"You could prove it," said Damien. "If... if you bit me, I'd know, right?"

"I couldn't do that!" said Aidan, surprised. "And didn't you say you didn't want to be bitten?"

Damien suddenly sat down again, no longer angry, but the tears were still trickling down his face. "I don't," he said in a sobbing whisper. "I don't. But I just want to know. The other kids... they said you weren't real, and that if you were you didn't want me, or you'd stay. They said that vampires can't love anybody anyhow, and if you were really one then you wouldn't care about me."

Aidan looked at the boy. He couldn't possibly! But he wanted to show his son that he loved him almost as much as his son wanted to be shown. Perhaps... He considered. Then he sighed softly. "All right. I won't bite you, I don't think that would be right, and your mother would kill me. But there is something we can do."

Damien sniffled. "What?"

"Have you ever heard of blood brothers?" He suddenly remembered a book he'd read long, long ago.

"Yeah... That's when you both cut your hands, and then touch them, and then it's like you're really brothers."

Aidan nodded. "We can do something like that, and it will work just as if I'd bit you. But with less bleeding. Do you want to?"

"Yes!" His response was almost fierce.

"All right." Aidan picked up the knife he'd set aside. Whittling had no doubt dulled the edge a little, but the point was still razor sharp. "Hold out your hand."

"Is it gonna hurt?"

"Just a tiny bit, like a pin-prick. I'm just going to poke you with the tip and squeeze out a couple of drops. Is that okay?"

Damien nodded. "Yeah." Aidan could hear that his heart was racing, but he looked determined. He takes after his mother, he thought with a smile. He's decided what he wants, and now he's going to get it, come hell or high water. Damien held out his hand, and Aidan took his index finger, and with one quick motion pricked it with the very tip of the knife. Damien made a little sound of pain, but he didn't move. Aidan set the knife down and squeezed Damien's finger until a large drop had leaked out. He wasn't really completely certain if just the one drop would be enough, he'd never done it like this before, but it should work. He lifted the boy's hand to his lips and carefully sucked the drop off. He let Damien's hand go. The boy looked at it curiously. Then his eyes went wide. It was working.