Chapter 82-The Whole Story

I approached the building and it flooded me with the memories of my first place here in this city.  There were tenants hanging out in the courtyard, if you could call it that.  I checked the paper again looking for her unit.  I knocked on the door and waited.  After a few seconds I heard her calling out.

“Just a minute.”

Why was I here?  I still couldn’t answer that as I stood outside waiting for her to answer the door.  Maybe it was to buy her off or to simply see under what conditions my grandchild would be living.

“Sorry to keep you wa…” Her voice died out when she saw me.  “Mrs. Smith, um I, um what are you doing here?”

“May I come in?”

“Yes, of course.”  She replied stepping to the side to allow me entry. 

“Is um everything ok?”  She fiddled with the hem of her shirt.  Under it I could see the mound that was growing.  “Would you like something to eat or drink?  I have soda and juice.”

I put my hand up to stop her talking.  “I’m fine.  I came to talk to you about Dunham.”

“Is he ok?  I’ve been keeping to the terms.  I haven’t talked to him outside of the doctor appointments he comes to.”  Trying to keep myself from outwardly cringing I once again wondered why I had come.  Surely anything I needed to say to her could be done over the phone.

“Do you mind if I sit?”

“No of course not.”  I glanced around at the spare furnishing as she lead me towards the couch.

“Ok well Dunham has had to quit his job.  It was interfering with his school work too much.  I don’t approve of this, and even when he is 18 I probably will still not approve.”

“Mrs. Smith.”  I put my hand up again to silence her.

“Since the baby will be born before he graduates you will still need assistance.  Have you started buying anything?”

She shook her head.  “My on campus job covers the rent and food with not much left over.  I um haven’t taken another tutoring job which was my extra income.  So…”

“Your parents don’t help?”

“My mom sends money every so often but nothing regular.  I um haven’t told her about the baby yet.”  I wanted to ask her why but there was no need.  It would either be lying about the father or telling the truth about the father.  I guess having one angry mom breathing down her neck was enough.

“Ok well I will see to it that you get the essentials.”  I stood to leave and as I turned I noticed the pictures hanging on the wall behind the couch. 

“Mrs. Smith I’m sorry.  Really I am.  If I could go back…”

“Well you can’t.  You have changed his life forever.  I’m not ready to forgive you for that.”  I turned and left before I lost my temper and really lashed out at her.  I could see the regret on her face but it didn’t make it any better.  Regret wouldn’t change the fact of what she did.  When I got to my car I cried.  I was angry at her, and Dunham for doing this.  I was angry at my father for the situation he put me in.  I was angry with Marisol and Mulo for the havoc they had caused in my life.  But I was most angry at myself.  Regret didn’t change ones actions if it did I wouldn’t be sitting here in my car crying and pregnant with a child by the cousin of my closest friend.  Seeing her growing mound made it painfully more obvious that I wouldn’t be able to hide my own much longer.  I drove home with a heavy heart knowing I was going to soon have two very hard conversations.  I needed to stop side stepping the triplets questions about why they were like Aric and Bynni if they had the same dad as Dax and Dunham.  I could never bring myself to explain that to them.  They were too young to understand, or at least that’s what I told myself.  I pulled into the driveway then checked my appearance in the mirror before stepping out of the car.  I didn’t want to go in with puffy eyes and alarm them right away.

 The kids all sat at the table looking at me; waiting and wondering why I had called this family meeting. 

“So there are some things I need to discuss with you all.”  They didn’t say anything but Dax and Dunham exchanged worried glances.  I took a deep breath to steady my nerves.

“You three have had some questions regarding how you became vampires.  I’m going to try to explain this to you as easily as possible.  When I was pregnant with you I got bitten, that bite caused you to change.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”  Elton said.

“Yeah the way you put us off all the time I thought it was gonna be some super gory story like in the movies.”  Edson chimed in.  Dax and Dunham said nothing since they knew all this already.

“Who bit you?”  Elphie finally asked.

“Um, Aric’s dad.”  Instantly there were a flurry of questions.  Why did he do it?  Did we have a fight?  Biting is supposed to be bad.  It went on and on.  “Look.”  I said finally trying to regain control.  “I didn’t want to tell you before because I didn’t want you to be scared of what you were.  There are some of your kind that are not so nice and I need you to be aware of that.”

“Bynni says you’re a little like us since you drink the juice and stuff.  Is that because of him biting you?”

“Yeah, yes it is.”

“So Aric’s daddy is a not so nice one.”

I’m plenty nice.  I cringed a little at his intrusion. 

“Right he’s not nice at all.”

“K.  Aric, Bynni good.  Aric’s daddy bad.  Can we go play now?” I was please at how easy that went.  The innocence of childhood was truly something to cherish.

“Yes.”  Dax and Dunham got up to leave as well.  “I need you two to stay.”

Once I heard the door open and close I sat at the table to face them.  “There’s more.  I just didn’t want to explain all of it to them right now but I will.”

