"Okay," Mary said to Liam as she ate a few crackers and sipped clear soda. "Liam, give me your honest opinion now: do you think I should go to Amanda's bachelorette party?"

"Well, that depends," Liam replied. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling good, all things considering," Mary told him. "But everyone's probably gonna be drinking and given the state of me, I won't be able to do that."

"But they wouldn't force you to drink anything, would they?" Liam asked.

"No, but…I feel like I'd be missing out," Mary replied.

"Well, if you feel like the entire experience would be lost on you, then don't go," Liam replied. "I'm sure they'd understand."

"Yeah, I'm sure they would," Mary replied with a sigh. Even though she was opting out for a legitimate reason, she still felt like she was letting Amanda down. She took a deep breath and made the call, and when Amanda answered, she said, "I'm thinking I might have to opt out of your party tonight. I'm not feeling very well."

"Well, that's a bummer," Amanda replied. "How sick are you? Are you so sick you can't move?"

"No, physically, I guess I'm all right," Mary assured her. "But I just…since I can't drink or anything like that, I think I'll be a bit of a killjoy, and since it's your bachelorette party, I don't want to ruin it for you."

"You wouldn't be ruining anything," Amanda assured her. "And I thought you might not be up to doing a whole big thing, so I came up with a plan B in case of that."

"You did?" Mary asked in surprise. "What is it? I know you said something about a plan B before, but I forgot what it was."

"We all come to my house, have virgin drinks and watch movies and stuff," Amanda replied. "We don't need to have alcohol to have a good time, do we?"

"No," Mary replied, feeling absolutely dumbstruck. "And while I'm incredibly grateful you had this other plan for my benefit, you really didn't have to."

"I know I didn't," Amanda replied. "But it's my pleasure to facilitate things so that everyone I want at my party can be there."

"Well, thank you," Mary replied. "You're very sweet."

"You're welcome," Amanda told her. "See you at my house tonight."

"All right," Mary said. "I'll be there with bells on."

"So…are you and I staying home tonight?" Liam asked after she ended the call.

"No, you can go to Viktor's…whatever he's doing to celebrate his last free days as a single man. I'm going to Amanda's party," Mary told him.

"Oh, yeah?" Liam said and gave her a kiss. "What changed your mind?"

"Well, when Amanda first said she wanted to have a bachelorette party, it was right after I told her I was pregnant, so she came up with an alternate plan to the usual strippers and alcohol in case I didn't feel up to it (and because I wouldn't be able to drink) and she just told me that she was gonna do plan b tonight so I could go."

"Well, that was very sweet of her," Liam said. "I hope you have a good time. But don't over-exert yourself. If you feel yourself starting to get dizzy or whatever, take a break and have some water."

"I will," Mary assured him. "I'll take care of myself tonight, I promise."

"Good," Liam told her and pulled her into his arms. "I know I probably seem like an overprotective meddler, but I just want you to be okay."

"I know," Mary told him and rested her head on his shoulder. "That's why I'm not mad at you. You're so sweet for caring."

"Well, I wouldn't do anything else," Liam replied turning some soft music on the radio and holding on to her while stroking her hair in the hopes that she'd rest up before the party.

"So I'm guessing the wedding's not today, since you're still here," Kai told Victoria.

"Exactly," she said. "Bachelorette party tonight. I'm very excited."

Kai smirked. "Would you like me to give you a preview of the sort of thing you'll be seeing at a bachelorette party?" He asked.

"Seriously?" Victoria wanted to know. "Would you like me to throw dollar bills at you for a more authentic experience?"

"If you want to," Kai smiled. "I could use the money."

"To spend on what?" Victoria wanted to know.

"Nothing at the moment," Kai replied as he began stripping down to his underwear. "But I can always roll around in it and pretend I'm really rich."

Victoria chuckled. "Oh, all right," she said. "The only reason why I'm going along with this ridiculousness is that I'm not going to see any strippers at all."

"Why not?" Kai asked. "Did the bride's fiancé veto it or something?"

"No," Victoria shook her head. "One of the other people who's gonna be there isn't really able to drink right now so we had to come up with another solution in order to include her."

"Well, aren't you so sweet and giving?" Kai asked with a smirk.

"Yes, I am," Victoria nodded and zapped up a radio. "I'm a fucking angel. Now you turn on the music and start dancing or you won't get any money!"

So Kai turned on the radio and began gyrating as Victoria threw dollar bills and whistled at him.

"Good thing James hasn't come in here," she said when she let Kai take a brief break and pick all the money up off the floor. "He'd probably think we're crazy."

"Oh, that's not completely true," Kai told her. "He'd expect that sort of thing from me. It's you he'd be worried about."

"I think not," Victoria shook her head. "I think that the big reason he hired me to come and watch you was because he knew I was comfortable with crazy things. And should be obvious that I'm a little crazy myself. Or do you not believe that?"

"I do," Kai told her. "Don't worry." He then turned on the music again and after he'd danced for a little longer, Victoria did a spell so that all the dollar bills were floating around in the air and then she and Kai danced as the bills fell on their heads.

"This is fun," She remarked.

"Yeah," Kai nodded. "It is. But now I think I want to do something a bit different. Do you have the dress? Put it on again."

"No, I don't have the dress," Victoria told him. "I'll show it to you again after the wedding."

"Why do I have to wait until the wedding is over?" Kai asked. "Why can't you just invite me and I'll see it then?"

"I told you," Victoria said. "Inviting you would be a bad idea."

"Yeah, yeah, because I'm a criminal. I know that. You told me that before." Kai nodded.

"That and if my grandfathers see you, they'll beat the crap out of you and I'm sorry, but I don't want to see that happen," Victoria told him. "My not inviting you is for your own safety."

"I know your grandfathers are powerful, but are you forgetting that outside of this cell, I have magic of my own?" Kai asked. "I could defeat them if I wanted to. If you and I wanted to be at the wedding together, or anywhere else, for that matter, they couldn't stop me."

Victoria sighed. "I know that you'll ignore anything I say about the wedding cause that's what you do, but…just be careful? Please?"

Kai sighed and gave her a look. "Oh, all right," he said and kissed her. "I suppose since you're one of the few people who's ever cared about me, it would be nice if I listened to you."

"Thank you," Victoria replied as she ran her hands up his abs and kissed his neck as his hands sneaked under her skirt and she moaned. "You may be a bad boy, but at least you listen to me."

"Yeah," Kai whispered against her earlobe. "You're the only one I'd listen to, Vicky."

"That better be the case, Malachai," Victoria whispered back, then let out a moan as she felt her panties fall around her ankles as he nudged her legs apart and caressed her.