did she know that there was more coming.

"I need a drink, do you want one?" she asked only out of common courtesy.

"Sure, whatever it is you're having is good." he replied.

Carla went to the kitchen pantry and got down a bottle of rum and grabbed a can of coke from the fridge, she had bought the rum five years ago but had never opened it. At the time, she questioned herself as she did now. She put ice cubes in glasses and mixed the drinks; she had never had rum and coke in her life her drink of preference being long island iced tea. She put the drinks on a tray with napkins and carried them out to the living room.


"I only had ingredients for rum and coke." she said as she handed him a glass careful not to touch him.

"That's fine, I happen to like rum and coke." 

"Alright, now start talking." Carla said coolly. 

"I want to ask you something first, do you consider yourself a straight shooter?" Kane asked taking a sip of his drink.

"If you're asking me if I like to be coddled then the answer is no, just say whatever it is that you have to say and be done with it." she replied, impatient.

Kane wasn't sure of where he should start, and then decided to start with Ian; that was the most urgent thing right now. Fortunately, he found them before anything had happened. Ian seemed to have an innate knowledge of what he was and took steps to protect Carla even without fully understanding why but he needed a male vampire to teach him.

"Carla, when I said that Ian was different, that was an understatement. I don't know how to tell you this because it's going to sound crazy, Carla; Ian isn't human and neither am I."

He gave her some time to let his words sink in.

"Not human? Are you a druggie? Of course he's human and so are you!" Carla protested. 

"No Carla, we aren't; we are both vampire."

Carla stared at him as if trying to see if he was joking. When she was young she used to believe in things that go bump in the night and to some degree she still did but vampires? She sat her glass on the table and stood up. The room started to spin.

Kane watched her carefully but didn't speak as she put her glass down and stood up; the moment her knees began to buckle he was at her side catching her before she hit the floor. He lifted her easily and sat in the chair that she had just vacated and settled her in his lap. She felt as good as he remembered he thought as he cuddled her closer. He took in her features starting with her short curly hair-it was that way the last time he had seen her. He traced a finger down her cheek finding her dark brown skin soft and supple finally tracing the outline of her lips. Before he could stop himself, he kissed her fully aware that he was taking a liberty that he wasn't entitled to but he would be, maybe not soon but he was going to have his mate and son with him no matter how long it took.

Carla opened her eyes to see Kane's sky-blue ones looking down at her. As soon as she realized where she was, she panicked.

"Let me up!" she hissed.

Kane released her but watched for signs that she might faint again.

"Vampire?" she asked as she walked around the living room a little unsteadily.

"Yes." 

She was now in protective mode; her only concern at that moment was for Ian.

"He was drinking the blood of those animals?" she asked wondering why she didn't question why he liked to be outdoors so much or why she wasn't seeing so many strays or squirrels around.




Kane Ch. 02



"He's a very bright boy, even without really knowing what he is or even understanding why he was doing it; he took care of himself and protected you. Carla, this could have been very bad; he could have hurt you and other people." Kane replied.

"Hurt me? He's just a child."

"He's not a human child, he is much stronger and faster and yes he could have hurt you without meaning to."

"So now what? What does this mean for Ian?" Carla asked, her mind racing.

"It means that he needs a male vampire to teach him, it is the responsibility of the father to do that. That teaching begins at birth and through no fault of his; he's already five years behind. I need to spend time with him; I can come in the evenings and get him caught up."

"This is nuts, you know that right?" she asked feeling woozy again, her baby a vampire? As much as she wanted as little contact with Kane as possible, Ian needed him. That didn't take Kane off of her shit list but Ian as always came first.

"I know that it sounds crazy, but do you believe me?" he asked.

Carla didn't answer right away, something about vampires niggled at her but she couldn't remember what it was, but it was important. She stopped trying to remember, it would come to her later.

"When does this start?" she asked.

"I did a little tonight; he was becoming anxious for himself and you. As I said he is extremely intelligent, have you ever had him tested?"

"Not formally, I had a colleague who is a psychologist talk with him and he said what you just said. I took him out of daycare because I found a job that allows me to work from home and he was getting bored with it. He could count by the time he was one and speaking complete sentences why the time he was eighteen months old."

"You've done well with him, so what is he doing as far as schooling?"

"I buy him educational programs to keep him busy and he runs through those like water. I'm sure that you noticed the books in room, what five year old reads Carl Sagan and understands it?" Carla asked.

Kane smiled at her.

"Ours apparently." Kane replied, "I would like to help with his education if you'll let me."

Carla thought about it, Ian was running through the programs faster than she could buy. Maybe between the two of them they could keep ahead and besides; he offered.

"You could help with buying the programs, we could split the cost."

"Why don't I just buy them? Just tell me which ones he needs and I'll get them." Kane replied.

"I can't ask you to do that! They cost a lot of money."

"Please, I want to and don't worry about the money."

Carla hesitated, if Kane bought the programs it would free up several hundred dollars each month that she could put in a CD or IRA fund.

"Deal and only under one condition, if it gets to be too much financially; you tell me and we split the cost."

"Deal." Kane agreed, "About the rest of it, I would like to start coming tomorrow night. I'll keep you stocked with blood for Ian so he won't need to drink from animals unless it's an emergency. It wouldn't hurt for you to sit in when I talk to him about these things."

"Did you really think that I wouldn't?" she asked, "this is my child we're talking about. Anything you tell him or do with him I want to know."

Kane wanted to correct her and say, "Our child." but didn't. Things were going much better than he thought they would and he wasn't about to rock the boat because of semantics. Now that he was in the door, the next hurdle was getting Carla to go out with him but that was for another day.

"Thank you for talking to me and for allowing me to interact with our son, I realize that this couldn't have been easy for you."

"I want you to understand something." Carla said, "You are only here because of Ian and no other reason so don't get any ideas about us."

"Understood and Carla? There was one question that you asked that I never responded to; there are no other children."

"Really? And how do you know that?" she asked,

"I just do. I'll see you tomorrow night." he said leaving before she could ask any other questions.

After Kane left, Carla tried to concentrate on grading the rest of the essays in her email, why couldn't he have stayed away? Ian's prayer bothered her too, she had always tried to hide her anger from him but obviously she had failed. She finally gave up on grading the essays, she peeked in at Ian and watched him sleep; this little boy was her heart and now she had to share him with a man that she didn't know and didn't want to know. She changed into her pajamas, crawled into bed. She turned onto her side and pulled a pillow into her arms hugging it against her and cried herself to sleep.

Kane stood outside of Carla's house contemplating the things that he had missed because of his arrogance and refusal to accept what he was. He wished for the impossible, to go back and redo that time but all he could do now was move forward. He silently wished Carla and Ian a good rest before he vanished from where he stood.



Kane Ch. 03



Carla drug herself out of bed the next morning, her eyes felt swollen and grainy. She felt as though she hadn't slept although she knew that she had. She cracked her bedroom door open trying to hear if Ian was up yet. She heard a movie playing and knew that he was already awake. She put on her housecoat and went to his room.

"Good Morning!" she said forcing herself to sound chipper.

"Good Morning mama." Ian replied looking up from the television screen and then back again.

Carla noticed that he was watching the movie about how the universe was discovered again and wondered where his brains came from.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and then I'll make us breakfast. Pancakes sound good?" she asked.

She now had Ian's full attention, pancakes were his favorite food.

"The Mickey Mouse ones with bananas and whipped cream?" he asked excitedly.

Carla laughed, as intelligent as he was and as mature as he could act; he was still a five year old boy.

"Is daddy here?" Ian asked as she walked to the door.

Carla froze and then forced a smile before turning around.

"No, he went home last night; he'll be back tonight." 

She left the room before Ian could ask any more questions that she didn't have the answers to, questions that she didn't want to think about right now. She took a quick shower and went downstairs to make breakfast. As she made the batter for the pancakes she wondered what it would mean for her to have Kane involved in their lives.

After breakfast, Carla set Ian up in the living room with his laptop so that they could work together, him on his school work and her grading the rest of the essays. Carla stole little glances at Ian, he looked normal and acted normal, well what was normal for him and he didn't look like a vampire but then neither did Kane. 

Kane looked over the list of homes that George left on his desk, by the end of an hour he had narrowed the list down to two. He logged onto the website and looked at the videos of the houses and chose the one with the skylights in one of the bedrooms. He called the realtor that he always used and bought the house; he was acquainted with the current owner and didn't feel the need to actually see it. If there were any major problems the realtor would call him.

"I want a swing set in the backyard and make sure that the pool and Jacuzzi is treated and ready to go, call me with any questions." he told her.

The rest of the note from George told him which house that he wanted to buy and that his attorney would be calling in a day or two. The others, Kane listed on the web site and logged off. He glanced at the large box on the floor; it had every educational program that Carla had given him the list for and then some. Carla was right, they hadn't been cheap and he wondered how she managed. A pang of guilt hit him, she shouldn't have had to have managed, he should have been there but he wasn't and nothing would change that.

The next order of business was figuring out when to tell Carla everything else, she handled finding out about Ian fairly well maybe she would do alright with the rest of it too, he could only hope. He still had some time to kill and lay back down; he closed his eyes and then opened them, the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. He called the realtor back.

"Mel, no I haven't changed my mind but there's a building downtown, it used to be a karaoke bar called Barto's, see if you can find out if it's for sale and the asking price, sooner rather than later, leave a message on my cell if I don't answer."

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly, as soon as it was dusk; Kane was at Carla's front door with the box of computer programs and a small cooler with several bags of blood. 

As soon as Ian heard his voice, he came flying down the stairs.

