"As long as we're complimenting each other on things," Selina told Elijah, "I really think you're handling Viktor and Amanda well now that you've had a chance to get used to the idea of them being together."
"Well, as you said," Elijah told her, "Viktor is the sort of man that I'd choose for Amanda if it were up to me, and I should consider myself lucky that she took to him so well on her own."
"Very true," Selina replied. "Very true."
"Now, speaking of relationships that people have to get used to, what was that nonsense you told your father about your mother coming back from the grave if he started dating a werewolf?" Elijah frowned at her. "You shouldn't be making up ridiculous stuff like that. Just let your father be happy. For all you know, you could become very close to his girlfriend." He smiled. "She might even be family someday." He paused. "You know who you should talk to about this? Astrid. I haven't heard her complain once about Viktor and Amanda. You could learn things from her."
"You know, I just might do that," Selina nodded. "It could help. Good idea. But like I told Daddy, I wasn't warning him about Mama for my sake, I was warning him about her for his sake."
"And I still think that's preposterous," Elijah said.
"Okay, but I'm not changing my stance," Selina told him firmly. And instead of calling Astrid right away cause she knew she'd still be at work, Selina went to see her father instead.
When she pulled up to his house, she flinched as the crack of a gunshot rang in the air, followed by a second one. She waited a few seconds and then called out, "Daddy, are you in the yard? Can I come back there and talk to you?"
"Sure," Matthew called and then came around to the front door and smiled at his daughter. "Just let me lock the gun up and we can talk."
"Oh, you don't have to do that," she told him as she got out of the car. "I've been wanting to practice my shooting for a while now. It should come as no surprise to you that Elijah doesn't let me do it very often, although I do have a pistol that I keep under our bed."
"When did you learn to shoot?" Matthew asked curiously as they headed back to the backyard while Matthew's barking foxhound named Zeke that he used to help him hunt deer went with them. "I can't see your mother or your grandparents teaching you."
"No, it wasn't them," Selina replied as she dusted off her red dress with white polka dots. "It was the same man who taught me how to drink. I think that was one of the things that turned Mama against Damon in the first place, although it's really come in handy over the years."
"We'll see about that," Matthew replied with a smile. He lined up the cans he was using for practice shooting and watched in surprise as his daughter took her shots and hit the mark every time."
"I bet you thought you were gonna have to help me, didn't you?" She smiled as he came to take the gun from her.
"Well, you said you were out of practice, so I wondered," Matthew replied, wiping sweat from his forehead. "If that's you being out of practice, I don't want to see you when you're confident about what you're doing."
They went inside and Matthew got both of them blood. As they sat together and drank it, Matthew gave his daughter a smile with one side of his mouth up. "I guess I don't have to ask why you're here," he said. "More feelings of foreboding regarding your mother that you need to give me before I start dating again?"
"I'm sorry about that," Selina replied and put her blood down. "I really shouldn't have said anything. It's not any of my business."
"Now just hang on a minute," Matthew told her and took her in his arms, kissing her forehead. "If you have concerns, I'd like to hear them."
"Well, okay," Selina said after a long moment. "I know it seems really hypocritical, but I guess…I guess I'm scared that if you start dating, you won't have time for me anymore. I know that's terrible cause throughout my entire life, I haven't made much effort to see you, but…it seems like I always come second if you have a woman that you like. For example, a big part of why you didn't come home after you turned and Doctor Stensrund made you safe was that you didn't want to freak Mama out, right?"
"Well, can you blame me?" Matthew asked. "By the time I'd become a safe vampire, the army had already told your mother I was dead. If I'd just shown up on our doorstep after that, it would have shocked her."
"For a little bit, maybe," Selina nodded. "But she would have adjusted after a little bit, assumed the army was wrong, and just have been glad you were back. You made Mama feel brave enough to be strong, and I firmly believe it was not having you around that made things as bad as they were, especially after Charlotte died."
Matthew sighed. "I know that the choices I made for your mother's sake had a bad effect on both her and you and that I should have just taken a chance and come home. I know that, and I'm sorry. And I'm also sorry that Dr. Stensrund and I took away all your memories of you and me just so your mother wouldn't know I was still alive. It was unfair to you. I'd even say it was cruel."
