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The Maddie Program objected. That should have been his first clue.
No. His first clue should have been Daniel, followed by the Maddie program’s warnings.
He had always wanted to be a father – there was never a question of if he got married and had children, but when. And then one day he’d woken up and found himself in love with a woman who didn’t love him back, and knew there and then that he would never be a father. In the years following his encounter with the ghost portal, with slowly learning to cope with his phase changes and freakish powers, he simply tabled those dreams as a hope he could never hope to accomplish.
After he emerged from the hospital, he filled his time with the accumulation of vast wealth and avoided all mention of the woman he loved and could never have-what could she think of him?
Twenty years later, mere months ago, she had come back into his life, bringing with her the most unlikely of hopes: her son. She didn’t know, couldn’t possibly know, what her son was.
He was, after all, everything Vlad had once wanted to be and hadn’t the strength to become.
He’d wanted children with Maddie, and perhaps it might have been possible, with some time and effort, to achieve that goal without the woman herself. But it would be a hollow victory, one of which no one else would ever know. He didn’t even want to contemplate bringing another Maddie into the world; the one he knew was perfect–had broken his heart–was perfect, and trying to equal that would be like trying to drink the ocean, bitter and full of salt.
But Daniel. He could be a perfect companion, a son, someone to teach his secrets to and build a legacy with. He offered everything – and, against all logic, was rejected!
His first warning should have been that Daniel was not logical – that children are not machines.