"So, Miss Liddell," Anne sighed as she settled herself into a chair, ignoring the alarmed looks that were directed towards her "Why don't you order yourself some tea?"

"Uh…" Alice looked at the menu "I…don't have any money on me…"

"I'm paying," Anne grinned and pulled out a pouch of Gil "Just pick whatever you want."

She turned the menu towards her and hummed.

"White Peach Tea?" she said and grabbed the waiter that was passing by "Excuse me but would you recommend the White Peach Tea?"

The waiter jumped, startled by having been suddenly grabbed and nodded to her furiously.

"O-Of course, miss," he said shakily "If Miss h-has expensive t-taste that is."

"Alright then, one White Peach Tea please," Anne grinned and let the terrified waiter go "And bring it quick, so I can give you a generous tip."

She gave a flirtatious wink, making the waiter blush and scurry off. Alice watched the scenario then placed her hands on her hips.

"That was very rude," she commented "At least the first part was."

"Yes, I know," Anne said "I apologize but I am in a rush to find this new Lady and you are already passing the first few tests. In fact, that was another test you passed."

She opened her notebook and ticked the line which said:

Isn't afraid to speak her mind to anyone

"Right now," Anne sat back with a sigh "Let the interview begin."

"Interview?" Alice looked alarmed and tensed immediately.

"Relax, dear, I said interview, not interrogation," Anne giggled behind her hand.

Alice didn't relax until she saw the cup of tea being placed in front of her.

"Now, I have two younger sisters that need a mother figure to help them grow up properly," Anne explained as Alice took the tea and sipped it delicately, swallowing and blinking in surprise at the quality of it "Bella is the next vampire to start training to be a vampire woman when I leave. She is 1076 years old and I think she might have middle child syndrome and is a bit of an attention seeker. Do you think you could handle that?"

"Well," Alice paused to think "I think I probably could handle her. You're talking to a young woman who helps out at the local orphanage and all the children there seek attention. If I can handle five children at once, one shouldn't be a problem."

"An excellent answer," Anne praised her with a warm smile "Oh, also Bella was very attached to our blood mother so ever since the first step-mother came, she's been plotting to get them out. That would involve throwing knives, stealing your clothes, attempting to strangle you, trying to force-feed off you when you sleep and one time she managed to get a Marlboro into a poor woman's chambers, don't ask me how she did that…"

Alice swallowed a mouthful of tea down her throat and paused to think.

"Well…I'm not sure if I could cope with the Marlboro…" she said.

"Not to worry," Anne smiled "I should be able to keep any big and nasty monsters out of your room."

"But you mentioned that you were leaving. What if a Marlboro appears in my room after you leave?"

"Don't worry, you have five years to handle Bella and try to get her attached to you," Anne waved off the suggestion "So you can handle the rest?"

"Umm…I think I can."

Anne ticked the next line:

Is capable of coping with Bella

"Right, the youngest sister is called Cynthia. She's 604 years old and she loves being read stories. Can you make up stories, Alice?"

"Um…I think I can if the occasion calls," Alice said "I'm not very creative though, what if she doesn't like me?"

"Eh, I'll give you a piece of paper with bullet points every night to help you out," Anne reassured her "You are nice to children aren't you?"

"If they are nice to me, yes," Alice nodded curtly.

"Can you handle children being bullied by those who are older than them?"

"I can."

"Would you be willing to give Cynthia a little bit of your blood when she asks for it?"

"Uh…"

Alice just stared ahead.

"How much is a little bit?" she asked.

"Oh, she'll just pricked your finger and take a few sips."

"I don't suppose that's too bad so I would be willing to give a little blood to her," Alice nodded a bit put off her tea.

"Excellent, oh and would you play with her every day?"

"I suppose, yes, it depends on the games she wants to play really…"

"It would include playing with her dolls, hide-and-seek, I believe a lot of human girls like to do that sort of stuff."

"…I'll play with her every day," Alice nodded as she thought back to her childhood.

