Erasure and Affirmation (Hypernaturals 11)

Wedding Present

After the Sirens left, I switched to Scotch. I did not ask, just poured some for all the beer drinkers. Angel did not ask, just handed it out, and switched to Tequila with her love.

Denise swirled her drink with one hand and looked at her phone with the other. "Anne says they are looking at the New Jersey Siren property from a distance and pulling all the records. So far, looks like a standard shell game of ownership, but no major revelations as yet."

"Will they be able to get shipping manifests?" Rachel asked.

"Sure. That will take a little longer." Denise replied. Sipped. Looked at her glass longingly. "Why did I kill so damn many Vampires..." She complained.

Rachel is not clued in on Denises's thing about her role in killing at a Subcommittee's behest. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I have a lot of personal penance to do. Damn it. And that this house is filled with good Scotch. Excellent beer, scotch, and sex. Fuck. My favorite things." Denise expanded upon her complaint.

"Denise feels that she can't leave the Crew until she has made up for all the male Vampires she killed." Angel filled in for Rachel, who still did not understand.

"She loves that Scotch, as she should, as it is good, and she thinks that she can't live here and drink it until she has paid in full for her sins, as defined by herself.." I added.

"Ahh." Rachel said. Light going on. "This is the baby thing."

"It is." Angel said. "In part. She wants more than children, but she also wants those."

"Are any of you holding Denise to this penance?" Rachel asked and looked around to do a visual survey.

"No. No one. She imposed it on herself." Angel answered for us. "She can have what she wants as soon as she lets herself."

"Given that we shall reportedly soon have another baby here, while Denise's penance is not imposed by us, the timing is fortuitous. Perhaps by the time we grow the current set of children up, she'll be ready to let herself up off the ground and contribute hers to the family. That we do require." Helen said.

"We do?" I asked.

"Simi's baby." Rachel said.

"Yes, and no. Simi and Tobey will live here. Over the garage. The new baby will be in the pile with the other kids. So yes: Simi's baby, if you are speaking biologically. But OUR baby, if you are speaking clan Sagan." Helen said. "Have you learned nothing about how this family works? And yes, Adrian: I require Denise to give me a daughter. Price of admission."

"Be damned." I said.

"Likely." Helen agreed.

"Going to be more than one." Denise told Helen.

"Even better." Helen said equitably.

"Then there is the fact that Angel and I want to have some. Two.. One each. To put into the pile." Vera added.

"There you have it, Rachel: Only YOU will not have contributed to the baby pile at that point." Helen told her lover.

"Yes, Dear. You bring this up frequently." Rachel said, sounding henpecked.

Denise looked at her Scotch sadly. "Too damn many Vampires. If I had stayed a prostitute another fifty years, I would have that many less deaths on my head."

Rachel looked at Denise silently.

"What was that like? Being a Prostitute?" Vera asked, because... Vera.

"As a human, it sucked. My family had no money, couldn't afford me. Even then I mostly looked like this..." Denise looked down at herself. "When you are poor and have a bottle-shaped daughter..."