Page 39 of Stolen Hours

Jakob Minegold, the vampire who had saved Jesse’s life long ago, was already rushing to pick up his “grandson”, giving him a dozen kisses and speaking to him in a blend of Polish and English, bouncing him with enraptured delight.

J.J. is going to have a family. He already does. I’m adopted. My parents are the best parents ever. Jesse is the best dad, the most unselfish dad...

“How can I thank you for letting me keep my grandson for two whole days?” Jakob crowed, balancing J.J. on his hip.

“No need to thank us, Dad.” Jesse had slipped into calling him that over the past few years as a different sort of bond developed, more than that of a close friend and mentor who’d taught him how to survive as a vampire with an innocent soul, a vampire who would never hurtan innocent. Now, they were bonded by fatherhood, marriage, and a shared knowledge of what it was like to live for someone else, even when you’d technically stopped living at all.

Sophie smiled when she watched the “three generations” together, her heart warm, despite her skin being permanently pale and cold. “We should thank you. We really needed to get away for a little bit. Just the routine can be a lot.”

“You’re still teaching a few dozen students a week, even from home, Sophie. I don’t know how you can do it all, plus join me when we play for weddings or with the choir. I hope the stress isn’t too much. I know how hard it is to raise children,” Jakob said gently, one hand coming to rest on her shoulder.

Sophie knew he did, indeed. His own life had been sacrificed to save his wife and three children, not to mention hundreds of others who otherwise never would have made it out of Poland during the darkest point in its history. “I’m not stressed about teaching. Like your violin, my cello is my best friend. I still stay in touch with my old conductor from college, too. He asked me if I might come back and play with the orchestra for a special event this year. Some tribute to refugees. He knows that’s a cause near and dear to my heart.”

“Well, but maybe you should tell him no?” Mr. Minegold looked between her and Jesse. “Something is off. Something is—oh! Oh! My darlings! Mybliskimi, has another miracle happened? Mazel tov!”

“What? What happened?” Sophie jumped guiltily, but she already knew what her dear adopted father-in-law was implying.

“You and Jesse! Is there... No?” Jakob looked between them, his face falling slowly. “Oh. Well... Well, never you mind, my dears. I am not rushing you.” Jakob’s head turned from one guest to the other. “Let Grandpa show you the new big blocks, my Jesse Jakob. Yes, and they make sounds. There, right here, my angel,” Mr. Minegold crooned to his grandchild, whisking him over to the room in his beautifully, elegantly furnished home—that now resembleda toy shop.

“He’s so good to him,” Sophie murmured.

“And I am good to you two, too.” Their vampiric host returned, pale, courtly face now bearing a frown. “I can feel your worry. Your sadness. Why do you need me to watch J.J.?” His eyes widened, and they fixed on Sophie. “You’re not well?”

“No! I am well. I’m well, Dad,” she murmured, letting herself be pulled into a relieved hug. “I’m as healthy as someone who looks human but isn’t quite human, or vampire, or ifrita can be.”

Jesse took over when Minegold released her, arm around her shoulder. “We know it was pretty miraculous when we got pregnant once. We never questioned the how or why; we were just in shock. Blessed, grateful shock.”

“‘For this child I have prayed.’ That’s in First Samuel,” Minegold nodded gravely.

“We’ve been praying again, but it hasn’t happened. A fertility doctor isn’t going to help us. No doctor has ever been able to figure out what was wrong with me, and Jesse wouldn’t pass at all. But, somehow, some way, we made it work before, just like my vampire father and ifrita mother did. I’m guessing my ifrita blood and Jesse’s vampire essence clicked once,” she blushed slightly, “but it hasn’t happened again—and I wasn’t worried about it until J.J. started noticing a lot of other families around us have more than one child. I know we’re incredibly fortunate just to have one child, but... A sibling is such a precious thing. Jesse and I don’t have them. I wish J.J. could have the chance that we didn’t. It’s silly, I guess.” Sophie dabbed her eyes suddenly with her coat sleeve. “I know there are so many things we could probably do with magic, but I don’t want to try to manipulate anything with potions or powers. We didn’t have to with our son. Other than living here.”

“But living here is plenty busy. Sophie’s teaching lessons, helping my mom, taking care of a bustling toddler, and keeping the house running. Even when I help, I know she does the lion’s share.” Jesse kissed her temple.

“That’s not even true,” Sophie laughed and shook her head at him. “You do so much, earn the bulk of the money, pay the bills, take care of so many things around the house, do half the cooking—”

“Shh. Shh, my dears,” Mr. Minegold put his arms around them, somber face showing just a slight smile. “You two are the picture of partnership and love. You are excellent children, excellent parents, and excellent husband and wife. You know... Praying is all well and good, but sometimes we must use unlikely resources, because they are the unexpected answers to our prayers. When my... When things were dire, back during the war,” Mr. Minegold skated quickly past the most painful parts of his life, smiling more broadly when Jesse and Sophie pressed in closer, hugging him back, “I prayed that I would find a way to help, to save as many as I could, even if it was not an answer I had ever thought of.” He lightly tapped his neck, eyes far away. “I found it, didn’t I?”

“I know, Dad, you did. You’re a hero.Myhero.” Jesse squeezed his shoulder. “I’m not sure what you’re telling us, though.”

“I don’t think you need to use potions, or magic, or put anything in Sophie’s body—except... Er-hrm.” Mr. Minegold suddenly became very interested in a piece of lint on his sweater. “I think you should go to Country Pines Motel.”

“What? That little place out on the highway?” Sophie blinked in surprise.

“You’re right, Dad, we want to get away from it all. A break in the routine, minimizing interruptions, giving us time to relax,” Jesse agreed. “I was thinking we’d head to this pretty little bed and breakfast over by—”

“No.”

Sophie’s jaw dropped for a second. Her father-in-law was the soul of Old World charm and manners. He didn’t interrupt unless lives were at stake.

Somaybe he thinks someone’s life is. Some new little life. Sophie squeezed Jesse’s hand. “Why should we go to the motel?”

“Because it is fae-run. By which fae, I do not know. They’re benevolent, unseen, and have been quietly working in the town for the last fifty years or so, if memory serves me. My guess is they areAos Sí, settlers from across the pond. Maybe they came around the same time I did, for the same reasons—or maybe they had been here for centuries before, and finally decided they needed to interact in the world of men a bit more. That motel gives travelers what they need.”

“They... They can’t get us pregnant?”

“I have seen them do many other things. I have never known someone well enough to know if that was the case. The key is... The travelers seem to need to stay in our area, or at least have some connection to it. They give to the good of the town, just as we all try to protect and grow this safe place. I can think of no more worthy way to ensure good things come to Pine Ridge than by helping a couple with such good hearts, who are already such good parents, to bring more good people into the world. Will it work? I don’t know. But it is closer than some bed and breakfast, and probably cheaper. You won’t have to worry about being far from J.J., and you can still be miles away, in a world of your own, if those clever fae have any say in it.”

Jesse turned to her. “What have we got to lose?”