A delightful dinner

Edward joins others at the table in a while. He is surprised to see that all his favourite dishes are cooked. They smell nice and look delicious.

It's been years since he last came to Julius's house. But they haven't forgotten about him and it shows perfectly in these small details. Edward's guilt is choking him. Even though the foods are to his taste, they aren't going down his throat. He is on the verge of crying in front of everyone.

On the other hand, Erin has already made herself comfortable around Julius and Serena since their polite and lovely behaviour resembles her mother's. So she is feeling as if she is at home. It's relaxing and the food is also great. It can be said without any doubt that Aunt Serena is a good cook.

" How's the food, dear? I hope they suit your taste.", Serena asks Edward and Erin at the same time. Edward's thoughts get cut in the middle and he looks at Serena in surprise. His eyes are wavering and they are filled with tears.

Erin glances at Edward from the corner of her eyes. She feels that he needs a little support, so she starts poking Kevin, who is sitting beside him. Kevin is devouring the food at his own pace. As if he has no clue about his surroundings.

Erin whispers to him, "Say something."

" Say what?", Kevin replies and his answer is proof that he wasn't paying attention. A sigh escapes Erin's mouth.

On the other hand, Kevin is wondering what Erin's trying to tell him and he looks at others. Julius is enjoying his dinner while Serena is looking at them with a lovely smile on her face. She is enjoying seeing them eating. Well, that's her nature as if she is watching her kids eating food. But it's only Edward who is hesitating. Kevin finally understands Erin's sign and leaps forward in helping Edward.

"The food is very delicious, aunt Serena! How are you so good even at this age? You don't have anyone other than uncle Julius to help you. Yet you have cooked many dishes for dinner. You are great!", Kevin tries to calm down the situation by diverting everyone's attention to the food.

" Oh dear, you flatter me too much! I just cooked using my experience. Otherwise, what's the profit of living such a long life? I am grateful that you liked it.", She thanks him for his compliment and again asks him," Anyway, when are you planning to get married, dear? You can't waste your small life all alone!"

Kevin chuckles. He's blushing a little bit.

"Oho! Someone's hiding a sweet secret", Erin's feeling excited to hear Kevin's, secret love! But she is just enjoying Serena and Kevin's conversation without interrupting them.

Serena reads Erin's mind and asks Kevin," So, who is this lucky girl? Tell us please, we all are eager to know!"

"She works in the company. But I still haven't told her that I like her. It's...a one-sided love, I think? I mean she smiles looking at me and is so gentle at that point. But it's just a hunch that she...maybe likes me.", Kevin's playing with his food and blushing while confessing his love for the girl in front of others.

"Wait, what? She is in our office? But I've never seen a girl speaking to you in a lovely way. They mainly try to avoid you since you are the tyrant's...I mean the CEO's, right-hand man. Everyone thinks that...erm... seeing you means getting piles of work!", Erin is laughing while remembering Tina's face. She is the one who dislikes Kevin most because he is giving her loads of files to handle every day. Though she accepts them politely, actually she hates it!

"I didn't know that I had such a bad reputation behind my back because of someone else! Though the girl I like isn't like that at all! She is genuine! Well...at least I think so.", Kevin protests Erin at first but he loses his spirit soon.

"May I know that girl's name. Maybe I can tell if you're right or wrong!", says Erin looking at Kevin's dejected face.

Kevin's face brightens up," Yes, only you can tell me that. She is your teammate and I have seen you two together most of the time. Her name is Tina."

Kevin's rubbing his neck and smiling while looking embarrassed. But Erin has lost her courage to tell him that Tina is the girl who tries to avoid him. She is hesitating and looking sad. How can she explain to Kevin that Tina is dating another guy? His first love!

While Erin's fighting with herself if she should tell the truth or not, Serena suddenly starts another topic," Save this discussion for the next time. We just want to know if you like someone or not. Let's go to the next person. What about you Erin?"

Erin is thankful to Serena for reading her situation and changing the topic. But the asked question is also bothersome since she never thought of love and such stuff. She spends most of her time at work that she sometimes forgets that she has to find a good guy and go on dates, then has to get married. Her mother is her whole world for now.

