The vampire realm was holding a large celebration for the Tepes family. The citizens of the land wanted to celebrate their benevolent leaders for their service to the community so when the Tepes children were only a few years old, they began to hold a massive royal holiday commemorating the birth of the Tepes quintuplets. Today marked the 20th birthday of the quints, the streets crowded with vendors selling their wares to the celebratory populace. The older vampires wanted to see Lord Wyatt and Lady Kyra along with Vlad and Lisa, but the younger vampires longed to see some of the Tepes quints.
"I can't wait to see what Princess Andromeda is wearing tonight." A vampire girl said excitedly to her friend.
"I can't wait to see Prince Andrew, have you seen his jaw line? And those muscles? Oh, he makes me swoon." The vampire girl's friend said waving her hand in front of her face.
"Yeah, but don't forget about Prince Duncan, he is kind of cute." Another vampire girl said.
"Daddy, I want to see the vampire family." A young vampire child said to her father who was hopping up and down excitedly.
"Be patient, they haven't come yet." The girl's father said to her.
None of the citizens noticed the few vampires observing the crowd nor would they. For the Vanguard of the Tepes family, stealth and security were their primary focus. Ken was on one side of the street listening intently to the excited crowd while Hanako was on the opposite side watching carefully the townsfolk from the young to the old get excited for the Tepes family to arrive. Little Ann meanwhile was above on the rooftops keeping her keen eyes on the crowd, but saw no danger among the citizens. Hanako and Ken communicated via radio, relying on Morse code when communicating with Ann as she sat on the roof.
"Everything sounds clear on my end." Ken said to the two of them.
"My side too, everyone is just waiting for the family to come." Hanako said.
"Why don't you ever travel with them during these? You are family after all." Ken said.
"I am, but I prefer to be a protector, not a participator." Hanako replied.
"If you say so, Aunty Hanako." Ken smirked.
"Don't call me that. It annoys me enough when the children call me that." Hanako demanded as they both heard little Ann snicker.
"I've had enough of you two for now, I'll inform them to proceed." Hanako said as she went to tell the family to start the procession.
Down below the townsfolk were still waiting with anticipation, the music beginning to play and announcing royal family. The crowds cheering for them as Lord Wyatt alongside his wife, Lady Kyra were waving to the crowd out through the windows of their coach that they road in at the front of the procession with Lancelot being the coachman atop their coach. While the crowd could only see Wyatt and Kyra inside through the windows, they also had Duke and Sasha riding with them, and Sasha was holding their two year-old son in her lap.
"See all the people out there, Frankie? They're happy to see your aunt and uncle." Sasha said holding up her son to the window of their coach. Sasha was wearing a simple, but lovely Victorian dress in comparison to her sister in-law's more extravagant one. Still, she couldn't help fidgeting in the formal attire.
"How's motherhood treating you Sasha?" Kyra asked, trying to get Sasha to stop fidgeting as she waved to some of the people outside.
"Well, harder than I thought," Sasha replied, her attention no longer on her dress. "But all the hours and the time spent with little Franklin Joseph Thomasson here is worth it all. Still amazes me how you could handle five of them." Sasha now rubbed her nose against little Franklin's nose as he giggled. "If you told me I would love something so unconditionally, I wouldn't have believed you. I never knew being a mother would be this phenomenal...or tiring." Kyra chuckled, enjoying her sister in-laws musings.
"Motherhood has that affect on you," she smiled. "You really can't explain it unless you've experienced it."
"Still prefer going by your mother's name then?" Wyatt asked Duke after he waved to some of the crowd. Kyra, Duke, and Sasha groaned, knowing where this was going.
"Not this again." Kyra sighed.
"I'm just saying," Wyatt said defensively, raising his hands. "Franklin is a true Tepes heir. He should be proud of his heritage."
"You may have helped bring a good name to the Tepes family Wyatt, but I can't ever forget what my father did to me," Duke replied to his brother. "I don't want my son to know the kind of....darkness I felt all those years ago. Besides, your children are the true heirs. Franklin, well...Sasha and I realized along time ago that we're not the ones to lead. We prefer a simpler life. You are the true leader, one that your nephew loves and respects."
"Thank you brother," Wyatt said softly. "I appreciate your loyalty as well as my nephew's adoration. You know I've tried to raise my children as best I can without showing them the cruelties of the world. Unfortunately that....hasn't been easy, especially not for Nyx." Wyatt paused, his face falling in a sad expression for a moment.
"I'm sorry I wish I could've been..." Duke tried to apologize but Wyatt held his hand up.
"It's fine. She's...come to deal with it in her own way and I understand that." Wyatt sighed as the mood in the coach became little uncomfortably quiet. Sasha now tried to lighten the mood, holding little Franklin out towards Kyra.
"Hey Auntie Kyra what was it like having all those babies in your tummy?" Sasha said holding up her son towards Kyra and using her pretend voice for her son since he wasn't much of a talker yet.
