A comfortable balance was established between Alexandre, Cornelius and I, and the days began to fly by. Though I must admit, the balance mostly consisted of them taking care of me as my due date crept closer. I got crankier as it got harder for me to find a comfortable position as the baby grew, but the two men only got more indulgent, never more than a call away. It infuriated me at times, to their great amusement. There was as steady change happening in Cornelius, the more time he was accepted as a member of our little pack or the closer he grew to us, the gentler he seemed. It seemed the key change to the virus was very much as Cornelius had predicted earlier, an oxytocin, serotonin and other hormonal rush triggered by love, both giving and receiving, which allowed the virus to mutate. He watched his own blood samples with increasing wonder though his age did mean he had to take frequent 'boosters' from us for a while. He had hopes they would become less necessary over time. Alexandre and I did have over a year to share each other's blood, so it would make sense he might need a little longer.
I continued to visit Luc, hoping to break him down. He remained as surly as ever, but after the first few visits of me walking out on him with long periods of me not visiting in between, he began talking to me. Score one for Carys. It was during one of these visits that I got the idea to start treating Luc with our blood.
"I can't stand the smell of you." He had spat. "You smell just like him. You've just been with him, haven't you? The scent of him taints your very pores. And yours." He sneered at Cornelius. "Don't tell me my brother is being unfaithful to you under your very nose while you carry his child?" Luc's face took on a condescending look.
"I would only consider it unfaithful if there wasn't an agreement among the parties." I replied offhand, approaching him. "However, your comment makes me curious... Why are you so jealous?"
"Carys..." Cornelius warned, while Luc sputtered.
"I'm not jealous, I'm enraged! Alexandre killed my whole family, my fiance, took my life, destroyed everything! Why should he be happy?!" Luc screamed, straining against the chains. I stepped closer still. Cornelius moved in coordination with me, keeping pace in case he needed to pull me back.
"It wasn't only your life that was destroyed. Both of you have suffered. Both of you have lost." I was within arms reach of him now.
"Carys!" Cornelius snapped, making me pause.
"Listen to your guard dog, little girl. He knows what he's talking about. I might just drain you dry if you get too close." Luc sneered. And then it hit me. If the virus in my blood could alter Cornelius... I bit my finger and swiftly traced it around Luc's surprised lips. Cornelius yanked me back almost instantly. Luc subconsciously licked at the blood. "Why did you do that?" Luc asked incredulously as Cornelius rushed me out of the room. I could hear Luc repeating the question at a scream over and over as Cornelius shut the door. Cornelius gave me a calculating look.
"You're trying to introduce the modified virus into his system, aren't you?" Cornelius asked.
"Do you think it will work?" I questioned him and he ran a hand through his hair.
"I don't know. It might take a lot of time and a lot of blood. He harbors a lot of hate and that alters a person's brain chemistry. It's possible his own virus is mutated by his hatred." Cornelius looked at the closed door thoughtfully.
"Well it's working for you." I pointed out and Cornelius glanced askance at me.
"Just what is that supposed to mean?" He teased, running a hand along my side, making me wiggle out of reach. I slapped at his hand to help me avoid the tickling sensation.
"Just this." I pointed "What happened to the ice prince who would have killed me as soon as look at me if it suited his purpose?" I leaned up and kissed his cheek, then sauntered towards the house as he stood on the worn path, bewildered.
"Back-rub!" I moaned to Alexandre when I found him in his study. He grinned evilly at me.
"Ok." He said and turned around so his back was facing me. I smacked him playfully and spun his chair back around, sitting on his lap.
"Not you, me." I ordered, placing his hands on my lower back. He whined, but kissed my neck and dug his fingers into the muscles there, making me moan with relief.
"Good Lord, are you people at it again?" Came Cornelius' voice from the door. I shot daggers at him with my eyes.
"You're one to talk." Alexandre retorted, kissing my neck and squeezing me around the ribs. Cornelius shrugged.
"I never made any claims to being chaste, in any way." Cornelius replied.
"We're probably lucky he hasn't had a steady stream of men and women traipsing through here." Alexandre murmured against the side of my neck.
"Who says I haven't?" Cornelius smirked. My mouth fell open and I flung a pen at him, which he dodged easily.
"My sense of smell." Alexandre replied, nibbling on my neck. I groaned and tilted my head out of the way. Cornelius eyed the activity.
