Natalya smiles and sniffles a little. "I love you lots Erica. Even if I am a bitch to you. I do not want to be anymore." She looks down and touches her bump. "Yes, she is getting very big now."

Natalya nods and smiles a little at Erica. "I love you too Erica. Even when I have been bad to you, I never even stopped loving you not for one moment. I always love you forever. I promise." She holds her hand. "I wish Takara could look like you. She would be so beautiful."

Natalya smiles a little softly and lays down, resting her head in Erica's lap. "She will be mommy Erica's little princess. You will be her favourite, I can tell." She grins up at her.

It's midday on the duke. Erich hess is dutifully going from room to room,clearing out the free range firearms that litter the ship. With fatherhood looming,it's best to make the ship as baby safe as it can be. Even if the likelihood of Ada or their baby ever setting foot on the hess clan's prized ship is low. He tosses an archaic looking pistol into a wheeled bin and pushes it down the halls. The squeaking cart echoes through the empty ship. He makes a pit stop at the tiki bar,flipping the swtich as he enters. The power flows,bringing the bar to life. Recorded bird calls blare and lights flicker on.

" mojito,James!" Erich says as he sits at the bar.

"Right away,sir." He says in a different voice. He reaches over the bar and grabs th mojito makings and starts crafting. "So..is sir enjoying the cruise so far?" He asks himself.

"Yeah. It's ok. It's not exactly a Hawaiian sex tour or anything. There is a shitload of fireArms laying about." Erich says in his normal voice,with a Hint of exhaustion.

Erich slides himself the fresh mojito. " here you go. This will brighten your spirits."

"Much obliged,James." Erich nods. " it sure is dead around here." He motions to the empty room.

"Yes. Most of our guests departed for shore. It once was so lively here,something always going on.new sights to be seen... Now the elegant duke quietly rusts." Erich says sadly. "Refill,sir?"

" sure." Erich nods and mixes another mojito. " as a passenger I had some grand times here. Probably the best times of my life." Erich stares into his glass and puts on his Tom jones record. He squeezes the lime into his glass and hums along.

A few minutes later,he speaks again as the bartender. " sir does know the ship is all fueled up and ready to go. A simple mouse click,and off you go." He tells himself,as if trying to convince himself to take the ship out for a cruise.

Erich thinks for awhile. Longer than a man pondering leaving for parts unknown and who seems to taken to speaking to himself should. "Nah. My home is here in New York now. My traveling days on the high seas are over. " erich drinks his drink slowly.

"Sir sounds....unsure about his current lot in life." Erich tells himself,picking up a glass and wiping it. "Or unhappy."

Erich plays with the little umbrella in his glass. " no! Well,not exactly. I just miss "it" you know? The unpredictability, the lack of having to please anyone. Having to concern myself with anyone."

" that sounds like a pretty lonely existence.if I may,sir." Erich say in the bartenders voice,which is oddly soothing. Like a British mr Rogers. " if you are living to please no one,or being concerned for anyone....doesn't that mean no one is concerned with you? Sir has it pretty good now. "

Erich nods in agreement. "Wait..weren't you convincing me to leave just a few minutes ago?!" He looks up,startled.

" you crazy mother fucker. You are speaking to your inner monologue. You know the entire time how you feel. You just wanted to speak those feelings aloud. To anyone. But you have no one you can share that kind of talk with. So,you have been talking to yourself." Erich says,writing out a bill for the drinks and giving it to himself.

"Good point. I guess that is it. I am lonely in this. I cannot tell Erica any of this,as it would go right back to Ada. I can't tell Ada as she will take it totally wrong... I am fucked." He looks at the bill. "15 dollars!!? Put it on my tab."

"I am sorry,sir. We do not offer credit here." Erich says in an openly hostile tone.

"Fine,you bastard!" Erich says,shaking his fist. He slams down a twenty and storms off. " I hope you fucking choke on it!"

Erich turns the lights off and walks down the empty halls. The hall is completely dark and the sound of erich running into things is clearly heard. He Cackles and sings " I love a challenge! A challenge for mmmeeeeee!" At atrocious. Volume. Elvis,the patron saint of rockabilly and Erich's personal metaphysical companion appears and shakes his head. "The boy finally cracked....dammit. Now I owe buddy holley 5 dollars! Who would have thought sobriety would make him stranger?!"

Castor and Virginia had been standing near one of the edges, looking over the side of the boat for a little bit now. Virginia had originally wanted to because she liked to look at the choppy waves when the boat hit them, and although Castor was against it at first since it had been kind of a rough morning - sailing wise - he let her look over the side anyway with him hanging on to her arm just to make sure nothing pushed her over. But after a few minutes of staring over the side of the boat, even he had become a little hypnotized by the way the boat crashes through the waves, and was now still in one place, watching them. A large wave crashes against the front of the boat, and Castor lets out a little, "Ooh," while Virginia giggles. He looks up, momentarily awaken from the hypnotizing power of the sea, and immediately sees his wife walking the boat. "Hey, there's Nina," he says quietly to Virginia, which also wakes her out of her daydream, frantically looking for her step-mother.

"Hi, Miss. Nina!" She calls loudly in her high, child voice, waving.

When Nina wraps her arms around Castor's, he leans down and kisses the top of her head softly. Virginia's smile widens. She loved both of her parents - Castor and Nina - and she loved seeing them together. She was far too young to remember her birth mother and what she was like, but she had come to assume that Nina was her real mother, and that parents love each other forever, no matter what.

"Mrs. Castor," Castor says back to Nina jokingly, giving her a small smile. He still felt the same way about Nina today that he did the first time he met her. People used to always talk about how perfect of a relationship Sam and Nichole had, but in Castor's opinion, he and Nina had the best relationship out of the group. Especially now.

"Miss. Nina, are we going anywhere today?" Virginia asks as she looks back out at the sea. She had become used to the sporadic stops at different countries throughout their travels on the ship, and looked forward to every one.

Virginia frantically nods and smiles when Nina asks her if she wants to go to France. In her mind, France had to be the most beautiful place on earth, with a bunch of poodles and fancy clothing, like how they display it on cartoons. Castor knew this, and knew that Virginia would probably be disappointed once they got to France, but he thought she should probably see what it's like anyway. "Yes, can we, please?" Virginia asks, looking out over the ocean like she would be able to see France in the distance.

Virginia giggles and then runs off to go find Ada and Marlena to tell them where they were going to excitedly. Castor laughs a little as he watches his daughter, and then turns back to Nina. "Yeah, Nichole and I went to France once. It was... you know, French." He laughs. "I didn't get to see Notre-Dame or the Eiffel Tower or anything like that, though. Nichole was pretty against doing anything that would make us look like tourists."

"Uh, the song is called Belle, Nina, and it's the best song in the whole musical," Castor says back, both jokingly, but very serious. He had seen his fair share of Disney movies with Virginia, and Beauty and the Beast had to be at least one of his favorites. He nods when she says that they'll need to make up for lost tourism. He wanted Virginia to see all the landmarks of France, even if it was 'touristy.' "Hopefully she won't be too disappointed by the fact that France isn't exactly the way television and cartoons tries to make it out to be."

Castor laughs and nods. "I just need to find a boyfriend who appreciates an unnatural amount of information about Disney princesses, and cabaret. True love and all that shit, right?" He smiles and kisses Nina softly. They were perfect together, despite what anybody else might think. "Definitely. In fact, I think we need to find a troupe of striped-shirted, beret-wearing accordion players that can play Belle. We'll act it out. I'll be Belle, of course." He winks.