Roxie wrinkled her nose. "No, he isn't," she said. "He's not cute at all. He's my...friend."

Agnes nodded. "I know. You said that before."

"And besides," Roxie continued, "he has a girlfriend already. And she's very posessive of him."

"Really?" Agnes asked. "Well, that's not very healthy, is it? You and Vince could take a lesson from them."

Roxie narrowed her eyes. "Excuse me? I am not possessive of Vince! When he said he wanted to move out, I let him. If I was possessive, I wouldn't do that!

"How come when he and I did that project for chemistry you wouldn't even let us have two seconds alone?" Agnes asked.

"I don't have to explain anything to you," Roxie said, locking eyes with her. "Now shut up." Agnes tried to open her mouth, but found that she was unable to. She ran for the front door, opened it, then ran into the hallway.

"Who is that?" Klaus asked, coming inside. He was smirking.

"Her name's Agnes," Roxie said dismissively. "She's a friend of Vince's."

"A friend or a 'friend'?" Klaus asked.

"A regular friend of course. He shouldn't want to have any more 'friends'." Roxie made air quotes like Klaus had. "He has me after all. Who else does he need?"

"You know, I always thought the same about your mother, but we both know how that turned out." Klaus was looking bitter.

"Maybe you should give it a rest with Mom for awhile," Roxie suggested. "If you push, it'll just make her more resistant, but..."

"Did I hear that Agnes girl say she thought I was cute?" Klaus interrupted.

"Maybe," Roxie asked. "Why do you care though? She's human, a kid, and not even very pretty on top of that. I would have thought you had standards for anyone you wanted in your bed, but apparently not."

Klaus looked disgusted. "For god's sake, Roxanne! I don't intend to let her anywhere near my bed. But if she happens to come around occasionally and tell me how brilliant and wonderful and handsome I am, I don't see the harm in that."

"Why her?" Roxie continued. "Is it because she's the only one dumb enough to fall for your tricks like Mom doesn't any more?"

"Come on, Roxanne," Klaus said. "I'm lonely. You of all people should understand what that's like with Vince gone and everything. And don't tell me you feel sorry for her."

Roxie scoffed. "Of course not! The whole reason why I invited her in the first place was because I needed someone to take care of things around here. You know, the cooking and cleaning and whatnot. But if you take her, who'll take care of me?"

"You could try doing things yourself," Klaus suggested.

Roxie burst out laughing. "Oh, please, Daddy. I can't breathe. I can't-" She doubled over again and fell to the floor. When she was finally able to get a breath, her cheeks were pink and her elbows were bruised.

"What is it that you have against being self-reliant?" Klaus asked her. "When I was growing up, we had to do everything ourselves and it didn't cause me any harm."

"Well, when you were growing up, dinosaurs still walked the earth," Roxie said sourly. "And I tried to cook once, but when I gave Vince a bit of what I made, he made this yucky face and told me never to go near the stove again. I figure it's sensible advice. As for cleaning, it's just gross, so why do it if I can get someone else to?"

"I suppose you have a point," Klaus told her. "But I really don't think your mother would approve of that sort of behavior. That's why she made you take the job at Enid's."

"And you think she'll approve of you going after some kid?" Roxie asked. "She's going to be madder with you than she would be with me."

Klaus shook his head. "I think not. I think she'll be grateful for the fact that I seem to be moving on as she did."

"But you aren't moving on," Roxie said. "Not really. You're just dulling the pain a little, putting a blanket over the real problem."

"Well, I can't do much else about it, can I?" Klaus asked. "Considering how cozy your mother and your uncle have become."

"Oh, yes they have," Roxie nodded. "When I went over to Uncle Elijah's, they were in bed again. Thank god I kncked this time so I didn't see anything." She shuddered.

"Well, I suppose we'll have to do something about that, won't we?" Klaus asked.

"Well, what can we possibly do?" Roxie asked. "Mom seems to think she's not going to change her mind this time, no matter what you do."

"Are you suggesting I just give up?" Klaus asked. "Is that what you plan to do with Vince?"

"Of course not!" Roxie said. "But I don't have to anyway. He didn't dump me like Mom dumped you. He just changed the parameters of our relationship a bit..."

"And I can't believe you let him," Klaus said. "Roxanne, you have to stay in control of these things. Once you give up control, you lose everything."

"Could this need for control that you have be one of the reasons Mom left you?" Roxie asked. "Because it seems to me that giving up control every once in awhile is healthy. But what do I know?"

