Noah had fallen asleep in the taxi on the way to the hotel; he was slumped over across Julianna's lap, the woman's fingers going through his short curls soothingly. The cab smelt of old cigarettes with a faint smell of toxic cleaners that had been used to try and mask other smells. Wolfgang watched the two, he admired the way Julia had accepted the boy as if he were her own and he couldn't help but wonder if they had made the right choice adding the complications of another child to the mix. He felt selfish in a sense, he had only just managed to get Noah back and within a few months the boy would have to deal with welcoming a new brother or sister to the world, though Wolf was sure it was the former. Noah wouldn't be an only child anymore, and he would have to share his father’s attention and that of his stepmother.
"Come back to me," Julianna smiled, her left hand raised so that her fingers could caress Wolf's jaw.
The male had been far away, thinking of his troubles which paled in comparison to that of the worlds. He now paid his full attention to his new wife and returned the smile she had offered with one of his own. "I'm right here," he assured her as the taxi pulled in to stop in front of the hotel lobby.
They wouldn’t be staying at Hotel West, too many people would expect that, they would go looking for him if he stayed there and he would never get a moments peace. No, if he was to meet up with anyone, it would be on his terms this time. The hotel they were staying at was situated east of Hotel West, but far enough away that no one would pick up on his trail if he took the right steps to conceal his tracks. Julianna looked confused. "Why aren't we going to the Tower?"
"I thought you would feel more comfortable here with your own space."
"I would feel more comfortable in your home," the woman insisted as Noah stirred.
Wolfgang undid his seat belt before unbuckling Noah and scooped the boy up in his arms. He turned carefully and stepped out of the cab without saying another word to his wife. The man was complicated to say the least, not rude, though his demeanour could easily have him mistaken as someone who cared very little of others opinions; but the fact was, he knew they would all be a lot safer here.
Julianna sat in the back of the taxi for a moment, probably hoping Wolfgang would change his mind and give into her like he tended to when he knew her opinions were a lot stronger than his own, but he felt his new family was safer here away from the nest of Vampires occupying West Towers and many of the surrounding buildings. She paid the taxi driver for the fare and stepped out of the cab to follow her new family into the hotel lobby.
A man from the hotel hurried out to collect their baggage from the boot of the car and carried it into the lobby which was large, pale and decked out with a lot of fake gold and crystal which Wolfgang had refused to allow during the design staged of his building. When Julianna stepped into the lobby she saw Wolfgang standing at the front desk talking with the clerk. She went over to stand by his side and smiled politely at the woman behind the counter who wore a name tag that looked new and read ‘Kelly’. "The penthouse is four thousand a night or we can downgrade you to one of our luxury suites on one of the lower floors."
"The penthouse is fine, how long can we book that for?" Wolf asked.
"It is free until next weekend where it has been booked out overnight for a twenty-first party," Jelly informed him, her painted red lips turned up in a hopeful smile, like a car salesmen who was just about to earn his big fat cut for the week.
Julianna's pencil lined eyes went wide as she did the maths in her head, four thousand a night for the next week?
"Would you do me a favour?" Wolf asked the woman, flashing her one of his 'you know you can't say no to me' smiles, and of course, it worked just as it did every time.
"I'll do my best," the clerk offered.
"I'm going to need the penthouse for the next three weeks. If you could phone the people who have booked it out and tell them I will pay for them to have their party in any other hotel, anywhere in the world if they will give up their booking, do you think you could arrange that?"
The woman's eyes went wide, almost doubling in size just as Julianna's had done moments ago and were again now. "Anywhere in the world?" Three weeks! Kelly was just about having kittens behind the desk. “Of course I’ll do my best for you.”
"Yes, I'll pay for the flights, accommodation and transfers."
"It's a party of eight," Kelly informed the man in front of her as if she’d best not overlook that and mistakenly undo all her
hard work.
"That's fine," Wolfgang said with a nod.
"Alright sir, I will get onto that first thing in the morning," the woman said as she scribbled down a reminder on the notepad in front of her, not that it was something she would forget for a long time as Wolfgang seemed to have just made her Christmas three times over. She handed over the key card then and some of the paperwork for Wolfgang to fill out at a more reasonable hour. "Jason will take your bags up to the room in a moment, the elevator is just down the hall to your right, and this key card will allow you to go past the twentieth floor."
"Thank you," the two of them, Julianna and Wolfgang, said before heading down to short hall to the elevator.
