Chapter 53: Extra Outtakes-Mia

Stefan watched the light play off Camelia's dark hair as he stood in the doorway of their bedroom.  Her head was bent as she clasped dangling earring to her ears.  Dressed in a soft pink cocktail dress and white Christian Louboutin's, the sight of her always managed to enthrall him.  It's been a while in which he was actually able to observe her and the longer he stood and stared at her, the more he realized she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and always would be.

She was alluring without meaning to be, beautiful without trying, and she was his.

She finally realized that he was there as she lifted her head and blinked at him in surprise.  She gifted him with a smile that was as bright as the sun, lighting her delicate features and leaving her gorgeous blue eyes sparkling.

"Angel."  He greeted, smiling, silently moving towards her.  His fingers tingled in anticipation to touch her.  Every time they touched always felt like the first time.

Her head tilted back and her breath came more rapidly as if sensing his need of her.  He could see the increased beat of her heart by the way she breathed deeply.  He could see the passion build in her eyes.  Blush colored her face.  He smiled arrogantly, knowing the affect on her matched his.

He caressed her face, his hand twining into her thick straight hair.  He bent over her as he pressed a soft kiss to her full lips.  His arms encircled her waist as he lifted her against him, holding her tight.  She melted against him, wrapping her arms around his neck.  Her body nestled into his blending seamlessly, melding to him in all the right places as though she was the parts missing from him.

It still amazed him how they fit together.

"You look enchanting as always."  His complement earned him a beautiful smile.

"Are you trying to seduce me just before our daughters first birthday?"  Camelia asked, a twinkle in her eye as she caressed the hair on his neck.  Her slightest touch making him wild.

"I wouldn't have to try, Angel."  He said arrogantly with a playful grin.

"You beast!"  She laughed.

He felt himself harden to the brink of pain just by listening to her laughter.

Quickly, without warning he caught the laugh with his lips as he passionately kissed her.  He felt her fingers tangle in his dark hair as she gasped.  His wife's shock didn't last too long as she stood on her tiptoes and returned the kiss hungrily.

He kissed her until they were breathless and desperate for more. Arms locked around her waist, he lifted her off her feet, keeping her pressed flush against him, carrying her weight as he advanced towards the bed.

Camelia broke free of the pressure of his mouth. "Wait, Stefan, wait." She managed to pant out. "I have to–the party–"

"I need your attention more, Princess." Depositing her in the center of the bed. His strong hands slipped the thin dress up her thighs, brushing against her bare skin, stroking her as he moved higher. "The party out there can wait. . ."

His fingers slipped to the side of her panties and hooked a finger, snapping the bikini string with the barest of pressure. Camelia's beautiful blue eyes were dazed with passion as a deep pink blush colored her face. His gaze focused on her lips before traveling over her body in a hungry perusal.

"The party in here can't."

******

"It's Sammmmmm-y, baby girl.  Say Sammy."

Little one year old Mia's grin was so wide her eyes practically turned into the shape of crescent moons.   Her four little front teeth were pearly white against her gums as she sat on the carpet in her birthday outfit playing with her dolls, in her playroom, while her uncle Sammy sat on bended knees before her trying to get her to say his name properly.

She extended her middle finger and pointed it right in his face and said.  "Sam-i-oul."  And giggles.

"Oh. My. Lord." Sammy's eyes nearly crossed as he stared at her pointed finger.  "Who taught you to use the middle finger to point?"  He admonished, reaching up to gently pushing down her middle finger against her palm and pulling out her index finger.  "This is what you use to point, do you hear?  Never, ever use that finger.  It's rude."  He stated simply.

"Sam-i-oul."  She says again in her cute little voice, switching her pointed index finger with her middle one again.

Sammy sucked in his breath sharply and narrowed his eyes at the little girl.  "I don't insult children under 5."  He says between clenched teeth, adjusting his posture and reached for one of her princess dolls and a brush sprawled near by and began brushing her hair aggressively.  "It's not her fault, it's not her fault."  He chants over and over trying to relive some of his irritation.

He should have known.  Damn Superman, he thought.  This is his fault.

"Have you been spending too much time around daddy lately?"  Sammy asks.

