AN: I am soooo going to regret uploading these. lol. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Chapter 2

Six Months after Marcel:

Hayley and K had decided to take turns watching Hope. One would go on her search while the other remained with the youngest Mikaelson.

K was sitting on the couch of the small apartment they called home. She'd begun writing Klaus letters in another journal she bought a few months ago. She had wanted to keep him updated as much as possible. There was no telling how long he'd be in his slumber so he could miss a few years or all of Hope's life. Either way, she wanted to give him what she could.

Another jolt of ache raced through K's body. She gasped, groaned and clutched her chest. A light whimper left her lips and drew the eye of the little girl coloring on the floor. Hope watched as K waded through another fit.

Eventually it ebbed like all the ones before it. They came in random intervals, but she would experience at least one or two a day alongside the continuing ache.

When she opened her eyes, K saw Hope staring at her through her father's eyes. It hurt more than the cursed blade, but she smiled regardless. Hope seemed to relax and went back to scribbling uncontrollably in her coloring book. K went back to the journal in her lap.

She's grown. K wrote. She's grown so much in such a short time and her walking has turned to running. Thank you for giving me the speed needed to catch her. K smiled softly at that comment, but it faded easily enough. I still tell her the stories at night, the ones of you, Rebekah, Kol, Elijah and Freya. I promise she will continue to know her family, if even just in story form.

Hayley is searching for someone who knows anything about the poison in Freya's body. I'd thought originally it would be the easiest to cure first since the real-world could hold answers. Evidently, Lucien's love of mixing toxins extends to everything.

K's pen hovered over the page for a moment. She caught sight of the glittering blue gem on her finger and turned her hand to better see it. While she hadn't removed her rings once, she had wanted to often. It was painful to see them knowing Klaus was nestled away tightly somewhere and guarded by a ferocious, vicious monster.

I miss you Nik, every day. She wrote. And will continue to until you're home.

Farewell for now.

K

She set the ribbon marker back into the book and closed it. As K set it on the end table beside her, a clock chimed the late hour. It was 9:30 and someone's bed time.

K rose and headed for the toddler on the carpet. She laid down on her stomach beside Hope who immediately offered her a crayon. K took it and began to color in the grass of the outlined picture.

"It's time for bed, little one." She said as she colored.

Hope began to shake her head widely from side to side. She didn't look up and continued to draw large purple circles through the cow on the page.

"Yeeees," K continued. "It's time to go to sleep."

Hope continued to shake her head from side to side, but added a very emphatic, no, no, no, no, no, like a cadence meant to frighten K away.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." K replied easily. She tossed the crayon into the plastic tub that held all of Hope's coloring tools and stood.

In one fail swoop, K lifted Hope into her arms and the toddler immediately voiced her anger with it.

"NO!" she squealed in a loud, shrill voice.

"Yes," K mockingly whined as she took Hope into the bathroom.

When there, she set her down on the short stool both women had purchased so Hope could see herself in the mirror. Hope pouted and her eyes welled with tears like she was about to start crying.

They were having a standoff, which wasn't uncommon with such a young child. K could wait, but she wasn't going to.

K dipped down and began to kiss Hope in the crook of her neck, making ridiculous noises –a bit like a snorting sound- which always caused Hope to start laughing and squirm because it tickled. K would often have to 'smother her in kisses' just to break her tantrums, or tickle her or make faces. Again, it wasn't uncommon with a child her age.

Smiling –both of them now- K reached for Hope's tiny toothbrush and put a tiny dollop of paste on it. She ran it under the tap for a moment and handed it to Hope who began to happily –albeit sloppily- brush her own teeth. She didn't quite have the dexterity for it just yet, but that was okay. These were her 'practice' teeth.

When she was done and rinsed her mouth, K held her hand and guided her to K's bedroom where she changed her clothes and jumped into K's bed. Being so mobile –even now- they hadn't gotten Hope a big girl bed just yet. Soon, but not yet. So she'd fall asleep with whichever of them was home and then be put in her crib. Although, soon they'd have to get Hope a bed anyway. She was growing so fast.

K smiled and slipped into bed beside the little one nestling beneath the blankets. She adjusted herself to sit against the headboard and let Hope get comfortable before the story began. Every night, without fail, she was told a story.

"Once upon a time," K began as Hope nuzzled herself against the vampire. K reached for the Knight that rested on the bedside table and held it in her fingertips. "There were five siblings whose love of family was unrivaled." Hope reached for the Knight and K let her take it. Instead, she wrapped her arm around the child and began to tenderly play with her hair while Hope played with the toy. "Many feared the siblings, and hated them, for they were jealous. They were jealous of the siblings' devotion to one another and their willingness to sacrifice everything for each other.

