I spent most of my weekend either with Tyla or building a new room for our incoming child. Sunday evening, she was ready to give birth. Apparently, vampires' young develop faster than humans'. As I took her to the hospital, I hoped that our child would be human.
When we got to the hospital, Tyla was taken to the maternity ward, where she gave birth to a healthy - and human - baby girl. We named her Samantha.
After Samantha, Tyla, and I all had gone to bed that night, I heard something outside. Looking out the window, I saw some angry-looking people with torches. I let Tyla know about it and was about to call the Order of the Bronze - Dragon Valley's police force - when Tyla said she'd handle it. She went outside, and sure enough, the people left. But Tyla didn't come back inside! Thinking something was wrong, I ran outside, only to find her lifeless body on the grass, a wooden stake piercing her chest.
I immediately called the Order of the Bronze and they confirmed what I already knew - that Tyla had been murdered. They were reluctant to even investigate Tyla's murder, as she was a vampire, but eventually I convinced them to do it. While they worked on investigating the crime, I still had a baby to take care of - and now I had to do it alone.
My time at home was spent taking care of Samantha. I didn't have much time to do any of the other things I liked doing, such as playing chess. Not that chess made me feel good at the time, since it just reminded me of playing chess with Tyla. I missed her so much.
Although I would have liked to spend all of my time with Samantha, I did still have to work. It was hard finding someone who would watch over Samantha while I was at work, but one of the families I had helped offered to watch over her while I was working.
The next day, I actually sat down at the chess table, but I couldn't stay there for long before thoughts of Tyla filled my mind.
By the day after that, I had gotten into a routine of working and taking care of Samantha. I opened up the mailbox that morning, expecting to find tax demands. Instead, I found a gift from a woman named Morida. Apparently, she had heard of Tyla's death and wanted to get together with me. Unfortunately for her, I wasn't interested in her; I would never love another.
And the routine continued. But when I got home from work, I was in for a surprise: Samantha had grown into a toddler! Apparently she had some vampire blood in her after all; a pure human would not have grown this quickly. I immediately bought a high chair and potty chair, and just in time, too!
I also started teaching Samantha to walk...
...and to use the toilet.
That night, I had trouble getting to sleep. I felt like something was wrong, and so I decided to check around the house. It was when I checked in the kitchen that I saw a ghost. I had seen ghosts in other people's houses before - after all, part of my job was to get them out - but never in my own house. And something about this one looked familiar. Then I looked at the ghost's face, and everything became clear.
The ghost was Tyla!
Tyla let me know that, even though her vampire body had died, her spirit would always love me and would always be there for Samantha. She also gave me a toy to give to Samantha. Then she left, explaining that she couldn't stay in the mortal world for very long in her current state. But still, I got to see her again!
After Samantha learned to walk, the next thing was teaching her to talk.
She excelled in that, just as she did in walking. I'm more and more proud of her every day!
