Eternally Yours

Chapter 1: Old Home Renewed

My father and Dante had been working for at least a month on the new house they were building and our wedding was approaching very quickly.

It was already mid-April and we had the ceremony planned for June second.

My mother had agreed to be my maid of honor and Nikki would remain my flower girl. Xavier decided he would love to be the ring-bearer and I was on the scout for new friends that would want to be my bridesmaids.

"Hey, Allison!" I said cheerfully into the phone.

"Hi. Is this Victoria?" She asked skeptically.

"Yeah, it's me! How have you been?!"

"I've been just great. How are you?"

"Never been better. Listen, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming over today with Michelle."

"That would be great! When are you expecting us to be over?"

"Anytime you guys want. It really doesn't matter. Actually, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind being two of my bridesmaids."

The phone went silent for a second and then she answered excitedly, "That would be wonderful!"

"Okay then, I suppose I'll see you soon!"

"Yes, we'll be over right after I let her know."

"Sounds good to me! Bye, Allison."

"Bye, Victoria."

I put the phone down back on its hook and contemplated who to call next. Maybe I should try to call Summer and Melissa next.

"Mom, do you think I should try to call more girls I know?"

"If you want to, sweetie. Invite whoever you want. It will only be your close friends though, right?"

"Well, these are the girls who were helping out when everything was going on with Xavier. I really appreciated their support and I guess it's sort of my way of thanking them."

"Well then, sure, call whoever you want. Just don't be disappointed if they turn you down."

"Of course not. I'm sure they wouldn't mind, anyway. If they're coming to the wedding, they might as well be in it, don't you think?" I asked with a sly smile.

"I guess you're right."

I picked the phone back up and thumbed through Dante's phone book, searching for the names I needed.

I dialed the number and waited for a moment. It rang a couple times until Nicholas answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Nicholas? It's Victoria."

"Oh! Hey there, girl!"

"How are you?"

"I'm doing just great, how are you?"

"Great. Listen, do you mind if I speak with Melissa?"

"Sure, no problem, I'll get her right on."

"Thanks!"

I waited a minute and I could hear talking on the other end of the phone. It sounded like Melissa was pretty excited about getting to talk to me.

"Victoria!" She screamed in the other end of the phone. I pulled it away from my ear, wincing.

"Hi, Melissa," I said calmly.

"And what makes you call me?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to come over tonight. Well, I mean you, Summer, Nicholas, and Christopher. That is, if you wanted."

"Of course! When do you want us over?!"

"Whenever you guys want. And just to let you know, everything is fine, so this is a happy occasion," I laughed.

She giggled back, "That's good. I wasn't that worried, but can I ask why you want us to come over?"

"Well, I was actually wondering if I could talk to you guys about Dante and I's wedding. I need a couple more bridesmaids and was wondering if you guys would like to fill the spots."

"Well, I'll talk to Summer about it, but I'd love to!"

"That sounds great. So, I'll see you soon?"

"Yep! You'll see us soon!"

"Okay, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye."

I hung up the phone and stared at my mom for a second. She was smiling brightly and so was I, knowing that tonight would be great.

"So, should we get everything ready?" My mom asked.

"Yeah, that sounds good!" I said, jumping out of my chair and running out of the room. I knew we had to set up for the "dinner" we would be having. I needed to set up some candles and make sure that everything looked perfect.

Knowing that we couldn't have an actual dinner, I decided just to make the dining room look extra special. I would be eating, of course, but no one else would.

"I'm so excited, mom! You have no idea!" I said, running around the room like a maniac.

"I can see that. Maybe you better slow down, Vic. Let's not get too excited here," she said, placing a candle in the middle of the table.

"And why shouldn't I be completely ecstatic?!"

"I'm not saying you shouldn't be excited, I'm just saying that I don't want you to be disappointed if things don't work out your way."

"Mom, I couldn't be happier right now. If someone says no, or if all of them say no, it won't bother me one bit."

"If you say so."

"Well, I'm done here," I laughed, staring at the table. It had taken me nearly ten minutes to set up candles and light them, and make sure everything looked perfect. Of course, it wasn't that hard with Dante living here. He always cleaned and made sure everything was flawless.

"Do you want to go check on your father and Dante?"

"Sure, we can see what Xavier and Nikki are doing, too."

We both walked out of the back door together, one after the other, and ran toward the house they were building. They were doing a great job, and fast too. The house looked almost exactly like the one I grew up in, which hurt a little, but I knew that it would be the greatest present for my mother.

"It looks good, huh?" I asked, staring at the house.

I glanced over and saw a tear roll down my mom's face. I put my arm around her and she leaned her head on my shoulder, whimpering lightly.

"It's perfect," she muttered.

"I knew this would make you happy. Maybe this is just what you need to be okay with this new life."

"Maybe it is."

"Victoria! Destiny!" Dante said, running over to us. He grabbed me by my waist and picked me up, spinning me around and kissing me passionately.

"What was that for?" I asked as he put me down.

"I just wanted to say 'hello, beautiful,'" he said, kissing me again.

"You're too sweet," I whispered, looking down.

"So, what do you think of the house?" He asked my mom, grabbing my hand.

"It looks great, Dante. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. You know, we're doing this for you."

"Yeah, I know. I appreciate it a lot. I'll have that special place back in my life with the special people I love so dearly," she said, looking to me and then to my dad.