"One by one, their enemies came for them. They tried anything they could to break the siblings apart, to drive them away, but all it did, was pull them closer together. One by one, their enemies fell, like drops of water against stone.

"Until he came.

"This foe was unlike any others. He was stronger and faster and crueler than any who came before him because unlike them, he once loved the siblings too. He thought himself their family, but was unprepared for what they'd do to defend one another. In his pain, he was driven mad.

"Hoping to cure him, the eldest sister tried to weave her magic. He sent a spy after her and with a dose of poison, the first sibling fell. Trying to defend their family, the brothers attacked their foe. With gnashing teeth, and a fierce roar, the foe took them, and the second and third sibling perished. At seeing what happened, the youngest sister intervened for she loved their foe once, more than the others, and hoped to save them all. But what they didn't know was the youngest sister was plagued with a horrible curse that clouded her mind. Soon, it took her and the fourth sibling fell.

"Left on his own, the last brother confronted his enemy, the one he once called friend and son. They yelled at one another, spoke cruel and mean words about betrayal and their pain.

"Wanting to rid himself of the final brother, the foe struck him down with a wicked blade, but what he didn't know was that the brother wasn't alone. His siblings had remained and had been plotting.

"You see, the last brother knew what had to be done to save his siblings. He knew he had to sacrifice himself so they could live to fight another day.

"Using her magic, the eldest sister bound the siblings together. All at once, they fell into a deep sleep.

"And there they wait, for the day the spell will be lifted and they can once again be reunited."

K looked down at the one beside her. Hope had drifted into her own slumber. Gently and sure not to jostle her, K slid out of the bed. Later, if she could sleep that night, K would put Hope in her crib, but until then, the little one could stay where she was.

She made her way into the living room to make herself a drink. When she rounded the corner, K saw Hayley was sitting on the couch with a despondent look on her face. She continued to their wet-bar and poured a drink for the both of them.

Returning to the couch, K handed one off and took her seat.

"Thanks." Hayley said in a voice that matched her expression. She took a sip before adding, "You really think it's a good idea to tell her that story?"

K shrugged a single shoulder.

"Doing it early makes it easier to explain when she's older." K replied. "Makes it palatable."

They sat in silence and finished their drinks. Eventually K asked what Hayley had managed to find out. It wasn't fruitful.

~!~

Nine and a half months After Marcel:

Hope was led into the dinning room holding the index finger of each of her guardians.

"Happy Birthday!" Hayley and K cried out in unison as they rounded the corner.

Streamers hung from nearly everything and pink balloons dotted the scene. A cake rested in the middle of the small kitchen table, elaborately decorated and sporting a large number '3' candle. It seemed hard to believe. Hope was 3.

"Yay!" she squealed as she clapped her hands.

She ran for the table and began to clamor to get into the chair. K came up behind her, lifted her up and set the little girl into her booster seat while Hayley retrieve a lighter. She lit the candle and immediately Hope took in a deep breath. She had every intention of blowing it out right then.

"Wait, wait, wait," K chastised softly, "Picture first, okay?"

Hope let out the breath like a huff which caused both Hayley and K to smile. Standing, K reached for her camera and began to set the timer. She walked across the room, checked the zoom, placement, -all the boring stuff- and set it on the windowsill across from them.

"Say cheese," Hayley said as she and K took a side of Hope each.

The little beauty between them put her hands on the table, stood in her seat, and smiled so wide you could count her teeth from across the room. A moment later there was a flash and the picture was captured. K rose to check it.

"I'ma see!" Hope demanded happily. She seemed to love seeing herself and everyone else in pictures after they were taken.

Smiling to herself, K returned to their sides and turned the camera around to show both Hayley and Hope the illuminated screen with the three of them immortalized.

"You're so pretty in your dress." Hayley beamed. "Ok, now blow out the candle."

Still standing in her seat, Hope did just that. Again, Hayley and K cheered and clapped causing Hope to do the same. It was a wonderful moment of normalcy. They needed this.

K pulled the cake aside to cut it while Hayley retrieved the presents. The two of them had grown so accustomed now to caring for Hope on their own that they moved like a ballet most of the time. Everything was practiced and familiar.

"Okay," Hayley said as she held a small stack of gifts. K appeared in the doorway to the kitchen holding two plates of cake. "You want cake first, or presents first?"

It was like Sophie's Choice for the poor girl. She looked from one treat to another like it was the most excruciating thing in the world to decide. Eventually, after much internal turmoil, Hope chose the sweet cake.

Hayley set the gifts down in the forth and empty chair while K gave both her and Hope some cake. She sat at the table without any for herself.

