You walked barefoot through the halls of your house until you reached your baby's nursery. Elijah had told you he would go right away, but an hour later he was still there. He had been pensive all day, and how could he not be? He was tired of you, the only creature capable of procreating healthy offspring for a vampire. He had dreamed of being a father all his life, a dream that he thought impossible since his transformation, but here was your baby, irrefutable proof that now, thanks to you, that dream had been achieved.

"I told you to wait for me in bed," Elijah said softly, his baby girl, Valerie, sitting on his lap, covered in her pink blanket and holding her stuffed giraffe in her hand as she played with her father. She was the real miracle baby, not Hope, and Elijah couldn't be more proud of his little baby girl.