A short while later, the phone rang. "What?" Roxie asked, picking it up.

"What did you do?" Vince asked. "Agnes showed up here, terrified and not able to say a word!"

"Who says I did anything?" Roxie asked. "She probably just has laryngitis. Give her some tea with lemon and she'll be better in a couple of days."

"She says her voice went away after you told her to shut up. She wrote it down on a piece of paper."

"Well, of course I told her to shut up, Vince!" Roxie said. "She was going on and on about how cute she thinks Dad is. Do you think I should have just stood there listening to it?"

Vince's tone changed. "She told you she has a crush on your dad?"

"Yeah," Roxie replied. "She did. What's the matter? Upset you've been replaced in her affections?"

Vince ignored this. "You should tell your mom," he said. "She should know."

"Why?" Roxie asked. "I don't see why Mom needs to be involved."

"Her werewolf jealousy," Vince said gently. "It's less likely to kick in if the person isn't surprised by any competition they have for their mate."

"Oh, please," Roxie said. "Are you seriously suggesting that Mom will be jealous of Agnes if she finds out about Agnes' little crush?"

"It upset you fast enough, didn't it?" Vince pointed out. "Enough to compel Agnes' voice away. Why don't you come over here and fix that? No, actually, we'll come to you."

"Why can't I come over to Tony and Charlie's?" Roxie asked. "Do you have someone over there you don't want me to know about?"

"No," Vince said. "Of course not. But I have other reasons that are perfectly sound and I don't have to share them with you," he said. "You should trust me."

"Fine," Roxie sighed. "You gonna be here in a few minutes?"

"Yeah," Vince said. "And don't forget to call your mom. It's important."

"Fine," Roxie said. She called Selina's number and let it ring for quite some time, but no one answered.

Selina and Elijah had put on their warm clothes and jackets and gone out on the deck to look at the stars.

"Are you cold?" He asked her. "We can go back in any time you'd like."

"I hear the phone ringing," she said. "Should we go in and get it?"

He took her hand. "No," he said. "Whatever it is can wait. We've had enough delays, haven't we?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh." She slipped off her glove so that the two of them were touching bare skin to bare skin. "You're still surprisingly warm," she said. "That's reassuring." Just then, something went into her eye.

"What was that?" She asked. She looked up. It was snowing. "Time to go inside and warm up," Elijah said. "And I know the perfect way." He grinned devilishly at her.

"We could do that," Selina said. "But I have a different idea. Let's stay out here."

"Why?" He asked her. "I thought you hated nature."

"Most of the time, I do, but snow is different."

"How so?" Elijah asked.

Selina grinned, and jumped off the low edge of the deck into a pile of snow that had accumulated and gathered some of it up into a rather sizeable snowball, aiming at the chest of Elijah's coat. "Snow lets me do this!" She said and threw it. It landed on his jacket and he looked down at it, then back up at her.

"I bet you're shocked I did that." She said.

He shook his head. "No, not really. Just the thing I'd expect out of you."

She grinned. "Aren't you going to fight back? It's not really a snowball fight if I'm the only one who's doing all the throwing." She paused. Her grin widened. "Or maybe you're just a chicken."

He grabbed a bunch of snow of his own and came over and dumped it right on Selina's head. She shrieked. "I am not," he said firmly.

"Shit, that's cold," Selina said, giving him a dirty look. "At least when I threw the snowball at you, it only hit your jacket."

"Are you giving up on the fight now, even though you're the one who proposed it?" He asked her.

"Oh, I didn't say anything about giving up," Selina said, shaking her head. "I was just being critical of your less-than-gentlemanly tactics." She threw another snowball. Elijah tried to avoid it, but this one hit him in the face. "That's my girl," he whispered. He wiped the snow out of his eyes and came after her with his next one. She hid behind a tree, and then tried to scurry up it to get snow off a branch to come down on top of him, but he lifted her off before she'd even moved an inch.

"Hey!" She protested. "Put me down! Put me down right this minute!"

"What if I don't want to?" He asked.

She grinned sweetly. "Will you please put me down? If you want a break, you have to say 'time out' first and you didn't."

"Time out," he said against her ear. Then he threw her down in a pile of snow and got down on his knees, kissing her.

She kissed him back for a little while, then pushed him off her. "Oh, no!" She said. "You can't start pulling stuff like that just because you're losing."