"Mama eat cake." Hope demanded.

They had to look at her to know who she was talking to. It was K.

"Mama Kali can't eat food, remember?" Hayley said.

Both of them were mama to the little girl for the time being. Words with more than two syllables were difficult and trying to explain the difference between step-mother and mom was too complicated just yet. Later, just not yet.

It hurt Hayley at first when Hope called K mama too, but she realized that in many ways the vampire was. Not only was she Hope's step-mother in reality, but she cared for the child for the majority of her life –diapers, feedings, putting to bed, etc- so of course, in her mind, K would also be mom. Besides, Hayley thought it would be a little insulting to tell Hope to call her 'aunt' K.

"Scary face." Hope said when she looked to K. The vampire smiled wickedly and leaned forward. "Scary face, scary face." The little girl demanded.

K laughed lightly before doing as the birthday girl demanded. K's features shifted and her eyes went bloodshot. She hooked her fingers in the corners of her mouth, pulled her lips back obnoxiously to reveal her fangs and growled like an idiot.

Hope erupted into laughter. Smiling, K returned to normal and looked to Hayley who was busy rolling her eyes.

Some time ago, both agreed that –like with her bedtime stories- it would be a good idea to introduce Hope to their world early on. If they made it seem unthreatening at first, she wouldn't be afraid of what her own family could do. But as with anything, they were sure to tell her that there were bad monsters too.

As far as Hope knew, Mama Kali was a vampire which meant she could make a scary face and didn't eat food. Mama (Hayley) was a hybrid which meant she could make a scary face too, but she ate people food. That was all Hope needed to know right now.

Hope and Hayley ate their cake while K sat back and watched. A few times, Hope would haphazardly offer K a chunk on her children's fork and what could K do but gobble it up and make yummy noises, like any respectful adult vampire of 1001 years old would do.

Hayley's eyes drifted to a shelf behind K. It was the top of the half-wall dividing the dinning room from the kitchen and on it sat a picture of everyone. Every time either of them saw it, it broke their hearts.

"It doesn't feel right." Hayley mumbled.

K was wiping some of the frosting off her cheek where Hope had stuck her with cake when she looked up. She followed Hayley's line of sight and saw the picture. Her heart sank. She knew Hayley meant it didn't feel right celebrating without everyone else.

"We had Christmas." K said sadly. She turned again to look at the hybrid. "We had Christmas."

And they did. It was the one and only time all of them, ALL of them, were together. Well, perhaps not Kol, but to be fair, he was dead at the time.

The picture was taken by Cami. All of the women sat together on the ornate couch, while the men were behind them. From left to right, it was K, Hayley with Hope in her lap, then Rebekah and Freya. All of them sat with their knees together, backs straight and turned towards the 'center' of them like a proper photo.

Behind K, stood Klaus. He had wanted to put his hand on her shoulder, but their relationship was 'rocky' at the time and being in his spot put him both by K and his daughter. Jackson stood next to Klaus and behind Hayley and behind both Rebekah and Freya stood Elijah. It was a wonderful picture to have, but heartbreaking given their current circumstance.

Knowing there was nothing they could do about it at that moment, K and Hayley returned their attention to Hope.

After devouring her piece of cake –faster than a girl her size should have- Hope demanded her presents like any sensible three year old.

She got three presents and that was all. She didn't know any different or that if the Mikaelsons were around they'd have given her enough to fill the small apartment they were living in. All Hope knew was she loved what she got.

Hayley had given her more coloring books and a pair of children's skates that Hope saw on TV and wanted. Both Hayley and K were fairly certain Hope didn't know exactly what they were for, but it didn't stop her mother from getting them.

Next came K's gift which wasn't wrapped, just hidden in a bag. Hope pulled out the stuffed animal and immediately squeezed it with all the love a toddler gives their toys.

"It's your mommy!" K said happily.

She was met with a glare from Hayley and a middle finger, cleverly disguised from the child as Hayley used it to scratch her nose. K saw it and laughed.

Sure enough, hidden in the bag, was a plush, stuffed wolf. The little dog was in a sitting position and the typical, overly soft, white and grey color. It was adorable and perfect for hugging, which Hope did happily.

"The coloring's off though." K jabbed lightly.

"I hate you," Hayley said, "So much."

Hayley was as serious as K was, which wasn't at all. They were just teasing like they tended to.

~!~

Later that night came bedtime. After cake and presents and taking Hope to the park so she could test out her skates, the littlest wolf was exhausted.

Hayley took Hope into her room where the child's bed was sitting. Hope had finally gotten her own big-girl bed a month ago when she became much too big for the crib.

