Mavis could barely contain herself as she was finally going to meet Johnny's family in person. Of course after dating for 1 year Mavis had talked to every member of Johnny's family on the phone and seen them in pictures. Johnny's mother, Ann was short with reddish blond hair with a thin build and glasses. Johnny's father, Mike, was the same height as Johnny. He also wore glasses and had a short brown beard, and short orange hair. Both the beard and hair were beginning to show signs of grey. Johnny's six other brothers started with Matt, the oldest. He was now 27 and lived just down the street from his parents. He was married and had one young daughter. Matt had orange hair just like Johnny only is was well combed and neat. Matt's wife had long flowing brunet hair. John the second oldest was 25 and lived in Wisconsin as a bachelor. He had the same red hair as their mother. Tim the next oldest was 23 and lived in downtown Chicago going to school to be a lawyer. Tim had brown hair and glasses and could always be seen wearing a tie and suit. Johnny was next in age now being 22. Jake was one year younger than Johnny having just turned 21. Jake was also going to college and lived with his parents to save on tuition costs. Jake wore glasses with buz-cut orange hair. William, or Bill as he preferred to be called, was 18 and just finishing up high school. He was on the football team as was into any kind of sport where you can hurt yourself. Jim was the youngest at 16 who just got his license to drive. Johnny wanted the meeting to be a surprise for his family as they would go about making such a big deal of it and he did not want that to distract them from the real purpose of the visit. Johnny and Mavis decided it was finally time to tell them all Johnny was dating a Vampire.

Johnny and Mavis just got out of the Taxi from O'Hare Airport in Chicago Illinois US and were standing in front of Johnny's home. It was situated in a suburb and had two floors with a two car garage. Johnny's mother loved to garden and flowers were everywhere. A large tree stood in front of the house but not blocking the view from a large window looking onto the street.

"We are finally here!" Mavis exclaimed.

"I know, it has been so long since I have been home, but it looks exactly like it did the day I left." Johnny replied.

Mavis and Johnny walked up to the front door, but it was locked. Johnny was not surprised as it was getting late at night and his parents were probably sitting watching the TV before going to bed. Johnny could see that Mavis was a little worried about how things were going to play out and Johnny wanted to make sure to comfort her.

"No worries, my parents always keep a spare key hidden in case someone locks them self out."

Johnny proceeded to lift a metal sculpture that looked like the sun but had a face on it. Behind the sculpture was a hole in the wall with a key.

"Mom, Dad, It's me, Johnny. I am home, and I brought someone with me." Johnny yelled out.

Bill was the first to come to the doorway seeing Johnny.

"Johnny! What are you doing here, we were not expecting you and you did not let us know you were coming!"

"Yea, I wanted it to be a surprise, and you how Mom and Dad are, they would have made it into such a big deal and…" Johnny was cut off when Bill asked.

"And who is this? Mavis I assume?"

Just when Mavis was about to answer, Jim, Johnny's mom and dad yelled out at the same time.

"Johnny you're home!"

Johnny's mom came up and hugged Johnny while Johnny's dad patted him on the shoulder. Mavs was standing there seeing the fun and happiness in Johnny's family until Johnny's mom realized she was there.

"Mavis, is that you? Oh come here dear I have only seen you in pictures and talked to you on the phone, come give mama a hug."

Mavis could not help but giggle and did as she asked. Johnny only rolled his eyes as he laughed.

Johnny and Mavis then spent the next few hours talking to everyone who was home. The entire time Mavis knew that she was going to love being part of their family. Mavis and Johnny's mother really hit it off right away and talked to one another in the kitchen while the guys talked in the living room. Johnny's mother called all of Johnny's other brothers and arranged for them to all come over the weekend. As it was now Thursday that would give Johnny's mom and dad plenty of time to get to know Mavis and hear stories from Johnny. It also gave Johnny and Mavis more time to think about how they would announce the truth to the entire family.

Eventually everyone got ready for bed even after all the excitement of seeing Johnny and Mavis. Johnny brought Mavis up to his old room. It was now being used by Jake when he was home visiting, but most of Johnny's things were still there.

"So this is your old room?" Mavis asked.

"Yep, not the way to left it though. Of course being away as long as I have, it is not surprising that some of my stuff would be moved around." Johnny replied.

"I really enjoyed talking with your mother, we really hit it off. I can really tell we will get along."

"Yea, you two were inseparable tonight, and the guys really seem to like you as well. They could not believe I met someone. They all thought I would keep traveling and never settle down."

"I can't wait to meet your other brothers. When did your mom say they would all get here?"

"They should all get here Saturday morning. I told my father that you had a skin condition that made it hard for you to be in the sun light so my parents will make sure to close all the window blinds and curtains."

"Thanks Johnny, I was wondering how I was going to manage as there as so many windows in this house, and I did not think I would be able to go around without getting burned."

"Don't mention it. Shall we try getting some sleep, that plane ride really took it out of me."

"While I do not usually sleep at night, I am tired. Changing all of those time zones really throws off my sleep cycle." Mavis said while scratching her head.

Johnny and Mavis both got into their pajamas and climbed into bed. They both fell asleep in each other's arms but not before Mavis asked one question.

"Do you think they will all still like me when they find out the truth?"

"Of course they will, you have nothing to worry about." Johnny replied, putting Mavis' fears to rest for the night.

Friday was uneventful. Ann wanted to show Mavis all of Johnny's old family photos and movies. Mavis loved this idea, while Johnny was not too thrilled. Mavis could not help but giggle at the sight of a younger Johnny. Johnny, Bill, and Jim wasted most of the day watching movies and playing video games. Mavis joined in on a few games. Even though she had never played any of these games before, she quickly became a pro and beat all the old high scores. That night Jake came home and was delighted to see Johnny and Mavis. They all ate dinner together while bringing Jake up to speed on all the details of Johnny and Mavis' relationship and travels.

