A Vampire's Bride

Chapter 17 - Grey

I slowly peeled open my eyes when I felt a light caress on my face. It was my beautiful wife. I sat up and for some reason, she smiled. Just a little, but it was still enough to see how beautiful she truly was. Not a day goes by that I don't think about proposing to her, but everytime I get close, I end up chickening out. I am done waiting for the moment she becomes my wife by choice and not by force.

"I need to-" We both said in unison.

"You can go first." She said shyly. I retrieved the ring from my side table drawer and walked around the bed to get to her. This is it. This is the moment I put my heart on the line for her happiness. I took her hand and knelt before her. Squeezing the box tightly in my free hand to calm my nerves. "My love," She was looking at me in confusion only causing my smile to widen a little more. "In my four hundred and thirty-two years of life, I have never experienced love like you have given me before. You forgave me when I thought what I had done was unforgivable. You loved me when I thought no one would. Hell, you saw something in me that I didn't even see in myself," I paused to prepare myself for the next thing I had to say. "With all of that being said, I am giving you one last chance to walk away," I let go of her hand to open the box with my mother's ring and a small gasp left her lips. "You were denied the freedom of choice when we first met, so I want give it to you now. Will you marry me again?" My voice broke a little at the end. She continued to stare at me in shock until I saw a smile stretch on her lips. She bent down to my level and hugged me tightly.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" She squealed, but I still couldn't believe it.

"Are you sure?"

"Did you really think I would say no?" She asked and I looked away. She forced me to face her and gazed deep into my eyes. "When I told you I loved you, I meant it. You're stuck with me now," She giggled before kissing my forehead. I removed the ring from the small velvet box, took off the plain gold one she had on since our wedding, and slid the new one onto her left ring finger. It fit her perfectly. "It's gorgeous." She breathed as she held her hand to her face to get a better look.

"It was my mother's." I whispered and stood up. Before I could think twice her arms gently wrapped around my neck.

"Thank you for trusting me with something so special." She smiled and hugged me again. Although it was comforting, it didn't feel right. She was hiding something from me. Something big.

"Mariella," I called and pulled away from the hug. "What was it that you wanted to say?" I asked, but as soon as the question left my mouth, her demeanor changed. "What's wrong?" I asked, but she just avoided my eyes and tried to get out of my arms. I took both of her hands and brought her to the bed. The last time I wanted to get answers from her it ended horribly. This time I wanted things to be different. She pulled her hands out of mine, but I held them again. "No matter what it is I will always be there to help you through it. Just tell me what's wrong so I can make it better." I caressed her face softly.

She looked up at me with teary eyes. "This is not something you can fix, Grey," My heart clenched in my chest with worry.

"Perhaps, but I will do the best I can," I brought both of her hands to my lips. "I don't like seeing you cry."

"I... I," She tried, but her emotions were getting the best of her. She was now fully crying and it killed me because I knew there was nothing I could do. "I... I-I'm pregnant." She said and my mind went blank.

She's what? No, she can't be.

My eyes fell to her stomach as I tried to imagine a little one growing inside her. I couldn't quite get a hold of my emotions, but the one thing I knew for sure was that I was happy. For once in my life, I didn't feel anything but happiness. I am having a child with the love of my life. I am going to be a father. "How do you know?" I asked. She handed me two white sticks from her back pocket. They were positive pregnancy tests. I wanted to ask her where she got them from, but that wasn't the focus of this moment.

"What are we going to do?" She whispered.

"This is the best news you could have ever given me. Why are you upset?" She took a deep breath before answering my question.

"How are we supposed to be happy on this island? This child will never know where it comes from or who it really is. I don't want to live in fear waiting for the time your father finds us." She cried but all I could hear was that she wanted to go and get herself killed.

"What are you trying to say?" I said as gently as I could.

"I am saying that if we go back, your father will be lenient with me-"

"He will not!" I didn't want to shout but I needed her to see just what she was saying. "He will have leniency with the child. The second he or she is born, he will have you killed!" I brought my hands to her face to wipe her tears. "We must never go back, Mariella. Do you understand me?" She nodded her head. "I need to hear words."

"Yes, Grey." She removed my hands from her face harshly and went to the restroom to undress for bed.

~

The night for me was restless. I couldn't stop thinking about what Mariella said because she was right. No matter how long we decided to stay on the run, my father would eventually find us someday. It could be today, tomorrow, or even later down the road when we decide to have more children. A long sigh left my lips. There is only one way for my child to live the life that I never had.

I have to kill my own father.

The thought of it was sickening, but I have to stop all of this before it gets any worse. Not only for my wife but for the new life that is budding inside of her.

I looked at Mariella and all doubts left my mind. She was lying on her back with her hand over her stomach. They are who I am doing this for. I pulled the blanket away from her and hovered over her stomach. "Hello there, little one," I whispered. "Mommy and I can not wait to bring you into this world, but before we do, I need you to promise me one thing," I couldn't stop the tears from coming to my eyes. "Promise that if I don't make it to your birth, you will keep your mother company for me. I love her dearly and I'm sure you will too." I smiled as a tear fell onto the bed.

Never once did I think I would end up having to do this, but I choose my new family over anyone else.