To Love A Vampire Ch 03

Sorry for the delay, I'm working as fast as I can :). Thanks again to Meridian13 for her help and patience in dealing with my million emails while bouncing ideas back and forth.

And no sex in this chapter, just doesn't fit into this part of the story, but it's coming so don't worry.

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Mark knocked then entered Liv's room. He just smiled seeing Liv wrapped around Lucus.

Mark pulled a chair up to Lucus's side of the bed. They started to talk telepathically. Mark smiled, "Put me on the First Right list but I'm going to be lucky if you let her go."

"I can definitely see how she had Jules wrapped around her finger, such strength from someone who has gone through so much. Is everything going alright with the pregnancy?" Lucus unconsciously started running his hand up and down Liv's abdomen.

"So far so good, I'll do another exam on her when she's awake. I still want all the knives and sharp objects locked up. The psychologist will be here this afternoon. Also, I don't recommend her attending the reading of the will."

"I won't let her. I'm going and will take care of it. I have to deal with First Right and Augustus will be punished for his behavior at the funeral." Lucus had to consciously reign in his temper, he didn't want to scare or waken Liv.

"How are you going to handle it if she decides to let the maximum five vampires court her?"

Lucus started to growl and Liv started to flinch and cry in her sleep. "Hush little ones, it's ok. You're safe." Glaring at Mark, he growled out. "Why don't you leave us? Liv is behind on her sleep. "

"You're getting attached Lucus. You still have your hand on her stomach."

"It keeps the babies sedate, she sleeps better," Lucus said with a sheepish smile.

Mark just smiled at the comment, but he was thinking that he had no chance in hell of getting Liv away from Lucus. "Go back to sleep. It's good to see you taking care of her." He couldn't help but feel proud that Lucus was taking care of her.

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Over the next few days they settled into a routine. Lucus had slept with her every night since she moved in with him. Except for that first night, she hadn't asked him to come to hold her, he came in on his own. He decided he needed to sit down and talk to her about it.

"Liv, I need to talk to you." He sat down on the side of her bed and looked at her.

"You cry and sob in your sleep so I come in the night and stay to hold you and make you feel secure."

"I'm so sorry Lucus, maybe we should move my room to another part of the house or out to the guest house, I don't want to be bothering you. You've already done so much for me. Also, I don't want to overstay my welcome. I'm going to start looking for a job." Liv was trying to hide her tears; tears of shame, loss and her need for help made her feel helpless.

Lucus picked her up setting her on his lap, "I am not complaining, Livia. Jules was my best friend and please understand that holding you at night is not an obligation to me. I like having you there. I think you should just move into my room. No matter what, you are now part of the vampire world and that means you won't be leaving us and going off to work a job all day. You won't be crying alone in some cheap apartment because you lost your husband and are having triplets. Vampires and I will not allow it. Also, today is the day I will go handle the will."

"When should I get dressed?" Liv looked up at him, searching his eyes to see if what he said was true.

He felt himself melting inside as he stared into those beautiful caramel colored eyes. "You are not going. I will be handling it for you. Don't get mad at me, there are many things to deal with and the most important thing is you staying in bed. Mommy and babies need to stay warm, relaxed and safe. There are diplomatic issues surrounding you carrying immortal children. I can't risk you being there. I will handle it and then later after I've returned. We'll sit down and I'll explain everything to you."

"Lucus, I can handle this myself. I'm getting stronger." She said stubbornly.

Lucus silently cursed himself for upsetting her, but then he smiled inside when he looked at the stubborn look on her face. "I'm not saying you couldn't but I have more knowledge of the laws and I am the best person to handle this. Don't underestimate the magnitude of you having immortal children. It's been 3,000 years since the last one was born and there were wars afterwards. I want to make sure this is done safely and you don't need any stress." Lucus took a breath. "In memory of Jules I also must punish Augustus for the way he treated you. It is against our laws. I don't want you to be there for that."

"I will share everything with you but I must get going. Don't you worry. Everything is going to be great." Lucus moved his hand down to her stomach, "Tell your mommy to relax, that Lucus will take care of everything." Lucus noticed she started to look tired. "Back into bed with you and promise me, no worrying."

"I promise." Liv got out while trying to suppress a yawn.

Lucus smiled and tucked her in, walked across her room and after closing the doors quietly he crossed the hall and then headed into his office, the reading of the will would be later.

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A soft knocking broke Lucus out of his thoughts, "enter" he said quietly, knowing that the person knocking would hear him.

Mark walked in and said "I did another exam on Liv, she is progressing much faster than we expected."

"What do you mean?" Lucus said in a worried tone.

"Relax," Mark replied, with a small smile. "We aren't really sure what to expect with an immortal pregnancy, and you add triplets to that, it's going to be a learn as we go experience."

Lucus visibly relaxed, Mark was one of the few that Lucus was comfortable enough to show emotions to.

"She is already about 12 weeks along and it looks like her pregnancy will be about 5 or 6 months total, which means 3 months tops until we have these miracle babies here with us." Mark excitedly explained, he felt so fortunate to be included in the care of these children and Liv.

"How is her body handling the rapid changes?" Lucus asked.

"With the amount of your blood we gave her, and possibly the powers the triplets are sharing with her, she is doing remarkably well." Mark replied.

Lucus sat back and thought about all of the changes that would be coming in such a short amount of time. He would announce First Right at the will reading, that was planned to begin very soon, they needed to get going.

"Lets go, Mark, we need to get to the conference room." Lucus stated as he stood and began walking to the door. He smiled as he passed his bedroom doors, ready to see Liv again, but it would have to wait.

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Lucus and Mark entered the conference room, which was already full of ancient vampires and Augustus, who was considered a baby comparitively. Since Julius was an ancient, his lawyers were highly trusted vampires as well, and his will most likely included other ancients and not just immediate family.