"I don't think I'm the one who's losing," he said. "It seems like you are."

"Only cause you keep cheating," she said.

"If that was considered cheating," he told her, rolling back next to her and picking a snowflake out of her hair, "then you didn't seem to mind."

"Yeah, well..." She got up and shook the snow off her jacket and back onto the ground. "I think I'd like to go inside now. I can't feel my hands." She began walking toward the house, whistling absent-mindedly. Elijah followed, but when they reached the deck, she turned around and quickly made a snowball in each hand and threw them at him. "I win!" She crowed.

Elijah sped over to her, picked her up, carried her up the stairs to the screen door that led to the living room and pushed her gently against the wall next to the door and kissed her deeply again. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him back."Let's call this a draw," he said when they pulled apart. She nodded, unable to come up with a word. They went inside and Selina sat down on the sofa while Elijah made a fire in the fireplace.

"Do you need help getting your coat off?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "No," she said, pulling it off without difficulty and throwing the shapeless red mass on the floor. "I'm good." She took off her shoes too and threw them by the door. "But," she said, "I wouldn't mind a little help with everything else. Would you?"

He grinned. "No, of course not." He went to grab the empty laundry basket and they stripped off each other's wet clothes until they both stood facing one another in their underwear.

"Black lace," Elijah said, running his hand lightly over her panties. "I hoped we'd be able to finish what we started."

She grinned. "Well, I hoped so too." They grabbed a quilt from the closet, lay down in front of the fire and resumed kissing. Before long, they were rolling around under the blanket, the cold outside forgotten, Selina's giggles and shrieks echoing around the room.

"All right," Selina said when at one point she ended up on top. "So, Mr. Richmond, looks like I'm the boss here."

Elijah took her hand and pulled her forward a little. "I'm not protesting," he said. "I don't mind this occasionally. But are you cold?"

"Maybe a little," she said, easing off him. "Can I go get one of your shirts?"

He nodded. "Of course." She ran to his closet and when she came back, she was wearing one of his shirts and a tie, just like in his dream. "Now where were we?" She asked.

He grinned. "I think we were right about here," he said and backed her up against the wall, kissing her again. He unbuttoned her shirt and pushed it off her and found that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath. He lowered her down to the floor and cupped one of her breasts, kneading it gently. Selina moaned and said, "You know, Nicky pointed out once that my breasts and I are a lot alike. We've been through a lot, but we're still amazingly perky."

Elijah had to laugh a little at that. "Well, he's not wrong."

After they'd finished and were resting in each other's arms, Selina said, "I think I should call Adrian and see how things are going with Lucy. You know, in case I need to do any damage control."

"I don't see how you would," Elijah said. "Lucy isn't Roxanne. She's much sweeter."

Selina nodded. "I suppose. But Roxie can be sweet too, when she wants something. Speaking of Roxie, her birthday's almost here. I should probably think up a way to celebrate."

"I bet Roxie's birthday is her favorite day of the year," Elijah mused. "The one day where people have to pay her attention."

"Well, it's not like I had any other choice when she came into the world, you know. My water broke after a car accident," Selina said. "Vince's Uncle Pete and I were off to pick up Nicky and Adrian from some place they'd put themselves after a failed attempt at father-son bonding, Pete slid on the ice and voila...next thing you know, Roxie was on her way. She knew how to make an entrance even then." She took a deep breath and lay her head on Elijah's shoulder for awhile before going to dress and dialing Adrian.

"What's up, Mom?" Adrian asked. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Selina said. "I'm just calling to make sure you are. Is Lucy behaving herself?"

Adrian took his ear away from the phone for a moment and watched Lucy, who was following Rusty around the living room and mimicking his every move. At the moment, they were rolling across the living room. Then, Rusty paused on his back and whined for Helene to come rub his stomach. She did, and then laughed as she noticed that Lucy was on her back, waiting for the same thing. Helene rubbed Lucy's tummy and then picked her up and took her into the bedroom they'd made up for her and then brought in crayons and paper.

"No, we're good," Adrian assured his mother. "Things are going okay here."

"Good," Selina said. "If you need help with anything, don't hesitate to give me a call."

Just after she hung up with Adrian, the phone rang again, making her start. When she saw who it was, she rolled her eyes. "What is it, Roxanne?"

"I've been trying to call you forever!" Roxie said exasperatedly. "Why haven't you been picking up?"

"Cause I've been having a life," Selina said. "What do you want?"

