IRELAND Sharing In The Secrets

He smiled warmly down at the child, he wouldn't tell him the real number in case he said it to the wrong person, granted they would assume the boy was just kidding around.

"Your Daddy is a lot older than me, but he likes being around young people like me so he doesn't feel so ancient."

The Vampire teased with a grin as he shot Aodh a cheeky smirk.

"Well now fifty is old! Do you think I look fifty years old?"

He asked, rubbing his wrinkle free face.

"Your Dad looks fifty, look at all those wrinkles on his face."

Darragh shook his head.

No, Aeker didn't look fifty.

"Your hair is like my gramma's and she's eighty!" because the Vampire's hair was silver, he looked old. Perfectly good logic for a child of only six.

Aodh snorted loudly, body shaking in suppressed laughter.

"Hear that, Aeker? You look eighty!"

He couldn't hold himself back. Loud laughter filled the room as Aodh fell back to lay out on the bed.

That was the best thing he had heard all day.

Aeker was eighty. Ha!

Aeker was taken back by the boy's answer.

A light blush dusting his cheeks as Aodh barked a laugh.

That was embarrassing, more so since that was exactly what Aodh had said, with his hair everyone would think he was an old man.

He was much older than that but physically he was still in his twenties.

"Darragh..."

He muttered, leaning over to punch Aodh's arm firmly.

"I'm only in my twenties."

Aodh grunted when he was punched, rubbing at his arm gingerly. "Don't be violent. I don't want Darragh getting all violent like you." He stuck his tongue out and hugged the boy closer like a human shield.

Darragh giggled loudly, squirming in his father's hold.

This was all so much fun. He hadn't played like this with his father and anyone else before. it had always just been him and Aodh.

"Nu-uh! Aunty Anya says that you're even older than gramma. She says you're older than gramma's gramma!"

Aodh's calming laughter flared up again in loud guffaws.

This was just priceless.

"Violent like me?"
He asked with a scoff, raising his eyebrow at his fiancé, if Darragh was going to learn violence off anyone it definitely wasn't him.

The Vampire pouted slightly, there was no coaxing the boy into thinking he was a respectable age.

Plus the boy was smart enough to figure out that they weren't like everyone else, that they weren't human, if he had thought that then he would've been more alarmed about his eyes.

"Want to know a secret?"

He muttered in a hushed tone to the boy, leaning in to make it seem more important.

"I am older than your Grandma's Grandma.

I'm very old but your Daddy is even older than me, he is twice my age."

"Yes, violent like you. You're a very violent creature, Aeker dearest."

Aodh arched a brow with a little grin. "Muss ich Sie daran erinnern, der Riemen? Oder die Beschränkungen? Oder die Stöcke? Oder die Peitschen? Sie können sehr heftig sein, meine liebe."

They were both violent, they just expressed it in different ways. kinky sex was still violence.

Darragh nodded enthusiastically, sitting up and shuffling around on Aodh's stomach (earning a grunt from the Lycan for his efforts) and grinning his wide gap-toothed smile at the Vampire, waiting for the big secret.

The little boy gave a quiet 'oooh' in wonder. Older than gramma's gramma! That was really really old.

"Athair says that he's really really old because he's a mac tíre dúr. Are you one, too?"

The boy knew that his father turned into a Wolf. He'd seen it.

If Aeker was old like Aodh, did that make him a wolf, too?

"Ní dúr, Darragh, meatacht. Tá mé mac tíre scanraithe," the Lycan chuckled softly, sitting up to wrap his arms around the boy.

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Need I remind you of the belts? Or the restraints? Or the canes? Or the whips? You can be very violent, my lovely.

"Sie scheinen diese Art von Gewalt von mir mögen, wenn Sie über ihn besorgt sind, konnte ich immer zu stoppen."

He replied with a mutter as he looked over at his Mate, a small grin appearing on his lips.

"I can't speak Irish, Darragh, I'm not sure what you're asking."

Aeker smiled warmly at the boy, he really did need to learn Irish but Aodh didn't have the patience to teach him and teaching himself was a slow process.

Though he could guess what he was asking, whether or not he was a Lycan, Aeker didn't know how much the boy knew of their world, if Aodh hadn't told him certain things on purpose or not.

But he knew about fairies so chances were he knew quite a bit.

"I'm not like your Father, we are... very very different. Today is a very special day for me, for two reasons. Firstly, I got to meet you and secondly because today is the first day I've ever seen to sun."

He replied, fondness showing in his features, today had been an excellent day.
"I'm a Vampire."
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You seem to like that sort of violence from me, if you are worried about him, I could always stop.

Aodh pursed his lips a little.

"Weißt du was? Es ist in Ordnung, gewalttätig zu sein," the Lycan decided. he wasn't missing out on playing with the belts and crops. Not a chance.

Darragh's brows furrowed a little. "You don't know Gaelic?" He asked the question like it was the weirdest thing he'd ever had to ask. Everyone he had ever known spoke Irish. It was strange to know someone that didn't speak it. "What others do you speak?"

