Iris was glad to have found another job. She could pay her rent next month. She calculated that even if she only lasted a week, the pay from this company was high enough to cover three months of rent and living expenses. It would be better if she could keep her job this time. She needed to make sure she did not get stuck on night shifts. She needed to pay for her and baby.
She spent most of the weekend inside. Watching movies and ordering takeout. Chinese takeout was her favorite but baby seemed to prefer sausage more. Iris snuggled up in blankets and ate dumplings, bratwurst, and cookie dough. She watched more on FoodStuff channel and played crossword puzzles on her phone. Her night life had been more quiet since Patty now ignored her existence.
Her hair was tied in a bow and a cup by her side for sudden nausea. This baby liked to upset her stomach. If she only knew it was baby who wanted blood.
Somehow every morning it still was as if she went out. However the blood was no longer on her face or clothes. She just tasted the metallic hint of blood in her mouth. She thought it might be improving!
********************
It wasn't improving. The baby was getting hungrier. Antoine and his crew kept watch over Iris' apartment. When she came out in a daze, they quickly pulled her into her backyard. They fed her O Neg blood packets from the blood donation center. Each night she needed more. They always compelled her to forget, but it started to feel unnecessary. Antoine was concerned on how much blood the baby needed. He made a visit home to Fort Worth to see his mother, Gina, Dowager Queen Regent.
Gina was aware of the news. It had come as a shock from her well-behaved son. Nonetheless she would do anything for her darling boy. Gina herself was over 500 years old. She was a servant under Henry the 8th's reign in 1521. She was found by Martinique Gastropf, already a vampire from 200 years prior in Hesse, (modern day Germany). After she gave birth to Antoine she had wanted to be turned into a vampire. Martinique refused. After Teresa was born, Gina died. Martinique finally relented and fed blood to his beloved before her last breath. He let Gina be his queen. This caused wars among the vampires and a huge battle rose lasting centuries. He was forced to mate with Quill's mother Willard. Tony was born from this. Martinique escaped and the Gastropfs were chased out of England. They spent centuries fleeing among Europe before they came to the Americas in the 1800s. They landed in an area of Texas (future Dallas). Martinique declared their land and made rules. While humans could bear children, under Martinique's rule no vampire would ever marry a human again.
Gina gave her son a boiling cup of blood tea and sat him down next to her on the couch. "I haven't given birth in 500 years but I have helped many a vamp birth. 50 bags of blood is ridiculous. The baby could kill her. Your father may not agree but if you love her you might need to save her when she births. It might start a war during your peaceful reign. Be prepared, son."
"Thank you, mother." Antoine snuggled with his mother and drank her perfect tea. He thought of an idea.
"Would your tea help calm the baby?"
"It might, son. Let me make a large batch for you today and tomorrow, Monday, you can pick it up. I need to get to work." She called for her housekeeper Dorothea as Antione left.
Sunday night after going through 50 blood bags, Alex and Tony were exhausted. They forgot to compel her. When she woke up early for work she saw two unknown men in her backyard. She called the cops. The police showed up and put them in jail for sleeping in someone else's property. They called Marcus to bail them. When the two Quills realized that they had not compelled her and started to freak out.
Marcus laughed. "She called the cops for two unknown men sleeping in her backyard. She doesn't remember anything. You probably already compelled her and forgot."
Alex and Tony shared a glimpse of hope and shrugged it off. Alex and Tony needed to get over to the bar to clean up and prepare for opening business. Marcus headed to the company office to inform Antoine of the situation.
Antoine met Marcus in his office on the top floor. Antoine was the CEO of the corporation. That night with Iris he had been working at the bar to help out. Since then he had let Alex and Tony manage the bar and he came back to the headquarters. He felt safer in his own office with blackout curtains for privacy. All vampires could walk in the sun. That was a myth created to scare humans. Man, what humans believed.
Antoine handed Marcus a large vat of blood tea. "Dowager Queen Regent's famous blood tea."
"Thank you, King Antoine. I am not worthy for such a gift."
"Of course you are not worthy. It's not for you. It's for the baby. It should help calm the baby. It's better scalding but mother said to not feed any hotter than lukewarm or you could hurt Iris."
"Sir, are you ever going to meet Iris?"
"Today. She starts to work here. I told Karen to give all new hires a tour up to this floor. They won't know it's not normal and I can meet her properly."
"Good luck, King." Marcus said and left.