One year old Mia clapped joyfully.  "Da-ddddy!"  She exclaims with another wide smile.

Damn your daddy's ass, he thought, ready to combust.

Mia stood on her short chubby legs and walked slowly to a little table with two chairs.  With outstanding motor skills, Sammy watched on as she poured 'tea' into one cute little porcelain cup. He couldn't help but smile indulgently.  Mia had everybody wrapped around her little fingers.  With her porcelain skin, blue eyes and dirty blonde hair, she was like a little adorable angel.

It was her one year birthday party today and Sammy was appointed the planner and now babysitter, waiting with her until she made her grand appearance. Camelia and Sammy arranged a small bounce house suitable for children her age along with clowns, tons of pink, white and yellow ballons–the theme: Princess.

Mia patted the little chair and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Sam-i-oul."

She was inviting him to tea and calling him by his given name.  Again.

Grumpily, Sammy very nearly popped the head off the doll he held as he pulled her by her blonde hair. Little Mia frowned looking to her doll. "No. Sam-i-oul. No." She reprimanded as if he were the child and she the adult. Then she pointed her middle finger at him.

"Girl, that finger is gonna get you in trouble one day." Holding the doll by her legs, he pointed it at her, shaking her whole body and making her newly brushed her tangled again. "Mark my words. And even your daddy ain't gonna to be able to save your cute little tush." He smoothed out the dolls hair and adjusted her dress and sat her down on the carpet. "Look, now she looks pretty again." Getting up, he sat in the offered chair pretending to sip tea.

Her smile was huge, as if she knew which of his buttons to push, her eyes turning into crescents again. Seating herself slowly as if she were a true royal in her little pink tutu and a white onesie with the number one written in gold, she helped herself to some tea while Sammy hoped he didn't break the little chair he sat on.

Sometime later after drinking five cups full of only air, Sammy and Mia turn their head towards the door as it swung open softly.  Stefan enters leaning against the threshold with his arms crossed against his chest. "Isn't this a sight." He says, his voice smug, a smile hovering on his lips.

"Da-dddddy!" Mia squealed in delight, clapping her hands together.

A startled Sammy rightens his hunched posture. "Damn you Superman!" He exclaims as he turns giving him the stink eye.

"Watch your language around my daughter, Samuel." He warned, opening his arms open as Mia walked slowly to her father. He lifts her up and throws her in the air. She giggles happily and wraps her arms around his neck.

"Watch my language?!?" He practically screeched. "You're the one teaching her to point with her middle finger!" Sammy flips him off for emphasis. "And you're teaching her to say my name all wrong!"

Stefan lifts an eyebrow. "It's your given name, isn't it? And I would never teach her such a thing, perhaps she's seen you do it, which she just witnessed."

Sammy cursed under his breath and stood smoothing out his white leather pants and hot pink silk shirt.

"Samuel. Watch. Your. Mouth."

"Well excuse me!"  He said in his sharpest lisp.  "I was in here entertaining your daughter while you were balls deep in your wife making another baby and this is the thanks I get?"

Stefan took a menacing step, ready to rip Sammy apart with his bare hands, murder in his eyes. It looked like Sammy eavesdropping again and he was going to pay. But what stopped him was Mia who was pulling at the small hairs of his chest above the V neck shirt he wore.

"You're lucky Mia is present because I was planning to rip your tongue out!"

Sammy's expression went from irritation to fear in a split second. "I'm the one who gives her a mini-mani and pedi when she's taking naps!" He says defensively. "I'm the one who watches her on weekends when you and Camelia go out!  I'm the one–"

"Camelia and I appreciate all that you do, Samuel." Stefan grounded out between clenched teeth trying to act civil in front of his daughter. He kissed pert little nose indulgently.  "Camelia and I were not working on making another baby, Samuel.  We're too selfish to share our love with another currently.  Besides, sometimes it feels like I already have another child with you around all the time."

Sammy gripped the little tea cup so tightly in the palm of his hand that the cup itself disappeared.  "I swear if Mia weren't around, I would have thrown this little cup right at you!"

"No, no Sam-i-oul.  Bad, bad boy."  Mia reprimands with a slight little frown.