"There's something you should know about Dad," Roxie told her. "He's interested in somebody else."

"He is?" Selina said. "Well that's wonderful! It's about time. Have you met her?"

"Yeah," Roxie said. "She's my roommate. And a human girl."

"Wait," Selina said. "You're father is in love with a human girl?"

"I didn't say he was in love with her, I said he was interested in her. There's a difference. She was pulled in by his charm too, for the record. She's not some unwilling victim. She's very willing. And Dad seems pretty determined about the pursuit too."

"Well, if it's yout roommate, it'll be easy to watch her, won't it?" Selina asked. "Don't try and discourage your father. If you do that, he'll only turn balky."

"You don't need to tell me that," Roxie said. "I know it."

"Of course you do," Selina said. "You're the same way."

"Well, if I can't say anything to get Dad away from her, what can I do?"

"Why do you care what happens to some human girl?" Selina asked. "Usually you don't give a damn at all."

"Well, I've never had to be in the situation where the human could potentially become my stepmother!" Roxie said. "I mean, he said he wouldn't sleep with her, but you know how he is about having people around to keep his ego inflated. Marriage would be the easiest way to ensure that."

"And why don't you want to marry Vince then?" Selina asked. "If you want the same result?"

"I don't," Roxie said. "I'm not as starved for affection as Dad is. Or you. Vince and I are going to wait a couple years and decide how much farther to go once we hit twenty."

"Are you okay with that?" Selina asked.

"Well, no," Roxie told her. "I mean, he's even said we can't have sex anymore!"

Selina peeked around the edge of the kitchen to Elijah who had redressed and was reading a book on the sofa. "They say that sometimes, but they don't always mean it," she said. "Sometimes, a little persuasion can change their minds."

"You mean you and Uncle Elijah," Roxie said. "Since the two of you are having sex now, does that mean you aren't gonna divorce dad?"

"Oh, I am," Selina said. "It's just something that needs to be taken slowly. Something your father needs to be convinced of. The most important thing to me is that we both agree on it before it happens, cause I still care about him and I don't want to leave him blindsided."

"Dad will probably bring her to my birthday," Roxie said. "The girl he's interested in, I mean. "You'll see her then."

"All right," Selina said. "And don't think that that's gonna make my werewolf jealousy kick in, because it won't. What does the girl look like, anyway?"

"Light, frizzy hair, big brown eyes, glasses, freckles. Not pretty at all." Roxie said dismissively. "Even so though, she's making a move on your mate. Doesn't that count for something? I mean, when she and Vince first became friends, it drove me berserk!"

"And it would drive me nuts too if I didn't have this relationship with your uncle to keep me grounded," Selina said. "Speaking of your birthday, what is it that you want to do for it?"

"Dinner," Roxie said. "Grandma's probably planned the rest, something big. Cause this is a really big birthday I'm at, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Selina said. "It is. If I actually aged, I'd probably be really depressed right now."

"Could you ask Uncle Elijah if he knows anything about what Grandma has in store for my party?" Roxie asked.

"Why? Don't you want to be surprised?"

"I can fake it," Roxie said. "Don't worry about me! Just ask!"

Selina rolled her eyes and took the phone away from her ear. "Elijah, Roxie wants to know if your mother told you anything about what she has planned for Roxie's birthday and if so, what?"

Elijah looked up and shook his head. "She didn't mention anything," he said. "But then again, she was too busy with that boyfriend of hers to notice anything else." He grimaced and then went back to his book.

"Uncle Elijah says he doesn't know anything," Selina said to Roxie, then told her goodbye and hung up the phone. Then, she went to sit next to him. "Are you all right?" She asked. "What's the matter?"

"When Mother wanted me to come over because she claimed I'd been ignoring her, I thought it would be just us, but when I got there, I saw that Niklaus' father was there too," Elijah said. "I don't like that."

"I know," Selina said. "But-"

"I mean, who did he think he was, destroying our family like that? I concede that Father wasn't the easiest to live with, but still..." He sighed. "I just wish Father would come back. I haven't heard from him for years. And I just, I think that..." He trailed off. "Don't listen to me. I'm being silly."

"You think that if your father comes back and sees your mother, then they'll be with each other again, don't you?" Selina asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course not," he said. "That kind of thinking gets people absolutely nowhere. Besides, how can I think it when in a way, I'm no better than Niklaus' father? Worse, in fact."

"How are you worse?" Selina asked.

