Bloody Vows

by J. E Hanson

  The woman gazes over at Joey, and he nods his head yes. The woman snaps a birthing gown on me, and she points at the bed.

  She begins to ask me a few general questions, “When was your last monthly? Have you been pregnant before?”

  The date is October the thirtieth. “I believe my last period was on September the fourteenth. I’m not sure though. I was pregnant before, but I lost the baby.”

  The woman snaps an ultrasound machine causing the girls to gasp. The midwife helps me climb into bed, “You need to drop your knees to the side. Try to relax.”

  She checks my uterus by placing the ultrasound wand inside me. The girls flock around the television screen. There is a small white object floating around in my uterus. She zooms in, and then we could see the head and appendages forming.

  The midwife smiles, “You are four weeks pregnant, Princess Jeannie.”

  I peer at her strangely, “The other midwife didn’t catch my pregnancy, when they did a physical on me last month. That means I should have already been pregnant. Why did he not tell me that I am pregnant?”

  Their midwife scratches her head, “You were probably not showing anything. That means conception probably was forming around that time. That is why your midwife did not confirm a positive pregnancy. In other words, you were too early in your pregnancy. He would have not been able to detect the HCG—or human chorionic gonadotropin level either. This happens all the time, Princess Jeannie. From what I can tell, your baby is developing right on time. There is nothing to fear. You have at least thirty-four more weeks to go. Does the father know?”

  Joey walks over to my side, “He has been talking about their baby all night long. Of course, he knows, because he has been waiting for their miracle to happen. He also loves Jeannie very much, and he is marrying her tomorrow. This will put his mind at ease knowing that their baby is doing okay.”

  The midwife smiles at me, and then she reinserts the ultrasound wand. The men stand by my head. She checks my uterus, and then the baby again. She takes precise measurements. “I estimate that your baby will arrive on—or after June the fourteenth. You can even see a tiny flutter of the heart beginning to beat.”

  We gush to see a tiny heartbeat fluttering. The tiny heart is so small that you do need a magnifying glass to see it. Joey snaps his fingers to record the heartbeat. He will give it to Christian as a wedding present. The midwife has a name now, “My name is Dr. Olivia Hail, but you may call me Olivia.”

  She hands me her business card, and the ultrasound pictures of my baby. I can no longer help it, but cry tears of joy, as I study all these pictures. She hands me nausea medication.

  Dr. Olivia smiles at me sweetly, “The nausea medicine will make you drowsy. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

  She receives a hug from me, “Thank you for putting my mind at ease. I really do appreciate this.”

  I practically squeeze Rosalie and Joey to death for taking my fear away. Ember and Gabriel receive a few hugs too.

  Gabriel glances at his watch, “We need to go back to the bachelor party, before Christian tries to escape from us, bro.”

  Joey chuckles, and then he kisses Rosalie goodbye. Gabriel kisses Ember, and her belly goodbye. She is so right about him sniffing her belly. I caught him trying to detect a scent. There is nothing to inform him of what they are having just yet. As they leave, “I will let Chris know that everything is okay with the baby.”

  “Thank you, Joey. I really appreciate this.”

  Chapter 11

  We have a blast at my bachelorette party. We play games, and even deal with all those male strippers. After the party ends, Rosalie hides all the evidence. I need my sleep, and so I went to bed. The others stay up, and party all night long.

  On October 31, 2012, Rosalie shakes me a few times, “I am making sure you’re not dead. You are about to become Mrs. Hunter in less than three hours. I am waking you up now.”

  Ember helps her by jerking off my warm cocoon, “Come on girl! It is time to get hitched!”

  I glance out the windows, and I can see the violet crimson sky. It takes me a moment, but I sit up. I stumble out of bed to take a hot shower. Rosalie’s bathroom is equally as huge as mine is. All I have to do is shampoo my hair and scrub my body. I never have to shave, because Louie applied a sealant to my body. He is about to patent it, and sell it to other supernatural creatures. Louie cuts time off my showers, since I no longer have to shave anything. After drying off, the girls hand me my lingerie. Willow helps me out with everything today. They help me step inside another expensive pre-wedding dress. My dress is ivory with gold trim and short. Rosalie points at her watch to signal that it is almost time to leave for the dome building. We make sure all my bridesmaids make it to the dome building too. Louie will meet us there with his hair supply and makeup.

