Winter Legacy -8-

Agnes had never suspected that her husband was cheating on her. Never. Erik wasn't the kind who cheated. But she was. She didn't go out looking for an affair, but after she kissed Jack she couldn't stay away and she wanted more and more of him every day. He was so different from Erik, he was a man. He didn't treat her like porcelain, he wasn't afraid to man-handle her, he wasn't afraid to shout back at her, louder than she'd shouted at him. He was a challenge, spontaneous, full of new surprises.

They'd only been exploring this new affair for a month when Agnes found she was pregnant. When she first found out she was scared, this would certainly ruin her marriage and she still loved her husband, the last thing she wanted to do was break Erik's heart, on the other hand she was unsure of how Jack would react to the news or if she should even tell him at all.

Agnes decided that Jack had a right to know, it was his baby after all. When she told him, he let her know that he would be there for his child, but only if she wanted him too. She reminded him that she was married, told him that although she and Erik were going through a rough patch she would cling to her marriage as long as she could, and if Erik were to ever know that he did not father her second child she  would be the one to tell him. Jack was very understanding, but made her promise to send him pictures of the baby and with that they parted ways.

"You cheated on me Agnes?" Erik murmured, he had been so guilty about the affair, he desperately wanted things to work out between he and Agnes but he couldn't stay away from Jamie. He was willing to live a double life to make this woman happy, hell, everything he ever did was to make Agnes happy and this  was how she repaid him? By cheating on him, getting pregnant with another man's baby and having him spend time and money on a child that wasn't even his. That shit hurt. 

In five seconds, Erik saw his entire life flash before his eyes, he thought about what would happen if he murdered this bitch right there on the white tiles of the kitchen, no, he refused to have Erika grow up without both her parents. Then again, he could kill Agnes, himself and Erika...

Erik saw Claus' face clearly, maybe he could just kill the bastard child, Erika would still have her mother, but then Agnes would fill Erika's head up with nonsense and he couldn't have Erika hate him, plus he'd loved Claus from the moment Agnes said that she was pregnant and would never be able to hurt him.

All of these thoughts raced through Erik's head at the speed of light, his mind was made up quickly. "I'm going to pack my things. We made this home together Agnes, but I paid for everything in it, and the only reason I won't drag your whorish ass out of here by your hair is because I want my child to live comfortably, I want Erika to be happy. As far as Claus is concerned, I'm going to sign some papers, you'd better find that boy's father to give him a last name."

Later that same day Cornelia came over, she immediately started scolding her younger sister. 

"You're taking Erik's side? He cheated on me too, in fact, if he didn't start acting like a jackass he never would have had to find out the truth about Claus, we could have gone on being a family."

"I'm not taking sides Agnes, I'm letting you know that you are wrong. Claus is the victim in this whole fiasco. He would have grown up not knowing his identity, he would have lived a lie and eventually he and Erik would have found out. Erika would've been hurt as well, it would have killed her to see her parents going at each others like dogs in an alley and seeing her little brother hurt. I told Erik that he was wrong too, but you had yourself a good man, he got side-tracked with trying to provide a good, comfortable home for you. Yes, he could have spent more time with you. No, he should have never started spending time which should have been spent with his wife and daughter with another woman. But you're both going to have to get past this for Erika's sake."

Agnes blinked away tears, "I'm a terrible person..."

"You can be a bit selfish and high-minded at times, but you're not a terrible person. The question is, what are you going to do now? You've got two children to take care of, bills to pay, and a growing business to run. What are you going to do about those things Agnes?" Without waiting for a reply Cornelia pulled her sister into a hug and held her for a long while. A silent understanding passed between them so without saying another word the sisters parted ways.

Erik moved in with Jamie, his break up with his wife became the talk of the time, rumors said that he left his wife for the thinner, sexier surgeon. People said that Jamie was pregnant and threatened to use the baby against him if Erik didn't leave his wife. 

"This is ridiculous." Jamie moaned to Erik one night, "Agnes is the one who had the child with another man, why are these people saying these things about me?"

Erik shrugged, "That's just how it is, people will speculate, one person will get a worst reputation than the next. I'm just sorry that you had to be pulled into this with me."

Jamie caressed Erik's cheek, "It's okay, what matters is that we know the truth and we have each other, I just hope this doesn't affect our work."

Some months later though, Erik was taken aback when Jamie refused to sleep with him. 

"I'm tired." She whined, "And I don't feel well." 

He thought it was Agnes all over again but when she bolted out of the bedroom and he could hear her retching in the bathroom.

Jamie had never been sick in her life, her turning stomach was a new sensation, as was spewing food she didn't eat. When she was done throwing up, Jamie sat back on the cold tiles and considered, maybe it was time to tell Erik what she was, after all, there was a 50% chance that their child would not be human.

A few days later  Jamie plopped herself down beside Erik and read a few sentences of the medical journal over his shoulder. She frowned when she finally realized he was wearing a dress shirt and pants under his lab coat. "Oh my gosh!" Her hands flew up over her mouth. 

Grinning Erik put down the book and opened his arms to his girlfriend. "Surprise baby!"

"You got the promotion? You're the new Chief?"

"Unofficially." Erik said. "Morgana will make the formal announcement on the day she announces her retirement."

"Oh my goodness! Congratulations Erik, you deserve it." She took his hand and placed it over her still flat stomach. "Maybe you should explain to our baby what is going on."

"Our..." Erik couldn't possibly smile any wider.

In just a few weeks Jamie was round with child, she waited patiently for Erik to ask, she'd caught him looking at her every chance he got, questioningly, confused.

"When are you going to ask me?" Jamie demanded a few days later.

"Ask you what?"

"I'm three months pregnant and I look like I'm going to pop any second, aren't you curious about that?"

"I've been meaning to ask, but I figured that maybe it's multiples."

"I could be carrying six embryos and I still wouldn't be this big at just three months."

"That's true, genetics then?"

"You can call it that I guess." She then proceeded to explain some things to Erik that his logical mind wouldn't let him comprehend.

Jamie took a leave from work, claiming that she needed to do some traveling due to a family emergency, she was not sure about a vampire-human hybrid and she would need all the help she could get from the rest of her kind to prepare for this baby. It would be the first hybrid in centuries and she was not sure what to expect.