Blood Mates

The Future

Jasper and his dad had barely had time to have a real heart to heart since getting back. With him trying to keep Alaia safe, William was trying to do the same for Arden. And from what Jasper could see, avoid his dad.

Which is what he wanted to touch base on.

So, when Daniel stepped out with Gregory, Jasper found his dad out back drinking a beer. Joining him, Jasper asked, “Why won’t you talk to grandpa?” William inhaled as he stood and came into the house, “I talk to him.” Jasper nodded acceptingly and reminded his dad, “Yeah you and I know the difference between acknowledging someone’s presence and having a conversation,”

William made a noise of discomfort as he admitted, “It’s complicated.” Jasper, laughing, asked, “Since when have you ever considered me stupid?”

Frowning as he sat in thought, William finally said, “I don’t know how to go about it.” Jasper watched his dad take a swig of his beer before admitting, “He took off when I was sixteen. Now I know why, but back then it felt like I’d lost my best friend and I didn’t know what I’d done wrong.”

 William grinned as he looked at his son, “Me and your grandpa used to do everything together. My mom would say if anything ever happened, she’d have to put BOTH of us on a missing flier. Said we were sewed at the hip and even she couldn’t snip it.”

Thinking of the past, William was lost and then shook his head, “It reminded me a lot of me and you. But I guess I just wanted to be different. I wanted to stick around for the rest of it. You becoming a man, going to college, getting married, starting a family. I wanted to be there for it all because my dad wasn’t, and it broke my heart he wasn’t. I didn’t want that for you.”

Shrugging William admitted sadly, “And now I know he had become a vampire and vanished from my life to keep me and my mom safe. It’s a bottle of crazy, that’s for sure. I just don’t know how to start off that conversation.”

Daniel suddenly appeared behind his son and as Jasper glanced up at him, smiled a little before leaving them. William closed his eyes and blew out an aggravated breath, “I didn’t mean I was ready to have it now.”

Slowly sinking down into a chair, Daniel looked at his son sadly, “I know. But I needed to talk to you now, before we deal with Wraith.” William sat in silence as Daniel stewed on how to start the conversation.

But then he just ripped the band aid off, “After I turned, my dad was only around for a year. He got me through it and then he killed himself.” William was surprised but Daniel shrugged, “He was over nine hundred years. He was tired and alone, I understand it now more than I did then,”

William put a hand on Daniel’s arm out of instinct and Daniel warmed at the affection. Placing his hand on top of his son’s in thanks, Daniel admitted, “I didn’t want to leave you William. After I turned, I stayed close after I divorced your mother and stuck by, even if you couldn’t see me.” 

Inhaling, Daniel admitted, “But then I started to notice you were getting more accident prone, it seemed like guys your age wanted to bully you just for the sake of it. Until you started fighting back, and it got more violent that I worried.”

William nodded, “It was fate, trying to push me to turn.” Daniel nodded jerkily, “I left because the more distance between us made it possible for you to have a normal life.”

Scoffing bitterly, as old wounds began to gush again, William harshly grumbled, “And you couldn’t call or even just video chat me just to make sure I was okay? To talk, maybe?” Daniel opened his jacket and pulled out a stack of letters.

Looking at them William grinned as he saw all the letters. He remembered them from when he was in his teens. He’d wrote to his dad out of sheer hope he’d come back.

“I used to write to you.” William mumbled, “It was so crazy, it was like you were away in the army, but I knew you weren’t.” Daniel nodded as he fingers traced the old papers, “And then you used the clues of our letters to track me down when you turned eighteen. You came to my home in London.”

William flushed in anger at the embarrassing memory, “Some good it did me! I couldn’t even get to the building because the doorman didn’t believe you had a son!”

Daniel felt the anger and pain in his son’s voice. In every syllable and it hurt, “I had been in the lobby. I told him to say that I knew it’d make you angry enough to leave. I only did that to keep you safe! Had I known I was fighting the inevitable, I would have never left your side. Or your mothers.”

William watched his dad rub his mouth at just the mention of William’s mom.  Curious, he asked him out loud, “Did you come?” Daniel met his son’s eyes and nodded seeing what he meant. “Yeah I went to her funeral. I stood at her grave sobbing alone after everyone had left.” William shook his head and whispered, “Would have been good to have you there for me dad, I had lost my mother and I thought you hadn’t even bothered to come. She had asked for you before she passed…but you wouldn’t answer the phone.”

Daniel closed his eyes in pain for a moment, “No. No I didn’t because I was here.” William’s jaw dropped and Daniel fought tears at the memories, “I would see her, when you were gone. But she was so high on the drugs, she was barely lucid. I wanted to feed her my blood, turn her, but I couldn’t.”

William started to get angry, “Why not? If you loved her then why didn’t you save her!?” Daniel placed a gentle hand on his son’s, “We can’t cure cancer son. Even as a vampire, we have limits and once it’s conquered their bodies, there’s no going back.”

Daniel swallowed hard as he admitted, “I got to hold her one last time and then she left me. And I knew, I knew it was selfish, but I knew if I had the chance to go back and change her I would have. Even if she hated it, hated me, I could have lived with it knowing she was alive.” William calmed down and processed this before asking, “So what happens after all this?”

Lifted his head in confusion, Daniel asked, “What do you mean?” William stared at his dad, with his grey hair and beard, the still handsome man looked like he could be in late forties early fifties. But was about to be in his mid-seventies.

“Do you go back home to London; will we not see you for another twenty plus years?” Daniel awkwardly fiddled with his cufflinks, “Ugh, I don’t know is that how you’d prefer it son?”

William flushed at the question being thrown back at him, “Ugh, no? I mean I don’t know! How would you prefer it?”

Daniel shrugged, “I’ll follow your lead.”

William winced, “Yeah, I think I’d rather you tell me-.”

Jasper suddenly came in and yawned, “You two are exhausting. Can’t you just say you miss each other and hug it out already? We were supposed to go get dinner an hour ago!”

Both men laughed as Jasper grabbed the keys to his dad’s truck, “I’m leaving in ten minutes. In the truck or not I’m going to the diner for dinner."

When he left out the back door, William stood to join him, “Well it seems we’ve starved him long enough.” He joked. Daniel grinned and then slapped his son on the back, “You raised him well, Jasper is a Wynter. And he’s made me proud to be a grandfather, like you’ve made me proud to be a father.”

William smiled, hugged his dad, and both laughed as Jasper honked on beat. Joining the impatient youth, the father and son left as the eyes in the bushes watched them go.