Dracula & Babies

I feel like I haven't written in my journal in forever!

Things have just been so busy. I've been helping Eric with his reopening of Fangtasia more than I thought I was even capable of, but he seems to trust me with it. I'm designing a sort of… well, I won't get into it yet! It'll be a bit of a surprise, but anyone who saw my Thanksgiving menu won't be too shocked! Roman's excited, and he and Jessica have been wonderful guinea pigs for my experiments. Eric's cautious but has been real good about trying my concoctions.

We also redecorated his office. Well, just decorated. It was pretty blank, but Alcide did a great job with it! Even though the vampires give him such a hard time, Fangtasia really does look great! I can't wait for everyone to see it on the opening, Dracula Night!

We bought some furniture for it at IKEA in Houston, and even spent the night there! The hotel was so nice, I was surprised Eric could get reservations on such short notice, but he just laughed. That vampire thinks I'm so naive. Maybe I am, because I was impressed. Eric always impresses me, though. I don't think that vampire will ever quit making me swoon…

Unfortunately, it hasn't all been good news. I've been meeting with Portia a ton lately, which is great because she's such a lovely woman, but it's been about Gran. I realized after finding some legal documents in Gran's recipe box that I never really settled her estate. I guess just the shock of it all, with the murder and then having to go and try to not get murdered myself, aside from the funeral, that sort of stuff just fell through the cracks. Everyone knows the farmhouse is mine anyway, but it really is better to have it all taken care of the legal way. Portia's been so understanding about the whole thing, and so kind to me! I invited her, MeeMaw, the twins, Luke, and everyone else she can possibly think to bring to my house for dinner one night, probably after the opening when all this has died down a little. I hope sooner, but Eric's just been so busy, and I want him to get to know everyone. He knows how much I love entertaining, even if he doesn't understand it at all. Maybe MeeMaw will even bring Stan so he'd have a friend too! I don't think that's really how vampires work, since it sounds like I'm arranging a playmate and all, but we'll see, I'm excited anyway. It's great to have friends when dealing with tough subjects.

Speaking of tough subjects, Tara threw me for a darn loop this week! We went to Walmart to shop for some stuff for her new place, her, me, and Maya. It was great to see the little one; she's getting so big! That little girl has a real special place in my heart, between being named after Gran and being Tara's daughter.

Anyway, we ran into Sam. I was excited, because I wanted to tell him about the bonding ceremony and tell him I wanted to get back to work, but I forgot about all that real quick when Tara started shouting in her head about Maya having Sam's smile! I cannot believe she didn't tell me Sam's the father! I was somewhere between shocked and darn furious, to say the least. Sam deserves a place in Maya's life. I know Tara's heart was real broken when things between her and Sam ended, but it's just not right. A girl needs both her parents in her life, and it's not like Sam's a bad man. He's a really great guy, and I know he'd want to support her however she'd let him. I just don't understand what she's thinking. I made her promise to tell him soon, and I hope she goes through with it. She really better. Sam's missed enough moments in Maya's life already.

I was blessed to experience a great moment in Wes's life this week too. Lacey and Jack had a wonderful Christening for him. It was beautiful, though pretty shocking to see so many vampires gathered in a church. They seemed pretty uncomfortable, for the most part. Especially Roman. He broke a pew. Eric seemed pretty at ease with the whole thing, even made fun of Roman, though I didn't appreciate his tone in talking about the church. Nixie sat near us, and she didn't seem to believe in it either. I scolded them both for acting out of line. No one had to believe anything, just be respectful of Lacey and Jack celebrating their son. It was a nice ceremony, I think. Short. The guy doing it hit on Claude. That was awkward, but Bianca scared him off. No one saw him after that.

Everyone seems to be having kids, settling into families. Even I'm sort of married now. Things are so great you can almost forget the building tension of the vampire politics in Shreveport at the moment. It's almost easy to ignore the complications that Dracula Night should bring. It's almost easy to forget that a homicidal vampire and his crazy companion are poking their noses into Area Five's business, that batshit crazy witches are going around cussing Louisiana's vampires and that the name Hallow keeps popping up in the context of disappearances in the area. I almost don't mind that a fairy ancestor is trying to get involved with my life, bringing along the fairy that helped kill my parents.

Almost.

Shopping and Torture

 Friends make shopping less painful... but not by much.

Alright, it wasn't really so bad. I just feel so guilty. SO much money was spent, it made my head spin!

Eric said I needed new clothes for Sweden, because it's really cold there. I've only really experienced snow the once it snowed here, but I didn't really think that was so bad. Apparently, it wasn't, and everyone's worried I'll freeze to death. I don't think people can really freeze to death, but I can tell Eric worries about it, so I agreed to a shopping trip. Reluctantly. Very reluctantly.

He decided it'd be more fun for me if we invited some of our friends to come too. Lacey, Jo, Jenny, Pam, and even Claude came with us. It turned into such an ordeal. After some truly traumatizing discussion about my behind, or decided lack-thereof, we were off to the stores. No one let me do any discount shopping. It wasn't very nice of them.

