“So how did you two meet?” Stephanie asked as she looked across the table. Maria smiled as she put her hand on her husband's thigh. The three of them had found a table across the hall in the main dining room, away from a lot of the debauchery in the main ballroom. “Well, you see, it was during the war.” Stephanie searched her mind; she wasn't sure what war they could be referring to. Thad could see the confusion on her face, “The US Civil War”. “Ah yes, the war to end slavery in the US” Thad nodded “Oh yes, that dreadful war luckily, the Union prevailed” Stehpanie nodded as she sipped her brandy “Slavery is an evil institution, I am glad it is gone from America, my grandfather was a slave when he was young... so was my mother to a certain extent” Maria sighed “Yes, it is the great shame of our people to keep Romani in bondage” Stehpanie nodded as Maria felt her belly move “Ooh the little one ..... it’s so close I should be ready any day now” Stehpanie smiled and looked at her “What's the name?” Thad replied “Well we are still thinking about it” Maria nodded and patted her stomach “We are floating around some names”. Stehpanie smiled, still looking at Maria with envious eyes.

  It was then that Alucard entered the room and sat beside his bride, sliding one hand onto her waist and pulling her close to him. Stehpanie smiled as she leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. He ran his hand down her long black hair. His wife had been busy for several months growing it out; it reminded her of her mother. Thad looked over to Alucard and said “I assume you had the talk with the Orlok” he nodded “Yes I did, I will tell you about it later, we may need your help” Thad nodded “I see, I will see what I can do” Stehpanie looked over to Maria who was still eating large amounts of food, Stehpanie supposed those pregnancy cravings were killer, she often remembered her mother telling her about how much she ate during pregnancy. It certainly helped her mother, being married to a noble, never longed for food; that, of course, was a cold comfort for her, considering the circumstances. She smiled, though she was concerned that there was some kind of conversation that she and Maria were not allowed to talk about.

  It was then that there was a loud thundering voice with a French accent shouting in German that broke out from the crowd that sounded like it came from the large stone archway that led into the dining room. “Behold, I have returned, The Phantom of the Opera!” Everyone turned their heads to look at the scene, and then everyone was briefly blinded by a flash of light and then a puff of smoke. Out came a tall, slender man with a black mask covering the upper half of his face. Alucard took one look at him and sighed, “Oh no, it's Erik again.” Stephanie looked over and Alucard and asked, “Who’s Erik?” “He’s my cousin.... he’s French.” Stephanie smiled, “He can't be that bad.” Thad grunted, “Well, you are about to find out he is coming this way. Erik came closer to the table and said loudly, “Hello, cousins! Hello Maria, hello Thaddeus, hello Alucard, this must be your bride?!” He looked at Stephanie and bent down and kissed her hand. “Bonjour Madame, pleasure to make your acquaintance.” If Stephanie still had blood, she would have blushed. “Thank you, Erik, a pleasure to meet you.” Erik then turned to Alucard, “You have quite a catch here, you have captured yourself a wonderful eastern beauty as your woman, she is exquisite.

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  Stehpanie didn't know how to feel about being described as an “Eastern Beauty”. On the one hand, being described as beautiful was very affirming, but on the other hand, she felt exoticized because of her Romani heritage. Erik sat down beside Alucard and said, “I know the romance between you and your bride will be legendary, like the love between myself and the beautiful Christine!” Alucard rolled his eyes and replied “You need to get over that Erik” Erik looked incredulous “Christine and I, we belong together! I know our fate is written in the stars, one day I will find her, and we will be together” Alucard grunted “Leave the poor girl alone please, I don't want another situation like that happened last time” Stephanie looked puzzled “What happened last time?” Alucard sighed “It is a long story; the short version is that he fell in love with a beautiful singer at the Paris Opera house and he .... may have killed a few people and threatened to blow up the opera house if Christine didn't get with him... we had to cover it up and fake his death .” Stehpanie gasped “That is ghastly, why did you do that?” Erik got up and thrust his arms in a dramatic motion and went on his knees “Beauce people do crazy things for love, and... I’m so happy that you have found your love and one day I hope to have a love like that” Alucard sighed “Yeah sure whatever Erik... by the way, where is Nadir?” Erik got off his knees “He is over in the main room talking with the powers that be” Alucard replied, “Yeah that makes sense, you are without your babysitter” He then sipped his drink and squeezed his wife’s hand “I can't believe I am saying this but... I want you to be my best man” Erik smiled widely “Yes, I love it, in fact Nadir and I have already been planning the stag party!” Alucard rolled his eyes and drunk more, he then sarcastically replied “Oh joy, I cannot wait for that” Stehpanie smiled “In the many months she had known him he had never seen this side of him, it was nice to see him a little flustered and not his usual calm self” She whispered to her groom “Wow your cousin is a little strange” Alucard chuckled and whispered back “Welcome to the family”