Third Person POV

Minutes. Hours. Days. Months. How much time has passed? Vlad couldn't remember and he was too afraid to ask. Every single time he opened his eyes he thought of nothing but the pain. The sharp needles coursing through his veins. The jackhammer drilling in his head and behind his eyes. The creaky joints that ached whenever he moved. It was worse at night; when he was alone. 

The fire creeped under his skin, making his hairs stand on end. It spread to his face, the disgusting ecto-acne pulsing in response to the burning feeling. He would feel his heartbeat slow, then speed back up; he would go into a feverish state down into a cold sweat and back again. He would suffer this every night, his cries for help going unanswered.

The nurses and doctors were terrified to come near him. He was almost always alone except for whenever a timid doctor would enter the room to do more tests on him in order to cure this one-of-a-kind ailment. Not even his own family visited him. There was only one person who dared enter his room of their own free will; his nurse Rachel. She would come in his room every morning without fail. She would check on him, talk with him, ignored the hideous lumps on his face and treated him like a normal person. She was well aware of the rumors spreading around the hospital about Vlad Masters being a monster, something not human, but she didn't care. As far as she was concerned, Vlad was a patient that needed her help.

One day, Rachel came into the Vlad's hospital room with a smile on her face. "Vlad, you have a visitor." She said cheerfully, clutching her clipboard tight to her chest. Vlad watched as she walked into the room and helped him sit up. Shortly after he was upright in bed, the door creaked open and a head of curly brown hair popped in.

Vlad's eyes widened as Maddie stepped through the door. She and Rachel shared a look and Rachel checked Vlad's clipboard one last time before leaving the room. The silence that filled the room afterwards was deafening. "Is Jack here too?" Vlad asked, breaking the silence.

Maddie shook her head, offering Vlad a small smile.  "Just me." She answered. Maddie walked over to Vlad's bed, pulling up a chair and sitting next to Vlad. She reached for his hand, then hesitated once she noticed the bandages. She finally rested her hand on top of Vlad's, though made an obvious effort to be careful. "I'm sorry I haven't visited you sooner." Maddie said, her voice a little choked. She lowered her head, her curly hair falling in her face. "The past two weeks have been pretty busy at the university. The lab was shut down for radiation warnings, the press was everywhere wanting to know about you and your condition. It was hell trying to keep them away from you. Jack and I wanted to make sure you had a peaceful recovery." The brunette went on, explaining everything that Vlad had missed the past two weeks he had been in the hospital.

Vlad smiled and flipped his hand so he could hold hers. "Thank you Maddie. Both you and Jack." He said quietly.

Maddie looked up at Vlad and immediately burst into tears. She let go of Vlad's bandaged hand and covered her face, sobbing into her hands. "I'm so sorry Vlad." She cried. "We never meant for this to happen. I've been working on a cure but so far I've gotten nothing. I'm a terrible friend."

The crying woman felt a gentle hand rest on her shoulder. "Maddie, just you being here is more than enough for me." Vlad whispered. Maddie looked up at her friend and saw his sincere expression. "I apologize for my outburst back then." He added softly.

Maddie quickly shook her head. "You don't have to apologize Vlad, you had and still have every right to be mad at us." She told him, wiping away the last of her tears. She gave him a small smile, "I hope you've been behaving yourself here mister." Maddie said in a joking tone. 

"Oh you know me," Vlad replied, "ever the playboy." The two friends laughed as the tension in the air faded. The two of them spent the rest of visiting hours just chatting about whatever came to mind. Maddie caught him up on what he had missed in university and offered to bring him the work he missed so he won't go crazy from boredom. 

After a few more hours of talking, the two friends heard a knock on the door. Vlad shouted for them to come in and Rachel poked her head in the room. "I'm sorry to break up the conversation but visiting hours are over." She said, giving them a tense smile. Maddie and Vlad looked to the clock in the room and both their eyes widened as they realized how quickly the time had passed. 

Maddie blushed, standing up from her seat. "Sorry, I'll get going now." She said as she grabbed her purse and headed to the door. She paused in the the doorway and turned back to the Vlad. "I promise to come visit again." Maddie said with a smile.

"I'll hold you to it then." Vlad chuckled. Maddie's grin grew as she waved goodbye one last time and left, closing the door behind her.

The bed-ridden man sighed happily, staring at the doorway. The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped him back to reality. Vlad's face turned beet red as he remembered that Rachel was still in the room with him. He looked over at the nurse and saw her smirking at him.

