Chapter 12

I decided just to cook something simple; grilled chicken, rice, and some green beans. I put the kids' plates of food on a big tray along with four cups of blood. Mila and I ate human food purely for looks and to make it seem more like a family dinner. Since we aren't having dinner all together, there was no reason to put ourselves through the torture of that bland-ass food.

I stopped at Aleksey's room first and knocked on it. I heard a sigh followed by small footsteps leading to the door. He opened up the door and looked surprised to see them.

"Here you go. When you're done, you can take down your dirty dishes, rinse them off, and put them in the dishwasher." I handed him his plate and cup, made my way over to Alyx's room, and repeated the same process.

"Here's some food and blood. Once you're done, just take the dirty dishes downstairs, rinse them, and put them in the dishwasher." She just looked down at her food and looked back up at me with a sad expression.

"Does momma hate me?" I felt my expression soften. I sat the tray on a small table we kept in the hallway and bent down to Alyx's level.

"No, sweetie. She doesn't hate you at all. She just raised her voice because your behavior was out of line, and your vampire side took over." She placed her food on the floor and launched herself at me, hugging me.

"I didn't mean to. I'm just so concerned about Asha and her grandma. I feel so anxious that I have no idea what's going on." I hugged her a little tighter. She's too young to be this stressed.

"It'll be okay, sweetie. You'll be able to talk to Asha soon, but let her come to you about what's going on. Don't force her to tell you. Momma and I love you and Aleksey very much. Go ahead and eat now. After you're done eating, you and your brother come to momma's and my room." She nodded and retreated into her room. I grabbed the tray and made my way into our room.

"Alyx is super upset. She thought you hated her." I handed Mila her cup and sat on the bed beside her.

"I could never hate her." You could hear the concern in her voice.

"I told her that. Once the kids are done with their dinner, I told Alyx to bring herself and Aleksey in here. We'll all talk. Now drink your blood." She looked down at the cup and seemed reluctant, so I raised her hand that was holding the cup up towards her mouth.

"Drink." She didn't fight me on it and did as I had asked.

Soon I heard little footsteps making their way to our room. Mila and I exchanged looks. I reached out and grabbed Mila's hand, reassuring her that everything would be okay and she wasn't alone. She gave me a grateful look. She took a deep breath steadying her nerves a little more, just as the door was opening.

"Hey there, my little bears. Come up here on the bed, with mommy and me. We're going to watch your guy's favorite movie." Both of the kids' eyes widened, and they started running towards the bed. They both leaped through the air, crashing onto the bed. Then they made their way to the middle of the bed and under the covers.

I sat on the right side of them closest to the door, while Mila sat on the left side. We hadn't had a family movie night in a while, and after the day we've all had, I think it was a good suggestion by Mila. Once we got all cozy, I grabbed the remote and turned on the tv heading to the Disney plus app.

"You know I love you both very much, right? I'm sorry for raising my voice." Alyx snuggled into Mila's side, and Aleksey gave Mila a very short-lived hug. Still, a hug, though, which caught us all by surprise.

"We know, momma. We're sorry for how we acted today... Especially me." Mila kissed the top of her head.

"It's okay. Your guy's friend is going through a lot. I would be upset too." Mila is very understanding and nurturing. Those are some of the main qualities that I love about her. She's helped me grow so much over the years, especially when it came to expressing my emotions.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" The kids sat up a little straighter and immediately focused on the tv. I pressed play, and the beginning of Zootopia played. I then looked over to meet Mila's gaze. She had a genuine smile on her face and gave her one back. I looked down at the kids smiling too, and I couldn't be any happier than I currently am at this moment.

Mila's POV:

The kids slept with us last night, and it was great to have a family movie night—definitely a good call on my part. Having everyone close made me feel whole, and for the first time in a while, I slept extremely well. Everyone in the morning seemed well-rested. I woke up with a lot of energy and was ready to go back to work. Emma was going back to work today, so it will be good for me not to be cooped up in the house.

The whole ride to school, the kids talked about how excited they are that it's Friday. They did ask me if Asha could stay the night sometime this weekend. I told them I would have their mommy reach out to Asha's grandma and ask. I really was worried about Asha and Julia, and I truly hope they are okay. Well, as okay as they can during this situation. That reminds me I need to call my mom.

"I'll see you both after school. I love you both." They said goodbye and exchanged I love yous back to me.

I took this time while heading to work to call my mom. It was a good hour-long conversation. I just remained parked in the parking lot outside of my work and had Lori push my scheduled appointments back. Luckily this didn't affect any of my client's schedules.

My mom and I brushed over many topics—the main ones going over how everyone's doing. When I told her about the virus, she freaked out. She was a little upset that I hadn't told her about it till now. But, of course, I understood because I was upset when I found out Emma had known about it for a whole month before she told me. My mom invited herself over to the house today once I got back home with the kids. She was going to help me make homemade tamales, guacamole, and elote. I was excited, and I knew the kids would be too.

Today had gone by super fast. I was already headed to pick up the kids. On the way, I had called Emma and let her know my mom was coming over and to have her ask Julia if Asha could come over and stay the night. I soon pulled into the loop, and I'm glad I arrived five minutes early because the kids were already waiting on the curb.

"I hope you both weren't waiting long." They slid into their seats and buckled up.

"No, momma, we were only out there for maybe a minute." This brought me relief.

"Good. So, a couple of things. First, Mimi is coming over tonight, helping and staying for dinner." I heard them say yes under their breaths, and I smiled at this. They loved my mom. "Second, your mommy should be calling Asha's grandma to see if she can stay over or at least come to dinner. I can't promise that she'll be able to, though, so please don't be too upset if she can't." Aleksey nodded, and Alyx seemed a little deflated at this. I hope she can come over, but I completely understand if she can't.

