Vladimir started to cry, "I-I don't know what to say."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, giving up on my anger for the young boy and I sat down on the bed by his side, "Just tell me the truth, Vlad." I didn't know what else I could ask of him. I was just as confused as he was, probably even more. I knew that he was scared and worried and perplexed about this situation, but he had to let me know. He had to let his father know.

He shrugged and tried helplessly to wipe tears from his cheeks with the backs of his wrists, "I didn't lie to you," he said defensively. "I am a vampire, Gerard. I am!"

I held my hands up in submission and calmed him, speaking quickly so that he wouldn't start yelling, "Alright, Vlad. You're a vampire, I get it. It's just…" I groaned, feeling uneasy again, "I've never, you know, met a vampire before. And you're going to have to explain some things to me because I'm confused."

He nodded and looked at his hands that were wrung in his lap, "Well, I've been like this for as long as I can remember," he started. "My daddy said that I was born like this. That I was born with these." He parted his lips once more and showed me the pearly whites, the two sharp canines longer than the rest. "My mom wasn't one of us, though. Just me and daddy."

I nodded, "Yeah? Your mom was human?"

He confirmed, "Yup. She was human and she ate human food and did human things."

I raised a brow, almost positive that the blood had drained from my face. I groaned. Blood!

"And, uh," I stammered, "What do you eat?"

He shrugged as if it were the most natural question in the world, "Everything. Except garlic. Daddy said that I could get really super sick if I eat that, and he makes sure that I stay away." He nodded, his expression matter-of-fact.

"Alright. Do you drink blood?"

He scoffed, his shoulders rolling forward and he gave me a look completely devoid of humor, "Of course, Gerard! Gosh, don't you know anything?"

I gave him a stern look, "I'm just asking, Vlad. Chill. I told you that I'd be confused; don't look at me like I'm an idiot!"

He recoiled at once and sent me an apologetic glance, "Sorry," he murmured. He sniffled and the tears threatened to return.

I felt guilty and nodded, quickly speaking, "Just don't take that tone again. Anyway," I changed the subject back to our previous discussion, "so you drink blood? Do you get it straight from the humans? If you do, I'm afraid that there's going to have to be a strict 'no drinking from Gerard' rule around here. Frank's fine, though. You can drink that guy dry if you ever feel the need." I winked at him.

He giggled and brought his hands to his face; squeezing his cheeks between his palms and making his smile go loopy. His tears were obviously forgotten, "No, silly!" he shook his head, still laughing, "Nuh-uh. Aunt Nelly brings me and daddy big boxes." He spread his arms wide, "Full of these bags! And they have the blood."

"Where did she get the boxes?"

He thought for a moment until his face lit up, as if having an epiphany, "She worked at the hospital," he said. "She got them from there."

"The hospital?" I whistled, "That had to be tough."

He nodded, his eyes knowing, "Oh yes. She always would say things to mommy, 'I almost got caught this time!' so I think that she wasn't supposed to take them." He waved his finger no. "But she did anyway."

I curled a hand across the back of my neck and let it rest there, thinking for a moment, "How long can you go without blood?"

He shrugged, "I've never gone too long without it," he said. "But I guess another week or so. Because I drank from myself tonight." He held his wrist up, the blood now dried and crusty. Flakes of his drifted down to the bed-spread.

"Ew. Don't do that again, Vlad, because you could seriously hurt yourself. I don't care if your starving, which you won't be because we'll figure something out."

He grinned, "Thanks, Gerard."

I smiled back, looking at my son with admiration, "Anytime, kiddo. Now, let's get you ready for bed. I don't know about you, but that whole conversation made me exhausted!"

He nodded and kicked off his shoes, letting them drop to the floor, and crawled under the sheets. He pushed my leg away from the middle of the bed and I rose, bending down to pull the blankets over his form.

"It's nice to have a bed and my own room again," he said. "I had to share with lots of boys at the orphanage. A lot of them were older and they never went to bed. Now I can just," he stretched out, smiling contently, "sleep in the quiet."

I grinned at his cute-ness and kissed his forehead, "I'm glad that you like it here, buddy. I'm just going to be downstairs if you need me, so sleep tight. Okay?"

He nodded and rolled over, tucking the blankets into himself, "Thanks… Daddy."

I beamed.

xXx

I was still smiling by the time I got downstairs, but it soon faded as I caught sight of the phone. I sighed and hesitantly picked it up, dialing a familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Mikey?" I said. "We need to talk. Can you get here soon?"

"On my way."

I sighed for the millionth time that day and glanced at the clock. 10pm. It was going to be a long night.