"All right, I did it," Selina said to Elijah as she strolled into his office.

"What did you do?" Elijah asked her. "Did you call Ethan like I told you to?"

"Yeah, I did," Selina nodded.

"And?" Elijah asked. "Did he tell you you had a lot of work to do so he could get the book published?"

"He started to," Selina nodded. "But then-then I told him that I didn't think I wanted to do the cookbook anymore. I've canceled the deal."

"What?" Elijah asked as his body went slack. "Why? Why would you do that? Is it because of something I did?"

"No," Selina shook her head. "It wasn't you. It's just that...when I wrote that first book, I was alone, I was bitter, I was angry, I had all the time in the world to devote to publicity tours and book signings and stuff. But now I don't. I have responsibilities and people who will actually be at home so I don't come back to an empty house." She put her arms around him. "I don't need to do the books too, because the bakery is enough of a break when I need it. I know you'll probably still continue to think that my cancelling my book was your fault, but please don't. It was my choice, I did what was right for me, and you shouldn't feel bad about it."

"All right," Elijah nodded. "I won't." He then picked her up and she let out a squeal. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Well, now that you've told me you've decided to give up on the book deal, I feel I can express how happy I am about that," Elijah told her. "What do you say to a bath?"

Selina smiled. "No," she said. "I don't think I wanna take a bath."

"Well, too bad," Elijah replied, putting her over his shoulder and giving her a gentle spank on the bottom. "Cause we're gonna take a bath!"

When they reached the bathroom, Elijah put Selina down and turned the bathwater on. "So," She said when he turned back to face her. "Who gets the honor of undressing first?"

Elijah kissed her. "I think you should start," he said. "That way, you can be in the bathtub when you watch me."

"All right," Selina smiled and did a little dance as she stripped down and stepped into the tub, before turning to face Elijah. He grinned and undressed at a speed that made her squirm, especially when it came to removing his pants.

"I like this slow motion method of dressing," she commented, kicking some water up with her foot and licking her bottom lip. "You should do it all the time."

Naked now, he grinned and leaned forward to kiss her before getting into the tub. "You're so hot," she said, putting her arms around him as he splashed down beside her. She leaned against his chest and he stroked her hair.

"Thank you," he said to her. "And you're beautiful. It's a lot easier for me to say that now than it was the first time you and I ever bathed together."

"Yeah, but I can't blame you for that awkwardness," she said as he picked up a washcloth, put some bodywash on it (lavender-scented), and began washing her back. "After all, I was married to your brother at the time."

"But that didn't stop me from having to use all my self control because I wanted you so bad," Elijah told her. "It was really hard. I felt so ashamed when I let my control break."

"You shouldn't have felt totally ashamed," Selina replied. "The kiss was wonderful. Kisses, I mean. There was more than one." She paused. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Good question," Elijah replied. "Turn to face me so I can wash your front."

"You know," Selina grinned as she turned. "You can touch it too. I don't mind."

Elijah grinned, rolled his eyes, and kissed her neck. "You're awfully silly, you know that?" He said.

"Yes, I do know that," Selina replied. Then she kissed him, and as they kissed, she picked up his fist, which still held the soapy washcloth, and ran it slowly over her breasts and stomach in a slow, up and down motion. When he got to the parts of her under the water, she gasped and felt herself come when he touched her. She clung to him and he laughed a little as he pulled the washcloth out of the water.

"Oh, god!" She told him. "What did you do just now?"

"I was just washing you," he replied.

"Yeah, but that was...that was just fucking awesome!" She said. "Let's hurry up with this bath so you can carry me to bed and do it again!"

"Oh, all right," Elijah said, throwing the washcloth in the hamper across from the tub. "I suppose I can do that."

"No supposing," Selina grinned and beeped his nose. "You have to be certain!"

Elijah grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. "All right," he nodded. "I'm certain. I can do that."

"Good," Selina nodded, her hands going through his wet hair. "But would you like me to wash you first? It's only fair."

"Yes," Elijah replied immediately while Selina looked around for his soap. "Yes I would."

She found it and turned around, lathering up another wash cloth and scrubbing him with it. "So," she said as she did so. "Before we go and lose our senses, what would you like to do about picking up Annaliese from boarding school for her holiday break?"

