"I know I said this many times after I turned you, but…I'm really sorry about how you died," Charlie said to Elizabeth for what seemed to be the thousandth time. "It probably scarred you for life! And it's not like I enjoyed killing you or anything like that."

"Well, of course you didn't!" Elizabeth replied. "I understand that you did what you had to do, although it is good to know that you didn't enjoy it."

"It probably would have been a lot less painful for me to shoot you," Charlie said again. "But as you said you didn't want to be shot…"

Elizabeth kissed him. "You don't have to keep apologizing every day," she said. "I completely understand."

"You can't even go in a bath by yourself anymore cause it makes you scared," Charlie pointed out. "How can I not feel guilty about that?"

"Cause it just means you get to come in with me!" Elizabeth replied with a wicked grin. "That's a good thing, right?"

"I guess it is," Charlie replied. "Anything I can do to help you."

"One last question," Elizabeth grinned. "Will you marry me sometime soon? No point in waiting anymore, is there?"

"No, there's really not," Charlie replied. "In fact, we should have just gotten married on the island."

"Do you think Grandpa and Grandma would have forgiven us if they'd missed something so big in our lives?" Elizabeth asked. "I think it's good we waited."

"Well, we don't have to wait anymore," Charlie replied. "You proposed. Do you want to buy your own ring, too?"

"I don't have to," Elizabeth replied. "If buying me a ring would make you happy, knock yourself out!"

"All right, I will," Charlie replied. "Do you want me to surprise you, or do you want to come along when I buy it?"

"How about you buy the ring," Elizabeth said, "And then I'll tell our mothers we're engaged."

"Oh, you're such an angel to do that!" Charlie replied and kissed her. "I mean, not that I couldn't have handled it, but…sometimes your mother scares me."

"She scares everyone," Elizabeth replied. "And that's how she likes it. And I figure since I'm the one with the scarier mother, it's only right for me to tell the news. That and I have a hair appointment with your mother tomorrow anyway. I might as well kill two birds with one stone while I'm there."

"I still can't believe you're okay with Charlie turning Elizabeth into a vampire," Laura told Katherine. "That just…it really surprises me."

"Well," Katherine sighed. "You and I both know that Charlie and Elizabeth would have gotten together at some point, regardless of whether we wanted them to or not, and at some other point, Elizabeth would have had to turn cause she just didn't seem to feel that she fit in the family as she was. And since she did feel so strongly about turning, I'm glad she picked Charlie to do it for her, since he cares about her enough that he won't abandon her to learn the ropes herself, like I had to. I mean, being a ruthless survivor may be my thing, but I know it doesn't work for everyone, and especially not Elizabeth." Her eyes narrowed. "And that's probably because that brother of yours spoiled her so much."

"Oh, please," Laura chuckled. "It was not my brother who took her to the mall three times a week in her childhood to get clothes."

"That was not spoiling," Katherine replied primly. "That was mother-daughter bonding. There's a difference, you know. Well, seeing as how you only have boys, you might not."

They then heard a knock on the salon door. "Am I late?" Elizabeth asked. "Or interrupting anything? If I am, I'm sorry."

"No, you're good," Katherine replied. "You know, I forgot you scheduled an appointment today."

"Well, isn't that touching?" Elizabeth smiled. "Thanks a lot, Mom."

"Oh, don't take it that way," Katherine told her. "You know I make so many appointments that I can't possibly remember all of them unless I'm looking at the book. So think of my forgetting more as you being able to give me a pleasant surprise during my otherwise dull work day, rather than that I forgot because I don't like you or whatever ridiculous things are going through your head right now."

"Well you realize I was kidding, right?" Elizabeth asked. "I really don't mind that you forgot."

"Oh." Katherine nodded. "I knew that. Of course I knew that."

Elizabeth then looked at her aunt. "Are you ready for me, Aunt Laura?"

"Of course!" Laura replied. "Have a seat!"

"Oh, and did Grandpa call and ask you about what Charlie's house looks like? He said he wanted to come and visit soon," Elizabeth added as she made herself comfortable at one of the sinks and Laura began washing her hair.