"I haven't given any thought to love yet. I don't think I am good at such stuff.", Erin answers Serena with a sad smile on her face.

Edward, who is sitting beside Kevin, is listening to others. He starts laughing at Erin's response. "It's true that you don't understand love stuff since you kick guys like football!"

Erin's patience finally snaps and she replies with a crooked smile," If trying to kill someone is similar to love stuff to a guy, then he is a psycho. And they are meant to be kicked. Oh! not only that, they should burn in hell!"

She's really angry now. But Edward is finding it amusing and he is getting ready to tease her more. Only God knows what he gets by disturbing her peaceful life!

" You should give up when a guy is ready to embrace you. Moreover, dying at the hand of a handsome and strong man is a blessing, you know? You will have no regrets in your last breathe.", Says Edward with a grin.

He's just like a devil with a mask. People only know about his good side but they should know that he is a real devil. Erin is resisting herself from bursting out in anger. "This guy is arrogant, ignorant, pathetic, a pig and whatever bad things are there in the world", She is cursing him in her mind while looking at him.

" You are the only self-proclaimed handsome guy I have ever seen!", Erin replies, using her counter-attack for Edward. At least she thinks it is one!

But Edward isn't ready to give up. He's enjoying fighting with her. That's because everyone avoids him since he acquires a higher position in both the vampire community and among the humans. Even Kevin doesn't argue with Edward when he wants to start a fight. So he is fulfilling his long desire through Erin who is playing along like a fool.

"No fighting, please. We are at the dining table. It's a place only for family chat and it should be peaceful. To maintain that let's just have a healthy conversation.", Julius interrupts before Edward takes their fight further.

"No need to worry about him, sweety. You have a long life span, so you can fall in love with anyone at any time. So just take your time for now.", says Serena to calm Erin.

"I have a long life? But how? I am not a full vampire, only a half!`` asks Erin who is confused.

"If you have vampire blood in you, it doesn't matter unless you are an impure one. Half-human and half-vampires live a long life. Not even a pure vampire lives that long. But the impure ones might die since there's the possibility of them getting sick.", Julius explains Erin in detail, but his face darkens after he finishes his last line.

The whole situation turns awkward and nobody's talking. Even moving has become complicated now since everyone knows and Erin can guess why Julius is sad now. She was wondering about Serena's health from the beginning since it was painful to look at her condition and Edward also asked about her health to Julius when they came. So, it's sadly true that she is sick because she is also an impure vampire.

"But some impure vampire's are lucky, you know that Erin?", Serena asks Erin, breaking the never-ending silence.

"Huh? I don't get it.", Erin gets caught in surprise.

"Some of the impure vampires might be unlucky since they have chances of dying before other vampires. But I am a lucky one though I can die anytime. I have spent 493 years of my life with the person I love and I know he will be there with me in my last moment."' Serena holds Julius's hand who is sadly looking at her weak smile.

Erin's heart is aching a lot. She has read stories and watched many movies where vampires are conveyed as deadly and ferocious. Also, Edward matches those descriptions when he is after blood. But Julius and Serena have proved that they are just normal people. Maybe better than that. She is feeling that she is about to cry where Kevin's already crying. But Edward is sitting still, looking away from them. He can't bear it.

"Oh my! Then you must have a legendary love story which has made your bond such strong!"' Erin jumps out in excitement to break the sad atmosphere around them. However, it has worked perfectly.

Serena replies," Well, you will laugh at your uncle if you hear what he did to make me say yes. It was so funny that I still laugh sometimes remembering it. Those were such memorable days!"

"I can't wait to hear it!", Erin exclaims with joy and her eyes are sparkling.

Edward notices it and grins. " Such a child!", he murmurs.

"I want to hear it too.", Kevin cries out suddenly in excitement. He was hesitating at first thinking how others would take it. But after seeing Erin, he couldn't help himself.

Serena starts laughing and says, "Sure! Sure! Let's have a story session after dinner."

Erin and Kevin are already excited and Edward is just watching Serena. He is angry that someone has lied to him about his aunt's health. She is very sick and maybe doesn't have much time in her hands. But he's hoping for a miracle to happen, even if there's no hope!