Part 2 of the original BT series :)
"Dadee! Dadee!"
Klaus looked up to see his 2-year old son, Erik, toddling towards him with a red crayon in his chubby fist. A bright smile littered his face, one that usually meant that his son was up to no good. Klaus sighed inwardly. Erik had developed a real knack for art like Klaus, so that means he probably was "redecorating" the kitchen wall again.
"What is it?" Klaus asked, gently prying the crayon from his hand. Erik glared at him briefly for taking away his toy before pointing towards the window in the living room.
"Lah hee!"
Klaus looked over Erik's shoulder to see his girlfriend of over a year, Caroline, get out of her car in the driveway with a brown paper bag. He felt a smile breakout onto his face before reaching over to ruffle Erik's hair. Erik giggled before unsteadily running to the door to greet Caroline.
Ever since meeting Caroline at the coffee shop all those months ago, Klaus' world had completely changed. He fell for her, hard. Erik was just as smitten with the blonde beauty, if not more. Caroline had adapted really well into his family, which is surprising since his older brother Finn had been married to Sage for years and she still wasn't that well accepted.
But Caroline was different.
Klaus' younger brother, Kol, had struck up sort of an odd friendship with her. Both of them could banter back and forth with each other all day. His younger sister, Rebekah, had become one of Caroline's best shopping buddies. Each of them were both so outspoken and opinionated that they worked well together in the weirdest way. Klaus' older brother, Elijah and his fiancée Katherine, adored Caroline and the stable woman figure that she brought to Erik and Klaus' lives.
Erik loved Caroline almost as much as he loved Klaus, and that was saying a lot.
Klaus followed after his son as he heard the front door opening and Caroline's melodic laugh as Erik ran into her waiting arms.
"Hey buddy!" she cried, swinging him into her arms. Klaus leaned against the entry hall wall and watched them, his heart constricting at the sight of the two most important people in his lives. Erik thrust his arms around her neck as she gently squeezed him up against her chest.
"Hi!" Erik said, his little voice muffled as he snuggled his head into the crook of her neck. Caroline smiled to herself before looking up to see Klaus watching them. Her face lit up and she shot him a heart-warming smile.
"Hi," she mouthed and Klaus chuckled, walking over to place a kiss on her lips. Erik lifted his head up and looked at father with a toothy grin.
"Swee here!" he pointed at Caroline and Klaus chuckled.
"Yes, Swee is here," he nodded, trying to pry his son off Caroline. Erik whined but allowed his father to pick him up out of her arms.
"Can you say my name, Erik?" Caroline asked, kneeling down to his level as Klaus placed him back on the floor. Erik gave her a smirk, not completely unlike Klaus'.
"Is Swee!"
Klaus laughed and Caroline sighed in mock exasperation.
"Car-o-line," she sounded out the syllables.
"Lah!" Erik cried proudly, Klaus ruffling his hair.
Caroline sighed again before shooting a glare at Klaus.
"This is all your fault."
Klaus pointed to himself in offense. "How is this my fault?"
Caroline narrowed her eyes at him playfully.
"If you didn't insist on calling me "love" or "sweetheart" he would call me Caroline," she stated.
"Lah!" Erik shrieked, tugging on the bottom of Caroline's dress. She raised an eyebrow at Klaus who shrugged sheepishly.
"What can I say, love?" he smirked. "He's already a flirt."
Caroline pursed her lips teasingly before swooping in to wrap her arms around Klaus' neck. She kissed him tenderly, their lips moving languidly against one another. Klaus felt a tug on his jeans and broke away to see Erik staring at them curiously.
"Dadee lah Swee?"
Caroline giggled before reaching down to tickle Erik. Klaus grinned at the sound of his son's laugh mixed in with Caroline's own musical tones.
"I sure hope Daddy loves Caroline or else I'm going to take back the dinner I brought over," Caroline nodded towards the brown paper bag she had put down on the floor when she walked in.
Erik immediately made a beeline for the bag, Klaus swooping in to snatch it from him. Erik glared at him before running off towards the kitchen.
"Food!" he crowed.
Caroline laughed as Klaus wrapped an arm around her waist. "Just like his daddy."
"I think he loves you more every time you bring food," he smirks and kisses her temple. Caroline rolls her eyes good-naturedly, before wrapping an arm around his back to prod him into the kitchen.
"Nothing says love like chicken nuggets," she jokes, striding into the kitchen. Erik was standing patiently by his high chair and lifted his arms up as soon as Caroline walked over to him.
"Up!"
She lifted him up, placing him into his chair, dropping a kiss on top of his sandy blonde curls as Klaus unloaded the food from the bag.
"Why won't he try to say my name?" Caroline asked, taking the chicken nuggets Klaus handed to her. She tore them into pieces and placed them on Erik's tray, him smiling toothily at her before shoving them into his mouth.
Klaus shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it, love. He doesn't even know the "C" or "K" sound all that well. He can't even say Kol."
"Unca Ko!" Erik called from his chair and Caroline turned her exasperated expression onto Klaus. He sent her a sheepish smile, her eyes rolling as she shook her head.
"I bet he also knows how to say Katherine and Rebekah too," she narrowed her eyes at Klaus, turning to look at Erik, his mouth full with chicken.
"Kitty and Bek," he said, his mouthful muffling his voice.
"Erik, don't talk with your mouth full," Klaus lectured, not missing the eye roll that the two year old seemed to have picked up from Caroline. He shot Erik a warning look who blinked back at him with a pout.
