Sam's POV
The few months Emily spent with me were actually fun. I was almost never bored and it helped me forget little about... Him. Emily was a very fun person with a strong character and a hilarious sense of humour. She was now in her eight month of pregnancy. I could hear her baby's heart beating inside her and it was such a sweet thing that I had become attuned to it. Since she's huge now I had to take up the cooking. At first it was a disaster but after a week or two I got it. I was going to cook her some meat as she'd need the iron during the pregnancy with baked potatoes and steamed vegetables.
I was at the supermarket checking out my groceries when my mobile rang. I paid the salesgirl and picked up the phone.
"Sam! The baby's coming!" Emily shouted in my ear panting as if it was the end of the world.
"Huh?" I asked her confused like hell.
"I've just had my first contraction. He's coming now, he won't wait till the hospital." she said. She was determined that the baby was a boy while I thought it was a girl.
"Contraction?" Well, I had been away from the human world, so excuse me if I forgot the terms.
"Yeah, that pain you feel when Ahh..." she finished with a scream.
"I'll be there in a sec. Try um... Breathing. Don't worry I'll get to you." I hung up and looked around me. Nobody was looking at me so I took off in vamp speed. The car would only slow me down now, so I had to run to our house, which was about half an hour drive. I arrived in ten minutes and burst through the front door, not bothering to use the key, so the wood around the lock had broken. I grimaced but when I saw that Emily was outstretched on the floor, legs open and shouting in pain, I hurried to get to her.
"Emily, why didn't you stay in your bed?" I asked her as I wondered which was the best way to move her to the bed.
"Well, I wasn't expecting him for another four months, that's why." she said through grunts.
"Come on, I'm going to carry you to your bed." I said and put my arms under her neck and her knees.
"How are you gonna-" I cut her off and was already in the bedroom by the time she was starting to stammer.
"You're not human, are you?" she asked with surprising intensity. Well I had given my abilities away this night so I might as well answer her truthfully.
"Nope." I said as I put blankets underneath her lower body.
"Thanks for coming down for me." she told me with unusual seriousness.
"Huh?" I said and stopped what I was doing to look at her.
"You're an angle. I knew it!" she told me with a smile on her face which still showed she was being serious. I snorted. Yeah right, angle with pointy teeth.
"You're delusional, Em." I told her with a smile. She shrugged of though she wouldn't say anything against her theory. Suddenly she screamed without any notice. When I touched her skin it felt hot and I could feel the vibrations her heart and her baby's were producing.
"I'm gonna die, Sam." she said as she screamed and kicked. I held her legs firmly and ripped her baggy sweatpants off of her. Her panties were stained with blood. The scent hit my throat like a bullet. I felt myself liking my lips. I literally smacked myself.
"Snap out of it!" I shouted at myself. Emily looked at me questioningly though agony soon replaced her expression. I took of her panties trying hard not to feel too awkward while doing it but failing miserably. Stripping your best friend is NOT something anyone should have to do. I stopped feeling awkward when I saw the state her vagina was. A little head, barely recognisable was visible. I felt like I was going to puke. The reason I had despised biology when I was human was that these kind of things made me nauseous. And clearly immortality hadn't changed that. Emily's screams woke me up from my day dreaming.
Come on girl! You need to get in your big girl pants and do this, even though it defies every law of nature. A vampire for a midwife. Universe, you have a sick sense of humour.
"Um, so I've done all I can. The baby's head is visible. Um... Er... Grip to my hand for support." I told her, seeing that she was about to tear her hair out. She grabbed my hands and I felt her weak nails digging in my skin. She looked at me apologetically but at the same time frantic.
"How 'bout you try that breathing thing women do in the movies then push." I told her, not sure wether the information I supplied her was what she should do. She nodded and started the breathing exercise and pushed. The baby's head was almost completely visible. Her warm blood pumped and smelled sweeter than anything I had ever smelled. I gulped and instead focused on her heartbeat. It was slow and her breathing was almost non-existent. I looked at her neck and saw that pipe thingy that was supposed to feed the baby. Again, the terms were forgotten.