He stepped off the ladder and walked over, grabbing my mom by the waist.

He whispered something in her ear but I decided not to listen. It was probably personal, anyway. Whatever it was, it made her smile the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"Where are the kids?" I asked, looking around.

"They wanted to run through the woods together. Xavier shape-shifted into a cat and Nikki went chasing after him. It was pretty cute," Dante said.

"That's funny. You know, at least Xavier is embracing his powers. I'm glad we still have him."

"Me too, my love."

"Now, Victoria, what is this about people coming over tonight?" My dad asked, looking confused.

"Oh, I'm having a few friends over to ask if they would like to be my bridesmaids in our wedding."

"Oh, okay. I was just wondering."

"Who are you inviting?" Dante asked.

"Allison, Michelle, Summer, and Melissa," I answered.

"Well, I'm glad that you're trying to make some new friends," he said, looking down at me.

"Yeah, I know. I figure I should just ask them to be in the wedding if they're going to come anyway, you know?"

"I guess that makes sense."

"Oh! I forgot to bring out the dresses!" I realized.

"Oh! Let's go do that now before they show up!" My mom perked up.

"Okay, well, we're going to get back to work."

"Okay, have fun, you guys. And Dante, Christopher and Nicholas are coming too, just to let you know."

"I already knew," he said, winking at me.

My mom and I ran back to the house and through the back door, skipping up the staircase together. I walked into my room and into the closet, grabbing two of the bridesmaid dresses. My mom grabbed the other two and we walked back downstairs, placing the dresses on the dining room table.

"There we go," I said, smoothing them out.

"These are beautiful dresses. Do you think they'll fit into them, though?"

"Well, I just wanted to see which style they like the most, you know? Then we'll get them in their sizes. I wouldn't doubt that they're all a size zero though," I laughed.

"I've never met them. They're nice girls, I suppose?"

"Yeah, they're really nice. They wanted to help me when April wanted to kill Xavier, as I've said before. I owe them much more than letting them be in my wedding."

"Well, I hope it all works out. I know this wedding will be beautiful."

"Yeah, and to be honest, I don't even know what type of decorations Dante picked out."

"And why's that?"

"Well, that was right after I found out I was a darkling. I wasn't sure what to do and I spent a lot of time by myself. I tried to figure out my powers, but I wasn't having much luck and I wasn't really interested in the wedding."

"Why weren't you interested?" She said in a worried tone.

"Because I thought you weren't going to be there," I answered, looking down solemnly.

She walked over and grabbed me by my shoulders. "Well, I'm here now, so let's make this a wonderful wedding."

"I agree," I said, nodding.

We decided to wait in the living room and watch TV until the others got here. We sat in silence, but laughed at the old shows that Dante had on tape. Considering there weren't any humans left, I wasn't really sure how everything was still running so smoothly.

Wouldn't I run out of food soon? Wouldn't the electricity turn off soon? Would Dante and the other vampires die without the blood they needed?

My head swarmed with questions, but I knew I probably wouldn't get my answers until the time came.

I think my mom could tell I was a little distant, so she kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. I listened to her thoughts and she was thinking about what I was thinking.

What's wrong with her? I wonder if she's worried about the wedding. I hope everything goes well; we wouldn't want another tragedy around here. I hope she believes I'm being a better mother now than I was. I'm really starting to get used to being this vampire creature, and it really doesn't feel different than being human…

Her thoughts went on for hours until it started to turn night. The moonlight poured in through the window and into the living room. I turned around on the couch, pushing the curtain aside and staring up at the sky.

"It's beautiful, tonight," I said.

"Night is always the most beautiful time of the day," my mom whispered, sitting beside me.

We sat there for awhile, just staring in silence until I heard a few hard pounds on the front door, making me jump almost ten feet off of the couch.

"Wow, that scared the crap out of me!" I laughed, striding toward the door.

I opened it and saw Chris, Nick, Summer, and Melissa standing in front of me.

I smiled widely and extended my arm out, meaning for them to walk into the house.

They walked in one-by-one and entered our home, taking a turn into the living room.

I met up with them and pointed to my mother, "This is my mom, Destiny. Mom, this is Nick, Chris, Summer, and Melissa," I said politely, pointing to each of them. They all nodded their heads and said "hi" to each other, smiling.

Summer seemed oddly happy tonight and she was dressed very brightly compared to the last time I saw her. I was quite a good change.

I brought all of the girls into the dining room and told the guys that Dante and my dad were out back. They left and we all took our seats at the large table, smiling at one-another.

"Wow, it's so nice to see you again, Victoria," Melissa said.

"I know, it's good to see you two again, as well."

"So, why are we here, again?" Summer asked, crossing her arms.

"I wanted to ask you two if you wouldn't mind being a part of my wedding. I picked out some dresses I thought you might like and I was also wondering if I could get your opinion on your favorite one."

"Honestly, Victoria, I usually hate being a part of weddings, but for you, I suppose I can make an exception," Summer said sarcastically.

"I appreciate it a lot, Summer. I needed to find some way to repay you guys for all that you have done for me, and I figured, what better way?"

"Well, we appreciate it as well, don't we?" Melissa said, elbowing Summer in her side.

"Ow! Yeah, we do," she said, rubbing her ribs.

Tonight was going to be a long night.