1x1 with x_fire

Maddie laughed as Demitri picked her up and she fought with him playfully. She didn't exactly like being carried like a handbag, but Demitri didn't seem to notice. Not that Maddie blamed him, she was laughing after all.
When he finally put her down, Maddie smoothed out the wrinkles in the skirt of her new two peice baithing suit and straightened out her top as well. Blowing a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes, Maddie set to looking for shells.
"Ooo!" She called, reaching for a shell in the sand as a wave came up to shore. She managed to close her hand around the soft blue shell before the wave took it away. "Look!" Maddie said, holding it up for Demitri to see.


"Ouch? You look as if most of the pain is in your back." Maria said, frowning lightly at Keith. "I figured you wouldn't want Alayna present for this, hence the fetching of tea." Maria murmured as she stepped over to the bed. She shook her head as she let her keen vision roll over Keith's back.
"There's a lot of tension here..." Maria muttered softly, lightly touching Keith's back where his wings would be. "Aside from the minor cuts and bruising, nothing should be causing you much stress...unless..." Maria chewed her lip. "How bad are your wings?"

Demitri looked down at the shell.
"Wow" He murmured, "Very pretty" He said, putting it in the pail that he had thought to grab. He unearthed a pretty pink-orange shell, plopping it in the bucket. A small smile formed on his lips as he found a closed oyster shell.
"Here Maddie, let's open this up" He said, gently using some force and popping the shell open. A small, perfect pink pearl sat inside.
"Here" He said, giving her the small shell.
"Show that to your mom. We can have it put in a necklace for you, if you want" He grinned at his daughter.

Keith chuckled. "Pretty damn beat up" He said with a small sigh.
"I don't exactly want Alayna to see them" He mumbled, shaking his head at Maria.
"But, I know she will eventually, I mean when their out, you can't really hide the damage" He really didn't want to show his wings, they were screwed, it was a mess, a mess he didn't want to deal with.

Maddie smiled, continuing to look around for shells. She found a few, one white, one gray and white, one a goldish yellow, and they all went into the small pale Demitri had brought. Some of them were smooth and circular, some where thin and twirly, some Maddie simply wanted to keep for herself.
Glancing over at whatever shell Demitri had in his hands, Maddie watched, intently and curiously. As he opened it, Maddie's eyes went wide in amazement at what was instead. "Ohmigosh! That's really pretty! How did it get in there?" Maddie said as Demitr closed the shell again and handed it to her. Smiling, Maddie nodded and ran up to where Kristen and Alexi were sitting.
"Looky looky!" Maddie said, excitedly, holding her hands out to present the oyster shell.
"Was it closed when you found it?" Kristen asked, looking up from her tanning.
"Uh-huh! Demitri opened it." Maddie said as Kristen took the shell gently and opened the shell herself.
"Whoa." Kristen chuckled, pushing up her sunglasses to get a better look at the pearl. "Hey Alexi, doesn't Maria have a thing for pearls?" Kristen asked, half teasing to get the vampires attention.


Maria nodded in agreement. "I understand. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me." Maria said, lowering her voice as she heard Alayna coming down the hall. "Aside from the bruises though," Maria said, louder so Alayna would purposely over-hear. "You'll be fine. Probably have to rest for a while to get your strength up, but I'm sure you'll be right as rain for the wedding." Maria said, winking at Keith. Maria knew that Alayna hearing that would lessen the amount of worry, and therefor how much she fussed over Keith.
Alayna came into the room a minute later, pushing her back against the door to open it. She looked at Maria with a thankful grin, before over at Keith.
"I guess we'll have to coffee for you while we're here huh? There's only tea in the house." Alayna asked, setting his cup of tea down on the bedside table.
"If you need anything..." Maria trailed off before waving and leaving.

Alexi glanced up, smirking at Kristen.
"Yea, sure does" He said, rolling his eyes.
"She's rather obsessed with them, but why don't you ask her, she's on her way out" He said, shaking his head and glancing towards the house.
"Hey" He murmured, shaking his head and smiling at her as he settled himself back in the sand. He was most definately comfortable right now, despite being covered in sand.
"Hey" Demitri said, bringing up the pale with the shells and flopping next to Kristen.
"She's better then me with picking out shells' He said, smiling lightly.

