"Hi, Mom."

"Hi, honey...where have you been?"

"With my boyfriend..."

"That's nice," she said, "but when are you going to bring him here to introduce him to us? This one seems serious...a whole month now..."

I didn't want to take the bait, but I did. "Oh yeah, Mom, I just date any loser I meet in a club..."

She looked a bit stunned, then continued. "I'm sorry, dear. I know you're extremely choosy and you have very good taste...I expect you got that from me. Anyway, I know you can take care of yourself, but could you at least tell me his name?"

The plea in her voice got me. I love my family very much, and I really did owe them an explanation, which I planned to give them tonight.

"Joseph Cohen." I answered shortly. Hopefully, Dad wouldn't use the information later to track him down and stake him with the dining room table leg.

"That's a nice name, dear. And if you're spending all that time with him, he must be quite a catch...what about his looks?"

"Well," I said in a labored voice, "He's tall, around 6'2", with dark brown hair, and deep green eyes. Classic good looks with added character from a broken nose. He's sort of lean, in a muscular way, and his hands are soft and gentle. His voice is smooth and deep, but-"

"You really love him, don't you?" asked my mother. She was either using maternal intuition, or I was being REALLY obvious. I think it was a combination of both.

"Yeah, Mom..." I said seriously, "I really do. And I really want you to like him..."

I don't know why, but my mother suddenly came over and put her arms around me. As she did, I could feel that familiar warm moisture running down my cheek, following the path of the tears that had gone before as they slid towards my throat. My mother's eyes widened as she saw my tears and she pulled me closer to smooth down my hair with a tender touch. It was so like what Joe had done earlier that I couldn't stop the sob from escaping me.

"It's all right, dear..." she whispered to me soothingly, "No need to cry. I'm sure your father and I will love this boy. He's obviously stolen your heart, little moon, and we know how locked up you keep that part of yourself, among others. Besides, it can't be all that bad..."

I looked up from my tears into eyes so similar to my own. "But what about Daddy? He'll never approve! I know it!"

"I don't know why you say that..." My mother said swiftly, "But, no matter who, or what, he is, I'll make sure your father gives him a fair shot, okay?"

I didn't have the voice to speak anymore. I was so touched. I just nodded and pulled away from my mother's arms. She let me go willingly, despite her instincts to hold me till I was all better, and I quickly rubbed the tears off my cheeks. When I felt like I could face the world, or at least my own mother, I put my head up and looked her in the eye.

"Thanks, Mom..."

She smiled at me warmly and I grinned back as best I could. When the emotion in the room calmed a bit, I grabbed my things and headed for my room.

"Mom! Dad! Can I speak to you two for a minute?"

I was sitting in the living room. Everything was set. I had all my points and arguments set in my mind, and I was confident, and above all, I knew I was right. Everything would be fine. That confidence remained with me until my parents walked into the room.

My mother, as always, looked cheerful and bright, her amber eyes shining with mirth. My father, on the other hand, looked as if he had gotten up on the wrong side of the universe. His black hair was disorderly, as if he had been putting his fingers through it all day, and his deep gray eyes held a look of annoyance, though I knew it wasn't for me...According to what I'd heard through the floor of my room, he'd had to deal with my Uncle Lupus today, who'd gotten himself into jail once again. It happened about twice a year, sometimes out of state when Uncle Lupus got really wild, though it was never anything more then charges of Disturbing the Peace. But it always bothered my father and left him in a bad mood. Which was, the little voice in my head said sarcastically, just perfect...

"What?" They both asked at the same time. It was uncanny, but I had learned that despite their differences in upbringing, size, and personality, that my parents had an almost eerie connection to each other. It was something, I figured, that came with loving someone deeply for a long time.

"Well, you know my boyfriend, Joe?" I asked nervously, squiggling in my seat.

"No, we don't. You haven't introduced us to him yet, and we thought you said you were going to soon..." My mother answered, her voice calm, yet questioning.

