Chapter five

Mackenzie

A few days have passed since Anita reunited with her parents and finding out the truth about why they gave her away. It was their was of protecting her. They didn't know she'd be put through what she had to live through. It's also been as many days since my last vampire and I'm feeling drained again.

I've been avoiding Anita because last time I was lucky not to hurt her. I just finished a shower after a long excruciating night of patrolling and no blood for nearly a week. I'm about to climb in bed when an unexpected knock is at my front door. I numbly walk over, struggling to open it.

Bright light from the sun blinds me and I hiss as I shield my eyes. The familiar, intoxicating fragrance fills my nose as delegate hands caress my face. She gently pushes me in and enters, closing the door. "Oh my God, Mack," she chokes with worry.

"You shouldn't be here, the urge for blood is strong," I strain in a whisper as I fight the urge to sink my teeth in her flesh.

"If I'm going to become immortal so I can be with you, you need to be there Mackenzie," she says in a wavering whisper as tears roll down her cheeks.

The door opens and her parents let themselves in. The smell of fresh warm blood fills my nose and I snap my attention to Charlie. Her face turns pale as I feel the shift to my vampire form and a pair of hands turn my face away. "That's the bloodlust talking Mackenzie, you're in control, not the blood," Anita says in a soothing whisper, using the same words my mother did when I first started changing.

I close my eyes, letting out a calming breath. I feel as I shift back and look at her with tears in my eyes. "You really shouldn't be here. If I lose control...," I say in a wavering whisper.

"I trust you Mack, this is the second time I've been able to calm you down from the bloodlust," Anita says in a soothing whisper, wiping my eyes.

I clench my hands in tight fists as I can still smell the blood. I look over at Charlie and she's holding a paper bag with a butcher's logo on it. "You can't walk up to a blood thirsty vampire with fresh blood exposed. I didn't notice the bag before, I thought you were bleeding," I say quietly and she nods vigorously. I point to the bag and ask, "Is that pigs blood?"

"Yes," she says and places the bag on the table in front of me. "Is it okay?"

"It is, thank you," I say quietly and take the pint out of the bag.

I gulp it down like I've been stranded in the desert. Anita gingerly wipes my mouth with a wet cloth and confusion sits uneasy in my mind. "How did you know," I ask quietly and she looks at me confused. "How did you know I needed blood?"

She smiles sweetly and says in a soothing whisper, "Since we met you've been walking me home. When I didn't see you this week, I thought it was because you needed it like last time."

"Thank you," I say quietly, feeling tired.

"Let's get you to bed," Anita says in a soothing tone, guiding me to my room.

She's only been here once since we met and spent the night. She sits against my headboard and I lay between her legs with my head on her stomach. I hug to her thigh and she plays with my raven curly locks. Her parents enter the doorway as my eyes fall closed for sleep. "We'll start dinner while she naps," Chelsea says in a soothing whisper and moments later I hear the door close.

Anita

With Mackenzie laying with her head on my stomach, it made me think of the possibility of a baby forming inside me. I'd forgotten about the antibiotics and prayed she'd understand if I ended up getting pregnant because of my mistake. Its only been a few days so it won't be for a while before we find out.

Questions were drowning my thoughts, but there were too many to decipher one at a time. It was almost like I was trying to keep up with a hundred conversations at once and couldn't keep up with any of them. They made my head spin and I close my eyes.

I'm not sure how much time passes but I'm woken by light shaking of my shoulder. I try to move, but I'm still pinned under Mackenzie. She had scooted further up my body, her head on my chest and her arms wrapped around my waist, between my legs. Tears fill my eyes as the last thoughts before I fell asleep run through my head again. "Sweetheart," my mother asks with concern.

"Just thinking about the possibility of there being a baby forming inside me. She was hesitant, how could I be so irresponsible about the antibiotics," I choke with disappointment in myself. "What if she gets mad when she finds out?"

She lifts her head from my chest and my heart pounds in my chest. Did she hear what I said? In one swift move she was sitting against the headboard with me straddling her lap. "When did you come to realize you were taking antibiotics," she asks in a soft whisper, calmly looking in my eyes.

"After you told me I reminded you of your mother and you fell asleep," I say in a wavering whisper as tears roll down my cheeks.

She palms my stomach under my shirt and I let out a calming breath. Tears fill her eyes and smiles lightly. "My mother used to nag me about grandchildren after I had my first change. It was her way of grounding me to my humanity," she says in a wavering whisper and lets out a calming breath. "Are you still taking the birth control?"

"Yes," I say quietly.

