She turned at El Molina Avenue and parked on the street, glad to have found a parking spot so near the cafe where she and Dez met on Thursday nights. She could already hear a new band warming up inside, and no one was sitting on the patio, so she grabbed a table, glad for the clear night sky. Dez arrived a few minutes later, and Beatrice shoved down the instinctive hunger that tickled the back of her throat.
Though she was used to the scents of her family, close contact with other humans still awakened her instincts. She could easily control it, but that did require some concentration. Her best friend, for whatever reason, smelled particularly appealing that night.
“How are you, hon?” Dez chattered as they both settled into their seats. A waiter came out and they both ordered a coffee and dessert. “How was your week? Matt and Gio are both at that thing at your grandfather’s tonight, right? What’s Ben up to?”
“Other than still plotting how to steal you from Matt?”
She giggled. “Of course.”
“He and Tenzin are practicing tonight.”
“How’s school going?”
Beatrice nodded. “Good, he seems to have swung right back into his classes since we’ve been back. Of course, Gio’s way more demanding than his high school teachers, so that’s not really a surprise.”
“Of course.”
“The boy could probably pass most college level classes at this point.”
“Has he thought about early admission anywhere?”
Beatrice shrugged. “It’s not a priority for him. He likes his friends the most now. He still does most of his learning at home with Gio. He only goes to school for girls, basketball, and to have something to do during the day.”
They paused to let a group enter the cafe. The lively music spilled out as the door opened, quiet to Dez, but almost distractingly loud to Beatrice’s immortal ears.
They chatted as they sipped their coffee, Dez happily filling Beatrice in on her wedding plans. She and Matt had been engaged the previous summer, but had waited until Giovanni and Beatrice had returned from Chile to get married. The wedding was only a few weeks away.
“—so the guests will have the option to eat either chicken or beef. I liked the idea. Of course, the cake looks amazing, but then, it’s chocolate, so how it looks isn’t all that important. B?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been staring at my neck for the past couple minutes, hon.”
She blinked. “Oh, sorry.”
“No problem. Did you forget to eat before you came? You haven’t touched your coffee.”
Beatrice wrinkled her nose. “It’s really strong. Are you wearing a new perfume or something?”
“No, nothing different.”
“Are you...” Beatrice struggled, trying to determine what it was that was triggering her awareness. Scent had taken on an entirely new dimension for her since becoming a vampire. Everything smelled. She had quickly learned to block out as much as possible, so as not to become overwhelmed, but there was something about Dez that night...
“You’re pregnant.”
Her best friend’s mouth gaped, just a little. “Uh... what?”
“I think that’s it. You smell... more. I don’t know what else it could be. You don’t smell sick, and I know you went off birth control a while back, so—”
“How did you know that?” Dez almost looked offended.
Beatrice just shrugged. “Your scent changed. Matt liked it; I could tell.”
Dez rolled her eyes. “And I thought being your friend was weird before... and I’m not pregnant. It’s only been a couple months, and I haven’t even missed my period.”
“Well, you will. I’m pretty sure that’s it.”
Dez just shook her head. “How... I mean, what—”
“I told you, you smell different.” Beatrice shrugged again and sipped at her coffee. It really did smell better than it tasted now. Unless she was at home and she could make it watered down, it was overwhelming. “You don’t smell bad. You smell more... female, if that makes sense. I’m sure it’s the hormones. Matt’s probably been going nuts around you lately, huh? Humans react to that stuff even if they don’t know what it is.”
Dez cocked an eyebrow. “Humans, huh?”
“Yup.” Beatrice smiled. “So you believe me?”
She shrugged. “Well, since you’re a big, bad vampire with a super-strong nose, I guess I have to, though I think I’ll still wait for the pathetic human doctor to confirm before I tell my fiancé.”
She grinned. “Congratulations! So were you trying?”
Dez flushed. “We weren’t not trying, if you know what I mean. Matt’s older than me; he didn’t want to wait. I was game for whatever. I knew I wanted kids and I’ll be thirty next month. We’re getting married in a couple weeks. No one will care we started a tiny bit backwards.”
“I bet Matt’s going to be really excited.”
“I bet he’ll be surprised. I don’t think he thought it would happen this fast.” She paused. “Heck, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but I suppose this is the logical result of all that sex.”
Beatrice snorted. “You’re so smart for a human.”
Dez narrowed her eyes. “‘For a human,’ huh? I’m smart for a human?” She tossed her hair, picking up a menu and waving her scent toward Beatrice. “Oh, look at the poor, pathetic human tempting the big, bad vampire. Poor vampire. Hungry are we?”