Bathing in sweat and out of breath, Samantha ran along the path leading up to her house to find Catalina waiting at the door.
“I don’t like waiting,” the woman grumbled.
“Then don’t come to people’s houses unannounced,” Sam sniped back. She jingled her keys and pushed the door open to let her in.
Catalina grunted as she heaved the large duffel bag across the threshold. She ventured into the hallway and paused in front of the mirror. “This is where you live? Why is it so… bare?”
“It’s called post-divorce minimalism.” Sam thudded the door shut and clicked her tongue. “Hey, you have a reflection.”
“What?” Catalina turned her head and smiled at herself. “Duh? Why wouldn’t I?”
“Nothing, just an urban myth. The kitchen is this way.”
“Kitchen?” The vampire pulled up her nose. “Do we have to convene in the servants quarters?”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “I don’t have servants.”
Why were the new people in her life so impossible?
“Oh.” Catalina grimaced. “Sorry.”
“Why? Do I look like I want people tending to me?”
The vampire master looked her up and down before she spoke. “I guess you look pretty self-sufficient…”
Somehow that didn’t sound like a compliment.
With a sigh, she leaned down on the cold kitchen island. “What’s so important you had to come over? Also, how do you know where I live?”
“I know things.”
Sam refrained from rolling her eyes. “You’re just as bad as Lilith.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you finally going to tell me what your urgent problem is?”
“Fine.” Catalina rolled her head back and forth and stretched her arms. “Taking care of a kid is exhausting and I think he defecated.”
“You think?”
“Yes. I need you to change him.”
“You’re kidding me? That’s the emergency?” Samantha exclaimed.
“You don’t expect me to deal with...” she lowered her voice. “Poop.”
Sam ground her teeth together to contain her frustration. “Fine. I’ll come with you.”
“Oh, not necessary. I brought him.”
“If you brought the toddler in a dog crate, I swear—”
“No, no, no.” Catalina gestured to the duffel bag.
If this had been a cartoon, Sam’s head would have exploded. She jumped up and pulled the bag away from the vampire. “Are you crazy?”
“How else was I going to sneak him past my guards? Don’t look so horrified, I didn’t fully close the bag.”
Sam yanked the zipper down and a sour smell wafted up, making her eyes water. “Wow. This is just as bad as putting him in a cardboard box! No, this is worse.”
“It’s not my fault I lack maternal instincts,” Catalina deflected.
Ignoring the crazy woman, Sam grabbed the child and held him up. Beyond the unmistakable smell he had brown stains on his clothes. He definitely needed a change of clothes and a bath. And someone that wasn’t Catalina to take care of him.
“You poor thing,” she said as she hovered the boy over the sink. She removed the cutlery and plate from the bottom and ran the water until it was lukewarm before she put him down.
The child looked up at her with big eyes and happily clapped his hands. The water splashed down as she took his clothes off and bathed the boy, all while Catalina stared at her like she was going to be sick.
“It’s just poop,” Sam grumbled. “Have you never changed a diaper or wiped someone’s bum?”
“No.”
“It’s super easy. I used to take care of my nephew all the time.” She waved the vampire over. “Here, you do it.”
Catalina raised an eyebrow. “You’re joking.”
“No, here, take his shirt. My laundry is down in the hallway to the right.”
“I’m not touching that.”
“Stop being a baby.”
Samantha washed the child with soap and dried him with a hand towel. Not exactly very suitable products, but it wasn’t like she’d been given much warning about her new guest.
“There, isn’t that much better?” she said to the boy.
The child gurgled some spit and giggled.
A satisfactory grin tugged Sam’s lips up. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
She fussed the toddler, dancing her fingers in front of him to make him smile. Busy playing games, she didn’t notice Shadow tip-toeing into the kitchen until she barked at their visitor.
“Arf!”
Catalina shrieked and darted back. “What is that!?”
Sam shot her an insulted glare. “That’s my dog.”
“Why is it so small and… staring at me?”
“Because it’s a puppy and it wants food?”
“Don’t look at me like that, I don’t have anything to feed you. Go away, dog. Shoo. Shoo.”
Samantha let out a slow, controlled breath. “What is it with you and living things? Don’t answer that, that was rhetorical. Laundry?”
Reluctant to do as she was told, Catalina pinched the dirty clothes with two fingers and stomped her way out of the kitchen. Sam shook her head and, with the toddler on her hip, she followed Catalina in search of some temporary clothing instead of the towel she had wrapped him in. Maybe a blanket to wrap or a big sweater that covered him from top to toe. Anything that wasn’t his stinky poop clothes or this towel.
As she stepped out of the kitchen, she heard the scraping sound of the lock and the front door swung open.
Sam groaned. “You don’t live here anymore, Mel. Can’t you knock?”
“Not Mel,” Lilith grinned. She pushed the door shut and waltzed into the house.
An excited bark came from behind Sam and Shadow raced through her legs to greet the newest visitor.
“Hello, Demon Bite,” Lilith said, her voice softening with mild affection.
“Arf!”
In her enthusiasm, the puppy lost her footing and slid forward on her belly. She wagged her tail a thousand miles an hour and yipped at the hem of Lilith’s dress, eager for attention.
“You’ve grown!” the other woman crouched down to fuss the hellhound and without hesitation, Shadow turned on her back, her tail possibly wagging even faster.
Despite the heartwarming sight, Samantha couldn’t enjoy the view. Not when she knew Catalina could return at any moment and she had a toddler in her arms. Not that she had noticed.
“Who’s the child?” Lilith asked, gesturing to the kid.
Or maybe she noticed after all.
Samantha chuckled awkwardly. “This? Oh, this is my… nephew.”
“Nephew?”
“Yes… I’m looking after him for a—”
Another door slammed and Catalina appeared from the laundry. With stretched out arms, she waved her hands through the air. “I’ve never touched anything this gross.”
Lilith sucked in a surprised breath. “Catalina?”