A great rumble of laughter bursts deeply from Stefan's chest. "A one year old has enough common sense to know."

Sammy blushes.  "I ain't bad baby girl, your daddy brings out the worst in me!"

"Which reminds me, my beautiful wife needs you in the kitchen.  Take Mia with you while I go make a quick phone call."

"Anything else you'd like to demand, almighty one?"  Sammy asks sarcastically.

Stefan took a moment to ponder his question.  "No, Samuel.  Not at this very moment."

Sammy huffs and stands, placing the little porcelain tea cup on the round table, ready to turn but stops with a frown and rearranges the tea pot and the cups in their rightful places.  "There, that's better."

He turns and holds out his arms to take Mia.  She leans her little body towards him with a big smile.  "Sam-i-oul."

An embarrassed pink flush coats Sammy's cheeks.  "My name must taste delicious, cause it's always in your guys' mouths."  He says in a sharp lisp.

Stefan stares him down, refraining from commenting something degrading in front of his daughter as Sammy quickly steps out into the hallway with a big wide grin.

*******

Sammy sweeps into the kitchen carrying Mia in his arms to only find a expression of shock on Camelia's face and a hand covering her mouth.  Two delivery guys stand there awkwardly, one rubbing his neck uncomfortably while the other profusely apologizes.

"What the hell happened?"  He demanded quickly, taking quick strides towards her.

Camelia looks at him, startled to find him in front of her.  Without a word she points to the left side of the kitchen.  Sammy's gaze drifts in the same direction and his jaw drops open.

"Why does the cake look as though a pink marshmallow took a big pile of shit?!?"  He practically screeches, placing Mia down.

"The delivery guys dropped it.  Accidentally."  Camelia explained, taking a deep breath to calm herself.  She begins to pace, rubbing her forehead in distress.  "I just came down and they were carrying it with difficulty."  She turned to him with accusing eyes.  "This is your fault, Sammy!  We should never had a cake this size to begin with!  A one year old shouldn't have a wedding sized, five-layer cake!  If you had listened to me and went with the smaller size–"

"Hold the hell up!"  Holding a hand in the air to stop her.  "This ain't my fault!"  He says stomping his foot.  "We both agreed that her first birthday should be special, remember?  What if I suggested she have a big ass cake?  You only turn one once!  Besides, it's for the better cause I had a back up made."  He declares with a smug smile, waving a dismissive hand as if it were no big deal.

"You went behind my back and had the one you liked made, didn't you?"  She guessed.

"Sammy Princeton always saves the day."  He takes a bow.  "You're welcome."  Sammy turns to the delivery men that had stood there quietly during their conversation.  "You people need get the hell out of here stat and go back to the bakery.  I'll call the baker and let her know you're on your way."

Once the men shuffled out, Sammy leans over the kitchen island, retrieving his phone from his back pocket ready to make a phone call noticing Camelia searching the kitchen with an expression of worry on her face.  "Girl, don't worry about it I–"

"Mia?"  Camelia called out twisting her head right and left. "Mia?"

"Mia?"  He echoed dumbly.  "She's right here. . ."  He looks behind him half expecting her standing where he left her.  "She was. . . oh shit."

"Where'd Mia go?"  Camelia cried, with a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach, realizing that Mia wasn't in the kitchen anymore.  "You were supposed to be watching her Sammy!"

"I-I she was just here a second ago!"  Sammy screeched.  "Where could someone that small run off too so quickly?" He opens the fridge checking inside and slams it shut once reassured she wasn't hiding in there. Next, he opens the cabinets like a madman checking to see if she someone how managed to hide inside playing a round of hide and seek.  "Mia, If you come out, I won't get mad if you call me Samuel again!"  Sammy sang out, hoping Mia was in close listening range and come out of her hiding place.

Camelia began searching the entire kitchen frantically calling out Mia's name.  The tension was rising.  Stefan walked in to inspect the noise and the yelling.

"What's going on in here?"  Stefan enters the huge kitchen watching Sammy slam cabinet after the other in exasperation.  Tears were running down his wife's cheeks.  Alarmed, he strides towards her quickly and grips her upper arms to steady her jerky movements and spins her around to face him.  "Camelia what is it?  What's wrong?"