"Yeah, there were lots of times I could have used those nice memories," Selina told him. "And Mama was really a lot tougher than you gave her credit for."
"I know that now," Matthew nodded. "Both from seeing her again…and from being around you, darlin', I know you don't like to hear that you're like your mother, but you really are."
Selina smiled and gave him another hug. "I guess I'm at the point where I can finally accept that as a compliment. Just promise you won't forget about me this next time around, please?"
"Oh, I won't," Matthew assured her. "I've learned my lesson. I promise."
"Good," Selina smiled. "But if you do, I ain't gonna let you forget about it this time." She then giggled to herself. "Damn, it feels so good to say ain't. Mama never let me, (at least not to her face) and Elijah doesn't like it either." She then began walking around the living room going "ain't, ain't, ain't" at the top of her lungs just because she could.
"Yeah, your mother was very much a lady, wasn't she?" Matthew replied fondly.
"Yep," Selina nodded and clicked her tongue. "Sometimes, it was a good thing and sometimes it wasn't." She then came and sat next to him again. "If you wanna start looking for dates, I'd be more than happy to take you to Enid's. Well, Roxie owns the place now, but it's still full of werewolves."
"Thanks, but you don't need to do that," Matthew told her as he thought of Christine. "I have someone in mind already."
"When do you think we should have a dinner with Astrid?" Amanda asked Viktor as they lay in bed one night. "I know she seems to be okay with you and I doing what we're doing, but I just…I feel a need to connect with her now that our relationship will be changing. Do you think that's a bad idea?"
"No, I don't," Viktor shook his head. "In fact, I was just thinking about asking you if you'd be willing to meet with Astrid sometime."
"Of course," Amanda nodded. "She's not some total stranger I need to be scared of. I've known her my whole life. And I'm sure that once I tell her that she doesn't need to call me 'Mom' or anything like that, things should be smooth sailing."
"I agree," Viktor nodded. "And even if they aren't entirely smooth, they'll at least be better than when I told her about Alexandra."
Amanda nodded and gave Viktor one last kiss before he pulled the covers over them and reached up over their heads to turn off the light just above the bed.
They got hold of Astrid and she seemed more than happy to go out to dinner with them. The night of the dinner, Viktor came to pick Amanda up and Elijah gave his daughter some advice as he sat on her bed while she dressed.
"Be understanding of anything Astrid expresses worry about," he said. "I know that you and Viktor are happy together, but for some of us, that takes getting used to. Is this the first time either one of you has talked to Astrid since you began dating?"
"Yeah," Amanda nodded. "It is. And I'll be really sensitive, I promise. Will you zip up my dress?"
"Good," Elijah nodded. He zipped up her blue dress that stopped at her knees just as Selina knocked on the door and poked her head in to announce that Viktor, Alistair, and Astrid had arrived. "And I made you these brownies that you could give to Astrid as a peace offering," she said and handed her daughter a paper plate full of brownies that was covered in plastic wrap.
"All right," Amanda nodded, going to the living room and striding right up to Astrid as the blonde witch rose to her feet, a smile on her face as she reached out to hug her. She stopped her for a moment, and said dryly, "My parents seem to feel that you're gonna be threatened or angry or scared if I don't tread lightly about the fact I'm dating your father. Here are some brownies to show you that I mean no harm. I hope you like them."
"Thank you, but you didn't have to do this," Astrid replied, putting the brownies down on the sofa and hugging her.
"Oh, I know," Amanda replied. "But my parents thought differently."
"You really don't have to be concerned," Astrid assured Selina and Elijah. "Anyone my father dates who isn't Alexandra, I'm okay with that."
"Good," Elijah nodded. "We just wanted to be sure. Now, what is it that you all are doing tonight?"
"We were originally just going to do dinner, but then Alistair found this well-reviewed production of Arsenic and Old Lace that was playing in the park this evening so we're going to go see that instead," Astrid replied.
"I was told there were murders in it, which is the only reason why I'm agreeing to see it," Amanda added.
"I really think you'll like it," Viktor assured her as he took her arm. "Trust me, I've seen it."
