“I was wondering when you would come calling.”

“Show some respect, Lucius. It wasn’t easy cleaning up your mess or convincing the council not to have you scorched.” the vampire snarled.

“As I recall I was perfectly within my rights to protect my family and sandal licking was a well honed skill of yours, Verus.”

“No one has questioned your rights only your actions. Draining a meddlesome warlock is one thing but setting an entire slaughterhouse ablaze is quite another matter. It’s overkill even by your standards, General, not to mention reckless.”

“It was necessary. That filth was fully prepared to gut my pregnant wife and steal my unborn child. He also would’ve killed my son if given the chance. I wanted to be certain he and his minions were dead.”

“I made the Council aware of that and convinced all except Cassius to back off. Luckily his single protest hardly counts against the majority. You shouldn’t have killed his messenger.”

“Cassius overestimated his influence and presumed that he could freely take what is mine.”

“It was still a stupid thing to do. Keep your guard up, General.”

“Don’t I always? You know your way out, Verus.”

“Indeed I do. I hope everything goes well with the birth of your child.”

“As a matter of fact I now have a daughter.”

“The gods smile on you still, Lucius. Send my congratulations to Magdalena.”

LaCroix merely bowed his head briefly as the head of the Enforcers took his leave. Certain that Verus had left LaCroix hurried out of his den and back to the bedroom.

He arrived to find Magdalena sitting up in bed and cradling their newborn daughter Luciana Naomi LaCroix. Nicholas and Janette sat on either side of her transfixed by the sleeping infant.

In the end it had been a fairly easy delivery. Magdalena had given birth after only five hours of labor and to the delight of everyone the squalling baby girl was perfectly healthy. Magdalena though exhausted had come out of labor smiling and was also pronounced healthy. The midwife had been persuaded to ignore Magdalena’s fangs, which had descended during labor, along with the rapid shrinking of her belly as soon as the placenta had been passed.

Once Luciana had been scrubbed clean and wrapped in a warm blanket LaCroix, who had never left Magdalena’s side, took his daughter into his arms. Kissing her small forehead LaCroix uttered the same blessing for Luciana that he had bestowed on her brothers.

The family was afforded less than an hour of privacy before Verus had arrived and LaCroix knew they would be lucky to get even that over the next few weeks as word spread of his new child.

“She’s so beautiful, petite soeur.” Janette commented quietly as she lightly stroked the baby’s cheek.

“I think we have another blonde in the family.” Nick observed taking notice of the pale fuzz that could barely be seen on his sister’s head.

Magdalena shrugged, “That doesn’t mean anything. I had blonde curls before my hair darkened. You had jet black hair until you were two, Nicholas. Hopefully she’ll be a quiet baby unlike you. You were a real bawler.”

“He still is.” LaCroix remarked as he sat down on the bed.

“Your health seems much improved.” was Nick’s dry reply.

“What did Verus have to say?” Janette asked.

“We have nothing to fear from the Enforcers or the Council. The matter has been resolved. Verus offered his congratulations on behalf of the Enforcers. I daresay that by dawn all of the Council will know of the birth as well.”

“Then the real fun begins.” Magdalena muttered her grip tightening on her daughter.

The rest of the family nodded in grim agreement but the sudden awakening of the baby immediately put an end to any further discussion. Janette politely excused herself and Nick exchanged a few quick words with LaCroix before following her. LaCroix returned a few minutes later to adjust the pillows as Magdalena nursed their daughter.

“Nicholas is going to request a few days off of work so that he can stay here and help.” LaCroix reported as he lay beside her.

“It will be nice to have our whole family under one roof even if we did have to wait over eight hundred years to manage it.”

THE END

Special thanks to all those who have read and reviewed! Extra special thanks to Javanyet for everything! Your feedback has never failed to brighten my day! Now I’d like to hear your ideas for my next project! Should I continue with the series as is or write a prequel describing how Magdalena and LaCroix first met? Let me know what you would like me to do!