"Mia is missing!"  Camelia practically screamed, her fists against his hard chest.

Stefan frowned despite his own worry rising.  However he kept a confident demeanor by her announcement, rubbing her arms in a soothing motion.

"You need to be calm.  She couldn't have gotten far on her own."  His eyes glinted dangerously at Sammy's back.  "You were supposed to responsible for her Samuel.  Where the hell were you?"

Sammy flinched under the verbal attack and straightens.  He slowly turns to glower right back at him.

"Camelia, Mia and I were inspecting the destroyed cake!  The delivery guys dropped the whole thing making it look like a pile of shit!"  He gestures to the five-layer of cream and cake toppled over like a huge pile of blob in the corner of the large kitchen.  "I placed Mia down for a second while I explained to your wife, I'd arranged for a second cake to be made just in case, hoping she'd change her mind because I didn't like the one she choose!"

"She was right there!"  Camelia explained, pointing to an area they stood close to the cake.  "Sammy was making a phone call to the bakery and I turned to lift her into my arms when I noticed she wasn't behind us anymore.  It's like she vanished!"

Stefan felt like strangling Sammy.  He closed his eyes and imaged shouting every arsenal of curse words at him.  However, he looked every bit as worried and dismayed as Camelia and his wife hated when they argued.

"Okay.  Let's split up.  I'm sure we'll find her.  Panicking won't help any of us."  With a great effort, he kept his voice calm and reasonable.  He clung to his businesslike ability to remain calm in a crisis, to put his emotions on hold until every last detail had been handled.  It's the only way to keep everyone involved under control.

"If anything happened to her. . ." Camelia moaned miserably, not able to complete the thought.  "People have been coming in and out of the house preparing for her birthday all day, Stefan!  What if . . ."  She covers her face, tears falling relentlessly down her cheeks.  "What if someone took her!"

"Camelia.  Stop it."  Stefan demanded, gripping her wrists.  "Stop always thinking the worst.  Pull yourself together.  We. Will. Find. Her.  We always do when she wanders off."

With each square foot they covered, her panic deepened. So many terrible things could happen to a baby, especially with the size of the house and grounds. Mia was a joy to their lives. She was all they had, all that meant anything in their life. And Camelia was right, people were coming and going preparing for her birthday.

Every staff member, security detail and Liam was called together to help in the search of Mia. Some of the men went on foot while others scouted the neighborhood in cars although it was unlikely she wandered passed the iron gates. They covered every corner, every tree, potted plant and every bush on the grounds.

The house was turned upside down. Furniture was moved, tables were checked, chairs were flipped over. The bedrooms were left ransacked with pillows thrown, blankets flung. They checked every bathroom, every shower and tub. And still no sign of Mia. Their impatience mounted with every square foot they covered without finding any sign of her.

Stefan and Liam regrouped in the library, shutting the heavy oak door behind them.  The sound echoed against the high walls of leather-bound books and ceiling, reverberating an impending doom.

"Give me good news, Liam."

Liam's expression was grim.  "I checked the security footage. There was no sign of Mia except when she entered the kitchen with Camelia and Sammy. The cameras revealed she never left that particular area of the house. I doubled checked all the footage, every person that entered and exited the house–she didn't leave with anyone."

Stefan cursed, running a hand through his dark hair.  The floor-to ceiling Windows allowed a floodgate of sunshine into the room Camelia loved to sit in and read while their daughter napped.    It was her sanctuary and sweet haven after a long day.  She always called it her happy place but despite the warmth and brightness flooding the room, Stefan felt a chill enter his bones as the sight of a left behind doll his daughter often played with sitting perfectly on his wife's lounge chair.

The last time he felt such an intense amount of worry and fear was when Camelia was kidnapped.

"Do. . .do you think someone. . ."  Stefan couldn't say the words out loud, feeling a lump form in his throat.

Liam shook his head as if understanding what he was about to say.  "Stefan, she has to be in the house somewhere.  I suspect she's hiding–remember the time Camelia found her beneath the sheets with eyeshadow and lipstick smeared all over her face?  Mia hides when she's doing something she knows she's not supposed to."