Laura nodded. "I did get a call from my father. And he mentioned something about you and Charlie going hunting with him and Mom on Friday?"

"You're going hunting?" Katherine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you're disappointed," Elizabeth told her. "Dad said it was okay."

"Do you honestly think that I, of all people, would be disappointed in you wanting to explore your vampire powers?" Katherine asked. "I'm not upset. I'm proud of you!"

"Good," Elizabeth nodded. "And there's one other thing that you might not be so proud about. I'm gonna say it before Aunt Laura is holding scissors, and Mom, you better not be grabbing anything sharp either."

"Oh, dear," Laura said. "I don't know if I like where this is heading."

"Charlie and I are engaged," Elizabeth got out. "I asked him to marry me and he said he would. He's getting me a ring now."

"Well, I hope he's getting you something of good quality," Katherine said. "And not just something shiny that he picked up out of a cereal box."

"Hey, he has money! He wouldn't get her some cheap crap!" Laura cried, feeling offended.

"Don't worry, Mom," Elizabeth said before her mother could respond and cause more trouble. "I have no doubt he'll get me something good."

"Well, he better," Katherine huffed. "And if he doesn't, I'm sure we can just pawn whatever he does get you off somewhere and get you something nicer."

"Thank you for the concern, Mom," Elizabeth said, trying to keep her patience and moving the scissors to her own lap so her mother wouldn't get stabbed. "But I think we'll be all right."

"Have you set a wedding date yet?" Laura asked, finally changing the subject just enough. "And I'm gonna need those scissors."

"Before I hand them to you, do you promise not to use them to stab my mother?" Elizabeth asked.

"Oh, fine, I won't," Laura sighed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes and reaching over Elizabeth's shoulder. Her niece handed them over reluctantly and Laura began cutting her hair while watching Katherine with narrowed eyes. "Now, will you answer my question?"

"About the wedding?" Elizabeth asked. "You know, we haven't really had much time to think about it. It just happened. But I kind of want something small and private."

"We'll still be invited, right?" Laura asked.

"I don't know about you," Katherine said. "But I know I will be. The mother of the bride always has to be there. The mother of the groom is optional."

"Of course that's not true!" Elizabeth said as Laura's jaw dropped and she ran at Katherine with the scissors, wrestling her to the ground and cutting off a chunk of her hair. "And Mom, if you keep causing trouble, I'm gonna just invite Dad and the only way you'll see it is from the wedding video!"

"Look at what your horrible future mother in law did to my hair!" Katherine cried, holding onto the uneven bit and gazing sadly at the chunk of hair at her feet. "That was entirely uncalled for."

"No it wasn't," Elizabeth replied. "You were starting crap with her and she retaliated. You brought this on yourself. Be lucky she didn't stab you in the face. Now, can we get back to my hair, please?"

"Of course," Laura replied, and continued cutting Elizabeth's hair until it got to the length she wanted it, which was just below her chin.

"Why'd you have to cut so much off?" Katherine asked. "It looked so good long!"

"I just wanted a change," Elizabeth shrugged and hugged Laura. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"You're welcome," Laura replied and grabbed a basket of the treats her mother made for her to hand out to customers. "You want some treats?"

"Sure!" Elizabeth replied. "Thank you!"

After Elizabeth went on her way, Laura said to Katherine, "if you wanna take the rest of the day off, be my guest. I can handle things here."

"You're just trying to throw me out!" Katherine cried. "I see what your game is!"

"You're lucky I haven't fired you by now!" Laura cried. "Now call Gregory to come take you home or I will!"

"Fine," Katherine said, pulling out her cell phone. "Whatever."

"I got you a present," Elijah told Selina, handing her an envelope and then waiting with a smile on his face as she opened it.

"Oh, my god!" She cried when she saw. "Not tickets to see Louise Grimshaw in person! This event's been sold out forever!"

"Yes," Elijah grinned. "Tickets to see the authoress of those…novels you like. Although how you can even read them cause they're so ridiculous, I have no idea."