"You came back!" he exclaimed.

"Of course I did, did you think that I wouldn't?" Kane asked.

When Ian hesitated, he knew that's exactly what he thought.

"Ian come here." Kane said as he knelt to eye level, "I'm not going to leave you and your mother alone ever again; you have my word on that." 

Ian visibly relaxed and gave Kane a hug.

"Just be careful when you hug your mom, you're already pretty strong." Kane said returning the hug.

Carla stood back watching with very mixed feelings, she loved that Ian was happy but she was still angry at Kane. She had the distinct feeling that he hadn't told her everything although she was at a loss as to what the rest of it could be-she was still having that little niggling feeling that there was something about vampires that she should be remembering. She had meant to do an internet search after Kane left but was too worn out to do it, now she wished that she had.

Kane lifted the box and put it on the living room table.

"These are the programs that you told me that Ian needed plus a few extras, this should hold him for a while."

Ian was delighted. 

"Look! It's the one that I saw on television! Thank you!" Ian said jumping up into Kane's arms.

"You're welcome but before you start using it, you and I have to talk about taking care of yourself. Carla is it alright if we go to the kitchen?" Kane asked.

"Ok." Carla replied intrigued in spite of herself.

Kane sat the cooler on the kitchen table and sat down, when Carla and Ian were sitting, he began.

"Ian, you've been having urges that you don't understand and you've been managing them very well. There's a reason for the urges, you aren't human; you are vampire just as I am. There is a lot to know and your mom says that I can teach you. The most important thing right now is this; you cannot let yourself get so hungry that you might hurt someone."

"I know." Ian said.

"What do you know?" Kane asked.

"That I'm a vampire."

Carla and Kane looked at each other. The reality of the situation was dawning on Carla; her baby really was a vampire.

"How did you know?" Kane asked.

"The internet, it told me that I could drink the blood of animals so that I wouldn't hurt anyone."

"How long have you known?" Carla asked.

"I don't know for sure but at least twelve months."

"A year? A whole year?" Carla thought.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Carla asked hurt.

"You wouldn't have believed me." Ian replied, his tone matter of fact.

He was right; she wouldn't have believed him Carla admitted to herself, at least not initially. Kane watched as Carla came to grips with Ian's vampirism.

"Ok Ian, just as you need human food, you also need blood .When you are hungry and you need blood, drink only until you are comfortable but not stuffed. Start off with a small amount, just like food you can always have more if you need it. Some of us like to drink it cold but I prefer it warmed up, not hot but warm. Microwaving it is the easiest way to warm it up, I'm sure that your mom will help you with that if I'm not here. Do you have any questions so far?"

"I understand." Ian said looking at Carla anxiously.

"Carla? Any questions?" Kane asked.

Carla shook her head, this was really happening!

"One last thing about the blood, always keep at least one thawed out. As a matter of fact, a better thing to do is to keep two thawed out. When you drink one, take another one out of the freezer and put it behind the older one. If you don't drink a whole unit, it has to be thrown out unless you like eating clots, there are some that do and I'm not one of them but you can try it if you want. If you think of any questions, ask. I can tell that you're dying to get into that program so go on; I need to talk to your mother. Ian wait, are you hungry right now?" Kane asked.

"Just a little." Ian replied.

"How about we share?" Kane asked as he stood up, "Carla can I have two glasses?"

Numbly, Carla pointed to the dish rack. She watched with a combination of horror and fascination as Kane poured blood into a glass filling it only half full and emptying the rest into the other glass before putting them in the microwave. 

Twenty seconds later, Ian had his first taste of human blood. Carla didn't miss the look of pure enjoyment on his face as he drained the glass dry.

"That taste better than animals." he said as he handed the glass to Carla.

"Yes it does but when there is nothing else animal blood is perfectly fine." Kane said, "Go play your game, I'll come talk to you later."

Ian ran off feeling full for the first time in a year.

"Where do you get the blood?" Carla asked.

"I have people that I pay."

"Do they know what you are?"

"No and it needs to stay that way." Kane replied.

"How do you..." Carla stopped, "you hypnotize them like you tried to do with me." she said understanding.

"It's called compulsion but yes we take away their memory of the donation and plant another memory." Kane replied.

"Do they ever remember?"

"It's rare but it has happened."

"Does it work on everyone?" Carla asked.

"In theory yes, but it didn't work on you and there's a reason for that. But I don't want to tell you when Ian is here, your friend; the one that was with you the other night, can she take care of Ian?"

"I don't know, I mean I guess; what's the big secret?" Carla asked.

"I just want to tell you what I have to tell you without worrying about Ian; do you think that we can talk tomorrow evening?"

"I'd have to check with Dina first."

Carla's stomach fluttered, she had the feeling that her world was going to be upset again and once again, it would be because of Kane. She picked up the phone and called Dina.

"Dina? Hey, are you busy tomorrow night? Can you watch Ian for me? No I don't have a date, I just have something that I need to do and it will be easier if Ian's not here. Ok, I'll bring him over around four."

She hung up the phone.

"There, it's done. Was there anything else?" she asked her tone curt.

"No, not right now but I would like to spend the evening with Ian."

Carla's face burned, she hadn't even thanked him for buying the computer programs for Ian and she was being rude, something that she detested and discouraged in Ian.

"Umm look, I'm sorry for being rude. Thanks for the computer programs and I'm sure that Ian would like to spend some time with you."

"I understand it's a lot to take in, if you'll excuse me; I'll go upstairs with Ian."

Carla sat at the kitchen table for several more minutes before going to the living room, the feeling that her life as she knew it was coming to an end almost stopped her in her tracks. She glanced toward the stairs and sat down at her laptop and began to answer emails from her students, she looked toward the stairs when she heard Ian laugh and wondered what was so funny, she heard Kane say something that sent Ian into another fit of laughter. Unable to resist any longer, Carla went upstairs to find Kane stretched out on Ian's bed, he was so tall that his feet hung over the foot of the bed. Ian was sitting on Kane's legs laughing.

"He tells funny stories." Ian said by way of explanation when he saw Carla in the doorway.

"I'm sorry if we disturbed you." Kane said giving her what Carla thought was a peculiar look.

"It's alright, I'm almost done. Ian, time to get ready for bed." Carla said.

"Awww mom, can't I stay up a little bit longer?" Ian asked, "Please?"

"Do as your mother says, I'll stay until you're in bed." Kane said.

"Why don't you stay here?" Ian asked pouting like a typical five year old.

"Because, we haven't talked about that, now scoot!" Carla said firmly.

Ian looked like he was going to argue with her but thought better of it.

Carla and Kane went back downstairs so that Ian could get ready for bed.

"Is six a good time for tomorrow night?" Kane asked.

"I'm taking Ian over to Dina's at four, so yes six is good."

"How about dinner before we talk?" 

"I don't want to have dinner with you, I just want you to tell me whatever it is you feel that you have to tell me and unfortunately, I can't tell you to go away so I'll say this, when you come here its only to see Ian."

Kane smiled at her, he liked his feisty women; it made things more interesting.

"I understand, I'll say goodnight to Ian and be on my way."

Once again Ian asked why Kane couldn't stay with them.

"He can stay here with me and I'll sleep on the floor."

Kane chuckled.

"I appreciate that but I think that you should keep your bed, I'll be here when you come back from Dina's now get into bed."

Ian gave up and crawled into bed.

"Can I read?" 

"Alright but only for a little while." Carla conceded.

Kane left shortly after Ian was in bed but not before trying to convince Carla to have dinner with him.

"We both have to eat so why not eat together?" he asked.

"Good night Kane." Carla said ushering him out of the door.

Kane sat across the street watching the house, Carla was angry but he had the feeling that the anger was more at herself than at him, that she was holding herself responsible for that night instead of him when the reality of it was that it was his entire fault. She went with him only because she felt the pull and then he denied her his love and protection, he had much to explain.

Carla brooded, she felt a flash of anger that she quickly tamped down and then it rose again. Kane's appearance brought back memories that she would just as soon forget. For months after that night she examined and reexamined the reasons that she left with him, she knew better! And here five years later, she was doing it again. To be honest, she wasn't just angry at herself but Kane too, what had he been thinking? Oh yes, "you made me feel something." he told her. What utter bullshit! She thought to herself as she headed toward her room.

She woke up to see Ian sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Ian? Are you alright?" she asked sitting up.

"I'm ok but it's almost ten." he replied.

Ten? Ten? She thought as she scrambled out of bed, she rarely if ever slept past eight but then she did have a couple of restless nights.

"Did you eat breakfast?" she asked.

"I had a bowl of cereal and a banana. Mama?"

"Yes baby?"

"Why are you so mad at daddy? Did he hurt you?" 

"Damn it!" Carla swore silently, " It was something that happened a long time ago and something that you are way to young to understand, now let me get dressed." she said before he could ask another question. She waited until Ian left the room and sat down on the bed; until Kane came back none of this was an issue. She had a story ready for when the subject came up, so much for that she thought.

They spent the rest of the morning looking through the computer programs that Kane brought over. Ian was in seventh heaven, some of the programs were so expensive that Carla would have to have picked up another job to be able to afford them. She wondered what Kane did for a living to be able to spend so much money at one time.

Dina called her around noon.

"Hey my mom is wondering if Ian can spend the night, I have to work late and she just likes having someone else around."

"I don't see why not, he likes spending the night over there; your mom spoils him. We'll see you at four." Carla replied.

"I'm staying at mom mom's tonight?" Ian asked.

"That's the plan. Umm Ian? Don't say anything about your dad yet ok?"

"Why?" Ian asked.