"Well, you're still married to Niklaus, aren't you?" Elijah asked. "You haven't even mentioned divorcing him. And yet, I still let us carry on, just like we were. It's wrong. We should stop."

"Didn't you hear me talking to Roxie on the phone?" Selina said. "I'll bring up divorce with Nicky as soon as I see him next. This is the perfect time! Roxie says he's moved on, anyway." She paused. "Does that change things? Are we okay? Or do you want me and Lucy to move out?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, I don't want you and Lucy to move out. I want you to stay. But do you promise me that you'll bring up the divorce with Niklaus next time you see him?"

"Of course," Selina nodded. "Next time I see him, I will bring it up first thing. Do you want to come with me as my date to Roxie's party? Or not?"

"No," Elijah shook his head. "I think I'll stay home if that's all right with you."

Roxie woke up on her birthday feeling let down. She dressed and ordered Agnes to bring her breakfast. Agnes was actually a pretty good cook, if she was totally honest. After she ate, she dressed and went down to the parking lot to get her motorcycle. To her dismay, it was gone.

"Damn, seriously?" Roxie cried. "First my boyfriend is gone on my birthday and now my bike! Can this day get any worse?" She marched back up to the apartment and grabbed the phone, dialing Vince's number. "I want to see you," she said. "My bike's gone."

"Is it?" Vince asked. "What did I tell you about leaving stuff like that in parking lots over night in the middle of the city? I told you that one day, somebody was going to take it, and I was right, wasn't I?"

"For god's sake, stop being so self-righteous and come and pick me up! You be here in five minutes. And I've moved to the penthouse, so don't look in my old apartment!" She slammed the phone down, and sat on the sofa to wait for Vince. When he, Tony and Charlie came to the door, they were all smirking.

"What's so funny?" Roxie asked Charlie as they herded her out of the room and out to Vince's car in the parking lot.

"Oh, nothing," Charlie said. "We're just laughing at something we saw on television last night."

"Are you sure?" Roxie asked.

"I'm your friend," Charlie said. "Would I lie to you?" She looked innocent. They drove to a building not far from the apartment complex. The building was in a state of decay. It looked as if it had been a factory once, but had been abandoned long ago.

"I'm not going in there," Roxie said when she saw it out the window. "Why would I go in there?"

"It's where your bike is," Vince told her. "I managed to hunt down the guys who snatched it and get it back. But by the time I did, it was too late to bring it back to the apartment, so I just kept it here."

"Oh," Roxie said, her nose wrinkling as Vince helped her out of the car. "This isn't the sort of place I thought I'd be going on my birthday."

"Is it your birthday?" Vince asked her. "I had no idea, otherwise I would have done something! I told Enid we could both work today! She scheduled us!"

"No, I'm not working on my birthday!" Roxie growled. "It's bad enough I have to work at all, let alone on my special day. I hate you and I don't want to talk to you anymore, Mr. 'Man-Who-Forgets-His-Girlfriend's-Birthday!"

Vince looked at Charlie and Tony. "How about that?" He said. "I rescue her bike and she doesn't even say 'thank you'."

"She'll say it once she sees her bike," Charlie said. "I just bet you." They followed Roxie around to the back of the building, but didn't follow her onto the back lot, where her bike, now repainted and with a special new license plate, sat waiting. Roxie saw it and she nearly fell over. "Oh, my god. Oh, my god." She looked around, then got on her knees to examine the new license plate, which read "VLUVSR." Then she stood up and knocked something to the ground that had been on the seat: a dozen red roses, her favorite. "Where did you get these?" Roxie asked. "You can't get red roses locally this time of year!"

Vince grinned. "I know a guy who knows a guy."

Roxie was more than a little flushed now. "It was you who took my bike last night, wasn't it?" She asked.

Vince nodded. "Tony and I both did. We thought it would be a nice surprise."

"Well, thank you," she said. "Thanks a lot. And I guess since I'll see you at work, I guess it won't be so bad."

He gave her a hug. "That's what I hoped you'd say." Then she looked at Charlie. "Is it all right if I hug your husband?" She asked.

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

She gave Tony a hug and thanked him too, and then, leaving the car in the garage, they all grabbed their bikes, which were also stored at the building, and drove back to the apartment building so that Vince and Roxie could get ready for work.

"Now remind me again why we have all these decorations and streamers out?" Ronan was saying to Elissavetta as he wiped the Enid's bar down.