“What’s going on mom?”

“Is there news about dad?”  Dax looked so hopeful with that question.  It pained me even more knowing what I was getting ready to tell them.

“No honey.  I miss him every day and wish I had some answers to give you.  No this is about everything that happened after they were born.  I know Aric filled you in on some of the details but he didn’t tell you everything.”

“What more is there to say.  His dad is a jerk for what he did to you before and after they were born.”  Dunham spoke.

“Yes but there’s more.  It has to do with things that happened way before that.”  Taking a deep breath I rattled off my history with Mulo and Marisol including George in an edited down version but they got the point.

“Is that even possible?” 

“I don’t know Dax and I really didn’t want to try and find out but I don’t have a choice.”

“That sounds like a crap excuse to me.”  Dunham said.  “You are still married to dad so I doubt he would approve of you sleeping with random guys just to reach some stupid goal.”

“Your father knew all about it and he understood.  Plus things have gotten more complicated.  I don’t expect you to understand but I needed to let you know.”

“Why?  Why do we need to know?”  Dunham asked.  He was getting more and more agitated and this was not going to end well.

“Dude calm down.” 

“No.  She has me on lock down like a criminal for being with someone I love yet she wants us to understand her bringing a parade of random dudes through here! No!”

“What?  That’s not what she’s saying.  She wouldn’t do that!”  Dax turned to look at me.

“Would you mom?  I mean there are other ways to make babies without you know…”  He looked so uncomfortable he didn’t even finish that sentence.

“Yes Dax I’m sure there are.”  I couldn’t help but keep the smile out of my voice responding to his question. 

“So glad you two think this is so funny.”

“Dunham lose the attitude!  Embry should be in jail but she’s not and that’s only because I love you.  Our situations are completely different and you need to remember that.  I don’t want this but like I told you when we talked I would do anything for you and your siblings.  You all are most important in my life.” 

“And how does that translate to you being forced into having kids you don’t want?”

“You didn’t want us?” Dax asked also standing up from the table. 

“Of course she didn’t.  She only had us, all of us, to meet this ridiculous goal of hers.  Think about it Dax we wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for this.”  They both looked at me waiting on me to deny the claim.  This was not how I imagined this talk going but I wasn’t totally surprised by it.  Based on the facts they were given it was a very logical conclusion and they weren’t totally wrong.  If not for this craziness, I doubt I would have gone back to Riverview and reconnected with Marcus.  Had Mulo not blown into my life I wouldn’t had contact with him or the mover guy and certainly not Jesse.  None of them would be here if not for Marisol and her plot to get revenge.

“You are right Dunham.”  I conceded.  “None of you would be in existence if not for the situation I found myself forced into.”

“So you didn’t really want us?”  I could hear the hurt in Dax’s question and even though Dunham wanted to remain angry, he also had a pained expression on his face.

“No that’s not what that means.  The circumstances surrounding how each of you got here may not have been how I pictured having children, but that in no way means I didn’t or don’t want you.  Honestly you all are what keeps me going.  I’m not the best parent, and I don’t pretend to be but I am trying my damnedest to do the best I can.”  I stood there waiting on one of them to speak.  I didn’t know if I could keep having to explain this should any of my future children asked and wondered why I kept having babies.  I could only hope and pray that this would get easier but somehow I doubted it. 

“How do we know this is all not some elaborate excuse to just…”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence young man.”  I said cutting off Duham.

“Dude come on, that would be a bit much don’tcha think?  Besides look at her.  We were here when Aric brought her home.  He told us some of the same stuff.  I don’t think she’s lying.”

“Ok so she’s not lying, but still why tell us now?  We were perfectly happy not knowing all of this or at least I was.  So why…wait a minute.  You’re freaking pregnant aren’t you.  That’s why we needed this little family meeting.”

“What no way.  She hardly leaves the house.  That’s not it, it can’t be.  With everything that has been going on I doubt she’s been trolling for her next baby daddy.”

“It has to be it.  Otherwise there was no reason to tell us all that other crap.”  They both turned to look at me waiting on confirmation or denial.  The fact that I gave neither was confirmation enough.

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So as of July 20, Kiss has been around for one whole year.  When I started this story I wanted to do something simple and fun to get my feet wet so to speak with writing a story.  Well the characters have developed more of a personality than I ever thought possible.  It's been a wild ride so far and I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to all of you that read and support not only this story, but Fiendish as well.  You all have given me the confidence to keep going and I appreciate it more than you know. :)

That being said will Amari make it to 100.  Sadly I don't think she will.  :(  One year later she is only at 8 kids and at that sort of rate I will be forever for her to reach her goal.  That doesn't mean the story is ending, it just won't have has many children (possibly).  My goal is to make it to Z since their names are going in alphabetical order.

I hope you continue to enjoy the ups and (mostly) downs of Amari's life as she stumbles through to complete what she can of her goal.

Thanks again for the year of support.!!!!!!