"I'm just not ready for anyone to know yet ok?"

Ian shrugged and ran off to pack. She almost hated to ask him not to say anything but she just wasn't ready for all of the questions that would be asked if Ian said anything. Of course, he might forget and let it slip; if he did then she would just have to deal with it. 

Carla had always been a very private person, never having more than two to three close friends at a time and even then she was selective about what she told them. Part of it was her upbringing, her parents were firm believers in keeping personal business personal, there were some things that you just didn't share. The other part of it was Carla herself, she was introverted, had always been. That's why teaching online worked for her. Doing karaoke was her way of pushing herself to be more outgoing and with Dina and the now late Mary she had been that way until Justin came along. It wasn't entirely his fault, people will do to you as much as you let them and she had let him do more than she should have.

Over the past five years Dina and Mary had tried to find out what happened that night finally giving up after being shut down so often. When it came to light that she was pregnant, they stood by her even though she told them nothing, when they realized that Ian's father was white, they accepted Ian and spoiled him rotten and they still loved her as a friend. Now that Kane was in the picture, she would have to say something or did she?

Ian flew out of the car and ran into Dina's house calling for mom mom. For all practical purposes, Josie Monroe was his grandmother. She had always treated Carla and Ian as family and was a shoulder to cry on when Carla found out that she was pregnant.

"There's my baby boy! Come give me some love." Josie said opening her arms to Ian. Ian didn't hesitate in going to her and throwing his arms around her.

"I made some of those rice krispie treats that we like and I have some movies too and yes they have to do with the universe." she added laughing.

"Yay!" Ian squealed forgetting about Carla for a moment.

Josie looked at Carla and frowned.

"Everything alright? You look a little off kilter." she said.

"I'm fine and thank-you for taking care of Ian for me, I appreciate it."

"No worries, I'm glad to do it, Dina said that you have a date tonight and I'm all for you finding a nice man."

"I don't have a date!" Carla said sharper than she intended, "I'm sorry, Dina must have misunderstood, I'll come back for Ian later."

"You'll do no such thing, Dina is working late tonight and I want the company even though I don't understand half of what he's talking about." Josie replied with a laugh, "and besides, I need help eating those rice krispie treats."

Carla kissed Ian goodbye, she wondered how long it would be before he decided that he was too big for a hug and kiss from his mama. Going to Dina's was good for Ian, it wasn't good for him to have only her for company, and he needed interaction with other people. She wished that he interacted better with kids his age but then he wasn't like kids his age, he was almost like an old man in a child's body with the child coming out every once in a while.

She still had an hour before Kane showed up and decided to stop at the grocery store; she would actually be able to shop without Ian begging her to buy sweets. She arrived home just a few minutes before six to find Kane sitting on her front porch.

"Let me help you with those." he offered.

"Thanks, you're early." she commented as she handed him one of the heavier sacks.

"Habit." he replied as he grabbed a few more bags.

Kane watched as she put the groceries away, he noted how graceful her movements were as she moved around the kitchen. She really was beautiful.

"Are you sure that you don't want to go to dinner?" he asked.

"I'm sure. You said that you wanted to talk, so talk." Carla said as she walked to the living room.

Kane followed her sitting down only after she sat. There was an awkward silence as Kane collected his thoughts, he would be repeating himself but it really was the best way to start.

"I'm going to ask you to bear with me as I explain things, some of it I told you the other night but I have to put it into context. I told you that I had an allergy to the sun that is because of the vampirism; I was born this way and for reasons that I still don't understand, I hated it. I wanted nothing more than to be human and to be alone. The only thing that kept me sane was that I could eat human food but I wanted to be out in the sunlight to function as a human during the day. The one thing I didn't want was to finds my mate, if I did I would have to acknowledge her or so I thought. Anyway as I've mentioned, my family and all but one of my friends walked away from me and rightly so but I didn't care. I was getting what I wanted; I was being left alone unless I chose otherwise."




Kane Ch. 03



Kane paused to give Carla a chance to ask questions, when she didn't speak; he continued.

"Somewhere along the line I decided that if I had to live forever, I was going to do it on my terms and if someone got hurt; too bad. Unfortunately, it was you. When I saw you that night, I was so conflicted; I wanted you but I didn't, when you walked up on that stage I remember thinking that you were so beautiful and I wanted to go to you. I sat in my chair arguing with myself that I didn't want or need you and then I decided that if I fucked you I would be done with you and I could move on but afterwards you resisted the compulsion. In all of my years that had never happened before I knew who and what you were and I still walked away, no; I ran away as fast as I could and didn't look back. It took me five years to acknowledge what I should have acknowledged then; I loved you then as I love you now."

"You what?" Carla asked, "You don't fall in love with someone you see on a stage, you didn't know me then and you don't know me now."

"I know all that I need to know," Kane replied.

"That night was the first night that I had been out in weeks. I was only there because my friends made me go. All they wanted was for me to have a good time, but you know what? Part of this is my fault, the whole time I let you lead me out of the bar I was asking myself what I was doing. I knew better! But let me ask you a question, did you do that compulsion thing on me?"

"At first, yes or least I tried, I know it worked on your friends that's why they don't remember anything between the time I sang and the time you went back to the bar-as far as they knew you never left. Afterwards, when I tried to make you forget it didn't work."

Carla was stunned. 

"I willingly went with you? I knew better and I allowed you to use me like a whore in the back seat of your car? Oh god! When you told me that you were a vampire, I thought that maybe I didn't have a choice but you're telling me that I did... unless you're lying." she added.

Kane realized that he was right; she had been taking most of the blame herself.

"Carla, there's another reason why you came with me."

She appeared not to have heard him as she spoke.

"All of this time, I've been so angry at you, at me for what happened that night..."

"Carla, listen to me; what happened wasn't your fault. Even if I hadn't been a jackass, you still would have come with me. There was something else at work that night, something that I was able to fight off for five years."

Carla ignored him.

"Do you know what really galls me? For the past five years I've wondered about you, where you were, if you were married with children and how many other women you had been with in the backseat of your car. Every time I looked at Ian, I wondered about you and now suddenly; you're back and wanting to be a father, why now? You found me and I've been here for the past eight years so why did you look for me now?"

Kane thought about his answer carefully.

"It took my last friend walking out on me to wake me up, the last five years have been hell for me and I imagine they were for you as well but I never forgot you, I was miserable but I still denied what I knew to be true."

Carla lost patience.

"Just spit it out already!"

Kane refused to be rushed.

"During that time, I slept with many women but if they even resembled you I couldn't touch them. The only explanation that I could come up with was that I couldn't treat them the same way I did you. Anyway, I don't know how much you know about vampire lore, some of it is correct and some of it is just myth. We vary as much as humans do, but that's for another time. The one thing that is true for all of us is that we each have a mate, I mentioned a little while ago that I didn't want to find mine and that I knew who and what you were the moment I saw you. I also mentioned that you would have come with me anyway-Carla, you are my mate.

Carla started to laugh.

"Sure I am." she said the laughter stopping when she saw the expression on his face. That thing that she was trying to remember came to her, vampires had mates. But that didn't mean it was her.

"Carla, you are my mate, what you felt that night was the pull of mates so what happened wasn't your fault. What happened after I saw you was totally my fault, I was supposed to help you through what was happening but I left."

"What if I don't want to be your mate?" she asked.

"You will still be my mate even if we don't live together as such; I will still love, care for and protect you and Ian." Kane replied.

"How do we unmate?"

"We can't unless our bond is broken somehow." Kane replied calmly.

"Then break it, you do know how to do that don't you?" Carla asked

Kane watched as Carla stood up and began to pace, looking for signs that she was going to faint. Seeing none he relaxed slightly.

"Carla, the breaking of a bond is no easy thing. It can take centuries and even then it may not be broken."

"Centuries? I'll be dead long before then." Carla replied relieved.

"No you won't." Kane said softly.

"What do you mean? Of course I will."

"Carla, sit down." Kane said, if she was going to faint, it would be at this piece of news.

"I don't want to sit down, why I won't be dead?" she asked.

"Carla..."

"Why?" she asked again more insistently.

Kane sighed and got ready to move if she started to go down.

"You won't die because you are immortal as I am. It happened as soon as you conceived."

"I'm a vampire?" Carla asked feeling woozy.

"No, but you will always be as you are. You are no longer susceptible to diseases and killing you will be very difficult."

"I don't have a say in this? What if I don't want to live forever?" she asked angrily. She swiped away angry tears, "I didn't choose this!"

"No you didn't and that is my fault too."

"I want you to leave now." Carla said softly, "I can't talk about this anymore."

"Carla..."

"Kane, I want you to go. Ian will see you tomorrow night."

Kane stood up, took a card from his jacket pocket and laid it on her laptop.

"I've given you a lot to process, here's my card; don't hesitate to call me for anything."

Carla didn't say anything when Kane left. She sat in the same spot for hours thinking about everything from the past five years until now. Now that she had calmed down she could think more rationally, she went back to the night that she met Kane, she would always have a problem with the ease that she went with him but once she was in the car with him, she sensed his self-loathing and even remembered wondering about it. She also felt a connection to him that she never understood. Not once in the five years had she gotten sick, prior that she always got sick once a year requiring her to have someone else teach her online classes and Ian; he hadn't been sick since the blood issue when he was born.

There was something else that she hadn't even admitted to herself, as angry as she was when Kane showed up on her doorstep, she had felt a sense of relief and she knew that Ian felt the same relief and that had to mean something. She didn't know about the whole mate thing and how she felt about living forever but she felt a headache coming, she couldn't think anymore. Taking advantage of having the house to herself, Carla took a long hot shower and went to bed not waking until after ten. 

