Antoine could relax with Iris safely surrounded by his mom and sister. He now needed to face his father and beg for help. Antoine had just walked to his father's office on the other side of the house. He knocked thrice and waited for Martinique to reply, "Please enter."
His father was standing behind the desk with his fists on the top of the desk. He was clearly upset. Antoine slowly entered and left a good five feet of space between them. Martinique looked up and started to speak.
"Son, I have already heard everything and seen enough. It's quite worrying how powerful the baby is. How many weeks old is the fetus?"
"Seven weeks, sir."
"Seven?!? Not even past the first trimester?!?"
"No, sir."
Martinique's face flashed much more worry and anxiety than before. However, Antoine was not relaxed either and Martinique could tell.
"What is it son? There's something else worrying you too."
"It's more than just a powerful baby. Every morning Iris can't remember anything from the previous night. She said it has been happening since that night."
"Interesting. Did you use compulsion on her?"
"Yes. I told her to forget what happened that night. I didn't expect to have any repercussions weeks later."
"Really? There's always repercussions, son. You can bite a horse in the ass but you can't blame the horse if you get kicked in the head."
"Yes, sir."
"Well let's go see what happens during dinner. We might need to call in Wallace for assistance."
"Sure. Thank you, father."
Antoine followed his father out of the office and back towards the living room where the women were. Wallace was a last resort scenario. Wallace's special ability was natural hypnosis. He could remove the special effects of other vampires' abilities on humans and even pull memories from both humans and vampires. It was not good if Wallace had to be called. Someone had to mess up pretty spectacularly. Antoine definitely had.
********************
Back in the living room, Iris was feeling very comfortable around Gina and Teresa. Gina was more compassionate and sweet than any fresh strawberry jam. Their conversation had progressed from shopping to the best jokes they had heard. Teresa was winning.
As Antoine and Martinique entered the living room, they were struck by the laughter of the women. Their smiles were pretty contagious too. Antoine nodded at Iris.
Martinique announced that dinner was ready and the group followed him into the giant dining room. The dining table could seat at least twenty if not forty. Normally it was completely full on Taco Tuesdays but today it looked rather empty. There was no lack of food. Martinique's hired chefs and waiters came out after everyone was seated to explain the menu and start service. Antoine took a giant sip of his frozen blood margarita and looked at Iris try her non-alcoholic one. She was seated across the table next to Teresa and Gina. Martinique took the main seat at the end of the table. Iris took one sip and suddenly spat it up. She apologized profusely and grabbed her napkin to wipe up.
"It's okay, Iris. Let's get you a water instead," Antoine responded. Martinique summoned a waiter who promptly removed Iris's drink and brought her out a water. Even the water didn't help, though. Iris also spat out the water.
The waiters had just brought out the tacos to the table. Antoine gave Iris an encouraging look to tell her to try and eat something. Iris lifted up her taco and took a big bite. She smiled. It was very delicious but her stomach didn't seem to agree with her. She threw the food back up not more than a minute or two later.
Iris was very embarrassed now and her cheeks blushed bright red. Everyone was staring at her. She was worried that she had just made a terrible impression on his family. She wanted to apologize but before she could do so, she felt weird somehow. Before she knew it, the baby had taken over her body. Her eyes were glowing yellow again. Iris was hidden back away in her own subconscious as her child took control of her body. Martinique quickly ushered the waiters and chefs to leave the room. Martinique stood up and everyone else except Iris quickly followed. Martinique grabbed his phone and dialed a number.
"Wallace, it's Martinique. It's an emergency at the castle. We're in the dining room. GET HERE NOW!"
As soon as Martinique hung up his phone, Wallace walked in the dining room. He saw the commotion and was shocked. Wallace advised, "Let's carefully move her downstairs to one of the cells. Get a bed ready with some medical equipment and a gallon or two of blood. I need to purify her."
Antoine agreed and swiftly picked up Iris in his arms. He reminded Wallace of one very important detail. "Wallace, we're not purifying her. She's pregnant. Don't harm the baby."
Wallace glanced at Antoine and back at Martinique who confirmed Antoine's truth.
"Okay. Then get me an ultrasound machine stat. We need to bring this human back in her own consciousness."