Stefan flashes back to that day, he had just gotten home from a long day at the office when he heard his wife's panic.  Camelia was blowing drying her hair in the ensuite bathroom with the door open to their bedroom watching Mia every few seconds. She was always very careful and paranoid when it concerned their daughter and Stefan knew without a doubt is was because of the threat she went through for months years before. She was so over protective at times, Stefan, Linda and Liam tried not to panic along with her rising hysteria because most times, Mia was perfectly fine and wandered off to play with a doll or sitting quietly playing with her mother's phone coloring on an app.

However, when his wife went to put away her styling products, with her back turned, Mia sneaked away. When she kept calling out to her with no answer, Camelia quickly ran down the hall searching the house for her.

Little did she know, Mia went to her vanity counter, swiped all the make-up her little hands could carry and hid under the covers as she applied the products.  Stefan could only imagine his daughter realizing she'd get caught, quickly laid beneath the covers perfectly still as her mother called out to her.

Eventually they found her thanks to the sounds of her giggling.  Ripping the covers off of her, Stefan smiled briefly recalling the sight of his daughters face.  She had Black eyeshadow all around her eyes and hot pink lipstick covered her cheeks and lips in a clumsy attempt to apply the products.

"Mommy! Lookie me!" Mia proudly pointed to herself full of pride. "Pwetty! Mia pwetty!

But after looking at her mother's distraught, stressed face and watching her nearly faint, Mia's happiness faded and was replaced with remorse. With a puppy dog face and eyes downcast, Mia apologized saying, "Sawry mommy."

Camelia hugged her to her chest for a good thirty minutes before she went back into the bathroom to clean her face.

"I thought you checked all the cameras. If she's in the house why didn't you pick up where she went?"

"The last place she was seen was the kitchen. I'm positive she's still there–hiding." Liam insisted.

"Sammy and Camelia checked every appliance, cabinet. . ."

A thought comes over him. A chill entering his body.

"Call the psychiatric hospital and make sure Gloriana is still there." He orders. If her cousin somehow escaped undetected the first person she would come for was his wife and taking Mia would be her ultimate revenge. He tried not to think about the many things Gloriana was capable of. But if she threatened his family in any way he would kill her with his bare hands and rid the world of her presence once and for all.

Liam's eyes widen fractionally but without a word he quickly dials the number he had saved to his contacts. Stefan paced the carpet, listening to the dial tone until a greeting voice floods the line.

"I need to speak with Doctor Smith immediately, this is an emergency." Liam said to the nurse.

Stefan continued to pace as he waited, while his heart was hammering, struggling to stay in control of his savage side. It's been years since he'd felt so much violence and hatred.

"Stefan!" Camelia screamed.

Although he was quite a distance from the kitchen with the door of the library closed, Stefan heard his wife scream his name.  Liam inclined his head to the sound, the phone still glued to his ear. They shared a brief look as if to confirm they heard it right.

The tone of Camelia's voice made him jump to the worst conclusions. Stefan's heart thudded heavily as dismay settled in. The already tense muscles across Stefan's shoulders knotted. He practically ripped the door open, sprinted and split into a run back through the main foyer and under an arched doorway to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, earlier in the kitchen:

Sammy spun around, still in the kitchen checking the cabinets again, to the sound of clattering coming from the pantry close the small mountain of cake. He frowned and listened again but he heard nothing. However, that was the one place they hadn't checked because the cake blocked the door to the pantry. He had his doubts Mia would be in there. He creeped slowly, grabbing a broom on his way that was leaning against the counter just in case he found something unwelcome.

Sammy was panting heavily, every nerve alert, the adrenalin spiking in his over heated body. He stops in his tracks, the broom raised.

"Sam-i-oul!" Mia screeches at seeing him.

"Save me Jesus!" Sammy jumps like an electrocuted cat and plasters his body against the wall. His heart raced so fast, it was pounding painfully in his chest to a point he felt as if he was having a heart attack.

She giggles happily, clapping her hands, her face smothered with cream, her entire birthday outfit soiled with white cake and pink cream.

He shakes his head in disappointment at the sight before him, dropping the broom.  "I'm gonna need a martini after this fiasco." With that said he dramatically folds an arm over his head and faints, falling in a heap on his folded legs and dropping backwards beside the blob of cake with a thump.