Hope crawled into bed and Hayley kissed her, said goodnight, and stepped aside so K could not only do the same, but tell the little girl another bedtime story.

"Okay," she said softly as she took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Which story would you like to hear tonight, my little darling?"

Hope clung to her brand new wolf as she thought. She looked down at her toy and the story came to her immediately.

"About the wolf king." She said.

"All right." K smiled.

Behind her, Hayley had taken a seat on her own bed. She liked K's stories too. Sometimes it amazed her how K was able to adapt their life into fairytales. And the Wolf King was Hope's favorite. It seemed fitting since Klaus was the subject.

K thought for a moment about a story she could tell. She never wrote any of them down, but a few she'd told so many she knew by memory at this point. Still, not all of the phrasing remained the same. It helped though, that they were all based on reality.

But as she thought of which story to tell the little girl with her father's eyes, she remembered something Klaus had told her in the letter. A story began to form, one she hadn't told before.

"Long ago," she began in a soft voice, "There was a young king. Once he was kind and caring, but through the loss of someone dear, he became cold and cruel. Years passed and eventually the young king withdrew to his castle. He saw no joy in life and lamented those who did. Soon, he swore that if he couldn't find happiness, no one in his kingdom would.

"The only joy in his life only came from causing those around him misery and pain and still it wasn't enough. The young king craved more power, to be more fearsome and terrifying.

"Through the help of his still-loyal family, the young king was given a spell to turn him into the fearsome Wolf King he was prophesized to become. Hearing the news, few in the village knew they had to stop him. Witches, vampires and humans alike came together to stop the tyrant king.

"The night of the spell came and the villagers attacked. The witches controlled the winds and together, brought the young king to his knees. While he looked out onto the sea of faces that had plotted his demise, his eyes fell to one in particular. Hidden within those who had sought to destroy him, was the young girl from a lifetime ago, the one he thought lost for eternity.

"But what should have been a happy reunion was anything but. You see, the girl didn't remember the young king or their time together. Her mind had been enchanted and her memories taken. She knew nothing of the kind young king, only the cruel man he'd become."

K looked down and noticed Hope had slipped into sleep. Perhaps she'd finish the story tomorrow night. Evidently, Hope was simply exhausted.

K smiled softly, adjusted the blankets around the little girl and stood. After placing a light kiss on the birthday girl's forehead, both she and Hayley left the room. Hayley cracked the door behind her and alongside K, began to clean up the birthday decorations still hanging from everywhere in the dinning room. K pulled the trashcan into the small room and together they tugged down streamers and signs.

"This is so depressing," Hayley sighed as she crumbled up some pink and white streamers before tossing them into the trashcan.

"What is?" K asked as she pulled down the sign bearing Hope's name.

"She's already three."

K laughed lightly to herself and nodded.

"Yeah," she replied. "That's what happens. Next comes four."

Hayley groaned and felt the pit in her stomach grow. Her little girl was getting older and she didn't like that. Her noises, however, caused K to laugh again.

"And they're not even here to see it."

This time K paused. She turned and noticed that yet again, Hayley was looking at the picture of all of them at Mikaelson Manor for Christmas. It made her heart sink.

"I know," she said softly. "I almost feels… wrong, doesn't it?"

Hayley had paused in the middle of cleaning and felt herself nod.

"Yeah," she agreed under her breath. Hayley gave K her attention. "How long is this going to take? I mean… what do we do when Hope starts school? How are we going to keep moving around, trying to find cures and take care of a little girl?"

K's brows slowly began to rise as she watched Hayley spout fear after fear at her. It was completely understandable, but the vampire was a little surprised it took this long for it to happen. Then again, it made sense. It seemed Hayley was beginning to realize their task wasn't a simple one and now without family to pawn Hope off to, she would have to juggle everything.

"Hey," K said as reassuringly as she could. She stepped closer to the hybrid and took Hayley's shoulders into her hands. "Everything's going to be fine, okay? We do what we've been doing. We take turns taking care of Hope and when school age comes, we'll tutor her."

"Home school? Will that work?"

K gave her a gentle smile and nodded.

"Of course it will." Her voice had taken on a motherly tone. "After everything we've gone through, are you really more scared of toddler than any of that?"

Hayley gave her a weak grin.

"Kinda." She admitted.

K laughed lightly and nodded. She understood. K had raised dozens of children through the centuries. This was Hayley's first.

Together, they went back to cleaning up the birthday party. In a week, it would be K's turn to look for the cure and she didn't plan to return until she found it.

The dreams weren't getting any better and neither were the pains from the curse. She was still very much connected to Klaus and wanted him back, but in order to do that, they had to save the others first. Without them at 100%, Hayley and K stood no chance against Marcel.