Chapter 13: Epilogue

One year later…

Emily and Vampirina were in the older girl's room, laughing and jumping up and down on the bed excitedly. "It's our party today!" Vampirina said excitedly.

"We're going to have a big party!" Emily exclaimed, a big smile on her face.

The Hauntleys found out that Emily's birthday was two days before Vampirina's and so decided that for her first birthday as a Hauntley, they would combine the birthdays and go all out for both girls. Emily was super excited because she and Vampirina had been to a birthday party earlier that year and she remembered how much fun it was. She knew it was going to be even more fun because it was her birthday now and best of all, she was sharing it with her big sister.

Giggling, both girls quickly got dressed and Vampirina turned into a bat and flew downstairs while Emily ran down the hallway, squeaking in surprise when she was lifted up and she saw it was Demi, who was holding her as they flew after Vampirina.

Oxana was coming up to the stairs when she saw them coming and stopped just in time as Vampirina pulled up short and bumped into her mother, landing on the floor, but giggling. "Sorry, Mommy," she said.

Oxana chuckled. "Don't worry, darling. I know you're excited about today," she said and saw Emily and Demi and the little girl was giggling. "Are you excited too, Emily?"

"Yeah!" The little girl said. "I can't wait for the party to start, Mama."

Boris chuckled. "It going to be quite a party," he said. "King Pepi is coming too."

The girls' eyes lit up. Ever since he had helped scare off the Stemwrithes, Emily had begun calling him Uncle Pepi and he was her favorite uncle. She then thought of something. "Is Great-Uncle coming too?" She asked.

"We sent him an invite," Oxana said.

Boris got a text on his phone and smiled. "And he just replied that he'll be here," he said.

"Wolfie! Out of the kitchen!" They heard Chef Remy say in a panic. "You'll ruin the cake!"

Vampirina laughed. "I'll go let Wolfie outside," she said and went to do so.

Oxana sniffed the air. "Mmm. Remy is certainly making that barbeque smell good," she said.

They went to the kitchen where Remy was decorating a cake that would have made any bakery shop owner pleased as punch. Emily's eyes widened. "Whoa," she said in surprise.

Remy chuckled when he heard that. "You like, chere?" He asked with a smile.

She nodded. "It's big," she said.

"Oui. My finest baking masterpiece yet," the skeleton chef said proudly.

"I bet you'd win first place at the fair with your cooking and baking, Remy," Boris said.

"I have thought about that, yes," Remy said. "But…ah…some humans just aren't…quite ready to have a skeleton as a competitor."

Emily went up and hugged him. "That's okay, Remy," she said. "Cause we love your cooking and baking. You get first place with us any day."

He chuckled and playfully tapped a small bit of frosting on her nose, making her giggle. "I'll take that over blue ribbons any day," he admitted. "Now, shoo. I must finish the cake in time for the party."

He said this gently as he gently shooed her out of the kitchen. She giggled and headed outside with Vampirina while Oxana and Boris put the last decorations up and glanced around. "Perfect," Oxana said with a grin.

"Emily and Vee around going to love it," said Boris as he looked at the gifts they had gotten for their daughters. "Especially Emily. She really hasn't had a birthday party ever."

"Which is why I wanted to have a big party for her and Vee," his wife said. "Emily's come so far and she deserves to be happy."

"I agree," he said.

Emily had come a long way. You could hardly tell by looking at her that she had had a rough past and once wouldn't speak at all. She was an active little girl now and very talkative, always eager to help the teacher in school and being a lively little girl.

Giggling caught their attention and the two parents went to see that King Pepi had arrived and apparently had surprised his nieces and he was now tickling them as they hugged him and their giggles filled the air. The doorbell then screamed. "Sounds like the guests are starting to arrive," Oxana said.

Fifteen minutes later, the party was in full swing as all the guests had arrived and they were all jamming to the lively music, which was a combination of Disney songs and kid's songs before Remy came out with the stellar cake that had pink and white frosting with candy ghosts, skeletons, bats, and spiders on it too. Everyone ooed and ahhhed over it and were eager to enjoy it after the delicious barbeque, which was a huge hit too.

And after cake, the presents were opened and exclamations of surprise and happiness filled the room as the girls thanked their friends for the thoughtful gifts and invited everyone to enjoy the gifts with them.

The hour that followed was full of joy as everyone had a blast and the party came to a close. "This was totally the best birthday ever," Emily said.

"We go all out for parties, especially birthdays," Vampirina said.

Oxana smiled. "Why don't you girls go enjoy your new toys and clothes while your father and I get things cleaned up?" She said.

"Do you and Daddy need help, Mama?" Emily asked.

"No, thank you, darling," her mother said with a smile. "Today is yours and Vampirina's day. You both go enjoy yourselves."

The girls were so hyped from the excitement of the day and the cake that they giggled the whole time they were playing with their new toys. They had even gotten some storybooks as gifts and so read them together, enjoying the stories.

It was nearly their bedtime when Boris came up and found both girls sleeping on Vampirina's bed, all tuckered out from the day and one of the storybooks laying open nearby. Oxana came in and smiled at the scene before both went in and tucked a blanket around their girls, not having the heart to wake them up before they slipped out of the room. "Boris, I'm so glad we adopted Emily," Oxana said. "She is such a joy as our little Vampirina is."

"I agree," Boris said. "Our two little beams of moonlight."

Inside the room, Vampirina and Emily were sound asleep, dreaming happily. Emily was especially happy because she now believed that family love wasn't skin deep, thanks to her loving family who loved her very much.

And that concludes "Family Love Isn't Skin Deep". Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, faved, followed, and made this story a big hit. :)

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