alderwitch

Taylor opened the door, using the key to the family home that she still had. She leaned on Jack for balance as she pulled her shoes off and tucked them in one of the cubbies by the door before waiting for Jack to do the same. They found Taylor's mother unsurprisingly in the kitchen, staring at the various sandwich toppings. Taylor's mouth softened at the sight of her mother standing there with her brown hair pulled back and lines etched around her mouth and eyes of the strained concern of a worried parent. She stepped into the sunny room and took the knife from her mother's numb fingers. "Mom, let me get that while I explain." Taylor said gently as she steered her mother to a chair by the breakfast table. Returning to the island, she picked up things to make sandwich fixings. "Remember after the wedding and I explained that Jack and I moonlight as superheroes?" Dr. Chun nodded slightly and she patted Jack on the arm after noting his expression. She sounded a little more herself, although her tone hadn't lost its sharpness, "Yes, I said 'thank God its not drugs. What has that to do with things? You're not swinging from rooftops still are you?" She fixed Jack with expectant blue eyes, "You're not letting wrestle goons while pregnant are you?"

Taylor reached up to cover her hand, her eyes tearing up suspiciously. She blinked a few times before muttering, "Darn these hormones. Thank you, Stesha. I'm so very lucky to have you as a friend." She stood up, scooting around the table to grab a kleenex and blotted her eyes dry again, "You're right, you're right. I just hate feeling off kilter and unprepared. And the big worries are so big I feel petty when the little ones cross my brain. Like the fact that I can't fit into anything but my fat jeans now. Or that eating all the time is a hassle. Or that the baby is going to be born a few months after the wedding. Or that I'm going to end up as huge as a barn and not be able to go out bouncing on rooftops and Jack will be out there without me." She huffed and chucked the kleenex in waste bin. Taylor didn't mention the whole no feeding thing to Stesha but that wasn't far from her thoughts either. She knew he had to eat but it didn't make her happy as she rather doubted he was using any supplement. Which most likely meant donors. Taylor scowled down at the Chinese food darkly.

Taylor picked her way over to Jack quickly enough over the debris and she examined him with concerned eyes, focusing on the gaping chest wound. She rested her fingertips lightly next to it, where he was still whole and solid and leaned in to ask in a quiet undertone, "Will you be able to heal that tonight?" The offer of blood was unspoken but clear as she watched him with worried dark eyes. "Is that the last of it or a momentary reprieve do you think?"

"What do you do in the abstract or what will we spend our time doing?" Alex asked dryly, lugging her bag along, "If you mean the former, its mostly drinking and hooking up with people in various states of sobriety. I imagine there will be one or two explosions of drama over the course of the party. I am planning on swimming, teasing Mike and trying to keep Zoe and Eddie from having sex as many times as possible. I also am bringing cards."

Taylor ducked her head in agreement at the first and said with a faint smile. "That's if I stay on Prime. We really can't afford to have me pregnant that long, there's too much a risk of the pregnancy getting recognized for what it is. So I'll side step to places where time moves faster." She shifted, drawing her legs up under her, "You saw what they sent for the wedding, can you imagine the attack force for this? Not to mention there are witch hunters out there who'd be just as quick to try and take me out. At my peak, that would make me pause. Now? I already feel more vulnerable. What if someone like that Zealot nabbed me again. Sure, I regenerate, but would the baby? Its not something I ever want to test."

"I got a whole list of things from Mark to say to people. It seems to work alright but I feel super corny doing it. But just saying 'well, seeya' seems to dissapoint them as a farewell." Alex admitted with a little shrug. She ran her card and tucked it back in her wallet as her suits were bagged. "It depends where I am and how dark it is. It happens more often at night but usually its people asking me about glowing than recognizing me as a super hero. So far, its been a little surreal but not problematic."

"No," Taylor said quietly, her shoulders curling in a quiet despair, "I can't think of how to tell them in a way that doesn't bring Jack's nature to light and I won't do that to Jack. I just won't. My folks, my brothers and sister, are Jack's family now too and I won't have that taken from him. He can't help what he is. Jack's torturing himself quietly over how his vampiric nature may or may not affect me and the baby. I'll do whatever I can to minimize that. Which means figuring out some other way to explain it to my folks than your son in law is a vampire and the baby may or may not require an O positive diet when he's born any time between now and August."

