A/N: Big old thanks to Miranda for betaing this and all of you for reading! I hope you enjoy :)


Life is worth living as long as there's a laugh in it. - L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables


Present Day

The bedroom was just like Lizzie had told her it would be. Charlotte didn't think the pictures really did any of her father's house justice, just like the ones she had of her own home probably hadn't really been enough for her sister either. Actually being in the home, touching the bed, drawing her fingers along the trophies her sister had won for horseback riding, seeing the photographs of their dad and Lizzie together in the room was overwhelming. If she pretended hard enough, Charlotte could think it was her in those photographs with him. There really wasn't any difference between the twins, no little tell that could give either of them away. But it wasn't her there smiling as her father lifted her up and she wasn't the girl wrinkling her nose as she stood next to her aunts and uncles.

This should have been her life.

She should have been in each of them.

There should have been two of them with their mom and their dad.

Charlotte knew Caroline missed him that her mother hadn't moved on. She saw the ring on the necklace chain around her mother's neck or tucked lovingly away when her mom couldn't seem to handle wearing it. She heard her Aunt Bonnie's whispers and her grandfathers' comments when everyone thought she was sleeping. She just hadn't ever really paid too much attention to it, knowing that talking about her father made her mom sad and Charlotte didn't like upsetting her.

Lizzie had said that their dad hadn't been seeing other women that she knew of and Charlotte wondered if he was like her mom. Did he still wear the ring? Did he keep it tucked away somewhere safe only to pull it out and look longingly at it when he didn't think Lizzie was looking?

The photographs of Lizzie and Klaus grinning brightly had Charlotte wanting to know the answer to that even if she meant to enjoy every second that she got to spend with him. She would just multitask; after all she was Caroline Forbes' daughter.

"Got everything where you want it yet?" Klaus asked from the doorway and Charlotte turned around, nodding happily when she noticed his small frown. "Lexi called."

Lexi? Oh right. Lizzie had told her who that was. No need to worry. "They need me at the office for a bit." It was obvious that he didn't want to go but there was little chance of getting out of it. "We're going to need to change plans a bit. We'll pick up take away and you can hang out in your room there for an hour and then we'll head off to the exhibit."

"Okay!" That would give her a chance to snoop around there as well and they would still be able to spend time together.

"Are you sure?" Klaus watched her carefully, no doubt trying to be certain that she was actually alright with the switch. He could always call Lexi back and have her and the others deal with the new matter but that would only cause more late nights during the week. Hopefully hashing everything out for an hour would get them ahead of any issues that could arise because of the new information Lexi had uncovered.

"Uh huh," Charlotte grinned and walked over to him. "But I get to pick out what kind of takeout we're doing."

Klaus laughed at that. "Seems fair, my little negotiator."

Charlotte beamed, taking the stairs two at a time as she headed downstairs while Klaus went back into his room for a moment. She took out her phone once she was at the bottom and after a quick glance to make certain that he was still busy, she sent off a quick email to Lizzie, wanting to let her know how great everything was so far and also to check in on her and their mom.

"Yes, Elijah," Klaus muttered into his phone as he headed down the stairs and she tucked hers away again, remembering that Elijah was one of her uncle's name. "Lizzie and I are on our way. Of course I'm bringing her with me. She just got back into town and this my weekend with her." He smiled at her before shaking his head and making a face as Elijah continued to speak.

Charlotte laughed, wondering why Lizzie hadn't mentioned how funny their dad could be. "No. I am not dropping her off with mother. We're staying for an hour and then the two of us have plans," Klaus continued, picking up his keys from the hook by the door. He motioned for her to head toward the front door and Charlotte skipped ahead, opening it for the two of them and then bounding down the front steps of the townhouse. She waited for Klaus, not entirely certain which car was theirs.

Thankfully he hit the button on the keychain that unlocked the car, causing the one nearest to them to beep and alert her where to go. She strapped herself in as Klaus rounded to the driver's side, still speaking with Elijah. "You're on speaker phone now," Klaus stated as he sat down, the phone switching over to the car's speakers. Charlotte heard the warning in his voice and wondered if Elijah hadn't stopped trying to get her dad to drop her off with her grandmother so he could work more.

