Lost Without You

~37~

"Does it work?" Lucas asked, without turning, from where he was kneeling by the sitting room's fireplace when he heard me descending the stairs the following morning.

"It should. It did, last year." I replied quite unnecessarily as he already managed to get a small flame burning around some dry twigs and pieces of paper he had piled on the hearth, the thin ribbon of smoke floating up the chimney as it was supposed to. "See? I'm sure there's more wood in the garage, we can bring it in later."

A wide grin spread across his face when he stood up and caught sight of me, curled up under the blanket on the sofa, watching him with only half-opened eyes and considering going back to bed. It was cold, cloudy and windy outside and my bed was so warm and comfortable...

"Haven't you just woken up? And you're lying down again! You don't plan to spend the whole Holidays in bed, do you?" Lucas teased. "You need to get changed," he pointed at my dressing gown as he snatched my blanket away, "then we should get you practicing your fighting skills some more..."

Yeah... 'practicing my fighting skills' right now consisted of listening to his tips on how to hold a knife, and trying to remember that I was not to freak out at the sight of blood. Even though a real vampire wouldn't bleed as profusely as a human, still, there would be some blood...

"Fine, fine, but I need some coffee first," I said as he reached for my hand and pulled me to my feet quickly, making me feel dizzy.

This was the newest symptom of the pregnancy-- my vision blurring and exploding in spots every time I stood up too fast. That, and the constant hunger.

"Also, I need something to eat." I added. "A croissant. Or two. Then I'll cook lunch and..."

"You'll cook later, otherwise we'll never start with your practice," he laughed, following me into the kitchen and putting the kettle on while I rummaged through the cupboards to see what Mum had bought for us.

In the end, we didn't get as many occasions for practicing fight and self-defence as Lucas would have liked, during the two days before Lia and Stoker's arrival.

We spent most of the time out, at Julian's, or at Lucas' father's, shopping for clothes and presents with Anaïs or strolling in the Marina with Mum. I suspected that Lucas pitied me too much, seeing me drained at the end of the days when we finally got back up to the house, to force me to do any practice. But he made me fall asleep on the sofa both nights by making me listen to his summary of the main points of self-defence, and the list of the body parts I should be aiming for when trying to disarm or disable an opponent with a knife.

Then, on the evening of the twenty-fourth, Lia and Stoker finally arrived.

"I missed you!" Lia rushed out of the large black car to embrace me as if we hadn't seen each other for a couple of months, rather than days. "Goodness gracious me, you've grown again!" She exclaimed when she pulled me inside from the veranda where I had been waiting for them.

"We need to talk, Samara," Stoker said as he and Lucas walked past us, loaded with the luggage. "Later," he added, seeing that Lia kept rattling on about my pregnancy as she walked towards the kitchen tugging me behind her, apparently too excited to let anybody else talk at the moment. What is wrong with her? She was a chatty girl, but she did not usually speak quite as much or as fast as this...

"So," I said once we had eaten and Lia announced that she had had a long day, and wished to go to bed. "There's the master bedroom, or the two smaller ones across the corridor from mine and Lucas' rooms. You guys choose whichever you want."

It was amusing to watch the two look at each other across the table, then the blush spreading over Lia's cheeks like wildfire, as she declared, "We'll... take the master bedroom, thank you."