him when he begged for her forgiveness.
Drew wound up being the father of Carla’s baby – named Kayla - and Daniel was the father of Nicole’s baby – named Maxwell. But the animosity between the two women did not end there. Nicole caught Carla flirting with Daniel and then they squared off in a number of highly-contentious fights, culminating with a very successful fight therapy session in the last battle before peace was established between the hunters and vampire/protectors.
It had been smooth sailing for Nicole and Carla since then and the two women had surprisingly become the best of friends, much to the delight of their children. They were fixing dinner in the kitchen and had, what can easily be called, a ‘moment.’
Nicole stepped up toward Carla, who met her half way in a warm embrace. They started crying from the emotional toll the tense rift had on each woman.
“I’m so happy to have you in my life,” Nicole imparted in between sobs.
Carla was thinking along the same lines, “Ditto.”
They broke the hug of sisterhood a few seconds later, dried their eyes with tissue, and then did what any self-respecting pair of mothers would do, they served tacos.
EIGHTEEN
Speaking of the Justice formerly known as a vampire… he was slowly working up the nerve to ask his girlfriend, Valerie Winters, to marry him. He eventually went to his big brothers, Daniel and Andrew, for some much-needed advice.
“Why is this so hard?” he whined, as Andrew got him in a soft headlock and gave him some light taps on his head.
Brandon and Drew had come a long way from the abyss that was their relationship. While Drew now had the upper hand as one of Brandon’s older brothers, there was a time when Drew came to the aid of Carla and got beaten down by Justice. He never forgot that day and seemed to hold on to the grudge, even when Carla had moved on and she and Brandon considered themselves friends.
All of Andrew’s ‘Justice angst’ came to a head on the day of the hunter’s master plan to dispose of Hartwell after he had become mortal following his 100th death as a vampire. Actually, it was Calvin’s Brewster’s brainstorm that roped Drew into joining his uncle, who he followed around like an obedient puppy dog.
The plan had two parts, thanks to Andrew’s urging that he be allowed to dispose of the annoying Justice. Cal was more-than-happy to dispose of another former vampire that had caused his family trouble and was a source of tremendous distress for his nephew and his nephew’s woman. While Cal was ridding the world of Hartwell for good, or so he thought, Drew was lurking in the shadows as Brandon left Beach Haven High School on a lunch break and headed through the park to meet with Carla, who was on her way with Kayla in a stroller. Even though Kayla didn’t stay small for long, she was nonetheless baby-like at this point in her life.
Justice unwittingly cut through a wooded section of the park that had a narrow paved path, but little visibility to the outside world. Beach Haven was considered an extremely safe town with few robberies or violent acts in its sleepy history. That was, before Hartwell and his collection of other-worldly beings scheduled bloody battles in the park, the football field of the school, and any other remote area they could to battle on after the townspeople had put head to pillow at night.
Andrew intercepted Justice on the path and plunged a sharp knife deep into his being. The shocked high school honor student fell to the ground, as Drew retracted the knife and threw it carelessly into an adjacent bank of bushes. The event was witnessed by Thaddeus Brewster, who had a strong feeling that his son and grandson were up to no good.
As Thad went to clean up Drew’s mess, Carla sped through the scene and rescued her boyfriend from certain death. She raced toward the ocean as Brandon’s breath turned shallow, the Winters’ family awaiting them in the water as the gateway harkened a new life.
Valerie had been jealous of Brandon’s blossoming relationship with Carla, so she was happy to extract him before he became too attached to her. The nature of their vampire-hunter relationship had flipped once he reverted back to being a teenager and she was a few years older. Justice often drove Carla to hair and nail appointments when she was pregnant with Kayla, and even helped her pick out a pregnancy test when she was unsure if she was ‘with child.’ This friendship was equally as uncomfortable for Valerie as it was for Andrew, and the duo were happy to put a stop to it for a while.
“It’s hard little brother because you’re hesitating,” Drew said as he play-wrestled with Justice.
Daniel sat back in a beanbag chair that Carla had Drew donate to Brandon for his room.
“Yeah, listen to him! Everything was okay once he flashed that ring.”
