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After Christmas Eve comes Christmas morning.
Bright and early, Hawk and Gwen were packing up to head back to New York City.
Except…
Hawk looked at his sister, Anya, who had just announced she wanted to stay in Westview for a few more days. He frowned.
"Are you sure you want to stay here?"
"Yeah."
Anya nodded, glancing across the street at the Maximoff house. She looked back at Hawk. "I want to spend some time with my niece and nephews."
Hawk understood. He let out a soft laugh and nodded.
"Alright. You stay here for a bit. Come back when the holidays are over."
"Thanks, Hawk."
"You're my sister."
Hawk smiled, pulled her into a hug, and kissed her forehead. Without another word, he turned and opened the door to the Audi A8.
Gwen, having just hugged Amy goodbye, slid into the passenger seat.
The next moment.
The engine of the A8 roared to life.
"We need to stop by the 21st Precinct first," Gwen said, buckling her seatbelt as they pulled out of the driveway. "My dad called. He said there's something he needs to discuss with us."
Hawk nodded, curious.
"Is he planning a surprise for your mom? Wants our help picking out a gift?"
"He didn't say."
Gwen shook her head. "But probably not. My dad is not a 'surprise' kind of guy. One time, my mom tried to throw him a surprise party. The second the confetti cannon went off, he already had his gun drawn."
Hawk shot her a sidelong glance.
Are you serious?
"I'm serious."
Gwen nodded, her expression deadpan. "As long as I can remember, the word 'surprise' hasn't existed in our house."
Now Hawk was genuinely curious.
"Then why does he want to see us?"
"No idea."
Gwen shrugged.
"But whatever it is, I doubt it's a pleasant surprise."
"I'm going to take the vampire cure."
"..."
Inside the Captain's office at the 21st Precinct.
As soon as Gwen and her future husband sat down, George delivered the news with his usual stern expression.
Gwen's jaw dropped.
Hawk blinked in surprise, then a thought struck him. He looked at Gwen's stunned face and smirked.
"I'd call that a surprise."
"Shut up."
Gwen snapped out of her shock, glaring at his amused expression. She turned back to George, completely baffled.
"Why, Dad?"
"Because there's a cure now. Dr. Vanessa Brooks said that after analyzing Whistler's blood samples, she was able to synthesize a serum that can turn me back into a human."
Vanessa Brooks. The African-American hematologist Blade had rescued from the hospital all those years ago.
Calling her a 'doctor' was an understatement. She was a brilliant medical researcher.
After Hawk had killed Deacon Frost, Dr. Brooks had been recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D., dedicating her time entirely to perfecting the vampire cure.
The serum they had used on Whistler when Blade first rescued him had been an experimental prototype.
But Whistler had gotten lucky. The cure worked, and he became human again.
Using Whistler's successful blood sample as a baseline, Dr. Brooks had spent the last few months refining the formula. Now, the cure was ready for deployment.
Originally, George hadn't even known a cure was in development.
But ever since Gwen had taken him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. New York Command Center, he'd been read in on the project.
And so.
After careful consideration over the past few weeks, George had called Hawk and Gwen to his office to 'discuss' it.
Though calling it a discussion was generous. George had already made up his mind. He was just informing them of his decision.
But!
Gwen slammed her hands on the desk, standing up to meet her father's resolute expression.
"No! I won't allow it!"
"Why not?"
George looked calmly at his protesting daughter.
Hawk sat quietly, observing the dynamic.
"Dad, staying a vampire doesn't affect your life at all!" Gwen argued passionately. "And most importantly, because you're a vampire, Mom and I never have to worry about two officers showing up at our door in the middle of the night to tell us you're not coming home!"
If George were a desk jockey like most captains, Gwen wouldn't care if he was a vampire or not.
But George insisted on being out in the field, leading from the front. That had always terrified her. Being a vampire was the ultimate life insurance policy.
Honestly.
Ever since George had been turned, Gwen had finally stopped worrying about his safety on the job.
Even as the weakest of the supernatural beings, a vampire completely outclassed any ordinary street criminal.
And now he wanted to give that up?
Gwen couldn't understand it.
"Dad, do you really want Mom and me to go back to stressing out every single time you go on a raid?"
"Your mother supports my decision."
"...What?"
Gwen froze, her eyes wide as she stared at him.
"Mom... she knows?"
"Of course. Your mother and I don't keep secrets from each other."
George smiled slightly. "She's known for a while. I told her that you asked me not to tell her, so she wouldn't worry. She's been pretending not to know this whole time."
