“I’ll try,” she laughs. “What are you doing tomorrow evening?”
I’m not sure what day tomorrow is, but I already know I don’t want to do anything more than binge-watch TV and online shop for the new house. “Probably just sitting around at home. Why?”
“I want to celebrate your birthday. The last one I spent with you was…was…”
“Was when I was in the science lab,” I say, surprised at how easily the words spill from my mouth. “And you gave me the stuffed black cat I named Binx.”
“I remember,” she says quietly. “It’s lame, but my idea was to bring cake and then make you dinner at your house.”
“That’s not lame at all. I’d like that!”
“Do you care if Phil and Penny come?”
“Of course not! This will probably be the most normal birthday I’ve ever had. Dinner with my husband, sister, and her family.”
“I’ll bring something and heat it up. Unless there’s something local you’d prefer to order.”
“There are like two good local places I like, a Steak n’ Shake and Taco Bell in Thorne Hill.”
“How do you live?” she laughs.
“It’s hard. We barely get by.”
“It would force me to cook.”
“You mean you don’t work twelve-hour days as an ER doctor and then come home and have a homemade meal and a cocktail waiting for your husband?”
“Hey, don’t judge me. Your husband doesn’t eat so you get off easy.”
We both laugh. “So what time tomorrow?” I ask.
“Is five too early? I want to make sure to get Penny home before bedtime.”
“Not at all. And we’ll still have some daylight. Come a little earlier and you can come walk through the new house with me!”
“Ohh, I’d like that. Are the, uh, zombies cleared out?”
“Hah,” I say with a snort. “I almost forgot about that. Yes. We’ve found them all—I think—and have disposed of the bodies.”
“Do I want to ask why there were zombies in your house?”
“Probably not, but I’ll tell you anyway. It was a spell gone wrong.”
“So when the zombie apocalypse starts, we’ll have you to blame?”
“To blame and then thank for stopping it.” I pull on my underwear and then my leggings. “Thank you again, Abby, for everything.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” she presses. “You’re my sister and I love you. Lucas is my brother-in-law and I—” She cuts off, laughing. “Sorry. I’m just thinking about what Dad would say knowing that we have a vampire in the family. Because as far as everyone knows, you’re still part of this family.”
“And Nancy’s friends all know it now, too.”
“Oh my god, right. I almost forgot. And I’m sorry if it upsets you to talk about them.”
“It doesn’t. Really,” I press. “The actual devil is my uncle,” I remind her. Though so far, he’s treated me better than the man I thought was my biological father for years. “It kind of makes past family drama seem not that important anymore.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Okay…so back to your party. What kind of cake do you want?”
“Chocolate is always good.”
“Great.” I hear Penny cry in the background. “And someone just woke up from her nap. I’ll see you tomorrow. Love you, Cal.”
“Love you, too.” We hang up, and I finished getting dressed. I strip the sheets off the bed, balling them up and leaving them in a heap by the top of the stairs. I’ll change them later.
I’m shocked to see a full breakfast laid out on the counter when I get into the kitchen. “What’s this?” I ask, grateful for the hash browns, bacon, and eggs, but not sure where it came from.
“Breakfast from Suzy’s,” Lucas tells me and gets up from the island counter to pour me a cup of coffee. “I called and offered to pay them if they delivered the food in a timely manner.”
“How much?” I take a seat at the counter, ready to dig in. I took a long shower, but it wasn’t that long.
“A hundred and fifty dollars on top of what the food would cost.”
“Nice.” I stab my fork into the hash browns. “And thank you.”
“Anything for you, my love.” Lucas sets the coffee down and kisses my neck.
“Ugh,” Eliza huffs. “I almost walked out into the sun this morning after listening to you two fucking all night. Again.”
“But my tits are nice, right?” I ask before shoveling a forkful of food into my mouth.
“They are. Did you do a spell to make them so full and perky?”
“Nope. Usually, I’d say I was blessed, but now that I know my father is an archangel, that sounds weird.”
“They are fantastic,” Lucas growls, coming up behind me and cupping my breasts with his large hands. Eliza rolls her eyes and grumbles something about how she can’t wait until nightfall so she can leave.
The back door rattles, giving the vampires in the house warning to move out of the way. A few seconds later, my familiars and Scarlet come inside.