"Emily, she's not breathing. The pipe thingy went around her neck. It's strangling her." I told her.
"Sam... Remove it... Or he'll die." Emily panted with tears in her eyes and a helpless look on her face.
"Fuck you universe." I said before I slid my finger as softly as possible between the baby's skin and the pipe and pulled it gently using the faintest thread of strength. She started crying at once which if I remembered correctly was a good sign.
"I did it!" I said victoriously. Emily smiled and pushed a little bit more. When the baby came out I cut the pipe thingy and held it to stop the flow of blood. I wrapped her in a blanket and stated at her. She looked so peaceful, even though she was crying. She was truly the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I walked over to Emily who was looking at us with a dreamy look of satisfaction on her face.
"Here she is." I told her. I placed her gently in her arms. She wiped a little bit of the bloody goo on the baby's face.
"Have you checked the sex?" she asked me. I shook my head. She lifted the blanket gently and a smile I knew all too well spread on her face.
"You were dead wrong. It's a he." she told me. I shrugged.
"Well, it doesn't matter what sex he is. The important thing is that he is healthy." I told her. She smiled at her baby and I admit I felt a little bit envious. That was a thing I would never be able to do.
"What's wrong?" she asked me. Emily knew me well enough. Though she sometimes grumbled that I was too much of an introvert and that I didn't trust her like friends should do and that she could take whatever my secret was, she knew me well enough that she recognised the extra dose of sadness on my over all depressed mood.
"I'm really happy for you, Em. And I really wish that perhaps one day I could experience that kind of happiness, but that's impossible for me."
"What do you mean?" she asked, a slightly frowning at my confession.
"I'm not fertile. I can't have children. Ever." I told her in a small voice.
"Oh, Sam." she reached over to hug me but since she had the baby in her hands she couldn't."Don't worry. If you want we will be able to grow him up together. You'll be his auntie." she told me.
"Emily, I... I'm extremely glad that I took you in that night but eventually I'll have to leave. I can't stay in one place long enough. This is a mistake. I should have never let myself get this involved. Now I will hurt you if I leave." I said gloomily as reality hit me. I was glad that she offered. It really made me happy but I couldn't stay long enough to see him go to school. At least I would have four more years or so.
"Why are you so afraid of relationships, Sam. You try to be icy and cold but I know you're not like that. You try to be distant, even though I try so hard to reach out to you and pull you out of your depression." she asked me. I needed to change the subject. Anything would be suitable but not this.
"Now's not the time to talk about this. We need to get the baby washed up, you rested and a doctor here right away to examine you both. By the way, have you though what you what to name him?" I asked casually.
"I've been thinking about that. I came up with Jerome and Damon. What do you think?"
"Hmm, Jerome usually indicates that someone is romantic. I associate him with poetry, painting and literature. On the other hand Damon is more of a bad boy kind of name. It's cute with an edge. I thing I'd go with Damon." I told her.
"Yeah, me too. Well hello little Damon. Are you thirsty? Come on... There you go." she said as she breast fed him. They looked so content! I smiled once and dialled the doctor's number and I weirdly explained to him what happened. He sounded alarmed on the phone and said he'd come to check on Em and the baby instantly.
After an hour or so, the doctor came. She examined Emily throughly and made sure the baby was healthy. It turned out that everything was alright. Emily had no problems and neither did little Damon. When the doctor asked how Emily had carried out the labour all by herself, she told him all about how I had heroically saved her baby. The doctor looked truly impressed. After congratulating me on my quick thinking and courage, she suggested that I pursue a career in nursing. I laughed out loud at this. Yeah, right! A vampire nurse. That's not ironic at all.
