Big D
It's a terrible title and isn't symbolic of anything, but there it is. Yes, I should be focusing on my other story, which of course I have not given up on, but this idea has been in my head and I had to start it.
Disclaimer: Not my characters. Never were, never will be.
Ding-Dong
Caroline looked at the clock on her laptop when her doorbell rang. It was 7:48pm in the Big D.
Big D. Hmm. Where was all the D that was supposed to be big anyway? How big were they talking? Also, where were all the cowboys she was supposed to be riding to save horses? If not in Dallas, Texas, where? She wanted to save the precious horses. PETA should award her. Actually, probably not if they found out about her past animal diet.
Were Big and Rich lying to her? How dare they!
Caroline Forbes did not know, but it called for a formal investigation.
Calloused hands holding the reigns. Mmmm.
Strong thighs squeezing a bucking bronc. Mmmm.
With a shake of her head, Caroline focused.
Whoever was at her door was pushing the acceptable time for dropping in. This was The South and things were done a certain way. Late night drop ins without a call weren't usual.
It wasn't Ric and the girls. Her little monkeys would be snug in their beds. They knocked and walked right in anyway.
A neighbor asking to borrow a cup of sugar? Too cliche.
Did she win the Publisher's Clearinghouse grand prize? Probably not, since she didn't enter the sweepstakes. Her grandma entered every year. It was a fond memory.
Dallas was her home once again. She stayed in Mystic Falls for about a month after Ric and the girls returned to Dallas. She was back though. This time was different. Yes, that sounded like a cliche from a movie sequel, but she meant it. This time it was personal. Sorry, she couldn't help it.
Reestablishing their trust after her time away took time and a few epic meltdowns…both hers and theirs. They were young enough to be flexible, but the past six months had been weird. Caroline rushed them out to New Orleans for safety and both her and Ric encouraged them to use their siphoning powers for the first time. It wasn't their usual play dates and dance lessons.
During her time away, Caroline realized she made a mistake. Scratch that. She made a lot of mistakes, but two pretty big ones back-to-back no less.
Mistake #1: Getting engaged to Alaric Saltzman.
That was a bone-headed move. Seriously, Caroline?
Agreeing to marry him came out of convenience and a desire to keep things the same, but it was also crazy. She didn't have to marry Alaric to be a mom to the girls. It wasn't the 1950s where they'd be shunned due to their non-traditional family. She was sort of-maybe-technically their mom, but also not really. That didn't matter to them, Ric, or her. She was the only mom they'd known, although Ric also told them about Jo. They didn't quite understand that part yet and who could blame them? For all intents and purposes, Caroline was their mom and other than an epic month-long mistake, she thought she was pretty much nailing it. Yeah, she probably just jinxed herself.
Caroline didn't love Alaric, not in the way a wife should love a husband. She hadn't even kissed him other than a peck on the cheek. She didn't want to kiss him. Ever! No really, ever. Alaric was a good provider, a great dad, and she knew objectively he was handsome. He wasn't for her though. [Not to mention the pretty icky factor of him having been her teacher and Elena's guardian. Those things were best forgotten, along with the short engagement.] Stefan coming back ripped her blinders off and she was better off for it.
That brought her to Mistake #2.
Stefan Salvatore.
Why was it that her two big mistakes were related to guys anyway? Hadn't she gotten past that phase? C'mon, Caroline! Get it together. You are strong, hear you roar!
The mistake with Stefan was a real doozy too, Forbes.
When he was around, something in her brain misfired. She'd idealized him for so long that seeing him for the perfectly flawed, real guy he was did not come easy. In fact, her denial put up a pretty good fight for much too long.
Her self-respect? Gone.
Her standards? Gone.
They all disappeared in the name of Salvatore.
When Stefan came to Dallas, he brought with him danger and excitement- things she didn't realize she missed while changing diapers and cleaning bottles. Stefan also had all the things Alaric was missing. She was attracted to him and being in his arms was familiar. [P.S. Stefan smelled really good.] In other words…she had sex. S-E-X. Sex.
Caroline loved sex and going without it for so long obviously messed with her head. Something about neurons misfiring…if she had to make a guess. Maybe she should Google it. Anyway, sex with Stefan was good (not the best sex that thinking about still curled her toes with He Who Shall Not Be Named,) but good. Ok, it was adequate. That wasn't Stefan's fault or hers. There was an ingredient missing.
It was everything but the decent sex that was the problem. She didn't consider her time with Stefan before the babies a mistake. The mistake was jumping back in three years later without resolving the problems they had before. She didn't learn anything from the first time around. That was the part that drove her nuts looking back. He didn't respect her ability to choose things for herself, wanting to protect her at the expense of her own free will. What was with the vervaining anyway? Not cool, Salvatore. Getting coddled or, oddly enough, hurt in the name of "love" was not acceptable. Not as a vampire who was strong, ageless, and fearless.
Nope, she wasn't going to think about Voldemort today. Shoot! She meant He Who Shall Not Be Named.
She was also never Stefan's priority, as if her being so self-sufficient was a turn off.
Oh yeah and he ditched her. Yup, he left her without talking it over. He decided he knew best…and Caroline sometimes in her heart of hearts believed that he was probably right because she couldn't have left the kids then, but couldn't they have been adults and said the words? Did it have to come with the dose of humiliation at being ditched? Abandoned? Dumped? Um yeah, there was also the fact that he was shagging his first love while he was gone. Nope, that didn't sting at all when she found out about it. Were there more open wounds salt could be poured on please?
