Herman sat on the sofa in the foyer with his hand resting on his chin and a mixed expression of sorrow and thoughtfulness on his features. Grandpa sat down beside him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Herman you can't let us get in the way of your career," Grandpa said to him. "You'll be a sensation from all the corners of the world and your life will be filled with glamor and adoring fans everywhere will be asking for your autograph! Your music will become a national treasure and your name will become a household collector's item! This is what you've always wanted, isn't it? Well, now is your big chance."
"You may be right, Grandpa," said Herman. "But won't you and the rest of the family miss me?"
"Miss you we will, but you can call us as often as you like," Grandpa assured him. "And you can still visit us whenever you're in town. And remember we'll all be watching you on television when you're on. But of course it's your decision and I'll leave you to think it over. I'll be down in my lab if you need me." And so saying Grandpa patted Herman on the shoulder and left the room, going down the secret entrance to his private lair.
Herman was left beside himself with his thoughts. Grandpa was right, he thought. This really was his big chance to make a big name of himself and he had always dreamed of such fame. His music and his face would be on every cover and every show from coast to coast and he would be very proud of that, but then how proud would he really be if his family couldn't share in the glamor?
Grandpa stood before his cauldron which was bubbling and pouring out steam as he stirred around the contents in it. He chortled merrily as the substance within it turned a bright shade of golden yellow showing that the concoction had been completed.
He took an empty glass bottle and a long metal spoon dipper and with it he filled the bottle with the potion until it was full. He beamed and grinned in triumph as he sealed the top of the bottle and tucked it away inside his coat.
"Oh boy! With this potion there's no way the Countess will turn me down!" he exclaimed ecstatically to himself.
Just then he heard the door opening upstairs and heard Eddie's voice call out joyfully, "Grandpa! Grandpa!"
Anticipating good news he hurried up the stairs and met Eddie who ran up to him and embraced him.
"Well, it looks like somebody is happy now!" exclaimed Grandpa.
"Grandpa I did it! I did it! I got a date to the Halloween dance! I came up to Penelope and I asked, 'You don't have a date to the Halloween dance, do you?' and she said 'No,' and I said, 'Well how would you like to be my date? There is really no one else I would care to go with at all. So if you will do me the honor of being my date I will make sure you have the time of your life there,' and she smiled and said, 'Well, if you put it that way I'd love to go to the dance with you,' I got a date, Grandpa! And I couldn't have done it without you! Thank you so much!"
Eddie hugged his Grandpa again and he hugged back and said, "Anytime, Eddie, anytime."
Just then they heard Herman's deep booming voice ring out as he entered the room. "Everyone in here now! I'm calling an important family meeting!"
Eddie and Grandpa hurried to the center of the room as Lily came in from the kitchen and Marilyn hurried down from upstairs.
"What is the reason for this meeting, Herman?" inquired Lily once they were all together.
"I want to announce to all of you I have made my decision!" declared Herman with a smile on his face.
"Well, whatever you've decided I will support you all the way," assured Lily.
"That goes from me, too, Herman," added Grandpa. "So what have you decided? Will you join them?"
"Yes, I will join them, indeed," replied Herman with confidence.
"I understand," said Lily rather quietly.
"I will join them, that is, whenever they come back to Mockingbird Heights!" Herman finished.
Everyone's faces looked up at Herman, at first in confusion and then in realization.
"Why, Herman you mean you're going to stay here with us?" exclaimed Lily unable to hide her joy.
"Yes, indeed I am," Herman assured her. "You see, my family is the most priceless prize and the sweetest treasure I have and ever will have and I shall not risk losing them to stardom."
"I knew you'd see the light, Herman baby!" exclaimed Lily as she went up and kissed him.
"I guess you've got your bolts in the right place after all, Herman," added Grandpa, seeming proud of him.
Later in the night, Grandpa flew out to a clear spot just beyond the graveyard where he met with the Countess. He landed before her and bowed.
"My dear Countess, I bring you the potion that will answer all your dreams and wishes!" He took out the glass bottle of yellowish liquid and held it out to her. "Remember when you told me you never learned to fly? Well, drink this and you will be able to soar with me through the skies, past the moon, behind the clouds, and be free as a bat!"
The Countess took the bottle of potion from him and stared at it. "It sounds rather too good to be true, but I'll give it a try." So saying she opened the bottle and drank all of it's contents.
Grandpa beamed at her and held out his hand, "Now take my hand and I'll show you the whole world from a whole new view!"
She took his hand and they lifted slowly off of the ground and took to the air, rising higher and higher until it seemed all of Mockingbird Heights stretched out beneath them. They held tightly to each others hand and extended out their free arms to keep themselves steady and began to glide through the air with grace and agility.
"I'm flying! I can't believe it! I'm actually flying!" exclaimed the Countess.
"You can see all of the town up here. Look, there's my house up there!" exclaimed Grandpa pointing with his free hand.
The wind rushed past them and they soared onward. They drifted up to the clouds and saw the silver lining they had been given by the light of the full moon. They zoomed through the clouds, sending fog everywhere behind them, and soared past the great silvery orb of the October moon.
They soared over the town on the wings of their hearts and saw many sights. Grandpa held tightly to the Countess's hand and guided her through the air. He felt he had never felt more alive than before now and he hoped the Countess felt the same and glancing over at her awestruck, wide-eyed smiling expression he felt it was true. The Countess seemed to be flying along with much ease and he felt his potion had really worked though he also thought perhaps it wasn't just the potion for he knew all vampires knew how to fly and she just needed to feel it inside of her and so he created the new potion specifically for that purpose.
Grandpa felt so young again, as he always did when he took to the air in flight but now with the Countess by his side he felt there was an extra sweetness added to it now. He felt he wanted this moment to never end. However it did end when he saw the full moon beginning to be covered up by clouds and so he brought them down as swiftly and gently as possible.
Once they were on the ground again he said, "Countess Vienna Cava, there is something I have to know now. Are you happy when you are with me?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am," she replied. "You've made me happier than I've ever been in my life."
"I am happy with you, too," he smiled. "Happier than I have been in centuries. And I would like to keep this happiness alive forever. So how would you like to come be with me and join in my family?"
The Countess stared at him in shock. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Yes, I am," he confirmed. "I want you to be my bride."
Great tears sprung into the Countess's violet eyes and she began to cry. Grandpa could tell they were tears of joy, though he could also sense a certain bitter-sweetness to them also. He reached out and put his arms around and let her rest her head against his shoulder.
After a while she looked up and said, "I know this must mean you love me just as I love you though I never thought I'd love again. I fell in love many times in my younger days but they never lasted very long, most of them turned me away because I was so unfamiliar with the ways of the vampires even though I was and am one. As I got older I stopped seeking out love because I was convinced it could never be for me... and yet here I've fallen in love with you and you are more special to me than any of the younger ones I'd ever met with."
Grandpa smiled with love and understanding. "I know just how you feel. I never thought I could really fall in love again either after my first wife left me. But the moment I met you I knew you were extra special and I wanted to impress you more than anything else in the world."
"Though you should not have had to try to impress me for me to be impressed," said the Countess. "If I had only cared to look deeply into your eyes as I am now I could have easily seen then what I so clearly see now. That you have a kind heart, a talented mind, and a free spirit."
Grandpa smiled and said, "And I assure you that I want to marry you completely out of love and not out of pity for you really are very special to me. Come, you must meet my family."
So Grandpa took the Countess to his house and unlocking the door they entered and found everyone gathered in the living room.
"Everyone!" Grandpa announced. "May I introduce to you Countess Vienna Cava, my fiance!"