Keith nodded his head at Maria.
"Thanks" He said, wincing as he sat up and smiled at Alayna.
"No worries, I can live without coffee" He said gently, grinning at her before carefully lying back. It was gonna be hard to hide these injuries from Alayna.
"Oooo" He winced, oh damn, he wanted to stretch his wings so bad.

"I was thinking it would be a nice gift from you to her. In which case I wouldn't ask her about it-" Kristen said quietly before stopping abrultely when Maria showed up. The vampiress sighed heaviy as she sat back down in the sand.
"Well?" Kristen asked, having stuffed the oyster shell under her beach blanket quickly.
"He'll be better in no time." Maria said, watching as Maddie picked out shells from a bucket and started pressing them randomly into her sand castle.
"Not too bad then?" Kristen murmured softly.
"He'll be better in no time." Maria repeated, side glancing at Maddie who was diligently working.


"You sure?" Alayna asked, watching Keith carefully for a moment before joining him on the bed. "Cause if you change your mind, the store isn't far." She said, sipping her tea slowly, savoring the familiar taste and warmth. It'd been a while since she'd had a decent cup of coffee.
Hearing Keith wince and gripe, Alayna frownd. "You alright?" She asked softly.

Demitri caught the look from Maria and sighed, "I gave that pearl to your daughter" he grumbled at Kristen, "I don't see why Alexi should get it to score brownie points with hsi girlfriend" He teased, winking at his brother and watching Maria flop down.
"She doesn't need more gifts from me" Alexi said, smirking at his girlfriend, "Besides, I might want it for myself, get an earring or something" He said, rolling his eyes.
"Right, cause you're oh, so hip" Demitri teased, shaking his head.

Keith shrugged, though it hurt so damn bad it wasn't even funny.
"Just sore" He reassured her, though his face was brittle.
"No, I really don't mind living without coffee, it's alright" He said softly, debating taking a hot bath, though he doubted he'd be able to get out of the tub if he got in.
"Promise not to freak out?" He asked softly.

Kristen chuckled. "Alright, alright." she murmured, waving her hand at Demitri though she gave him a loving glance before putting her sunglasses back on and laying back down on her beach blanket. She was almost determined to gain back the tan she had lost over the harsh winter, and the small summer they had.
Maria looked at Demitri and Alexi with a frown on her face. "What are you two going off about?" she asked, having obviously missed something there. Maddie giggled, and Kristen smirked but neither of them said anything.
"Tada!" Maddie exclaimed, standing up and pointing down at the decorated castle.


"I can only imagine." Alayna murmured, sipping her tea thoughtfully. "I mean, you went to war Keith." she said softly, still trying to work that idea into her mind. He had gone to war, and had come back to her, just as he promised. Alayna smiled at that thought and sipped her tea again.
"Hmm?" Alayna asked, coming back from her thoughts and looking down at Keith. "Not freak out? Why? What's wrong?"

Demitri glanced down at the decorated castle.
"Beautiful" He said with a small smile, before looking at Maria and shrugging. "Ask your boyfriend" He teased, rolling over and wrapping his arms around Kristen with a small smile. He was in a really good mood, his mind couldn't really wrap around the fact that he was getting married in like three days, and he honestly didn't know what to make of the whole situation. He kissed Kristen's shoulder, before flopping down again, staring up at her with a grin.
"Mmm, have I ever told you that I love you?" He teased.

Alexi smiled at Maria, though it was hard to see as he was covered in sand.
"Looks great Maddie" He said, shaking himself, much like a dog, in order to move around. He glanced at Maria, "We were discussing your affinity for pearls" He said winking at her.

Keith sighed, "I've been in lots of wars Alayna" He said, smiling and shaking his head.
"I want to stretch my wings, but I don't really want you to panic when you see them" He sat up, looking at her expectantly. He wasn't about to show her unless she promised not to panic. She would, no matter how many promises he extracted, but he could try.