She lay in bed thinking about everything that she had learned over the past two days, one of her strengths was the ability to look at a situation and then make reasonable decisions and then prioritizing. One thing was for certain, she couldn't ask Kane to stay away, there was Ian to consider and he needed Kane to teach him whatever it was that he needed to survive in the world as a vampire. The second thing which also related to Ian was that she and Kane had to have some kind of working relationship meaning that she had damned well better get used to him being around. As far as the issues between her and Kane, they would wait, she saw no need to rush into any decisions regarding him and his declarations of love, she had no doubt that that he loved Ian and that was the most important thing. While still pissed about the immortality thing, there was nothing that she could do about it; she placed that under the "put on your big girl panties and deal with it" category.

She finally got up and went downstairs deciding to get as much work done as she could. Whenever Ian came home from an overnight at Dina's she got a blow by blow play of everything he did. Thinking of Dina, she planned to have a word with her about telling Josie that she had a date.

Kane went home after talking with Carla; it had gone better than he thought it would. She was angry of that he had no doubt but he sensed that she was an analytical personality; she just needed to work through it. Kane was nothing if not an optimist, it might take time but Carla and Ian would be where they belonged; with him.



Kane Ch. 04



Just as she predicted, Ian gave her a blow by blow of his time at Dina's. He talked almost non stop from the time he got into the car.

"We had hotdogs and baked beans for supper and rice krispie treats for dessert. Me and mom mom played a game and I let her win..."

Carla only half listened as Ian chattered about the movie, he must have asked her a question more than once.

"Mama! Are you listening to me?" he asked rather indignantly.

"I'm sorry baby, I was thinking about something. What did you say?"

"I asked if daddy was still coming over tonight."

"Yes, I believe so." Carla replied.

Ian gave her one of his odd looks and started talking about the movie again.

Carla forced herself to pay attention to what Ian was saying. Once again she wondered where in the hell his brains had come from.

Ian looked over at Carla and smiled, she was already better and that made him very, very happy.

"Did you do your schoolwork today?" Carla asked.

"All done and I even did extra." Ian replied.

This was how he was going through the programs so fast but not wanting to discourage him, Carla smiled.

"Good job! Does pizza sound good for dinner?

Kane was waiting on the porch when they pulled up. Ian barely gave the car time to stop before jumping out and running up the steps.

"Daddy!"

"Hey kiddo!" Kane greeted, "how are you?"

"Good." Ian replied and then remembered Carla.

Ian ran back down the steps and met Carla partway.

"I'll carry it." he said taking the pizza away from her.

Carla nodded at Kane as she walked by.

"Hello Carla." Kane said pleasantly. 

Ian ate his dinner as fast as he could without Carla telling him to slow down. 

"Ian." Kane said, "How are you doing with the blood?"

"Good, I'm not hungry right now though. Mama may I be excused?"

"Ok, you can have some ice cream later." she replied.

Ian grinned, Ice Cream ranked right up there with pancakes and rice krispie treats. Carla watched as he ran off, happy that he was happy.

"Do you have any questions for me?" Kane asked after Ian was gone, "I gave you a lot to think about."

"The only question I had was about the bond and you say that it can't be broken and I'm going to live forever whether I like it or not which in retrospect, may not be such a bad thing; I just wish that I had a choice. At any rate, both of those are things that I can't do anything about so there's no point in bemoaning the fact. The only thing that matters in any of this is Ian, as angry as I am at the both of us; we have to have some kind of working relationship if only for him. Do you agree?"

"Totally." Kane replied, "I suppose that you've come up with a list of ground rules?"

"Only one, we keep Ian out of our issues. Are we in agreement?"

Kane liked her practical no nonsense approach, she wouldn't hesitate to tell him to fuck off.

"Agreed. As far as Ian's education is concerned, I would like to take care of anything that he might need. Of course any new curriculum I will run by you first, is that alright?"

Carla couldn't think of a reason why not and just maybe he knew more about the universe than she did.

"So how well read are you on the universe?" she asked.

Kane gave her a blank look and then understood.

"I have some knowledge but I don't know half as much as he does." He replied with a smile.

Carla smiled back; maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.

It was relatively early yet and Kane was upstairs with Ian, Carla could hear his happy laughter and realized that while she had heard him laugh many times; it never sounded as happy as it did now. She now understood that even though he had never said it or even implied it; he wanted and needed his father.

Kane was finding out just how intelligent and perceptive Ian was. Ian told him things that he didn't even know for as old as he was. What Kane found interesting was how in one moment, Ian would be like any other five year old and then in the next he would be like an adult. At the moment he was a combination of the two.

"Do you love my mama?"

The question caught Kane off guard but he recovered quickly.

"Yes, I love the both of you very much." Kane replied.

"Why is she so mad at you?"

"That's a conversation for your mom and me to have."

Mature or not, Kane wasn't going to have this conversation with a five year old.

"You hurt her didn't you?" Ian asked, his eyes flashing in anger.

"Fuck." Kane thought, the boy was only five and he was already showing signs of being a force to be reckoned with.

"I hurt her yes and for that I am sorry."

"Are you going to hurt her again?" Ian asked his small voice intense.

Kane answered carefully.

"I give you my word that I will neither hurt nor leave either of you again."

Kane watched as Ian relaxed, his eyes had stopped flashing and the intensity in his voice was gone.

"So Ian, what kind of food does your mom like?" Kane asked.

"She like Japanese food and she likes the hamburgers at Denny's." he replied.

"If I wanted to take her out to dinner, which one would she like better?" Kane asked.

"The Japanese one, are you taking mama out to dinner?"

"I would like to." Kane replied, "Lets see if your mom wants to go to a movie."

Ian immediately became an excited five year old boy wanting to know if he could have popcorn and soda at the movie.

Carla knew that something was up when they both came down the stairs.

"It's early and I was thinking that we could go to a movie." Kane said.

"I don't.....'

"Please mama?" Ian interrupted, "I promise to get ready for bed as soon as we get back and you won't have to tell me. Please?" he begged.

Ian could be hard to resist when he begged and he knew it. That was why he did it so rarely and it always worked when he did. Ian waited for her answer already knowing that she would say yes. 

"Alright but no soda with the popcorn." she replied.

Ian jumped up and down and ran upstairs to get his jacket with Carla following close behind.

Carla was partly dressed when she realized that chances were good that they would run into someone she knew but she couldn't not go; she wasn't about to let Ian go somewhere with a man that she barely knew even if he was his father. She could only hope that they wouldn't run into anyone, she wasn't ready to explain Kane to anyone.

Kane knew what Carla was thinking, she didn't want to explain who he was although anyone with eyes could see that Ian was his son. Carla would just have to get used to the fact that he was here to stay and that people would see them, as a matter of fact the sooner she got used to them being seen together the better. 

Ian came down first followed by Carla. Kane looked at her appreciatively and chuckled when Carla blushed. Ian looked at Carla and then Kane giving him what Kane thought to be a non-verbal warning.

Any hopes that Carla had of running into anyone were dashed the moment they stepped into the theater.

"Carla!" a familiar voice called, it was none other than Dina with her date for the night.

Carla was going to try to ignore her but Ian heard Dina call Carla's name.

"Aunt Dina!" he called.

Dina made her way over to them stopping short when she saw Kane holding Ian's hand. Her eyes widened as she saw the resemblance between Kane and Ian. They widened even more when she recognized Kane.

Carla cursed silently when Dina turned to look at her, her eyes filled with confusion and hurt.

"Hi, I'm Dina; I'm supposed to be Carla's best friend." she said extending her hand.

"This is my dad!" Ethan exclaimed proudly once again a five year old.

"I'm Kane, its nice to meet you; Ian speaks highly of you and your mother." Kane replied shaking Dina's hand.

"So how long have you been in town?"

"A few days, I just bought a home here."

This was news to Carla but that wasn't important tight now, Dina was furious.

"Welcome and I hope you like it here. Carla, can I talk to you for a minute?" Dina asked, her tone suggesting that she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

Dina grabbed Carla by the hand and yanked her to a corner.

"What the hell Carla? That's the guy from O'Malley's! He's Ian's father?"

"Dina, I..."

"Tomorrow, my house at one, my mother will watch Ian and you're not going to hand me that bullshit about how you were raised."

Dina stomped off without a backwards glance stopping to kiss Ian on the cheek before rejoining her date.

"Shit."

Kane could see that Carla was upset but he ignored it as he led Ian to theatre 2 with her following close behind. They sat with Ian sitting between them which suited Carla just fine, she had to figure out how to explain to her best friend why she didn't tell her about Kane.

Kane used the time to decide on how to deal with Carla, as angry as she was; she was being drawn to him. It was to his advantage that she could take whatever he threw at her; she proved that on the night he told her everything. He wasn't going to coddle her, starting tonight, they were going to talk.

Ian was so engrossed in the movie that he wasn't aware of Carla's tension and Kane's distraction. Ian wanted to stop for ice cream but Carla didn't want to chance someone else seeing them.

"We have ice cream at home." she said as she walked out of the theater.

When they got back Kane pulled Ian aside.

"I need to talk to your mom for a few minutes, do you mind playing with your computer game until I call you?"

Ian eyed Kane and then nodded.

Carla was in the kitchen slamming bowls on the table. Kane stood back and watched. She's going to be fun to fight with he thought as a spoon went flying across the room. Carla stopped mid slam when she saw Kane watching.

"This is your fault!" she said as she continued slamming things around.

