Epilogue

About two hours later Johnny found himself sitting relaxed on a couch with Dennis leaning against his side, catching some zzz's. The two had a great time together, and Johnny was thankful that he got to spend it with his son. Now after all of that fun they were both ready for bed, but Johnny didn't want to move just yet. Since he wasn't active his mind had strayed back to Quasimodo. Part of him thought it was awesome the French chef was back- - finally, some better food!- - and another part was straight out curious. What drove Quasimodo back? When did he start working at the hotel again? How come Dracula never told Johnny this? Johnny wasn't at all mad about it, just curious.

Johnny zoned back to reality when he heard light bat flapping and two happy voices come from down the hall. It was immediately obvious that Dracula and Mavis returned. Sitting up, careful not to disturb Dennis, Johnny turned his head back to see his wife just entering the room, no longer in her bat form. She had a great smile on her face and just tucked some hair behind her ear as she walked behind Johnny.

"Wow, I had a blast! I really didn't realize how much I missed spending time with dad." She admitted. She noticed her sleeping son lying against Jonathon. She cooed at the cute scene. "Aww… how long has he been sleeping?"

"'Bout ten minutes," Johnny replied, unable to keep away a smile. Mavis's happiness was almost always contagious.

The vampire walked around to the front of the couch and sat beside her family. She stroked Dennis's curly hair lightly and looked at her husband. "Looks like you two had a good time."

Beaming, he nodded. "Yep. You wouldn't believe how much energy he has. He wanted to keep running off, and touched everything he saw." He chuckled, and then paused, remembering Quasimodo. Should he bring it up to Mavis?

"Oh, no." Mavis said, instantly coming concerned. "He didn't get into any trouble, did he?"

"What? No, no. I was watching him nearly the whole time," Johnny explained, not realizing his mistake until it was too late.

"What do you mean 'nearly'?" Mavis demanded, her concern gradually growing, her blue eyes becoming anxious. "Did you leave him?"

"Mav, you know I wouldn't leave him. He just ran off to the kitchen."

"The kitchen?" she gasped. She had both hands on sleeping Dennis as if to protect him. "By himself? What about all the knives and boiling kettles? He could have gotten hurt!"

Johnny put a hand on Mavis's shoulder to calm her down. "Relax, he was fine. Quasimodo was with him…" Oops. Another mistake.

Mavis stared at Johnny for a few seconds. "Quasimodo Wilson. The French gourmet chef?" she pressed.

Johnny rubbed a hand across his face. "Yep." He muttered.

"I… guess that isn't so bad…" Mavis decided to Johnny's immense surprise. "I've known Quasimodo for a while, I mean- - for years."

Johnny bit his bottom lip hopefully. "So you feel better now?"

Mavis grinned slightly. "Yeah... I guess so. Thanks, Johnny, for watching Dennis." She pulled him into a hug, and he immediately returned it. However his mind raced around one discovery.

"How come you didn't tell me Quasimodo was back?" Johnny asked after a moment, pulling away from the hug. There wasn't any reproach in his tone; he was genuinely curious.

Mavis looked at him in confusion. "My dad said he already told you."

"Well, he didn't." stated Johnny.

Slowly Mavis started to look extremely annoyed and frustrated. "Daad…" she growled.

"Whoa, settle down, Mav," Johnny reassured, smiling at her brightly. "I'm sure he has a good reason."

0o0o0o0

Exactly two minutes later Mavis and Johnny stood in front of Dracula, who was explaining his "very good and reasonable reason" for not telling Johnny about Quasimodo in the end. His reason was "I thought if I told you, you would go all 'nutsy-coo-coo' and start running around the hotel in a panic."

Trying to convince him otherwise Johnny replied, "Ah, come on, Drac, you know how easy-going I am… Besides, I really missed his cooking!"

Despite his reasoning, Dracula wasn't sure if he could believe him. "You've panicked before, and you have no idea how irritating it is for me to deal with that."

Mavis and Dracula both laughed at that, leaving Johnny feeling flustered.

"Panicked? When have I ever panicked?"

A/N: What's this? I post a story, promise an epilogue, cancel the epilogue, then post the epilogue a year and a half later? What a wretched author! I actually found this work hidden in one of my old files, the epilogue that I forgot about after all this time. I wasn't doing anything with my time, so I revised it a bit and gave it an ending. In any case, if anyone who first read this story back when I published it is even reading this author's note, I apologize! Even if you did have to wait so long for something you were not expecting to be finished, I hope you enjoyed reading this.