Claire looked up at Lucian at the sound of the child’s cry, “Why do you...” she then paused in thought. “You’re a doctor, of course,” she shook her head, “I’m guessing that means that baby must be one of your patients, right?”

Lucian looked down a moment before offering a partial answer, “Well, in a way, yes.”

“In a way?” Claire gave him a questioning look. “Why are you acting so secretive, Lucian? What are you not telling me?” Claire asked as she cast another look at the closed door he still stood in front of.

“I thought you didn’t do that,” Lucian replied with his own trace of suspicion at her perceptiveness.

Claire narrowed her eyes, “Even if I did, you’re the same generation as me, remember?” she scoffed. “Now please tell me why you are acting so strangely.”

Lucian sighed, then made one more statement to try to allay whatever suspicions Claire had about his behavior, “I mean, Lissa did ask me to check to make sure the child was alright. That would make her a patient of mine, would it not?”

“What? That’s the baby that was born in the middle of the massacre?” Claire’s eyes widened. “The one whose mother died, and then was embraced, without Sean’s permission? By a non-Camarilla vampire? Lucian! What on earth...” she just shook her head as she turned away.

“Well, it’s not like she had anyone else to look after her. I mean, wouldn’t she be safer with me than...” he just shook his head as well, eyes cast down.

“Her mother was dying and being reborn, just as her baby was born. It’s not like she would have really been in the state to take care of her that first night. But that was that night. Now we could have some newly embraced vampire out there wondering what on earth happened to her child. Did you even think of that, Lucian?”

Lucian kept his eyes turned downwards before speaking, “Well, she hasn't come looking for the child yet, it seems," he defended weakly.

“And if she did?” Claire asked pointedly.

“Well...” he stammered a moment, “I’d deal with that when and if it ever happened.”

“What do you mean, deal with it?” Claire asked with further suspicion.

“Please Claire. I’d give the child back to her, obviously,” he assured, though his words lacked conviction. “If she seemed like she would be a fit mother of course. I mean, we don’t even know what clan she is. After all, we should make sure the child would be safe with her before just handing her over, right?” he continued, sounding like he was trying to convince himself as much as Claire right then.

“It’s been nearly two weeks Lucian. Either her mother’s still out there desperately searching for her child, or she’s not. But if it is a case of the second scenario being true, that still doesn’t explain why you still have her here with you.”

“Well what else was I to do with her? She was literally just dropped into my arms on the night she was born.”

Claire scoffed again, “I’m older than you and even I’ve heard of orphanages. I mean, my own husband grew up in one,” she added as she gave him another questioning look, still trying to decipher what was really going on inside his head right then.

“Again, if her mother is out there looking for her, and she is actually upset about losing her child, what do you think would happen if she found her in some orphanage filled with other humans? It may not be pretty, Claire. Do we really need to expose this little girl to a second massacre within the first month of her life?”

Claire gave him another pointed look, “What’s really going on here, Lucian?”

He let out another sigh as he leaned against the wall next to his front door, “I’m sure you have some theory in that pretty head of yours,” he stated, though spoke the words with defeat.

Claire sighed deeply as she moved to lean back against the wall next to him sympathetically. “This was me, a couple hundred years ago, give or take.”

“What?” he asked as he turned his head to look down at her.

“I mean, the circumstances were slightly different. But a little girl was orphaned by the more vicious of our kind and I thought taking her in would keep her safe. If you remember the way the story ended, it didn’t,” Claire bit back emotions.

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“I thought it was an earthquake or something that killed the little girl you took in?” Lucian asked gently, trying to recall what little he knew of the story, as Claire hardly ever spoke of it much.

Claire needed another moment before continuing, “The fact remains that if you try to be a father to this little girl, you’ll eventually lose her... too,” she whispered the final word as Lucian’s pain-filled eyes turned downward again. “And it’ll kill you when you do. Trust me, I know.”

“Is this you now towing the ‘don’t care about mortals’ line that our elders love so much? Can’t say I expected that sentiment from you, Claire. All things considered,” Lucian added more quietly as he looked off in the direction of the street Claire had just come from earlier that night, when she had gone searching for another mortal who she had indeed let herself care for.