"Well little Franklin it certainly wasn't easy most of the time getting around with five babies in my belly. It also certainly wasn't fun when I was pushing them all out. But in the end, it was worth everything in the world to see my five children before me." Kyra said with a smirk as she and Wyatt waved more to the populace.
Just behind them in an open carriage and waving to the people were the five Tepes children who were all very much grown into adulthood. Princess Andromeda was wearing a lovely extravagant dress, while Princess Nyx was wearing a more smaller gothic dress. Prince Andrew was wearing clothes that made him look like a knight, while Prince Brendan wore clothes that made him almost look like a page, and Prince Duncan wore slim fit blazer with a loose tie.
"WE LOVE YOU PRINCE ANDREW!!" Said some vampire girls in the crowd.
"Hear that brother, you've got your own little fan club." Duncan said to his brother as he sat on the other side of Andrew with their brother Brendan sitting between them and Andromeda and Nyx sitting across from them.
"It's not my fault if the young ladies of father's realm find my so dashing. Of course there's only one woman who I've set my eyes on. But I shan't say her name." Andrew said as he continued waving to the crowd.
"Lady Roseblood." Andrew's other siblings groaned in unison.
"Well I just think she's quite the woman is all." Andrew said sheepishly.
"We love you Princess Andromeda!" "You have such beautiful hair!" "We love your dress!" Andromeda's fans shouted from the crowds.
"As always, Andromeda has all the happy fans out cheering her own. I'm so happy for you." Nyx said sarcastically to her sister.
"Oh come on Nyxie Pixie, you have some fans in the crowd too. Look I see a few now." Andromeda said to Nyx as she pointed out some teen gothic vampires.
"Uh....hi. Nice hair." Nyx said to the goth girl in the crowd as they rode by.
"Whoa, Princess Nyx complimented my hair." The teen vampire goth said to her friend.
"Wicked." Her teen goth friend said to her.
"I'm at least glad Miss Cheyenne was able to help me and Nyx fix up our hair in record time before we got out here due to SOMEBODY putting a bucket of water over our bathroom door and thinking it would be funny." Andromeda said glaring at Duncan.
"Hey, I thought it would be funny. You just got out of the shower, so I thought it would be funny if you got your hair wet again." Duncan smiled.
"You're the only one who thinks its funny." Brendan said as he gave a little smile and wave to the crowd.
"Well, I know I would rather be waving to the people than be going through the dusty old archives and records with gram gram and papa." Duncan said looking at his brother.
"Hey it's important to keep track of our history." Brendan said to his brother.
"But it's in the past, you've got to focus on the present. For example, take this lovely flower someone just tossed our way." Duncan said picking up a flower from their carriage and tossed it into the crowd to a young vampire girl.
"Enjoy the flower beautiful." Duncan said winking his good eye at the passing girl.
"Oh my god! Prince Duncan gave me a flower and he called me beautiful!" The vampire teen girl to her friend as she nearly fainted.
"Anyway guys, are you sure none of you can come with me to Uncle Duke's ranch? You guys haven't been over there for a while. You can also help me take care of little Franklin too." Andromeda said to her siblings.
"Too much sunshine over there for me right now, sis, I'll pass. Besides I have a book I want to finish reading." Nyx said to her sister.
"I've volunteered to help father and mother prepare for the vampire ball soon." Andrew said as he waved to a few more faces into the crowd.
"I found some interesting lore I came across I wanted to go over with papa." Brendan said.
"And unfortunately for myself sister, I've been sent to do some training with Lancelot again since I missed training last time." Duncan said as he waved to the crowd.
"Well I'm sure I'll have my own fun. It's not like going there this time will change my life or anything." Andromeda casually said as she smiled and waved to the crowd.
In the last open carriage rode Vlad Dracula with his lovely wife Lisa sitting beside him with Cassandra and Duchess sitting across from them as company and bodyguards.
"I never used to think I'd see a day where the people of this land were cheering for me as I rode by them." Lisa said to Vlad as she waved to the crowd.
"It was a long time ago my love, you were a different person then. They cheer for Lisa Tepes, not that other woman you were." Vlad said holding his wife's hand gently as they waved to the crowd.
"Cassandra, Duchess, why did you two decide to ride with us instead of having look out duty like the other members of the five?" Lisa asked the two.
"What? And have the people miss out on seeing two of the most beautiful couples in the realm? I think not. I want every woman and their child to see myself and the love of my life." Cassandra said as she put one of her hands on top of Duchess's lap.
"Oh! Mistress, please, wait until we're in our private chambers." Duchess said blushing to Cassandra who gave her love a kiss on the cheek.
"Wyatt and Kyra have certainly changed this land for the better. I can only imagine how their children will shape world for the better." Vlad said as the celebration continued on through the night.