"Alright, head inside and do your homework. Your Mimi should be here soon." Once I opened the door, they hurried in and headed to the table. Even if Asha couldn't come over, at least they would get to see my mom. So, at least one positive is guaranteed.

I sat at the table with the kids finishing up editing the photoshoots I did today when I heard the doorbell go off. The kids had huge smiles on their faces and shot off towards the front door. They were fighting over who got to open the door for my mom. So I decided just to do it myself.

"Hey! I wanted to do that." Both kids said at the same time. I just rolled my eyes at their antics.

"Oh, Mija. I've missed you so much." She brought me into an embrace quickly and kissed both of my cheeks.

"Mi Nieto." She kissed Aleksey on the cheek. Which my mom is pretty much the only one he'll accept affection from no matter what. "Mi, Nieta" She then turned and kissed Alyx on the cheek. "Where's Emma?" She asked as I was closing the door behind her.

"She is still at work. She'll probably be here around the time we finish dinner." My mom just hummed.

"She needs to stop overworking herself. Let's go start on dinner, or it won't be ready in time." With that, I followed my mom to the kitchen to start preparing dinner while the kids went back to the table to finish up their homework.

Emma's POV:

"I know Lance, but my wife needed me." Lance wasn't happy with me missing two days of work.

"I get that, Emma, I really do, but there are also billions of supernatural beings that need you too." I sighed and sat down at my desk, rubbing my temples. It's been absolute chaos since I've been back. I've been absolutely slammed, and I haven't even made it downstairs yet to see if we've made any progress.

"Can we just stop having this conversation? Your whining is giving me a headache. Let's go see if they've made any progress." I could practically see the steam coming out of his ears. He took a deep breath while closing his eyes. When he opened them back up, he gave me a curt nod and made his way to the door.

The whole way to the lab was spent in silence. I thought about apologizing to him for a second, but I didn't even know what I would be apologizing for. I shouldn't have to be sorry for being there for my wife and family. If Elisia needed him and he didn't come to work for a couple of days, I wouldn't be acting like I had a stick up my ass. Soon we made it down to the lab and made our way over to where the trio we hired should be.

"How's it going? Any progress?" I walked up to them and just got straight to the point. I wasn't very fond of small talk; it wasn't my thing. I always left that for Mila to do. She was so much better at it than I was.

"Yes and no." I sighed.

"What are you waiting for, an invitation? Get on with it." I moved my hand in a circle signaling for them to just spit it out. I wasn't in the mood for them to beat around the bush.

"Well, we did for a fact confirm Dr. Hein's theory about how there is a connection to how fast the virus spreads in relation to what kind of supernatural being it is." I feel like I even knew she was right already.

"Anything else." The one who looked very shy raised their hand. I signaled for them to talk. Why did they think they needed to raise their hand?

"Now, we can focus on figuring out why this is. What exactly in their immune system is different from species to species that helps fight off the virus for longer. If we can pinpoint what it is, then we could maybe enhance it, and we could possibly use that as a base for a cure." I nodded along.

"Okay, so that's good news, right?" They all exchanged looks.

"So far, it seems that way, but we don't want to give you false hope. We'll let you know once we find something else out." With that ending, I made my way over to the bubble and looked in. I looked at the bed where Melissa used to be. It was now occupied by someone new. I still couldn't believe she was gone. Monday, she was completely healthy; by Tuesday, she was sick, and she was gone by the end of Wednesday. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to find Lance.

"I know, sis. Every time I walk past here, I always look over expecting to see her." I sighed and looked over to another bed I had also been watching, but someone else was there.

"The little girl?" He shut his eyes and shook his head, confirming what I didn't want to be right about.

"Her family?" He looked at me, and his eyes said it all. He didn't even have to say anything.

"At least they all died together." A whole family was erased, just like that. I guess Lance has a point; at least they did all die together. At least they get to see each other again on the other side. At least they are no longer in any pain and suffering.

"Hey there Julia, how are you both doing?" This was more of a rhetorical question. The bags under puffy eyes says it all.

"As good as we can be under these circumstances. What brings you here?" She waved me inside.

"Well, the kids were wondering if Asha could come over for dinner and to stay the night. I also wanted to stop by in person and check on you rather than just have a conversation on the phone." She sighed out and looked down a hall towards the bedroom at the end of it.

"I guess that would be okay, but only if she wants to. She hasn't really left her room." She led me back to the bedroom and lightly knocked on the door. There was no answer. She decided to announce it was her and slowly opened the door. Asha was curled up in a ball on the bed, staring blankly at the window.

"Sweetie, you have a visitor." She glanced out of the corner of her eye at me, then went back to staring out the window. My heart broke at seeing her like this. So young, so broken. We both slowly walked over to her. Julia sat on the bed beside her rubbing comforting circles on her back while I bent down to where I was more in her line of sight.

"Hey Asha, I just thought I'd stop by and check in on you and your grandma. I also wanted to see if you'd like to come to stay the night and join all of us for dinner; Alyx and Aleksey have been asking about you. Of course, you don't have to go, and if you decide to and at any point, you want to go home, I'll take you." This stirred a bit of a reaction out of her. As she actually made eye contact with me instead of the window. She then turned to look at her grandma. Julia just nodded her head, letting Asha know she was allowed to go.

"It's up to you. Whatever you feel comfortable doing." Asha looked from Julia back to me and gave a small nod, signaling she wanted to go.

"You promise if I change my mind, you'll take me back?" I gave her a small smile.

"Pinky, promise." I held up my pinky, and she put up hers locking it with mine.

"I'll help her get everything packed. Then, we'll meet you at the door." Julia gave me a look that I understood all too well. She wanted to spend a moment alone with Asha.