"Well, um..." Oh, crap... My mind was blank. Blank! Every single argument I had, every point, every stirring word I had formulated this afternoon had flown out of my head, leaving me with nothing but a great deal of nervousness. Crap...

"Yes?" My father prodded.

"Well, um, there's a really good reason why I didn't want you to meet Joe, and well..." My voice gave out. Damn, but this was hard. I mean, I could do public speaking no sweat, but telling my parents about Joe was proving much more difficult then the oral report on destructive cattle grazing I'd had to do a day ago. Much more difficult.

"Yes?" My mother asked with a helpful smile. She was trying to make it easier for me, but in all honesty, she was making it worse.

"Joe's a vampire and I love him!" I blurted out. Well, the load of crap was in the air. It was up to them to decide if it hit the revolving blades of death. I prayed silently that the wind was blowing the opposite direction. Not that they were giving me any indication.

Finally, after an eternity, my father's large tired gray eyes looked into my mother's amber ones. He did it sluggishly, as if the announcement had slowly time for all of us and not just me as I'd thought.

"Dear, our darling little daughter, the one who we've raised for 17 years, the one who we used to change, and wash; the girl who you taught to hunt and track, the girl I taught the Old Knowledge, our little girl has just told us she's in love."

My mom nodded solemnly, and my parents shared an unreadable look. Huh? Had they missed the big announcement? Didn't they hear the whole vampire part? They better have, because I didn't have enough courage left to say that bit again.

"Didn't you hear the first part, Dad?" I asked, more than a little nonplussed.

My Dad gave me a look, as if I was insane, and then gave a short chuckle. "What, that the boy's a vampire?"

I nodded violently. What the hell did he think I was talking about?

My mother looked at me, and then began to laugh. Laugh! My father joined in a moment later and they sat on the couch cracking up, for who knew what, while I was trying to admit to them something which could make or break my relationship! This was SO not cool.

"What the hell" I fumed, "are you laughing about?"

They stopped laughing for a moment, and looked me up and down. Then they began to laugh again, harder this time.

"What's so funny!?"

Finally, they sobered up and sat down properly. My father, who was wiping the beginnings of tears from his eyes, looked me straight in the face and, nearly laughing again, asked:

"Dear, sweet Luna, is that why you haven't introduced us to him before? Is that what you were so worried about? That the boy's a vampire?"

"Yes" I said icily.

"Honey, don't you know that one way of the ways to become a vampire is to die a werewolf? Your Aunt Dendra has been a vampire since you were ten!"

"No, Dad, I wasn't aware of that fact..." I said, the chill in my voice stemming straight from the deep pit of embarrassment in my stomach, "Of course that could be because YOU DIDN'T TELL ME!"

My father looked nonplussed for a moment, then looked to my mother. "You didn't tell her?"

My mother looked just as lost. "I thought you did..."

"No, you said you would tell her that."

My mother shook her head. "Nope. I was to take care of teaching her The Hunt. You said you would take care of the Old Knowledge."

"Yes, well... " My father flustered, "I just thought it was something that a mother should tell a daughter and..."

I glared at him.

"Well, you know now, sweety, so it doesn't matter does it?"

I glared. "I guess not." I was trying to sound friendly and forgiving, but it wasn't working.

However, as I was about to lecture my parents on the importance of communication and providing me with all information, the doorbell rang.

My father, looking for any excuse to get away from my rightful vengeance, ran to the doorway, with me right behind, and without even checking through the window, opened the door. I nearly dropped dead.

"Hi, Luna!" said Joe in a friendly tone. He even waved.

"Hello, Joe..." I answered, my voice lifeless.

My mother immediately caught on that he was THAT Joe, and ran to the door. She had the charming hostess smile on, and her arms were open. Dear God.

"Why Joseph, how nice of you to-" but for some reason she stopped.

"Dear GOD! Joseph! Joseph Fairmont?"

Part 3