“You had no right to do that, Severin. She is still a kid.” Oh Severin is visiting. Are they talking about me? I better be quiet.

“She isn’t a kid anymore, and you know that.” Yeah, Uncle is right. But I also like my kid status because I get away with so many things because of it so he shouldn’t convince mother of that.

“It was still not up to you to decide to tell her about it. You should have asked me. I’m her mother.”

Tell me what? About the war? Was that really so terrible? I mean, what did she expect? Did she want me to stay in the unknown till the warbell rings.

“Don’t use that mother excuse. You know quite well that I treat her as much as a daughter as you do. She just doesn’t call me father because you had a crush on Gregor and wanted him to take up the role. Guess what? She doesn’t like him.” Ohh sweet. My uncle is the best. He really sees me as his daughter. He would have been a far better father than that red-haired idiot. But I think mother won’t be happy about getting HIS and her failed relationship thrown in the face. It was also kind of mean of uncle.

“And besides that, I didn’t tell her what you feared. She will just be teaching my idiotic students. She is taking on some responsibilities. Responsibilities you are too afraid to give her. She will never grow up that way.”

Wait a moment; I did get more responsibilities. Was the whole war thingy just a grand masterplan from my family so that I would grow up? Nah. They wouldn’t go that far. Would they? But Uncle definitely tricked me. Not cool. And what didn’t he tell me? I mean, if it wasn’t the war, I have no clue what he meant.

“I know. I know. You are right. But she is still my little baby. Just thinking about the state we found her in still scares me at times, Severin. It would break her if it ever happened again. I just want to protect her.”

How did I get from kid to baby? And what is she talking about? Was I really in such a bad state when she found me? I thought she had just picked me up from a nearby village. Was that a lie? And why would it change anything? I can’t remember it anyway.

“Helga, just think about it. The earlier she knows, the more we can help her. We won’t be here forever. And who knows what might happen in the war? It would be better if she knew, so that if she remembers at some point, and she will, she has someone she can lean on.”

Okey. I’m completely lost. What happened in that village? Was I raped by a priest or something? No, that couldn’t be. I’m 100% a virgin. But what else could be so disturbing that mother is so scared to tell me?

“I will tell her Severin. But not now. She needs a little more time. I need a little more time. So it’s fine if she teaches your students, but please let me tell her the other things. And never suggest to her what we talked about in the meeting. I swear to you that if you tell her, I will hunt you down.”

Okey, mother was really serious. Now I want to know what happened. It can’t be as bad as they make it sound. I was still a baby, so I guess it can’t be that bad, and mom is just overly dramatic.

“Fine. But don’t wait for ten years or something like that. She is more mature than you think. And like I said, she will one day remember. And you don’t want her to find out the hard way.” I think I needed to hide now, or Uncle would know I was listening in.

Still, it felt kind of weird that my family kept secrets like these from me. Was something like that normal in a family? Do they have secrets about Percival too?

I waited in the distance for five minutes before I knocked on my mother's door. What I had listened to had made me think twice about telling her about Will, but I was sure that if that secret was really so important, mother would tell me when I’m ready for it. Screw you Uncle, mother knows me best. And if she says I need time, I need time. But maybe I could get her to talk about it earlier. It’s eating me up that I don’t know what they were talking about. But demanding something from mother was as useless as asking a fish to climb a tree. So there was only one way. I just had to show her how mature I am. As simple as that. Should take a few days—weeks at most. Easy peasy.

Knock Knock.

“Who’s there?” Should I? No, I didn’t want to start with a joke.

“Mom, it’s me.” I was a little nervous. I was about to tell my mom about my first friend. I mean boyfriend. And I was a little worried that she wouldn’t like him.

“Come in.” She looked tired. And if I was not wrong, she had cried a little. Her eyes were a little red. Was it because of what Uncle said? Well, maybe it will cheer her up if I tell her about Will. At least I hope so.

“Mom, I need to tell you something. Do you have time?” She looked at her tower of papers a little, hesitating. She definitely didn’t have time.

“Yes, but not too much. I need to correct all those papers until tomorrow morning.” Should I wait till tomorrow. Was this really the best time? No, I had to tell her today, or I wouldn’t be able to bring Will his lunch or dinner. And I still needed to know how exactly she prepared the milk. Percival always felt better after drinking it. And HE did too. So I was sure it was more than just milk and honey.