"Hi Uncle Elijah," she greeted, as Klaus stowed his phone away in his pocket.

"Hello, Elizabeth. Did you have a lovely trip?" Elijah asked and it was weird to hear another accented voice. He sounded so proper, almost a bit distant which was very different than how her Aunt Bonnie greeted her.

"It was splendid." That worked, right? Splendid seemed like a word Lizzie would use.

"I'm sure your grandmother will love hearing about it at brunch tomorrow," Elijah continued, and Charlotte caught Klaus' hands tightening on the wheel at that statement.

"Oh, we're going to brunch. Daddy and I already have plans to…see the horses." Charlotte looked over at Klaus, grinning conspiratorially. She knew he didn't want to share her with the others just yet and she was perfectly okay with keeping the weekend to being just their time.

"That's right. Poor Matilda hasn't been getting the love she's used to while Lizzie's been away. We'll be there in thirty, Elijah. Need to pick up some food." Klaus pushed the button the steering wheel to hang up before his brother could reply. "Do you know what your take away pick is?"

"Pizza." Uh…maybe that wasn't the best answer.

"Pizza?" Klaus arched a brow.

"It's a camp tradition. You're supposed to have your favorite food from camp when you get back home. Share it with your family so they can see a bit of what camp was like," Charlotte told him, thankful that she could think quickly on her feet.

"And your favorite was pizza?" Klaus shook his head and Charlotte nodded. "I know just the place then."

Charlotte settled back against the seat and looked out the window, watching London pass by them, wondering if her mom had been as awed by the city as she was feeling the first time she had seen it.


October 2004

"I'm beginning to think that you don't know how to do small," Caroline teased as Klaus pulled out the chair for her to sit down. She'd said she wanted pizza for dinner and had expected to order some for delivery. Nothing as fancy as where he had brought her. Not that the place was even exactly fancy, she knew her mother-in-law wouldn't see it that way, but it was definitely the nicest pizzeria she had ever been.

It was also the only one she had ever been in.

Mystic Falls had one pizza place and it was known for its linoleum floors and plastic counters. It definitely didn't have a wood burning stove for cooking the pizza and the cups there were all paper because no one actually ate at the shop. They just picked it up and headed on home or lucked out and were able to get delivery because the current delivery boy had decided to actually show up for his shift.

Klaus arched a brow at her as he took the seat opposite, handing her the menu. "Only the best for my girls," he reminded and Caroline couldn't help but grin at that. She loved when he called them that, when he spoke of their twins still developing inside of her. "This place is fairly new and a bit of a diamond in the rough I suppose, but the service is impeccable and the food even better."

"You don't really strike me as a pizza kinda guy," Caroline pointed out, as the waitress came over to take their drink order.

"Kol is. He found this place and took me here when he was staying with me one time. It's now my go-to place for pizza," Klaus told her after the waitress left. "Though I am concerned about the horrors you're going to want on it."

She stuck her tongue out at him and picked up the menu. Was it her fault that her cravings had resulted in some weird combinations? "They do the whole half and half thing so you can get whatever you want on yours and I'll make sure the babies get what they want on theirs." Because the desire to have a side of sour cream to dip her slices in was definitely not her idea.

Once the order was in Caroline took the pad of paper and pen from her purse and flipped to the last page. They had the name Elizabeth. That one had been simple enough and while they wouldn't be calling their daughter by that long name but by Lizzie, she thought it was a good way to honor her mother who wouldn't ever get the chance to meet her granddaughters. She loved that Klaus agreed with her, that he had been the one to suggest even when they had started to think of names.

Now was the hard part, figuring out the second name that had to fit with Elizabeth. Klaus looked over at the book and shook his head at the name Kollita that was written in his brother's writing. "I see Kol is still pushing for that."

It would never happen.

"I'm not entirely sure he won't call our daughter it even when she has an actual name," Caroline laughed, before crossing out the name she had just written down. Jennifer just didn't work. She continued to scribble down names, crossing them out nearly right after she'd written them, before finally looking up.