"I will accept blame for anything that I've done but not for the fact that your friend is angry with you." Kane replied as he picked the spoon up off of the floor.

"We were fine before you came; people had stopped asking where you were!"

Kane considered his response.

"I beg to differ, you weren't fine and neither was Ian and deep down you know that. But that's not what this is about, the real issue is us and you know it. You're as mad as hell and we won't be able to move on until you scream, cry, throw things or whatever it is that you do when you're angry and you say what's really on your mind. I'm going upstairs with Ian, we'll talk again later."

He didn't give her a chance to respond, he didn't even look back as he walked away.

Carla was flabbergasted, just who in the hell did he think he was? But he was right in one thing, it wasn't his fault that Dina was mad at her, and he was right about something else, she was mad at him and had been from the moment he tried to make her forget, but it wasn't just that, she was furious with herself. It didn't matter why she went with him, it only mattered that she did and he didn't have to compel her, what did that say about her?

"Is mama mad?" Ian asked.

"That's an understatement but yes." Kane replied.

"Is she mad at you again?" he asked.

"Yes but she's mad at herself too but I hope for not too much longer" Kane replied.

Carla picked up whatever objects that landed on the floor during her tirade, she needed Kane to go; she needed to think and she couldn't do it with him yapping at her. 

True to his word, Ian got ready for bed without being told. He was already in bed when Carla went to his room; Kane was sitting on the floor. Ian said his prayers and this time adding a prayer for Kane to live with them. Inadvertently, Ian was helping Kane; Carla wouldn't discount anything that Ian wanted, she might say no but not without thinking about it first.

They kissed Ian good night and went back downstairs. Kane sat on the couch and got comfortable.

"What do you do for a living?" he asked.

"I teach online English classes, it pays well and it allows me to stay home with Ian."

"Do you enjoy it?"

"Not really but it's a means to an end." she replied.

"I'm into imports and exports, banking; boring stuff." 

When Carla didn't respond, he continued.

"Ian says that you like Japanese food."

Carla's patience snapped.

"Obviously you have something to say so just say it!"

"You're right, I do but so do you." Kane replied.

"I don't have anything to say to you."

Kane shrugged and smiled at her.

"I don't believe you but be that as it may, I still want to take you to dinner, I thought that we could get to know each other a little better."

"No." Carla replied offering no explanation.

"You have no interest in knowing the man who is going to be teaching and helping you raise our son?" Kane asked knowing that he had just hit below the belt but it had the expected result-almost.

The one thing that Carla hated more than anything that she could think of was being manipulated and that's what Kane was doing. What made it worse was that he was using Ian to do it.

"I thought that we agreed to keep Ian out of this." Carla said.

"We did." Kane agreed.

"Then why are you using him to manipulate me into going out to dinner with you?"

Kane didn't try to make excuses.

"It seems to be the only way I can get to talk to you...."

"Talk about what exactly? How I got into the car of a strange man and had unprotected sex? Is that what you want to talk about?"

"Are you forgetting what I told you?" Kane asked, "You would have come with me anyway, neither of us really had a choice."

"There's always a choice!" Carla shot back, "you could have left me alone and found someone else but I had a choice too, I could have stayed with my friends but I didn't. Instead I went to your car, never in my entire life have I done anything so reckless! This is...."

Carla stopped herself.

"Say it." Kane said quietly, "put the blame where it really belongs."

Carla didn't respond.

"Carla, this isn't your fault, none of it is. I'm the one who left you alone and pregnant, do you understand that you had no choice? I know that you think you did but you didn't and in the end neither did I, that's why I came back."

"So this is about your guilt? You've got that little boy upstairs thinking that you care about him and all this is about is your guilt?"

Kane tensed and tamped down his own rising anger.

"You can doubt my motives and feelings for you as much as you like but don't you ever call into question my feelings for Ian, he is not the issue here and as we agreed, he stays out of this. I was wrong to try to use him and I apologize for that but this is about us and five years worth of pain and anger about something that you insist is your fault when it isn't."

"I can't do this right now; I need for you to go." Carla said as she stood up, she felt the beginnings of a headache and she was tired.

"Fine, but this is far from over, as you can see; I'm a very stubborn man. I'm going to say goodnight to Ian before I leave."

Ian was still awake when Kane walked into his room.

"Is mama alright?" he asked, his voice tense.

"She's still angry but she's alright." Kane assured him.

Ian closed his eyes and was quiet for so long that Kane thought that he had fallen asleep; he was going to leave when Ian spoke.

"Maybe you should tell mama that you love her before you go home, she might feel better."

Somehow Kane doubted that but it certainly couldn't hurt. He chuckled at the fact that he was taking the advice of a five year old.

Carla was sitting where Kane left her. Her eyes were closed and wet, she had to have heard him come down the stairs but she didn't acknowledge him in any way.

"I'm leaving now but I'll be back tomorrow evening. I know that you don't believe this but Carla, I do love you and Ian."

Kane left not giving her a chance to respond.

Carla forced herself to get up only then remembering that she had promised Ian ice cream. It surprised her that he hadn't reminded her, she would have to take him to Dairy Queen for a treat. She jumped when she opened her bedroom door to see Ian sitting on her bed.

"Ian? What's wrong?" she asked forgetting her anger.

"Nothing, I just wanted to tell you goodnight and tell you that I love you." he said as he stood and walked toward her. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug.

"I love you too." Carla replied as she hugged him back.

Carla took two aspirin and took a hot shower. She wasn't looking forward to her meeting with Dina.

Dina was waiting for her when she pulled up, walking up to the car when it stopped. Ian jumped out and ran into the house before Carla could say anything. Dina gave her a hurt look and walked toward the back of the house without speaking.

Carla had never seen Dina this mad and braced herself.

For several minutes neither woman spoke, Carla decided to speak.

"Dina..."

"Shut the fuck up Carla." Dina said quietly.

Carla was shocked into silence, she had never heard Dina use a swear word any stronger than damn.

"This is what I don't understand" Dina said, "I thought that we were friends, actually more than that. I consider you a sister and mom thinks of you as a daughter. And Ian we just love to death even though we don't know what in the hell he's talking about. For more than five years, you've carried the secret of what happened that night at the bar. We know that you sang, then Kane sang but then we don't remember what happened between that and when we left to take you home. Mary and I used to talk about it and came up empty and then you show up pregnant and you wouldn't talk to us. We went through that pregnancy with you and still you wouldn't talk and when Ian was born and we asked you about his father who was obviously white you pulled that things you just don't talk about bullshit, well guess what? Today you talk and you're not leaving here until you do.

"Dina you wouldn't have understood."

"How do you know? You never gave us a chance!" Dina replied.

Carla closed her eyes and opened them.

"You want to know what happened? Fine, I'll tell you. I went out with you and Mary and had unprotected sex with a stranger in the back seat of his car like a whore, the result of that was a little boy that I love more than my own life. That's it. End of story."

"Why didn't you tell us? Did you think that we would have dropped you as a friend or been appalled? We wouldn't have been and I speak for Mary when I say that. All we've ever wanted for you was for you to be happy but Carla, you've got to start trusting people-I don't know what screwed up rationale your family had for teaching you not to trust but it's not right. I only met Kane once but I can tell that he really cares about Ian and maybe you too."

"I don't want to talk about that, the only person I want him to care about is Ian."

Dina looked at Carla closely.

"Carla, what's really going on here?"

"Nothing, I'm fine and I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Kane but how do you say to your friends that you acted like a whore."

"Carla, who are you really mad at? Twice you've referred to yourself as a whore and you aren't, you made what you consider to be a mistake but maybe it wasn't; but whatever it was you've got to stop being so hard on yourself, yes it was out of character but its done and being mad about it isn't going to change it. I think that you and Kane have some talking to do. Now give me some love."

The two women hugged, Carla relieved that their friendship was intact. Dina asked several valid questions, the biggest one being who was she really angry at? Kane.

Ian was elated with the unscheduled Dairy Queen stop.

"Well I did forget to give you ice cream last night and you didn't even complain about it."

Ian looked at her with the look that she knew very well; he was going to ask her a hard question.

"Mama? Why can't daddy stay with us?"




Kane Ch. 04



Carla sighed, she could only dodge the question for so long and it looked like her time was up.

"Things happened before you were born, things you won't understand. Your dad and I haven seen each other since before you were born so he's kind of like a stranger to me and you don't let strangers move into your house."

Ian seemed to consider this.

"So why don't you become friends?" he asked.

"Because...."

Carla faltered, she had no real excuse or answer to his question.

When they got home, Ian started on his school work; he had already worked through one module on the mathematics program. Carla was horrible with math and very grateful that Ian could figure out the problems by himself. The question about why she and Kane couldn't be friends nagged at her, if they were going to be raising Ian together or at least for as long as he planned to stick around they really should get to know each other better.

Kane was at her door right at six with another box of computer programs and a new laptop. Ian was beyond ecstatic.

"Thank you!" he squealed jumping up into Kane's arms, "Mama look!"

"I see. Why don't you look through those while I talk to your dad?" Carla asked.

Kane followed Katrina to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Kane asked confused.

"A new laptop? And all of those programs?"

Kane understood.

"I see, you think that I'm trying to buy his affections. Well I'm not, we agreed that I could provide whatever he needed for his education and that's all I did. The laptop he has doesn't have enough memory for the programs that I just bought. The programs are for entertainment purposes only although they are educational. Anything else?" he asked.

"No and I'm sorry, it's just that... never mind, thank you."

"Are you really sorry?" Kane asked.

"What? Of course I am." Carla replied.

"Prove it, have dinner with me. I promise to be the perfect gentleman."