“Can we perhaps talk in my room? It’s really important, mom.” I didn’t want to talk in her office. It was cramped, and she only had two uncomfortable chairs to sit on besides the one she sat on. It was a trick Uncle invented. If the chairs are uncomfortable, people only annoy you in your office when it is important. Or at least they stayed if it was important. An office was there to work and not to talk.

“If it's really so important, we can go.” I could see that I had piqued her interest. I rarely told her that something was important when I called her mom. I only did it once, and that was when I had my first period. Who could expect your body to do something like that, and more importantly, why? Mom also doesn’t know why, but she told me it made me a woman. The talk that followed was one of the most embarrassing of my life. The thing is, normally, after the first period, a woman can get pregnant, but we were unsure if that was even the case for me. Vampires weren’t known for their natural reproduction, but there was generally little known about vampires, so we weren’t really sure.

I greeted Archimedes quite friendly, and he opened my door. I was still sorry about annoying him so much in recent days without even thanking him properly, but I tried my best now. He wasn’t like a certain fat girl who only knew how to act as if she were someone important.

“So what do you want to tell me?” she said after sitting on my bed. I also had a small sofa, but it was never used beyond a place I could throw my dresses on. And my bed was also far greater and more comfy, so it was the place to go when you needed to have a serious talk.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“Mom, you know this guy. William right?” I needed to make sure that she knew who I was talking about.

“The guy that always asks you out? What is with him? Did he do something?” she asked, a little concerned.

"No, no, he did nothing. I mean, he did. He asked me out.” I looked at her, and she still looked curious, with a little smile on her face.

“He does that all the time. Oh, wait, did you accept? I’m so happy for you. Do you want me to help you pick the right dress? When is your date? Why did you change your mind?” I guess if I had really planned and remembered that he invited me to a date, I could have asked Mom beforehand, and it would have gone far smoother than it did.

“Ohh you are smiling. I’m right. I’m so happy for you.” Mom didn’t look tired anymore, and I knew we could talk for the whole night if we wanted to.

“I don’t need you to help me pick a dress, mom. And I only accepted because he promised that he would stop asking me afterwards.” I teased her. If she was allowed to keep secrets from me, I was allowed to tease her a little.

“Ohh, that is… Well, it is what it is.” I could see her disappointment, and I enjoyed it. It meant she would be far happier if she learned the whole story.

“So, when do you go, and what have you planned.” I could see that she had a little hope. Was me having a date really that important to mom?

“The date has already happened, mom.”

“How was it? Tell me everything.”

“Well, to make the story short, your amazing and totally lovable daughter has a... drum roll... boyfriend now.” The shock in her face. The disbelief. The happiness. I loved everything about it.

She immediately hugged me, and I could feel tears flowing down my neck. No need to cry, mom. It's something good. He isn’t so terrible. Since when is she so close to tears. She cried more this week than in the past ten years.

“So, now I really want to know everything. Don’t you dare to leave anything out. Oh, I can’t believe it. My daughter has a boyfriend now. How could I not have seen the signs.”

“The date was last Friday. And I think it started around eight o'clock. I just came back from a bath. Honestly, I had completely forgotten about it.” She looked at me a little doubtfully. I know. Who in their right mind would forget their first “first date”?

“So I stood in front of my wardrobe, choosing a dress I wanted to wear, when it knocked.” I just realized that maybe I shouldn’t tell that part of the story to mom. She would be angry. But if I didn't, the rest of the story wouldn’t make sense.

“Well, I thought it was you, so I said that he could come in. I guess that was the most embarrassing start we could have had. At least for me.”

“You mean he did? You were completely?”

“No. I had panties on.” The look on her face as she tried to process it. Absolutely amazing.

“And what happened then.” Her tone said that she hadn’t made up her mind on how she would react to that yet, and I was sure if it wasn’t an accident, she would already be on her way to him with her most rusty scissor.

But as I told her more and more, she just listened quietly to me. She only interrupted when she wanted to ask a question because I didn’t explain something properly.

She also never called out my stupid actions, which I certainly had a lot of.

The only time she looked a little upset was when I told her that I told him about my past.

“That reminds me of something. Do mom and dad have a grave? I would like to visit them if it's possible.

“No.” Her answer was shorter than expected, and she had that strange expression on her face. Was it because I asked about mom and dad? Was she jealous? She doesn’t need to be; she will always be my mother.

