Full house chapter one: Moving in
" Isn't it beautiful Caroline?" Her father asked as she wrapped a strong arm around her daughter's shoulders.
" Yeah" Caroline said sarcastically. " stunning." They were standing outside of a large plantation house in Virginia. The truth was the house was beautiful, stunning even , but Caroline couldn't be any less pleased about being there. It was only a month ago that her Dad had announced that they'd be moving from Charlotte to the quiet sleepy town of Mystic falls. Caroline might have been a little less bitter about the move if her father wasn't up rooting her whole life just some girl. It wouldn't be such a big deal if Caroline wasn't having to give up spending her senior year of high school with all the friends she had grown up with and her boyfriend of two years.
Bill had met some random women on a business trip to london a few months ago, and all of the sudden he was claiming that they were in love, and they'd be moving to the land he had just bought them in the middle of nowhere. Her father had sold his condo in downtown Charlotte in favor of acreage on the outskirts of the sleepy town with a population under five thousand. The plantation house was a bright white with pillars and classic shutters. It packed onto a stretch of polished green and finally broke into a forest.
All Caroline wanted to do what throw down the boxes in her arms and kick down the sold sign on the front lawn and throw a hissy fit the way she did when she was little and didn't get her way.
Her father squeezed her shoulders, and then hissed in her ear.
" Please stop pouting Caroline. This isn't the end of the world." he gave her daughter's shoulder one last pat and then sprung up the steps to met his girlfriend who was standing at the top of them.
Esther was nice enough, and it wasn't as if Caroline cared that her father was dating her, she did care that she had to leave her life behind in order for her father to be with her. Not to mention that Esther had some crazy number of kids, and having lived as an only child her whole life she wasn't exactly looking forward to having to share a bathroom with a bunch of other hormonal teens. She hadn't met any of esther's kids yet. She doubted they were excited to be moving in with her either. Compared to them, Caroline guessed she didn't have it that bad, at least when she moved she was still in the same country. Esther's family was moving from england, and no offense to her father, but she couldn't really imagine anyone being willing to move across the ocean just to be with him.
Caroline knew almost nothing about Esther, let alone her children. All she knew is that there were six of them, but only four would actually be living with them in Virginia.
One of them was way younger, a kid, but she thought the other three were somewhat close to her age. Her dad had thought that one of the boys may even be in her grade. In that case he was in the same boat as her, having to switch highschool for their senior year.
Caroline had only met Esther once, over a somewhat awkward dinner in Charlotte the month before when her father had dropped the bomb that they'd all be becoming one big happy family in Virginia. It was a wise choice really, because her father knew she couldn't explode in a restaurant full of people. Caroline had somewhat of a flare for the dramatics and a short fuse, but even she wouldn't scream and shout and stomp her feet in an upscale steak house.
…..
Esther opened her arms as if to welcome them to the house before descending down the porch steps to greet them. Esther stopped halfway down the steps and then turned, yelling backwards into the house, attempting to summon her children.
" I'm so happy you're here." Esther simpered, quickly kissing Bills cheek before moving to embrace Caroline. Esther wrapped her arms around Caroline and squeezed more than Caroline deemed necessary. This wasn't a quick hug either, but rather Esther swayed them back and forth as she mused at how excited she was about the whole thing. Caroline didn't want to be rude, but it was the afternoon in mid august with the sun high in the sky, making physical contact hot, sticky and more than slightly uncomfortable.
"Let the poor girl go mother, you're going to give her heatstroke." Esther let go of Caroline's at the sound of her children's voice. The four children, if you could call them that, had arrived on the porch and were staring down at the scene unfolding on the lawn before them.
"Ahh, great, kids come meet the forbes." Esther said enthusiastically, gesturing for her children to join her on the grass.
" Can't you all come up here into the shade. I don't want to burn." the only girl of the four asked, shielding her eyes with her hand. Esther rolled her eyes at her daughter, but lead Bill and Caroline up the walk and onto the porch. To tell the truth, Caroline was grateful to be out of the direct sun.
" Kids this is Bill and his daughter Caroline and these are my children, Henrick" she gestured to the youngest boy who must have been about nine or ten.