- - -
Julianna raced to the toilet once they were inside the penthouse and Wolfgang put Noah down on the super king sized bed. They were in Harper Rock now and it would be difficult if not impossible for the man to step away from his son's side. Death followed him wherever he went, licking at his heels, never quite able to offer the final clutch of its claws.
The padding of bare feet could be heard coming down the marble floors of the hall and Julianna stepped into the bedroom in nothing but a small white robe. He much darker flesh made the robe almost glow in the dim light and her black hair fell in loose curls to the small of her back. "Not wasting any time then?" Wolfgang chuckled.
"No," Julia smiled, wrapping her arms around his neck so that the man's head was buried between her breasts. "I'm drawing a bath, will you join me?"
Wolfgang closed his eyes and breathed in the woman’s delicious scent of lavender and listened to the water that raced from the tap down the hall. He could already feel the warm water on his icy skin and thought the idea of a bath sounded wonderful after the journey they had just undertaken. Wolfgang put his arms around the woman and kissed the bare skin in the V in her robe. "I don't want to leave Noah alone," he admitted, pulling away slowly to look at the boy.
"He's safe up here, you heard the woman on the front desk, no one can get up to this floor without a key card."
Just then came a knock at the door which made the two of them jump. Wolfgang stood up and called out, "Who is it?"
"Jason." Came a swift reply, "I have your bags here."
It was the man who had met Julianna outside, the one who had collected their bags from the trunk to bring up to the room. Wolfgang had completely forgotten about them. Julianna noticed Wolf visibly relax and she ran her hand up and down his left arm which felt tight. "I won't be long," she smiled up at him and kissed his jaw before padding down the hall again.
Wolfgang went to the front door and helped Jason unload the bags before waving him out. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Jason asked, the smile on his face seeming to say he was more than happy to do so.
"No," Wolfgang said swiftly before piping up again, "Oh wait... There is one thing."
"Yes sir?"
"Make sure no one comes up here including cleaning staff. I will inform the front desk if we need the place cleaned up. If anyone comes to the desk asking for us, give them this number and tell them to call me instead."
Jason nodded and took the man's business card. "I will see to it that the three of you aren't disturbed," he smiled warmly before pulling the door closed behind him to disappear back to the ground floor.
Wolfgang returned to the bedroom quickly to check on Noah. A sigh of relief escaped his lips to find that the boy was still there and fast asleep. He slowly edged the covers from under the boy and sat on the edge of the bed, working the boy’s shoes off, leaving the warm socks on to keep his toes nice and toasty. He pulled the blacks up over Noah then and just watched him breathe, like a new mum making sure her new-born baby, that hardly seemed real, was still alive and well.
- - -
Julianna sat in the large spa-style bathtub with her long dark hair tied up in a messy bun. She looked down into the murky water past her swollen breasts to her growing stomach where her hands sat nestled against the slight bump. The woman had fantasised about having her own child ever since she was a small girl still playing with plastic dolls. She couldn't have imagined that her life would have turned out like this though, married to a handsome man who seemed to have lived out his dreams and now did all he could to make sure hers came true. A small part of her felt as if she hadn't done enough to deserve all she had now.
She looked at the simple gold wedding band on her finger set against the most outstanding engagement ring she had ever set eyes on; the diamond was truly something to marvel at, almost as big as the fingernail on her pinkie finger only round and nestled between two evenly enviable stones. She wouldn't even wager a guess at how valuable it was or how much it had cost the man; all she knew was it felt heavy but at the same time suitable on her finger.
Yes, everything between them seemed as perfect as the diamonds she wore, but something felt wrong... Perhaps it was the nagging feeling at the back of her mind that kept telling her something was amiss when it came to the protective nature so easily recognisable between father and son. Wolf rarely left the boy’s side and when he did it was never for long. More recently he had even insisted that the two of them share the bed with Noah, which for any newlywed couple should seem strange, but even more so now that everyone had stopped asking questions. The man that had taken over Noah's case now only wished to see them every three months and had even stopped calling every other week to make sure they were well reminded. Nothing was looming over them anymore, so why was Wolfgang still so... Paranoid and on edge all of the time, especially now that they were in Harper Rock?
Just then he came into the room in nothing but a towel and all her thoughts and concerns fell away as if they had never been. "You decided to join me after all?" Julianna smiled.
The tall male knelt down at the edge of the bath and Julianna moved closer to press her cheek into the hand he had raised to greet her affectionately with. She kissed over his palm, accustomed to the deathly chill of his flesh, a coldness she had put down to poor circulation. He mashed his lips against her own, eyes closed as souls entwined and reality was shattered by the divinity of their union.