“Mom, you will always be my mom. But I thought it would be nice. Mom did so much to keep me safe, so I just wanted to at least visit her once. Can we maybe visit the village I was born in?” I know it was a difficult topic for her from what I knew from her talk with uncle but a simple visit should be possible.

“No.” again just a short simple answer. So unlike mom.

“But.”

“No Buts. The village doesn’t exist anymore. Please just tell me about what happened after you told him about your …. birth. How did he react?” I answered her, but I didn’t forget what she told me about the village. How could a whole village disappear?

“You gave him some of your tears? What if he tells anyone.” Once again, a dangerous topic. But this one I could understand. She just doesn’t want me to get hunted down.

“He won’t, and he doesn’t know. He just thinks I put my finger in his mouth and that I’m weird. But mom. I will need to tell him sometime. And I also want to collect my tears from now on. I mean, I don’t want to cry, but if I do, I don’t want to waste it. It’s not like I will go out and hurt myself to get the tears.

“Charlotte, Daughter, I want you to listen to me carefully. It is really important that you understand what I am telling you now. Immortality is a gift more enticing than all the riches in the world. Even I, or your uncles and aunt, are not immune to its temptation. And once one gets a taste of it, you won’t want to lose it. For you, it might be just some tears at the moment, but the price you would need to pay would just grow, trust me. I mean, it's easy to say, that it's just some tears, and we could live a month or two more. And then again, just a few tears—maybe we have a year longer. Or ten years or a hundred years. At some point, you won’t be able to genuinely cry anymore. At some point, just giving you house arrest or not playing with you will not cause you to cry anymore. What would you do then? Would we need to hit you? Would we need to curse you? And what would we do if that stopped working? Would we start killing people you hold dear just to get that one extra year? Would we torture you emotionally and physically just so we could remain youthful? The temptation of immortality is far too great, and that’s why I decided that not even your aunt and uncles should know about it. You might think now that it's different if you want to give your tears to someone else, but it's not. Fake tears don’t have the same magic in them. That’s the reason I know when you are just acting. You would need to really cry for your tears to have that effect. So I want you to think carefully about whether you are really willing to cry for William, because if you start to give him your tears and he knows what they do, you will never be able to stop unless you are willing to end your relationship completely. With that, I mean that you would most likely need to kill him because he would chase you all over the world and maybe even tell other people just to get you. I will give you something to store them. You can collect your tears and the decision is yours, but you need to think about it really, really carefully. Do you understand?”

Mom was right. I didn’t think about it too much. For me, it were just tears, but for them? For them, it was life. It made me waver in my decision. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to collect them anymore. He was my boyfriend for three days, not three years or even longer. Maybe I could stick to the weirdo method and just put my finger into his mouth. Maybe I could put it in his drinks, but I didn’t know if it would still work then. Magic was sometimes strange. Pheonix tears also couldn’t be diluted. Either you used it pure or you would have warm, salty water.

“Thank you, mom. I will think about it.”

"Good, that’s all I want. So how did he react when you put your finger into his mouth?” It was nice to see that we were still able to change the topic. Especially since I slowly began to understand that mom too was resisting the temptation the whole time. I mean, I had cried more often than I could count, and she never even tried to get a tear out of me even after she knew what they could do.

We talked for an hour more before I noticed that it was almost time for lunch.

“Mom, you definitely need to show me how you make that honey milk. It worked wonders on Percival, and I want to bring it to him with his lunch.”

"Oh, Charlotte, it’s so simple. Just put in two tablespoons of honey in a cup of hot milk.”

“Is it really all? Honey and milk make them feel healthy again?” I couldn’t believe that it was that simple.

“Yes, if you also put in a large tablespoon of love, it surely will.” Okey, I was sure she was just pranking me now.

“A tablespoon of love?”

“Whiskey, Charlotte, Whiskey.” Wow. Did she just admit that she made my little brother drunk when he was ill?

“Yes, just a spoonful. Don’t put in too much. It will make them cough less, and when they stop coughing, their throat is less irritated, which then leads them to cough less when the effects stops, and in the end, they will feel healthier and less whinier. Men can be quite whiny when they are ill. The whiskey is in the black bottle with the broccoli juice label.” Sometimes I thought my mom was a genius. I know no one in our family would ever look at a bottle of broccoli juice twice.