It was all such a whirlwind of way-too-high prices. I don't know what all was gotten, but I do know it all cost a fortune. I tried to stick to real basics and warm stuff, practical things that could be used a bunch of times, with a few exceptions. Lingerie, obviously, though I tried not to get anything too expensive, since Eric shreds it all to pieces anyway. The other exceptions were the dress and shoes I got for the bonding ceremony. Eric insisted on something special since it's a real special occasion, and I agree completely, but oh my goodness. That Herve Leger guy makes a real expensive dress, and those shoes with the red bottoms cost a fortune! Eric didn't seem to mind, but Pam got four pairs! I also got real practical snow boots and stuff, so I don't freeze to death, even though I really don't believe in that.

Eric got some other stuff he put away and won't let me see. He thinks I don't know about it, and he feels pretty proud of himself over it, so I don't want to ruin his fun. It is a special occasion, and I hope he knows he can't spend like that all the time, or ever again, but this really does mean a lot, and I guess Sweden probably is pretty cold, and regular jeans and a t-shirt would be pretty uncomfortable.

Oh! I also invited Claude to come with us. He's real worried about Niall finding out about the whole thing, but he promised to keep it a secret. I don't really think Niall should get a say in the whole thing anyway, since I've yet to actually meet the guy, but it does mean a lot to me that Claude's coming. Even if I haven't known him too, too long, and even if he's pretty overly critical sometimes, he's family. I tried talking to him again about dating Appius, which made me realize I really do love Claude like family already. I definitely worry about him like family.

Speaking of worrying, this witch situation doesn't really seem to be getting much better. Eric and I went to Fangtasia earlier this week because apparently Pam's keeping some prisoners there. He wanted me to read Ashley's mind. That girl is gonna get herself killed one of these days, getting into all these messes. They wiped her mind and asked me to read her to make sure she didn't remember anything, which I did, and she didn't. The whole thing made me so uncomfortable for obvious reasons, but what made me even more uncomfortable was the fact that I didn't utter a word of protest the whole time.

It made me wonder if I'm changing, if I'm becoming someone I don't want to be. Maybe I'm cruel for ignoring what they did to her, or ignoring the fact that there's a witch locked up in that basement like I never heard. Maybe I'm just not naive enough to believe a good talking to is gonna impact these bloodthirsty witches and make them change their ways. I want the ones I love and all the innocent people out there to be safe, and if that means someone who kills might die...

But I can't really stand the thought of being okay with that either. There's always a chance at redemption, isn't there? Though the last time I thought a V-addict was gonna redeem themselves, I ended up with a bunch of nasty knife wounds, and the guy ended up dead anyway. I don't know. I'd do anything to protect Eric, to protect my friends, to protect my family. I guess right now, "anything" means loving Eric even if he has a witch tortured in the basement of his club so he can find out who's behind all this and stop them.

I guess I can do that, but the blood's on my hands too, no matter what Eric says.

They're not the nicest thoughts to have when planning my bonding ceremony to Eric, but since when has reality ever been real nice? I'm darn lucky to be alive right now, and even luckier to have someone to love, and someone who loves me. I know that, and I'm so grateful for it. I might not like some of the darker realities of our situation right now, but I know that the man I love is protecting me and protecting the people he cares about. That has to count more than anything else. It has to.

Anyway, there's so much on my mind to distract me from all of that, and I'm grateful for that too. We'll get a vacation from all this nasty witch business when we go away, and everyone needs that. Life in Shreveport is never boring, but I'll be darn glad to get away from it, if only for a week. It's a very special occasion, and it's one I'm looking forward to with everything I am. Even with a bunch of witches bent on hating vampires, I'm fully focused on loving mine... very frequently!

Wedding Dress Shopping

Tuesday, I went with JoAnna, Lacey, Nando, and Claude (yes, Caude) to go to some fancy wedding dress store to pick out a dress for Jo. She's getting married pretty soon, I think, to her Were fiancée, Lucian. They're a really cute couple, and they deserve all the happiness that's ahead of them.

Claude even came in for the occasion, which was awful nice of him, but he seems to love all shopping, even if it isn't for him. He was real nice to me the whole time, which was sort of surprisin'. He's always calling me "cousin," but I guess it's just a quirk of his. I've seen surfers and skaters and those sorts do that on tv sometimes, so I'm guessing it's like that. I'll have to ask him about it sometime, though, since he only does it with me. He's a pretty strange guy, but he was really nice to me. I kind of hope to see more of him. There's something about him that's almost... well, almost comforting to be around. I don't know why.

JoAnna found the most beautiful dress! She's going to look like an elegant queen on her wedding day. I wonder if she'll invite me. Either way, it was beautiful. Nando found it for her. He seems to have a thing for shopping too, and a thing for Claude.

Lacey tried on some dresses too, but I wasn't sure why. Her dress-trying-on prompted Claude to practically force me into a wedding dress, which was kind of... I'm not sure...

Every little girl dreams of her wedding day, I think. I knew from the time I was old enough to understand these things that the odds were against me for that sort of thing. I can't even go on a date with a man without getting frustrated with the thoughts goin' through his head, not to mention pretty offended.

Then vampires were suddenly real, and I was datin' Bill. Bill talked about marriage sometimes. It seemed like I might just get that dream after all, but then he didn't turn out to be quite the man I thought he was.

Now I'm pretty sure I'm datin' Eric, and I really don't think he's the marryin' type. He's definitely not the monogamous type, and anyway, I guess those vows would be pretty silly.

"Do you swear to forsake others so long as you both shall live?"
"Well, one of us isn't alive, so..."

Eric says I think too much. Maybe I do. Even so, it was a fun night with friends tryin' on dresses way outside my price range. Not a bad way to spend some time.