  I make sure all of them are in the limo. Willow holds my arm, as I shake nervously.

  “I think you are both terrified and nervous. I promise you that everything will be fine, Jeannie.”

  “You think?” I snicker for a brief moment.

  Willow, Violet, Rosalie, Ember, and I sit together inside the large achromatic limo. I am still shaking nervously. Violet knows that expression. She snaps a barf bucket in my lap. I fling my head over the bucket to throw up violently. She moves beside me, and then she holds my hair back, “Oh, you poor thing! Well, I guess it is better out than in, my dear!”

  I finish throwing up right in front of the dome building. Flashes of bulbs shoot from all different directions. We return to the same place, in which Rosalie had her second wedding. The gold reflects in the violet crimson sky. Violet cleans my face off, and then she hands me another glass of her miracle cure. It is down the hatch in no time. My belly eases from the nausea automatically. I still have a bad case of the nerves. The angels are taking over security today.

  Uriel is a tall and broad angel. He has long curly auburn hair and ocean-blues. He finally opens the door, “Are you girls ready? We were able to move the paparazzi back,” he confirmed.

  I step out of the limousine first. The paparazzi go ballistic. They shove their microphones in my face, and they demand a response. As soon as we step in the dome building, we can hear classical music playing behind the alabaster doors. Violet hides me behind an ivory jacket while Willow escorts me into the bridal suite. Louie greets us there. He is wearing an ebony tuxedo. Before I could continue to study him intently, the case of nerves hits again.

  “You will be okay. This is just Louie, honey. You will not lose it anymore. You have to take a deep breath. You got this,” Violet talks me through it.

  Louie takes out fans for me, “This should help, Princess.”

  I study Louie intently. He is wearing a cerise silk shirt with a vest. I can see his cerise velvet tie. The panic emerges again. He forces me to sit in a seat, and then he begins to work on my hair. He brushes my hair, and then he automatically rolls my hair in curlers. His hands move in a blur.

  Rosalie cocks her head to the side, “You roll quicker than I can roll mine! I am so jealous!”

  Louie flashes a non-vampire smile, “I have fifteen girls to work on. There are only three hours until show time to make sure everyone is a diva. I will be damned, if any of you have a stray hair sticking out.”

  After Louie finishes working on my hair, he immediately works on Willow’s hair next. He continues to go down the line, one by one, curling and spraying hair. He definitely has his work cut out for him today. Willow hands me a slip to put on next. She helps me out of dress number one, and into my slip. My hands are trembling even worse. Violet hands me another mug to keep the butterflies away. My wedding dress remains hidden in a slate dress bag. Sean joins us next. I glance at him, and he wears an ebony tuxedo with a cerise shirt underneath, “Your help is here, Princess! Are you ready?”

  I peer over at Violet, and the tears are mounting. “You will be just fine! Now… we need to go ahead, and put your wedding dress on,” Violet is a calm and gene
rous mom. I can’t help, but automatically cling to her, as my maternal support. She is definitely an easy person to fall in love with, as a maternal figure.

  She unzips it. All the girls gawk at it. Barbie arrives a little late. She stares at me with disgust and dismay. She is one of my bridesmaids, because she is currently dating Alexander.

  Sean takes out the dress, “Okay! Come here, Jeannie! It is time to get this show on the road!”

  The clock reveals that there is only thirty minutes left. He snaps his fingers at me to get me to step inside the dress. I am still panicking, but Sean zips me up.

  Rosalie whistles, “Oh that is one beautiful dress! You are so beautiful!”

  Louie takes out my curlers, and he places the tiara on my head. They wait to put the veil on until Louie finishes my makeup. Now the clock reveals that there is only fifteen minutes left. He moves even quicker for a vampire. He can move fast when he wants to. He fixes Barbie’s hair last. Willow picks up the veil, and she wraps it around my tiara. Louie returns to put the final bobby pins in to make sure everything stays in place.