Later that night, Johnny and Mavis were in Johnny's room talking. Mavis was still not sure about how his parents will react. She was having so much fun and they all really liked her. She did not want to ruin the bond she had with them, especially Ann, who Mavis now saw as a mother figure. Mavis was pacing back and forth of the ceiling as it helped her think.

"How can you be so sure that they will like me when they find out the truth?" Mavis asked.

"How can they not? They love you already and they will have gotten to know you. They will see you are nothing like the Vampires in movies or books. They will see that you are just a beautiful girl, who I love. If they cannot see that, then it will be their loss. Nothing that happens will change how I feel about you."

"But if they hate me, then you will not be able to see them. Won't that be a problem?" Mavis asked.

"It is not a problem as long as I am with you. Besides…"

Just then Johnny was cut off by the sound of Jim opening the bedroom door.

"Johnny, Mavis are you in…"

For what seemed like an eternity all three stood still in shock. Johnny and Mavis did not know what to do. Mavis was standing upside down on the ceiling. Jim's eyes were locked on Mavis. His mouth had fallen open unable to believe what he was seeing. Just as Jim was about the yell out, Mavis using her Vampire speed grabbed Jim, pulled him into the room, and closed the door. Mavis had a hand over Jim's mouth to keep him from yelling. His eyes were wide open and clearly terrified.

"Jim! Could you have knocked first?" Johnny was quite annoyed at his brother, he never could learn to knock before entering a room. Johnny calmed his voice and kindly said. "Mavis please let him go. We have some things we need to explain."

Mavis looked at Johnny unsure if that was a good idea.

"I am not going to hurt you, and I am going to let go of you, will you please not yell until we at least have had the chance to explain what is happening?"

Jim slowly and lightly nodded his head up and down, still in too much shock to do much else. Mavis let go of Jim, and he simply stood there unable to move. He was clearly still frightened more than he ever had been in his life.

"Perhaps you should sit; it is kind of a long story." Johnny said to his brother while shrugging his shoulders and rubbing the back of his neck.

"She… ceiling… how…" Jim was unable to process the image he had just seen and was babbling.

"Let's start from the beginning." Mavis said, smiling and holding Jim's hands, trying to appear as kind and non-frightening as possible.

Mavis and Johnny spent the next 15 minutes retelling the story of how Johnny wondered into the hotel, met Dracula, met Mavis, them falling in love, and that there are many monsters out there who are actually very friendly and are just as scared of humans as humans are of monsters.

"That about sums it up." Johnny concluded.

Mavis was still holding Jim's hand when Jim quickly got up and said in a firm, angry but hushed voice.

"Are you insane! She is a Vampire! She could kill you! She could kill all of us!"

Mavis was devastated to hear this. She had tried to prepare herself for this as these reactions were inevitable, but it hurt none the less.

"I would never hurt Johnny he is my zi…"

Mavis was cut off by Jim.

"I was not talking to you!"

This was the tipping point where Mavis' heart could not stand anymore. She transformed into a bat and flew out the open bedroom window much to the surprise and astonishment to Jim.

"I… I need to go… I can't be here right now." Mavis said, her voice breaking up from the tears and sadness.

"Look what you did! You hurt her feelings!" Johnny yelled at Jim, yelling the first part, then remembering to hush his voice when he said the last part.

"Her feelings? She is a Vampire, a monster, why would I care about her feelings?"

This hurt Johnny. He was not expecting this kind of reaction. That is not to say he did not expect some kind of negative reactions at first, but he thought after things were explained and everyone knew how much Johnny and Mavis loved each other then things would be alright.

"She is not a monster; she is the girl that I love. All the other monsters I met are just people like you and me. They have families who they care are for. All of them have shown me great kindness and sincere friendship. You are the one acting like a monster here." Johnny said.

"This is just too much to take in. do you really expect me to believe that she is not going to hurt you or us?"

"Yes, we have been together for a year now, if she wanted to hurt me, she would have done it long ago." Johnny replied firmly stressing the last part.

This did make Jim think for a second but he shook his head clearing those thoughts out of his head.

"What is she gets hungry huh? What then? What if she needs just a little snack?"

"She drinks artificial blood, or the blood from animals, she does not drink human blood. Besides she does eat and drink normal foods too."

Johnny thought to himself that he should leave out the part about monster cuisine as that would only make matters worse.

"I have been around werewolves, zombies, skeletons, mummies, you name it. They are all kind and are great people; none of them want to hurt us." Johnny continued sensing that he was slowly getting through to his brother.

"I just… you… I need to leave; I can't be here right now. This is just too much to handle" Jim said.

Jim proceeded to leave the bedroom but not before Johnny stopped him by putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Please do not tell anyone about this. We came here to tell everyone. We need to have everyone see that she is just a regular girl who happens to also be a vampire, and not someone they need to fear."

Jim just stood there. He did not reply, and left the room going downstairs. Johnny immediately went to his bedroom window and called out Mavis' name. Shortly thereafter Mavis appeared and landed on the window sill.

"That went well." Tears still falling down her cheeks.

Johnny put his hands up to her and she climbed into them. Johnny brought her to eye level and used a finger under her chin to make her look at him.

"Things will be alright, while that did not go as planned, I got through to him."

"You did? He seemed so nice, but now I do not know what to think. He was so mean to me Johnny."

"I know, we need to stand firm as they deserve the truth. They will see that we love one another."

Unknown to both Johnny and Mavis, Jim was peeking around the door frame as the bed room door was still open. He saw how the two of them behaved to one another and could not help but think that Johnny was right. While Jim was still not sure about Vampires being real, he realized that he had to at least honor Johnny's request to not tell the rest of the family.