She placed a hand on her cheeked and tilted her head. "Ah, young love." She mused, giggling to herself. Vlad raised an eyebrow at that as Rachel couldn't be much older than him, while also trying to hide his blush. Rachel noticed the blush and smiled gently at him. "Hun, I noticed the second you saw her that you had feelings for her, "Rachel said, "and let me tell you, I think she digs you too."

Vlad's eyes widened and his blush rose to his ears. He felt his heartbeat grow faster and started wringing his hands. He looked up at the nurse with hope in his eyes, "You really think so?" he asked. Rachelnodded, taking up the seat next to Vlad and checking his IV drip.

"I don't think I should say anything, but I saw her looking at the visiting hour times quite a bit," Rachel said offhandedly. "I think you can expect more visits in your future." Vlad felt a smile grow on his face and, for a brief moment, forgot all about the Ecto-Acne and everything else that ailed him. Even if he suffered the same pain he did every night, at least it would be lessened by the fact that someone out there still cared about him.

That night, when Vlad was all alone, he was struck with the burning pain running through his veins once more, though he noticed it wasn't as bad as it had been in the past. In fact, it felt more like a nuisance than anything else. And when he looked in the mirror after the pain had died down, there was no sign of the blue-faced fanged man he had seen before. All that stared back at him was a tan figure with glistening white hair and solid green eyes. Vlad didn't know what this meant, or if it meant anything at all, but he smiled regardless. 

He laid down in bed, wishing for tomorrow to arrive quickly.

The Posh Line Break is here once more to improve your wardrobe! I absolutely love those pants your wearing darling! Here, have a pair of boots from my newest line.  I hope you enjoy the rest of chapter!

Maddie came to visit Vlad the next day without fail. She brought with her all the work Vlad had missed and the two worked on homework while also chatting about whatever came to mind. Vlad noticed that Jack was never with Maddie, but didn't comment on it. Maddie would visit whenever she didn't have classes, during holidays or when she just had free time. She would always stay until visiting hours were over, and always stayed with Vlad.

Days turned into weeks, weeks turned to months and months turned to years. Maddie would still come to visit Vlad and bring him work and textbooks given to her by Vlad's professors. She would also give the work he completed back to Vlad's professors. One day, she came with a letter from his business professor that said that if he continued his progress, he would be able to graduate from business college. This made Vlad overjoyed and he and Maddie celebrated that night with a Chinese takeout. Not exactly the best celebratory dinner but Vlad was happy nonetheless.

Later that night, Vlad awoke in the middle of the night and found himself floating above his bed. He shouted in surprise and fell back towards the bed and, to his surprise, passed right through it. He landed on the floor instead and grunted upon impact. Vlad crawled out from under the bed and rubbed his head, or at least tried to. For some reason, he couldn't feel his hand on his head. Vlad lowered his arm and noticed that his hand was completely see-through.

At first he was surprised, but he quickly came to grips with what he was seeing. Vlad felt as if he was finally understanding what was happening to him. He took in slow breaths and felt a warm energy spread through his body. His hand returned to normal and Vlad flexed it to test it out. The man sighed, leaning against his bed. "So," he muttered to himself, "I guess I'm just going to have to get used to this hm?"

Two years later, Maddie came to the hospital to visit a half-recovered Vlad with a present. That day, Vlad had just been told that his symptoms were lessening; as well as the majority of his Ecto-Acne being gone and he couldn't have been happier. Ever since that night two years ago, he had been experimenting on himself. He would test out his control over his abilities and decided that through some odd means, he now had ghost-like abilities and powers. He could turn himself invisible, intangible, float and recently he discovered that he could form small orbs of pink energy in his hand. He didn't test that last power very often as the last time he tried it the orb blew up in his face.

Maddie burst into the room holding a large envelope and a huge smile plastered on her face. She raced to Vlad's side and thrust the envelope into his hands before Vlad could get a word out. The brunette stared at Vlad, obviously waiting for him to open the envelope. The man opened the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. One was a letter addressed to him and the other was a laminated document. Vlad took one look at the document and felt tears spring to his eyes. It was his bachelor's degree for his business program. 

Maddie flung her arms around Vlad congratulating him over and over. Vlad hugged her back, sobbing into his shoulder. The two stayed like that for several minutes before parting and just talked about how amazing this all was.

