Forgiveness and Punishment

39

Melissa yawns as she stretches when she wakes the next morning. Wow this time sure was crazy. She hopes that she and Timothy can have the ceremony soon. She smiles brightly at the thought.

"Melissa?" Timothy asks shocked as he comes through the door. 

Melissa smiles, "You act like you have seen a ghost. What's up?"

Timothy races to her side before she can even blink and kisses her deeply. Once he lets her up for breath she notices that he's blinking back tears. He's gently running his hands over her face and is so happy. "What is going on, Timothy? You are acting like you haven't seen or talked to me in a really long time and that you never expected to do so again."

"Baby, you've been in a coma for two months. Cliff told us that when you healed you would wake up, but we'd just about given up hope of that ever happening after the first month went by and you still didn't wake up."

Melissa looks at him blankly. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Just then the door opens and a little girl wobbles her way across the room. "Mommy!" She squeals in delight, seeing Melissa awake and sitting up.

"Timothy, who the hell is this child and why is she calling me mommy?" Melissa sends telepathically even as she reaches down and helps the child up and holds her in her arms.

"That's our daughter, Ovilla." Timothy looks at Melissa in confusion. "Don't you remember her?"

"What are you talking about? Last night was the night you killed Delilah, Ovilla can't be our daughter since we haven't had the ceremony yet." All this was said telepathically since Melissa doesn't want to upset the beautiful girl in her arms. A child that looks just like her.

"Melissa?" TJ says with tears in his eyes. He rushes over to her and takes both her and Ovilla in his arms so that he can hug her.

Tad comes in following with two more babies in his arms. Travis comes in with him and after giving Melissa a huge hug and kiss, gently takes Ovilla from her arms so that Cliff can examine her.

"Travis, you and Tad need to take the children back to the nannies until after they have their naps. Melissa needs to have Cliff examine her and then she'll need to sleep to get better." That last was said as Ovilla was beginning to pout. But when she heard the reason why she stopped.

Melissa raises one eyebrow and just looks at Timothy, "I don't think even my parents were able to get me to be that well behaved at that age."

"Vampire children develop much faster than human children do. Make no mistake, she is a child, but she is far more developed mentally and understands concepts far more difficult than even a child of eight would be able to understand if she were human.

"Cliff, Melissa doesn't remember anything after the night of Delilah's death." Timothy says anxiously after the door closes behind Tad and Travis. "Why doesn't she remember the last five years?"

"Melissa, do you remember the ceremony?" Cliff asks her. That is something important and one of the few things a vampire is never likely to forget.

"No, last night Timothy killed Delilah, I was crying because I thought he wouldn't want me afterwards or that he would resent me for having to kill her."

"I couldn't hate or resent you, Melissa, you make my world complete in a way I never knew it could be."

"I know, I realized that after you talked to me last night, or that night if I was asleep for some time." Now Melissa is confused.

"Melissa, after that night, well about a week later, Tad was attacked and nearly killed. It turns out that we failed to round up all the vampires that were working with Delilah. In order to keep him alive you turned him." Timothy tells Melissa sitting at her side and pulling her close to him to give her comfort.