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Dracula’s Castle, a place rumored to house the greatest of evils and fears, echoed with the cries of a new life. The cries bounced down the halls, announcing the arrival of Dracula and Lisa Tepes’s newborn son.
It had been a long night but Lisa couldn’t manage to close her eyes and rest like she knew she should. She could only stare lovingly at the baby nestled in her arms, unable to draw her gaze away from the boy she had been dreaming of for the past few months. He was perfect from his golden blond hair down to his tiny pink toes. She had named him Adrian— a name she has loved since she was a girl.
Adrian’s pudgy hand squeezed her finger and Lisa’s heart overflowed with joy.
It was an odd thing to think back to her life before meeting Vlad. She had grown up in Lupa where most of the girls and women she knew only aspired to be good wives and mothers. They wanted to marry princes and lords but not Lisa. She had decided she would be happiest with just a regular man with a regular job. As long as he supported her love for science— that’s all she really wanted. In the end, she did not marry a poor man. She married a count. He wasn’t a prince by all means or a poor man but that mattered little to Lisa. Vlad supported her, aided her with her research and loved her like no other. He was her ideal happiness and now she had another to add to that happiness.
Lisa wiggled her finger in the baby’s hold. “Your father will love you so much,” she promised. “You're so beautiful. So—”
A knock sounded at the door.
Lisa’s smile widened and she called out to her husband.
Vlad stood tall as he stepped into the bedroom. He looked just as strong and fearless as ever but Lisa could see through him. There was a tremor in his hands and hesitancy in his step.
“We have a son,” Lisa said after a beat and she held Adrian away from her body, motioning for Vlad to take the child.
Vlad hesitated but took the baby into his arms. His eyes widened comically as Adrian cooed softly and wonder lit up his pale face. “He’s so small,” he gasped.
Lisa chuckled into her hand. “You won’t break him,” she reassured.
“No,” Vlad sighed and he stroked his son’s cheek with the back of his hand. “But others might.” His gaze turned dark then. “He is not human, nor is he vampire. He’s a half-breed— a dhampir.” There was venom in his voice now but not towards his son. “He’ll be hated in both worlds.” He shook his head, expression saddening. “He won't have a place.”
Lisa’s eyes softened. “I don’t think so,” she revealed and she continued to keep the smile on her face. “He has you and me— two beings of both worlds.” She brushed a sweaty strand of hair from her face. “If no one else will stand by him, then we will.”
Vlad swallowed hard, his expression still marked with worry. “Do you believe that will be enough?” he asked.
“It was for us, was it not?” Lisa held out her arms, taking Adrian back from her husband. “As long as he has you and me, he’ll be fine.” She dropped a kiss to Adrian’s forehead, earning a bubbled gurgle from the newborn.
A soft laugh eased past Vlad’s lips as he watched and he took a seat on the edge of his and Lisa’s bed. He stroked his fingers through his wife’s hair and stared down at his son now with love and devotion instead of worry and pain. It was still there, of course, hiding in the corner of his eye but it was no longer all there was.
“He’s going to be a great man someday.”
“Oh?” Vlad met his wife’s eye. “What makes you say that?”
“Because you’re a good man.”
A blush crept across Vlad’s cheeks and he shook his head. “No,” he said and he watched as his son let out a tired yawn. “He’ll be a better one.”