Chapter 1.7 - My Bonnie Girl

Amber was slowly adjusting to life as a single mother. Luckily she had some maternity leave left so she could spend all day with her little bundle of joy. It wasn't as hard as she had expected, but it was still by no means easy, but she was determined to stay as independent as possible. She thought about writing home to tell her parents about the new addition to the family, but it wouldn't have made a difference, after being banished nothing would ever get them to allow her back into the family. Even if she was allowed back, Amber was sure she would be happier in Moonlight Falls.

"Oh Bonnie!" Amber said, lifting her daughter above her head "My Bonnie girl."
This tiny person had brought meaning to her life, given her a reason to keep on trying in life. A reason to work harder, be more successful and really establish a foundation in this town. Amber might not have wanted to settle down with Ayden, but that doesn't mean she couldn't provide a great life for this wonderful little girl.
Somehow, even with a criminal career and being evil at heart, she still had the same instincts as any other parent, the instinct to provide for her child and give her the best possible start in life. She would raise this child with her own values and her own perspective on life.

Taking care of Bonnie meant that Amber didn't have much time to take care of herself. She had just gotten used to experimenting with her cooking and doing herself more complicated meals. Now she barely had the energy to make herself a grilled cheese sandwich, and it wasn't even a very good one.
"I would do anything for a plate of Lobster or a Steak right now!" She thought to herself as she left the crusts of her sandwiches on her plate, a habit that she had kept since her childhood when her Nanny would cut the crusts off her sandwiches for her.
Amber was practically raised by her Nanny, her parents were always too busy with social functions or their charity work. It almost disgusted Amber that they would give so much attention to people "in need" when they would ignore the needs of their own children and leave it to somebody else to raise them.
She wasn't going to do that to Bonnie, she was going to raise her daughter herself, not leave it to a stranger. She had to go back to work eventually, and couldn't leave a baby alone in the house, but she worked evenings so she was sure Bonnie wouldn't even notice she was gone.
A babysitter wasn't something she had to worry about just yet. Right now, she could handle everything herself.

She didn't even know how the kitchen had gotten so dirty. She hadn't been cooking much since Bonnie was born!

But she scrubbed and cleaned every inch of the place.

She spent all night cleaning and doing laundry. Babies require changing so often and cleaning all of those blankets and onesies takes a lot of time. Amber seemed to wear pretty much the same outfit all the time and could go quite a while before the laundry basket filled up, but now she had a baby, the laundry never seemed to end.

It didn't matter to Amber though, no matter how much work it took, she was going to make her little daughter happy. After all, how could she feel any other way about her darling bundle of joy. She knew it was going to be difficult being a single parent but now that Bonnie was here, her whole perspective on life seemed to be completely different.

In the few moments she did get to sleep she had Simon curling up on the bed next to her. She knew he was there because he was a little purring ball of fur keeping her bed lovely and warm.

Maybe hanging the laundry outside in the early hours of the morning wasn't the best of ideas, Amber felt herself coming down with a cold.
"I really need to buy a tumble dryer." Amber thought to herself after a massive sneezing fit.
For now this was her only choice. Looking up at the sky, she hoped it wouldn't rain, it was always hard to tell what the weather was going to be like in this town, it was always so misty.

In a long call from Ayden, Amber finally got some of the answers she had been looking for. She didn't necessarily believe him though.

"So you are telling me that the reason all of this weird stuff has been happening is because there is magic in this town?" Amber asked incredulously. She couldn't believe it, it made some sort of sense deep down, but it all sounded too ludicrous.

"What sort of magic?"

Witches...fairies...werewolves...VAMPIRES???

"You expect me to believe that?" Amber scoffed

"So...I have come to a town where all the fairytales and supernatural myths are real?" Amber asked.

"Yes, I have noticed things seem strange at night, but it's a quiet little town, it's probably just my imagination's way of making up for how little there is to do around here. You're playing a joke on me right now aren't you?!"