"I don't.....sure." Carla said.

"Great!" Kane said hiding his excitement, "How about tomorrow evening?"

Carla arranged for Ian to stay with Dina.

"I have to work again tomorrow night, can Ian stay over?"

"Sure, I'll bring him around four."

Carla remembered their earlier conversation and decided that Dina was right; she needed to start trusting people.

"Kane and I are going to dinner."

There was a shocked silence on the other end of the phone.

"I'm glad and thank you for telling me."

Kane helped Ian set up his laptop, Ian really didn't need the help but it gave Carla time to arrange for Ian's care for the next evening. Tonight he planned to force the issue of blame and then maybe tomorrow night they could begin to make their way toward each other.

Dinner consisted of leftovers with Ian and Kane sharing a bag of warmed blood.

"I tried it cold and I didn't like it." Ian said right before he took a big swallow, "and then I tried the clots. Yuck!"

Kane laughed, those were his sentiments exactly.

"I agree with you on that, so which program are you going to try first?" Kane asked.

"I think the one that I need my headphones for, the rocket simulator."

"I thought as much." Kane replied, "Before you go lets clean up the kitchen so your mom can relax."

Carla started to protest but closed her mouth; she did have one more paper to grade.

Forty -five minutes later, the kitchen was spotless and Ian was building and flying rockets. Kane sat on the couch and thought about how to start round two.

"What were the past five years like for you?" He asked.

Carla was surprised by the question, her defenses immediately flew up.

"It was hard but we made it and we would have managed even if you hadn't decided to drop in."

Kane ignored the sarcasm in her voice.

"Who helped you through the pregnancy?"

"Why do you want to know all of this?" Carla asked.

"I just want to know who I have to thank for caring for you while I was gone."

"Dina, Mary and Josie; Dina's mom but Mary died three years ago."

"I'm sorry." Kane said softly.

"Me too, I still miss her."

Kane let her have a few minutes to remember her friend.

"Carla, I love you and Ian."

And then he waited.

Carla looked at him; her anger was just beneath the surface.

"I loved you from the moment you stepped on that stage and said your name."

He waited again.

"We couldn't have stayed away from each other that night no matter how much we may have wanted to, we were and are meant to be together."

"No." she said softly, "you don't get to say that to me after all of this time."

Kane ignored her.

"Remember how I kissed you that first time and then it changed to something much more intimate? And you kissed me back?"

"I don't want to talk about this."

Kane kept talking.

"You felt something, you felt connected to me and you reacted not as a whore but as a woman who is with her mate and instead of embracing you and celebrating the fact that I found you; I hurt you. It's me that all of your anger should be directed at."

Carla felt her eyes burn with tears.

"Yes! Damn you! This is your fault, for five years I've tried to understand what happened that night, why I ended up in the back seat of a car with a man that sang to me. I even remember wondering why you were so angry but I couldn't stop myself from going with you. Every time I look at Ian, I see you and I would wonder if you were dead or alive, if you had a wife and children and I couldn't make myself move on. What I don't understand is if you loved me as you claim, then how could you have left like that? You didn't even tell me your name! And then you tried to make me forget. When I found out that I was pregnant, I was at a loss as to what to do. I didn't even know how to begin to explain it when it came out that Ian's father was white; when he got sick I couldn't give them any information...I was so scared! I thought that he was going to die and while that was happening you probably had some woman in the back seat of your car. I will always hold myself responsible for going with you but the rest of it is your fault. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Surprisingly, Carla noticed that she felt better, not great but better. No matter how Kane explained her going with him to his car, it would take a long time for her to understand it. She felt a sense of relief that she was able to finally say what she had been feeling and then she realized that she had been goaded into it.

"Bastard."

"Believe me, I've been called much worse and I'm sure that I deserved it as I do now."

"Why did you do this?" Carla asked.

"I had to, until we got this out into the open; it would be like a black cloud over us and I want us to start our life together with a clean slate. I know that you still hold yourself responsible for going out to the car with me and I can see that I won't be able to change your mind on that so I won't try but I think that after awhile you'll see that there wasn't anything that you could have done and you'll let it go."

Kane left the sofa and walked over to Karla. He knelt in front of her and took her hands into his.

"I humbly ask your forgiveness for the wrongs that I have done to you and Ian. I was a coward in not wanting to accept who and what I was; I was selfish to put what I thought I needed before what I knew that you needed. I was wrong in leaving you alone and unprotected, I am sorry that it took me so long to come back to you and I swear that I will never leave you or our son again."

He kissed both of her hands and moved away.

Carla was at a loss as to what to say, it was probably one of the most heartfelt apologies that she had ever heard. She needed to think for a while.

"I have to think, would you mind going up to check on Ian?"

When she heard the bedroom door open and close Carla closed her eyes. She replayed their conversation in her head and tried to determine if he was lying, when he was talking all she felt was sincerity. The analytical part of her kicked in, what did this mean for her and Ian? Ian would have his father and she would have her....mate? And that meant sex, Carla squirmed in her chair at the thought, was she ready to accept the whole mate thing? Could she trust Kane not to pull another Houdini? He had given his word and she sensed that he didn't do that lightly so the question was this, was she going to take him at his word? This was too much to think about at once, they would start with dinner and proceed from there but for tonight she would forgive him.

While Carla was downstairs debating, Kane was on the phone.

"George, how are the renovations going?"

"Good, Kane what are you going to do with the place?" George asked.

"I have a plan."

Kane told George his plan and gave him a list of instructions. He would have instructions for Ian later.

The next afternoon, Carla took Ian over to Dina's. As per Kane's instructions, Carla made sure that Ian drank a glassful of blood before they left. 

"Mama? Is it alright to talk about daddy now?"

"Umm sure." she replied. There was no point in telling him not to, the cat was already out of the bag.

To her surprise, Josie didn't seem to know anything about Kane so Carla let it pass. Dina came out of her room dressed for work and Carla walked her to the car.

"You didn't tell your mom?"

"You didn't tell me that I could. See how this works? You tell me something, I keep it to myself until you say otherwise. Have fun tonight, I have to get going."

After saying goodbye to Ian and Josie, Carla headed home her stomach in knots. She had taken the night before to think. Kane had been visibly relieved that she had decided to forgive him and even she felt relief, she hadn't realized how much her anger had been draining her. Now she was just nervous, she hadn't been out with a man since Justin.

After much debate, Carla pulled out her outfit for the night; a simple black dress with a jacket and a pair of pumps that added two inches to her height. By the time she was showered and dressed, she had fifteen minutes to spare.

Kane was almost surprised when Carla forgave him but he suspected that he hadn't seen the last of her anger. Kane arrived at her door right at six; he waited nervously for her to answer the door hoping that she hadn't changed her mind. When she opened the door, his breath caught; the word beautiful and then "mine" came to mind. 

The Japanese restaurant was busy but since they had reservations their wait wasn't long. They shared a table with four other people. Kane found out that Carla hated sushi which he considered one of the major food groups, liked to read when she had time and he already knew that she was good cook. The one thing that he wanted to change was that she was always on some kind of diet; she was perfect as she was. By the time the meal was over, they knew the basics about each other and Carla had decided that she liked him. Ian was right she found, Kane really did have some funny stories.

After the meal, Kane suggested that they go for a walk. As they walked he put his arm around her and expected her to pull away but was surprised when she moved closer, taking a chance he stopped her and stood in front of her.

"Carla, may I kiss you?"

Carla froze, she felt a desire to hurt him the way that she had hurt for five years; she was going to make comment about fucking her now that he fed her but she stopped herself. 

"You're angry." Kane stated.

"Not exactly, but for just one second I wanted you to feel what I felt that night but two wrongs don't make a right do they? And what would it accomplish?"

"Do you know how amazing you are?" Kane asked.

"No not really, just practical. The way I see it I've wasted enough energy on being angry and its time to move forward and in answer to your question, no you may not kiss me. But I do have a question for you, why did you hate yourself so much?"

Kane moved to her side and put his arm back around her.

"I think it was a case of the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. After George left, I was happy at first, after a week I was climbing the walls but pride wouldn't allow me to call him back and to tell him that he was right. I thought a lot about you during that time and knew that I had to find you, I wasn't sure of what I was going to say to you when I did or even if you'd talk to me but I had to try. Finding out about Ian was a shock, a pleasant one but a sobering one, it was then that the magnitude of what I had done hit me."

"Who told you about him? As far as I know we don't know any of the same people." Carla said.

"No one told me, I followed you home the night we were at O'Malley's and I went into your house, I saw the pictures. I felt as if I had been kicked in the gut by a mule, you have to believe that I never would have left had I known."

"I believe you." she replied, "But how'd you get in without tripping the alarm?"

"I can vanish in and out of anywhere; do you believe that I love you and Ian?"

"I believe that you love Ian, me? I don't know if it's love or guilt." she replied.

"I could show you." Kane replied.

"How do you propose to do that?" Carla asked.

"Let me kiss you."

Carla laughed.

"You really are stubborn aren't you? The answer is still no."

"Are you afraid of the truth?" Kane challenged.

Carla stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Think about what you just said, the last few days of my life have been turned upside down. You show up out of nowhere and tell me you're a vampire. I'm actually heating blood up in my microwave for my child who is also a vampire and I'm immortal to boot so do you care to tell me how I'm afraid of the truth?"

"That is all true and you handled it admirably but that's not the truth I'm talking about. I'm talking about the truth of what we feel for each other and you can't tell me that you don't feel anything even if you haven't admitted it to yourself. So let me repeat my challenge if you want to call it that. Let me kiss you and if you don't feel that I love you, I will content myself with being a father to Ian and will wait for you to reach your own conclusions."