She shakes her head and says in a soothing whisper, "Stop taking it. We'll find out if I'm capable of getting you pregnant and go from there."

I nod vigorously and she takes me in her arms. I let out a calming breath and look at my parents standing in the doorway of her room. "Told you," my father says in a soothing tone. "She may be before my time, but I recognize myself in Mackenzie. I was the same way when your mother told me she was pregnant with you."

"I was raised by a noble woman, there was no room for disrespect. Yes, I may be acknowledged as a woman, but with my male genitals, she raised me to be a gentlewoman, to respect women. Anita is just the first to capture my attention," she says in a soothing whisper as she rubs my back in comfort. "If Anita does end up getting pregnant then I will step up and take my part of responsibility."

Mackenzie

The next morning we went to the clinic and I have them my specimen in a sterilized cup. I felt my cheeks burn under the intense gaze of the female tech who would be running a test of my sperm count. Her gaze lowers to my slightly erect bulge in my pants and bites her bottom lip. Anita is suddenly next to me, turning my face into a possessive kiss.

The tech scoffs and starts running her tests. Anita brings me to the waiting area and sits across my lap. Her parents chuckle at how possessive she's acting, holding my head to her chest. I hug my arms around her waist and hide my face in her neck.

"Mack," Anita asks in a concerned whisper as my tears roll down her skin.

"I'm three hundred eighteen years old, half human half vampire. What if I can't...," I break into uncontrolled sobs.

Anita gingerly pulls my face from her neck as her own tears roll down her cheeks and gives me loving eyes. "It changes nothing between us," she says in a wavering whisper and gives me a chaste kiss.

We sat in silence as we waited for the results. I let my hand rest on her bare stomach and she plays with my hair and we kept each other calm during the wait. After what seemed like forever a different tech and doctor walks up to us. "Are either of you Mackenzie Kingsley," the tech asks in a serious tone.

"I am," I say in an uncertain tone, wondering what has them looking at me weird.

"Can we talk in my office privately," the doctor asks in a curious tone.

Anita lets me up and I start to follow before I realize she's not following me. I look back at her with pleading eyes and she takes my hand. Her contact is instantly calming and I let out a relieved breath. The other two women waiting for me smile lightly and starts guiding us to a private office. Anita and I take seats and I keep an iron grip on her hand.

"Mack, my fingers," she winces and I let her go.

"I'm sorry," I say quietly and she takes my hand in her lap, trailing her finger in my palm.

"One of the reasons we're talking in private is because one of my techs was trying to steal your sperm," the doctor says in sympathy. "She was fired before she could do anything with it."

"What's the other reason," I ask getting nervous.

"Are you the Dhampir," she asks curious and I nod lightly. She looks to Anita and asks, "Is there a chance you could be pregnant?"

"Mackenzie is fertile," she asks gripping my hand, scared and the doctor nods. "Then yes, it's a possibility. It's why we're here."

"We've studied vampire specimen, but never seen anything like yours," the tech says amazed. "If she is pregnant, the baby will be immortal, rather as a human or a vampire."

"What about the mother? Mine was lucky to live passed delivery," I choke quietly and Anita starts freaking out, taking my face in her hands.

"Breathe Mackenzie," she chokes in a soothing whisper, climbing in my lap.

Anita

Every time her mother is mentioned, she shifts into her vampire form. Her mother is a major trigger and I don't want to find out what could happen if I can't get her calmed down. The two women huddle in a corner of the room, afraid to move. She wasn't calming down and I didn't know what to do.

Her hands slip inside my shirt and then it hits me. I'm her new trigger. She's scared for me mothering her child because her's almost died giving birth. "Medical training has advanced since 1704 Mack. There are instruments that help mothers monitor the pregnancy and there's medicine for pain during childbirth. I'll be okay," I say in a soothing whisper and she looks in my eyes.

"You're not carrying a human child Anita," she chokes in a scared whisper, her crimson red eyes brimming with unshed tears. "The villagers in this town years ago were right after she was killed. I'm the monster monsters run from."

"Be the monster monsters run from, then they won't bother me while I carry your child," I say in a soothing whisper, wiping her eyes and she shifts back. I give her a kiss and say with a light smile, "You're my sexy monster."

She lets out laughing sobs and I hold her head to my chest. She breathes in my perfume and she lets out a calming breath. "Now we wait," I say quietly and kiss her forehead.

"What are we," she asks in a choked whisper, scrunching her hands at my shirt.

"I already consider you my girlfriend," I say in a soothing whisper and her arms relaxed around me. Tears fill my eyes and choke quietly, "I only want you Mackenzie Kingsley, no one else."