She stumbles as she tries to walk around the large pile of cake, deciding to crawl over the contents, her feet and arms sinking as she maneuvered her body over the large dome until she approaches Sammy's side.  Little Mia stands on her chubby legs and wobbles around the splatter and sits by his head, a fistful of cake in her hands. She pats his mouth with cream and spongy bits of cake. "Sam-i-oul, yummy cakie!"

With no response, She pats his cheeks in an attempt to wake him up but instead smears more cream over his face. By the time she was done, Mia covered his cheeks with sticky cream crumbs.  She stuck a finger above his eyelid trying to pry one eye open. But she only managed to coat his fake lashes with even more cream.

"Sam-i-oul!!! Wakie! Wakie!"

He looked like hot mess and if Sammy was awake he would have had another meltdown now that he looked like someone smashed a pie in his face.

Camelia just finished re-checking her bedroom just incase Mia went in there to get into her makeup and enters the kitchen in a rush again looking for Sammy who stayed in the kitchen continuing to look for her.

"Sammy?"  She calls out, standing framed in the doorway.  The kitchen was empty except for the finger foods waiting on the kitchen island ready to be carried out to the tables outside.  Her nerves were frayed, choked with dread, and quite at the end of what she could bear.  With slumped shoulders and at the verge of collapsing, Camelia walks deeper into the kitchen, slumps against a set of cabinets and slides down them until her head met her bended knees.

Eyes already red and raw from crying, Camelia lifts her head to a movement at her left.  Her eyes widened.  A leg stuck out of the corner where the walk-in pantry was hidden.  Recognizing the shoe–a silver, glittering, sparkly flat belonging to Sammy, Camelia didn't have a chance to stand, quickly crawling ten feet towards the pantry.

"Sammy!"

Unprepared by the sight Camelia screams, "Stefan!"

Her daughter was sitting beside Sammy's head, coating her face, legs and arms as if she were bathing herself. A surprised cry left her lips as she scoops Mia in her arms, rocking her back and forth in joy. Mia claps happily, splashes of cream spraying her face and her mother's.  She smushed her hands together, lathering the cream in her hands as if it were lotion.

"What have you done to Sammy, Mia?" She asked, smiling down at her daughter, full of relief, kissing the top of her head.

"Sam-i-oul pwetty. Pwetty!" Mia claps again, oblivious to what she'd done.

Camelia drops to her hunches, shaking her best friends shoulder to wake him. "Sammy? Sammy? Wake up! We found Mia." She urges softly.

A groan leaves his lips and his head twitches to the side as he attempts to open his coated eyes. "What the hell happened?" He asked, sitting up, rubbing his eyes when he stiffens at the feel of thick cream. "What the hell is on my face?"

"You found Mia!" Camelia exclaimed happily.

"I swear that child has made a pact with Satan just to kill me.  If she weren't around I'd be firing fücks all over the place."  Sammy mutters, wiping his face with a paper towel Camelia handed him. "Lord have mercy!  She's ruined her outfit!" Sammy exclaims, his OCD kicking in, shuddering every time Mia rubbed her hands together. He turns his face away to shield his eyes of the sight before him. "Get her cleaned up this second!  Just lookin' at her makes me want to scrub myself in bleach!"

Camelia held back he didn't look any better but thought it best to keep it to herself.

"I don't care.  What matters is she is safe and sound."  Camelia says, smiling indulgently.  "I can't believe she was here this entire time."  Shifting her attention to her daughter.  "Mia, never do that to mommy ever again."

"Cake!"  Mia giggled happily, squirming in her mother's arms.

Pure dread, his heart racing, Stefan comes to an abrupt stop once he reached the kitchen.  He stared at his wife and daughter for a heartbeat.  Love and happiness filled Camelia's gaze at the sight of him.

"She's ok."  She reassures him, holding their daughter close to her chest and resting her cheek on Mia's head.

"Da-dddy!"

Suddenly in motion, he strode across the kitchen to her and Mia and for a moment just stood beside them.  His daughter looked like a big mess, covered from her head to toe in pink cream.

