Arranged Love

4. Meeting The In-Laws

"Can I meet my sister now?" Rose asked suddenly.

Annabelle looked at her. "Well, our betrothed couple is a bit preoccupied at the moment, but I think it will be alright for you to interrupt them."

"But just this once." Valerie added.

"Yes, Mama. Thank you, Queen Annabelle." She said in her cute six year old voice.

"You're welcome, Dear. Go on." Annabelle said.

Rose ran in the den excited and saw her brother. "GABEY!" She shouted and ran over hugging his legs.

This caused Gabriel to not only let go of Anna, but made Anna fall back and hit her ankle. "AH!"

Gabriel pried Rose off and helped Anna to stand back up. "You alright, Darling?"

"I think so. I just hit my ankle on the fall down. Nothing rebroken."

"You sure?"

"Yes. Though it probably would have had you not wrapped it the way you did."

Rose was startled that she caused her sister-in-law pain and teared up. "I SORRY. I didn't mean it. I didn't know." She said starting to cry.

Anna looked at her. "It's ok, Sweetie. It was an accident. You must be Rose."

Rose nodded. "You're not mad?"

"No. You didn't know. You were just excited to see Gabriel again."

Rose wiped her tears and carefully hugged her uninjured leg. "I love you already."

Anna smiled and reached down to hug her as best she could. "Same here, Rosy. Same here."

Rose looked up. "Only Gabey calls me Rosy." She said in aw.

"Well, I guess that makes two of us." Anna replied.

She smiled. "I like it. But you're the only other one allowed to call me that." She said sternly.

Anna laughed. "Very well. I better warn Velken. He'll slip up if I don't."

"Who's Velken?"

"My older brother. He should be down soon. He was in the library looking for something new to try and find Dracula."

"Oh. I heard about that. Mama and Papa told me. He seems weird."

"What do you mean weird?" Anna asked confused.

"I mean, your ancestor was the one meant to kill him, but he put him through a door to trap him instead. And then he made it so that none of you could enter into heaven until Dracula WAS killed. So instead of Dracula only killing his own father, he has revenge to kill all of you until no one is left. It's weird that he would take revenge on ALL of you when it was his father that trapped him." Rose explained.

She thought for a minute. "You're right. That is weird."

"But the curse is because of your ancestor. HIS father and it's not fair to you."

"True, but no matter how evil Dracula was, killing your own child is hard. And my ancestor knew that. That's why he made the vow that cursed us all. So given that he is my many times Great Uncle, it's easier for me to kill him instead because he's not my child. Nor am I HIS child. Understand?" Anna said.

"Yeah."

"Good. So, do I need to introduce myself? Or do you know?"

"No. I know your name is Anna. PRINCESS Anna." She corrected.

Anna giggled. "It's ok. I don't like titles. Anna is fine."

Rose sighed in relief. "Thank goodness!"

Gabriel finally spoke. "You wanna try that hug again, Rosy?"

Rose looked at him and smiled. Then she ran into his open arms. "I MISSED you!"

He laughed picking her up. "I missed you too." He said kissing her forehead. "So you ready to be our flower girl?"

She smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "VERY much!"

Anna laughed and kissed her forehead. "Good. Then we must find you a dress."

"But I brought one."

"We'll save it for another day. I wanna buy you something special to wear to the wedding."

"You'd do that?!?"

"Of course. You're to be my little sister and I wanna enjoy it."

"Thank you, Anna!"

"You're welcome. We'll go tomorrow."

"Ok."

The parents walked in and Valerie along with her husband Abraham gasped at the sight of Anna. She turned around to face them. "What's wrong?"

"You're not wearing a dress. Nor are you without crutches." Valerie said horrified.

"I'm with crutches because I had an accident yesterday morning when Gabriel and I went out riding."

"Her horse was spooked and accidentally bucked her off and stepped on her ankle." Gabriel said.

"And YOU, My always Obedient Son are not in your suit!"

"You know I HATE that thing." He replied.

"And I hate dresses. Hence the reason I am wearing what I am." Anna said.

"She is just as beautiful if not more so in what she's wearing than to when she wears a dress." Gabriel said and looked at Anna.

Anna looked at him with a smile. "I REALLY love you, Gabriel. You are the best."

He pecked her lips. "I beg to differ, My Wild Gypsy Princess. But YOU are the best."

She could only lean over and lay her head on his shoulder as she had no words to describe how sweet he is. After a few seconds, she pulled away with a smile. "Saturday could not come any slower. Oh, but I am not to see you tomorrow night! How will I stay away?"

"We'll spend today together and then when you and Rose get back from your shopping tomorrow, we'll spend it before the evening is to separate us for the night."

"Promise?"

"Promise. I love you, Darling."

"I love you too." She replied and pecked his lips.

Rose leaned over and hugged her. "I love you, Anna. You're the best big sister EVER."

She kissed the top of her head. "I love you too, Rosy."

The six year old pulled away and smiled. Abraham and the Valerious' smiled at the scene. "I believe we've found the perfect family." Abraham said.

The couple and Rose all looked at them and the couple blushed. "I believe we have." Annabelle agreed with a giggle.

Valerie was shocked, but smiled none the less. "I do have to agree with you."

Abraham rubbed her shoulder in approval. "Lets discuss the plans for it, shall we?"

Everyone agreed as Velken came running down the stairs. "PAPA! I found something! You must see this!"

Everyone turned to look at him. "What is it, My Son?" Boris asked.

"A prophesy. One that involves our to be married couple." He replied.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"Relax, Baby Sister. It is vital you know, but we can discuss it after the wedding plans."

"I thought it was important."

"It is. But not as important as getting this wedding set up."

"Alright. Wedding plans first it is." Boris said.

Everyone agreed and sat down. Anna was in Gabriel's lap and Rose was in hers.