Dr. Wilbur Evans was a calm and rational man, who had been a family therapist for almost 30 years. He considered himself to be a good therapist, who had seen and heard it all. Why mommy drinks, why daddy likes to wear mommy's clothes, why little Timmy has an imaginary friend who encourages him to start fires, why little Susan robs liquor stores, why did 90 years old grandma left grandpa for another woman and so on. Yes, Dr. Wilbur Evans had really heard it all; there was nothing that could possible surprise him anymore.

He lifted his small porcelain teacup and took a quick look around his office in order to make sure that everything was ready for his next clients. The Mikaelsons, a father, a mother, four sons and a daughter. Big families were sometimes challenging and he often wanted to talk to each member separately, but since this was their first meeting, he wanted to observe their dynamics; that always helped him to see the big picture. He placed his notepad on the desk and made sure that his pen was working. It was, but he still got himself a backup pen, he liked to play it safe.

His office was decorated with very discreet colors, the couch and the armchairs were beige and his desk was dark mahogany. There were also few calming oil paintings on the walls, mostly sceneries. Dr. Evans barely managed to finish his tea when his assistant Linda informed him that the Mikaelsons had arrived.

"Send them in," he instructed and stood up when the door opened.

The first person who entered the room was probably Mrs. Mikaelson, she was smiling politely.

"Dr. Evans," she said holding out her hand. "I'm Esther Mikaelson."

"Nice to meet you," Dr. Evans said and shook her hand. "And this must be your husband."

Mr. Mikaelson sent him a brief scowl and kept his arms crossed.

"Yes, this is Mikael. Please forgive his behavior; he thinks that we don't need therapy."

"We don't," her husband murmured angrily. "This is ridiculous."

Dr. Evans has had similar clients before, he knew that pressuring them wouldn't help; they needed to take their time.

"For once we actually agree on something," said a younger man who had just entered the room. Like his father, he also had a British accent.

"Niklaus," his mother scolded. "Be nice."

"Yes, mother," he muttered tensely.

Apparently the mother was the head of the family. Interesting… The rest of the children came in after Niklaus, first there was a young dark-haired man, who was grinning at his brother.

"Momma's boy," he said, disguising this statement as a cough.

"Shut up, Kol," Niklaus snapped.

"Enough," a tall man who was wearing a suit said. "My name is Elijah Mikaelson," he added and shook Dr. Evans' hand. "This is my brother Finn and my sister Rebekah."

Finn greeted him with a brief nod, he didn't seem to be very chatty and Rebekah rolled her eyes and looked at her nails. Apparently the oldest brother was a peacemaker; that was very typical in many families.

"It's nice to meet you all," Dr. Evans said. "Please, take a seat."

Esther sat down first, she chose the couch. Mikael sat down next to her, although he kept a small distance between them. Interesting… Niklaus was about to sat on an armchair, but Kol jumped on it before him and gave his brother a mocking look.

"That's really mature," Niklaus snorted and noticed that his other siblings had claimed all the other armchairs, the only available place was on the couch next to Mikael.

"I'm not sitting next to him," Niklaus snapped, making Mikael's eyes narrow.

"Sit down, boy."

"I rather stand."

They stared at each other challengingly; clearly neither of them was going to give up. A lot of tension between a father and a son…

"Niklaus," Dr. Evans said calmly. "Would you like to tell me why you don't want to sit next to your father?"

"He's not my father!" he snapped.

"I see…"

"That didn't stop him from living under my roof and eating at my table," Mikael stated coldly. "Because someone let me believe that he is my son."

Esther sighed.

"Mikael, how many times do we have to talk about this…"

"You cheated on me!"

"You were never home," Esther replied tensely. "All you cared about was hunting and drinking in the tavern."

"Oh, I see, and that gave you the right to sleep with some filthy…"

"Hey!" Niklaus protested.

"Alright, alright," Dr. Evans said. "Why don't we all calm down and have a timeout."

This seemed to be a very clear case, straight from a textbook.

"Would someone else like to sit on the couch?"

"No way," Rebekah snorted and concentrated on her nails again.

"No, I'm afraid not," Elijah said calmly.

"No luck, doc," Kol added, amused by his own wordplay.

"I can sit next to my mother," Finn muttered.

"Of course you can," Kol and Niklaus snorted simultaneously. "He has always been her favorite."

"That's not true," Esther said. "I didn't have favorites when you were children."

That was an interesting choice of words; she hadn't have favorites back then, how about now?

"Could you tell me why you don't want to sit next to your father?" Dr. Evans asked.

