"Hmm…"

Mavis hummed in thought, tapping a finger against her chin as she looked between the two different sets of drapery that were being presented to her by the zombie bellhops. One was a rich red in color and the other was a deep shade of gray so dark it almost looked black. She tilted her head, looking at them this way and that, before nodding. "I'd say the red," she stated confidently, pointing at the drapes. But then she backtracked. "Wait, wait, wait, actually the black…" Mavis pointed to the other, but then frowned. "No, no, wait… ugh, Johnny, hon, what do you think?"

Johnny, who was about to dip his finger in the cake at the buffet table to get a taste of the frosting, paused and looked toward where his conflicted wife stood. "Why not use both?" he said. "I'm sure the Gremlinburgs will love it!"

"Okay," Mavis said, giving a thumbs-up to Porridge Head and Augustus. "Put them both up!"

The zombies groaned in reply and slowly limped away to do just that. Mavis let out a breath of relief, patting her husband on the shoulder. "Thanks, honey."

Johnny shrugged. "Hey, no problem, Maves. Sometimes you gotta just not overthink it."

"Yeah," she said, then furrowed her brows. "It's just… I want this all to go well. I know it's just another wedding, but Dad entrusted me to handle it."

"It'll be fine, Mavis," Johnny assured, giving her arm a loving squeeze. "He trusted us to handle it for a reason. He knows you can do it!"

Mavis giggled a little at his chipper attitude and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for your help with it too,Johnnystien."

"Hey, hey, that's what a party planner does!" Johnny replied, proudly puffing out his chest.

Mavis smiled. With his help, they had already gone on to decorating the majority of the ballroom in preparation for the reception that was going to be taking place for the soon-to-be married couple that day. Streamers and balloons lined the walls and ceilings, the buffet table was laid out with the kitchen staff starting to bring in the foods, and the DJ booth was stationed just a couple paces away from the colorful dance floor. Being that he was a part time bar mitzvah DJ for several years, Johnny was handling the selection of music for the event. Even an ice sculpture specially created for the Gremlinburgs had been made, depicting the pair standing lovingly next to each other. Mavis clasped her hands and rocked on the heels of her shoes.

"It's all coming along great!" she exclaimed, turning to Johnny. "Think we should ask Dad to come take a look?"

Johnny shrugged. "I think he'll be totally cool with it, but I guess you could. He's probably just sleeping in if anything. I know I'd be!"

"You? Sleeping in?" Mavis laughed. "Since when haveyouever slept in?"

Johnny threw up his hands. "I do sometimes!"

Mavis shook her head, knowing quite well that with as much energy Johnny had to expend, he always used it up in busying himself with helping out around the hotel whenever he could. She didn't argue the matter further and instead went off, leaving him with a gentle warning.

"And don't dig into the cake yet!"

Already with a finger halfway reaching for it, Johnny groaned. "Awww, man…" When she was out of sight, however, he reached in again, only to have his fingers magically bound.

"I mean it, honey!" Mavis's voice called out in a light tone.

"How did you know?" Johnny cried out.

"Vampire vision, remember?" she responded.

Johnny slumped. "Aww man…" he mumbled again, this time unable to do anything about his frozen finger.

Mavis chuckled at her husband's antics and took the elevator, riding it up to the 13th floor where her father's room was. A hopeful grin was on her face as she gently rapped on the door.

"Dad? I think Johnny and I are done getting everything ready, and we were kind of hoping that you might come out and see how it all is? Maybe make some suggestions if you have any?"

Mavis waited a moment for an answer, but upon not getting any, she knocked gently again. "Dad? You in there?" She frowned, turning one of her ears into a bat's for better hearing and pressing it up against the door. Instantly, she picked up on sounds coming from further within the chambers. One voice was the one of her father, and the other was the voice of Ericka. It wasn't a conversation per say, but she could make out some of the words they were saying.

"It's sobig! AH!"Ericka cried out.

"Hold still, my love, and I'll - " Drac started to say.

"Less talk, Drac, just get to work!"

"As you wish, sweetfangs."

