Cory and Madison watched a movie and enjoyed a steak dinner with all the trimmings. The flight went smoothly, as always, as they touched down at San Francisco International. Once on the ground, Dante quickly transferred their luggage to the rental car.
As they exited the plane, Cory laughed. Dante had rented them a nice BMW SUV. "Wow, Dante, I don’t think we’ll need that big thing in California."
Dante slapped him on the back and wished them well, letting him know he’d be here with the jet when they were ready to return to Virginia. Cory led Madison to the Beamer and they managed their way out of the airport and the gridlock of traffic through San Francisco to Walnut Creek.
"Maddie, can you put this address into the GPS, I’m not sure, exactly, how to drive to her house from here."
He handed her the paper with the address as he maneuvered through the traffic. "We won’t have to drive back into the city. Once we’re at my mom’s, we can take the subway. Plus, it will be fun to walk around the city."
Madison entered the address and then started looking out the window in every direction. She could see the San Francisco skyline as they headed for the Oakland Bay Bridge. "Oh my gosh, Cory. I can't believe you got to grow up in that city. I’ve always wanted to visit here. They have a great arts community. How far is it to your mom's?"
"We should be there in about twenty-five minutes, according to the GPS, but in this traffic, all bets are off.”
She leaned back in her seat as they crossed into Oakland and stayed on the highway toward Walnut Creek. As they approached the city limits, Madison took in the low mountain range in the small town. "Wow, this kind of reminds me of Charlottesville!"
As they turned down the street where Cory’s mom lived, the GPS announced their arrival. The quaint neighborhood had children playing in the streets. Switching off the engine, he looked at Maddie. "Well, here we are. Now, I’m feeling nervous."
Madison exited the car into a suburban neighborhood that could be anywhere USA. "Don't go soft on me now, Cory Medici. Come on, let's face the firing squad."
***
Rachael had been pacing the floor and constantly checking her watch. It had been a while since Cory's last visit, but this visit would be special. Cory had never had a girlfriend that Rachael was aware of. At least, he’d never had one he wanted to introduce her to. She knew from their phone conversations this was serious, and he’d already taken her to Castello. That could only mean the girl was aware of what Cory was, and Shade had accepted her into the coven. She saw the SUV pull into the driveway and her son exit the car. She flung the door open and was already down the front steps as the two of them approached. She held her arms open to her son. “Cory!"
Cory looked up as his mom rushed out the door. He knew she’d be waiting for them. Her hair seemed much greyer than the last time he saw her. Every time he saw her, it was a stark reality check that her life had not been easy. "Mom!"
He hugged her tight and noticed her frailty. He’d become so accustomed to the vampires, whose strength and muscle mass were so defined, she felt like a piece of bone china in his hands, fragile and breakable. "You look amazing, Mom. Let’s go in, I want you to meet Maddie."
Madison smiled as Cory embraced his mom and followed them inside. She tried to imagine Shade with this woman, and forgot, for a moment, that Cory's mom aged, and Shade didn’t. She shook the image from her head. Rachael gave Madison a big hug.
"Welcome to my home. I know it’s nothing as grand as Bel Rosso, but it’s comfortable here. I made up the guest room for the two of you. Do you need help with your luggage?"
Madison returned the hug. "Thank you. You have a lovely home. And please, let Cory get our stuff. You've done enough already."
"Mom, relax, I’ll get the luggage in a bit. Just sit down and talk a while. This is my girl, Madison." Cory took Madison's hand and led her to the couch, where they sat down together. "Oh, Dad and Kate send their love."
Rachael sat down across from her son and his girlfriend, and she could feel her son's happiness radiating off him. She’d thought her son couldn't get any happier when he was found by Shade, accepted as his son, and accepted into the coven. But she was wrong. Looking at him now, it was like he’d found the other half of himself. It was something she’d dared not even dream for him. He’d been rejected by the mortal world, and he’d finally found a place with the immortals. She knew, even in that world, he wouldn’t have been accepted had it not been for Shade and the power he held. Maybe, for the first time in her life, she was free of the guilt of bringing this child into the world.
"Cory, I’m so happy for you."
95
Cory and Madison had been taking some day trips into San Francisco, and even riding the ferry over to Sausalito and Tiburon. Cory's mom had come to the city with them one day, but she said she preferred to be at home. Madison liked Cory's mom, although she was quiet and tended to keep to herself a lot.
In the evenings, they’d ride the subway back out to Walnut Creek and have a late dinner with his mom. One evening, his mom pulled out a bunch of photo albums, and they sat down together, looking at old photographs. There were a fair number of pictures of Cory as a baby and as a young child, but less as he got older. Both Cory and his mom seemed more sad than happy when they looked at the old pictures, and Madison noticed Cory was rarely smiling in the photographs.
Rachael ran her fingertips over a picture of Cory as a teenager. "Those were hard times, for both of us. I knew he was different, even as a baby, but I had no resources. I know now Shade would have helped me, helped us, but I didn't know how to find him. There was a big Goth community here, like when the hippies took over the Haight in the 60's. We frequented the underground clubs. There were people there who were really into the whole vampire mythology, believed in that whole thing, and there were some who claimed to be vampires. I don't know if I really believed that at the time, or if I just thought it was a cool place to hang out with my friends. Anyway, that’s how I met Cory's father. Once Cory was born, I kept going back to the club, trying to find some of the vamps to help me out, to explain to me what I needed to do for my son, but they rejected me, and him. He grew up so angry at the world, and who could blame him? And then, for him to find his father, by pure circumstance…"
Rachael wiped away a tear. Cory slid his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "It's all right now, Mom."
She nodded. "Yes, it is. But if he hadn't found you, Cory, I'm not sure either of us would be here. I don't know how much longer you could have survived on the streets, and if you had died, I think I would have taken my own life. I carried so much guilt over the life I brought you into."
Cory removed the photo album from her hands and gave her a hug. "It's all in the past now, Mom, for both of us. I know I made it hard for you, I blamed you for a lot, but that's gone now. I feel like that was a different person. We've both changed, thanks to Dad."
Rachael nodded and gave him a sad smile. Cory thought she looked tired, and older than her years. "Why don't you go ahead to bed? You don't need to stay up to entertain us. Madison and I can just watch some TV."