Forbidden Nights with a Vampire(38)

 

She looked at Shanna. "I—"

 

"She likes you." Shanna smiled. "She usually starts screaming if she doesn't recognize whoever's holding her."

 

"But…" Vanda glanced down at the baby. How can you like me? I'm dying inside.

 

Sofia waved a tiny fist in the air and moved her mouth like she was trying to talk.

 

"There you are, Vanda." Maggie peered around the giant ice sculpture. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

 

Vanda's heart leaped, then relaxed when she saw that Maggie was alone. She hadn't brought Phil with her. "Where is he?"

 

"Gee, I wonder whom you're referring to." Maggie circled the table. "Hi, Shanna."

 

"Maggie, how are you?" Shanna gave her a hug.

 

"I'm great. And this must be your new baby." Maggie rushed over to Vanda to look at the infant. "Sweet Mary and Joseph, what a beautiful little girl."

 

"Thank you." Shanna strolled over with her plate of food.

 

"Where's Phil?" Vanda whispered to Maggie.

 

"He's on guard duty right now. He said he'd catch up with you later." Maggie's mouth twitched. "I didn't know you were so good with babies."

 

Vanda gritted her teeth. "I'm not."

 

Shanna munched on a cracker. "Sofia's taken a real liking to Vanda."

 

"She's too young to know any better," Vanda muttered.

 

Shanna chuckled. "Actually, she has very good instincts where people are concerned. She always spits up on Gregori, and Radinka claims it's because she knows he's a womanizing cad."

 

"I'm so glad I ran into you, Shanna." Maggie removed a photo from her evening bag. "I've been meaning to talk to you about my daughter Lucy. She's seven years old now. And she's mortal, since Pierce fathered her before he was turned."

 

"I see." Shanna studied the photo. "She's adorable."

 

"The problem is, Lucy's in school now," Maggie continued. "And it's hard to explain how her parents are never available during the day. And we worry that she might slip up and mention that her parents are vampires and her great-uncle and aunt are shape shifters."

 

Vanda flinched, and the baby whimpered.

 

Shanna leaned over to whisper comforting words to her daughter.

 

"Oh, I'm sorry, Vanda," Maggie said. "I probably gave you a shock. A lot of Vamps don't know about shifters."

 

Vanda shuddered. "I know about them." Her muscles tensed and a black hole of panic threatened to overwhelm her. She gasped for air.

 

"Are you all right?" Shanna set her plate on a nearby chair. "Do you need me to take the baby?"

 

"I—" Vanda's gaze met the baby's blue eyes and she froze. Time slowed down and a soft feeling of peace poured through her, trickling down sweet and golden like honey. The panic attack was gone. "I'm okay."

 

"Good." With a smile, Shanna handed Lucy's photo back to Maggie. "Your daughter is a perfect candidate for the school we're opening in the fall. We'll have a few mortal children there, children who know too much, like Jean-Luc and Heather's girl Bethany."

 

"It sounds wonderful." Maggie slipped the photo back into her bag.

 

"Classes will be in the evening so Vamp parents can teleport their children to school." Shanna retrieved her plate of food, then paused with a piece of cheese halfway to her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I just had a terrific idea. You were an actress on DVN. You could teach a drama class to our older students!"

 

Maggie's mouth fell open. "Me? Teach?"

 

"Yes!" Shanna grinned. "You could teleport Lucy to school, then stay to teach a class. What do you think?"

 

"Well, it sounds more fun than shoveling bat guano every night," Maggie murmured.

 

"There you go." Shanna gave her an encouraging look. "And your husband would be welcome to teach, too."

 

Maggie nodded slowly. "We could use the extra money."

 

"Great! Let's get you a couple of job applications and a registration form for Lucy. I have them in my office." Shanna set her plate of food on the table, then glanced at Vanda. "Can you watch Sofia for a few minutes? Thanks!"

 

"But—" Vanda watched in dismay as Shanna and Maggie dashed off. "Goddammit." She glanced at the baby. "Pretend you didn't hear that."

 

The baby gazed up at her, wide-eyed and curious.

 

Vanda sighed. "I guess you're stuck with me."

 

Sofia made a slurping noise.

 

Vanda adjusted her hold and waited. And waited. She touched the baby's cheek. The skin felt so soft and new. The last time she'd held a baby was in 1927, when her brother Jozef was born. She'd always thought of him as her baby. He'd been only twelve when he'd marched off with his father and brothers to fight the Nazi invasion.