It always amazed Caroline to see Klaus watching her. The adoration in his eyes as he looked at her took her breath away every time and she smiled at him, looking at his dimples as he reciprocated it. "What was your favorite book as a child?" Klaus asked and Caroline scrunched her nose.

"A Little Princess but I really don't like the name Sarah." Sarah and Elizabeth just didn't go together like she wanted. "And it can't be Jessica because we're not having the Wakefield twins." Because she had read those books and no way were their daughters turning out like those two.

Klaus simply nodded, obviously not knowing what she was commenting about. "What was your favorite?" she asked, wondering if maybe his would hold some ideas.

"I believe it was the Lion, the witch and the wardrobe," Klaus mused, trying to remember what he'd enjoyed. "Or maybe that was Henrik's. None of the names work for me though." He paused before continuing on. "What was your mother's?"

Caroline was silent for a moment, trying to remember if she even knew that detail. "Charlotte's Web." That had been it. She could remember her mom reading it to her when she was younger and how hard she had cried over the spider's death.

"Charlotte," Klaus let the name roll off his tongue and Caroline liked how it sounded. "Elizabeth and Charlotte."

"I think we have a winner." She wrote the two names down beside one another on a new page and they even looked perfect together. Caroline placed a hand on her stomach and smiled, knowing they finally had their daughters' names. "Elizabeth and Charlotte."


Present Day

Lizzie had been to the beach before in France with her father but it was a very different experience than doing so with her mom. With her dad it had been a planned trip, not something that was apparently routine, something that happened after lunch just because they felt like going. She wondered if Charlotte and her mom did this often and had a feeling that they did from the photographs that were on display back at the house.

What was it like to come out every weekend and build elaborate sandcastles? To look for seashells for as many hours as she wanted or rocks or a million other little things in the warm Californian weather? It was vastly different than London and while she loved her home she couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to grow up in the sun and surf. Was this where they were meant to be?

She could imagine her father beside them and Charlotte helping to add shells to the castle that her mother was helping her with. She could practically hear her father's laughter tying in with her mother's and how perfect that sounded. And then there was Charlotte's along with her own making it even better.

"Don't forget to drink your water," Caroline reminded her, glancing over at the water bottle lying on the towel nearby.

"I won't," Lizzie promised. She smiled at the concern before her gaze traveled over to the couple who was getting their picture taken with the beach as their backdrop. "Do you ever think about getting married again or about the F word?"

"The F word?" Caroline practically sputtered out, going a bit red in the face and Lizzie simply nodded.

"Yeah, you know. My father," she continued, wondering why her mom seemed to relax a bit at that answer before tensing all over again.

Caroline couldn't quite help touching the ring that lay hidden just beneath her shirt, out of sight but never out of mind. "What brought this on?"

Lizzie nodded over to where the couple were laughing and posing for the photographer. "How did you meet him?"

She didn't know the story and it was something her and Charlotte were trying to figure out. "On a cruise ship after I graduated high school," Caroline told her, smiling softly at the memory. "He was a complete as—annoyance at first but after a bit he was charming and we spent every second together."

Lizzie grinned, knowing that was the perfect description of her dad. He could definitely be annoying and a jerk but when he wanted to he was perfectly charming. It had women wanting his attention even if he didn't give any out to anyone but her. "And you fell madly in love?"

"Yes," Caroline replied, before looking back at the castle they were making. "We both did. I always wondered when you'd start asking questions about him."

"Did you get married in a dress like that?" Lizzie asked, looking back at the smiling couple. Was it long or short? Had there been a train? She'd only ever seen the top of it in the one photograph that she had of Caroline but she had so many questions about it.

"There was a white dress but not quite like that one. We bought it at a seaside town in Greece shortly after he proposed to me," Caroline placed a shell on the castle, keeping her focus on the shells as she continued to talk. "He proposed in Corfu. It's an island with white sand beaches and pastel houses that look like they're jumping out of a painting. I think he painted it once."

Lizzie watched her mother talk, noting her how her smile seemed to grow as she talked about it all. She knew the painting her mother was talking about. It hung in their dining room, the one that they never actually used because it was just the two of them and sometimes Uncle Kol eating over so the table in the kitchen was better.