Drew released Justice from the headlock and got serious for second, “Yeah, that ring you made me was unbelievable!”
“You made him a ring?” Justice excitedly asked.
Daniel sarcastically replied, “No Brando, I made a ring for Carla.”
Justice was undaunted, “Can you make one for me? I mean, for Valerie.”
Daniel looked at Drew for confirmation and his cousin nodded in an affirmative manner.
He then turned to Justice, “Do you have specific designs in mind?”
Brandon thought about ring designs as much as his 20 year-old brain would allow.
“She likes flowers.”
Daniel needed more information, “What kind of flowers?”
“If he says roses, I’m gonna’ hurl,” Drew said internally to Daniel.
“Roses,” Justice predictably answered.
“Bingo!” Daniel yelled internally to Drew.
He then zipped out of the room and returned with a dozen roses sitting on top of a silver band.
He kidded, “Too big? How many carrots do you want?”
Drew interceded, “Gotta’ have at least three!”
Daniel zoomed back into the room with three large carrots still with their stems on, and handed it to Brandon before exiting the room again. Brandon offered Drew a carrot as he plopped down in his old friend, the bean bag chair before grabbing a carrot and taking a big bite from the top.
“It’s good for the eyesight,” he said, as Justice took a bite out of one of his carrots.
Daniel returned from his trip to the diamond mines of South Africa, and forged the diamond onto the setting before polishing it in the ocean and adding fresh water pearls to create flower-like accents around the facing. He then used the ink of a squid to inject color into the pearls and was back in Brandon’s room.
Drew and Brandon were in a bit of a carrot stupor, but their sharply enhanced eyesight was able to pick up Daniel as he sped mightily back into the room. The breeze from Daniel’s super speed caused the leafy stems of the remaining carrot stumps to blow like swaying palm trees. Justice waited with baited breath as Daniel retracted his clenched palm to reveal a spectacular one-of-a-kind engagement ring.
“Whoa!” Justice exclaimed as he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Whoa is right!” Drew added. “There isn’t a girl in the free world that would say no to that.”
Brandon jumped into Daniel’s arms and said, “Thanks, Daniel!”
Daniel was always happy to please, especially for the one’s he loved, “It’s my pleasure, little brother.”
The stage was set for Brandon to put the moves on his girlfriend and possibly tell her that he was moonlighting as a vampire. He wasn’t quite sure how well a proposal-confessional, or a confessional-proposal combination would work, but he was confident that the massive ring would bridge the gap to any potential static that would be coming his way.
It had been some time since he and Valerie had some significant time alone, being that they were always surrounded by her family. The appeal of extremely rare steak had been growing ever since Brandon’s vampire genes were reactivated, so he made a reservation at the Beach Haven Steakhouse for a special evening he explained as “Celebrating our three-year anniversary.”
Coincidentally, it was the couple’s thre
e-year anniversary, but Valerie could tell by the expression on her boyfriends face that he was up to something. The really interesting part was that she also had something up her sleeve.
“Wow, you look amazing!” Brandon said as his eyes nearly popped out from the sight of Valerie’s revealing mini-dress.
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” Valerie replied as she eyed Brandon’s new suit that Daniel had and tailored from Italy. Just a little something the vampire picked up on the diamond trip.
Brandon helped Valerie into his Mini Cooper and then they drove 10 minutes to the restaurant. Of course, he could have used his vampire powers and zipped them there in the time it took for her to get in the car, but that would have spoiled one of the night’s surprises and the evening would have started on the wrong note.
The maitre de at the Beach Haven Steakhouse showed the couple to their table and then the waiter came over and was about to ask them for their drink order, until he looked at baby-faced Justice and was about to ask him for some identification of his age.
Valerie stepped in and averted a potentially-awkward discussion, “We won’t be drinking tonight. I’ll have a diet Coke.”
Brandon was hoping for champagne, but settled for “Shirley Temple, please.”
The waiter nodded at the neophyte, who happened to be three years older than the experienced server in real years, and replied, “Very good, sir.”
“I was drinking well before that guy even had his first