A MARRIAGE FOR THE BIRDS

CHAPTER 2: Dresses and Invitations.

At 2:00 PM the next afternoon, a strawberry blonde fledgling cracked the door to Integra's office. The Hellsing looked up from the large, 3-ring binder. "Yes?" She inquired, slightly irritated at having been interrupted.

The door opened another inch and a blue eye was visible behind it. "Um, Sir, Master said you wanted to talk with me." The fledgling stated, then quickly added, "B-but if this is a bad time, I can come back later."

Integra's tone softened, and she chuckled slightly as she closed the binder. "No. Not at all. Please, come in." Seras entered then approached her boss's desk. "Have a seat." Integra motioned to one of the chairs across from her and Seras sat down, her hands neatly folded in her lap. "Alucard tells me you want to get married." The knight stated bluntly, causing Seras a mild amount of shock.

"Uh, yes Sir. I-I think it only right that we be married before we, um... you know." The red blush in Seras's cheeks made her meaning plain.

"Yes... I can understand that. Even if you are a vampire, you've never acted much like one."

Seras wasn't quite sure if the statement was meant as a compliment... or an insult. But do to her normally optimistic attitude, the fledgling decided to take it as the former. "Ah, thank you?"

Integra regarded the young vampire with an unfamiliar look, one that did nothing to clarify the intension behind her previous statement, before continuing, "You are, of course, aware that you've technically been Alucard's bride since the first time he drank from you, right?"

"Y-yes... Master informed me of that. But..." Seras paused nervously.

Integra completed the statement for her. "But you want a traditional English wedding?" Seras nodded. "Well... I think we can arrange that." Integra reopened the binder, revealing a collection of pages cropped out of various bridal and wedding magazines. Seras's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning, and Integra smiled as she added, "Depending on just how 'traditional' you want it, of course."

Seras looked, from the pictures, back up at her boss. Integra noticed the confused expression and responded, "It is... difficult for a vampire to enter an uncorrupted church."

"Oh." Seras nodded, now understanding Integra's meaning. "Well, I guess it doesn't have to take place in a church." The vampire let out a little giggle.

Integra's cheek pulled back slightly. The knight often found Seras's almost child like mannerisms amusing. The Hellsing recognized that, likely as not, Seras was the closest she'd ever come to a having a child, though Integra's own image prevented her from ever being able to tell the young vampire so.

"Good. That'll make things quite a bit easier. Tell me, how would you feel about a government official preforming the ceremony?" Seras didn't answer. She just sat there, fidgeting. But the fidgeting was more than enough to tell the knight that her vampire was uncomfortable with the suggestion. "Got your heart set on a man of the church, huh?" The knight let out a little sigh. "Finding one willing to marry two vampires will not likely be an easy task... but I guess we can try. The worst they can do is say no, right?"

Seras nodded again, feeling relieved that things were going so well. She'd half expected Integra to yell and throw her silver ash tray at her, like the knight often did to her other vampire servant when he suggested something absurd.

"I guess the next step would be picking out a wedding dress." The knight turned the binder around, to give the vampire a better view. Integra flipped through a few pages, then pointed to a wedding dress. "What do you think of this one?"

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Seras's eyes sparkled, but when she saw the price, her face fell. "I-I can't afford something like that."

"Don't worry about the money." Integra replied, once again surprising the vampire. "When I was born, my father started a trust fund for my wedding. We'll be using that to cover all your expenses."

Seras's eyes went wide. "S-sir, we... we couldn't."

Integra held up her hand, "Nonsense. Since I doubt I'll ever find a man worth marrying, I figure we mine as well use the money for your wedding."

"B-but..." Seras dropped her latest objection as Integra fixed the vampire with a look that made her blood run cold-er.

"I insist." The Knight nearly growled. "Consider it my wedding present... if it makes you feel any better."

Seras gulped then nodded. "Y-yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir."

"Good girl." Integra smirked for a brief moment, then turned back to the picture of the wedding gown. "So, do you like this one? Or would you prefer another?"

Seras examined the picture again. It was truly a beautiful gown, but it was also the first she'd taken a good look at. "Uh, this one is really, really nice... but would it be okay if I flipped through some of the others?"

Integra smiled and let out a chuckle. "Of course, Seras. It's your wedding after all."

It was late, nearly midnight, and Integra was in the process of reviewing the guest list her and Seras had compiled when Alucard returned to give her the report of his latest mission. Integra set the pad of names down and listened intently as her servant described the slaughter of the ghouls and the decapitation of the latest 'faker'.