Taylor rolled her eyes at him, for the moment very much his teacher as she admonished, "James, you never ever fight a vampire in their layer. Most vampires, especially old ones, live in a nest with their childer, possibly even grand childer and then human defenses. They are mystical fortresses and often with mundane protections as well. Even Jack, who's very young as vampires go has a billion layers of protection here and he never even sleeps."

"Jack had a lot of unprotected sex between when he became a vampire and when he met me. There was no 'hold over' sperm and if there was, it was used up long, long ago." Taylor said wryly, mingled amusement and distaste on her face at her husband's past history. She finished off one of the potstickers and gestured with the chopsticks, "And considering the baby was living off my blood supply before I started eating regularly, its not a real positive sign. Physiologically, he'll be a halfbreed but I really don't know what that means for Jack's bloodline. Some legends say all the daywalkers are halfbreeds and others say that they're the original vampiric line and the others are the mutations. Mostly in the middle of vampire pissing contests.." Taylor scrunched up her nose at that and shrugged, "No names yet. We only ended the 'no one talks about the baby' silence treaty today. My family does English name, Chinese name, last name. I'm not sure if Jack has any family traditions from his parents he'll want to incorperate."

"We have to buy socks and underwear just like other people," Alex said with a gentle smile as she quickly jotted down the note: To Patty, Freedom Forever! - Your Young Freedom Pal, Psyche. Having spent time in Mark's super hero fueled brain had its advantages. Alex clicked the pen off and tried to figure out what to say next. To Erin, it was obvious who she was copying as she wiggled a finger and said, "Now Patty, you have a nice day... and stay in school." She left out the lopsided Mark grin and matching wink but other than that she had the stance down before she turned around to head for the counter with a silent, "Lets get out of here before we draw a crowd."

"Considering how well you take one of my full power blasts, you have little to worry about in that regard. We'll have to pay hazard pay to the babysitter, though," Taylor teased but her eyes had softened and the lines of tension had vanished from around her mouth. She shifted slightly, pressing her hands into the center of her back as she stretched and answered the question, "An aptitude for magic is possible but I'm more worried he'll inherit my phasing. Do you think I should ward the nursery against that or is that too overprotective?" It was perhaps not the best question to ask a perspective father who had been complaining about the steel shutters not being enough.

"That the baby is a bioligical impobability and that Archevielle is creepier than I thought which is saying something." Disappointment flickered across Taylor's face with Jack's vanishing act but no surprise. She turned shadowed eyes to Stesha and collected a carton and a pair of chopsticks. "It was an entirely unpleasant process but informative. Its a boy. Best guess is due in the summer if I spent all my time in this dimension. He has a heartbeat which is a relief for everyone."

Alex spun around and blinked a few times, her arms full of the swimsuits. Once she realized what the girl was on about she blushed and stepped slightly in front of Erin, trying to provide her an out if she wanted anomnity. "Oh, well, sure I guess. Do you have something you'd like me to sign?" Alex juggled the suits to one arm as she dug in her backpack for a pen. She could have floated them but she didn't really want to make more of a scene than she was already. "Or just a piece of paper?"

"No, not yet. In addition to his threat level and the vampire politics part of it, Jack's a direct descendent of Dracula. I think its his sire's sire but I might be missing a step in there." Taylor waved a hand, nose wrinkling up, "I have the worst inlaws. Not to mention Jack's sire is not fond of me. It makes me all sorts of tense that she hasn't waltzed in yet. We're just waiting for the shoe to drop. I hate that." Talor sighed and tucked her hands in her lap, under the lap blanket. "She might be hiding since her childe's drawn the big bad's wrath and she doesn't want to die by association but I think she's just as likely to try and provide Jack's head on a platter to stem the outrage."

"I can do that. That doesn't sound difficult. You think that would work?" Alex asked as she gathered up her armfull of clothing. "I mean, I hug Mike a lot. I'm sure I've hugged him in a swimsuit before. Do you think asking him to help me with my suntan lotion would work? That was kinda my plan. Hence all the skin." She gestured to the smallish swimsuits. Like Erin, Alex owned once pieces and this was a new forray into the bikini realm. "Do you think that we should get something to go over them or just, towel, t-shirt, jeans?"