Carla looked at him, there had to be a hitch somewhere.

"How do I know that you won't do that compulsion thing?"

"It doesn't work on you remember? And I should mention that you won't be able to lie to me and I can't lie to you."

"So why the kissing? Just tell me how to know if you're lying." Carla said.

"Kissing is so much more enjoyable and you will feel the full emotion behind it, do you accept my challenge?"

"You get only one shot at this." Carla said not really believing that a kiss could do what he said.

"That will be all that I need." Kane replied.

Carla was suddenly nervous as Kane led her from the sidewalk and into an alley. Kane checked to see if anyone was near by and then turned his attention to Carla.

"Why so nervous?" he asked as he cupped her face with his hands.

"I'm not." Carla replied.

"Liar."

"Alright already, let's do this and remember this is your one shot." 

"I remember."

Suddenly Kane's mouth was on hers gently caressing her lips with his. His hands had moved from her face and his arms were around her. Carla's arms went around Kane's waist almost of their own volition, she felt warmth that began inside of her and spread throughout her body, it felt like what used to be called a warm fuzzy but this was so much more than that.

Kane deepened the kiss and the intensity of the warmth spread, suddenly; it was over.

Carla would have stumbled it Kane hadn't been holding on to her. She jumped when she heard applause behind her, they had generated an audience. As they walked through the crowd, she got several envious looks. When they were away from the crowd, Kane stopped her.

"Fess up," he said.

"It was a very nice kiss and all but..."

"Carla..."

"Alright! I believe you."

"You love me too." Kane said.

"I didn't say that." Carla snapped.

"You didn't have to, I felt it and I am more than satisfied with that. Let's go home."

The drive back to Carla's was quiet. Carla was lost in thought, she wasn't going to lie to herself and say that she didn't like the kiss; she did and it did as he said it would. The question was what now? Was she supposed to throw caution to the wind and go riding of into the sunset with Kane and Ian? And what was Kane expecting? She had some idea, but was she ready to go to bed with him? Carla made herself slow down, maybe he wasn't even thinking along those lines. 

"What do you want from me?" she asked.

"I want you and Ian with me as you should have been. I want you as my mate and I very badly want to make love with you. What is it that you want?" Kane asked.

"I don't know." Carla said.

"You are a horrible liar, even without the benefit of our bond I would have been able to tell, so lets try again; Carla, what do you want?" Kane asked.

Carla hesitated trying to gather her thoughts.

"I want to know that no matter what happens that Ian will always be cared for."

"I can promise you that but you know that isn't what I meant, what do you want from me?"

"I don't know that I want anything from you." she replied.

Kane growled in frustration.

"Carla, why are you still fighting this? I can tell you from personal experience that it's pointless and will only lead to frustration but I will let it rest for now."

Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive back each lost in their own thoughts, Kane's on how to get her into bed and hers on how to stay out of it. The moment that she had the thought she recognized it as an admission, she also knew it was just a matter of time before she ended up there.

Kane weighed his options, taking her by force was out of the question; he knew of those who did but it was a practice that he abhorred, compulsion was out because it didn't work on her and if he did that he might as well do the first option, he wanted her willing. He could wait her out but given her stubborn nature she could convince herself to hold out until she couldn't anymore, that left one thing; seduction. He wondered where her sweet spots were and looked forward to finding them. 

"We're back early enough, we could call and see if Ian wants to come home" Carla said as she unlocked the door.

Kane wasn't fooled and called her on it.

"Who's using Ian now?" he asked as he reached around her, opened the door and brushed his hand against hers.

"You're nervous again, why?" 

"Nothing, you're kind of standing to close." she replied.

"Are you sure that's it? I was much closer than this when I kissed you, which by the way; I thoroughly enjoyed. Is there any chance of a repeat?"

Carla felt hot.

"I need a drink, how about you?" she asked walking quickly to the kitchen.

"No, its not a drink that I need." Kane said as he stood behind her. He bent down and nibbled an earlobe, all she would have to say is stop and he would. He heard her gasp as he continued to nibble before taking the lobe into his mouth and sucking it gently.

"Kane?"

"Tell me to stop and I will." he said after releasing her lobe and blowing a warm breath on it making her shiver.

"You taste sweet." he said as he kissed a trail from her ear down to her neck.

Carla jumped and then moaned.

Kane pulled her back against him, he was hard and wanted her to feel it.

"Do you feel that? It's for you and you alone. I am yours as you are mine, tell me that you don't want me, tell me that you don't want this. Say it and I'll stop right now and I won't touch you again until you tell me otherwise."

"But..." Carla started to say.

"But what? " Kane asked as his hands rubbed over her hips and down her thighs, "tell me" he urged.

"What if...."

"I won't, not ever. Carla, do you want this?" he asked as his hands slid slowly under her dress caressing her stomach but avoiding her crotch.




Kane Ch. 04



Carla felt as if she was drowning, it had been far too long since she had been touched. Truth be told, she hadn't wanted to be touched since that night.

"Carla, do you want me to stop?" Kane asked as his fingertips drew obscure designs on her stomach and began to inch lower.

"No." she whispered.

"Do you love me?" Kane asked and kissed her neck.

"I.... yes" 

Kane turned her around so that she faced him and kissed her. Without a word he picked her up causing her to yelp.

"I've got you, I will always have you."

Carla wrapped her arms around Kane's neck and held on as he carried her upstairs to her room. Maybe it was the stress of the past few days or maybe even the past five years but she began to cry as Kane laid her on the bed. He started at her feet, taking her shoes off and massaging his way up her legs until he was lying next to her. He pulled her into his arms and held her she cried making no move to shush her, he murmured soothing words in her ear. 

As Kane held her, Carla felt an intense feeling of relief; she didn't have to be strong by herself anymore. Kane would help her in a way that Dina and Mary never could and it wasn't that they didn't try and part of it was that she wouldn't let them. Finally the tears were done; Kane helped her out of bed; led her to the bathroom and helped her strip.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Loving you" He replied, now relax and trust me."

Kane turned on the shower and helped Carla in getting in after her. He shushed her when she wanted to wash herself.

"Let me do this for you." he murmured into her ear.

By the end of the shower, Carla was totally relaxed. Kane dried her off and led her back to bed.

"You are very beautiful." he said as he massaged her with the lavender scented lotion that she kept at her bedside.

The massage over, he began his seduction again; he didn't ask her again if she was willing, her soft moans as he skimmed his fingertips over her back told him that she was. He ignored the throb of his erection as he tended to Carla, her care and pleasure would always come first.

"Turn over." he said gently, "I want to look at you"

Carla was a little self conscious but did as he asked. Carla's breath hitched when she saw Kane nude for the first time since that night, his hair was longer but just as blond and hung loose creating a drape over them as he bent over her and kissed her. 

Carla touched his face with shaking hands, the warmth that she felt when Kane kissed her in the ally returned but with greater intensity. Her skin began to tingle as his lips left her mouth and began a slow journey down her body stopping at her chest and nipples along the way. Carla clung to as much of him as she could as he moved away from her.

Kane wanted to speed things up but forced himself to slow down; he wanted her to have no doubts about his feelings for her. He could hear her calling for him but he continued his mission, when he got to her mound, he stopped and placed his cheek against it relishing the feel of her coarse pubic hair against his skin. He lay there for several minutes giving Carla a chance to calm before he gave her the first orgasm of their life together.

"Kane?" Carla called as she felt him move between her legs and spread them open. She moaned when she felt his warm, wet tongue slide between her vaginal folds. Kane teased her swollen nub without mercy, bringing her to the edge and then backing off until she came with a scream.

Afterwards, he held her and talked her through the aftershocks of the orgasm, after Carla calmed, she reached for Kane wanting to return the favor. She was surprised when he refused.

"Tonight was and is for you, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to return the favor." He told her.

"Is this some kind of martyr complex or something?" Carla asked.

"No, it's what I wanted to do for you."

"But that's not fair to you." she protested, "what's really going on?" Carla asked as she sat up no longer self conscious about her body.

Kane hesitated.

"We haven't discussed children, I didn't know if you wanted more and I didn't want to take the chance of you getting pregnant if you didn't want to be."

"Now you're worried about me getting pregnant? You sense of timing royally sucks do you know that?"

Kane chuckled.

"I've been told that. So what about it? Children I mean."

Carla didn't answer but began to kiss him as she stroked his erection. Kane's hips thrust up into her hand, the friction eliciting a low moan from him. Carla left his lips and kissed his chin, then his neck stopping at his nipples.

"Carla..."

Carla ignored him as she straddled his hips, the tip of his erection at her entrance. Carla moved back until the head was just inside of her.

"Jesus Carla!" Kane called out as she slowly pushed back until he was completely buried inside of her. Carla began to rock back and forth and then side to side. Kane tried to hold back but he was already primed. He felt the telltale sign of his approaching orgasm, his balls tightened and pulled up against him and began to pulse as his seed traveled up his shaft and exited deep inside of Carla, he held her down as he thrust his hips up toward her moaning as he released into her. 

Carla collapsed against Kane's chest trying to catch her breath. When she went to move from him, he stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

"Nowhere, I was just going to lie down next to you."

"I like you exactly where you are." Kane said kissing her head.

"I'm too heavy to stay here." Carla replied.

"Please, stay where you are, I like the feel of you."

Carla shrugged and stayed put and was asleep a few minutes later. When she woke, she was tucked in and Kane was gone. She could smell coffee brewing, she looked over at the clock and frowned; two? She had never slept this late before; it wouldn't be too long before they had to pick up Ian.