After the doctor left, Emily and Damon fell asleep. I googled newborn baby, to get some tips on what I should so. I checked what were the best products for babies, starting with food and ending up with clothing. By the end of my searching I had already spent two thousand bucks on baby clothes, rattles, playpen and pusher, maxi cosy and all sorts of stuff. I was seriously going to like spoiling this boy. Suddenly I heard a little stir. The baby was waking up. We had put him on the small bed we had already bought. I went quickly in the room and saw that Emily was still sleeping soundlessly, not even moving with her tiredness. Her chest was heaving evenly and I smiled at how peaceful she looked. On the other hand, Damon was starting to wake up. He began crying and so, waking up Emily. I pondered on what to do so I decided to pick him up. He shuddered as my cool skin touched his. I quickly held him to my chest, making sure to hold his teeny almost bald head pressed slightly to my shoulder and picked up the blanket and wrapped him in it. I started rocking him gently in my arms which calmed him almost immediately. He started touching my shirt, as if demanding to be breast fed. I smiled at his innocence. He would surly be disappointed if I try to breast feed him. Instead, I rubbed my index finger along my bloodstained jeans so that the friction would heat it slight just enough so that it wouldn't shock him. I put my finger next to his hand and he curled his small petit fingers around it. I couldn't help buy smile at his little fingers. They were so tiny. I kissed the top of his hand and went back to rocking him softly until he fell in a gentle slumber.
Emily's POV
I woke up, my whole body aching and in need of a shower. I looked at the carriage beside me, expecting to find my little angle, but it was empty. I began to panic.
"Sam! The baby's gone! Oh god, I'm such a bad mother! I've already lost the baby and he's not even one day old." I looked everywhere but he was nowhere to be found. Sam appeared in the doorway, holding Damon in her hands and a bottle of milk. I looked at her questioningly. We were planning to go buy everything we needed this weekend.
"Where did you get the stuff?"
"A magical place called online shopping!" she said cheerfully. I got up and followed her to the kitchen. There were several boxes, all piled up to be thrown away later. There was a playpen already set up in a corner, a baby buggy next to it and several boxes with all types of clothes in them.
"And just as you like it, I've got pancakes covered on chocolate syrup!" she said. My face brightened up and I went to the table where my plate full of delicious pancakes stood.
"Aw! I love you Sam! You had me at pancakes." I said and hugged her making sure not to hurt Damon.
"He's just so CUTE!" Sam squealed.
"Sam, you're simply a maniac with a credit card and a computer." I said as I glanced at the expensive stuff she bought. She shrugged and continued making goofy faces at Damon, and he just started giggling at her.
Finally I felt like I had a family. I had everything I needed in Sam and my little Damon. Images flashed of last night. She carried me to my room so fast that everything looked blurred. She didn't even seem to feel the weight, and I was sixty kilos with Damon in my womb. Money never seemed to be a problem for her and never, in the six months that I've been here has she ever eaten in front of me, or went to the toilet. Sometimes she just stares for whole minutes, without even blinking. And she never, ever went out during the day. She seemed to wake up at the crack of dawn as I've never seen her sleeping. Sometimes she looks way to still to be breathing.
Yeah, she's definitely NOT human.
I suspect she's an angel or something of that sorts. But then again, can an angle be so depressed. Sometimes I see her lying on her bed, with a box in her hand and holding that pretty heart shaped diamond necklace of hers. She never takes it of, and when I asked her about it, her eyes went so sad and she just smiled sadly at me and went to her room. When I went to check on her I found her reading a really old copy of Romeo and Juliet. I think she has read the freaking book for at least sixty times since I met her. I would never understand her fixation on the book. It's a tragedy, something to read once, feel sad and get over it, not completely patronise it.