"You have got to be kidding me." Taylor muttered, shooting Jack a look of patent disbelief. Closing her eyes, she brought her hands forward infront of her as her friends cried out their encouragement. She slitted them open to admonish Ace through gritted teeth as she gathered all the power she could muster in a burning bright ball between her hands, "Ace, don't taunt the darkness. It's tacky." "Jack, cover your eyes," When the light between her hands burned white hot and too bright to look at, she slammed her palms downward and the power mushroomed out with a concussive wave of brilliant energy that filled the room expanding outward through heroes until it burst out through the windows, shattering them outward in final defiance.

Alex smiled as Mike returned with Mark, and said to Faith not unkindly, "I really wouldn't worry about it. Mark's ability is probability control. If he isn't fine, he's generally rescued. Its just how his powers work. There really isn't anyone safer to experiment on." She wrinkled her nose at her boyfriend's teasing and poked him with one finger, "Watch it, buster, I can make you cluck like a chicken. Or make kissy faces at Chris."

Taylor rested her hand over his, bowing her head slightly, "To hide everything you mean. So many secrets. What mommy and daddy do at night. Where we live. Who we really are." And what... The words remained unspoken but the sigh was eloquent enough. Firming her spine, Taylor forced herself not to hunch her shoulders and she determindly turned her face back to the walls of the room, her chin tilted stubbornly. One step at a time, she reminded herself firmly, one obstacle. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. It's not a traditional baby things but it might be neat. I have so many things from over the years in the pocket. Souviniers really, but we could get some nice framed photographs of places around the world and hang those on the walls along with the artifacts I have." She paused, "Well, none of the dangerous ones, of course, just the more kitchy things.

1d20+28=36 I'll spend my last HP. Hoorah! 1d20+28=41

"Any dimension we'd like to visit," Taylor affirmed, stepping into his arms until her stomach bumped against him. She tilted her head back up to look at him and admitted, "I was a total bookworm as a child, unsurprisingly. Maybe he'll end up with a healthy middle ground, enjoys reading but doesn't refuse to leave his room." She locked her arms around his waist and agreed, "We could put a rocker next to the bookshelf or a big comfy chair. Like a little corner over there." Taylor nodded her head to the spot he'd indicated, "Maybe do a fairytale thing. You know, castles, knights and all that."

Psyche surged up into the air as her powers came back on line. With a frown of concentration, she thrust both hands out, creating a telekinetic bridge under the path from the proles to the portal and wrapping the sides up and over to create a bubble of protection from the lava and smoke around the group as they hustled towards the escape provided. Alex really hoped it was a direct portal and not one that went through hell. She coughed, wishing not for the first time that she'd gotten some of Mike's protection from the elements.

"Kinda," Alex said doubtfully, "I don't wanna seduce him, so much, as get him more comfortable with things. I'm not sure the party's the best place for it but he needs to get more comfortable with crowds and all that." She shrugged as she pulled her jeans back up and stomped into her boots. Alex confessed without any noticable remorse. "And maybe I just want to make him a wee bit physically uncomfortable with, you know, wanting me."

Round one of jury rigging. Details and roll to follow when I get home and have book access. :D

While the men taunted their enemy, Taylor phased and went running through the desk and to the back corner of the room and the curio cabinet. She threw the doors open wide and yanked out a chained book, the heavy padlock marked with twisting runes. Pricking her finger on the spike that replaced where a normal keyhole would have been, the runes shifted and the chain fell off. Taylor curved her body around the tome protectively, with it cradled open in her arms as she started to read in a low sibilant language in the background.

Taylor grinned at him with the advantage of having at least been to children's stores and having babysat her nephews and nieces. "I think he'll be a little young for that for a bit, honey. They don't do GI Joe nurseries. Or mutant turtles either. I think you need to think more along the lines of trains or bears or alphabet letters." She folded her hands over her stomach, lacing them together as she watched her husband prowl around the room like the predator he was. Taylor sighed as Jack eyed the windows again and volunteered, "What about a jungle? We could paint the walls cream and then do a dark green carpet with a few rugs. Lots of stuffed animals?"