Perhaps it was a side effect of Alucard's having had a hand in raising her or the bond that they shared, but Integra discovered long ago that she rather enjoyed his tales of bloodshed. They were exciting, engrossing... almost addictive. Of course, through a supreme force of will, the knight was always able to maintain her stone cold expression. It would not do to give too much away. No, not even to him... especially not to him. So she listened intently to the debriefing, never once dropping her guard and displaying how much she enjoyed it.

Though in truth, Alucard still had some inkling. His master could hide her expressions, but not that occasional twinkle in her eye when he reached an exceptionally gruesome part. Occasionally, on other nights, the vampire would call his master on that twinkle.

In his own way, he would tease her about it, much like an uncle and his niece. Of course few uncles ended up holding their head in their hands after a round of 'teasing', but then few uncles were as resilient as Alucard. To the powerful vampire, his master's 'abuse' was nothing more than a punch in the shoulder; and he regarded it as such.

But that night there was no teasing. That night Alucard had something else on his mind, something that caused him to linger just a bit longer than he usually did after completing his reports.

"Was there something else, Alucard?" Integra inquired as she noticed her servant had yet to leave.

Alucard looked around as if he had something he wanted to ask... no, something he didn't want to ask, but had to anyway. The ancient vampire's eyes finally rested on the pad of paper. "The guess list for the wedding?"

Integra followed her servant's eyes. "Yes." She answered suspiciously. "Why?"

"There are a couple of people I'd like to invite."

For the first time in nearly a decade, the knight's eyes went wide at one of her servant's statements. "There are?" She asked in a clearly shocked tone. Seras had put a few people down on the list, some orphans she had become particularly close to during her childhood and a few bobbies she'd gone through training with, bobbies who were fortunate enough to not be assigned to division eleven. But Integra had never imagined Alucard would have people he wanted to invite. As far as she knew, everyone the vampire was even remotely close to would already be attending. However, he was the groom; and as such, it was his wedding too.

"Yes, Master. I would like to invite two people... if I am allowed."

Having recovered from her surprise, Integra's voice returned to normal as she replied. "Don't be stupid, Alucard. Of course you're allowed to invite people to your own wedding. Who are they?"

"Moka Akashiya and Kokoa Shuzen, Master." Alucard paused and, although it was completely unnecessary from a biological standpoint, he took a deep breath before continuing. "They... They are my daughters."

The 'Woman of Steel's' jaw nearly hit the floor. "You... you have children?"

"They were conceived, shortly after you released me. A man, even a dead one, can build up a lot of 'frustration' after being sealed up for over two decades, and I needed a way to vent."

"So you went out and had yourself a 'night on the town'?"

"Well, yes. Not this town of course. I traveled halfway around the world to ensure I would not draw any undue attention to you or the Hellsing organization. But over in Japan, oh I had fun, Master." The vampire grinned at the memory.

"Yeah, I just bet you did." Integra replied in a sardonic tone. "So much, in fact, that you got a woman pregnant, right?"

"Two in fact."

"Two?"

Alucard grinned again. "I had a lot of fun, Master."

"Well, that's just great. So there've been a couple of Dhampirs active in Japan for the last decade and a half?" Integra just shook her head.

"Oh, Master, they would hardly be noticed, believe me. Japan has a lot higher monster population than England, and my daughters have kept a relatively low profile."

"But now you want to bring them to England." Integra protested.

"Only until the wedding, Master. And in truth, I'm not even sure they'll come. I've never been a big part of their lives... But I think they should, at least, be invited."

Integra shook her head again, but couldn't help imagining if her father had lived to marry and never invited her to the wedding. "Alright, I'll invite them, but you are going to be responsible for their actions while they're here. Is that understood?"

Alucard bowed. "Yes, Master, of course. They will not cause you any trouble. They could not anyway. They were conceived after I was bound to your bloodline. They have the same restrictions as I... Well, for the most part." The vampire replied as he once again sank through the floor of his master's office.

"And, of course, you never cause me any problems." Integra sarcastically commented, more to herself than her already vanished servant. Then the knight opened one of the draws in her desk and retrieved her bottle of aspirin. She dumped four pills into her palm and downed them with a shot of scotch from her father's liquor cabinet.

Turning back around, Integra locked eyes with a portrait of her father. "Now I understand why you kept so much alcohol. Dealing with Alucard would drive anyone to drink."

(Well, what did you think of the second chapter. Please review and let me know what you think, thanks.

Have a good day, and God bless.

Metropolis Kid.)