Free vampires of san francisco 08 - merry sucking christmas by Jessica McBrayer Page B

how much work he has done with them. They trust him and that isn’t bestowed lightly. It’s the vampire in them. Even Hannah smiles at the picture they present.
    “Papa, fire,” Finn says as he brings a small flame up in his little hand. His hand wobbles trying to keep the flame going and I’m terrified he’s going to light the house on fire. 
    Diel runs to him and steadies his small hand. Doxie is beaming at Finn.
    “Very good, Finn. We never play with fire inside. It can be dangerous. We’ll start practicing outside tomorrow. Daddy wants you to be trained well.”
    “I’ll fire proof everything tomorrow,” Aidan offers.
    “Thank you, Aidan. That would be a big help. Maybe you could start with Lily and Sebastian’s house tonight? That would allow everyone to sleep better, I think,” Diel says.
    “Done.”
    “Thanks, Aidan,” Hannah says and lets out a deep sigh.
    Fiona tugs on Doxie’s sleeve. “Papa, watch.” She proceeds to make Finn float and send him across the room to Hannah.
    “Well done, Fiona! Well done, Finn. You two make your Papa very happy.” Doxie wipes at the corner of his eye. Truly a proud grandpa. My heart melts a bit toward him.
    “You two will be the death of me, but I love you so much,” Hannah says as she scoops up both children and hugs them close to her. I can’t help but be so happy for my friend.
    “Manda, why don’t you give Aidan his present,” Julian says. You can tell he is excited to give Helena hers. I wonder what he has up his sleeve.
    “Aidan, it’s so hard to give you something you haven’t already summoned for yourself. Yet you are the most generous, selfless soul I have ever met,” Manda says. Her voice chokes up a bit. I squeeze Bast’s hand. I know Manda really fretted over her gift.
    “My love, anything you give will make me happy because you thought of it.” Aidan kisses her forehead and gives her a hug.
    “I did some research and found a text that has your true name in it. I was able to buy it. It’s my gift to you. A step closer to true freedom.”
    Aidan looks stunned. I know how much this means to him. He looks down at Manda and then picks her up for a real kiss. He holds her tight and closes his eyes. I let out a small sob for my dear friend and Bast pulls me closer to him, kissing my temple.
    “Lover.” Aidan’s voice trembles a bit and he clears his throat. “You couldn’t have given me a more meaningful, precious gift than you did. Thank you,” he whispers. He kisses her again and she giggles.
    “Gross,” Mattie says and Sammy laughs at his parents.
    “Gross? Gross? I’ll show you gross.” Aidan picks Mattie up and rains kisses down on her face. She giggles and screams to be let down. “Ow!” Aidan lets Mattie down and looks back down to his son.
    Sammy stomps his foot at Aidan and Aidan lets out a deep laugh. He picks Sammy up and twirls around with him until Sammy is laughing too.
    “What happened?” Manda asks.
    “Samuel just zapped me the way a djinn does. I knew you had it in you, Samuel. Goddess save us. This opens us to all kinds of mischief. I assume he didn’t like me kissing his intended.”
    Sammy nods and zaps Aidan again.
    “Owww!” Aidan laughs so hard he almost drops Sammy. “Now, you can’t zap your friends or your aunts and uncles and especially not your mother. You can save it all up for me. Understand?”
    “Yes Papa. I like to zap.” He points his little finger at Aidan again and again. Now it’s not so funny to Aidan and he is jumping around. Sammy laughs and does it again and again until Aidan grabs his finger and begs for a reprieve. It makes everyone laugh. Especially Sebastian since usually nothing can hurt Aidan. 
    Mattie tugs on Sammy’s shirt sleeve. “Sammy, don’t hurt Uncle Aidan. He’s nice. You can zap the dollies.” Sammy nods and wiggles to get down. They head off toward her bedroom with Finn and Fiona hot on their tails.
    Aidan shakes his head with a huge smile on his face. I