"I realize that they're ridiculous," Selina replied. "But that's part of the fun of reading romances like hers." Then her face fell. "But the tickets are for Friday night! That's when we're supposed to take Charlie and Elizabeth out hunting!"

"My goodness, you're right!" Elijah said. "What a shame you'll miss that cause these tickets are for a one-night only presentation."

Selina narrowed her eyes. "All right, smart guy. I get your point. You're nervous about what I might do while hunting, so you're trying to get me out of the way."

"But that doesn't mean I don't love you," Elijah replied and took her in his arms.

"Well, you're just lucky I want to go to this show so bad," Selina replied, shaking the tickets under his nose. "Enjoy handling Elizabeth and Charlie by yourself."

"Oh, and I made you dinner reservations also," Elijah added. "Unless you're one of those people who has issues with eating alone, of course."

"Nope!" Selina smiled. "Thank you. I'll be fine!"

"Well, enjoy then," Elijah told her as she jumped around in excitement.

"I will," Selina replied. "And don't you be giving Charlie and Elizabeth too much trouble in my absence."

"I'm so glad we're doing this now," Elizabeth said as she and Charlie followed Elijah through the woods. "I have never wanted to kill something so much in my life."

"You never told me how it went telling our mothers about our engagement," Charlie said. "But by your tone, I'm gonna guess it didn't go well?"

Elizabeth sighed. "No, it didn't. My mom said your mom wasn't necessary at the wedding cause she wasn't the mother of the bride, then your mom took scissors and cut off a chunk of my mom's hair…and that was after I talked her out of stabbing her. But my mom started it, so what can you do? I told them that if they acted up any more, we wouldn't invite either of them, just our fathers."

"Do you think that'll have any effect on their behavior?" Charlie asked.

"Oh, god, I hope so," Elizabeth replied. She then saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and assuming it was a small animal, darted away from Charlie and pounced. However, the small squirrel got away in time, and Elizabeth just landed on the ground with a face full of dirt. "Well, shit!" She cried as Charlie helped her to her feet and dusted her off. "I very nearly had something!"

She then looked at her hand to make sure her shiny, large diamond ring was still in place, and let out her breath when she saw that it was, while Elijah came back to check on them. "Sorry," he said. "I didn't realize you weren't following me anymore."

"I very nearly caught a squirrel," Elizabeth told him. "But it got away."

"Well, good for you!" Elijah replied.

"Didn't you hear me say that it got away?" Elizabeth asked. "What are you praising me for?"

"You never get one the first time," Elijah replied. "Let yourself fail a couple of times. No one can fault you for trying."

"There's a rabbit!" Charlie cried and darted over to it. The rabbit was much slower than the squirrel had been, and Charlie got his prey, biting it and then making a face. "You know, this isn't anywhere near as good as people blood."

"I know," Elijah replied. "But you never know when you might be stuck somewhere away from a human food source, so it's good to know how to do this."

"Can I try?" Elizabeth asked.

"Sure," Charlie replied. "What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine." He paused. "Well, I hope, anyway."

Elizabeth took the bunny from him and took a taste. "You're right," she grimaced. "That is disgusting!"

"Kids today," Elijah sighed, a grin on his lips. "With your blood bank blood brought right to you, without you having to catch it yourself. You're so spoiled."

"We're also safer," Elizabeth pointed out.

"I know, I was only teasing," Elijah replied.

"Where's Grandma?" Charlie asked. "I thought she was joining us on this little trek."

"She was, but given her dicey past when it comes to hunting, I thought it might be best for her to avoid temptation, and sent her to an event she was interested in instead."

"Ah," Charlie nodded. "Okay."

Then they were on the move again as Elizabeth pounced on a deer, whose flailing made bruises on her face before Charlie and Elijah helped her pin it down while she fed.

"Is deer better?" Charlie asked.

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded. "And happily, I don't feel the need to kill anyone anymore!"

"Well, that's good," Charlie replied as he fed on the deer too.

"Yes," Elizabeth nodded, letting the deer's blood slide down her throat. "Yes it is."