Another year passed and Vlad noticed that Maddie's visits were becoming shorter and more sparse. She also seemed very unhappy whenever she arrived, but cheered up when she saw Vlad. Though he noticed that she would resume her saddened expression when she was leaving. Once, Vlad tried asking her about this but she just changed the topic. She asked about Vlad's business that he had started up.

After getting his degree, Vlad decided to start up his own company with the encouragement from both Maddie andRachel. It was currently doing well and since Vlad was his own boss, he didn't have to worry about getting a job while still confined to a hospital bed. 

Shortly after Maddie left for the day, Rachel walked into the room. Vlad waved at her, "Afternoon Rachel," he said with a smile. He paused, placing a hand on his chin and smirking, "Or should I say Doctor Rachel?"

Rachel smiled at him, adjusting her doctor's coat. "You should." She replied jokingly. The redhead walked over to Vlad, gently grabbing his wrist and checking his pulse. "No abnormalities." She said as she wrote on her clipboard. She then placed the clipboard to the side and sat down next to Vlad. "So how goes the powers? Anymore troubles?" she asked.

Rachel was the only person who knew about Vlad's powers. She had accidentally walked in on him when he was practicing controlling his intangibility at the same time as his flight. From that day on Vlad confided in her about his powers and she did her best to help him control them.

Vlad shook his head. "In fact," he said with a smirk, "look at this." He began swirling his hands and clapped. When he separated his hands, a flower made of flames floated above his palms.

Rachel's eyes widened in awe. "That's incredible!" She whisper-shouted. Rachel leaned back in the chair smiling. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to be a little charmer." She said, raising an eyebrow.

Vlad laughed, "Please, I know better than to get on Stephanie's bad side. Besides," Vlad looked to the window in his room, "you know better than anyone else I already have someone I like."

Rachel sighed, resting her elbow on the bed and her head on her hand. "Why don't you just tell her?" she asked. "What do you have to lose?"

The man was silent. Rachel noticed that Vlad wasn't going to answer her and didn't press the issue further. She stood up from her chair and grabbed her clipboard, adjusting his frizzy red locks behind her ears. "Well, I should get back to my rounds now," she said, heading for the door. Vlad didn't even look at her. Rachel sighed, "Just... think about what I said. Okay, Vlad?" Once again, Vlad was silent. The redhead shook her head and left the room.

Maddie continued to visit Vlad, despite her visits becoming shorter and rarer. This continued for one year until Maddie didn't visit for two weeks straight. During those two weeks, Vlad worried about Maddie. His head was filled with thoughts about what Rachel had said to him so long ago, about telling Maddie how he felt about her. He decided that the next time he saw her, Vlad would be honest about his feelings towards her. It had been four long years in that hospital, he was finally close to being fully recovered and realized that he had spent enough time with Maddie to know that this was more than just a mere crush. He felt that deep in his heart that he truly loved Maddie.

Almost as if a sign from above, Maddie entered the room. Vlad snapped to attention smiled at Maddie. Though his smile quickly fell when he saw Maddie's red and puffy eyes. "Maddie..." he began.

The brunette slowly walked over to Vlad, taking a seat beside him and reaching for his hand. "Vlad," she whispered, "Jack and I are getting married."

Vlad felt something sharp pierce his heart. No... it couldn't be true. "What do you mean?" He asked, despite his throat feeling like it was closing up. 

Tears fell from Maddie's eyes. "We're getting married Vlad," she sobbed. 

The man felt his heart ache looking at Maddie's crying face. He couldn't believe that after he had finally mustered up the courage to confess to Maddie she was being taken from him. He would have been able to take it better had he seen her happy, but Maddie was quite visibly upset about this. This confused Vlad. "Why are you crying then?" he asked, "Maddie, talk to me."

Maddie sniffed, clutching Vlad's hand. Her other hand rested on her stomach. "I'm pregnant,"
 she whispered. Vlad felt his heart sink into his stomach. Maddie... was pregnant? With Jack's child? "We're getting married because of this." she explained. Maddie continued to talk but Vlad had tuned her out. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. 

Vlad squeezed her hand back, offering her a supportive smile. "It's going to be okay Maddie," Vlad said softly.

This made Maddie cry harder. She stood up and hugged Vlad tightly. "I'm so sorry, Vlad," she cried, "I didn't want this to happen!" Before Vlad could ask what she meant, Maddie pulled away from Vlad and planted her lips on his. Vlad became stiff with shock. He felt her tears land on his cheeks as she continued to kiss him. The brunette moved away from Vlad and locked eyes with him. "You don't remember what happened after the accident, do you?" she asked. Vlad slowly shook his head, still not totally aware of what was happening.