  Papa knocks on the door. Violet lets him in. He looks dashing today. He actually has his matching crimson long hair back in a low ponytail. He slowly walks over to me with a smile on his face, before he drops my veil, “You are so gorgeous, Jeannie. I want to make sure you realize how much I love you. I am very proud of you,” he smiles, and kisses each cheek.

  The vomit stows away at the pit of my stomach this time. Violet hugs me once again, “Remember to breathe, and you will be just fine!”

  Louie finishes working on the flower girls and bridesmaids. Barbie walks over to me, “I know we had our differences, but I want to express my congratulations and good luck,” she lightly pecks my cheek, and then she walks away.

  My veil hides my face. We continue to take additional pictures. Willow’s assistant Janet is the one who helped me take all those provocative pictures to entice Christian. Janet will take all the pictures of my wedding. My grandpa stands about six feet tall. He relaxes, and then he focuses on escorting me down the aisle. You can tell we are family, simply by our facial features. Louie pins his crown to his head. My Great-Grandfather Saber Denali is the king, and he is the oldest vampire in the whole world. The man who I am about to marry, is now the fourth oldest vampire in the whole world. My fiancé is actually from Abila, Greece, which is no longer a city. We are marrying in his way and my way just to be fair. We also have to marry by the current vampire laws. My grandfather wears a long onyx coat. Underneath his long onyx coat, he is wearing a cherry with gold vest underneath. The cream shirt has gold trim on it. He has an onyx staff with a bright ruby topping off his staff. On his head, sits a large crown with rubies flowing through it. I nervously hold his hand tightly. The flower girls are wearing matching ivory dresses with a cerise bows tied around their waists. My bridesmaids are all wearing sleeveless and strapless dresses. Only my maid of honor wears a different dress. While their dresses are garnet, her dress is garnet with gold trim around the top and bottom of her dress. Each dress matches in length. Louie fixes Ember and Rosalie’s tiaras. I watch him go from girl to girl just to make sure their hair and makeup are flawless.

  Louie glances down at his watch, and then he realizes that he needs to go, “I want to wish you good luck, and I will see you at the end, Princess Jeannie.”

  He blows me a kiss and leaves. Susan is earning her money today. She lines up the first ten bridesmaids, and then she motions for them to march down the aisle first. Violet and Sean leave with Louie. We have three photographers springing into action, besides Janet on my side. His side also has cameras snapping pictures. The dome is a large alabaster building with a gold top. Tanya wishes me good luck, and then she follows right behind Barbie. Rosalie smiles at me. I watch Ember leave next. Rosalie follows behind Ember and Willow. My flower girls are politely standing in front of me with the ring bearers. Alexander holds on to the real rings. The ring bearers are only there to escort the flower girls without the pillow. Papa places my hand around his arm. I notice Susan is wearing an earpiece and she motions for us to proceed slowly.

  I descend the curvy stairs. My nerves are all over the place. I stare at the ceiling, and I notice the intricate artwork of angels. Papa tilts my head down. The photographer continues to take shots of us together.

  We pause right in front of the doorway, “I want you to relax, Jeannie. You are shaking uncontrollably right now. Everything will be just fine,” Papa, whispers, as he tries to soothe me.

  I glance around us quickly, “Are you sure, Ava will not show up to ruin our wedding?”

  “I hired sharp shooters just in case she shows up. Ava surely isn’t stupid enough to show her face at your wedding. Try to relax, my dear,” his voice pacifies me.

  The doors swing open, and then the music changes. Papa nudges me a little, “Make sure you smile Jeannie. Here we go.”

  The large crowd stands up in unison. I remember to take my first step with Papa. Susan gestures for me with her hand to move another step forward. The crowd is much bigger than what I thought. My nerves continue to pound a mile a minute. We follow the scarlet with gold runner in the middle of the aisle. A large bouquet of ivory roses with Baby’s Breath is in my hands. My head remains straight as Susan wants. The flashes of light blind me. I can hear gasps with people commenting on how beautiful I appear. The wedding march seems to last forever. The time slowly ticks, as we walk to the altar. Ahead of me, there is sudden movement. The flower girls are way ahead of me. We pass the next ten aisles. Christian stands from a distance. His blonde hair is straight and down his back.

