Something Inside

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author’s Note: This is the last chapter. I tried for some smut but nothing seemed right. I’m sorry that it took so long to get up. I hope everyone has enjoyed the story.

I want to give a special thanks to the reviewers of this story. You have been so encouraging and so wonderful in your comments. It has really kept me encouraged and I loved reading every single one of them. Thank you all.


“Excited?” Ryan asked quietly as Chad pulled at the tie he had put on before they left the house. Ryan laughed and pulled the tie loose from Chad’s neck and off over his head.

“Hey!” Chad cried out as Ryan tucked the tie in his pocket.

“Chad’s you never wear ties. You hate them. Taylor knows you hate him. Why the hell would you put one on when we come to visit her?”

“She’s older now,” Chad mumbled, “Maybe she’ll expect me to act more mature.”

“Chad, she’s your sister. She knows you,” Ryan stood on his toes to place a kiss to his lover’s forehead, “She loves you. She doesn’t need you to be anything other than who you are.”

“We shouldn’t have stayed away so long,” Chad sighed, setting his forehead to Ryan’s and holding him close.

“It’s been nine months, Chad. Hardly forever. Are you ever going to knock?”

“Yeah. I love you.”

“I love you. Knock on the door.”

Chad had just raised his hand when the door opened up and a little face peered up at him with wide eyes.

“Uncle Chad!” In seconds the little girl was swooped up into Chad’s arms and Chad breathed her scent in deep, loving the way she giggled when he pressed a kiss to her throat and growled playfully when she shrieked with laughter and struggled to get away.

“Uncle Ryan, save me!” The little girl reached out to Ryan and screamed happily as Ryan pulled her out of Chad’s arms and flipped her neatly onto his back, where she clung like a monkey, pressing sweet kisses to Ryan’s hair.

“Shame on you, Chad,” Ryan scolded with a smile, “Torturing our niece that way. Merry Christmas, Julia.” He looked up at the little girl on his back.

“Merry Christmas, Uncle Ryan,” Julia giggled again as they all walked into the apartment.

“Uncle Chad!” An older and no less female voice called out just as the door closed behind them and suddenly Chad’s arms were full of tall, beautiful, and just grown young woman.

“Sweet Caroline!” Chad held her close and kissed her hair, “How’s the big college girl?”

“Good.”

“First semester went well?”

“Perfectly,” she assured him as she took his arm and led him back into the kitchen where all of the family gathered when they were together, “Two Bs and the rest As.”

“That’s my girl! Boys?”

“There’s one. Might have some potential. If he does I’ll bring him around next time.”

“Sounds good. How’s Grandma?”

“She’s great, Uncle Chad. She’s feeling great. She’s still a little sad about Grandpa sometimes, but they were married for sixty-seven years. It’s to be expected. She’s moving a little slower and I’m glad Marcus moved in with her for the company and to make sure she’s okay, but…” She shrugged in the manner he knew she had learned from Ryan and it made him smile.

“We shouldn’t have stayed away for so long,” Chad sighed.

“Uncle Chad,” Caroline stopped and moved in front of him, putting her hands on her hips just like Taylor. He smiled inside, “We all get it. You guys stayed around for a lot longer than you should have to make sure that Grandma was okay after Grandpa died. You can’t stay for more than a few years so that people don’t suspect. We all understand. Grandma understands. We didn’t expect you back for a couple of years, truthfully. Grandma will be so excited. Does she know?”

“Nope,” Chad grinned then and caught a stray thought from Caroline about how much cooler it would be if he and Ryan had fangs and he realized that she wasn’t yet quite grown. She would probably still be a little bit of a little girl for a little while longer. It made him inordinately happy, “It’s a surprise for her. Which she should be realizing just about…” He arched an eyebrow just as the murmur of conversation in the kitchen became a roar of welcome. Caroline giggled and dashed away.

“Uncle Chad!” It was his favorite name in the world and he opened his arms invitingly as more nieces and nephews came flooding out of the kitchen. After all of the welcomes had been said he moved toward the kitchen and the family parted to let him make his way.

Taylor was leaning against the doorjamb, her arms crossed and laughter in her eyes. It had been sixty-eight years since he had been human and, honestly, he had never expected her to be around for this long and still as active as she was. The miracles of modern medicine. Her frame was still straight and tall, her hands were still strong, her face was lined, her hair was white, and her eyes were the exact same as they had always been. She was beautiful to him. The most beautiful woman he had ever seen in his whole long life.

“Gonna hug me?” She asked. Her voice wasn’t as strong as it had once been, but her words were. It was only a split second before he was across the room and gathering her close to him carefully because she wasn’t as sturdy as she had once been.

“Hey, baby,” she whispered in his ear as he held onto her and rocked slightly.

“Hey, Tay,” He whispered back. When they had gotten their fill of each other he pulled back to grin at her and wiped away the tears from her face with the pads of his thumbs. She wiped away the single tear that had come from him and laughed. It was the same laugh it had been so long ago, open and carefree. It was impossible not to join in when Taylor laughed and soon they were all doing so and moving in for a hug that was a jumble of arms and legs and family that had always been connected.