"Well, when do we have to pick her up?" Elijah asked and then let out a breath as she scrubbed farther and farther downward.

"Next week sometime," Selina replied.

"Would you mind picking her up on your own?" He asked her. "Father is in the frame of mind to keep me busy all next week. He thinks the holidays bring out the particularly mean-spirited vampires cause of all the people that come around to be with their families."

"Sure, I can pick her up by myself," Selina replied. "It's no problem."

"And if you meet that Peter boy she's told us about before, I want you to deal with him, no exceptions," Elijah told her.

"Fine, fine," Selina replied. "Relax, will you? I can feel you tensing up again."

"Hmmm," Elijah replied. "I wonder why."

"All right," Selina sighed and let the water out of the tub, climbing out while Elijah kept his gaze firmly on her butt. "What do you say we go to bed now for awhile?"

"All right," Elijah nodded. "I agree. Let's go." He followed her out of the tub, and they dried each other off thoroughly with towels before heading straight to their bed.


"So why did your daddy have to leave?" Margaret asked Henry.

"He had to do work for Grandma Astrid and it's gonna take him a long time," Henry replied. "Susanna was more upset about it then me. I'm big and I can understand that Daddy will come back. But until he does, I get to spend lots of time with you!"

He grinned.

"Yeah, me and Emily," Margaret replied.

"You shouldn't be mad that I spend time with Emily," Henry said. "You might like her someday."

"I'm not mad that you spend time with Emily," Margaret said. "You married me, so you love me more."

"Right," Henry nodded. "Exactly. Yep, it's just you and me, except..." Just then, the doorbell rang. A few minutes later, Lenora showed up at Henry's door. "Henry, Emily's here to visit. Would you care to explain what in the world possessed you to make you think that was okay?"

"Don't worry, Mommy," Henry said. "I made her think that she's just having a weird dream. She isn't gonna tell anyone that we have powers!"

Lenora sighed. "I know I said I wanted distractions," she mumbled to herself. "But really, this is almost too much."

She left and then Henry looked at Margaret. "Want to come with me to play with Emily?"

"All right," Margaret sighed. "But only because I don't want you having fun without me."

They went to the living room where Emily sat waiting and she smiled at both of them. "Hi, you guys! I didn't know you were here, Margaret!"

"Yeah, I come here a lot because Henry is my playground husband," Margaret replied.

"I have a question, though," Emily asked her. "Why are you in my dream? I went through the door to Henry's castle and there was the lightening, and I know why he would be here, and his mom, but why are you? You don't like me!"

"You're dreaming what it would be like if she did like you," Henry replied without missing a beat. "That's why we're gonna play nice all together."

"Just a minute, Emily," Margaret replied, taking Henry's hand. "Could you excuse us?"

Emily nodded and Margaret took him to a corner of the room opposite her. "What are you doing?" She whispered. "I don't wanna be nice to her!"

"It won't be for very long," Henry told her. "Emily is my friend and if you can't be nice to her, I won't be your playground husband anymore."

Margaret sighed. "Okay," she said. "Let's get this over with." They went back to Emily, who was playing with Susanna and Rusty. "He's such a cute dog!" Emily told Susanna. "What's his name?"

"Rusty," Susanna replied. "Grandpa gave me him."

"Did he?" Emily asked. "How nice!"

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"For the love of god," Lenora said. "No more company, please!" She opened the door and saw her grandfather on the other side. Alistair looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You seem surprised to see me," he said. "Is everything all right?"

"Yes, but Henry got it into his head to invite a human friend here," Lenora told him when they were in private. "Should I worry? He said he's using his vampire powers to make sure that she believes she's dreaming."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Alistair said. "I'm sure you've told Henry the consequences of letting humans come to this dimension if they know the truth."

"Yeah," Lenora nodded. "I have."

"Well, then, I don't think you have anything to worry about," Alistair assured her. "Henry is a very smart boy and I don't think he'll do anything to get you all into trouble."

"I know," Lenora nodded. "But with James gone, I just feel vulnerable, you know? Which I get is an incredibly stupid feeling for someone as powerful as I am, but still..."