Right now she seemed to be completely lost in Damon. But I can still see a little sad glint in her eyes. I excused myself to go to the toilet. After I took care of my basic necessities, I felt curiosity creep on me. I tiptoed to her room, and looked around for the box. I found it in the desk of her boudoir. I opened it carefully making sure not to tear the box such was surprisingly covered in soft velvet. The book was in there so I decided to open it, see what's so special about it. Inside I found about five pictures taken with an old camera. The first picture was of the most beautiful meadow I had ever seen in my life. There was even a little cottage to complete it. I looked at the next picture and was shocked out of baggy dress. It was a picture of Sam, with some guy who had deep burgundy eyes. They both looked happy, relaxed. The sad glint in Sam's eyes was nonexistent. I gasped at the way they looked together. They were most definitely in love, both of them. But the thing which amazed me the most was their unearthly beauty. Even in the photograph I could see that. Though I was completely straight I had to admit that Sam had a whole unearthly gorgeous appearance. She was way too graceful for a seventeen year old, in fact I think she carried a certain grace with her better than any ballerina. Though I think she tries to hide it a lot with her goth appearance. I flipped through the pictures, always of Sam and this hot guy with her. I put the pictures back in the book, but then I noticed a crumbled piece of paper folded neatly. I picked it up and read it.
At the end I felt tears running down my cheeks. This was a true love letter, but then what was Sam doing here with me. She should go to this guy who loves her, for sure. Had Damon's father cared even a fraction of what this guy cared for Sam, we would be married by now. I intended to talk to her. She needed to go to him! Sam was miserable here, even if she tried to hide it. And if this guy loved her as much as this letter implied he was probably miserable too. Suddenly I headed someone clearing their throat behind me. I turned around, expecting to find Sam angry as hell with me for going through her stuff. But instead I found a girl, destroyed and vulnerable. She held Damon to her chest, while she tried to look away. Damon was sleeping soundly in her hands. I took the baby from her hands and went in my room to put him in his bed. I rushed back to Sam, who sat in her bed, agony eating her away on the inside while she held the pendent and looked at the her right hand. I noticed the ring on her finger and everything fit together.
"Sam... Go to him. He's obviously miserable without you. Not that you're any better." I said and hugged her tight to me. Her skin felt icy cold against mine.
"I can't, Emily. You wouldn't understand." she said against my shoulder.
"Then help me to understand."
"I... Well... His name is Alec. I was like you once when he met me. Alone. He told his father about me, and when his father released what I can do, he told him to seduce me, make me fall in love with him so that I would stay with them. I did fall in love with him and I still do, but when I discovered his dad's plan, I lost it. I didn't want to have to do anything with Alec and his family. When I was about to leave, he told me that he hadn't agreed with his father, and that things just happened. He fell in love with me too. I couldn't believe him. I just couldn't. I felt betrayed and confused. I wanted so much to believe him but it felt wrong. I told him to leave his father and come with me so that we could be together. But he couldn't! His sister has... problems and he needs to stay there, with her. I just can't fall in his father's clutches. But I love him so much it aches, being away from him. I miss him, I miss how he would reassure me and put me in his arms, I miss him teasing me and seeing his paintings about me. I miss his comforting presence and how warm his words would make me feel. I miss him reciting verses to me and I miss his touch." she said slowly, as if choosing her words carefully.
"Oh, Sam. I'm so sorry." I told her feeling helpless than ever.
"I gave him everything I had! He was my first. And I found out about just mere hours agree we made love! He was everything to me. Now I'm empty." she said.
"Do you know what you told me when I told you that I was pregnant?" I asked her. When she didn't answer I told her, "You told me the everything was going to turn out alright for good people. I think you should take your own advice."
"You don't know me! I'm not good! I've done things that would have you running away from me if you knew about them!"
"I don't believe it! It's impossible. You've saved my and my baby's lives! You gave us a home, food and shelter. You where there every step of the way! Hell you even delivered my baby!"
"You don't understand."
"Yeah, I do."
"No. You don't. I need to go do... whatever." she said and took off out of the room. She was already out of the house before I could utter another word.