"Thank you." Maddie said, giggling and sitting back down in the sand to fix some minor flaws she saw with the caslte. She mildly kept her ears open to the conversastions, but nothing seemed interesting at the moment.
Kristen sighed contently as Demitri wrapped his arms around her. Mostly because he was cold, and her skin was warm from the sun. She shivered lightly, her hair standing on edge in a general reflex, though she didn't ever want Demitri to let go of her. She loved being in his arms, it just felt right. Kristen glanced over at Demitri and chuckled.
"No, never. You should tell me more often." Kristen teased, rolling over to kiss his lightly, underlining the passion she felt for him.
Maria had been keeping her busy the past few weeks just before leaving for Italy, and at night, when she finally had time alone with Demitri, Kristen was mentaly drained and exhausted. And with Demitri, if Kristen so much as hinted a need for sleep, he would make her sleep.

"I do not have an affinity for pearls." Maria said, shaking her head. "I just happen to like the precious gem." Maria shrugged gently before flipping her hair over her shoulder. Looking down at Alexi, Maria frowned.
"Why is it that you are covered in sand my love?" Maria asked softly, chuckling quietly.


"Not something any girl wants to hear..." Alayna murmured. She took another sip of her tea and placed it down on the bedside table. Glancing back at Keith, Alayna was slightly shocked that he was pushing himself up to sit.
"Oh you did get hurt." Alayna said, worry taking over her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding.
"I'll try not to..." she said softly with a light smile.

Demitri rolled his eyes, "Ah, well, I mean, I suppose paying for this huge wedding, buying you a house in Italy, adopting your daughter, taking care of everything isn't my way of saying I love you" He teased, chuckling and stretching out.
"Cause in that case, I can you know, start saying it more regularly" He said with a small grin, his eyes dancing amusedly. He rolled onto his back, letting his head rest on her lap, so he didn't get sand in his hair.

Alexi shrugged, "Um, sitting next to a sandcastle is a sandy spot" He said, shaking his head and chuckling.
"Why? Do you care?" He teased, knowing she'd probably spray him down with the hose before she so much as let him in the house.
"So you guys all ready for Friday?" He asked curiously, looking from Maria to Kristen, as Demitri really had no idea what was going on.

Keith shrugged, wincing.
"Um, well, sore, really, really damn sore, and my wings are a mess" He said, carefully letting them slide from his back.
"Ow" He hissed, reaching over and carefully touching the charred feathers. He felt some blood roll down his back, wincing.
"Demons tend to target angel wings" He explained.

Kristen smirked. "Materialistic items, though marvlous, and wonderful they may be, are materialistic nonetheless. Love does not come strictly from buying someone a numerous amount of objects." she said, laughing afterwards since the words had rolled so smoothly off her tongue and she hadn't even though much about it. Maria glanced over at Kristen with a raised eyebrow, and even Maddie looked up in confusion before laughing and going back to her castle.
"Sounds like something from a freaking soap opera." Kristen said, still chuckling and shaking her head gently.
"Mmm, that might be nice anyway," Kristen teased, running her fingers through Demitri's hair. It was almost an instant thing now, whenever he put his head in her lap, she had to play with his hair.


Maria rolled her eyes at Kristen and Demitri before looking back at Alexi with a kind expression. "No, you just look a bit like a child, covered in so much sand." she teased, ruffling his hair in a poor attempt to get rid of some of the sand.
"Yes, everything is set." Maria said. "I have a crew coming Friday morning to set up everything here on the beach. Everyone on the guest list should be arriving by tonight, at least in Italy, and will be here for Friday afternoon when the ceremony starts. Afterwards I booked the respection party at a club in the city, and...I might have called a few companies to bring around a few transportation units. I love Italians by the way, they are so enthusastic for a celebration." Maria said with a joyus smirk, leaning back on her hands.


Alayna covered her mouth to stifle her gasp when she saw the condition Keith's wings were in. Her eyes watered at the sit of the charred feathers and the lack there of in certain places. Taking a deep breath, Alayna moved around on the bed to give him more room to be comfortable.
"You're bleeding..." Alayna said softly, her eyes going wide as she slid off the bed to get a better look of his wings. Going into the bathroom, she grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cool water before going back to Keith and dabbing gently at the blood on his back.
"Jesus Keith..." Alayna whispered, shaking her head slowly.

Demitri nodded at Maria, "Sven and Vlad are getting here tomorrow" He murmured, "I know that much, as for the others, it sounds like they're staying in the city, getting a hotel or something, as we don't have that much room" He murmured, smiling lightly.
"Where abouts in the city?" He asked, wondering where the reception would be held, if Alexi could handle it, etc. Though he was positive that if Maria was organizing all this, it would be fine for Alexi, or she was banking on the fact that Alexi would be extremely pre-occupied doing other things.
He sighed, shifting contently as Kristen's fingers dragged through his hair. It felt so good, though he was supressing the urge to purr.

