"You know," Gwen said to Declan and Regina when they came to visit, "my grandson Robert brought the most darling little human girl with him to visit me the other night. She seemed terrified of me. Declan, Regina, do you find me frightening?"

Declan and Regina looked at one another and Declan cleared his throat. "Do you want an honest answer to that?" He asked. "Or do you want us to lie in order to spare your feelings?"

"So you do think I'm frightening!" Gwen sighed. "You don't have to lie! It's not like I'm going to hurt you or anything. There's only one person I'll do that to."

"And really, you're only intimidating because she doesn't know you all that well," Regina replied helpfully. "The only times she's seen you was at that party you told us about, where you probably didn't talk, and when Robbie brought her over. That doesn't give you a lot of face to face time."

"I suppose you're right," Gwen sighed. "Now, you children run along. I'm sure you have more exciting things on your mind than talking to me."

"Are you sure?" Regina asked. "I mean, Mikael's gone, so if you want company, we can stay. It's no trouble. We like spending time with you."

"That's very sweet," Gwen smiled. "Why do you think my son doesn't? What do you think I've done to drive King away?"

"Oh, I'm sure you haven't driven King away," Regina assured her. "He has a little girl and she's kind of a handful."

"But that's no excuse to neglect his mother," Gwen opined.

"Do you want me to talk to him and tell him to get his butt over here to see you?" Regina questioned. "Cause I will."

"Oh, don't do it in a confrontational way," Gwen advised. "Otherwise, he won't come. He's stubborn that way, just like his father. Just tell him that I'd like to see him when he has a chance, and if he wants to bring Eva-Michelle along, I'd like that too."

"Sure," Regina nodded. "Of course we will. I can tell him after I go to see my parents. I haven't talked to them in some time either. I wonder if they think I'm dead."

"Probably not," Declan replied. "They're pretty good about letting you run your own life."

"I know," Regina sighed. "That's the sad part. I kind of wish they missed me more, you know?"

"Well, we can go and see them," Declan said and took her in his arms. "Would that make you feel better?"

"Yes," Regina nodded as he ran his fingers through her dark hair. "It's one of the things that would make me feel better, anyway. Wanna guess the other?"

"Oh, I don't think I need to guess," Declan smiled. "I know!"

"Good," Regina grinned. "After we go tell King to see his mother, you'll know just what to do."

Regina grunted as Declan brought the whip down on her bare back. "That's it!" She cried, baring her fangs and stared at the handcuffs that were on her wrists as she pressed her palms against the unfinished wall of the basement and tried not to shiver. "Do that again!"

Declan obliged a couple more times, then stopped to let her back heal. When it had, he pulled her against his shirtless body and gave her back a rub. "Would you mind if I had a little nibble later?" He asked, his lips against her earlobe.

"Sure," Regina nodded, a big smile curving her lips. "Take whatever you want. I don't care when."

"You are a wonderful girlfriend," Declan smiled and took her face in his hands before kissing her deeply as she ran her long nails down his smooth torso and then, after Declan undid the handcuffs, got on her knees to lick the blood up as Declan let out a breath and ran his fingers through her silky dark hair. He then let in a quick breath as she unzipped his pants and began sucking on him.

"Oh-oh, my god!" He shut his eyes tight. "This is the real torture, isn't it?"

Regina's head bobbed slightly, but as her mouth was occupied, she couldn't speak. She finally took pity on him after he came and let out a cry, sweating and panting as he collapsed on the floor.

"Are you all right?" She asked, looming over him and zipping him up.

"Yeah," Declan nodded. "Yeah, I think I'll be all right. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Regina assured him as she went and looked around for her bra. "I'm all healed up now."

"Did you wanna see your parents?" Declan wanted to know as he watched her dress.

"Yes," Regina nodded. "I want to check and see if they're home, at least."

"And if they are, then we'll stay for a bit," Declan said.

"Thank you!" Regina hugged him. "I know I'm kind of acting like a child, so it won't be for too long. But thank you for understanding how important this is to me."

"Of course," Declan nodded, zapping some clothes on himself. "Let's go!"

"How long has it been since we've heard from Regina?" Kol asked Margot.

"Oh, I don't know," Margot shrugged. "Maybe we should check more often. That would be the responsible thing. It's what my sister would do."

"On the other hand, Regina's an adult," Kol reasoned. "And we don't want to intrude on her life unnecessarily and make her feel smothered."

"That's a good point," Margot nodded. "I thought about that too."

It was then that Regina and Declan came in. "Hello, parents," Regina greeted. "It's been a long time."

"Do you think it would be intrusive of us to ask to see more of you?" Margot asked.

"No!" Regina shook her head. "It wouldn't. In fact, I was coming over here specifically to tell you that I missed you a lot and this arrangement of ours wasn't working."

"Well, isn't that nice?" Margot asked Kol. "She wants to see us!"

"Why wouldn't I?" Regina asked, coming to sit next to Kol while Declan took a seat on the opposite, unoccupied couch. "You're not bad parents. I just wish you checked up on me more or something like that. I wouldn't feel like you're intruding."

"We're sorry we haven't talked to you in a while," Margot told her and gave her a hug. "It's just that since we know you're an adult now and have your own house, and your own boyfriend, and your own life, we want you to be allowed to live it without us getting in the way, which I know is not the same thing as abandoning you all together, which apparently, is what we've been doing."

"I think that's taking it a little far," Regina said. "But I think we can agree that we need to spend more time together. Don't you think?"

"Yeah," Kol agreed and hugged her from the other side. "I do."

"You wanna join in the hug too?" Regina asked Declan.

"No, thanks," Declan shook his head. "I think I'll just stay over here."

"Oh, don't be silly," Margot told him. "Get over here! As long as you stay on my side, you should be all right."

"Okay," Declan sighed and got up. "If you say so." He did as Margot suggested and joined the hug, and when everyone separated, Kol gave him a penetrating look. "Have you been practicing your hunting?" He asked.

Declan blushed a little. "Actually I haven't," he confessed. "But I should, shouldn't I?"

"Well, it's not anything you need to rush with," Kol replied. "You didn't do so bad the first time."

"If you two don't have anything to do," Regina proposed to her parents, "Do you think we could go hunting now?"

"That sounds like a good idea to me," Margot nodded and stood up. "Let's go!"

They headed to a nearby patch of woods, Margot took Regina's hand, shook out her long red hair, they looked at their men. "How do you want to do this?" She asked the man who was as good as her husband. "Can I trust you and Declan alone, or do you want me and Regina there with you?"

"No, I think we can handle it," Kol replied. "You ladies have fun."

"If you're gonna try anything," Declan told Kol as Regina and Margot walked away, "I have magic, and you don't."

"Oh, just come on," Kol replied. "I won't do anything to you. The only things that will be hurt are the animals."

"Good," Declan replied, and then zapped himself and Kol inside the forest.

"All right," he said as Kol looked around in surprise cause he always forgot that Declan was a warlock as well as a vampire. "What do we do first?"