cw: mentions of pregnancy and death in childbirth; discussion of chronic health issues and their relation to fertility
writing Aeternus!Caesar looking forward to meeting Cleopatra again after returning from his Parthian campaign after 7 years instead of 3 as he planned, but what would otherwise be just having a good time turns into serious talk because no one knows whether vampirism has any effect on the vampire's future children, or their ability to have them, for that matter, and even though he doesn't expect to father any more kids because he's 62 by then, Caesar is Concerned
spoiler: just as in mortals, female vampires eventually run out of ova [but would still be able to be a surrogate parent with a donor ovum if they were previously able to carry a baby] while male vampires retain their existing fertility at the time of turning, which might even improve if they had health issues that vampirism straightens out
tangent on Caesar's health in particular, relevant to that last bit:
the most plausible theory I've seen so far is Caesar's late-onset Mysterious Illness™️ not being the oft-cited epilepsy that we can put 70% of the blame on Shakespeare for, but rather a series of mini-strokes possibly caused by a hereditary cerebrovascular malformation, exacerbated by his equally active and stressful as fuck, good lord, go retire already lifestyle, posited to also be the cause of his father's very sudden death. the book[1] I've been gobbling up whatever google books allows me to preview every few days of makes a pretty good argument for this based on the sources and some more context
being a condition related to blood vessels, this would actually be a prime example of health issues that vampirism simply removes as part of its physical changes. said changes include, among others, extensive angiogenesis (growth of new blood vessels) so the body's total blood volume increases, and most major vessels growing even larger and stronger to accommodate that.
vampires also benefit a lot more from exercise because the usual positive feedback loops' effect on the cardiovascular system and muscle tissue are even more significant for their bodies whose metabolism basically runs on whole blood with the nutrients it carries being secondary rather than a mortal's which mainly runs on some form of sugars
but Caesar is unaware of how it works and will remain so for a long time. what he has observed is that whatever had plagued his body before his violent turning is gone without a trace after only a year
after two, his hair has steadily been getting lighter in color, but also... growing back? well, if the gods blessing him with a second chance at life includes that, he ain't complaining
after three (of which he's spent two on campaign and training as much as his soldiers) he's pretty sure he has never been in such excellent shape even as a youth. an agreement with Antony to have him push himself as well while Caesar regularly feeds on his blood seems to have helped too
after seven years, he still feels great, genuinely can't remember the last time he was any more ill than a mild little cold, very much likes what he sees in the mirror, and counts himself lucky that his armorer has the patience of a saint.
but it's time to go home to a wife who he's actually looking forward to seeing again and is still young enough to possibly have a child, as well as a certain queen of Egypt for whom he can say the same, and he's confronted with that again.
he recalls that Pompey was about the age he is now when his dear Julia would've borne his child; the son he had with Cleopatra is about to turn ten and is a boy of equal intelligence and resilience as his parents; men his age becoming fathers to healthy children is hardly unheard of; and Calpurnia complained in her letters that her seasonal illness had worsened again the next spring after he left.
so his presence seems to have a beneficial effect on the overall health of all around him whom he cares about, whether his wife, his lovers, his best officers, even the men of his cherished Tenth Legion. but surely there must be more of a catch than needing to sustain himself with blood? if he can still have children, would they be ordinary mortals in body, or be altered the same way he was? would a mortal woman be able to bear them safely, or at least at no more risk than pregnancy and birth carry on their own?
he's seen enough women he loved dearly losing their lives to this, and either Calpurnia or Cleopatra meeting the same fate would crush his heart as it did with his beloved Julia, his light.
a harsh winter has rolled in early that year, so there is quite some time left until sail can be set westward again. Caesar knows that the only way to find out for certain what he's now capable of is to simply try, but that doesn't mean he can't send a few letters and see if there is something to be gleaned from the few fellow 'Lamiae' he's met in the meantime.
[1] Galassi & Ashrafian (2017), Julius Caesar's Disease: A New Diagnosis