Alexi chuckled, shaking his hair and spraying sand everywhere.
"Mmm" He smiled, chuckling lightly, "Just because I'm old, doesn't mean that I behave like a child' He murmured, shaking his head and sighing.
"Can you not handle that?" He asked curiously, winking at her teasingly.

Keith winced as the cold cloth pressed to his charred back.
"Believe me Alayna, I know how bad this looks, but as far as it goes, I'm not bad by the standards of some of my comrads" He murmured.
"I'll be fine in a few days" he said softly, silently praying he would. He hurt, so bad, though he was trying not to show that much.
"It's nothing compared to the demon injury" He said, which was true, that had almost killed him, by comparison, this was nothing.

Kristen smirked as she listened to Maria ramble on. She knew that the vampiress had been extremely withdrawn when planning Kristen's wedding. Kristen was almost afraid to see how Maria would plan her own. The vampire had a thing for parties and big annoucments about the party.
"It's closer to the house then it is to Rome." Kristen murmured softly, knowing what Demitri was thinking about. "I saw some stuff online about it. They speciliaze in wedding respections, so I've got high hopes." Kristen said. She wasn't one for crowds and packed club parties, but this was acutally sounding like fun. Maybe the fact that it was her own party....her own wedding...Kristen shivered despite the heat and laughed quietly.


Maria nodded in agreement to Kristen before looking back down at Alexi. She rolled her eyes but laughed. "Please." Maria said, as Alexi teased her about what she could handle. "I can handle probably just as much as you can." Maria teased, a small challenege in her eyes and a playful smirk on her face. She loved the banter between her and Alexi, it kept things interesting.


Alayna shuddered at the fact that Keith's injuries were mild, and for a moment she froze still, her imagination running wild for a moment. Snapping herself from the thoughts, Alayna sucked in a harshly breath and went back to tending Keith's back.
"Nothing is ever going to be something compared to that injury." Alayna muttered, shaking her heard stubbornly. "But it doesn't mean the injury doesn't still need attention you know." she said, softly dabbing at Keith's skin, cleaning away the blood and dirt that seemed to covered his back.
"You know, a hot shower might help..."

Demitri nodded, "Sounds good" he frowned whe he felt Kristen shiver, "Are you cold?" he asked incredulously, it was warm out, wasn't it? Maddie was in a swim suit, so it couldn't be cold, though why was Kristen shivering then? He sighed, "Specialize in wedding receptions? Did we figure out the food thing by the way? I mean, we have Maddie, Keith and Alayna who eat food, plus some of Kristen's friends, as well as mine, whom are still mortal, or shape shifter or whatever" He said, shaking his head.

Alexi smirked at Maria. "You enjoy this far to much" He said, shaking his head.
"Your wedding is going to scare me. When we get married, if we get married, I'm going into hiding" He teased lightly. It was a forgone conclusion the two would get married, considering that vampires mated for life. He smiled at her, "When we get married" He murmured, "I doubt there's gonna be an if" He said, blowing her a kis.

Keith shrugged, "It would help, but I really am to exahusted to stand up right now, let alone stand in a shower" He murmured, wincing a bit and rolling onto his stomach, giving her full access to her wings. He was so sore, he doubted he could stand, considering how he had barely made it here.
"Don't worry so much love, I'm tough" He grinned, shaking his head.

"Just day dreaming love." Kristen murmured, chuckling. "No I'm not cold." she said, shaking her head at Demitri. She really hoped she didn't loose her sense of warmth like Demitri. "You ever think of something and it just sends this sensation down your spine? And you can't help but shiver or shudder?" Kristen said softly, for him to hear as she ran her hand down from his hair, trailing to his neck and then down to his back before stopping. Kristen smirked. "It was kind of like that."
"As far as my friends, not many of them answered the rsvp, so it's mostly you're side of the family so to speak." Kristen murmured with a shrug. Kristen didn't exactly have that many friends outside of the family Demitri have brought her into, and in her mind, so long as Demitri's brother's were present, as well as Keith and Alayna, that was enough for her.


