Gen 6 Ch 5

Even the cake disaster hadn't dampened Jade's determination to go out searching the clubs for a more, shall we say, accommodating boyfriend.

"Hello there, handsome. Dance with me?"

"You're an amazing dancer. Would you mind giving me a ride home?"

"What did you say your name was again?"

"Umm.. Anthony.. Xu."

"Ah, Anthony... come here. I have a great idea."

"So, Anthony.." Jade whispered softly in his ear. "You are so incredibly gorgeous. Have you ever thought about what beautiful children you would make?"

"I.. uh.. do you really think so?"

"I know so. What do you say we give it a try?"

Jade mentally held her breath waiting for his reply. After all, she had only known him for a few hours.

"Anything for you, pretty lady."

Later she sighed contentedly as they drifted off to sleep. She dreamed of lullabies and and baby booties.

Sometime in the night she was awakened by the sound of voices engaged in a heated argument.  At first all she heard was a whiny, high-pitched voice.

"What are you doing here? Elvira is gonna be so angry! She'll bite us!"

Then she heard Anthony answering, "Not if you don't get scared and tell her. Besides, she never bites me."

"That's because you always hide when she's gonna do it!" The high-pitched voice whined in reply.

Jade was a little frightened at first, then she realized there was no one else in the room besides Anthony.

"What's the matter, Anthony?" She called out sleepily, still trying to figure out what was going on.

Anthony took off running when he heard she was awake. She caught up with him in Coal's room.

"What the heck is going on here? And why would Elvira be angry with you?"

"Haha, what? I didn't hear anything, did you hear something? Are you crazy or something? Oh! I gotta go, Elvira is gonna miss me, Bye!"

And with that he ran out the door. Jade stared after him in consternation. There was only one Elvira in Bridgeport that she knew of, and she was the most powerful vampire in the city. What had she gotten herself into?

"So who's the lucky baby daddy?"

"Oh, Emmy, it's a huge problem. The guy not only has multiple personalities, he's also married to Elvira Slayer. I haven't told him, so promise me you won't tell anyone."

Jade secret seemed safe for the moment. Coal was excited about having a new baby cousin, and never asked about the daddy.

Emmy gladly drove Jade to the hospital when it was time, and they both welcomed little Crystal into the world.

It was wonderful to have a baby in the house again, and Emerald was glad to take a turn with her while Jade slept. She was such an adorable baby, that was pretty much the only time she could get her hands on her.

While Coal loved his little cousin, he loved being outside more. almost every day after school he could be found at the park near their house, fishing pole in hand. Emerald never ceased to be amazed at the size of the fish he would bring home.

And the rare times William would stop by, he was an expert at convincing his dad to play tag in the yard - after dark, of course.

William was there for Coal's thirteenth birthday. Jade was planning a huge party for the next day, when Crystal would become a toddler, so it was just the four of them.

Coal was especially excited that the cake didn't explode this time, and he would actually get to have a piece.

He asked for a set of gardening tools for his birthday, and could hardly wait for morning, to try them out.

"I can get you a job at the police station if you want," his dad offered.

"I appreciate that, but I already have a job lined up at the science facility, helping out in the greenhouse."

"Science facility, hmm. They do a lot of cutting edge research there, don't they?" William looked thoughtful, and seemed about to question him further, when they were interrupted.

Coal didn't mind his mom's interruption. He was always glad to see his parents looking at each other like that. It meant his dad might be staying for a while.

"Uh, excuse me, I think I'll just be heading downstairs to do my homework."

The next day was Crystal's birthday; she grew up with gorgeous curly black hair and an adorable smile.

"C'mon, Cryssy, everybody's upstairs. Let's go say hi, okay?"

"Okee!"

Peri had grown old, and had surprised everyone by bringing an even older man with him to the party. Emerald was shocked to discover that this was Andre, Her great-aunt Ruby's first son, born back in Twinbrook. He said he was 109! He seemed to enjoy watching Peri, Jessica, and Kayla try to run each other's cars off the track.

Coal and his friend Edward worked on their homework while Andre and Kayla tried their luck at football. But Coal kept his eye out for his mom and dad. He hoped his dad would stay the night again.

Alas, it didn't look like it would happen tonight.