“I may be a hypocrite,” she admitted with a slight sniffle, “but that doesn’t make me wrong.” She sighed heavily. "We'll always end up losing them, every time. And I guess I just don’t wanna see anyone I care about in any more pain than this wonderfully long life of ours already provides plenty of,” she whispered as she turned to wrap her arms around him, as he returned the embrace, both of them sighing sadly.

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When Eliot returned to America, he had appeared on the balcony outside the upper floor of the mansion, just like he had nearly twenty years earlier, after his father’s death. Although it differed slightly this time, as he appeared outside his old room rather than the master bedroom. And no one was in the room to greet him either, despite his even more extended time away, and the circumstances that caused it.

Eliot sighed softly and moved through his old bedroom to approach the bathroom that linked the two rooms. Just as he was about to push open the door to the master bedroom, he remembered the less pleasant part of that other return trip and paused to raise his hand to knock first, this time. Though just before he did, the sound of obviously carnal activities greeted him through the closed door.

“So help me, if it’s Lucian again,” he mumbled. Then, he just shook his head and turned back to exit into the hallway through his old room instead. With another heavy sigh, he started down the twisting staircase to wait in the main hall.

He honestly wasn’t that fond of the idea of having to interrupt those activities in order to have this reunion with Claire as well. After all, he had been gone so much longer now, and the situation was quite different than him just returning from his home country after one fifth of the time he had spent trapped outside of his very own life.

However, as he continued down the stairs, he halted at the sound of footsteps coming up the same stairs. His breath caught as he and Claire’s eyes met there on the staircase. “Claire... I... “ he couldn’t help casting a glance back up the stairs in the direction of the master bedroom.

But before he could finish his shocked greeting, Claire fell into his arms, eagerly kissing his lips. The embrace lasted quite some time before she finally remembered all the reasons Eliot had stayed away so long in the first place.

“Is it really over? Are you really back this time?” she asked with all the hope she could still muster, which was a more than difficult thing for her most nights.

Eliot cast another slight glance up the stairs toward the bedroom. But he wasn’t able to keep his eyes from traveling back to her and his lips managing to form a slightly wistful smile. “I think so, or hope so at least,” he answered her a little breathlessly.

“I was so worried,” Claire moved to wrap her arms around his waist as she lay her head against his chest, holding him close. “That Summer girl; the other mage, I guess?” she shook her head. “She said you went to England? And after you had just gotten back...?” she just let her voice trail off and squeezed him more tightly.

“Summer, huh?” Eliot responded in a near whisper with another glance up the stairs.

Claire finally stepped back, but clasped her hands over his as she looked up at him, “So, I still don’t understand the England part, but can you really be around me, us, again?” she had to make sure before she let herself get too comfortable with that hope at all.

“I think so,” he stated with an attempt at a more sincere smile.

“I have to say, a little more confidence would be nice here, Eliot,” she teased with another sad smile up at him.

“Sorry, I just,” he took a breath to center his thoughts, “I think I finally did it: Found a way to forget the future, in a manner of speaking,” he had to add.

Claire narrowed her eyes worriedly, “But if you forget the future then...”

“Temporarily, I mean,” he interrupted, attempting to assuage her obvious worry over his statement.

“Temporarily forget the future?” she asked with doubt.

“Until I need to remember it,” he made another try at clarification.

“But, how will you know when you...” she shook her head again. “And if you forget the future, then how will you...” Claire’s confusion only grew at the thought.

“Trust me. I had a long time to try and plan how to do this,” he gave her a reassuring smile. “Basically I locked it away, so that no one, including myself or even a centuries’ old vampire Prince, can get to it. And the enchantment is set to only end when I need it to.”

“That sounds really... confusing,” Claire gave him another skeptical look. She then had to add, “And wouldn’t it make more sense to just tell us how and when this horrible prophecy is supposed to happen? Then we could just avoid it, right?”

“But knowing the future causes so many other problems, Claire. For one, the fact that if any of us try to find ways to avoid it, it’ll just make everything I know no longer mean anything.” He sighed softly as he gently touched her cheek, then added, “You can’t trick fate, Claire. You just have to be prepared for it when you’re face to face with it. And that’s what I’ve tried to make sure I will be by doing it this way.”

“It just still seems really...” but before Claire could finish her statement, they both turned to look up at the landing above where the door of the master bedroom opened, and Summer stepped out. All of their expressions then said much more than any of their mouths were saying right then.