"Mmhm, the club is catering." Maria said, hearing a question Demitri had. Her hearing seemed to pick up on anything wedding related now.
Turning her attention back to Alexi, Maria tilted her head as she listened. A small wave of pain passed her eyes as he said 'If they would get married' but she quickly pushed it aside. Maria sighed when he corrected himself and shook her head.
"I hope to God there wouldn't be an if." Maria said. "And so help me Lord if there was an 'if' because there is no telling what I might do..." Maria said, half joking, half serious as she shook her head.


"Well then definatly in the morning if you're feeling up to it." Alayna said. She waitied paitently as he moved around, wanting him to be as comfortable as possible before she went back to cleaning up the state his wings and upper back were in.
"And that's what worries me." Alayna murmured softly. "You're so strong, you don't realize sometimes that you've pushed yourself farther than your body can withstand..."

Demitri nodded, "Ah, I understand" he said, glancing at Kristen, "Mmm, my family, its a lot larger then what you think" He said, chuckling as Alexi burst into laughter.
"Aw, poor Kristen" Alexi said, as Demitri flipped over, tossing sand at his brother.
"Hey" Alexi whined, sliding away from Demitri and taking off down the beach.
"Ass" Demitri growled, ducking away from Kristen and taking off after his brother, flying tackling him into the sand.
"Hey, Maria" Alexi yelped, though he had quickly whipped Demitri into the ocean, diving in after him.
"Don-" Demitri gulped as he was tossed, effortlessly into the water.

Keith sighed, "Mmm, tomorrow" He nodded shrugging tiredly.
"I dunno Alayna, maybe it's a good thing you're around, you can remind me when I'm overdoing it" He said, it was true, he tended to push himself, particularly when he was injured.
"Well, overall, how's the damage?" he couldn't really see most of the back injuries, so he was sort of relying on her.

Kristen made the mistake of blinking. In doing so, she missed the incident that lead to Demitri running down the beach after Alexi. Maria however, was clutching her side with laughter and Maddie looked ready to shift and join the brawl. She was every bit shifter as Kristen was; a born lover of fighting and always itching for one.
"Easy." Kristen murmured, seeing, in slow details, how Maddie was tensing for the pounce. Kristen knew where Alexi was going with this, and Maddie wasn't a strong swimmer just yet.

Seeing the boys go into the water, Maddie sat back down. Maria stood up, holding a hand over her eyes to see what was going on.
"Those two never fail to amuse me." Maria said, looking back at Kristen and Maddie. "Should we check up on them?"
"Yea!" Maddie said eagerily, standing up and running with Maria down the beach where Demitri and Alexi had disappeared into the water.


"Maybe..." Alayna agreed, slidding off the bed to rinse out the washcloth and drench it in warmer water this time around. Coming back, Alayna washed down Keith's whole back with the warm cloth
"Overall....you like you got dragged through hell!" Alayna muttered, shaking her head. "And I'm guessing in your case, that's literatly what happened." Alayna sighed, passing her fingers gently over the charred and burnt feathers.

Demitri surfaced, chuckling as he did so.
"Oh, you're about to die" He said, tackling Alexi and taking him underwater again. As the vampires didn't need to breath, it took them awhile to come up. When they did, Alexi was clutching Demitri's back, as Demitri was basically behaving like a bucking bronco, and trying to dislodge his brother, who had an arm around his neck. Playful growls were coming from the two, though smiles were on their faces, so it was obvious that they weren't actually hurting one another. Finally Demitri managed to dislodge Alexi, hurling him into deeper water. Finally, the two came ashore, laughing.
"Wanna join Maddie?" Demitri teased, scooping the littel girl up and wading back into the water with her. Alexi smirked, though the two would never take her deep, or anyything.

Alexi sighed, flopping into the sand next to Maria while Demitri played with Maddie, soaking into the sand, until he was basically saturated in the stuff again.
"Urgh" He said, shaking his head and chuckling, though he didn't mind, he could just wash off later, Maria'd make him anyway.

