Belle Morte Bites (Belle Morte 4.3)

Meet the Parents

Modern day

Jason stood outside his parents' house, feeling uncharacteristically nervous. They'd been endlessly supportive throughout his whole life, but his mum had expressed concern when he first told her he was dating Gideon, and now he was about drop the bombshell that he and Gideon were getting married.

He'd always thought that if he ever got engaged, he'd talk it through with his parents first – not because he needed their permission or approval, but because they'd always been close, and if he was ever planning on proposing to someone, he would want to share it with his parents first.

The thing was, he hadn't actually planned to propose to Gideon. But when he'd woken up that morning, after Gideon had taken a bomb for him, it had just felt right. He'd known that he would spend the rest of his life with this vampire, so why not take that next step as soon as possible?

He didn't regret it for a second, but he knew his parents would be . . . surprised – both because he and Gideon hadn't been together all that long, and because Jason was only nineteen.

Gideon had been younger than that the first time he'd been engaged to anyone, but that had been an arranged marriage back in the 1800s. Things were different now.

Taking his key from his pocket, Jason let himself in. He always let his parents know he was coming, and as soon as he stepped through the front door, his mum flung her arms around him.

She'd always been affectionate, but she seemed to have got more so since he left for Belle Morte. It wasn't surprisingly really. Not so long ago, Jason had lived at home, and even when he became a blood donor, it was only supposed to have been temporary. Watching their eldest kid leave home had still been hard on his parents, and that was when they'd expected him to eventually come back. Now he'd have to confess that he never would. Belle Morte had become his home, and he wasn't sure his parents fully realised that.

Well, they would soon.

"You said on the phone there was something you needed to talk to us about?" his dad said, busying himself making mugs of coffee for everyone.

"Are the others here?" Jason asked, looking around for his three siblings.

His mum shook her head. "Just us." Her expression faded. "Do you need them here? Is something wrong?"

"No, no, everything's fine, I just . . ." Jason gestured to the living room doorway. "Can we sit down?"

His parents followed him into the room and sat on the sofa together, holding each other's hands. Despite his reassurances, his mum's face was pinched with worry.

"Something's going on, isn't it?" she said.

"Well, yes . . ." Jason scratched his head. This was harder than he'd imagined. It didn't help that his parents had only met Gideon once, and that had been when a fanatical anti-vampire group had kidnapped Jason sister, Laura. Understandably, neither Gideon nor Jason's parents had been able to get to know each other that day. He was still practically a stranger to them.

"Whatever's going on, you can tell us," his dad said, leaning forward slightly.

"Okay." Jason took a deep breath. "It's about Gideon. We . . . um . . . well . . . we're getting married."

Silence.

His parents stared back at him, and he couldn't decide which of them looked more shocked.

"I . . . what?" his mum said at last.

"Married?" his dad echoed.

Jason nodded, twisting his hands in his lap. His stomach was a hard knot of anxiety.