The boy cocked his head to the side curiously as he leaned forwards. He'd been speaking another language and Aodh had understood it. What was that language? Would he be able to learn it? He wanted to. He wanted to be smart and know lots of languages like his athair.

A bright gappy smile appeared on his face again. Today was special because Aeker got to meet him! The boy gave a bashful little giggle.

"Vampire." Once again he grinned, excitedly this time. Aodh had told him about Vampires. Naturally, he thought they were cool. Who didnt want a friend that could suck the person bullying them dry?

"Do you eat people?"

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You know what? It's alright to be violent

Aeker chuckled and smirked at Aodh, that's what he had thought, a little violence now and again wasn't a bad thing.

"I want to learn it, but right now, I only know a few words. I'm from Germany so I can speak German as well as Polish and Russian."

Alexis and himself had traveled around Europe a lot, he had picked up a few languages here and there though she knew a lot more than he did.

Aeker laughed and shook his head as he looked at the little boy, he was so curious and brave, completely unfazed by asking personal questions.

"Not the entire person."

He replied with as he smiled warmly at the boy.
"I can eat normal food but I need a persons blood to survive, I don't kill people to get it though, I can buy blood from a special store or ask people if they will let me take a little bit."

Of course buying meant going to a blood bank and either stealing it or bribing an employee, he did hunt humans when he needed to but Darragh didn't need to know the details of that.

Germany. Darragh hadn't heard of it before.

He shuffled off the bed and grabbed Aeker's hand, tugging on it, guiding the man over to the wall opposite his bed. Behind the door that the Vampire and Lycan had left open was a world map that took up almost the entire wall.

The boy dropped Aeker's hand and moved to drag a stool over, clambering up onto it and leaning forwards to put his finger on a red circular sticker stuck just above the UK. "We're here, see?" His little finger traced the shape of Ireland.

"Where are you?"

Aodh sat up and watched the boy and Vampire stood on the opposite side of the room. Those two had hit it off like a house on fire. It was heart warming to see.


The little boy looked up at Aeker curiously.

"You ask people?" That must have been scary for some people. Being bitten hurt. Nattie had bitten him lots of times when they got into fights.

He held his hand up, flexing his little fingers, bending his arm a little so his wrist was in view rather than the back of his hand. "Do you need any now?" The intent behind the question was obvious.

Aeker followed him to the map and smiled, he grasped onto Darragh's hand softly, guiding his finger from Ireland a little way to the right, placing it right in the center of Germany.

"Here, Germany and this one."

He guided the boy's finger lower, placing on the boot shaped country.

"That's Italy, that's where your Daddy and I live, where you will live if you want to come home with us."

He replied his eyes flicking down at the boy spoke, surprise filled his features as the boy offered his wrist to him, a warm smile as appeared on his lips as he leaned down, holding the boys hand softly.

Aeker pressed a gentle kiss to the boy's wrist before pulling his lips away from it and releasing his hand, shaking his head softly as he ran his hand through the little boy's hair.

"I'm fine, besides, I would never bite you."

"It's bigger than Eire. Did you ever get lost there lots?"

He'd gotten lost lots of times here and Ireland was a lot smaller than Germany.

His eyes focussed on the boot. Italy. Aodh had mentioned Italy before. "It's bigger, too." Everywhere was so big compared to the little country he lived in.

"I can come with you?" Excitement lined his voice as he looked over his shoulder to Aodh to make sure Aeker wasn't lying to him.

When Aodh nodded the boy launched himself off the stool to hug Aeker tightly.

He could go with them. Be with his daddy again. All the time. And his daddy's wife. They could be a family.

"All the time when I was younger, but I always found my way back home."

He replied, countless times he had gone out in the woods only to get lost, but getting home was easy enough, he just had to get to the peak of the mountain, the he would be able to see his house.

Aeker caught the boy and pulled him into a tight hug as he carried him back over to the bed, perching himself on the edge of it with Darragh in his lap.

"Of course you're coming with us, your father gets so upset having to leave you here, but now you can come with us."

If he thought back he could pin point the moments where Aodh had gone home to see his son, there was moments where the Lycan had been upset for no reason, irritable and agitated, but now he knew.

"The three of us wont be separated again."

Aodh's eyes flickered up in shock, training on the Vampire's face as he spoke, trying to decide whether he was making that up or had actually realised that he got upset over leaving Darragh here.

He had thought he had hidden it well. He'd hidden it from Coilean and Alek well enough that they hadn't realised.

Aeker was so different from those two. He seemed to just know what was plaguing him.

The Lycan leaned forwards to press a kiss to the crown of Darragh's head.

"You'll be running with us now, squirt."

He could finally keep his son around and not have to worry about anything concerning him.

Aeker always knew, at the time he may have passed it off as Aodh's Lycan side just making him cranky or perhaps he had a bad day but now he had all the pieces to the puzzle it was simple to put it all together.

You can hide things from family, from your friends, from everyone close to you but there is no hiding your true emotions from your soul mate.