Keith chuckled, "Well almost" He said, "I wasn't in hell, so I couldn't be dragged through it, but you know, that's almost what happened" He said, grinning at Alayna over his shoulder.
"Don't worry love, I know I look like hell, but I'm not in that bad of condition" He said, "Besides, you're fussing, as usual, so I don't think I'm gonna have to worry about the condition I'm in. You're a pretty decent nurse"

Maria laughed as Maddie ran in somewhat of a circle. The child kept moving around, trying to get a better look at the fight going on in the water. She bounced around, walked in with the receding tide and then ran back to Maria was the water reached up to her. Maddie loved the ocean, but the fear of getting sucked into the vastness of it was a bit daunting to her.

Seeing Demitri coming up, Maddie's eyes turned her husky blue and she grinned, leaving Maria and running after Demitri, letting him scoop her up in all her laughter.
Maria looked back Alexi with a grin and sparkling eyes. "You look a little wet love." she teased, her shoulders still shaking from her laughter.

"Mmmh." Alayna said, shaking her head gently. She tried not to think about it. If she did....well she would freak out. And so far, she'd done a pretty good job at it.
"Bleh. The only thing I refused to let my father conform me to..." Alayna murmured, brushing the water gently over a cut Keith's wings had reopened. "How ironic." she added lightly, with a soft disbeliving laugh.

Demitri smiled, holding Maddie lightly in the water. He knew the ocean scared her a bit, though he understood, it was big, and the idea of being sucked up could be scary. For someone like him, he would be fine, and he felt completely comfortable holding Maddie in the water. He held her loosely, smiling. "You wanna practice swimming?" He said, Maddie could swim in dog form, but she had a lot of trouble in human. He knew Kristen wasn't as fond of water as him, so he didn't mind teaching Maddie stuff like that. It made him feel useful, and teaching his little girl things was rather fun for him.

"Wet and sandy" Alexi said, watching Maddie and Demitri with a small grin.
"You know, Sven told me something interesting the other day, on the phone" He murmured, smiling at her and rolling over. His eyes were sparkling excitedly, though he wasn't sure if Maria would be interested in this tidbit.

Keith looked mildly confused.
"What do you mean? Did your dad want you to be a nurse?" He asked curiously. He didn't really understand what she was getting at. A small smile appeared on his face.
"Mmmm, I missed you" He murmured softly to her, though it was more into the pillow right now.

Maddie laughed as the cool water lasped up against her hot skin, which was refreshing. "Can I shift?" Maddie asked, looking up at Demitri as a wave came up to splash her again, catching her offgaurd and making her laugh again. She kept her hands wound around Demitri's arms, almost afraid to let go, though part of her knew Demitri would never loose his grip on her.

"Very sandy..." Maria murmured, shaking her head at Alexi with a soft laugh. As he rolled over to face her, Maria tilted her head gently, drawing her knees up to her chest, letting her long black hair cascade around her body.
"Oh really?" she asked, leveling Alexi with a dazziling look of her own. "And what might that be?" she asked, blowing a random curl from her face.

Alayna nodded. "Yep." she murmured. "With Nicko in the arm, and Jeff a laywer...." Alayna swallowed and then sighed. "Well, he wanted something self sustaining for me. He would have settled for a nurse since we didn't exactly agree on the whole artisitic route I wanted." Alayna said with a small sigh.
"Didn't I tell you this once?" Alayna murmured, feeling like she'd said this all already. "What?" Alayna asked, not hearing that last bit Keith had said to her.

Demitri shook his head.
"Nope, you gotta learn to swim" He said, smiling at Maddie and lifting her a bit. "Because I know you can swim when you shift, but you need to learn" He said smiling and kissing her nose teasingly.
"Besides, what if Alyassa invites you over to go swimming again? You were really sad when you had to wear a lifejacket in her pool. Remember? Don't you wanna be able to swim with your friends?" He asked, Maddie had been crying when he had picked her up, and that had been hard for him, seeing her so shaken by something like that..
"And you know I'll help you, I promise" He said, sighing happily.

Alexi smiled at Maria, "Well, he said that, rarely, but this can happen, but apparently, some vampires can get pregnant" He said, winking at her.
"I know you want a kid love, and I can't guarentee that this will happen, but, we both want children. So it'd be nice to know that we might have that option" He mumbled, looking away akwardly, this was a hard subject. He wanted children, and had always figured he'd never be able to, but now, there was a small hope.

"Ah, I remember now" He said with a small smile. "Sorry, I tend to be a forgetful" He chuckled, "So anyway, at least you can follow that artistic route now if you want" He murmured, "I'll support that decision, and Demitri seems willing to sustain us" He murmured, chuckling lightly.