"Yes, the night we met I did feel strange. Did you.... did you SPIKE MY DRINK?" Amber was angry, there was no other explanation for the hazy memories, the way she suddenly fell in love with him.

"You're a what?"

"Oh stop it Ayden, vampires aren't real!"

"Well, yes, I suppose if they were real it would explain why everything felt so strange when I met you."

"So you're telling me you died 100 years ago? And you came back as a vampire?"

"And you used some sort of super power on me?"

"You influenced my emotions, and you read my mind?" Amber almost sounded like she was mocking what he was saying, but deep down she knew it sounded true.

Then she realised, she had gone to bed with a vampire.

"Did you....ummm...how do I say this...Did you drink my blood?" She was paralysed with fear, obviously if he had there was nothing that she could do about it now, but she felt so vulnerable.

"Ok, ok I believe you, you didn't bite me."

"But what about Bonnie? If you're a vampire, does that mean she is too?"

"Well how do I tell?"

"No she hasn't shown any signs like that."

"What do you mean probably? I want to know Ayden. I want to know as soon as possible!"

"Fine. Come over on her birthday. You say you won't be able to tell until she is a toddler, well you can tell me when she is old enough."

"No, I don't want to see you until you can tell me whether or not my daughter is a monster!"

"Goodbye Ayden!" She angrily ended the call.

It had been a lot of information for Amber to process, the chances were small, he said, that vampires and humans are more likely to have human offspring.
That it was never meant to happen in the first place, that he should have been here for the pregnancy because if Bonnie was a vampire, the pregnancy could have been dangerous.
It was all too much right now.
Amber sat in the chair and turned on the TV, she wasn't really paying attention to what was on, some sort of local sporting event it seemed, but she just needed to zone out for a while. She couldn't focus on anything.
"Oh Bonnie," she whispered, "What have I done?"

Eventually it was time for Amber to return to work. She hired a babysitter who arrived just before Amber had to leave.

"Hi I'm Marcy!" The girl said cheerfully, "I'm here to look after Bonnie while you go to work. Don't worry I have plenty of experience and Bonnie will be perfectly fine with me!"

"She's so...bubbly." Thought Amber.

"Just bear with me one second, I am just sending the paperwork off to the agency." Amber said, putting the cheque in the post.

"Right," Amber said, "Well, here's my telephone number, if you need anything at all please call me. There is plenty of food in the fridge and bottles of milk too. Her nappies are kept in the drawer in the nightstand in her room. She should sleep through the night, but if she doesn't then just rock her until she falls back to sleep. If..." The carpool had pulled up by the road.

"Please Miss Dark," Marcy said smiling, "I'll be fine. Just go and enjoy your day at work. You can count on me."

Amber took a deep breath. "I'll be back soon Bonnie." She thought.

"Thank you Marcy, I'll be back around 4am."

And with that she left.

Bonnie slept through most of the night, it was only around 2am that she began to cry. It was at that point that Marcy's phone rang.
"Hello? Miss Dark?" Marcy answered, "Yes I can stay til 6, that's fine."
"No, its really not a problem Miss Dark. I am more than happy to stay late."
"No, she hasn't been any trouble, she has just woken up now and I am fixing her a bottle."
"Okay see you later Miss Dark."
Marcy finished getting the bottle ready.
She walked into Bonnie's room and picked the crying baby up out of the crib.
"Sssshhhh, it will be ok, Mummy's got to stay late at work, but she will be home soon!"
She fed Bonnie and tried to get her to go back to sleep but the baby seemed wide awake.
"That's ok, we can play for a while."
Marcy really was a great babysitter, keeping Bonnie occupied until Amber got home.

"Oh Bonnie! I missed you so much." Amber cooed, raising her darling daughter over her head.
She watched as Bonnie giggled and smiled.
Despite how happy she was to see her daughter again, Amber couldn't help but check for fangs...

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Have some bonus pictures of Simon! Yes, he aged up in this chapter!

He's a darling little hunter isn't he?