As Wolfgang removed his towel and sat down in the tub Julianna wasted no time in moving to straddle him, stealing away and losing herself in these few precious moments they could spend together; alone. His arms went around her and the warm water crashed against her back like a wave upon the shore. It seemed unnatural that someone so dead could make another feel so alive.
- - -
Wolfgang could feel how conscious Julianna was of Noah even as she slept, a mother experiencing a heightened awareness of self and the world around her, afraid to crush the small life beside her in the bed as she slept. Of course, it kept the two of them from lying side by side, but it also meant that his coldness would not chill her to the bone on this cold winters night.
Wolfgang couldn't remember the last time he had slept, not that he needed to, but it seemed to help. He knew as long as they were inside Harper Rock sleep would not come easy, and in fact, he would do all he could to fight it off. He smiled; comforted by the slow, rhythmic beating of Noah and Julianna's hearts and the tiny almost inaudible pumping of the small being that grew inside his wife's womb. This, a sound that had once caused a burning hunger in his throat, now relaxed him and silently whispered all was okay. He hadn't imagined that the IVF treatment could have ever been as successful as quickly as theirs was and he felt truly blessed in the knowledge that Julianna would have everything she wanted in the child. The wait and anticipation to meet the him or her came with added hesitation of being responsible to another life, as if two wasn't enough already.
Before dawn there would be a lot to think about, his family both in this room and outside of it, the family that wasn't related by blood but a connection nature need never accept nor understand. He also had to consider whether Harper Rock was the place to raise a family, it seemed enough people were doing it, but those people didn't quite understand the dangers like he did and more than likely they weren't as dangerous as he himself could be. Julianna wanted to live here, to raise a family here and if the man thought about it he knew he could long for the same kind of thing, though it seemed wrong on more levels than one. If anything happened to either of them he would be responsible, and maybe if she knew, she would feel differently too. Moments of deep reflection always came back to the single question he was too afraid to answer... Should he tell her?
- - -
Noah put his hand on Julianna's shoulder and shook her lightly. "Breakfast time," he smiled, a row of small white teeth on display to the woman's sleepy olive eyes.
"Mmm," the woman grinned, turning onto her back in the covers as she pulled Noah into her arms. "What has daddy cooked for us today?"
"French toast!" Noah exclaimed excitedly.
"With bacon?" Julia asked.
"Of course!" Came a deep voice from down the hall. Both Noah and Julianna looked to the door before smiling at one another and the boy wriggled out of the woman's grasp to run down into the kitchen.
"No running inside," Wolfgang called to his son and Noah quickly took to tiptoeing.
By the time Julianna was dressed the boys were already tucking into their breakfast. She walked into the room in a pair of white jeans and a fluffy caramel coloured jacket that was lined with fur. On her feet she wore a pair of boot-style slippers with a couple of woollen pom-poms hanging from pleated strings on either side. Wolfgang seemed to loathe them which excited the woman in a strange kind of way. "If you slip over in those remind me to say I told you so," Wolf objected and Noah smiled.
He watched his son mash the cooked banana with a fork before shovelling some of the lumpy soup into his mouth. "I cut up some berries for you," Wolf said to Julia who had found her bowl of cereal and assortment of fruit on the bench.
She poured some low fat milk into the mixed and took a blueberry between finger and thumb before popping it into her mouth. "Thank you," she offered, "Though I do envy the two of you eating all of that bacon."
"You can have some of my bacon," Noah said, holding up his fork with a strip of chewed bacon.
"That's okay, sweet-heart," Julianna giggled. "I do love my cereal."
Wolfgang shared a look with the woman who rolled her eyes playfully before sitting down at the table with them both. "What's the plan for today?" She chirped before putting her hand to her head and wincing softly.
Wolfgang hadn’t seemed to have noticed the wince and pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his suit pants. "I made a list," he smiled, knowing Julianna was the one who usually organised all of his business and today decided that he would save her the trouble.
"Isn't that my job?"
"Used to be," Wolf laughed.
Julianna unfolded the small list and gazed down over the items slowly. Wolfgang had meetings penned in from nine till half two when he planned to meet up with them both for a late lunch. Noah and herself on the other hand had very little plans, though she wanted to make best of the season and time of year. "I was thinking of doing a bit of Christmas shopping," Julianna admitted. "Noah and I could go to the mall and line up to see Santa."
Noah's face lit up at the old fat man’s name being mentioned. "Can Daddy come?" He asked, blue eyes wide, a mop of blonde curls scratched away from his eyes quickly.