His gaze turned up to Aodh, a knowing look in his crimson hues, phone calls in the middle of the night that either left the Lycan over joyed or depressed, now he knew what was happening behind the scenes, when Aodh went somewhere that he could not follow.

Aodh gave the Vampire a little half smile.

So Aeker had figured it out. The Vampire was smart ad intuitive; why was he so surprised that he had figured it out?

"Up we get," Aodh chuckled, lifting Darragh up.

"Anya's just pulled the cakes out of the oven."

Aodh had heard the oven door open and Anya busy herself with putting the cakes on the cooling rack.

Lycan senses came in handy.

Aodh made his way towards the door with Darragh pressed to his hip. "Coming, Aeker? We won't save you any if you don't hurry your slow ass up."

"I'm coming."

He replied, quickly pulling himself off of the bed and padding toward the door, he knew well enough that cake wouldn't last long with Aodh around.

Though he suspected Anya knew how to keep him at bay even if just for a moment.

"That smells wonderful."

He replied, making his way into the kitchen.

When Aeker arrived in the kitchen, Anya was stood protectively by the cakes with a rolling pin to defend them with.

Aodh was chomping down on an entire cake while Darragh was sat in the man's lap happily chewing away at a fairy cake.

"At least someone has manners." The woman gave the two boys a hard look which they both returned with twin shrugs. Food was important. They were growing boys, they needed lots of food.

Anya sighed softly.

"Do you want one, Aeker? Even with a weapon, they aren't going to last long. Just remember to save one for the damned fairies. Last time you didn't give one, I found a pigeon in my bathroom."

Fairies were mischievous creatures. If they didnt get what they wanted, the caused trouble and lots of it.

Her hard eyes turned to Aodh again who merely gave a grin. The theory of the fairies leaving the pigeon in her bathroom disappearing with the action. Though Anya wouldn't notice that.

"Yes please, though just a slice if that isn't too much hassle, it's been a few months now but I can't handle excessive amounts of food like he can."

Aeker still only ate small portions in comparison to what a normal male his size would devour.

Too much food made his stomach feel weighed down and left him with an uncomfortable aching in his gut.

No there was no threat of Aeker eating anyone out of house and home, it was too bad the same couldn't be said for his Fiance.

"No one can handle excessive amounts of food like him. If I didn't know he worked out every day, I'd be surprised he wasn't as fat as a heffa."

Aodh snorted softly. "I'm never going to be fat."

"If you don't want to eat copius amounts, you can join the fairy cake club with Nattie and Darragh."

She lowered her weapon and motioned for him to take a cake from the cooling rack.

Once again it seemed like the cakes had just about disappeared before she could even decorate them again. It always seemed to happen with Aodh around.

"Thank you."

He replied as he stepped forward, assured that he wouldn't feel the wraith of her rolling pin as he picked up one of the slowly cooling fairy cakes.

The Vampire took a seat around the table and bit into the baked good with a soft purr.

He wasn't as fond of sweets as Aodh was but these were tasty and he was obviously rather enjoying it.

Anya watched the three of them with a fond smile.

They looked like a happy family sat there around the kitchen table chowing down on sweets together. It was a wonderful sight to see. A perfectly happy little family.

"Garett's planning on going down to the Cobbler after work, Aodh. You going out with him?"

Aodh's brows shot up in shock. "The Cobbler's open again? Lord, that place never bloody stays closed for long. Aye, I'll go down for a drink or two. It'd be nice to see the night life again. You coming with, Aeker?"

The Tom Cobbler was an old pub that had been around for years. It had been closed and reopened so many times due to the owner's dying that Aodh had joked about it being the pub that just didn't die.

It had been around for longer than most of the people in the village could remember.

"Sounds like a good night out, only a few drinks though."

Once Darragh had gone to sleep they could head out, and hopefully not get as drunk as last time, god knows how he would explain waking up in women's clothing again.

"But first I want to enjoy as much as the day that I can."

He wanted to see a sun set and spend some time outside enjoying the light while he could.

"Only a few? Where's the fun in that?"

Even Anya was looking at the Vampire gone out at that.

When at a pub in Ireland, you drank like a fish. No exceptions. There was never 'only a few' in an Irish pub.

"He still isn't used to being with an Irishman, that's for sure, Anya. He'll get used to it in time," Aodh assured. In time Aeker would learn to hold his drink as good as Aodh did.

"That was great. Thanks Anya. Thanks Nattie," he yelled out for the girl in the livingroom to hear.

"It'll be a while before dinner. Wanna go see the fairies?" he asked his son, who immediately began to nod enthusiastically. "Go get your drawing, then. I'll go fetch Nattie. You ready to see fairies, Aeker?"

"Seeing the sun, getting a son and now you're taking me to see fairies, life with you is just a constant adventure isn't Schätzchen?"

Aeker got to his feet with a smile as he finished off the small cake.

"Thank you girls, the cake was wonderful."

He replied, wandering to living room to thank them before moving to follow Aodh, he was rather excited about seeing the fairies.