"Because it's Roxanne's birthday today!" Elissavetta said.

"I wouldn't think you'd ever schedule a party at a place like this," Ronan said. "But then again, you did always surprise me."

"Well, you're having a strange effect on me," Elissavetta said. "You make me feel like I should be nicer to people, you know? And in that spirit, I've decided to throw Roxanne the sort of party she would actually want rather then the party I think she should have."

"All of this is for Roxie?" Enid asked, one eyebrow up. "You're going to make her be the waitress at her own birthday party?"

"Of course I wouldn't!" Elissavetta said. "But surely you have other people who can work the tables?"

Enid shook her head. "This is a slow night, so I usually just have Roxie and Vince and they manage pretty well. They're both working, and I can't give them the night off now." She watched in dismay as people started coming in and taking seats at the tables, shouting orders for drinks at her.

"Just a minute!" She called jovially. "Vince and Roxie will be here soon and they'll be able to help me out!"

They walked through the doors arm in arm right after she said this about half the group that had been shouting at Enid began shouting at them.

"Ready?" Vince said to Roxie.

She nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be." She went over to the bar and said hello to Elissavetta and Ronan. "What are all the streamers and stuff for?" Roxie asked.

"Your birthday party!" Elissavetta said. "Your parents are going to come in about half an hour and your mother promised she'd bring the cake."

Roxie choked on spit. "We're having my party here? Today? But if I'm working, I'm not going to be able to enjoy it and what's the point of a party without the guest of honor? We have to reschedule!"

"Oh, surely you won't begrudge others having a good time just because you can't." Elissavetta said. "And besides, it's bad form to cancel a party at the last minute."

Roxie gave Ronan a look. "Help me, please."

"I tried," Ronan said. "But she's like a stone wall."

"You'll have a good time," Elissavetta said. "I promise."

Roxie rolled her eyes and took the first tray of drinks and passed them around, not even noticing when her mother entered the bar. "All right, I've got the cake," Selina called. "Where should I put it? And what are we doing when Roxie shows up? Are we yelling 'surprise!' or what?"

"It was a surprise all right," Roxie said, creeping up behind Selina and making her start and almost drop the cake.

"What are you doing here?" Selina asked. "Are you working?"

"Yeah," Roxie nodded. "I figured that with Vince here, it wouldn't be so bad. I know I won't be able to chat with anyone, but I wouldn't want to wreck anyone's fun by asking to reschedule the party." She glared at Elissavetta when Elissavetta wasn't looking.

"Look," Selina said, "I'll talk to your dad when he gets here and we'll set up something better for you after this, something you'll actually enjoy."

"Speak of the devil," Roxie said as Klaus and Agnes walked into Enid's. "And he brought his new toy with him."

Selina looked up. "You're right," She said after a moment. "She's not that pretty." She put the cake down and went over to the door where Klaus and Agnes were standing. "Hello, Nicky," she said.

Klaus grinned. "Well, hello. Nice to see you, dear. Where's Elijah?"

"He's at home," Selina said. "Being around Ronan upsets him. So I'm here by myself."

"Well isn't that an interesting turn of events?" Klaus said, pulling Agnes against him. "Because I'm not."

"How much did this girl charge you to bring her here?" Selina asked. "Not much, I hope. She's a bit homely, isn't she?"

"Who are you?" Agnes asked. "Roxie!" She called. "Do you know this person?"

"Oh," Roxie put the tray of drinks down and went over to the group. "Agnes, this is my friend's wife." She was starting to regret giving Agnes her voice back.

Agnes pulled away from Klaus. "You're married? You didn't tell me that!"

"Because it's not strictly true," Klaus said. "She has moved in with my brother. We haven't been together in months and I'm thinking of divorcing her."

"Well, good," Selina said. "That's just what I was going to ask you about anyway. That makes it easier. Enjoy your time with this-this-" She trailed off, not being able to find an adequate descriptor for Agnes, and stalked back toward the bar. Roxie followed her, just as they heard Agnes say "If you're getting a divorce, that's different."

"I thought you said seeing Agnes would have no effect on you," Roxie said. "That was quite a show you put on there. Was it for Dad's benefit, or were those your real feelings?"

Selina sighed and ordered a vodka from Ronan and said, "a little bit of both, maybe. If your uncle was here, nothing would have happened, but since he's not...there's nothing holding me back, holding off the feelings."