"I don't even know where he got the ring or when because we were rarely out of one another's sight, but he was down on one knee before I knew it," Caroline kept on, fingers brushing over a few of the shells as her gaze seemed to go very far away for a moment, as if she was remembering all that had happened. "We were by ourselves on the beach, away from the rest of the tour group that we'd joined that day."

"And you said yes?" Lizzie asked. It all sounded so romantic.

"Actually, I asked him if he was out of his mind first." Caroline laughed at the memory before looking back over at her daughter. The shade of blonde was a forever reminder of Klaus. "But I did say yes and we were married near the end of the cruise. Gave your Aunt Bonnie and granddads a heart attack when I called and said I wasn't coming home."

"Were they mad?" Because she had a feeling her grandmother would have been furious if her father had done that. Esther Mikaelson got annoyed whenever things didn't go exactly as she planned them.

"They were…concerned," Caroline replied with a sigh. "But that was a long time ago."

"Did they like him? My dad?" Because maybe that's why they weren't together? Maybe they hadn't liked Klaus and had made her mom come home.

"After they got to know him yes," Caroline murmured before her phone chirped, signaling a call.

She picked it up and Lizzie focused her attention on the water as her mother talked to whoever was on the phone before her mother touched her shoulder. "It looks like there's an emergency at the office, Char. Want to go with me or should I drop you off with Grandpa Stephen?"

While Lizzie wanted to meet her granddad she wasn't quite ready to give up time with her mom just yet. "I think going to the office would be lovely."

"Lovely?" Caroline laughed as she started collecting their things.

"It's what one of the girls at camp was always saying when she thought something would be fun. I liked it so much that I started doing it." Yeah, that explanation should work.

"Then I am sure we'll have a lovely time together," Caroline replied with a grin before taking Lizzie's hand.

Lizzie gave it a squeeze as the two started the trek to the car, wondering exactly what had caused her parents to break up since it didn't seem like Caroline's family was responsible. She was going to need to make a list of ideas and cross them off as she learned more about everything. Hopefully she could talk to Charlotte soon and see what her sister had learned. Between the two of them she expected they would have it figured out in no time.

Two heads really were better than one.


November 2004

Klaus had been in the middle of a meeting when he'd gotten the call. He'd almost let it go to voicemail but with Caroline being pregnant and new to the city he hadn't wanted to take any chances. The number wasn't one he knew but it was the words that had caused his whole world to stop.

"Your wife is in the hospital."

He hadn't even bothered to walk back into the meeting, hadn't explained anything to Elijah as he tore out of their offices, trying to listen to what the nurse was telling him. He needed to know the hospital, needed that information so that he could get right over to Caroline, and whatever his brother was yelling at him as he raced down the hallway could wait for later.

The next thirty minutes had gone by in a blur and Klaus wouldn't be able to recount precisely how he'd even gotten to the nurse's station. He was ushered back into the room Caroline was in and froze at the curtain, breath stopping as he looked at his young wife on the hospital bed. She was hooked up to an IV and a monitor for her as well as one for the babies, all three heartbeats at least steady as he made his way to sit down on the chair beside her.

He took her hand and it was so small in his, her face too pale for his liking. He barely heard what the doctor said at first. Something about her fainting on campus and an ambulance being called to take her to the hospital. She hadn't woken yet and they had been worried that she had caused damage when she'd hit the ground but so far the tests had come back okay.

The babies though. The doctor was worried about them.

Klaus sat by her side until she finally woke, looking disoriented and trying to move until he rose, making sure she stayed in place. "Klaus?" She was frightened and he smiled reassuringly, brushing her hair to help calm her as she took in where she was at. "The babies?"

Tears swelled in her eyes, spilling out as she no doubt imagined the worse, and Klaus shook his head. "They're okay," he told her, even if he wasn't entirely sure that was the truth but he didn't want her to worry more than she already was. Caroline closed her eyes as she pressed a hand to her stomach, needing to feel them.

"It's going to be okay," Klaus tried again, brushing the tears from her face as they waited for the doctor to come back.