"All right," Amanda replied as they made their way out the door after one last goodbye to her parents, with Alistair carrying the brownies. "Whatever you say, I trust you."
Although she felt very at ease about Astrid, Amanda was a little surprised when she began hearing about another older man, this time from Christine.
"How well do you know your grandfather?" Christine asked her when she caught up with her between classes. "You see him a lot?"
"Yeah," Amanda nodded. "He comes over from time to time. Why?"
Christine shrugged. "I just…I wanted to know if he's as nice as he seems."
"Are you thinking you want to set up him and your mom?" Amanda asked. "Cause you said that things between her and the gym teacher weren't working out and she wants a rich guy."
"Um…sure," Christine nodded, although she was really asking about Matthew for herself, not her mother. "Sure, I'm asking about him for my mom. Exactly."
Amanda wrote Matthew's address down on a piece of paper. "Here's where he lives. I'm sure that he'd be glad to have you and your mom over. He's very much a werewolf person."
"Thanks," Christine said and actually hugged her. "I really owe you one."
During Christine's next time at Selina and Elijah's she made the plans with Matthew who was more than happy to accommodate her. "I don't really mean to bring my mother," she confessed. "But I'm afraid that if I told everyone that I was making these plans so I could get to know you by myself, it would freak them out, so that's why I'm bringing my mother."
"You're not underage, are you?" Matthew asked. "Because as attractive as you are, I can't condone us doing anything if you're underage."
"I'm older than I look," Christine assured him. "Closer in age to your grandson Colin in terms of how many years I've been around. I'm of age, trust me. That's why Mom's always pushing me to find a nice man to date when she's not looking around for herself."
"Oh, thank god!" Matthew said, trying to control his breathing, "I was worried for a minute there."
"You don't have to be," Christine replied. "You might have to worry about my mother cause she has a very big personality, but you don't have to freak out about me."
"Now, who is this man we're going to visit again?" Renee asked as they drove to Matthew's a few days later. "Did Selina suggest I date him in an attempt to keep my mind off Elijah? She's very transparent, if that's the plan."
"Actually," Christine said, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes, "Selina would probably be really mad if she knew I was bringing you anywhere near this guy."
Renee scoffed. "How many men does one woman need? What's her claim of ownership over this one?"
"He's her father," Christine got out. "He was a human who got turned into a vampire during the Mexican American War."
"You know that Elijah's the one exception I made to my 'I only date werewolves' rule," Renee said firmly, her dark eyes flashing. "What are you thinking, setting me up with him?"
"I'm not," Christine said firmly. "I'm setting him up with myself, and you're just a cover."
"Ah," Renee nodded. "Okay. But I still would like to know what kind of man my daughter is interested in."
They parked the car in Matthew's driveway and got out to stare at the house, which had been the one Selina had been born in. Despite how old it was, it was a superb example of antebellum architecture, painted white with columns on either side of the front door, two wooden rocking chairs on the front porch, and a beagle sleeping on a mat by the door. As they got closer to the house, the dog got to his feet and began barking.
"Sorry," Matthew apologized when he opened the door and let the dog in. "I don't get many visitors, so new people always make Jack excited."
"Are you just a dog person?" Christine asked as she and Renee entered.
"I hunt with them," Matthew said. "Jack helps me with rabbits, and my foxhound Zeke helps me with deer."
"So you feed from animals then?" Christine asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"No, I hunt and prepare 'em with some friends of mine," Matthew told her. "Can I get either of you something to drink? I'm gonna get myself a beer."
"I'm good," Christine replied. "This is my mom, Renee, by the way."
"Hello, ma'am," Matthew replied and reached out to shake her hand. "I'm Matthew Warren. It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Renee replied. "You have a lovely house."
"It's one I've lived in since I was human," Matthew replied. "It was the house my wife and I moved into when we married. Selina's room is upstairs too."
"I never would have guessed," Renee replied as she looked around at the decor, which screamed 'bachelor' very clearly.
"So, what do you think?" Christine asked when he'd gone. "Do you think I made a good choice?"
"Yeah," Renee nodded. "If only I were so lucky."