"Ok, everyone, lets get this going so we can conduct some other business and then send you all on your way." stated Lucus in his typical matter of fact way.

"Thank you, sir." the lawyer stated as he read the will, nothing unexpected came up in the reading, Liv inherited a vast amount of money and several of Jules' homes, some charities also received some money, and Augustus inherited the rest of the vast fortune.

One thing that may have surprised Augustus, since he had been away for several years discovering himself, he hadn't kept up with his fathers affairs that closely. Augustus was expected to give some of his time and money to one of Julius' favorite charities, an orphanage that was close to his hometown. Julius had a big heart and always wanted people to feel loved and supported like he was in his large vampire community and especially since meeting and marrying Liv.

Lucus stood after the will reading concluded and said that, although he had planned announcing Augustus' punishment, he felt that he needed to start his fathers work first, the punishment would come later after he consulted with Liv.

"One last matter of business to attend to and then we will conclude this meeting." Lucus said as he made eye contact with everyone in the room. "I am calling First Right to Livia, she is under my protection and in one year she will choose who she wants to mate."

There were a few shocked expressions but most seemed to be expecting the news. Augustus then stood and said "I know I am expected to be one of the five to court her, but I still believe it is her fault that my father is not here with us, I will not be courting her at this time. I do keep my place as one of the five though."

This statement did cause some gasps from the group in the room. Lucus was very angry, but hid it well, he did not want to kill Augustus outright, which is what he really wanted to do at this point, so he just sat down and said "very well."

"I expect those that want to court Liv to submit their names to me through my assistant and I will send out a list of those that are chosen within 48 hours, as is the custom." Lucus said through gritted teeth. "Dismissed."

After the room cleared out of everyone but Mark and Lucus' other close friend, James, Lucus allowed some of his anger to come through. "I can't believe the bastard still thinks Liv could be at fault for this!" Lucus raged.

"He is young and foolish, maybe you shouldn't put his punishment off much longer." Mark counseled.

"He's right, Lucus, Augustus needs to grow up real fast or he will cause Liv a great deal of heartache." said James.

"I know, I know" Lucus said, then a small smile began to spread across his lips.

"What are you thinking?" Mark asked.

"I think I just thought of a good punishment for Augustus." Lucus said as he began laughing. "You'll have to wait just a bit longer to find out though."

Both James and Mark groaned, neither one liked surprises and both were used to getting whatever they wanted immediately. They got up and followed Lucus out as he left the conference room. He returned to his small office across the hall from his bedroom, he didn't like being very far from Liv.

"Gentlemen, please sit and have a drink with me, then I must return to Liv and share the news with her." Lucus said while gesturing to two seats across from his desk.

Just as Lucus was about to sit himself, Liv walked into the room with a sheepish look on her face. "Sorry, I didn't realize you had company, I can come back later."

"No, no please come in, is everything alright?" Lucus said as he ran over to her, checking out her belly that seemed to be protruding even more than it was just a few hours before.

Liv laughed and said "I'm fine, I'm just a bit lonely so I thought I would come see how the will reading went."

Mark and James got up and excused themselves, Mark said he would come back the next day to exam Liv again.

Lucus scooped Liv up and walked her back to his bedroom, he missed her already and he mentally scolded himself for being so attached knowing that he had to let four others court her and she might choose one of them.

Propping Liv up against some cushions on his bed, he smiled at her and then sat down next to her. "Liv, the reading went well, you are one very wealthy woman, thanks to Jules' love for you." Lucus said in a low calm voice, knowing that talking about Jules' would upset her.

Liv smiled a small smile, remembering the good times she had with Jules and the three babies she carried because of him. "I know, Lucus, and I loved him so very much."

"I know, sweetie, I know." Lucus wrapped her in his arms and cuddled her for a little while.

"How are you feeling?" he finally asked.

"I'm ok, I can't believe how fast my skin is stretching though. Mark said I may only have three months to prepare for their arrival, I'm a bit nervous." Liv said in a small voice.

"You wont be alone, Liv, I promise you that. You look so much better than yesterday, it amazes me." Lucus said with a touch of pride in his voice, knowing that his blood helped her heal so quickly.

"Mark told me today that I may have some pretty fierce moodswings happen since things are progressing so rapidly, I worry that I will hurt your feelings." She said as she looked down at her hands that were laying on her small tummy.

"As long as you stay here with me, I'll be ok with whatever you throw at me." Lucus said laughing and then he winked at her and hugged her to him again.

They both fell asleep again, so comfortable in each others arms. The next morning Lucus woke up with a smile on his face and a warm body still sleeping comfortably next to him. He rolled to his side and just watched her sleep for a little while, he slowly reached his hand over to her belly and was surprised at how much it had grown overnight. "She is going to get huge!" He thought to himself.

Liv stirred and then woke up, smiling up at him, she stretched slightly and then felt her belly, gasping she sat up quickly.

"What's wrong?" Lucus said in alarm.

"I'm huge, oh no I'm huge!" Liv said as she started crying.

Lucus couldn't help but chuckle.

"What is so damn funny?" Liv yelled at him while she climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom slamming the door.

Lucus just sat there in shock, no one has yelled at him in thousands of years, this was going to be a fun ride. He got up and called Mark, he wanted to see if it was going to get any worse. Mark just laughed when Lucus finished telling him what happend.

"That was just a warm-up, my friend." Mark said in between gasps for breath, he was laughing so hard.

"Well, you aren't going to be in the free and clear on this, you have to see her often as well, just you wait until she turns against you." Lucus said in a huff and then slammed the phone down.

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I'll update as quickly as I can, I'm a college student and this semester is a tough one. Please remember to vote and comment, I love comments and emails!