Chapter 1.9 - To Love and To Lose

A few months had passed since Bonnie's birthday. Amber had decided that it would be best for Bonnie if she had regular contact with her father, so she arranged for Ayden to look after her while she was at work. This worked out well as he would be able to spend the evening and the night with his daughter, which suited his nocturnal habits. Bonnie was growing up so fast, she had learned to walk and was just starting to learn to talk. Amber was so proud of her little girl, and her relationship with Ayden wasn't too bad either. The two of them had been spending time together when Amber got home from work, they would sit and watch TV together and chat about whatever was on her mind.

She had definitely judged Ayden all wrong, she was so angry about the way he revealed his vampirism, but as he pointed out, she refused to meet up with him so how else was he supposed to tell her? He explained that he had only proposed marriage because he was brought up to believe having a child out of wedlock was disgraceful, and he was still not completely used to modern ways. 

After breakfast one afternoon, Amber was sat on the floor after with Bonnie, trying to teach her to talk. It was painstakingly slow, and Bonnie seemed more interested in Simon's toy mouse on the floor than in listening to her mother speak.
The doorbell rang, Amber looked at the clock on the wall and wondered who it was, Ayden wasn't due until half an hour before she left for work, and she wasn't expecting any other visitors today. She rushed to the bedroom to get dressed, then answered the door.
Ayden was stood on the porch, patiently waiting.
"Ayden? You're early, I wasn't expecting you." Amber said, shocked to see him.
"I apologise for not calling ahead, to be honest I wasn't sure if you would be awake just yet." Ayden smiled, "I know I am early but I was wondering if I could spend some time with you before you head off, normally when I get here you are in such a rush I barely get to speak with you until you get home."
Amber was slightly taken aback but she didn't see any reason to send him away.
"Come on in," Amber stepped aside, holding the door open, "Bonnie isn't dressed yet, we were just practicing some words after we had breakfast."
"Don't worry about it, if she is comfortable in her pyjamas leave her be, I'll put her in some fresh clothes when you leave for work." He said, smiling as he watched his daughter play with the cat toy on the floor.
Bonnie looked up and babbled at her father, then she got up and tottered towards the door to her bedroom. Where she stopped, turned around, and babbled again folding her arms and looking impatient.
"Looks like she wants to go and play with her toys, she hasn't stopped playing with the xylophone for days," Amber said "It was cute at first, but it's getting irritating, I much preferred it when she played with the blocks, that wasn't as loud!"
Ayden laughed, "I'll go open the door for her, why don't you find something on TV for us to watch, let her play alone for a while?"
"Ok sure." Amber said.

As Ayden headed over to Bonnie's room and helped her pick out a toy to play with, Amber flicked through the channels, not sure what to put on. She settled for a cooking show she had seen a few episodes of and settled down on the sofa with a glass of water.
"Oooh, I like this show, the chef is rather amusing." Ayden said from behind her. She felt like she jumped 3 foot in the air, she hadn't even heard him come back in from Bonnie's room.
"I need to put a bell on you!" Amber said, laughing at herself.
Ayden just smiled and said "Sorry, I need to remember not to be so quiet when I'm here." He sat down next to her and started watching.
After a couple of minutes, Amber turned off the television and turned to look at Ayden.
"Ayden...I...want to apologise to you."
"Oh?"
"I feel...I wasn't fair to you when Bonnie was born...before that even...I should have handled everything better...it's just that I had a plan for my life you know? And having a child so soon wasn't part of that plan...I mean...I love Bonnie and I wouldn't change a thing...but back then...I wasn't ready...and.."
"Amber stop!" Ayden said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "You have nothing to apologise for. Neither of us handled the situation well, but we've moved on from there. If it was up to me, I would much rather us be living together, but I guess I am just traditional. I am very happy with the way things are, and am very proud of our daughter, and you for that matter."

This had been building for a while. Amber and Ayden both knew it, but neither would admit it to themselves for their own reasons.
After the kiss, Amber's face was bright red. "Well...erm...I need to get to work. Are you still ok to look after Bonnie tonight?"
"Of course I am." Ayden smiled. "Have a good day at work."