More grunting and intensifying sounds were heard, Mavis furrowing her brows and attempting to figure out what exactly was going on and whether it was something to be concerned over. Was Ericka hurt? Did her father need help? She raised an eyebrow upon hearing a series of thumps and groans, escalating and causing her ear to further perk up.

"Oh… oh Drac… Drac… DRAC!"

"Urrrghh… Ericka… hghmm…"

"Yes… right there… you got it… AGGH!"

Mavis listened a second more, scouring her brain for an explanation, when it suddenly hit her like a splash of ice cold water.Wait a minute.Her body tensed.

That sounded a lot like… like whenever she and Johnny would…

Mavis's eyes widened so much they practically bulged out of her head. An inaudible gasp came out of her, the girl desperately trying to hold back the gag that was threatening to come forward.

Right at that moment, Johnny had come down the hall, his hand still up in its frozen state. "Maves? What's going on? Is Drac coming?"

He stepped forward some more and Mavis quickly zoomed up to him, holding him back. "DON'T come any further! Dad is with Ericka and he is…BUSY!"

"Busy? Busy how?" Then, taking a look at Mavis's repulsed expression and her bat ear that she hadn't morphed back yet, he immediately put two and two together. "Ohhhhh…" He grimaced and looked at her. "Mavis, hon, you must've heard what kind of sounds those were. I mean… didn't it even cross your mind that it was, well,that?"

Mavis whipped her head around to look at him. "No! Because he's my dad.I mean, would you ever picture your parents like that?!"

Johnny practically gagged at the picture Mavis had put in his mind. "Ugghh…no."

Mavis threw her hands up. "Exactly my point!" she cried. Not wanting to hang around the area anymore, Mavis grabbed Johnny's arm and pulled him away in hopes that her father would be done soon.

Back in the room, Drac lay Ericka back upon the bed, finally having pulled it out of her. The woman let out a much needed sigh of relief, catching her breath. The Count smiled at her, bending down to kiss her lips.

"There you go," he breathed. "Better?"

The woman sighed happily. "Much."

Drac chuckled and kissed her again. "Good. Now, just make sure not to hit them so hard next time!"

Ericka began to sit up. "I'm sorry, I can't help it! You don't get to black belt by just tapping the board."

"Yes, I'm aware. But now look at what happened to you," he said, holding up her hand. At the end of her index finger was the reddened imprint of where the long wooden splinter had lodged itself into her skin. It was difficult, Ericka crying out at the pain and Drac grunting from the effort of how stubborn the little wooden shard was when trying to take it out, but they were finally met with success. Ericka winced as he gently cleaned up the injury with a sanitation wipe, and then relaxed when he brought her finger up to his mouth and kissed the pad with the utmost tenderness.

"Thank you," she whispered. "And sorry for being so loud."

Drac blew a raspberry. "Ah, no need to apologize, my love. I actuallylikeit when you're loud."

Ericka gave him a look. "You know what I meant!" She then glanced down at the mess by her feet, with the remainder of the wooden board that she had split in two. "Here, I'll get that."

Drac put a hand up. "Don't trouble yourself, honeybat." With that, he used his magic to toss away the board as well as the rest of the equipment that she had taken out for her martial arts practice - nunchucks, a wing chun, and even a small katana.

Ericka watched him with an amused smirk, smoothing out the gi she was wearing and sitting up straighter atop the bed. He dusted off his hands when he was finished and gave a satisfied nod. "All right, mouse. I'll leave you here to catch your breath and go see how Mavis is coming along with the ballroom in the meantime."

"Do you really have to check? I'm sure it'll be fine," Ericka said.

"Yes, love droppings, I do. Not for my sake, but for hers," he replied, remembering how flustered his daughter had initially been when being told she was to handle it on her own.

Ericka sighed. "Well, all right. But be back soon. I'll have a surprise ready for you when you come back upstairs..." She gave him a suggestive wink, starting to undo the ties of the gi.

"Oh? What kind of surprise?" he asked, already starting to become mesmerized.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now, would it?" Ericka teased.

Drac laughed. "Yes, you're right, my love." Hurrying out, he went off to find Mavis and check up on her progress, not wishing to keep his bride waiting for long.