" Rebekah and Kol" Esther continued motioning to the two who Caroline assumed were twins around the age of fifteen.
" and Klaus." She finished, referring to the boy who had first spoken when they had entered the porch,.
Alright. She would admit it. He was hot. Hot to the point where she had to focus on not letting her jaw go slack and flat out staring. Stop it Caroline. She thought to herself. These are not the thoughts of a girl with a boyfriend. Sure Tyler lived back in Charlotte and that was nearly five hours away, but they were going to make it work. In theory they would both be attending Duke next fall. With that in mind Caroline kept her composure and shot Esther's kids a tight smile. Esther began to discuss her two older children who were both attending university in England, but no one besides Bill was even pretending to listen. Caroline began to shuffle towards the door to the house, wanting to escape the heat and this all together awkward conversation. Bill seemed to notice his daughters movement towards the door, and took the opportunity to encourage Caroline and the other kids to head into the house to unpack/ continue to unpack.
" Your rooms at the top of the second set of stairs Care." Her father advised as Caroline moved past him into the house. She climbed the first set of stairs and crossed the hallway towards a smaller flight of stairs that was much narrower than the first. The third floors ceilings were slopped in and narrower than that of the lower floors . There was a bathroom on the same wall as the stairs and two other doors, presumably bedrooms directly across the hall.
Caroline entered the room that was presumably hers, the specifically marked boxes piled around the room were a dead give away. After less than ten minutes of lugging and unpacking boxes Caroline was exhausted. It wasn't exactly back breaking work, but the temperature in her room had climbed to almost an unbearable heat. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, and although the house was beautiful it didn't seem to have working central air. She whipped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and was just about to start in on another box when she heard a clatter near the entrance to her bedroom. She twisted around to see that the eldest boy, Klaus, had dropped a tall floor fan in her doorway.
" Trust me. You'll need it." He dead panned before talking into the bedroom right next door.
…
During Dinner that night Caroline got a slightly clearer picture of why Esther and Bill thought they were so well suited for each other. They were both absolute workaholics. Bill consulted on dozens of projects a year and was hardly ever home, while Esther was always out promoting whatever book she had recently released. Esther had written several books on Parenting, Family, Divorce, Single- Parent households and seemed to be working on another based on blended families.
That wasn't what they were was it? It's not like Bill and Esther were get getting married. Caroline thought of these people as more of forced roommates then future family members. It's not like they were exactly hitting it off first thing. Bill and Esther were trying to force conversation between all of them, but they were the only ones actually talking. Rebekah was typing away furiously at her phone screen while Kol and Henrik tore up pieces of the pizza that had been delivered and tossed them at each other across the table. Although the two boys were almost six years apart in age their maturity levels seemed to be right about on par. Caroline was picking at her pizza without really eating it, and Klaus hadn't shown up to the dinner table at all. Kol sent a chunk of pizza intended for Henrick flying. The grease and sauce covered hunk of dough missed its mark, landing in Caroline's hair. Kol snorted in laughter and Caroline tried to keep her cool as she dug her nails into her legs in frustrations. Without a word she pushed back from the table and stomped out of the room. She hurried up both flights of stairs until she reached the bathroom door outside of the own bedroom. She turned the knob and pushed open the door without even thinking about knocking.
She strode into the bathroom and came up short, seeing that she was not alone in the small room. Klaus stood, fresh out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, looking amused at her sudden appearance.
Caroline chose not to think about what she was looking at, and rushed on.
" Sorry, but this is an emergency." Caroline defended, turning away from his and trying with little luck to pry the sauce and cheese from her hair. Klaus let out a laugh, clearly still amused.
" Hen?" He asked, shaking the water from his hair.
" I think it was the other one." Caroline quipped, disgusted as she finally freed some of the stringy cheese from her blonde waves.
" There's not much to do when dealing with them. My only advice is to either avoid being within twelve feet of them while they're eating, or just to aim a swift kick under the table." He joked, moving past to and into the hall.
" I'll keep that in mind." Caroline said, letting out a huff of air and reaching over to crank on the shower.