“Now, tell me again,” Nikolas laughed and wiped the buttercream from his mouth, “exactly what it is that we are celebrating here today.  Our,” he did a quick calculation in his head, “one hundred seventh day as a married couple?”

Gia elbowed him in the stomach.  “Don’t make fun of me.”  She took another bite of creamy petit four.  “Beside, would it be so terrible if that was the reason I did all this?”  Gia indicated the room with a lazy flourish of her hand.  Much to the dismay of the staff she had refused to allow them to adorn the room.  She had, instead, seen to each detail by hand.  Gia had painstakingly draped most of the bedroom’s surfaces with sheer white gauze. She had carefully placed votives about the room to illuminate the bedroom with soft light that gave it a dreamy atmosphere.

Nikolas smiled tenderly.  “I think that a hundred seven days of marriage is a perfect reason for a celebration.”  He could not resist teasing his wife.  “I am not certain anyone else would appreciate such an occasion, though.”

“That’s okay.”  Gia’s sudden grin made her look like a mischievous little girl.  “What matters is that they have to pretend they do.  That’s my favorite perk about being the Princess Cassadine, by the way.”

Nikolas rolled over and trapped Gia’s nude body beneath his own.  “Oh, really?  Your favorite perk?”

The telephone’s insistent ring interrupted the couple’s passionate kiss.  “It has to be an emergency,” Nikolas apologized.  “No one would dare disturb us otherwise.”

Though she was disappointed, Gia acknowledged the truth of her husband’s words.  She watched as Nikolas’ relaxed form grew more tense with each word of the conversation he held.  “Nikolas?  What is it?  What’s happened?”