"Dorothy, this level of the house is completely self-contained; separate ventilation system, water, electrical, you name it. You are absolutely safe here."
"I heartily approve, Lani. Josef is very aware and inventive. This is a great place. All vamps need somewhere like this." Rose looked around with satisfaction, this was ideal for the situation.
"I really need the bathroom. Lani, where is it?" Dorothy asked, a worried look on her face.
Lani led them into the guest suite and headed to the left and turned on the light. "Right here Dorothy. Let us know if you need anything."
Dorothy nodded, ashamed to admit that she hadn't been able to hold it in long enough. Her slacks were now damp and she went into the bathroom with the intent of cleaning herself up.
Rose moved close to and spoke quietly into her ear, "Dorothy, I believe your water is breaking. Let's get you into the bathroom now."
Dorothy's eyebrows raised a fraction. That possibility hadn't even occurred to her. A small hand flew to her mouth and she moved as quickly as she could into the bathroom. It was real - she was having these babies, without Clark.
She was an adult; she had a doctor here and Beth and Lani, she would be fine but she couldn't shake the feeling of disappointment that suddenly overwhelmed her, along with another labor pain.
"Dorothy, how far apart are they? Have you kept track?" Rose questioned as she looked at her watch to check the time.
"I - I don't know."
"Rose, there are towels in that cabinet right there in the closet outside the door," Beth spoke quietly as well, knowing that Lani or her mom couldn't hear her. She had heard Rose saying that her water had broke and knew that was time for her brother and sister to make their appearance. It was all sort of scary, but exciting as well. She felt so pleased to be here for her mom and to welcome the babies into the family.
Suddenly she blinked in confusion. She could swear that she heard a tiny little voice in her head say, "We love you, sister." It was preposterous…wasn't it?
She tried to shake the thought from her head and told Lani, "We need to get a lot of towels to put in the bed, Lani. Her water broke and she's in labor." At Lani's puzzled look she tapped her ear and said, "Vamp hearing!" She gave out a quick laugh and then heard the voice again, "We are glad you are here for Mother, Sister Beth."
"Lani, did you hear anything?"
"OMG! Is Martin in the house?"
"Nooo, not like that." The truth was though that Martin seemed to be battering the doors up stairs and she'd also heard a couple of shots. He must be really frustrated. The many glass walls up there were heavily tempered glass. It would take a cannon to break them, according to Josef but of course Martin didn't know that. She shuddered because he was such a creepy man when they were growing up and now he was just a twisted piece of dirt.
Lani pulled a half dozen towels out of the linen closet, thick and divinely soft, they would make an excellent cover for the bed and for Dorothy to lie on.
Beth heard a really loud crash upstairs; it sounded as if he had tried to drive his car though a wall. For a moment her heart sped up and then quickly slowed to its very slow, normal rhythm. No matter what, he couldn't get down here even if he broke into the upstairs.
She startled again when she heard the house phone ring. Lani rushed to get it in the control room; surely it must be Josef.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Martin was determined to get into this house. What the hell was it constructed of anyway? Even his gun didn't break the glass of the door. What the fuck?
A new idea came to him and he headed to his car and aimed it at the front door. He figured the windows were some kind of bullet-proof glass, so that left the door. He pulled into the yard and gunned the engine and slammed into the door. It definitely looked battered so he backed up, out to the street and gunned it again. When he backed away this time his bumper fell off and lay on the lawn. One more time and this time the door frame gave away, just enough for him to squeeze into the house.
It was all he needed. Now, to find those bitches.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"Lani, Sweetness, are you all okay?"
Josef's voice on the other end of the landline helped to immediately comfort her. "Yes, we're in the safe room, Josef. But Dorothy is in labor."
"Okay. Rose is with you, right?"
"Yes, she and Dorothy are in the bathroom right now; Dorothy's water broke. How far away are you?"
"We're two minutes out, Sweetness. We'll be there before you know it. Clark is with us."
"Uh, is this going to be okay?"
"Yes, it will be fine. Logan has him downing enough blood to fill him up for a month."
"How are Ryan and Vaygar?
"They're both fine; they broke a few bones and Vaygar got shot in the shoulder, but it all healed before the highway patrol got there. Right now they are in the process of giving statements, poor bastards," he said with a grimace.
"I hope they're really okay."
"Yep, no worries. I can see the house now. Lani, this was really smart heading there.
"
"It was Beth's idea, not mine. I was too scared to think actually."