Alistair grinned. "The powerful have as much cause to be insecure as the not powerful," he said. "In some cases, even more so. "I remember the Reign of Terror and the French Revolution, where every aristocrat the common folk could get their hands on was sent to the guillotine. Dark times those were." He paused. "But anyway..." He trailed off.

"So what brings you here?" Lenora asked.

"I confess I was a bit bored," Alistair replied. "I know your grandmother meant well when she stopped me working with Klaus and replaced me with Amy, but ever since I left, I have not found one way to keep myself constantly occupied."

"You should talk to Grandma," Lenora suggested. "Maybe she'll let you go visit Klaus as long as you don't decide to go work for him again. And you haven't seen Klaus and Amy's daughter yet, have you? Her name is Savannah, she's got red hair, and she's absolutely the cutest little thing! Well, apart from my own children, I mean."

"Your grandmother has been gone on business, but she gets back tonight," Alistair told Lenora. "And by the way, she told me that even though it's James' job to leave for long periods of time, she always feels guilty when she has to send him."

"She shouldn't feel that!" Lenora replied. "It's his job! He's doing everyone a service!"

"And there's one more thing:" Now Alistair avoided Lenora's eyes as he plunked the magical community's paper down in front of her. "Apparently, that Luke that they got to be James' replacement has become even more infamous than he was," he said. "I know James valued his reputation as the fearsome Mr. Black, but now that he's law enforcement, he's lost the title. People are threatening their children with Luke now and not him."

"Oh, dear," Lenora sighed as she read the paper. "He won't like to hear this. His fearsome reputation was everything to him, along with me and the kids, of course." She paused. "Would you mind checking on Henry?" She asked. "Like you say, there's probably nothing to be worried about, but it doesn't hurt to be careful."

Alistair nodded and went back into the living room where Emily, Margaret, Henry, and Susanna were still playing with the dog. As Alistair entered the room, Emily looked up at him. "Wow!" She said. "I like your clothes! Are you a wizard?"

"What makes you say that?" Alistair asked calmly.

"Cause my mom reads me Harry Potter, and you look like how the wizards dress," Emily replied.

Since Alistair knew Emily thought she was dreaming, he said, "Yes. I am a wizard, just like the ones in your book."

"Cool!" Emily cried. "I dream about them all the time! Do some magic!"

"Ah," Alistair told her. "You do remember it's not wise for wizards to do magic in front of humans, right? That could get me in trouble."

"Right," Emily nodded. "The Internatonal Wizarding Statute of Secrecy. I don't want you to get in trouble."

Alistair nodded and patted her on the head. "Good girl. So what are you all doing?"

"Playing with the dog," Emily replied. "Usually better stuff happens in my dreams." It was then that Alistair decided to send some magic in Rusty's direction, and pretty soon, he was talking. Even Margaret was so stunned at the sight that she momentarily forgot her animosity toward Emily and they watched in amazement as Rusty carried on discussions not only in English, but in Spanish and French as well, but only after Alistair made sure the kids could temporarily speak those languages as well. Eventually, though, Emily stood up. "This was a nice dream," she said. "But it's probably morning by now. I should wake up."

"All right," Henry nodded, taking Emily's arm and leading her to the door. "Once you get through the door, you'll wake up in your own bed." He shot some magic at her, and she went through the door, followed by a flash of lightening. Then, Henry went back to Margaret. "That was fun, wasn't it? And thank you for getting along with Emily, or at least not saying anything mean to her."

"I was so impressed by the dog, I couldn't think of anything," Margaret replied. Henry then went up to Alistair. "Hey," he said to his grandfather. "Do you know when my daddy is coming back?"

"Not til after Christmas, my boy," Alistair replied, ruffling Henry's hair. "I'm sorry. But we'll think of something fun to do, won't we?"

"Yeah," Henry nodded, feeling a little sad and suddenly wishing his mother would let everyone spend Christmas at Margaret's having his grandma's yummy holiday cookies. "Sure. we'll have lots of fun."

Eventually, Lenora came and interrupted Margaret and Henry's playing. "Sorry," she said. "But Margaret has to go home now."

"Already?" Henry asked.

"It's nighttime where she lives!" Lenora replied.

"Oh," Henry nodded. "Goodbye, Maggie," he said, kissing her hand. "Come back soon."