"I'm just saying," Caroline interrupted. "He's going to spend all this time thinking my name is "lah" or "swee" that when he gets to school, everyone will make fun of him."
Klaus rolled his eyes and sat down to eat his burger. "He's two, he's still learning to talk."
"Lah water?" Erik asked and Caroline reached over to hand him his sippy cup that was on the kitchen table.
"What do you say Erik?" Klaus asked, taking a bite of his burger.
"Tanks!"
Caroline giggled before sitting down next to Klaus to eat. "You're welcome, bud."
They ate silently for a minute, but Klaus could tell that Caroline still had something on her mind. She was chewing slowly, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"Stop worrying," Klaus said, reaching over to press his fingers to the lines on her forehead. "He'll say it eventually."
She sighed before reaching over to press a kiss to his cheek.
"I just want him to love me as much as I love you guys," she said quietly, Klaus' heart thudding unsteadily.
He blinked, overcome with emotion with her confession. He leaned over and kissed her firmly on the lips.
"He does," Klaus told her. "More than you'll ever know."
Caroline gave him a timid smile before looking over at Erik. He gave her a mouthful of chicken smile, the visual causing her to giggle.
"I love you Erik," she called to him. Klaus wrapped an arm around her waist and gently pressed her into his side, kissing her shoulder.
"Lah you Swee," Erik swallowed his mouthful, Caroline 's face breaking out into a wide grin.
Erik reached for another piece of chicken, accidently hitting a ketchup packet that squirted on his dinosaur t-shirt. Klaus chuckled into Caroline's neck, dropping a kiss before standing up.
"Come on Rico Suave," Klaus teased, lifting his son out of the high chair. "Let's get you cleaned up before you get red on the rest of the house."
He nodded towards the kitchen wall where streaks of red crayon were visible. Erik looked at Klaus as sheepishly as a two year old could, which caused Caroline to laugh.
"I'll clean up!" she called after him, Klaus humming a "thanks" up against Erik's temple, giving his son an affectionate kiss on the cheek.
Caroline was still giggling, the noise settling into Klaus' stomach pleasurably as he made his way up to Erik' bedroom.
"Now you know what to say right, son?" Klaus coached Erik who nodded at him seriously. After a quick bath and change, they were headed back down the steps to where Caroline was waiting in the living room with the Lion King, Erik's favorite movie.
Klaus placed him down on the floor, absently fingering his pocket as Erik raced to the couch where Caroline was sitting. Caroline looked up from her phone, pocketing it with a smile. Erik clambered up on to the couch, snuggling into her arms as Klaus entered into the room.
"Hey, Erik," Klaus began, cursing the way his voice shook. "Why don't you try to say Caroline again?"
Caroline shot Klaus a playful look before looking down at Erik expectantly. He looked up at her with a grin as Klaus sat down on the other side of him.
"Mama."
Caroline sucked in a low breath, her eyes wide as saucers. Klaus would have laughed at the visual if he wasn't so nervous. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small jewelry box that had been taunting him from the bedside table drawer for the past month.
"What?" Caroline gasped, her eyes trained on Erik who was all too proud of himself.
"Mama!"
Caroline's mouth hung open in surprise as she looked up at Klaus, finding him on one knee in front of her.
"Oh my god," she breathed, her eyes filling with tears. Klaus swallowed heavily, the emotion catching up to him. He opened the ring box, the brilliant two carat diamond ring causing Caroline to gasp in surprise.
"Caroline," he began. "When I met you, I was in the worst place. Single father without any hope of ever figuring this whole parenting thing. Then you walked into my life, into Erik's life and we've been in love with you ever since. You're the mother that I never thought Erik would never have."
Caroline smiled, a tear falling down her cheek.
"You're the light of our lives and everything we didn't know we needed, we found it in you," Klaus smiled, Erik crawling into Caroline's lap, latching a hand into the blonde curls.
Klaus was struck with the image of a 9 month old Erik asleep on the chest of this beautiful blonde that he had randomly met in the coffee shop after one of the worst nights of single parenting. The image tightened Klaus' chest and he breathed out to compose himself.
"Will you marry me?" Klaus asked. "And be the mother of my son?"
"Peas?" Erik echoed. Caroline threw back her head and laughed, tears streaming down her face.
"Yes, I will," she answered, nodding her head frantically as Klaus' face lit up. He pulled the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger with ease. She giggled, looking down at her hand before yanking Klaus by his collar to kiss him. Erik whined at the lack of attention on him, batting his hand at his father's face to break them apart.
"Dadee kee mama?" he asked, and Caroline laughed, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"Yes," she winked at Klaus. "Daddy kissed Mama."
Klaus grinned back at her, his heart soaring as he pulled both Caroline and Erik into his arms. He never thought that he'd be so lucky to end up with a family as special as the one that was in his arms.
"I love you," Caroline whispered into Klaus' neck. He lifted his head and placed a tender kiss on her lips, smiling at the way her eyes sparkled.
"I love you," he murmured, and look down at Erik. "And you."
Erik pulled out his chubby fist and offered it to Klaus. "Wing?"
Klaus laughed before bumping his knuckles against his son's.
"That's my wingman," Klaus said affectionately, Caroline's tinkling laugh washing over them.
Erik really was the best wingman ever.
That's all for now! See you guys tomorrow for the (NEW) third installment. Send me your prompts at she-walked-away on tumblr if there is something in particular you want to see.
Also, please check out my first AU/AH Klaroline story Unexpected Exposure and tell me what you think :)
Until Next Time
Kaitlyn