Disclaimer: I don't own Vampire Diaries.
"I cookin', Daddy! I cookin'!" Ana squealed, a large smile on her round face, her green eyes alight with mirth.
Unfortunately, Elijah couldn't share the same joy his daughter felt because of the racquet. The two and a half year old had an assortment of plastic food items and dishes piled in the sink of her play kitchen and was stirring them around frantically with her hands, laughing, squealing, and stomping her little feet the whole time.
"That's lovely, Ana," he said as he reread the same sentence from his book for what had to be the twentieth time, at least.
Finally, the ruckus stopped. Not completely of course as Ana babbled to herself and slammed food down onto a plate. There was a little pitter-patter of feet and then a tug on his pants leg. With a smile and an exasperated sigh, Elijah and shut his book and placed it on the side table before turning his attention to his rowdy daughter.
"Here, Daddy! Din time!"
"Is this your way of telling me you're hungry, Ana?"
"Nnn-oh!" she said, scrunching her nose up and giggling. "Daddy silwy."
Taking the purple plate out of her little, outstretched hands, he pulled her up into his lap. "Are you sure?" he prompted, ticking her sides and relishing Ana's high-pitched giggles.
"No! 'Top, daddy, 'top! I go cook," she whined, squirming to get out of his embrace while her little arms flailed in the direction of her beloved play kitchen and Elijah groaned. As adorable as Ana was and as much as she enjoyed pretending to cook, the riot that came from it got on Elijah's nerve. He much preferred quieter activities, but thanks to his loud family (specifically his wife, Rebekah, Kol, Caroline and Niklaus…not that Elijah was pointing fingers. Where would the decorum be in that?) the only time Ana seemed to be silent was when she was asleep.
And that was a rare occurrence as well seeing as the little girl had quickly picked up her mother and uncle's stubborn streak and tended to fight bedtime harder than Klaus had when Caroline kicked Sneakers out of their bedroom. And that was saying something.
"Guess what?" he said with raised eyebrows, desperate to distract Ana.
"Wha?" she said, sticking her fingers in her mouth.
"You know who comes home tonight?"
"Mama!"
"Mhmm," he said, pressing his lips to the crown of her head.
"Unc Nik come, too?" she asked, nodding vigorously at the thought of both her mother and favorite uncle.
"No, princess. Uncle Nik is waiting at his home for Auntie Caroline."
"Otay," her brow creased in disappointment but only for a moment. "Doowwnn. I go cook fo' Mama."
Bingo.
"How about you and I go to the store and get some things and we cook a welcome home dinner for mama?"
Ana nodded excitedly and started squirming in Elijah's arms again. "Go! Le's go!"
"We need to get your shoes first, silly!"
"Oh yeah. I go get 'em. I get booties!"
"That's a great idea," he said with a smile and a nod, setting her down on the floor and watching her run off to get her shoes as fast as her legs could carry her.
"Daddy?!"
"Yes, princess?"
"We get chips? Pwease!"
Three hours later, eight bags of pasta, four different kinds of cheese and five different sauces, an assortment of fruits and vegetables, a bouquet of flowers, and three bags of chips later, Elijah found himself standing over the sink, peeling vegetables with his rambunctious little girl who had insisted Elijah wear an apron (like he would risk getting his suit dirty anyways) whilst she donned her chef's costume.
Unfortunately, Ana didn't seem as interested in real cooking rather than sampling food and getting in Elijah's way.
"Watch your fingers, Ana. This knife is sharp."
"Ana, turn the water off."
"Hold on, Ana, I need to finish peeling this tomato before you give me another."
"Put the grater down."
"No, don't put it in the pot if you've taken a bite out of it, princess."
Okay, maybe this hadn't been one of Elijah finer ideas but at least she wasn't set on making a racquet and throwing her toys all over the house.
"Good job, Ana. I think that's enough," Elijah said with raised eyebrows as he watched her greasy fingers smear the butter throughout the frying pan.
"No!" she exclaimed, looking up at him and narrowing her bright, green eyes with a pout that reminded him so much of Katherine before she went back to pushing the butter around and around the pan, her wispy light ash-brown ringlets sticking to her rosy cheeks. With an amused shake of his head, Elijah reached for his wine glass and took a sip.
And then saw the clock.
"Ana if we actually want to surprise mommy with dinner, we need to cook it," he said, prying the disk out from under her hands and setting it on the counter. "Pour the pasta in here while I turn the stove on, princess."
"Oooh-tay! We cookin', dad- uh oh…."
Elijah suppressed a groan as noodles fell to the tiled floor with a clatter. He turned around to see Ana turned in the chair she was standing in, staring down at the mess. Her little mouth was hanging open and her eyebrows had disappeared under her unruly curls. She had such shock in her eyes that Elijah could only laugh at her expression.
"Uh-oh," Ana said, looking up at Elijah with wide eyes.
"Well, at least we came home with more than one bag of pasta," he chuckled, stepping away from the stove and picking up another bag of bowtie pasta and opening it. "How about daddy helps you this time?"
They had finally set the pasta boiling on the stove when Elijah heard the door open. Dinner barely on the stove and a kitchen that looked as if an atomic bomb had gone off in it wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he and Ana had decided to surprise Katherine but seeing his little girl smile so brightly was worth it.
"Where's mommy's princess?" Katherine called from the foyer, her high-heeled boots clicking against the polished hardwood. She stopped abruptly when she rounded the corner into the kitchen. "Oh my!"
"Aprise! We cookin', mama! Me an' daddy cookin!" Ana screamed, throwing her butter covered hands in the air, a wooden spoon clutched in her grip and chef's hat askew on her head.
No, definitely not what Elijah had in mind, but it was more than worth it.
A/N: yuh know...just some more Kalijah and Ana goodness. inspired by this vid: watch?v=ToTVFEHZhX4 (no, I don't watch Supernatural lol...this popped up on my tumblr dash the other day:P)
thanks for reading! if you have a minute, please review...I'd really appreciate it! I like writing these lil Kalijah parenthood drabbles so if you have a suggestion, don't hesitate to let me know:)