"That's great," Anne didn't see her disturbed face "And jokes, Cynthia loves to tell jokes. Pretend that you find them funny and laugh, would that be alright?"

"Sure…"

"Then there's the thing with her being a small child and thinking that Mothers and Daddies love each other very much."

Alice snapped back to the present and looked at her.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Look, I'll talk to Daddy about this but when you, Daddy and Cynthia are in the same room, it would be great if you put up the façade of you two being in love," Anne explained but Alice stood up.

"I'm not going to pretend to love someone for the sake of a six hundred year old child!" Alice declared.

"You don't actually have to go into his bed and have sex with him!" Anne shouted as she stood up as well "You will have a separate room, Cynthia only knows that Mothers and Daddies don't sleep in the same room. You just need to be pleasant, perhaps hold hands and a bit of hugging but you don't have to kiss him if that's what you're afraid of."

"Putting up a façade for a child is cruel!" Alice argued.

"Fine, you don't have to do the façade, I was just trying to follow Cynthia's requirements that she gave me!"

The girls gave each other a hard stare before sitting down again, Anne sighing irritably and pinching her nose. She gave a smaller tick for the next line in her notebook:

Meets Cynthia's requirements

"Well I've basically ran through the details of where you're going to be sleeping," Anne said bitterly while looking up at Alice "Can you cook?"

"A little, yes," Alice nodded.

"Good, you're going to have to cook your own meals because we don't eat normal food like humans," Anne said while scribbling down in her notebook "There is food available to harvest in the garden so just feel free to go out, grab something, you can hunt in the gardens too, we've been having a lot of pests around lately, and we have a kitchen for you to prepare your meals so it's all good."

"May I ask a question?"

"Certainly."

"How do you get your blood?"

"Oh, I have a blood donor like all vampire ladies must have, Bella and Cynthia would need a mother to supply blood for them but Daddy has taken on that role so there's no need to worry about them drinking you dry. But Daddy will have to take your blood if you're going to be his wife. He'll make sure you're alright after he feeds on you. It'll only be once a night so it's not too bad."

"I…see…" Alice stared at the floor.

"You won't be alone in this house," Anne said quickly "We have a few servants helping around the house that you can talk to. This won't be unpleasant if you think that it will be pleasant…"

"But I'll be locked up in a dreary mansion for the rest of my life," Alice said and folded her arms.

"Well I'm going to be locked up in a drearier mansion for a while eternity in five short years, imagine how I'm feeling right now," Anne said coldly and folded her arms in a similar fashion "This is the first time I've been outside for over three centuries and I'm using this time to find a suitable mother for my family when I would rather be exploring the world."

Alice was silenced and remained silent to listen to the rest of whatever Anne had to say.

"So, as your parents are no longer here, do you have any greedy guardians that would exploit this marriage?"

"No legal greedy guardians," Alice replied softly.

"No overly ambitious plans of your own to overthrow Daddy and kill me and my sisters?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so."

"No secret lovers that will be willing to plot with you against Daddy?"

"Of course not," Alice looked offended.

"I'm just checking," Anne held up her hands in alarm "Um…any physical conditions we need to be aware off?"

"No."

"Any…mental conditions?"

Anne's eyes gleamed when Alice flinched.

"You know that I have a mental condition," she accused the vampire.

"Just answer the question," Anne said and crossed her legs.

"Well, I've been having hallucinations recently," Alice admitted and laced her fingers together "I still have hallucinations now and people think I'm mad."

"Are they troubling you at all?"

"No…"

"Then that's alright."

Anne smiled as she closed her book and tucked her pen away.

"Do you have a lot of luggage?"

"Uh, no, all my possessions were burned in the fire," Alice sighed "Apart from my toy rabbit, he was confiscated."

"Oh? That lawyer? He was supposed to look after you?"

Alice scoffed and Anne nodded.

"Right, I suppose it's straight to the mansion then."

Anne got up and held her hand out to Alice.

"Welcome to the family, Mother."