For a moment Ryan hung back, simply appreciating the sight of Taylor, her four children, the ten children they had made between them and the two great-grandchildren that had come along so far. There was such a variety of hues of skin from the spouses and the children, and yet they were all beautiful to him. He had lived so long without a family protectorate, had never wanted one. Now he couldn’t imagine not having one. There had been a couple of close calls over the years where a new boyfriend or girlfriend couldn’t adapt to the family and had threatened to expose Chad and Ryan, but the family loved them. To become part of the clan it was a requirement to keep the secret and no matter how much someone might love them, if they couldn’t handle it they were quietly shown the door. On those occasions Ryan and Chad called Sharpay in. She loved to terrorize those individuals into silence, though they always made sure terror was as far as it went. After their secret was safe again a better mate was found by Ryan and Chad and led to the one whose heart had been broken, though they never told the family that they were the matchmakers.

“Uncle Ryan, get in here!” Marcus shouted. Ryan smiled at his large, muscled nephew and joined in the hug.
Hours later the apartment had been vacated save for Chad, Ryan and Taylor herself. Marcus had gone home with Caroline so that he could spend Christmas morning with his little sister though everyone would be back at Taylor’s by five the next evening for Christmas dinner. Taylor was sitting on the bed as Chad and Ryan hung the black out curtains that Taylor kept for them when they decided to sleep over for the day.

“I’m glad you’re here, Chad,” she smiled and leaned over to kiss his cheek when he sat on the bed.

“Wouldn’t miss a Christmas, Tay,” Chad hugged her close and pressed a kiss to her hair.

“I know you wouldn’t. And I know you boys won’t go to bed for a few more hours, but I’m not as young as I used to be. I can’t pull an all nighter anymore.”

“Go to bed, Taylor,” Ryan kissed her hair too, “We’ll see you when the sun sets.”

“I love you both,” Taylor got up and made her way slowly to the door, where she turned around and smiled, “I really do love you both.”

“We really do love you, too, Tay,” Chad grinned and Ryan blew Taylor a kiss, “Goodnight. Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, boys.”

Chad’s frame when loose as Taylor shut the door behind her and Ryan’s arms went around him. He pressed a kiss to Chad’s neck and they rocked gently in the quiet, sharing a grief that they couldn’t express in words.

“Her heart’s gotten so weak,” Chad whispered finally, “This will be her last Christmas.”

“She’s had a wonderful long life, Chad, for a human, and she’s been happier than any ten we’ve ever encountered. She raised fine children and watched them raise fine children and some of them are staring to raise their own. She’s at peace, Chad. And you know that she hasn’t been the same since Caleb died. She loved him the way I love you. She’s been stronger than either of us. If you were to die…I would walk out into the sun as soon as it was up.”

“I know what you’re saying is the truth, Ryan,” Chad said quietly, laying them both down on the bed and pulling Ryan on top of him. Ryan got comfortable and snuggled so that his head was under Chad’s chin, “It’s just hard. Taylor’s the last. First Mom and Dad, then Jason and Kelsi, then Caleb, now Taylor. It’s hard.”

“And it’s never going to get easier, love. Some day Caroline and Marcus will die, too. Even Julia won’t live forever.”

“I don’t want to think about it right now,” Chad pinched Ryan’s backside, “Julia’s only three. She has a long life ahead of her.”

“And we’ll be here to make sure it’s every bit as full and happy as Taylor’s was. Take joy in that fact, Chad. We’ll always be here to make sure that they’re happy. Taylor’s been happy. They all will be.”

“You’re right,” Chad took Ryan’s chin in his hand and angled his head to fit their mouths together just so.

“You’ll learn some day that I’m always right,” Ryan laughed against his mouth.

“Oh yeah?” Chad raised an eyebrow. It was a conversation they had nightly and he never tired of it.

“Yeah,” Ryan grinned in return.

“Do you need to feed tonight?” Chad asked suddenly.

“No,” Ryan rolled over and hooked one arm around Chad’s waist and wrapped a leg around one of Chad’s, “I’m good for a couple more days. You?”

“I’m fine. Now we’ve got at least a good five hours before the sun rises. Whatever shall we do?”
Ryan laughed and pulled Chad on top of him, “I wonder,” He leaned up to kiss Chad, “I love you, Chadwick.”

“I love you, too, Ryan. I always have and I always will. You are the something inside of me that was missing when I was human. Despite what I thought at first…I’m glad to be with you for the rest of eternity.”

“You’re my something inside, too, Chad,” Ryan brushed his hair back from his face, “And I’m hoping, if you ever decide to stop talking, that it will be in more ways than one.”

“You have a dirty mind, Ryan.”

“You love it, Chad.”

“Good point.”

“Chad?”

“Shut up and make love to me.”

Chad laughed and proceeded to do just that.