Carla drug herself out of bed the next morning, her eyes felt swollen and grainy. She felt as though she hadn't slept although she knew that she had. She cracked her bedroom door open trying to hear if Ian was up yet. She heard a movie playing and knew that he was already awake. She put on her housecoat and went to his room.
"Good Morning!" she said forcing herself to sound chipper.
"Good Morning mama." Ian replied looking up from the television screen and then back again.
Carla noticed that he was watching the movie about how the universe was discovered again and wondered where his brains came from.
"I'm going to take a quick shower and then I'll make us breakfast. Pancakes sound good?" she asked.
She now had Ian's full attention, pancakes were his favorite food.
"The Mickey Mouse ones with bananas and whipped cream?" he asked excitedly.
Carla laughed, as intelligent as he was and as mature as he could act; he was still a five year old boy.
"Is daddy here?" Ian asked as she walked to the door.
Carla froze and then forced a smile before turning around.
"No, he went home last night; he'll be back tonight."
She left the room before Ian could ask any more questions that she didn't have the answers to, questions that she didn't want to think about right now. She took a quick shower and went downstairs to make breakfast. As she made the batter for the pancakes she wondered what it would mean for her to have Kane involved in their lives.
After breakfast, Carla set Ian up in the living room with his laptop so that they could work together, him on his school work and her grading the rest of the essays. Carla stole little glances at Ian, he looked normal and acted normal, well what was normal for him and he didn't look like a vampire but then neither did Kane.
Kane looked over the list of homes that George left on his desk, by the end of an hour he had narrowed the list down to two. He logged onto the website and looked at the videos of the houses and chose the one with the skylights in one of the bedrooms. He called the realtor that he always used and bought the house; he was acquainted with the current owner and didn't feel the need to actually see it. If there were any major problems the realtor would call him.
"I want a swing set in the backyard and make sure that the pool and Jacuzzi is treated and ready to go, call me with any questions." he told her.
The rest of the note from George told him which house that he wanted to buy and that his attorney would be calling in a day or two. The others, Kane listed on the web site and logged off. He glanced at the large box on the floor; it had every educational program that Carla had given him the list for and then some. Carla was right, they hadn't been cheap and he wondered how she managed. A pang of guilt hit him, she shouldn't have had to have managed, he should have been there but he wasn't and nothing would change that.
The next order of business was figuring out when to tell Carla everything else, she handled finding out about Ian fairly well maybe she would do alright with the rest of it too, he could only hope. He still had some time to kill and lay back down; he closed his eyes and then opened them, the beginnings of a plan forming in his mind. He called the realtor back.
"Mel, no I haven't changed my mind but there's a building downtown, it used to be a karaoke bar called Barto's, see if you can find out if it's for sale and the asking price, sooner rather than later, leave a message on my cell if I don't answer."
The rest of the afternoon passed slowly, as soon as it was dusk; Kane was at Carla's front door with the box of computer programs and a small cooler with several bags of blood.
As soon as Ian heard his voice, he came flying down the stairs.
"You came back!" he exclaimed.
"Of course I did, did you think that I wouldn't?" Kane asked.
When Ian hesitated, he knew that's exactly what he thought.
"Ian come here." Kane said as he knelt to eye level, "I'm not going to leave you and your mother alone ever again; you have my word on that."
Ian visibly relaxed and gave Kane a hug.
"Just be careful when you hug your mom, you're already pretty strong." Kane said returning the hug.
Carla stood back watching with very mixed feelings, she loved that Ian was happy but she was still angry at Kane. She had the distinct feeling that he hadn't told her everything although she was at a loss as to what the rest of it could be-she was still having that little niggling feeling that there was something about vampires that she should be remembering. She had meant to do an internet search after Kane left but was too worn out to do it, now she wished that she had.
Kane lifted the box and put it on the living room table.
"These are the programs that you told me that Ian needed plus a few extras, this should hold him for a while."
Ian was delighted.
"Look! It's the one that I saw on television! Thank you!" Ian said jumping up into Kane's arms.
"You're welcome but before you start using it, you and I have to talk about taking care of yourself. Carla is it alright if we go to the kitchen?" Kane asked.
"Ok." Carla replied intrigued in spite of herself.
Kane sat the cooler on the kitchen table and sat down, when Carla and Ian were sitting, he began.
"Ian, you've been having urges that you don't understand and you've been managing them very well. There's a reason for the urges, you aren't human; you are vampire just as I am. There is a lot to know and your mom says that I can teach you. The most important thing right now is this; you cannot let yourself get so hungry that you might hurt someone."
"I know." Ian said.
"What do you know?" Kane asked.
"That I'm a vampire."
Carla and Kane looked at each other. The reality of the situation was dawning on Carla; her baby really was a vampire.
"How did you know?" Kane asked.
"The internet, it told me that I could drink the blood of animals so that I wouldn't hurt anyone."
"How long have you known?" Carla asked.
"I don't know for sure but at least twelve months."
"A year? A whole year?" Carla thought.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Carla asked hurt.
"You wouldn't have believed me." Ian replied, his tone matter of fact.
He was right; she wouldn't have believed him Carla admitted to herself, at least not initially. Kane watched as Carla came to grips with Ian's vampirism.
"Ok Ian, just as you need human food, you also need blood .When you are hungry and you need blood, drink only until you are comfortable but not stuffed. Start off with a small amount, just like food you can always have more if you need it. Some of us like to drink it cold but I prefer it warmed up, not hot but warm. Microwaving it is the easiest way to warm it up, I'm sure that your mom will help you with that if I'm not here. Do you have any questions so far?"
"I understand." Ian said looking at Carla anxiously.