Devastation

Sarah Fenton sat on her bed, reading "The Complete Phantom of the Opera".

Her mother stuck her head in through the door.

"Sarah, dear, Vlad is here and we have something to tell you."

"You and Vlad, or..."

"Vlad, Jack, and I." Sarah was surprised. This was the first time her mother had ever referred to her husband by his first name when talking to her. She always called him "Daddy" or "Dad". She slowly got up and followed her mother to her and Jack's room. She saw Vlad standing and Jack sitting on the bed.

"My dear girl, what a delight it is to see you again." Vlad held his arms out for a hug. Sarah cautiously went to him and hugged him. She contacted Danny.

Vlad's in here-in Mom and Dad's room. There's something they want to tell me, and I have a feeling that you should be here, too. Eavesdrop if you have to.

Danny left his room and went to his parents' room. They had closed the door. He crouched in front of it.

There has to be a reason they asked me to come in here. Sarah thought.

"I'm sure you're wondering why your mother asked you in here, Sarah Jessica." Vlad started.

"Yes, sir." Sarah answered, going to sit between her parents.

"Remember when you were seven, and we taught you about sex?" Maddie asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Remember when we said that sometimes a man's sperm may not be strong enough to swim to the woman's eggs to fertilize them?"

"Then they go to a fertilization clinic and have the sperm injected directly into the eggs."

"Not always, honey. You see..." Maddie started trying to explain, but Jack took over.

"Sometimes the couple is too proud to go to a clinic and have that done. That's what happened with you. You see, Princess, my sperm was too weak to make it to your mother's eggs a third time, and..." Jack trailed off.

"And?" Sarah prompted him.

"So your 'father' here suggested that your mother go to Wisconsin, since he thought my sperm would be strong enough to produce a baby." Vlad finished.

"It was."

"Yes. The reunion was not the first time I had ever seen you. You were born in Wisconsin, since both Jack and I were afraid to let your mother fly. After you were born and you two returned to Iowa, your mother would send me pictures of you. I watched you grow up from afar."

He stopped. "Wait, I think my dears, we have a guest. " He opened the door to reveal Danny. "Sir, this is indeed an unparalleled delight."

Their mother looked at Danny. "How much did you hear?"

"All of it. So, the girl I've always thought to be my little sister turns out to be half the child of an old college friend of my parents."

"Yes, son." Jack said.

"We wanted to tell Sarah so that we wouldn't have to explain why we were sending her off to stay with Vlad for a while." Maddie said.

"Couldn't you have swallowed your pride and gone to a clinic? Didn't you realize that you would have to have this conversation one day? Why didn't you tell me this sooner?!" Sarah jumped off the bed and rounded on her parents.

"We were afraid that you would take it hard." Maddie said.

"Just because Jack isn't your father does not give you the right to talk to him like that." Vlad said, trying to keep up the façade of being Jack's friend.

"But, Mom's always rejected Vlad's advances."

"My longing for another child over rode any feelings of revulsion I may still harbor from college."

"You may be my biological father, but I will never listen to you, nor will I live with you!" Sarah

yelled, running out of the room and out of the house. She slammed the door. That felt good. She

transformed. Back in the house, Vlad, Maddie, and Jack talked over her reaction.

"She didn't mean it." Jack said.

"She'll be back." Vlad said.

"She's just upset. She'll get over it." Maddie said. Danny had decided to go after his half-sister.

He left the house and transformed. They had both left through the back door. He took off, flying

high in order to catch sight of Sarah. He had his cell phone with him. It rang, and he landed and

transformed back into a human. He answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Danny, it's Sam. Sarah's over here, crying about Vlad being her father, and I can't get

anything else out of her."

"My father's sperm wasn't strong enough to get Mom pregnant again, so instead of going to a

fertilization clinic, Dad told Mom to go to Wisconsin, and let Vlad get her pregnant. That's what

Sarah means by Vlad's her father."

"Oh, my goodness. No wonder she's upset."

"I'll come over and get her."

"Alright. I'll keep her away from sharp objects until you get here."

Danny hung up, hoping that Sam wasn't serious about why she would have to keep Sarah away

from sharp objects.