"All right," Margaret nodded, giving him a hug. "Goodbye, Henry. I will."


"So, what are you doing?" Peter asked, appearing at Annaliese's window again as she packed up for her winter break.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Annaliese asked him without looking up. "I'm packing to go home. Jessica already left."

"So your parents decided to take you away from this awful place," Peter said. "Lucky you. It's a real shame in a way, though. You seem like you have a lot of potential."

"I'm not leaving forever," Annaliese said, looking up at him now. "Just for the holidays. Didn't that have that when you came here?"

"Of course they did," Peter told her. "It just...slipped my mind."

Then his eyes lit up. "If you're going away for your holidays, what do you think your mother would say to you having a guest? That way, I can talk to her personally. I know you'll never do it on your own."

"Even if she *does* let me have guests," Annaliese replied, "you're not coming."

just then, there was a knock on her door and Selina strolled in. "Ready to go, sweetie? Sorry your dad didn't come with me. He was detained." Then, she noticed Peter, who'd boosted himself through the open window. "Who's your friend?"

"He's no one," Annaliese said, and then Peter took Selina's hand. "I'm Peter," he said. "I'm a friend of Annaliese's, and I know this is gonna sound terribly presumptuous of me, but I've got nowhere to stay for the holidays. Could I come with you? Do you have room?"

Selina ignored Annaliese's motions telling her that would be a bad idea, and put her arm around Peter. "Of course you can come with us if you're a friend of Annaliese's," she said. "Anyone is welcome at our house."

"Daddy won't like it," Annaliese said to her mother as she trailed after her and Peter.

"I know he won't because Peter is older than he expected, but I'll talk him into letting him stay," Selina replied, knowing the exact opposite would be true, especially since he'd firmly warned her to get rid of Peter before.

However, Selina took both of them to the car and as they drove away, Peter said, "So you're Annaliese's mother? You're exactly what I pictured."

"Did you?" Selina asked in surprise. "Usually people are surprised by me."

"Well, if you're the mother of someone as pretty as Annaliese, it only makes sense that you're beautiful too," Peter replied.

"Well, aren't you a charmer?" Selina asked. "Just remember that I'm married."

"Oh, I do," Peter replied. "And before I forget, I want to say 'Thank you' for letting me spend the holidays with you. Are you certain it's not too much of an inconvenience? Especially for Annaliese's father, who doesn't know I'm coming?"

"Oh, don't worry about him," Selina told Peter. "Everything will be all right."


"And just who is that teenager I saw eating cookies at the kitchen table with Annaliese and Margaret?" Elijah fumed. "Is it that Peter boy? I thought we agreed that you were gonna get rid of him!"

"Oh, be reasonable, Elijah!" Selina replied. "He said he didn't have anywhere to go for Christmas, and I couldn't just leave him alone!"

"Yes, you could have!" Elijah snapped. "You could have very easily! I don't want any teenage boys nosing around my seven year old daughters!"

"You're being ridiculous again," Selina said. "What kind of a teenager has that sort of interest in a seven year old? I'm gonna go make up some egg nog and you just reach deep down in yourself and be polite!"

"No!" Elijah shook his head. "I won't!"

"You will if you want Annaliese to like you still," Selina told him. Then she left and made egg nog, and afterward, Peter gestured her over to talk. "Have I made things difficult between you and your husband?" He asked.

"No, don't worry about it," Selina shook her head. "He's just a bit overprotective is all. He has a silly idea in his head that you've got some perverted interest in Annaliese."

"Is that so?" Peter asked. "Well, you can tell him not to worry, because I'm not at all interested in your daughters that way. However, Lonely Heart, I am interested in you. Wanna help me and a bunch of other vampires stir up a little trouble for old times' sake? I hear you used to be good at it."

Selina stared at him in shock for a long time. Then she turned and ran to her and Elijah's room where he was still sulking. "Good news!" She said, her voice shaky, and her movements nervous.

"What?" Elijah grumbled. "Anything other than you throwing Peter out of this house on his ass is not good news."

"I was gonna say he's not interested in the girls," Selina told her husband.

"He's not?" Elijah asked, looking up. "Well, then why did he come?"

"Because," Selina whispered, looking away, "he's interested in me."