Maddie sighed, returning her seat. "After you were hit with the energy, you told me you liked me," she confessed. Vlad's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak but Maddie continued, "When I came to visit you I wanted to see if you remembered telling me that, but you showed no memory of it. I hoped by visiting every day, I would hear you say it again." Tears fell from her eyes, "I should have broken up with Jack after I realized your feelings for me. You were always kind to me Vlad, I just never noticed that you felt that way," she sobbed. 

Vlad fought to form words. He screamed at himself to speak, to reply, to say something, anything. "I... I don't like you," Vlad finally managed to say. Maddie looked up at him, shock in her tear-glistened eyes. In his mind, Vlad was punching himself in the gut and wished that he could turn invisible at this very moment. 

Maddie stood up quickly, biting her lip. "I hate you, Vlad!" she screamed as she ran out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Vlad stared at the door for a long time, before sinking into his pillows. Tears streamed from his eyes as his heart ached. Why couldn't he say it? 

"I like you, Maddie. Marry me instead."

Vlad cursed himself for being such an idiot. He thought he was doing the right thing by not returning her feelings, thus ensuring she would be happy with the father of her child. But at what cost? That night, Vlad didn't sleep. He floated upwards, phasing through the roof of the hospital and flying to the back garden. He turned himself visible as he walked through the grounds, letting his hand brush against the flowers. At one point he pricked himself on a thorn, but ignored it as the blood dripped from his finger. 

A pain throbbed in his chest, urging him to hold onto his rage, let it consume him and get revenge on those who had wronged him. But Vlad ignored the call. He knew that his pain was his own fault. This was all his doing, and he would be the one to suffer for it. 

You have chosen the right path

Suddenly, a warm feeling spread through Vlad's body, from his chest to the tips of his fingers and toes and even the top of his head. Vlad watched in awe as glowing rings of white light formed around his midsection and washed over him. Vlad closed his eyes from the bright light and when he opened the again he was staring down at a black HAZMAT suit paired with white gloves and boots. Vlad ran to the bird fountain in the garden and peered into the water. He now had solid green eyes, glowing in the night, paired with long, flowing white hair and tan skin. Vlad looked closely at his reflection, still in awe of it all. His depressing thoughts about Maddie all but gone.

He smiled and laughed to himself and he flew into the air, feeling a sense of weightlessness that he had never felt before. "Oh boy," he said to himself, "wait 'till Rachel sees this."

Normal Line Break here. Man, I'm starting to feel like I'm in a romantic drama instead of a Danny Phantom fanfic. Maybe I should look for a new job? Anyways, enjoy the rest of the chapter. Or don't, I'm not the boss of you.

1992.

Vlad walked through the halls of DALV co. with his secretary trailing behind him. "Mr. Masters, you have a meeting with Mr. Huang at noon today about the Hong Kong expansion and Mr. Goldstein is asking for a dinner tonight regarding the European transfers," she said, adjusting her files and fixing her glasses as she raced after her boss.

"Thank you Tiffany," Vlad said, walking up to the elevator. The secretary, Tiffany, hopped on the elevator after him just as the doors closed.

Six years had passed since Vlad had been released from the hospital. He now owned three separate companies, each he had built from the ground up, was known as the Wisconsin Dairy King and was one of the most famous billionaires in the world. His companies were known for their cutting edge technology and wealthy science research department which not only helped local hospitals but also assisted in third world countries regarding health care and schooling. 

Vlad and Tiffany arrived at the top floor and exited the elevator. They stepped into an open hall and Tiffany ran to her desk to answer the phone. Vlad walked by her and into his office, closing the door softly behind him. He sighed softly, pinching the bridge of his nose. The grey haired man walked to his desk and sat down in his leather chair. He turned around to look out the wall length window above the city.

Never in a million years would he dream that he would be where he is today. Who knew his own little self-funded project would lure in investors and help him build his multi-billion dollar companies. Here he was, at the top of the world, all by himself. Well, not completely.

"Mr. Masters, you ten-thirty is here." Tiffany's voice came over the intercom. 

Vlad smiled and turned around, pressing the intercom. "Send her in." He answered. Vlad leaned back in his chair as the doors to his office opened and a familiar redhead walked into his office. 