Amber was right, she has no sense of rhythm Ayden thought to himself as Bonnie randomly hit the bars on the xylophone, pausing only to try and eat the stick. Maybe she would be better with someone to show her how to play a tune.
He tried to teach her "Three blind mice" but Bonnie wouldn't hit the notes that he was pointing at, instead she continued to play her random tune, babbling incoherently as she did so.
Eventually Bonnie became tired and stopped playing.
"Is it naptime little one?" Ayden asked after she let out a massive yawn.
Bonnie just babbled at him, smiling.

After putting Bonnie to bed, Ayden decided he needed to have a little rest himself, he had gotten up earlier than usual to surprise Amber and Bonnie, so he slept in the bed in the nursery.

When Amber returned home, she couldn't find Ayden, he was in the bathroom, after waking from his nap he decided to try and freshen up a little.
Amber knocked on the bathroom door, "Ayden are you in there?" she asked.
"I am, come on in I'm not indecent." Ayden said from the other side of the door.
Amber entered, she almost laughed when she saw his themed underpants, he always seemed so proper that she didn't expect to see him wearing something so...childish.
"How was work?" He asked her.
"It wasn't too bad actually." Amber said, "I'm glad to be home though, how was Bonnie, I hope she wasn't too much trouble, she has been a little grouchy lately."
"She was fine, she played that xylophone until she was tired then she had a nap. I only put her to bed half an hour ago or so."
"Thank you so much for looking after her." Amber said, pulling Ayden into an embrace. "It means so much to me. And thank you for coming early today, it was nice spending more time with you."
"Well, I hope this isn't too forward of me, but I have arranged a babysitter for Bonnie tomorrow so you can come over to my house after work and we can sit and chat without having to worry about her."
"That sounds wonderful." Amber said.

The next night, Amber went over to visit Ayden after she finished work. It felt strange approaching his massive house, This isn't a house, it's a mansion! she hadn't been anywhere so lavish since she arrived in Moonlight Falls. She rang the doorbell and waited. Eventually Ayden came to the door, "Amber, it's so nice to see you again." He said cheerfully. He looked paler than usual, maybe it was just the lighting in this place.
"Thanks for inviting me." Amber said as she stepped inside and looked around. It was massive, and beautifully decorated, it was very gothic but Amber liked that sort of thing. "You have a lovely home." She said.
"Thank you," Ayden replied, "Now, if you would like to follow me to the dining room, I have been preparing dinner for you. I learnt this recipe off of the cooking show you like to watch, I hope it tastes ok."
"Thank you, you didn't have to go to so much trouble!"
"It wasn't any trouble, I actually rather enjoyed cooking it." He smiled.

After eating, Amber and Ayden sat and talked for hours. It was only when the sun began to rise that Amber realised what time it was. "I really need to get home," She said, "Thank you for inviting me, I had a wonderful time."
"Thank you for coming," He said, smiling faintly. It seemed more like a grimace, like he was in pain.
Amber was suddenly annoyed at him.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on Ayden?" She demanded.
"What do you mean?"
"You're even paler than usual, you look tired and seem weak. Are you ill? Can vampires even get ill?" She asked.
"No I'm not ill." He said, smiling faintly again, "It's just, ever since I found out Bonnie is a human, I haven't been able to... ah.." He stepped away from Amber, clutching at his stomach.
"Ayden? Haven't been able to what? What's happening?"
"Ah...Am...Amber. I'm...sorry." He gasped painfully and bent over double.

Right before her eyes, Ayden became a pile of ashes.
"AYDEN!" Amber screamed, she didn't understand.
What's happening! What did you do Ayden?

She was so overwhelmed she couldn't bring herself to look as Death harvested Ayden's spirit.

"Ayden." She sobbed quietly, stood in his living room trying to get her head around what had just happened.
How am I supposed to deal with this, I was just getting comfortable with the idea of having him in my life, in Bonnie's life.
Oh God! Bonnie! How am I going to break this to her?



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So for those of you who read my spoiler a few weeks ago probably saw this coming. Yeah I kind of spent ages getting Amber to chase him around trying to get him to give her child number two but he wasn't having any of it, then he starved to death because all the interaction time meant he didn't even get something to drink!