Josef smiled to himself, he loved her so damn much. "You would have thought about it though, eventually. We're landing now, Sweetness…son of a bitch!!!"
"WHAT?" Lani yelled, forgetting about vampire ears on the other end of the phone and suddenly afraid they had been attacked outside.
Josef winced, but his attention immediately went back to his lawn and front door. "He tore up my carefully manicured front lawn."
Lani could hear the anger almost choking him. Had he told her that Martin was actually in the house she would have been petrified. Just then she heard a faint pounding on the door to the safe room. "Josef, he's in the house. He's trying to get into the door down here."
"Sweetness, you know as well as I do that he can't get in. Just hold tight, we'll be down in a few minutes."
"After you, um take care of the problem?" She hated her uncle, but she knew she didn't want details.
"Don't worry about it. I'm heading into the house. See you soon. Bye."
"Bye," she echoed.
She told Beth that they were here, which was totally unnecessary since Beth had heard the conversation. Beth had the towels spread out on the bed and looked up as her mother and Rose came into the room, a bath sheet around her waist, or what passed for one at this time.
Beth helped Rose get Dorothy settled. When Rose heard the pounding on the door to the safe room she glanced up at Beth and Beth murmured, "Don't worry, we're safe and the men are here now too."
Rose nodded and looked at her watch as Dorothy had another pain. "Three minutes apart, Dorothy. You're doing well. Lani, I need a sharp knife or pain of scissors and some string or thread. Do you have any vodka down here." At Lani's nod Rose continued. "Get the scissors and cut me a piece of string about a foot long. If there is no string do you have thread?"
"I do have that, in a small sewing kit. Just one strand?"
"No, three or four will work. White is best." She smiled at Lani and said, "After you cut the thread I want you to soak the scissors and the thread in the vodka, okay?"
Lani nodded again and rushed off to get the things that Rose needed.
Rose headed back into the bathroom and found some antibacterial soap and started scrubbing. She wished she had some gloves, but did the best she could.
When she came back into the bedroom Beth was sitting on the bed with her mother, an arm around her talking softly in an effort to reassure her. Rose also realized that Beth was mentally talking to her mom, sending her thoughts to relax, be calm and it seemed to be working. The girl certainly had a gift. Once she was trained there would be no stopping her.
"Dorothy, can you lean back a little for me? Beth, why don't you sit in back of her so she can lean against you, please?" As Beth moved into place she finished, "Dorothy, I need to feel how far dilated you are. I'll try to be gentle."
Dorothy let out a long breath and waited as Rose examined her. "You're about 8 centimeters now. Another one and you can start pushing. Until then, just try to breathe with the contractions, okay?" They were coming about every 2 minutes or so now.
As Dorothy leaned back and tried to relax Rose nodded in approval. It wouldn't be long now she knew.
In her head Beth heard, "We are ready now. Father is here." Beth grinned to herself. Her brother and sister were amazing.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
Four vampires pushed through the broken door in practically less time than it took to blink. Clark's head was lifted as he scented the air, seeking and finding Martin. Before anyone could stop him he was around the corner and leapt down the stairs, landing gracefully and quietly. He tapped Martin on the shoulder and when he turned he gave him his best, toothy, vampire grin and said, "Looking for someone? No, wait…you want me, right? Because you damn sure better not be looking for my wife." He felt Martin's shoulder stiffen in response and waited for him to respond.
It was the surprised look on Martin's face that made Clark chuckle. "No? Not me?" He picked Martin up and tossed him up the stairs like the garbage he was.
Martin landed on his shoulder and he felt it crack. So did the vamps. Clark leapt up the stairs with one jump and stood before Martin who was still lying on the floor.
"Cat got your tongue, Martin? Or maybe vampire got your tongue, huh?"
"Vampire? Nice disguise, Griffin. Besides that point, you're supposed to be dead." Martin's heart was thumping wildly in his chest, so loudly anyone could have heard it. For a moment he thought he might pass out, which made all the vamps laugh as he slid to the floor. When he looked down he got the joke; not only had he pissed himself but his bowels had let loose as well.
"Do you need help getting up? I think you do," Clark said, yanking on his damaged arm and tossing him all the way across the room, past a couch and into the glass.
"Don't you guys just love this glass here? So totally reliable. I highly recommend it," Josef said with a grin, thoroughly enjoying the show.
Clark strode across the room, his nose wrinkling in distaste at the strong odor of defecation that was all over Martin. He picked the man up by the collar and hissed, "Stand up like the man you've never been. You have some debts to pay."