  I somehow make it to the altar without getting sick. His perfectly chiseled face reveals a huge smile. So far, so good.

  The first preacher steps out first, “Who gives this woman to this man?”

  Papa steps forward, “I, King Saber Denali, give this woman, Princess Jeanne Zorelle Justice-Denali, to Christian Alexander Hunter. I am also representing her late parents, Prince Forest Ray and Princess Shawna Anne Justice.”

  Papa places my hand in Christian’s hand. I finally get to face my breathtakingly beautiful prince. Supernatural News is televising our wedding live. We know we are running a huge risk of my sister crashing our wedding. My preacher will go first, follow by his customs. We start to exchange our wedding vows. My nerves are still pulsating. By some sort of miracle, my morning sickness stops.

  In return, he takes the cloth with my locks sewn in for him. We place water and food for the gods to bless our marriage. Papa already gave his blessing for our marriage. A kiss signifies the end of our Greek wedding. We will feast, and then later consecrate our marriage.

  My preacher steps up. He starts to talk about the importance of loyalty, love, and trust.

  Louie steps over to me and uncovers the veil.

  “We will now recite the chosen wedding vows. We will start with Princess Jeanne first,” my preacher says with a smile.

  “I, Princess Jeanne Zorelle, promise to love, honor, and cherish Christian Alexander, and forsaking all others for all eternity.”

  I place the gold band on his long ring finger. His eyes are dancing with joy, “I, Christian Alexander, promise to love, honor, cherish Princess Jeanne Zorelle, and forsaking all others for all eternity.”

  He slips the gold band over my left ring finger. My preacher backs off to allow our vampire ceremony commence.

  Zohar stands in front of us, “In honor of tradition, we will marry Vampire Christian Alexander Hunter to Vampiress Princess Jeanne Zorelle Justice-Denali. Both must kneel before me.”

  Zohar takes out two velvet cherry pillows for us. Rosalie, Ember, and Tanya lean in to watch their first vampire wedding. They are curious about our traditional customs. We kneel before each other on the matching pillows. Zohar will begin our wedding ceremony, “I have the creed signed from both parties. Now we will pass the royal crown around for Prince Christian Alexander Hunter.” He uncovers a ruby crown, which is a tad smaller
than Papa’s crown. Zohar steps in front of each BIB member. Each Enforcer has to kiss his crown.

  After the eleven Enforcers kiss his crown, he hands it to me, and I kiss it. Zohar hands the crown to my Papa, and he has to kiss the crown. Once everyone pays their proper respect, the royal crown now rests on Christian’s head. Alexander steps forward, taking the jacket from Christian. Christian hands him one of his ruby gold cufflinks. He rolls up one of his sleeve, and I know what is about to happen next. Zohar takes out the familiar gold dagger from his vermilion cloak, “We will seal this vampire marriage for all eternity with the exchange of sacred blood.”

  I lift up my wrist. My friends gasp in horror. Zohar slits my wrist open, and then he places it over the gold chalice. He also turns to Christian, and then he slices his wrist open to drain some of his thick blood. He speaks in a Latin tongue, making opaque stygian smoke appear out of thin air, “We will now exchange fangs.”

  My fangs descend along with his. We are given the okay to kiss, but with our fangs out. I kiss him, and he flips his tongue over my fangs. I reciprocate, by sending us both into a sexual frenzy. Zohar returns the gold chalice for us to drink, and we both consume our blood combination. The blood automatically puts us at ease again. The pastor returns and he motions for us to stand up.

  After we stand up, all three of them announce in unison to the crowd, “You may kiss your bride.”

  Christian grins at me, and he is much calmer than I am. He jerks me close to him, and we kiss romantically for a few minutes.

  We stop, and Zohar stands next to us, “I am pleased to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs., Prince and Princess Christian Alexander Hunter. This marriage will remain for all eternity. Please congratulate the happy couple.”

  The crowd stands up to whistle and cheer at us. We kiss each other once more. He pats my stomach. My hand returns to his muscular arm.

  Susan instructs the photographers when, and where to take pictures of our wedding party.