The Heart Of A Vampire

oneshot #3, part 2

About half an hour later, the two of them found themselves sitting on a sofa in one of the many drawing rooms in the mansion.

Evangeline's face was still red and puffy from her little crying session, and Vlads was contorted into an expression of concern, worry, and fear.

"Truly? No blood at all? The entire month?" He asked, continuing to press on.

He'd been interrogating her for the past fifteen minutes, throwing question after question at her in an attempt to deduce whether or not she was actually pregnant.

"No...," she sputtered weakly, shaking her head.

"Well... when was the last time you bled?"

"I- I don't know... m-maybe... two months? I-"

He cut her off with a heavy sigh, raking a hand through his hair.

Vlad almost cursed, but quickly held back, not wanting to make the situation seem any more serious to Evangeline, who's emotional state he was concerned for.

"I... I'll call for a magician. He'll give us the final answer- conclude whether or not you're pregnant," he finally mumbled. "We aren't going out today. You're going back to bed, alright, darling? When he gets here we'll figure out what to do. Does that sound good to you?"

"What... what about breakfast?" Evangeline whispered in a shaky voice.

"We don't have to eat out," he assured her, placing a hand on her own and squeezing it.

"I'll head to a bakery and grab you something to eat. You just need to stay here."

She looked as though she was going to protest, but the fire left her eyes as quickly as it appeared, and she slipped into submission.

_______

Vlad returned from the bakery an hour later to find the magician already having arrived to the manor.

Not only was he there, but he had long since concluded his examination and had simply been sitting around waiting for the vampire to arrive.

"Well?" Vlad asked breathlessly, setting a box of croissants down on a stool to the right.

Clearly he was trying to get to the point.

"Your wife is... pregnant," the healer finally responded after a long moment.

"How do you know?" Vlad asked "Which spell did you perform?"

"A simple one," he responded "meant to identify a life force. A soul. There's one inside of her stomach. Only one thing that could mean."

Vlad felt as though he'd been punched in the gut.

A child.

He was going to become a father.

He knew that it was a possibility of course- the two had been quite active, so it was only a matter of time before something happened, but...

Everything was all coming about so suddenly. One moment they were getting ready to go out for breakfast, and now he was getting the news broken to him that a child was on the way.

"Is that... it?" He finally asked, his voice strained. "That's all you know?"

"I could find out more," the magician shrugged, placing a hand to his beard. "Gender. Health. The like."

"What on earth are you waiting for, then?" Vlad hissed, gesturing towards her stomach. "Go on!"

"It's an added charge. Didn't want to start until I knew you'd pay," the magician grumbled quietly to himself.

Usually such an attitude around Vlad would lead him to fly off the handles, but he was far too tense to do so.

All he could do was stand there, watching the magician place a hand on his wife's belly, close his eyes, and mutter something nobody in the room understood.

"Hmm..."

"Well then?" Vlad asked impatiently the moment he removed his hand.

"A girl. I think. It's a bit difficult to tell. She appears to be healthy enough, however."

Vlad sighed in relief.

All that mattered was that the child was healthy.

"Then... no complications will occur? Nothing to harm my wife?"

"At the present moment, yes. Perhaps an issue might arise in the future, but currently everything is going according to plan."

A pause ensued as Vlad thought it all over.

"You'll come in weekly," he proclaimed in a voice that made it clear that it was an order, not a suggestion.

"You'll perform a check up on my wife and the child. Use magic to deal with any complications. I would like a detailed report on both of their healths, and on the child's development each time."

The healers eyes widened.

"I- I'm not a doctor-..."

Vlad frowned.

"You'll be one from now on. Understood?"

"I... I-I'll do my best, your majesty," the healer finally mumbled, looking away.

And so, that was that.