"Yes he will come see Santa with us after his meetings, dear." Julianna reassured him, but the boy unsure, turned to his father to know that this indeed would be so. He was assured by a gentle nod of the tall man's head.
"Of course I will," Wolfgang smiled and kissed the boy up top his head. "You take care of Julia for me won't you?"
"Yes," Noah smiled.
Wolfgang put his bowl down in the sink and went to his wife, his hands set on her arms; he lent down and whispered in her ear. "Fred and Wesley will be accompanying you both today."
Julianna nodded. She knew Fred, he had worked for Wolf for a very long time, but his partner Wesley was a name she hadn't heard before. Both were very talented bodyguards, one had once work to protect the president of the United States and the other had been a part of a military group in charge of top officials, not that Julianna really knew what that meant. It sounded important enough and she would feel comfortable shopping with the two of them looming about. "When will they be arriving?" Julianna asked.
"They are already here," Wolf smiled and buzzed the two of them in.
Fred was a tall man with a huge chest and arms that looked strong enough to strangle a full grown male rhino. He had dark brown hair which looked almost black, the same colour as his thick, yet well-trimmed bread. He was wearing a black suit with a blue tie, the exact same as Wesley who had bright blonde hair that didn't look natural and squinty blue eyes. Both men were Russian but to hear them speak one might struggle to tell, fluent in English and French, they had no trouble blending. There was a black tattooed snake head poking out the top of Fred's collar which led one to start guessing as to how many other tattoos lay hidden beneath his clothes. Wesley didn't have any visible markings other than an old scar across his left brow, but he wore lots of gold from his watch and rings to the chain around his neck.
Julianna smiled politely at the men as they came through the door. Fred went straight to Wolf and the two started going over the plan for the day while Wesley stood at the door. "What happens if..." Julia heard Fred say though she found it hard to tell what he was saying from where she stood. Sometimes when it came to these kinds of arrangements she thought it was better not to know.
"Come on Noah, let’s get you dressed. Oh, and Wesley?” She smiled as the blonde man looked up and across the room to stare at her. “Please remove any gold you’re wearing. This city is known for its gangsta problems and I would hate for you to attract any unwanted attention while in my presence.”
“Yes ma’am,” the man replied as the two of them, Julianna and Noah, disappeared into another room while Wolfgang briefed Fred. "Never out of your sight," Wolf told them both. "If the security at the mall feel uncomfortable with you entering the building with firearms show them these."
He presented the men with security identification cards from a firm one of his associates ran, that associate being Lyonel West who had started up his own private security service. "If anything
odd happens," he stressed the word odd knowing all too well that Fred knew exactly what he was referring to, "Call this number and I will be there within minutes, even if I don’t pick up, just let it ring and I’ll know."
Fred nodded slowly. "Don't worry, Boss, nothing will happen on my watch."
Wolf smiled, he had trusted Fred with his life on more than once occasion and now he was entrusting him with the lives of his Wife and Son; he felt assured that they were in safe and competent hands. "I know," Wolf finally said.
Noah appeared dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, high sneakers and a designer jacket that looked a size too big for him. "I thought we were wrapping that up for Christmas?" He said to Julianna when she came into the room.
He he scooped Noah up in his arms and tickled the boy’s sides so that he wriggled like a stuck pig.
"It's cold out," Julianna fussed. "I don't want him catching a cold."
Wolfgang kissed Noah and then handed him over to Julianna. "Have fun you two," he smiled, pressing a tender kiss to Julia's cheek, one she returned to his lips.
"We will."
With that they all left, leaving Wolfgang to lock up.
- - -
"Gentlemen," Wolf smiled, shaking the hand of one of his biggest clients, a Victor Canning originally from New York, now ready to settle down in Honeymead after being introduced to the area by one Cedric Voss, Wolfgang West's alter ego. They were meeting in one of the conference rooms found within West Towers near the top floor. The views from this height over the city were stunning and it was easy to see why they all loved it here.
"It's good to see you again," Victor smiled warmly, his old hand shaking that of the younger males. "Last time we met you were telling me about your plans to expand international flights to the area by lowering incoming flights."
He seemed to say this loud enough for the other six men in the room to hear, only two of them known to Wolf himself. Victor and Lenneth, brothers, enterprisers, and specialists in undertaking projects that made them very wealthy. "A pleasure to see you again, Cedric, can Kathleen get you anything to drink?" Lenneth asked.
"No thank you, I'm fine," Wolfgang waved a hand dismissively, "shall we get straight down to business?"