Maddie frowned. "I remember." she muttered. It had been embarrassing that she couldn't swim unless she shifted. And Kristen had a strict rule that Maddie couldn't shift outside of the house. That seemed to be the only thing that Kristen strongly restricited, though Maddie only partly understood why.
Maddie sighed but nodded in mild agreement. She did want to learn, it was just hard for her to grasp another way of swimming. It was like trying to teach her a harder way to do something.

Maria's eyes went wide as she listened to Alexi. "What?!" she asked, sitting up straight. "I thought it was impossible." she breathed quietly. "We're dead. How can we have children?" she said, crawling closer to Alexi, like their were conspirising or something.
"That doesn't make sense love, not that I'm not happy to hear it. I mean, that's amazing news. How did Sven figure that out? How is that...mmm.." Maria covered her mouth to stop her rambling and shook her head. Alexi knew her too well. He saw how having Maddie around effected her. Maria had been a typical teenager of the era, carefree and almost none caring. Being around Kristen and Demitri and Maddie, Maria had sort of grown up. Alexi apparently noticed.


"I thought I was supposed to be the forgetful one." Alayna teased, going to rinse out the washcloth again. She had most of Keith's back cleaned, though the small patched of charred skin still made him look more beat up then he really was. While cleaning, Alayna had realized Keith was right. He hardly had any serious cuts. His wings were a wreck, but Alayna knew they would heal. He had more brusies then anything, which would make sense as to why he was so sore. He'd probably stay in bed until the wedding.
Coming back out, Alayna set to work on washing Keith's wings, which on a normal day was a task. Now that she had to be careful not to injure him further, and they were worse then his back...it was going to take Alayna some time.
"I'm thinking about designing actualy..." Alayna admitted. "Wait until you see Kristen's dress."

Demitri nodded, "Don't worry Maddie, I'll help you, I promise that by the time we go back to Russia, you'll atleast have the swimming basics. And we can keep practicing when we get home" He reassured, taking her into deeper water.
"Now, how do dogs swim?" He asked, wanting her to understand that she could learn in basically the same way. Doggy paddle, Maddie seemed to be convinced that it was a completely different way of doing things. He smiled lightly, carefully lowering her into the water, getting her used to the temperature.
"How's that?" He asked curiously, a small smile on his face.

Alexi shrugged.
"I don't know the biology of it, but he knows a vampire who is currently pregnant. It is possible, it has to do with some sort of genetic need to carry on the species" He said, smiling a bit.
"I know it's a lot to take in, but, do you maybe wanna think about that? I mean we both want kids, we could try" He murmured, "It's not guarenteed, but, we could try" He murmured softly.

"Designing eh? That sounds awesome" He murmured softly to her.
"I can't wait, and you did enjoy drawing and working on that. Talk to Demitri or Alexi or something, I'm sure they'd help you get all set up' He said, smiling lightly.

"Ok..." Maddie said, though she was a bit skeptical. With all the hub of the wedding, there wasn't much time for anything really.
"Not like people swim." Maddie said, chuckling to herself as Demitri lowered her into the water. She splashed playfully for a moment before thinking about what Demitri said. How do dogs swim....Tilting her head, Maddie tried to repeat the movements her husky knew by instinct. Kicking back and pulling forward.
"Whoa!" Maddie said as she moved forward in Demitri's grip. She laughed in disbelief, and repeated the movement to prove it wasn't a fluke accident. "It's almost the same!"


"Wow..." Maria murmured, shaking her head in slight disbelief. She grinned at Alexi, a sly and somewhat seductive smile. "Trying is always fun." she murmured lightly, her voice dropping quieter. She almost couldn't believe it was possible that she could one day have a child...Maria bit her lip, glancing at Alexi. What would their child look like? Would they have blonde hair like Alexi? Or dark hair like Maria?'


"I'm still thinking about it." Alayna said with a small shrugg. "The taylor who actually made Kristen's dress like my other drawings. He offered to make a few of the other dresses and see if they catch on..." she said with another shrugg. To Alayna, the fashion business sounded a bit intimidating. Working on a major scale, Alayna wasn't ready for yet, which was why she was stalling to call the taylor back with fresh skecthes and measurements.