Gwen's mouth opened and closed silently.
Sitting beside her, trying his hardest to be invisible, Hawk couldn't help but interject. "Hey, don't drag me into this. I told you I didn't care if you told Helen or not."
George looked at Hawk. "True. And I told Helen that, too. I told her you were just going along with Gwen's plan."
Hawk let out a relieved sigh, giving George a look of profound gratitude.
"Thanks, George."
"Don't mention it."
"Hey!"
Gwen, watching her fiancé thank her father for throwing her under the bus, bristled. "So, let me get this straight. Mom thinks I'm the only one who wanted to keep this from her?"
George smiled at his daughter. "You did say, 'Let's not tell her yet, I don't want her to worry.'"
Hawk, still sitting quietly, muttered under his breath.
"You definitely said that."
"Oh, God. Shut up."
Gwen lightly punched Hawk in the arm, glaring at his barely concealed smirk. Then, she looked nervously back at her father. "Dad... what did she say?"
George shrugged.
"You'll find out when you come over for dinner tonight."
"Hawk!"
Gwen's expression instantly hardened. She whipped her head around to look at him. "We have a flight this afternoon, don't we?"
Hawk blinked.
"A flight?"
"Hmm?"
Gwen's eyebrow arched dangerously.
"Right. Our flight."
Hawk caught the lethal warning in her eyes and immediately nodded, looking back at George. "Yeah. We have a flight this afternoon."
Except…
Where were they flying?
Nowhere.
The imaginary flight was grounded before it even took off.
Because of Helen.
George hadn't called them to his office to ask for permission. He had called them to tell them it was happening.
The injection was scheduled for 10:00 AM. And as his devoted wife, Helen was naturally going to be there.
And so.
Outside the medical bay at the S.H.I.E.L.D. New York Command Center.
Hawk leaned in close to his mother-in-law, his voice low. "Ma'am, you know me. I just do whatever Gwen tells me to do."
Helen gave Hawk a warm, understanding look, then turned a sharp glare on Gwen, who was standing nearby.
"Your father was right. You're a drafty winter coat."
"Mom…"
"Don't 'Mom' me."
Helen rolled her eyes, then looked at Gwen with genuine curiosity. "I'm just wondering... if I hadn't already known, when exactly was my brilliant, pride-and-joy daughter planning to tell me?"
Gwen put on a serious face. "I was going to tell you tonight at dinner, Mom."
Helen laughed.
"When I walked into George's office, weren't you literally looking up flights for this afternoon?"
"Hawk wanted to go on a trip. Right, Hawk?"
"...Right."
Hawk nodded, looking at Helen. "Yes, I was planning to take Gwen on a vacation."
Helen looked at her daughter's innocent shrug, shook her head, and then turned back to Hawk.
"Hawk."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"You have your hands full with this one."
"It's no trouble at all."
"Mom!"
"Zip it."
Helen rolled her eyes at Gwen again, then sighed and looked back at Hawk. "George and I have talked about it. After the holidays, once City Hall is open again, you can come pick her up and take her home. We're done with her."
Hawk raised an eyebrow, exchanged a quick look with Gwen, and beamed.
"Thank you."
Just like a proposal required the blessing of the parents, a marriage also required their approval and support.
Even if you didn't technically need their permission to sign the papers at City Hall.
In Western culture, getting married without the blessing of the bride's parents was essentially an elopement.
And more importantly, George and Helen were footing the bill for the wedding.
"Mom."
Gwen, realizing her mother was giving them her official blessing to marry, threw her arms around Helen.
The banter and the teasing had just been a way to lighten the mood, a defense mechanism against the bittersweet reality of finally giving her daughter away.
Helen hugged Gwen tightly, her voice soft and smiling. "Your father and I have already booked Trinity Church. But you need to hurry up and put together the guest list."
There were countless churches in New York City.
But among them all, Trinity Church, nestled in the heart of Manhattan, was undeniably the most prestigious.
As Helen held her daughter, her eyes drifted to the medical bay window. Inside, George was lying on a hospital bed, an IV line in his arm, his lips pressed tightly together, his brow furrowed as he endured the painful process of the cure taking effect.
Helen looked back at Gwen.
"Your father has to walk you down the aisle and give your hand to Hawk."
"And…"
"He said he wants to do it as George Stacy, your father."
"Not as George Stacy, the vampire."
"..."
Gwen's heart clenched. She turned to look through the glass at her father, watching him grit his teeth against the pain of becoming human again, just so he could walk her down the aisle in the sun.
"...Dad."
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