Kane came into the room carrying a tray with coffee and toast.

"Good afternoon." he said as he sat the tray down and kissed her.

"Hi, why'd you let me sleep so late?" she asked as she accepted a cup of coffee.

"You needed it and I saw no reason to wake you." Kane replied.

"You wouldn't have known this but whenever Ian spends the night at Dina's I try to get as much work done as I can, there's always a blow by blow description of his time there, so be prepared."

Kane laughed.

"He's an extraordinary boy and we really should get him tested. Why the fascination with the universe?" Kane asked.

"I don't know but he's always had it." Carla replied. 

Kane took her coffee cup from her and moved the tray.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" 

"I'll get you more when we're done." Kane replied as he pushed her back on the bed.

An hour later they were showered and dressed. 

"I'm going to get Ian, I'll be back." Carla said reaching for her purse.

"If you wait an hour, I can go with you." Kane said.

"I don't think that's a good idea...."

"Carla, we are a family now and we need to start acting like one. People are going to talk initially but they'll move on when something more exciting than us being together comes along. Now call Dina and see if Ian can stay for another hour."

Ian practically flew out of the house when he saw Carla's car, his eyes widened when he saw that Kane was with her.

"Daddy!" he yelled as he ran toward them. 

"Hey kiddo!" Kane said as he lifted Ian up in the air to his delight.

Josie stood in the doorway open mouthed with Dina standing next to her.

"Who is that?" Josie asked.

"I'll let Carla tell you." Dina replied.

Carla, Kane and Ian walked back toward the house. Carla took a deep breath as she got ready to introduce Kane for the first time.

"Kane, this is Josie, Dina's mother and Ian's adopted grandmother. Josie, this is Kane Brenin Ian's father and my...." Carla floundered, she hadn't thought about a label for what they were. Kane came to the rescue.

"It's very nice to finally meet you, thank you for helping Carla during my absence. Dina, it's a pleasure to see you again."

Josie looked Kane up and down with narrowed eyes.

"What are your intentions?" Josie demanded.

Kane smiled, he liked the feisty older woman.

"I'd like to marry her if she'd have me."

"Say yes mama!" Ian encouraged.

"I'm not saying anything." Carla replied. She hated being blindsided almost as much as she hated being manipulated.

"So you love her then?" Josie asked, "Because I won't have her hurt like she was before."

"Yes ma'am I love her." Kane replied.

"Carla, do you love him too?" Josie asked.

"Josie..."

"Answer the question." Josie said interrupting her.

"Yes but..."

"Good, that's all I need to know."

Two months later: 

"Ian are you ready to do this?" Kane asked.

"Ready." Ian replied.

"Alright, go; she's in the kitchen."

Carla was in the freezer taking out bags of blood to put in the fridge when Ian found her.

"Mama? Can we go out to dinner tonight?"

"I don't know Ian; I thought that we might make something here." Carla replied.

In truth, she loved cooking in the kitchen that was three times the size of the one at her other house, it had about every appliance known to man and a few that weren't.

"Please mama? Daddy wants to go out too."

"I see. Daddy's too chicken to ask himself so he sends in the cute little boy."

Ian didn't say anything; he stood with his hands behind his back with his fingers crossed. Kane came in, tousled Ian's hair and kissed Carla.

"So are we going?" he asked.

"Where is it that you want to go so badly?" Carla asked.

"There's a new place downtown and I know the owner, I was hoping to check it out tonight and its child friendly." Kane replied, not adding that it was just for the night.

Carla looked at Ian and then at Kane, they were in cahoots.

"Alright...."

"Great! Can you wear that red dress, you know the one that I... you know the one." he said remembering that Ian was in the kitchen with them.

"I guess. What are you two up to?"

"Just some dinner and music is all. Can you be ready in an hour?"

"Yes but where are we going?"

As Carla put on the requested red dress, she wondered what was going on. Ian while precocious wasn't sneaky and tonight he was being just that. When she came downstairs, Kane whistled and Ian grinned.

"Mama you look beautiful!"

"You sure do." Kane agreed.

Both Ian and Kane were dressed in dark colored suits and wore red ties.

"You two look rather handsome yourselves." Carla said as she walked toward them.

Carla looked out of the car window as Kane drove, after awhile she began to recognize landmarks, then with horror she realized where they were going.

"Kane, I don't want to go back there."

Kane held her hand and stroked her knuckles.

"Trust me." he said as he pulled into the almost full parking lot.

George met him at the car and took the keys after helping Carla out of the front seat and then Ian out of the back.

"Carla, this is George the friend that I told you about, George this is my mate Carla and our son Ian."

George gave them a slight bow.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Kane, your table is ready."

Carla looked at the building and cringed then she saw the sign on the door, "Ian's" she turned to Kane.

"You're the owner? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have come if I had?"

"No." she replied.

"I know that I can't change what happened here but I thought that I could try to make a good memory to go along with the bad. Are you ready to go in?"

She really wasn't but she squared her mental shoulders and took Kane's hand and with her free hand took Ian's. There were a few people that she knew, Dina, Josie and a few others, the rest were strangers. Kane led her and Ian to the table and excused himself. Ian she noticed kept looking at the clock.

"Ian? Are you alright? You keep looking at the clock."

"I'm alright." he assured her.

The room got quiet when Kane walked onto the stage.

"Hello and welcome to Ian's! Before we get started just a word about the no alcohol tonight, Ian my son is here so you'll have to use your imaginations for your alcohol. This place and I have a history and not a good one, but something good came out of it too. I met Carla here over five years ago and was a complete and total jackass. Without going into detail, I left her alone and unprotected a fact of which I'm not proud. It took me five years to come to my senses with the help of my friend George and here we are. Since this is a karaoke bar, I'm going to start and later whoever wants to display their talents is welcome to do so."

Kane nodded at the DJ who was the same one from that night five years ago, George had managed to track him down at another karaoke bar. Kane walked off the stage and knelt in front of Carla and began to sing "a one in a million you" the room was hushed as he serenaded her. Carla sat crying as Kane sang to her, when he was through he spoke.

"Carla, I love you and I love Ian. Marry me right here, right now."

There was a tense silence as everyone waited for her response. Kane knew that he was taking a gamble, she really hated surprises, if she said no, there'd still be a party. Time seemed to stop as Carla debated what she wanted to do. For all practical purposes they were already married, she and Ian were already living with him and had been for over a month. 

"Yes."

At first Kane didn't respond; he had really expected her to say no.

"Daddy, she said yes." Ian whispered in his ear.

Kane shook himself, and crushed Carla to him; the room erupted in applause and cheers. 

Once George knew the answer, he snapped his fingers and the stage was turned into a mini chapel complete with a minister. Kane pulled Ian aside.

"You got this?" he asked.

"I got this" Ian confirmed as he fingered the rings in his pocket.

The ceremony was short and to the point which was a good thing as far as Carla was concerned; she was shaking so hard that Kane had to keep hold of her. The party began just after the ceremony; Kane took Carla to his office leaving Ian in the care of Dina and her mother.

"You know that I hate surprises right?" she asked still shaking.

"I know and I promise that there will be no more." Kane replied hugging her close, "I wanted to give you a real kiss, the one out there doesn't count."

When Kane kissed her, Carla felt the same warmth that she felt in the ally. She had done the right thing for both her and Ian.

"We'd better get back out there, this is our party." Kane said taking her hand.

Carla looked around the room trying to spot Ian and found him dancing with Dina's mother and Dina was dancing with someone she had met at the club. After the dance, Josie led Ian over to Kane and Carla.

"You are such a little sneak!" Carla said as he hugged Ian.

"And a very good one at that." Kane added, "You did great! I couldn't have pulled it off without your help."

Ian beamed, the five year old in him showing.

"Kane? A soft voice behind him said.

Kane turned around toward the voice.

"Mother! I'm so glad that you could make it, is father here too?" 

"He's around here somewhere. We are so happy for you and we wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Kane hugged his mother and whispered in her ear.

"I am so sorry for everything."

Fiona hugged him back and kissed his cheek the way she always did when he was forgiven for some infraction no matter how big or small it was.

Carla stood by nervously holding Ian's hand, she had forgotten about the meeting the parents part.

"Mother, this is Carla and the young man and my partner is crime is our son Ian."

Carla smiled shyly not sure of what to call Kane's mother.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Brenin."

"Mrs. Brenin? Oh no dear, you're family so it's Fiona. Welcome to our family and thank you for making Kane a happy man."

Fiona looked down at Ian.

"Aren't you the handsome one? You definitely are your father's son and I am so happy to meet you."

"It is nice to meet you too." Ian replied politely, "can I call you gramma? I already have a mom-mom."

Fiona smiled at him.

"Of course you can, can your gramma give you a hug?"

Without hesitation Ian went to Fiona and gave her a hug. Fiona looked at Carla and opened her arms. After the briefest of hesitations, Carla hugged Fiona. Just then Kane's father and brother walked up. 

"Good lord!" Carla thought as introductions were made, they were just as big as Kane was. Ian was immediately drawn to his Uncle Marcus which was no surprise to Kane; Marcus had been just like Ian as a child and was still the most intelligent person he knew aside from Ian.

The party lasted until morning but Kane, Carla and a very tired Ian were gone before two am. They would be leaving for their family honeymoon that evening. They were starting out in Disneyland for Ian, then a week in Washington DC and ending in Hawaii for as long as they cared to stay. Ian reacted to the news about Disneyland as any five year old would. Carla was just as pleased by the trip but had a little surprise of her own to spring. Kane was going to be a father again.