He gathered them protectively to his chest, wrapping a strong arm around Camelia's slender waist. They held each together in silence, flooded with gratitude and joy at their reunion.

An hour later:

Her mother, father, siblings, grandparents and close friends mingled around the reception party.  Jugglers, clowns and the bounce houses were busy entertaining children.  From balloons to props, tables and chairs, every inch was decorated in pink and gold. A popcorn machine popped fresh popcorn while cotton candy stand was busy making fresh fluffy cones of pink cotton candy.

Camelia enters the backyard ready for the celebrations.  Jasmine meets her beneath a great big balloon arch.

"Jaja! Jaja!" Mia greets her aunt happily.

"Happy first birthday Mia!"  Jasmine smiles tenderly giving her niece a kiss on her cheek.

"Mia burday!"  Mia claps again, referring to herself in the the third person.

"I wonder what would happen if Mia ever ran for mayor. I mean look at this place!" Jasmine whispers in her sisters ear, gesturing to the party with a free hand.

Mia's cute chubby face was plastered on large rainbow lollipops. On one table, souvenirs were ready and loaded with truffle chocolates and toy surprises. The paper plates and cups were personalized with a picture of her smiling face with a gold crown perched on her head. Bowls of M&M's with an image of her face were engraved with colored ink dye while labels with a sticker with Mia's image and her date of birth was wrapped around water bottles.

"It's like she's running for office." Jasmine continued. "Can you picture Sammy wearing a hat with her image and a t-shirt that says: 'This girl is going places' or a great big inflatable balloon of her, just like the ones Macy's parade showcase during Thanksgiving hovering above the crowds?"

"I wouldn't put it past him."  Camelia agreed.

They both shared a good laugh at the mental image. When Sammy was involved, anything was possible.

"You'd think she's his own with all that he's done for this party." Jasmine observed, hooking her arm into Camelia's and walking to center of the party.

"I think he's making up for the things he would want if it were him." Camelia replied with a smile.

"Sam-i-oul!" Mia says in a screech, clapping her hands while in her mother's arms, noticing him in the crowd. An arm rested on his hip while the other held a martini while surveying everything with a critical eye and nodding to himself.

Jasmine and Camelia share a look and start laughing again.

At Mia's exclamation, he stiffens and turns slowly. To his relief Mia was in a new dress and scrubbed clean from head to toe.

Sammy shakes his head. "Kids. Ten seconds joy, thirty years misery." He mutters and takes a long gulp of his martini as he approaches them.

Camelia hears him. "How would you know? You have yet to find out." Speaking to him and smiling at her daughter who was tugging the necklace at her neck.

Sammy laughs and waves dismissively. "Oh, honey don't get me wrong. They are so cute to dress up and everything but they aren't for me. I'm mean just look at the hell this little munchkin put me through and she ain't my kid." He leaned a little closer and whispered. "Besides, I only like to be addressed daddy in the bedroom."

He toasts Jasmine and Camelia with his martini glass and smiles mischievously.

"Sammy!" Jasmine exclaims in mock horror, swatting his arm.

"You are so bad." Camelia replies, with an admonishing shake of her head.

Yet despite her reprimand she, Jasmine and Sammy erupt into a fit of giggles.

______________________________________________________________________________

Hope everyone enjoyed the extra outtake of Stefan and Camelia's life.  It's been a year since I last updated anything.  I know many of you were wanting to read more about their lives.

Thanks for all the reads, votes and comments on His Camelia.  It's surpassed all my expectations and I hope it surpassed yours.  The support I've received in the past year has been tremendous and exhilarating!  I am so very grateful for each and everyone you.

After many requests I've decided to write another story. His Yasmina.  It's Jasmine and Cristiano's story.  I will be posting a prologue very soon along with a summary.   For those that loved Sammy, he will be back in this spinoff!  I know he was a popular character and his witty personality was loved by many.  Camelia and Zayn will be making some appearances as well.  I haven't quite developed the plot and it will need more time to come to life in my mind.  It's even harder the third time around and I'm putting a lot of pressure on myself for wanting it to stand out from the others.  Once I have a good direction on it updates will be regular, as usual.  So stay tuned. . .

Please don't forget to comment, vote and share this story with others.

Thank you again,

Shaz