"Always so professional," Victor grinned.
They sat down at the table with Wolfgang sitting at the head, he may have been the youngest of the group but he was also the wealthiest, having made his money in taking the actual risks rather than stashing
old money in shares. They all came from families that had made their money from a time when blacks were slaves and if someone got in your way you could eliminate them, no questions asked, as long as you paid for silence, it would seem as if some people never existed. Old money, Wolfgang really didn't understand what all the hype was about, but he milked the lot of them better than a farmhand could milk a cow.
"You're right, Victor, I do plan to promote the area by making inbound flights more affordable," Wolfgang began, "But it’s not as easy as it sounds, we might need to hold majority shares in another airline to pull it off."
"So let me get this straight, young man," Lenneth interrupted, his silver hair combed over a thinning patch on top of his head. "By lowering the cost of incoming flights, you believe it will make more money how exactly?"
"Don't tell me Cedric is the only one of us keeping an eye on the news this last couple of years... Haven't you seen the headlines? People are flocking from the area." Victor tried to tell his younger brother, his wrinkled old mouth stretched in a sly smile.
"Of course I have but I'm trying to protect our investments, how is lowing the cost of ticket prices going to make us any money, let alone leave any aside for things like maintenance and taxes, employ wages and promotions?" Lenneth inquired.
"Simple," Wolf smirked. "Raise outgoings and keep return flights at the original price."
"Most people that hop from place to place will sit until the price comes down before moving on, only the middle class think ahead generally." Victor added.
"And what's to stop competition from moving in on our patch?"
"Me," Wolfgang deadpanned.
"Have you ever seen anyone move in on this guy’s turf?" Victor jested, watching his brother, a humorous smile spreading his lips. "I love this guy!"
Obviously Lenneth was the more serious of the two and he hadn't worked with Wolfgang before, still not sold on the area. Wolf looked down the table and tried to guess who the other five men were. Most of the time it was fairly easy, the skinny guy tapping away at his calculator was probably the accountant, then there were the two lawyers, pompous looking, over fed guys with no hair and too much money. That must have meant the last two, rather plain looking gentlemen were either friends of the family or investors.
"How much do you need?" Victor asked, getting straight to the point.
"I own forty per cent of the rival airline, you own twenty per cent," Wolfgang suggested.
"Twenty seven per cent," the accountant corrected him.
Wolfgang managed a polite smile. "Twenty seven per cent, sell me twelve and I'll make sure this goes well or I give the shares back for free."
Everyone at the table stopped what they were doing and looked at Wolfgang like he had just told them the world was going to end tomorrow. A part from a few smaller groups who held shares, Wolfgang and Canning Industries held the majority. "And you'll put that in writing?" Lenneth asked.
"Of course he will little brother," Victor scolded before leaning closer to his sibling. "What did I tell you this guy is golden!"
"We will send you the finer details by weeks end," Lenneth said after talking under his breath in response to something Victor had said.
"Excellent," Wolfgang smiled, thinking that had gone far better than he had originally expected it to. He had already made arrangements with two other shareholders to buy them out of their seven per cent share; of course it had cost him the earth but if things didn’t prove to go well, even if he had to hand back Canning’s share he would still hold enough to own the company. Of course, none of the people in this room knew that, not yet, not until it would be too late.
"Tell me," Lenneth piped up. "How did a man so young come into a fortune vast enough to buy twelve per cent of the world's biggest airline?"
"Technically it will be fifty two per cent, Lenny," Victor corrected him.
"Fifty three point nine," his lawyer interrupted.
"My point exactly," Lenneth said shaking his head.
Wolfgang leaned back in the leather chair and stitched his fingers together in his lap. "I came up with an idea that made me a lot of money while I was working as an accountant for a man with more money than sense. I sold the idea which gave me enough to invest in a small chain of hotels, which, as you probably know, is a lot larger now."
Lenneth smiled though a little bitterly, he had never been a man of ideas, had never needed to be, all this money had come from generations of lazy, rich, over pretentious fools just like himself. "A million dollar idea, something every man dreams of."
"Multimillion dollar idea," Wolfgang smirked. He liked to rub it in sometimes.
"Mind sharing with the group?" Victor asked.
"Of course not," Wolfgang offered. "You all know how home loans work?"
The men sat around the table nodded. "Of course," Lenneth said smugly as if he was privy to some insider knowledge no one else in the room knew about.
"Well I simply came up with an idea to reverse them."