"FUCK YOU, GRIFFIN!" Martin screamed. "You're dead! I killed you."
"Well, yes, you did actually. I rose again. Remember the fangs?" He flashed them again and snapped at Martin and realized that the only thing that was holding Martin up with his hand. His knees were a shaky, wobbly mess. "Yes, Martin, this is such a thing as vampires!"
It was at that moment that Clark heard his wife, loud moans and heavy breathing. He knew what Josef hadn't told him, that she was in labor.
OOOOOOOOOOOO
"Okay, Dorothy. It's time to push now. Beth, you need to help her sit up a bit and support her carefully as she's pushing, okay?"
Beth nodded and waited for Rose to tell her when. A new pain started and Rose said, "Okay, NOW Dorothy!"
Dorothy let out a long moan, pushing as hard as she could. Lani sat on the side of the bed, wiping Dorothy's forehead with a cool cloth.
She had another 30 seconds before the next pain started and this time she let out a low scream. It didn't matter how much it hurt, she just wanted them here safely.
"You're doing great Mom! They are ready now, Alexander told me so!"
Beth smiled as Dorothy tried to turn her head around. "What?" she asked.
"Just trust me."
OOOOOOOOOOOO
For the First Time
Clark's ears heard Dorothy scream this time and knew that he had to end this with Martin now. Which made him have to make a decision; he wanted to tear this bloody bastard apart, but that would leave him covered in blood and he refused to let his wife see him like that. He could leave it to Logan; Martin had tortured him relentlessly over their youth.
Right now the only thing that would satisfy Clark was getting to his wife; he'd promised her to be there. He looked at his brother and said, "Logan? I want to get down to Dorothy and I don't want her to see me covered in blood."
Logan growled with pleasure as he realized that Clark was asking him to finish the job. "Yeah, I got this, brother."
"Make it hurt."
Logan nodded and they shared a look for a second that no ordinary mortal bond could compete with. Then Clark was down the stairs again yelling, "Josef, get this door open!"
Beth and Rose both heard Clark at the door and while pleased, they both prayed he'd be strong enough because of the scent of blood. There wasn't really a lot of blood, but the scent still hung in the air.
Neither had time to think about it as Clark rushed into the room, quickly followed by Josef, who Lani thought was almost blushing. He quickly headed into the media room and prepared to sit this out. He knew that having babies was a natural thing but Dorothy sounded as if she was hurting badly.
"I'm here, Dorie. I promised and I'm here."
Dorothy looked up and saw her mate and started crying. Beth saw those tears mirrored in her dad's eyes as she moved so that he could sit behind her.
"I love you, girl. I'll never let go. Now, just like we learned in Lamaze class." He wrapped his arms around her and put his hands on her belly, gently rubbing as he felt another pain coming on. "Just breathe, Dorie, come on, just like we practiced. We got this."
"Clark…I…love you…" she said as the pain took her and she pushed through it.
"Okay, here comes the first one. Lani, I need a clean towel and the scissors and thread now. Just cut the thread in half."
Lani ran to get the requested items and hoped that the vodka had killed all the germs. She was back in a flash as and handed the towel to Rose so she could cradle the first baby in it.
Beth wasn't surprised that it was Grace because somewhere in her head she had heard Alexander say, "Ladies first." She was going to have a great time with these two, she knew.
"Here is Grace." She quickly cut and tied the cord, her expertise doing it all smoothly. She wrapped Grace up and handed her to Dorothy and watched as the two parents admired their daughter, their love for her shining brightly in their eyes. She was perfect, in every single way. She seemed to be breathing easily which was a relief.
Beth leaned over and lightly touched her sister on the hand and was rewarded as two stunning blue eyes looked at her. "Welcome to our world," she whispered. "You are beautiful!"
"Beth, you might want to hold Grace because Alexander is coming now. Dorothy, get ready to push!"
Two minutes later Alexander arrived and greeted the world with a wide eyed smile as Rose finished working on him. She was positive she heard, "Thank you, Rose, you took good care of Mother," in her head and felt bemused by it.
Beth had heard it too and grinned at Rose. She could see that some explanation was going to be necessary. It had been painful for her mom, but it was so worth it. Her dad was holding Grace and her mom had Alexander. She smiled at them both and went into the media room where Lani and Josef were waiting.
"Two beautiful babies have now joined our family." She suddenly burst into tears just as Mick and a very wet Logan came down the stairs. She held Mick tightly and he held her as she cried. He could tell they were tears of joy.
They had weathered out this storm; life was good.
To be continued