At least he stuck around while his girlfriend was forced to play surrogate to some strange babies, right? Right? He stayed for that, but the connection Caroline built with the girls was too much for him.
Caroline knew why he did what he did, but she didn't have to like it. When Damon or Elena needed him, she was pretty sure he'd ditch her again and was on the verge of doing it once more when she left. She loved the way Stefan loved them, but she was never part of that exclusive club.
Once the adrenaline high wore off (pheromones too,) Damon was in trouble again which is where Stefan had to be. That was the perfect choice for Stefan. It just wasn't the perfect choice for her anymore. She would always love Stefan, but it was a platonic love, not the epic, romantic love she wanted. It took that second shot for her to figure it out finally! Finally!
Her heart was calling her back to the two little girls who cried when she talked to them on the phone, not understanding why she wasn't there and why she couldn't say when she'd be back. Coming up with feeble excuses while she twiddled her thumbs in Mystic Falls was lame. Her heart told her that Stefan chasing and rescuing Damon, and vice versa, had gone on for a century and would go on for centuries more. Her head told her that a mix of old and new, vampire and mom, was what she needed. That meant returning to Dallas and making it work.
Bonnie sort of understood why Caroline left, but she was in the middle of her own personal hell. Her powers, so soon after being restored, were gone again. Oh and yeah…her boyfriend and best friend were under the influence of an ancient evil bitch.
Why was it that ancient evils were always bitches? Rebekah Mikaelson, anyone?
Bonnie and Stefan were usually following after where Enzo and Damon had been rather than getting in front of them. Caroline offered them all the help she could from Dallas by doing research, giving them tools to help them fight for their loved ones. She promised to be there when they needed her and they agreed to call when the time came. There were two adorable twins who needed her too and her job was to help mold them into self-sufficient kick-ass women…with great fashion sense. They would need her less and less and she'd become more and more vampire. That was the plan she carefully plotted out anyway. Yes, a pie chart was part of the presentation if you must know.
Caroline didn't slink back into Dallas. That isn't how things are done there. Dallas was the land of big boobs, big belt buckles, and big egos. "The higher the hair, the closer to God," was not a joke.
It's a huge city with an eclectic mix of everything from trophy wives spending oil money to rough neighborhoods where some of the country's best athletes came from. There was also everything in between. Alaric picked it because of his job, but Caroline kind of loved it. Big D all right.
Head held high, Caroline rented a bungalow in the same neighborhood as Ric. It was less than a five minute walk. They shared custody of the girls. The twins weren't sure at first at the split, but they developed a new routine and adapted like the champs they were.
Ric was working in the English Department at Southern Methodist University. He taught Folklore, which he knew to be real-lore. His job was good and he had time to spend with his girls, giving them the life he'd plotted out with Jo. He made a few neighborhood friends and liked to play trivia at least once a week to keep from going toddler-crazy.
Rather than returning to the television station, Caroline found part-time work at the Dallas Morning News. The assignments weren't front-page worthy, but it was a job to pay her rent and she could mostly work from home. Freelance assignments helped pay the rest of the bills. To fill her spare time, she started a blog. She wrote about Dallas. The blog could tell you where to get the best pedicure, who did the best blowouts, where not to get the fish tacos, and where to get the cutest sandals for 3 year olds under $20. It was a guide for both visitors and locals. She updated it twice a week and considering it was only a few weeks old, it had a decent following. It motivated her to go out and explore her city with the girls or with some of the fellow moms she met. Plus there were the girls at spin class who occasionally ate back all the calories they burned by going out for Mexican after class. Margaritas, anyone?
What she couldn't tell the people of Dallas? The best place to go on a first date. The place that best set the mood for sealing the deal. Where to meet a nice, sexy guy. Where a hot vampire could have hot sex in the hot city. Did she mention hot? Where was the big D already?
Caroline was ready to get out there and get back in the saddle…no pun intended. Ok, maybe a little.
Her thing with Alaric was platonic. Her thing with Stefan popped back up and scratched an itch, but her heart wasn't in it. She was ready to go out and meet someone she actually liked. It didn't have to be love, but an attraction with a decent guy wasn't too much to ask for, was it? A friend with benefits maybe? She was a hot babe. At least Voldemort…no! He Who Shall Not Be Named thought so.
The time was right to stick her toe back into the dating waters, even though those waters tended to be murky.
Watch out, Big D! Caroline was ready!
Caroline wasn't quite so sure what a guy would say if they saw her at the moment. She was barefoot with hot pink polish on her toes. Lizzie picked it out. She had on a cotton panty and tank set for pajamas featuring Wonder Woman. Don't judge her! Wonder Woman happened to kick ass with style. Caroline thought the same about herself. Her hair was up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Oh yeah, she also had a clay mud mask drying on her face with three minutes to go. Yes, her timer was set. While technically her appearance wouldn't change, she wasn't taking chances since her hair still grew and she still had that annoying hair growing on her chin that demanded plucking every so often. If that could happen, clogged pores could too.
The relative success of her blog and recent enquiries had a business idea percolating in her head and she'd been doing online research about small businesses, knowing they so often failed. Closing her laptop, she padded over to the door. Caroline figured her appearance was perfect to get rid of her night-time visitor, even though it was still light out since it was the end of July.
Opening the door quickly, Caroline was not prepared for who was there.
Oh hell no.
Not today.
Not any day.
Not letting the other person speak, Caroline snapped the neck in front of her.
The resulting thud of the body hitting the floor was music to her ears. It was so satisfying. Wonder Woman would be proud!
What she didn't count on?
A five year old to start wailing right in front of her.
Shoot.