“Thank you, everyone.” Helena preened. “But I couldn’t have done it without the help of our Dark Master, Damian Smith.”

“Nonsense, Helena.” Damian demurred. “You did it all on your own. It was you who plotted and schemed to bring the two vampires together and have them mate with each other. Without you none of this would be possible.”

“Well, if you insist.” Helena giggled. “Who am I to disagree.”

“Damian,” Dr. Benjamin, a denizen of hell stepped forward. “We may have a problem.”

“What are you talking about, Dr. Benjamin?” Damian asked.

“You asked me to examine the child to see if I could detect what powers a full-blooded vampire would have that a vampire born of a witch and mortal didn‘t have.” Dr. Benjamin reminded Damian.

“Of course.” Damian replied. “So what’s the problem.”

“This child is not a vampire.” He said motioning to Baby Corinthos.

“What are you talking about!” Damian exploded. “Of course she is. She was born of two vampires, so she must be a vampire, herself.”

I’ve examined her, sir.” Dr Benjamin replied. “This child is as mortal as she can be.”

“What!” Damian glared at Helena. “Explain this, Helena! If you‘re trying to pull a fast one on me and pawn some mortal child off on me while you raise the real vampire child, yourself, you‘ll find yourself down in The Pit with your dearly departed husband, Mikkos.”

“Damian.” Helena insisted. “That is the vampire child. It’s the child Carly Corinthos gave birth to.”

“Then why is it mortal?” Damian demanded to know.

“I believe I can answer that.” Stefan stepped forward.

“Stefan!” Helena gasped. “What are you doing here?”

“Saving your bacon, Mother.” He retorted. “Unfortunately.” He addressed Damian. “My mother isn’t trying to pull a fast one on you, Smith. That is Sonny and Carly’s child, and it’s mortal.”

“That’s impossible.” Helena spat. “Two vampires can’t give birth to a mortal child.”

“They can if they do something called the Vampire Marriage Ceremony.” Stefan replied. “Which is what Sonny and Carly did right before the baby was born.”

“The what!” Helena exploded. “I never heard of such a thing.”

“Apparently, it’s some ritual the vampires dreamed up that the witches are unaware of.” He explained. “By the way, Mother, Sonny and Carly are just fine. They didn’t turn to dust in the sun as you planned.” He added. “They’ve become as mortal as their child is.”

“That’s impossible.” Helena declared. “Vampires are cursed to be what they are by being born of a witch and a mortal.”

“The curse has been lifted.“ He threw back at her. “After I found them in the sunshine just fine.” Stefan explained. “I took them back to Wyndemere. I asked them if they’d done anything out of the ordinary to explain why the sun didn’t effect them in the way it effects all vampires, and they told me about this vampire ritual they went through. Which is the only thing that can explain metabolic change that’s taken place in both them and their child.” He added. “You do know what this means Damian, don’t you? Now that the vampires have found a way to lift the curse they live under no full-blooded vampire child will ever be born. Your plans of mating a full-blooded vampire and a full-blooded witch will never happen. In short, Damian, your grand plans have disintegrated into so much dust.”

“Get out of my sight!” Damian roared. “All of you! And take this mortal brat with you.” He shoved the baby at Stefan.

Stefan took the baby from Damian. “It’ll be my pleasure.”

Helena glared at Stefan as they got on the elevator that would take them back up to the surface. “Don’t look so smug, Stefan, I’m not giving up. Somehow I will breed me a full-blooded vampire child and present him to Damian.”

“It’s over, Mother.” Stefan told her. “And we both know it. Give it up!”

Helena wasn’t giving up just yet. “We shall see.”

SONNY STOOD IN a bedroom at Wyndemere staring at his reflection in the mirror. “It’s incredible, isn‘t it?” He declared. “I just can’t believe it.”

“You know, Sonny.” Carly said from the bed. “If you keep doing that people are going to start accusing you of being exceedingly vain and conceited. Only people in love with the sight of their own reflection constantly stare at themselves in the mirror the way you‘re doing.”

“Those people have never spent their entire life never being able to see their own reflection in the mirror the way I have.“ He threw back at her. “So I think I’m allowed. I just can’t get over it.” Sonny said as he came over to her. “We’re mortal. We’re no longer cursed to live our lives only in the darkness. We never again have to be afraid of the sun rising in the morning. We’re free. And it’s all because of you.” He leaned down and kissed her. “If you hadn’t insisted we do the vampire marriage ritual, we’d both be dead now.”

