Carl looked up from the dining room table as Anna and Gabriel came in. He smiled when he saw the little black kitten Anna had clutched against her.

"So she liked the cat did she?" he asked, Anna smiled and stroked the little kittens head.

"So what will you call him?" Miruna asked, coming in with a positively enormous ham. Gabriel's mouth watered as she set it on the table, he sat down next to Carl who joined him in staring at the hunk of pork.

Anna rolled her eyes at them both, sitting on the opposite side, still cradling her kitty.

"I think I'll name him Lucius," she said, smiling as the little thing purred in her arms. Miruna smiled,

"He's simply adorable, think he's hungry?" she asked, "I'll bet some warm milk would taste good, hm?"

"Okay, boys, go ahead and help yourselves," Miruna said at Anna's nod, moving into the kitchen to retrieve some milk. Anna watched amusedly as both men attacked the table with fork and knife.

"And here I thought barbarians didn't exist anymore," she commented to Lucius, who meowed in response and pushed his head into her hand.

Naptime had been declared shortly after lunch. Both Carl and Gabriel had stuffed themselves to the limit. Both groaning that they had eaten too much, Miruna and Anna both agreed the only cure for a full stomach was a long nap.

Gabriel and Anna were both asleep on the small couch, sprawled together in a tangled embrace. The house staff had the day off, Miruna had retired to her bedroom, and Carl had wondered off to go blow something up no doubt. Even Lucius was sleeping soundly, in his little wicker-basket bed, bloated with all the milk he'd consumed. His little tail flickered back in forth as he lay in his bed by the fire, he purred softly to himself as he slept.

Deciding that the empty house and fireplace were too good to give up, Gabriel and Anna decided that napping on the couch sounded fairly decent.

Anna had been first to drop off, the warmth of the fire, the feel of Gabriel's arms about her, and her full stomach all combining to create the perfect lullaby. She was asleep in less then five minutes. Gabriel clung to consciousness a little longer, but soon his eyes closed as well.

He woke slowly now, seeing the clock on the fireplace mantle, telling him he'd been asleep for a good hour. He moved to get up, but laid back down as he felt the warm weight of Anna's body resting against him. He smiled down at the top of her head, and leisurely stroked his hand up and down her back.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" a gruff voice asked softly. Gabriel jerked his head in the direction of the sound, nearly groaning aloud as he saw yet another ghost.

Boris Valerious stepped from the shadows behind the tree, a proud smile on his lips as he took in his daughter. Gabriel moved to sit up, but Boris held out a hand.

"No, you'll wake her," he said firmly, Gabriel swallowed, a little embarrassed at the compromised position he and Anna were in. Not exactly a great first impression on Dad, he thought abashedly. Boris shook his head,

"Please, you've nothing to be ashamed of, Gabriel," the older man soothed. His gaze lovingly moved over his daughters face, his fingers reached to touch her but recoiled when he remembered he couldn't.

"I realize we must've made you paranoid, and for that I apologize," Boris sighed, moving to stand in front of the fireplace.

"But we're very curious, my family, since all we know about you is your past. We don't know you as Anna does, what kind of person you are." He turned back to Gabriel, a quiet torment in his eyes.

"How I wish I could've been here, to watch her fall in love. She was always my little girl, still is, but I never could imagine giving her up to someone else. Her mother worried you see, we taught Anna how to fight, not to love. Dresses, dances, proper gentleman and ladies, courting in general. None of that was in the lesson plan. Yet here she is, with you, in love," Boris smiled, and Gabriel once again felt foolish. Here he was lying on the couch, his wife sleeping on top of him, and her father wanted to have a father, son talk.

"I'm glad she has found someone like you, who is someone like her, you understand her far better then any gentleman would. I wanted so badly to be the one to give her away at her wedding. To calm her jittery nerves as she prepared to start her new family. To kiss her forehead in a final farewell, and wipe away both our tears as we danced our father, daughter dance." He mourned silently, watching his only daughter slumber peacefully against Gabriel's firm chest.

"God only knows how much I love her Gabriel," he whispered, heart tearing. He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, and turned now to Gabriel.

"But, I am not here to mourn about the past, I am here to present you with a Christmas present Gabriel. One I think you both will enjoy." Boris smiled brightly, and opened his mouth to speak again. Gabriel surprised him by cutting him off.

"Please, before you say anything else, I must ask something of you," he said softly, hoping not to wake Anna. Curious, Boris nodded his head for Gabriel to continue.

"I never got to ask you, and I know it's a bit late now, but..." he paused, looking a tad unsure. "I wanted to ask you for your blessing," he finished, finally meeting his father-in-law's gaze.

Boris stood stock-still, staring back at Gabriel with an unreadable expression, Van Helsing began to fear that he'd said the wrong thing. He opened his mouth to apologize and was cut off by Boris this time.

"My son, you've had my blessing the day you decided to love my daughter." He said walking up to the couch with a welcoming grin.

"The fact that my little warrior Princess chose to love you is enough for me, and it was enough for her mother, and even her brother. Whom I've sure you noticed is a tad over protective." He winked as he said it, looking up at the ceiling with an amused grin.