That removed the smudge look from Lenneth's face were confusing took pride of place, residing there until Wolfgang chose to explain himself further. "When you get old and want to take care of yourself, live the rest if your life out peacefully or just don't have any family to leave everything to, why not sell your house back to the bank? Of course you won't get back what you paid for it, but you will get enough to keep you comfortable in small monthly payments and have a house to live in until your final journey begins..."
"Genius," Victor laughed. "How old were you?"
Wolfgang shrugged, deciding to leave the explanation where it stood. "Early twenties."
- - -
The shopping mall was busy, everyone rushing to pick up the last few things they needed before Christmas. Anyone would have thought the world was about to end as people pushed, shoved and over indulged to strange extremes. Julianna and Noah weren't hard to find, nestled in the back of a small knick-knack store of which Wesley stood guard while Fred stayed close to the pair Wolf was paying him well to protect.
Wolf tightened his tie and walked into the store, Noah noticed him before Julianna did and ran across the span of the room to the entrance to be hoisted up into the air quickly only to fall into the loving embrace of his father's arms. "Daddy!" Noah chimed, putting his skinny little arms around the Vampire's neck. "I got you a present," the boy smiled, his tiny square teeth, each with a small gap between them, bright under the stores artificial light.
"Can I see?" Wolfgang asked, flashing his son a matching smile, only his teeth were a hell of a lot nicer than that of his sons, who would surely grow into a set of his own given time.
"Noooo," the boy laughed, stretching the word gleefully.
"I got you a present too," Wolf responded, "And guess what?"
"What?"
"You have to wait until Christmas to open it."
Noah chuckled, tucking his head against his father's neck. Julianna finished purchasing a few decorations and then join the pair. She looked hot, even though it was close to freezing outside, her cheeks flushed and her eyes narrowed tiredly. "You okay?" Wolf asked and Noah spun his head around to look at her.
"Fine," she said quickly, "Just feeling a little light headed all of the sudden."
Wolfgang quickly put Noah down and took the shopping bags and parcels from Julianna and dished them out to an already overloaded Fred and Wesley. He wrapped his arm around Julianna and told Fred to call the driver to ask for him to meet them round front with the car. He took Noah's hand in his and made the slow walk to the shopping mall entrance with the pair. "I'm fine," Julianna insisted, "Please don't fuss."
Wolfgang said nothing and when they got outside the car was there. He strapped Noah into the booster seat and made sure his belt was done up securely before helping Julianna into the car. He sat beside her and signalled for the driver to take them back to the hotel. Fred and Wesley were left to pack the shopping into their car and play catch up.
Once they were inside the penthouse Wolfgang shut the door and lifted Julianna up into his arms and carried her to the bedroom. Noah followed them looking a little confused; he had been promised a ride on one of the coin activated rides and a trip to see Santa in the mall. He didn't understand why they had come home so soon. Julianna rest her head on a fluffy white pillow and closed her eyes as Wolfgang took her shoes off, setting them at the foot of the bed. "Noah why don't you go and watch the fish," Wolfgang was referring to the massive fish tank that lined the length of the hall, boasting some of the most exotic fish in the country.
"But I was going to ride the red car," he frowned and stomped his foot defiantly, folding his arms across his narrow chest and casting his gaze at the floor as if he could burn a hole through the marble with just a look.
"Darling, Julianna doesn't feel well, we'll go back to the store another time."
The boy’s face seemed to soften then and his body visibly relaxed. He walked over to the Vampire crouched at the end of the bed and put his hand on the man's arm before whispering, "Should we make her some soup?"
Wolfgang smiled warmly and kissed his son on the cheek. "That's a good idea; want to go and get your hands washed and we'll make some soup."
"Ok!" The boy said excitedly and ran down the hall.
"No running inside," Julianna called and Wolfgang smiled.
"He will learn."
"Not soon enough," Julianna teased before opening her arms to her husband.
Wolfgang wiggled his feet out of his shoes and undid his tie before joining her on the bed. He put his arm over the woman and she smiled, closing her arms around him. "What would I do without you?"
"A lot better?" Wolf smirked and was quickly batted by his bemused wife.
"Why would you say such a thing?"
"I'm only teasing," he told her before undoing the woman's jacket to put his hand on her stomach. "Do you feel okay?"
"Yes, just a bit queasy, I was rushing around like a mad woman and probably just needed to slow down."
Wolfgang smiled, somewhat reassured by her words. He heard a clattering of pans coming from the kitchen and got up. "I better go help Noah before he destroys the place."
Julianna giggled and was left to rest.
