Even if it scuttles such schemes?

[The answer is yes, obviously, but the question has to be asked before the topic is abandoned all things considered.]

My mother, for the most part. She didn't come from nobility, and thus ran the kitchen in person. The circumstances between her and my father are what you'd politely consider unusual for any sort of nobility.

[Nobility. Not vampires. Not vampires at all.]

I had special dietary needs as a child as well, which was another reason for her to be as involved as she was.