"That looks like a tasty treat, do you intend to share?" Cornelius asked. Alexandre's growl rippled through the room and Cornelius held up his hands in defeat. "Your wife had an interesting idea about Luc." Cornelius said.
"Mmm?" Alexandre asked, not releasing me. His teeth moved up to capture my earlobe. I swatted at him again, so he put a little more force behind the next bite to my neck and I involuntarily jerked backwards into him and heard him chuckle at me. Cornelius' eyes watched Alexandre carefully.
"Yes, she thinks she may be able to tame him using some of her blood. Or more accurately, a combination of your bloods I suppose." Cornelius explained. Alexandre froze and withdrew from my neck.
"Do you think it'll work? Will it make him less.." Alexandre began.
"Feral?" Cornelius finished for him. "I don't know, but I do think it's worth a try, and I'd like to run some tests. It'll have to be done carefully, especially if we intend to keep him in a weakened state..." I leaned back in Alexandre's embrace as the two chatted about details and such. Alexandre's body had tensed at the first mention of this, but as they discussed the idea, I could feel his excitement growing and he relaxed, hugging me tighter. I actually found myself yawning before long and couldn't believe it when Alexandre gently shook me awake to ask if he or Cornelius should carry me to bed. I murmured a reply that was supposed to be a no, but must have come out wrong, because they both chuckled and I heard Cornelius' voice say "Here, I'll take her." I was asleep again before Alexandre handed me off, and when I woke up, I was once again surrounded by my two favorite fellas, Alexandre had my back against his chest, clutching me tightly, and Cornelius was curled up, gripping my hands, his forehead against mine, legs wound with mine. I sighed contentedly and went back to sleep.
Unfortunately, as my due date approached, my appetite increased. By mutual agreement, I had stopped hunting and was living almost exclusively off of bagged blood, plus Alexandre and Cornelius 'snacks' since they were still occasionally capable of slipping out to hunt. It was getting harder though, because, as predicted by the cops, we were suddenly being hounded by media and Alexandre had to hire extra security to try to keep them at bay. That didn't mean the occasional crafty reporter or photographer didn't slip through, so they always had to be careful about leaving the house to avoid crossing the paths of any humans. There were several close calls despite their best efforts.
Sadly, it wasn't just press that was showing up unannounced and calling either. Lawyers, DAs, cops, and assorted other government and legal people kept appearing trying to convince us to testify, sue, trip us up on statements, etc. They were making an assumption that the Nurse's boyfriend had gone into hiding, but every time he came up, I wondered again what had happened to his body.
My anxiety levels had started to climb, exceeded only by that of Cornelius' and Alexandre's, which I thought was hilarious, and would often tease them about. Luckily, however, Alexandre had started to enjoy the pregnancy again, taking delight in the baby's growth and development, and once again anticipating holding his daughter for the first time with delight, though I had walked in on more than one strategy session for emergency birthing techniques that Alexandre and Cornelius thought they were being sly about.
Cornelius took over Luc's 'blood transfusion' program as it got a little more tiresome for me to make the walk from the house to the stables. To be honest, in the last few weeks of my pregnancy, all I wanted to do was lay in bed and relax, as my stomach had swelled to the size of a beach ball and it was difficult to move around much without exhausting myself. Bathroom trips had become the bane of my existence, and I swore I was just going to live there until it was all over.
"Carys.. little nymph, where are you?" Cornelius' voice broke into my reverie.
"Hmm? Sorry, what did you say?" I asked him, snapping out of it.
"I said I'm done now, you can take your arm back." Cornelius chuckled. I looked at my bandaged arm, still extended and blushed slightly as I pulled it back.
"Sorry. Scatter brained." I told him.
"Seems to be happening a lot, everything ok?" Cornelius looked at me closely. I nodded and waved at my stomach in a broad gesture.
"Just a lot to worry about." I gave him a halfhearted grin. He placed a hand on my stomach lovingly and smiled.
"Everything's going to be ok, Carys." He told me sincerely. "How are you feeling?" He asked while rolling away on the stool with the blood samples in his hand.
"Tired." I answered honestly and he chuckled again.
"I'm pretty sure that's normal this late in the game." He said, fiddling with some instruments. "What I'm worried about is having enough blood for us all if things keep up at this pace. Granted, I can go a longer period without it, but you certainly cannot, then there's Alexandre, and if we keep Luc and I supplied with blood from you two it increases your needs..." Cornelius sighed.
"Should we back off Luc for now?" I asked softly. Cornelius blew out a breath, running a hand through his hair.