She no longer had frizzy curls, replaced by straightened hair. She still had freckles dotting her pale skin and there were smile lines on her cheeks. Her sparkling green eyes fell on Vlad and she raised an eyebrow. "Looking very comfortable in your chair Mister President," Rachel said, teasingly. 

Vlad leaned further back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk. "Feeling comfortable, Miss Medical Director," he replied smartly. Ever since Vlad had been discharged from the hospital, Rachel and him had kept in touch; especially since his hidden side business. 

She sighed, hiding her proud blush. "Oh please, you and Stephanie do that just to tease me," she laughed. Her eyes lit up and she gently pounded her fist into her open palm, "That reminds me, she wants you to come over for dinner tonight."

Vlad smiled, removing his feet from the desk and leaning forward, "If she's making her famous taco salad, not even Undergrowth could stop me from coming over." In the six years Vlad had left the hospital, not only had he built his companies from the ground up, he was also the city's famous hero; Vlad Phantom. He had saved the city of Madison countless times from ghosts and ghost attacks and had made quite the name for himself.

Apparently the Proto-Portal accident that had happened nearly ten years ago caused a fluctuation in Ecto-Energy in Madison, Wisconsin and this was causing natural ghost portals to open and ghosts to escape into the human world. Vlad took it upon himself to return ghosts to the Ghost Zone, as he had dubbed it. Returning ghosts to the Ghost Zone was no easy task. He had to teach himself to make ghost portals and that sapped a lot of his energy. He was getting more skilled at it, but after four years of practice he still had a long way to go.

On the surface his companies made advanced technology for humane purposes, but underneath it was also used to further Vlad's quest for justice. He had even been working on a fully functional Ghost Portal in the hidden lab beneath his castle. Rachel helped wherever she could but her area of expertise was more medicine based. On top of running the hospital, she was also Vlad's personal doctor. Whenever he was injured in a fight, he went to her for treatment. 

Rachel laughed, "I'll be sure to tell her that." She walked over to Vlad's desk and took a seat. "Now, as for the reason I'm really here," Rachel said, her tone becoming serious. She flipped her straightened red hair over her shoulder and placed a file on Vlad's desk. She opened the file and revealed Vlad's medical file. "I've been doing tests and you're still perfectly healthy. No side-effects, no abnormalities, nothing," she said, looking up at Vlad. A playful smirk formed on her face, "I dare say you're fit as a fiddle good sir."

Vlad sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You can never be too careful," he answered. Rachel nodded, silently agreeing with Vlad.

The intercom on Vlad's desk came to life as Tiffany's voice said, "I apologize for interrupting you Mr. Masters, but your eleven o'clock has asked for you to come as soon as you can."

Vlad and Rachel shared a look. Rachel smiled and nodded. Vlad answered the intercom and replied, "Thank you Tiffany, let them know I'll be there shortly."

Rachel stood from her seat gathering her papers. "You know, I'm starting to feel more like your personal nurse than a Medical Director," she mused, mocking a hurt voice.

Vlad raised an eyebrow at her antics. "Would an apple pie and a bottle of Champagne make it better?" he asked.

"Make it Bordeaux and you have a deal," Rachel answered without missing a beat, mischief hidden in her sparkling green eyes.

Vlad shook his head, grabbing his jacket and walking towards the door. "You drive a hard bargain, but if it'll make you forgive me then how can I possibly refuse?" he said, opening the door and gesturing her to leave first, even bowing slightly. Rachel stuck out her tongue like a child and waltzed out the door. Vlad told Tiffany to hold his calls and he and Rachel boarded the elevator. 

THE GREAT AND POWERFUL LINE BREAK HAS APPEARED TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER EVEN BETTER! GIVE ME YOUR PRAISE AND OFFERINGS AND CONTINUE READING THE CHAPTER! 

"Thank you Mr. Masters, your security systems will help us greatly," said Mr. Richardson, owner of a very popular hotel in Madison.

"The pleasure is all mine Mr. Richardson," replied Vlad, shaking the short, stout man's hand. Normally he didn't handle business as small as this but seeing as the hotel's security system was down due to a fight he had with Technus at this hotel, it was the least he could do.

Vlad bid goodbye to Mr. Richardson and walked through the lobby he bumped into someone, causing them to drop their luggage. "My apologies," Vlad said, "I should have been watching where I was go..." Vlad trailed off as he realized who he had just bumped into. Her hair was much shorter than it was when he had last seen her, but it was definitely her. "Maddie?" he asked softly.