A few minutes later, Adrian and Helene came in with Lucy, who had been with them for the day so that Selina could bake without distractions. Selina smiled. "Here's someone that'll get him away from that girl." She took Lucy from Helene and brought her over to Klaus. "Look who just showed up. Your youngest daughter. Surely you can take a break from your romantic pursuits to let a little girl spend time with her daddy?"

Lucy reached for Klaus and Klaus took her and led Agnes away from the door. They sat down at the table and Roxie joined them a few minutes later. "Do you have anything to say to me, Daddy?" She asked.

"I do," he said. "Happy birthday, darling."

Roxie grinned. "Thanks." After she brought drinks for two more tables, she took a break to blow out her birthday candles, and just as she was clearing off cups from another table and sticking the tip in her apron, she saw Ronan gesturing to her.

"What?" Roxie whispered.

"You and Vince go do something nice for your birthday," he said. "We'll handle things all right without you."

"Are you sure?" Roxie asked. "Cause I could stay if..."

"Don't be silly," Ronan said. "Leave. I can tell you want to."

Roxie nodded. "With every fiber of my being." She threw her apron on a chair, then went to get Vince. He took her hand and they ran out of the bar together. Roxie hopped on the back of Vince's motorcycle and they drove away.

"Where are we going?" Roxie asked.

Vince grinned. Roxie could see it in his side mirror. "I know you've probably had enough surprises today, but could you stand one more?"

"Sure," Roxie said. She shut her eyes and relaxed to the rhythm of the bike wheels against the pavement. When they stopped, she looked up and found that they were in front of an empty pond covered with ice.

"Let me guess," she said dryly. "You want to teach me how to ice fish?"

Vince shook his head and laughed. "I can't even do that, but I've always wanted to try." He got off the bike and then helped her off, then led her to the edge of the frozen lake, a bag over his arm. They sat down on a bench and he put on a pair of ice skates and handed her a smaller pair. "I thought I'd teach you," he said. "You said you always wanted to learn."

Roxie smiled. "I do want to learn. And I even trust you enough to teach me." She put the skates on and let him tow her onto the ice. They stood holding onto each other for several minutes before Vince said, "Do you think you feel stable enough to stand by yourself?"

Roxie nodded. "Okay." He let her go and then her foot moved forward a little too much and she fell down. "Well, that hurt!" She said.

Vince laughed. "I thought you said you were ready to stand on your own." She gave him her hand and he pulled her up.

"Well, I was wrong," she said. "Maybe we can save solo skating for another night. For now you'll have to hold my hand and lead me around."

He grinned and took her hand and like that, they sailed around the pond. Roxie's face never hit the ice again, although she lost her balance several times and Vince had to catch her. When they were numb and tired, they left the pond and put on their shoes, then Vince took some Twinkies out of his bag, unwrapped one, stuck a candle on it, and lit it. "Happy birthday," he said to Roxie.

"Thanks," she said and blew the candle out, taking the Twinkie and breaking it in half, putting some in her mouth.

"What did you wish for?" He asked.

"Nothing," she said. "Because my wish from my other candles came true. This is a much better birthday party. Thank you."

He kissed her. "You're welcome," he said.

"How was the party?" Elijah asked when Selina and Lucy returned home.

"Miserable," Selina said. "Your mother planned it on a night that Roxie was working and refused to reschedule, so we hardly saw her at all. How about you?"

"I didn't do much," Elijah said. "Mostly just stayed around here." He helped Selina put Lucy to bed and then they went to their own room. "Nicky and I talked about the divorce," she said. "He's all for it now. It's amazing what having a more willing toy will do to his thought process." She lay down facing away from him.

"Don't worry about it," he said, rubbing her back. "This is a good thing." He kissed her goodnight and then they ended up making love again until Selina fell asleep. Elijah then turned off the lights, but tossed and turned.

Around two in the morning, the phone rang. Elijah answered it immediately. "Who is this?" He asked.

"Elijah, it's good you're up," Mikael said. "Your brother Aleksandr is with me. We're tracking Lonely Heart but we can't do it on our own. Will you help us?"

Elijah thought of all the people that Lonely Heart had killed, all the families she had destroyed. If she was still out there, she might destroy more. He looked at Selina, who had possibly become her disciple. He had to save her from having the same fate as Lonely Heart, from dying at his father's hands. And this was the best way to do it. He swallowed and said, "Yes, Father. I will help you and Aleksandr find and kill Lonely Heart."