"Well, doc, because he and our mother wanted us dead," Kol explained cheerfully.

Dr. Evans raised an eyebrow; this young man was certainly melodramatic. And he was clearly overcompensating, some sort of self-esteem issues?

"I see. Could you tell me more about that?"

"What more is there to tell? Our father hunted us like animals and our mother was planning to put us down like some kind of rabid dogs."

"Uh huh. Mikael, Esther, why do you think your son is feeling like this?"

"I mostly hunted the boy," Mikael muttered, pointing at Niklaus. "But you all acted like monsters."

"And that's your excuse, father?" Rebekah asked bitterly. "I'm your daughter!"

"Yes muffin I know…"

"Don't you muffin me you bastard!"

"Alright, alright, I think we need another timeout," Dr. Evans interrupted her. He was starting to believe that the problems of this family were deeper than he had expected, this "hunting" was probably their term for neglect.

"Esther, what do you say to this?"

"Well, doctor, I did what I did because my children are evil."

"Except your precious Finn," Kol muttered bitterly.

"No, I think I'm evil too," Finn said. "I don't deserve to live."

"Why do you think that?" Dr. Evans asked.

"I have done terrible things."

"We all make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that we are evil…"

"Your biggest mistake was hooking up with that redheaded tramp," Rebekah said laughing.

Finn sent her an angry glare.

"Don't you talk about Sage like that."

"Or what, are you going to tell mommy?"

"Hey, Bekah, I don't think that you can call anyone a tramp," Kol said innocently.

"What did you say?" Rebekah snapped.

"Well, you're not exactly a pure maiden yourself…"

"Watch your tongue," Elijah demanded. "This is our little sister you are talking about."

"Strumpet," Kol coughed. "Damn this cough," he added tapping his throat.

"Do you really want to go there, man whore?" Rebekah asked venomously.

"Rebekah!" Esther protested.

"No, I'm sick of this double standard, if I have sex I'm a whore but if they have sex, they're some kind of heroes. That's not right!"

"Yeah, there you have it, you moron," Niklaus said and slapped Kol's head.

"That goes for you too Nik," Rebekah snapped. "You're the one who ran a dagger through my heart and kept me in a coffin because I was going to leave with my boyfriend."

Niklaus seemed suddenly very uncomfortable.

"I was only trying to protect you," he muttered.

"I'm not a child; I don't need your protection!"

An overprotective brother, possibly a control freak…

"Niklaus," Dr. Evans started. "You must understand that your sister have a right to make her own decisions, whether you approve them or not."

"But…She was going to leave with him…"

"That's her decision to make, not yours."

"There you have it, boy," Mikael said mockingly.

"Shut up, father," Elijah snapped. "You have always picked on Niklaus, even when we were children. He didn't do anything to deserve that."

"He's a bastard…"

"That's not his fault, he didn't ask for mother to cheat on you. And you know what; you are the real bastard for treating him like that."

For the first time they were all quiet. Dr. Evans looked at them all, observing their faces. Clearly this family had plenty of issues to deal with.

"Listen boy…" Mikael started.

"I have a name, father," Niklaus snapped.

"Yes you do, I gave you that name."

Mikael stood up and crossed his arms.

"Perhaps I have been too hard on you," he mumbled. "To all of you. Perhaps all those times when I planned how to kill you, I should have planned how to be your…father."

"Oh daddy," Rebekah sobbed and hugged her father tightly.

"My little girl."

This was an excellent start; Dr. Evans was very pleased with himself.

"Esther, do you still feel that your children are evil?"

"Well, yes, they drain people, but I promise that I won't try to kill them again. At least not any time soon."

"Thanks, mom," Kol said.

"Yeah, thanks," Niklaus added.

"Oh, my sons come here, all of you."

"Family hug!" Rebekah announced.

"No, Bekah," Kol protested. "I don't do family hugs…"

Apparently his opinion didn't matter; the others dragged him with them.

"My children!"

"My mommy!"

"My hair!"

Dr. Evans turned his eyes discreetly to his notes; this had been an excellent first meeting.

"I'm afraid our time is up for now, but I want you all to know that I'm very proud of you. I'll see you next week?"

Esther looked at her children.

"Yes, thank you doctor."

He nodded and waited until they had left before picking up his phone.

"Linda, I believe I can have that new Lexus after all, this family needs years and years of therapy… Linda?"

There seemed to be something wrong with the line, all he heard was some kind of strange sucking sound…

"Kol!"

"Sorry mom, I'm coming!"

After that the line was dead. Dr. Evans frowned and poured himself a cup of tea. Apparently it was impossible to find good assistants these days.