“I only insisted on that because I fell so totally head-over-heels in love with you.“ She reminded him. “And I became obsessed with wanting to be as close to you as it was possible to be. Which is when I remembered hearing about the vampire folklore. So I guess I owe that entirely to you and the way you make me feel.“

She looked over at the crib that sat next to their bed where their daughter blissfully slumbered away. “Do you know how close she came to being raised by Helena Cassadine and Damian Smith . If you hadn‘t wanted to do the ritual we‘d be dead and she‘d be in the clutches of those monsters, as we speak” Then she suddenly asked. “Just why did you suddenly decide to do it, anyway?

“After Helena made her offer to me.“ Sonny explained. “I realized all my fears for not doing it were really stupid. I also was worried Helena might kill you and keep me alive. I figured if I died during it, it would be the only way I could be with you.” He added. “And didn’t you say something that if we did it, if one of us died then the other one would die, as well?”

“Yeah, I did.” She remembered. “It’s part of what happens when you become one. Remember after we did the ritual and we felt our hearts beating in unison and noticed are breathing was the same way? Maybe if one of our hearts stops beating and one of our lungs stops pumping than the other one’s will, as well.“ She added. “Maybe that’s the price we pay for having the curse lifted from us. That if one of us dies, the other one will die, as well.“

Sonny studied his reflection in the mirror, again. “We’re mortal, there‘s no doubt about that.“ He replied carefully. “But we’re also something more than a mortal. I can feel it. We still have that mental link with each other. In fact, since we did the ritual it’s only grown stronger. You can have a thought in your head without me knowing what it is and the same can be said for me.” He added. “And I still possess all my vampire powers.”

“Which you still have to teach me.” She reminded him. “Whatever the case, it really doesn’t matter. What does is that we’re mortals and the curse we were born with has finally been lifted.” She smiled suddenly as she looked down at their sleeping baby, once more. “But more importantly, our daughter is free from the stigma we’ve lived with for so long. She’ll have a normal life and never have to know what it feels to be an outcast like you and I do.”

“Do you realize.” He asked as he walked out on the terrace and stood in a ray of sun. “That from now on we can go anywhere and do anything we want to do?” He spun around. “Like this. We no longer have to run shrieking from the fear that a ray of sunlight might touch us.” He came back into the room and walked back over to the bed. “Our possibilities are endless. There isn‘t anything we can‘t do anymore.”

“So what do you want to do in this new life of ours that‘s just waiting out there for us?” She asked as she ran her hands up underneath his shirt.

“I don’t know.” He smiled. “There’s so many things to choose from that we can do. Isn’t that wonderful to have a whole world full of choices and nothing to stop us from doing anything we want to?”

“You want to know what’s even more wonderful?” She asked.

“Tell me.” He demanded.

“That you’re my husband.” She told him. “And we’re going to be able to spend the rest of our lives together.”

“I love you.” He leaned down and kissed her passionately.

“And I love you, too.” She sighed in happiness, as she yanked him down on top of her. “Now make love to me.”

STEFAN OPENED THE door of Wyndemere to Bobbie. She’d finally moved back to the Brownstone, yesterday. Bobbie had continued to stay at Wyndemere to patch things up with Carly after all the horrible things she‘d said to her the last time they‘d seen one another. But finally she decided it was time for her to go home. To go home and try and sort out what she was really feeling for Stefan after the incredible adventures they‘d shared together. Unfortunately, she still wasn‘t sure. All she did know is one night away from him, and she had missed him terribly. “Barbara, it’s so nice to see you, again.” Stefan smiled upon seeing her. “Have you come to see Caroline and the baby.”

“No.” Bobbie smiled. “Actually, I’ve come to see you.”

“Whatever for?” He asked.

“To thank you, again, for all that you did for me.” Bobbie answered. “Ever since that night you freed me from Sorel’s possession more and more memories have been coming back to me. I’ll never be able to repay you for all you’ve done for me.” Last night she had remembered that Stefan had made love to her when Sorel had been possessing her body, and that memory had kept her awake all last night.

