taking a final sweep of the room, i noticed a black and white photo on her vanity of an old-fashioned couple standing in front of a house, a house that looked suspiciously like the ranch hand's house. the woman was healthy, happy and obviously pregnant, wearing a long, flowing dress with her hair elaborately twisted on top of her head. the man had his arm around her and was the spitting image of teren...only years younger. i realized i was looking at a picture of halina and her husband...when she was human. the photo was a startling contradiction to the vampire, who was coming out of one of the three doors i'd glanced over earlier.

"thank you for coming down," she purred at teren as he walked over to give her a hug.

my eyes again flicked to the photo of halina's husband and i marveled at the resemblance. i'd originally thought teren looked like the women of his family, but i was wrong. he resembled his great-grandfather. i watched halina eye him with fondness as they pulled apart from each other, and i clearly saw what halina saw every time she looked at him-the man she'd inadvertently killed. i instantly ached with sympathy for her.

"good evening, halina," i said warmly.

"almost, give it another fifty two minutes." she smiled over at me with a small half-grin. "good evening, emma."

i sort of had an odd desire to hug her. she seemed to sense that and her half-grin twisted to a wry one. i didn't really feel like touching her after that. sympathy only goes so far after all. she indicated the plush chairs before the coffee table and teren and i each took a seat. i glanced at teren and wondered how long he planned on staying down here; i'd been expecting a quick hi/goodbye.

halina brushed between us and crawled up on the coffee table, to sit next to the candles perched there. i watched her adjust her short, tight, black dress as she swung her legs behind her, to sit on her hip. i again stared at the picture of her as a modest human woman and marveled at the difference. she seemed to notice my gaze this time.

"attractive, wasn't he?" her voice was layered with sadness as she glanced at teren out of the corner of her eyes.

i had been studying halina in the photo, but looked back at her husband upon her words. "yes...very." i peeked over at teren as well, before my eyes rested on halina's. she noticed my examination of teren and her husband, and knew i had spotted the resemblance. she smiled warmly at me, for quite possibly the first time ever.

"his name was nicolis. his family was russian as well." she spoke a long flowery sentence in the odd sounding language. i cocked my head and waited for an explanation of the words. she didn't give them. teren hung his head, and a sense of sadness swept through the stone room, making me shiver. the silence lasted for a solid thirty seconds before halina spoke again.

"i'm glad you came back, emma." she raised an eyebrow at me. "although, i was looking forward to tracking you down, if you didn't accept teren's condition." my mouth fell open with an audible sound, as i realized that she really would have hunted me down and "wiped my memory" if i hadn't come back. she smiled at the look on my face. "i do so enjoy the hunt..."

the shiver came back up my spine at her words. teren coughed into his hand. "well, she did, great-gran, and i didn't need your help this time."

that made me look at teren oddly. exactly how many times had he spilled his heart to unwilling women? how many girls had dated teren that no longer remembered it? halina seemed to understand my strange expression and laughed. teren glanced over at me and coughed again.

"well...we should probably get going...long drive." he tore his eyes away from my narrowed ones and looked back to halina; she was fluidly rising from the coffee table. teren stood and embraced her. "we won't stay away so long," he said reassuringly, as he picked the tiny woman up.

she giggled like a teenager until he set her down. "good...we do miss you." after i stood from the chair, halina faced me and placed a hand on my stomach. the sudden move shocked me into stillness. her expression took on a longing wistfulness, and i remembered her story from the other night...about wanting to fill a farm with children. i wondered if her mournful gaze was for hoping i got pregnant soon, or for wishing she was still able to. either way it softened me, and i placed my hand over her chilly one.

she jerked her eyes up to mine, seemingly surprised that i would willingly touch her. honestly, i was a little shocked as well. her face relaxed as we stared at each other. "the baby will be strong and healthy," she said as she gently patted my stomach. tears unexpectedly stung my eyes, as i suddenly hoped she had an unnatural ability to sense these things. she dashed that hope by adding, in a near pleading voice, "i believe there will be time."

i nodded and finally embraced her. she was hesitant at first to return my hug, but eventually she warmly clasped me back. teren was smiling when we pulled apart. "we should say goodbye to the others," he said, before he briefly hugged her again. "goodnight, great-gran."

"goodnight, teren...emma."

we left her absently staring at the photo of her long dead husband, and then we made our way to the hallway leading back to the stairs, and out of halina's throne room. once back in the closet, teren pulled a piece of string attached to the inner door frame that i hadn't noticed before, and yanked the false door closed with a small click. as he opened the other side, i thought over the meeting with halina. i still wasn't pleased that she killed, and i really wasn't sure how often she did that. teren made it sound like she merely...hunted, and that most humans made it out from under her teeth safely, but the knowledge that she would take a life was a disturbing thought to have when you were around her. sometimes she could seem so fragile and innocent though...like when she spoke of the sun, or her husband.

"what did halina say?" i asked as we walked back into the living room.

he understood what i was referencing-the russian that they all spoke and i didn't. he gave a sad glance back to the door before answering me. "she said that he was the ray of light that lit her world, and the moment she ended that light, hers died as well..." he looked back to where my eyes were tearing up again. "she said she paints every sun as a memorial to him..."

that was just too much to bear, and the tears dripped down my cheeks. teren smiled and rubbed them away before giving me a tender kiss. i savored his warmth and his strength and fortified my stomach. darn emotional vampires.

while not completely dark yet, the sun was low enough, that imogen was in the kitchen with alanna and jack. knowing they were both in there, teren headed straight to the kitchen from the living room. i wondered what that felt like to him, this odd blood connection that instinctively told him exactly where his family was. did he feel it in his skin or was it a nagging sense in his head, like a gps navigator that he couldn't turn off..."turn right at the next corner." it'd be interesting to feel what being an adams vampire felt like...for maybe a day. after that, i'd be tired of hearing every bump and whisper for a half mile, having people intuitively know where i was all the time, and of course, the craving blood thing. that still did not sound appetizing at all.

we exchanged hugs and niceties, and said goodbye to his family. they politely asked if we wanted to stay for dinner and although teren did eye the empty carafe waiting on the counter, he said we had to get going; he had an early day tomorrow.

both women rubbed my stomach, just like halina had, and i suddenly felt like a good luck buddha statue. i knew they were all imparting well wishes and hopeful thoughts, but it just made me feel really weird. i dealt with it though. this was important to them and, who knew, maybe their vampire mojo would work on me? i was keeping an open mind on those urban legends. as imogen rubbed her hand over my stomach a second time while teren peacefully chatted with his father, i wondered with a slight bit of irritation if he was going to be rubbed. it was a two person project after all.

after a ten minute goodbye session and more promises to return soon, teren zipped to pack our stuff and load up the car. three minutes after that, we were bouncing down their long driveway. i turned in my seat to watch the last of the sun wash over the house of vampires.

"you had a good time, didn't you?" teren asked, watching me.

i nodded and sighed in happiness as i faced back to the front. we passed under the adams sign and i chuckled again at the odd thought i'd had on my first arrival here. they were still a little spooky, but now they were a lot less creepy. i was starting to love this little adams family. and i did already love their son. i rested my head on his shoulder and laced the fingers of his free hand in mine as we hit the asphalt of the highway.

"i had a great time, teren."

he kissed my head and we began our sixty mile drive back home.