Epilogue:

Meshra, Marius and Fallon promised to return as it got closer to the time for our daughter to be born. Eric and I spent our evenings walking the grounds at Ravenwood, reading in the library next to the fire and making love.

As winter set in, we concentrated on decorating her room. I attended classes during the day and decided that I would become a writer. As I began to show, local human-vampire couples began sending me requests to tell them how they could have a baby. I kept telling them that it was purely a miracle and that Eric and I were just as surprised as anyone. No one believed this, and the requests poured in as word leaked out to the world.

The tabloids scoffed and called me terrible things; strumpet, hussy and slut among them. But Eric's lawyer Dormius, who I suspected was a demon, managed to silence them after a while.

Every night, Eric would rise from sleep and kiss my belly to say hello to Marissa. We'd chosen Marissa because it had so many elements that reminded us of things we loved. Meshra, Marius, Fallon, and Paris. Her middle name, Eva meant life in Swedish. I lay on my side reading a magazine and feeling her tiny fists under my ribs. She was active mostly in the evenings and I wondered if it was because she'd inherited the vampire gene and slept during the day, or if she was merely responding to the sound of her daddy's voice. I wouldn't know for sure until she was born. I suspected that she was more like me, because she seemed to kick up when I was out in the sun.

Meshra told me that Marius had always slept days, and that she lived her life as normal. My life would be different if she slept all day. I could leave her with Eric and attend school, work or whatever I chose until they both arose. On the other hand, if she hadn't inherited the vamp gene, and she was more like me, she would be up mostly during the day, and we would take turns with her.

Eric joked that I was lucky, he could stay up with her all night while I slept and that really, I was getting a good deal.

He came out of the shower and flashed me that million-dollar smile of his. He was still the Sheriff of Area five, but recently, Félipe de Castro had been in talks with Eric and the Queen of Texas to divide portions of Texas to give Eric more responsibility. There was talk of making him a king if he chose to. What I knew, that they didn't, was that Eric was considering turning his position over to Bill Compton so that he and I could focus on raising our daughter and maybe leaving Louisiana to raise her in Paris. I had seen Bill at Merlotte's last weekend. He was engaged to be married to a human doctor of internal medicine from Alameda, Texas. He'd met her through her vampire uncle, Reginald Wells, who had come to see Eric at the hospital.

Eric laid his hand on my belly and said hello. I felt Marissa's little feet start up and he smiled. He was the proudest father I had ever seen. When we rode anywhere, he would put his arm across my belly to brace me if we came to a stop. When I ate, he would check the labels to see if it was natural, or if there were chemicals. He rubbed my back and feet every night, and helped me with my Russian and Swedish lessons. We would teach Marissa Swedish first, then English so that she would be fluent in both. As the months dragged on, and I got bigger, Eric became more diligent about taking care of me. Meshra, Marius and Fallon arrived in a whirlwind of Louis Vuitton trunks and a little dog that she'd found outside her door. Fallon insisted that it was a stray, but Meshra was convinced it had been a gift from Lord Malbec.

Dr. Ludwig took over Fallon's case and discovered that she was indeed allergic to an antigen in human blood. When the antigen was removed, Fallon could drink without any cramping or vomiting. Eric contacted a laboratory in Boston and requested that they begin making this antigen free blood replacement for his sister. She was so touched by his generosity that she couldn't speak for over an hour. She just sat on the porch and cried. I too was touched by his thoughtfulness and he said it was the least he could do considering the role that he'd played in her unhappiness.

Dr. Armatrading determined that I was due in two weeks, around March 12 or so, and we thought it might be fun to start celebrating Eric's birthday on March 12 too. We planned a giant party for them both, depending on when she arrived.

Jason was excited to be an uncle and Pam was happy that she'd finally get to attend a baby shower after wondering what they were for a few years. Marius left here in July, beside himself in love with her still, but she insisted that she and Jason were a solid couple. Ever so often, I would catch her staring at him out of the corner of her eye and I would know that she viewed him much the way that I viewed Bill Compton. I was grateful to Bill for exposing me to a new world; a world where it was possible for the dead to walk in the shadows of a setting sun. A world where magic and mischief were accompanied by love and loyalty, hope and redemption.

The night we greeted our daughter Marissa, Eric sobbed in my arms at how beautiful our little blond haired, silver-eyed baby was. And if you didn't look too closely, you'd hardly notice that her ears were slightly pointed.

Author's Notes: I hope that you enjoyed the story. There are several items embedded in the story that are real places, paintings animals etc. If you're detail oriented, look them up : ) There is also a soundtrack. If you are interested, drop me a line and I will send you the list of songs and corresponding chapters. Thank you so much for reading,

---The Monagasque