“Barbara,” He repeated his often spoke mantra. “There’s nothing to thank me for. I only did it because you’re the mother of my child. I felt it my duty to help you in any way I could.”

“I know.” Bobbie laughed. “You keep saying that. But I have to wonder if that’s all there really was to it. Which is why I’ve come here to ask you to have dinner with me, tonight.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” He asked in shock.

“That’s exactly what I’m doing.” Bobbie replied. “I can’t stop thinking about you and all you’ve done for me. At one time there was something between us. I want to find out if it’s still there. So I thought what better way to find out then by us having dinner together.” She added. “If it goes well, we could even do it again. So what do you say? Will you have dinner with me, tonight.”

“I’d be delighted, Barbara.” Stefan smiled. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, either. I think you have made an excellent suggestion. It would be advisable for us to find out what this is all about between us.”

“I thought you’d say that.” Bobbie smiled. “You can pick me up at eight.” She added. “And don’t be late.”

“Don’t worry.” He said as he closed the door behind her. “I won’t.” Stefan’s face lit up with a smile. He hadn’t wanted Bobbie to move back to the Brownstone, but he hadn’t been able to think of a reason to convince her to stay.

As he walked towards the stairs a suit of armor fell almost hitting him. “If you want to kill me, Mr. Sorel” Stefan spoke to the air around him. Recently, Stefan realized tht Sorel had decided to take up residence in Wyndemere and make a nuisance of himself until he was able to find himself another body to possess. “You’ll have to do much better than that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a date to get ready for.” With that he whistled as he bounded up the stairs.

NED WAS SITTING at Alexis’ bedside when she finally woke-up. The night before she had finally given birth to their son. It was an arduous labor. Alexis kept screaming, “Give me some drugs! I want some drugs!” So she wouldn’t have to endure the pain of natural childbirth. Alexis definitely had a very low pain threshold. But not having to worry about Helena or Edward using their child in some mad scheme to gain unearthly power had taken a lot of the anxiety out of the moment.

“So, how are you doing?” Ned asked, as he caressed her hair.

“How do you think?” Alexis smiled. “I feel like I just got run over by a ten ton truck.” She added. “So, how is our son?”

“He’s doing just fine.” Ned smiled. “I just took a look at him in the nursery.”

“Ned.” Alexis suddenly sobered. “We got really lucky. If Sonny and Carly hadn’t done that vampire ritual which made their child unsuitable for the plan, there’s no telling what we’d be facing now.”

“I know.” Ned admitted. “It was a stupid plan, but it was the only thing I could think of at the moment. I’m just glad everything turned out well in the end.”

“Helena and Edward know we were playing them.” Alexis nibbled on her lower lip in worry. “Do you think they might still try to cause us trouble?”

“Nah!” Ned assured her. “Grandfather was actually pleased by it. He said you and I were true Quartermaines.”

“But you can bet Helena wasn’t.” Alexis retorted.

“Helena’s probably too busy hatching some new plot to gain power.” Ned declared confidently. “To even give either one of us a second thought. “ He added. “Don’t worry, Alexis, from now on it’s going to be smooth sailing.”

HELENA STOOD GAZING through the nursery window at Ned and Alexis’ child when Edward came up to her. “What are you doing here, Helena?” Edward asked.

“The same thing you are, Edward.” Helena replied. “Wondering how I can still pull this off and produce me a vampire-child to mate with Ned and Alexis’ son.”

“For what reason?” Edward asked. “Damian has all but given up and wants nothing more to do with us witches.”

“That may be for the best.” Helena commented. “It never really sat well with me that I’d do all the hard work and Damian would collect all the rewards. With Damian out of it, if I can pull this off, I can become ruler of the underworld.”

“Not if I beat you to the punch.” Edward replied. “Then it’ll be I who becomes ruler of the underworld.”

“I knew I was right, old man.” She smiled. “You haven’t given up anymore than I have.”

“But considering what Ned and Alexis had planned for both of us.” He reminded her. “What they succeeded in doing to Tracy and Faison. It would be wise to pretend to have given all thought of it up.”

“You make an excellent point.” She purred. “It’s always best to strike when someone isn’t expecting it.”

“So, may the best man win.” Edward held out his hand to her.

“Don’t worry, Edward.” Helena shook his hand. “She will.” With that they both dissolved into thin air.