The woman looked up and her eyes nearly popped out of her head. "Vlad?" she whispered in shock. Vlad helped Maddie to her feet and noticed a small girl with bright orange hair hiding behind Maddie's leg.

He smiled at the woman. "Well, it certainly has been a long time since I've seen you," Vlad said, looking around the lobby. "Where's Jack? I never got to congratulate you two on your marriage."

Maddie looked down and her grip on her luggage visible tightened. "Vlad, do you have time to spare?" she asked.

The next thing Vlad knew, they were at the local McDonald's and the girl that was with Maddie was off playing in the playzone. "I see you've been doing well," Maddie said, nibbling on her fries. "People've been saying you're bound to become Billionaire of the Year in no time."

Vlad's heart ached. It had been six years since he had last seen Maddie, but the words he said to her still rang clearly in his head, as did his memory of her tear stained face. He cleared his throat, "What about you?" he asked. His eyes went to the playplace and saw the orange haired girl happily playing with the other children. "She's a beautiful girl." he mused.

Maddie smiled weakly, "Thank you." She sighed as she munched on her fries again.

"So," Vlad started, "Are you here on a family getaway?" 

Maddie tensed. She pushed the tray away from her and stared into Vlad's eyes. "It's just me and Jazz," she answered. Vlad tilted his head slightly, scrunching his eyes. Before he could inquire further, Maddie finished, "Jack and I got a divorce." Vlad's eyes widened. Once again he tried to speak but Maddie cut him off. "It wasn't working out between us. I only married him because I was pregnant with Jazz at the time," she sighed, "I'm sorry to dump all this on you. After you made it very clear how you felt about me."

She stood up from the table, walking towards the playplace. "I'll get Jazz and leave. I'm sorry for pulling you away from work. I just needed an old friend to talk to," she said softly.

Vlad quickly got up from his seat, the chair making a scraping sound on the ground. He had made the mistake of letting her go once before and look what happened to her. He wasn't going to let that happen again. "Maddie!" he shouted, racing to her side and taking her hand. "What I said all those years ago, I didn't mean it," he explained quickly. "I've actually loved you ever since I met you. Even after the accident I still loved you, I just said I didn't because I thought it was better for you to be with Jack. I now see that I was wrong." He tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her into a hug, burying his face in her shoulder and ignoring the crowd of people staring at them. "I haven't stopped thinking about you for the past six years Maddie. I still love you. I know you probably hate me and don't believe me but I just-" Vlad was cut off by Maddie shoving him off her.

The woman grabbed him by the collar and slapped Vlad across the face. "You idiot!" she screamed. Vlad braced for another hit but was instead pulled closer to Maddie as she planted a kiss on his lips. When they broke apart Maddie had tears running down her face. "I still love you too. All those years I was with Jack, I kept thinking about you too," she sobbed. 

Vlad hugged her tightly. "If you have nowhere to go, would you and Jazz like to stay with me?" he asked. Maddie nodded, crying into Vlad's shoulder. 

Jazz came out of the playplace and tugged on Maddie's pantleg. "Mama, what's wrong?" the little girl asked.

Maddie broke away from Vlad, quickly wiping away her tears. She knelt down, hugging her daughter, "Mama's just happy honey," Maddie assured her.

Jazz smiled, hugging her mom back and patting her on the head. "Good!" she said happily. Jazz looked up at Vlad and gave him a toothy smile. "Thanks for making mama happy!" she said.

He smiled and bowed, "It was my pleasure." Jazz giggled at the gesture.

Maddie stood, taking Jazz's hand and Vlad's. "Shall we get going then?" she asked. Vlad smiled as the three of them walked out of the restaurant. 

The older man was so happy, he could hardly stop himself from skipping. He finally had the one he wanted most in the world. He knew they had a long way to go, even if their feelings were mutual. Vlad realized he was going to have to call Rachel and Stephanie and tell them to put out two more place settings for the newest editions to his family. He hoped they liked taco salad. Vlad squeezed Maddie's hand as they walked to his car. They shared a smile, looking forward to the days ahead.

If only these peaceful days could continue forever...

If only there hadn't been the mistake...

If only...

If only...

A/N: Hey guys, I am so sorry this chapter took so long to come out. I wasn't in the best state of mind for a long time and only recently got back into a creative flow. I also got writer's block despite actually having a set plot for this thing but eh, stuff happens. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, the next one hopefully shouldn't take as long. See you all in the next one!