better check on the guys. Is Ian still on the fifth floor?"
"Shanna's already on her way up there." Radinka set a cup of tea in front of Toni.
"I'll start in the basement then." Howard gulped down the rest of his tea, then left the room grumbling about crazy women.
"Is this truck?" Constantine looked up at Toni, then pointed at another word.
She glanced at his book. "Yes, it is." He had finished his banana. "Would you like something to drink?"
"Can I have some milk?"
"Sure." Toni hunted through the cabinets, but couldn't find any plastic cups. She'd have to give him a glass. She set it in front of him, and he drank without hesitation.
She sat next to him. "How old are you, about four?"
He grinned with a milk mustache. "I'm almost two."
Toni gaped, then shut her mouth quickly since she didn't want to embarrass the little boy.
"You're...sure?" "He'll be two in March." Radinka added some milk to her tea. "He's very clever, isn't he?"
More than clever, Toni thought. He was a wonder child.
"Is Toni with us?" Constantine asked.
Radinka tilted her head, considering Toni. "She may not know it yet, but I believe she is." What did that mean? Toni sipped her tea with a growing sense of confusion.
"Do you want to see what I can do?" Constantine backed away from the table and spun around. "That's great!" Toni smiled appreciatively.
He gave her a dubious look. "I haven't done it yet."
"Oh, sorry." Toni's mouth dropped open as the young boy slowly rose to the ceiling. "Oh my gosh."
Radinka sat at the table with her cup of tea. "He's very special."
"I'm back." Shanna strode into the kitchen. She picked up her cup of tea and glanced around the room. "Where's Tino?"
A giggle from the ceiling drew her attention, and Shanna snorted. "I should have known." She gave Toni a wry look. "I've been trying to teach him to clean the ceiling fans."
"He--he's floating," Toni said lamely.
Constantine giggled and performed a front somersault.
"Oh, now you're just showing off." Shanna sipped some tea. "You should see him and his daddy play basketball."
"I blocked Daddy's goal by sitting in the hoop," Constantine boasted.
"He--he's really Roman's son?" Toni asked. "How--?"
"Roman's a genius. Don't ask me how, but he inserted his DNA into human sperm." Shanna patted her stomach. "We're expecting another one in May. A little girl."
"Oh. Congratulations." Toni watched Constantine float down to the floor. She couldn't believe it. Shanna and Radinka were sipping tea like it was entirely normal to breed half-human/halfvampire children.
"Did you ask if it was okay before you levitated?" Shanna asked her son.
"Yes, Mommy." He climbed back onto his chair.
"That's good." Shanna sat across from him. "We've been teaching him to be careful about levitating. It's not something we want just anyone to see."
"Like Grandpa." Constantine drank more milk.
"I'm afraid so," Shanna agreed. "My dad is the head of the CIA Stake-Out team. They'd like to eliminate all vampires from the planet."
Toni winced. "That's got to be a little awkward for family reunions."
"Tell me about it. Fortunately, my dad's crazy about his grandson, so he's ignoring the Vamps and concentrating on the Malcontents. But if he found out that Tino's inherited some unusual genes, it could cause a problem."
The little boy slumped over his book. "Would Grandpa not love me anymore?"
"Oh, sweetie." Shanna rushed over to hug her son. "He'll always love you. We all love you so much."
"We sure do." Radinka's eyes glimmered with emotion as she regarded the little boy. Toni felt a tiny twinge of envy. How lucky this boy was to be so loved. She'd always wanted her mother's love, but it had never happened. Her mom had gone on to marry the man of her dreams and have two more children. Toni had never been welcome there. Her only experience with maternal love had been from her grandmother, and that had ended abruptly when she was thirteen. When she had failed her.
When Toni had first entered the Vamp world a few nights ago, she had expected to find a scary place filled with creepy characters. Instead she'd found a group of Vamps and mortals who were caring and compassionate. It was obvious that they looked out for one another. Shanna had run up five flights of stairs just to leave Ian a note.
Was she with them? That was the question Constantine had asked. With a small shock, Toni realized she could be an accepted member of this extended family--a family that cared for one another and trusted