"Gabriel," he started again, suddenly serious, "I am not allowed to tell you about your past. I know that it bothers you, but, as Velkan informed you, you will be rewarded for it. I can tell you though, that you are in fact immortal. Or at least you will be till the earth no longer requires your service." Boris paused, his eyes searching his daughters sleeping face.

"My daughter is not immortal, she will age, Gabriel, she will die," he said sadly. Watching the monster slayers eyes slide shut at this bit of news.

"I would never want to put you through the pain of loosing the woman you love. And neither, it seems, would our heavenly father." Gabriel looked up at him, his dark eyes seeking for answers, Boris smiled and shook his head.

"From this day onward my son, God has granted Anna immortality, it is your Christmas present," Boris said, smiling through his tears. Gabriel inhaled sharply, his face showing his wonder.

"She will live as long as you do, considering you do not get yourselves killed by some sort of monstrosity," Boris laughed. Gabriel meanwhile, was trying hard not to cry. Anna will live forever? he thought, laughing aloud and kissing Anna's forehead.

"I fear I must go now Gabriel, my time is running out, but I wish you a marry Christmas, and I welcome you to our family. May God keep both you and my daughter." He finished, his voice soft and gruff, he looked down on his baby girl one more time. A single tear made it's way free and ran down his cheek,

"Tell her that I love her, left hand of God, and take care of her for me." With a final weak smile he slowly faded out. Leaving a shocked Van Helsing staring at the spot he'd just been standing in disbelief.

"Am I dreaming?" he wondered aloud, he reached up his left hand and pinched his cheek.

"Ow! No, guess not" he said, flopping his head back against the arm of the couch.

"If I see one more ghost I think I'm going to scream," he muttered, putting his hand over his eyes.

"What?" Anna asked, pulling her head up off his chest and blinking the sleep out of her eyes. He raised his head up and smiled at her,

"Never mind" he responded, putting a hand against her face. We're immortal! he silently rejoiced, Wait, how the hell do I tell her that?

Anna frowned at him as she saw his eyes flickering back and forth, knowing he was thinking about something. She smacked his chest lightly, causing his chestnut eyes to focus on hers once more.

"What are you thinking?" she asked, feeling her heart jump when his gaze flickered down to her mouth for a second.

"Nothing," he replied innocently, Anna's eyes narrowed,

"What nothing?" she pressed, feeling like she was missing something important. He bit the inside of his cheek, Say something you idiot!

"When are you going to wear that nightgown for me?" he asked slowly, pleased with his save. Hazel pools flickered as she thought over what he'd said, You can always get it out of him later, when you have him at your mercy her mind wickedly supplied. With an evil grin to match her thought, she stared up at him,

"Did you have a set time?" she asked, skimming fingers over his chest, he shook his head. She smiled brightly, and nodded,

"Okay"

I never really thought about it before, but it was kind of a waste of money to buy that gown. She's not going to have it on for very long... Gabriel thought lasciviously. He sat in a chair outside the bathroom door in he and Anna's bedroom. Waiting ever so patiently for his gypsy to appear. He sniggered as his thoughts continued their downhill slide. Too bad the purple one would've gotten me in trouble, he lamented silently, still, he had his imagination.

When Anna finally opened the door she found her husband staring blindly off into space, a pleased look on his face. She half expected to see drool, it wasn't hard to guess where his mind was. She cleared her throat lightly to get his attention, suppressing a shudder at the look he gave her.

He stood from his chair and took two steps foreword before stopping again, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. She cocked her head to the side and smiled coyly.

"Does Mr. Van Helsing see something he likes?" she asked, spinning in a slow circle. Gabriel found his vocal cords to constricted for him to comment, he sent a silent thank you to Adrian, where ever the silly little Frenchman was.

Having enough of his gawking Anna stepped boldly over to him, feeling so much shorter without any shoes on she stared up at him. His smoldering gaze told her all she needed to know, so without further ado she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.

His large hand clutched her back, efficiently pulling her tightly against his muscular form. Mind dizzy, he stumbled back blindly till he figured he was close to the bed. Turning them around he pushed Anna onto the bed, following closely behind her. His mouth crashed back onto hers, bringing a squeal from her lips at his ferocity. She laughed aloud and crawled backwards toward the headboard. He growled and followed after her, a dangerous glint in his dark eyes. Grabbing her feet he yanked her back down and crawled up over her. He slid his hands up her arms, pushing his palm against hers where they lay above her head. She smiled up at him and lifted her chin to kiss him as hard as she could. He growled in the back of his throat and pushed his mouth harder against hers. Tired of being on the bottom, she slid a leg over his waist and flipped them over. He looked up at her, hair tussled and eyes alight, glowing in the candlelight. Smiling Anna bent her head back down and kissed him again. She slanted her mouth hotly against his, fingers buying furiously into his hair.

Gabriel's last coherent thought was Maybe Christmas isn't so bad after all.

The End
Okay, well, that was long huh? I'm working on the bonus chapters, they should be out in a bit. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! Heh, that was fun, I liked writing the end part... Um, to give you all a head's up, there's a rated 'R' fic on your way. A joint fic from me and my buddy Onisyra. You think you'll like that?