Well, past lunch is when I found myself crawling out of bed. Since I had such a rough night, I needed the extra sleep. Kai wasn't anywhere in the room, but I wasn't worried about that. Although I have to admit, he was helpful last night and cared for me.
Last I remember, I was still in the bathroom when I eventually fell asleep on him at some point, I guess. He must've carried me to bed after that, I thought, getting clothes from my closet. After an enjoyable hot shower, I left the room and wandered about.
"Good afternoon, Victoria," Mr. Collin greeted me in the corridor. "How are you feeling? Kai told me you had an arduous night."
"A little nauseous but it's manageable," I replied softly and likely sounding weak.
Mr. Collin smiled, "Perhaps some warm tea would help. Why don't you follow me?"
I didn't say much and followed him. He led me to this outdoor deck that was made from stone. Caroline was drawing chalk pictures with Alice on it. Off to the right, sat Mrs. Collin, her sister Mrs. Nasberry, and Rose's mother, laughing together at this round black table. The whole table was filled with pastry snacks, a teapot, creamers, wine glasses, and teacups. Every piece of the tea set was a beautiful vampiric Victorian piece and very old, indeed.
Mrs. Nasberry was holding a cocktail glass in her hand but I doubt she was drinking an actual cocktail. I'm sure the red wine was blood because I could smell it.
"Victoria dear, care to join us for some tea?" Mrs. Collin offered generously and Mr. Collin left.
I took a seat next to Mrs. Collin and Mrs. Nasberry was across from me with Rose's mother on her right.
"Would you like some Jasmine tea?" Mrs. Collin asked and I sorta nodded.
She poured me some in a teacup and Mrs. Nasberry handed me the cream pourer. "This is the milk so don't drink from that one," she informed me with a chuckle. When she pointed at the second cream pourer that was filled with blood. Uncannily, the aroma of it was tempting.
I weakly smiled, "Thanks for letting me know."
"Unless the vamp baby wants it. Then it would be fine to drink," said Rose's mother and I saw that fawning glint in her eye. Like she could read my mind to know, I felt that craving to drink blood. The fact I was watching Mrs. Nasberry sip it, was making me spacey and stir crazy to have it.
"No, that won't be necessary!" I said louder than I meant to and I got that same look from them all.
Mrs. Collin touched my shoulder, "It's ok dear, it's normal to have weird pregnancy cravings for blood. Zoey did this when she was human during her pregnancy with a vamp baby."
I was shocked because that would mean Joshua isn't her firstborn and I never knew she was once human.
Upon hearing Mrs. Collin, Rose walked in and complained before I could ask when Zoey was turned. "Tell me about it! When this son of mine is born. He is going to hear it from me!" She expressed herself widely and sat between her mother and me. All at once, we gaped to see she had a salad in her hand, covered in Italian dressing.
"Rose, are you eating a salad?" Her mother teasingly questioned.
Rose said when raising her hand to talk. "Mother, please, not another word about this. It's bad enough as it is. So I need to eat this quickly before Ace sees this or else he'll never let me off the hook."
None of us couldn't help but giggle at her. As this louder chuckling roared behind, Rose. "Oh, it's far too late for that babe!"
Appearing out of the blue, Ace, Kai, Rome, Ivan, Glenn, and Jack showed up. Upon hearing Ace's voice, she turned around blushing embarrassed.
"I blame you!" Was all she could utterly accuse.
Ace chuckled and kissed the top of her hair. "You blame me but you're the one who planned this pregnancy," he teased.
"I blame you for the weird pregnancy cravings this baby is making me eat," Rose clarified and we laughed at her statement. Until we laughed harder when Rome snuck in a picture of her eating the salad.
"Rome, you better delete those?" Rose teasingly warned.
"Sure, after I sent them to Ace," Rome chuckled when he and Ace gave one another a goofy high five on that comment.
Poor Rose said nothing but Ace talked while he looked at the photos Rome sent to his phone, "That's one for the baby album."
After everyone somewhat settled from laughing, insanely. Kai came over and took out this tin mint can. He pulled out this blue leaf with green jagged edges and said when handing it to me. "Put this in your tea."
"Why?" I asked suspiciously when the strong smell of mint entered my nostrils.
"It will help with nauseousness," he told me sincerely.
"What kinda plant is this?" I asked and stared at it weirdly. "I've never seen anything like this."
"Just please try it Victoria and trust me," Kai implored with a softer smile.
Mrs. Nasberry encouraged, "Go ahead, Victoria. It's harmless and you'll feel better."
I sighed, evidently outnumbered, and placed the weird leaf in my tea. I stirred it around as Mrs. Collin said. "You can also put it under your tongue if you get sick when you're out at college."
I took a mental note of what she said and then took my first sip. The leaf tasted like a mint. Only it was slightly stronger and better tasting. Instantly, I was addicted to the flavor. Like magic, it worked and my stomach felt much better.
From a side glance, I peeked at Kai watching me drink it. He reminded me of a sad puppy that was waiting for my praise to say he was a good boy or something along those lines.
I sighed at the thought but was gratified. "Thanks, Kai, it's helping me feel better."
I swear if he was a puppy, his tail would be wagging wildly when I confessed that to him.
Those agate eyes shone so gaily with love. Weirdly enough I felt captured by his sincere adoration. I could tell he loved me dearly and I felt stuck on him for whatever reason. There was this strange tug on my heart that was confusing.
"Rose, are you eating a salad!" Whimsically, Mia appeared and stated with a more shocker expression. Thankfully, it pulled me out of this weird daze with Kai.
"Oh, my gosh! Would everyone stop making such a big deal out of this!" Rose mumbled with a mouth full of salad. Which made us laugh harder again.