Klaus' phone rang and he cursed, annoyed at himself for forgetting to turn it off. It was his mother and he canceled the call before shutting it off. The rest of the world could wait for a bit. His focus was going to remain on Caroline, to make sure she wasn't freaking out like he knew she could do. She was stressed enough as it was and he refused to let anything else worsen that for her.

The doctor eventually returned, informing them about possible stressors to the twins and what that could mean. "I'm going to need to put you on restricted activity," the doctor told them. "Depending on what we see happening in the next few weeks that may be all you need to do or it may come down to bed rest for you."

"The girls are okay though?" Caroline asked and Klaus rubbed a soothing hand up her arm.

"They're going to be fine," the doctor told her and Caroline nodded as the man left to get them the necessary paperwork.

"I'll cancel my meetings," Klaus told her and Caroline shook her head but Klaus squeezed her hand, not caring what the others might think. He was supposed to be heading out of town for the next week because of work but that didn't need to happen. He'd send one of his team to do it or Elijah could.

He didn't know how they were going to work with Caroline being on restricted activity. He couldn't stay away from work forever and wasn't sure who he could ensure would be around enough to help her out with things she might need. And what about college? She was nearly done the semester but from what the doctor had said it didn't look like she'd be able to return just yet. They'd need to talk to the school but he didn't want to bring that up when she seemed to finally be calming down.

"We'll figure this out, love." He'd do whatever was needed to make sure that she and their twins stayed safe and healthy. Even if it meant relying on family in ways he didn't particularly want to.


Present Day

Being at her dad's office was about as thrilling as whenever she went to her mom's office. It helped that there was a room completely devoted to her—or well to Lizzie—right there for her to use, but Charlotte was more interested in learning more about her father. She figured she could do that while enjoying pizza at his desk. Klaus was off in a conference room with his team—a whole group of people who apparently knew her but Lizzie had only told her about Lexi—so that had been a bit awkward. It helped to keep the smile on her face and throwing in a few 'It's lovely to see you' seemed to have worked.

She had the timer on her phone going because she didn't actually want to get caught snooping. But her dad had said it would take no more than an hour so Charlotte figured she had at least thirty minutes to look around.

There were a lot of photographs on Lizzie on the desk and one of his family…her family, the ones she only knew about from pictures and what Lizzie had filled her in on. Charlotte didn't like the photographs though. No one was smiling in it aside from Lizzie and Kol. Everyone else looked so stiff that she almost wondered if they were all statues or cardboard cutouts instead of actual people.

They were nothing like the photos back home of her with her grandparents and her Aunt Bonnie. Those were full of smiles and silly faces. They looked happy. These people looked bored.

She munched on her pizza as she swung her legs while sitting on the big comfy chair. It was easy to spin in and she did that for a while, taking in the plaques and framed diplomas on the wall. Her mom had one from college like that. She vaguely remembered being there for the graduation ceremony and the cap throwing.

There were wooden filing cabinets behind her, large ones that were all locked and she figured wouldn't have held anything that interested her in them anyway. The drawers of the desk weren't that much better. A lot of office supplies, extra paper, and a box of chocolates that were half gone.

At least she'd learned that her dad had a sweet tooth. That was good to know.

Charlotte leaned back in the chair and stared up at the ceiling as she swung the chair around again, letting it spin until it finally stopped and she was facing the desk again. She pushed herself up and walked around the room, sipping on her lemonade as she looked at all of the framed papers. Her dad sure seemed to like school considering how many diplomas he had.

It was on the way back to the desk, looking into the bottom open drawer from a different angle that she noticed the book underneath all of the copy paper. It took some finagling but she eventually got it out.

Lizzie had mentioned that their dad liked to paint and sketch sometimes, that it was 'how he de-stresses' and smiled as she opened the sketchbook. She saw a sketch of a little girl who looked an awful lot like her at age four and knew it must have been Lizzie. There were others of different places, ones that she didn't know but must have held some meaning with the amount of detail that went into them.

It was the ones with just a pair of eyes though that had her staring at the paper for a long time. The date on the page was recent, only a few ago, and Charlotte gasped as she realized that she knew those eyes.

They were her mom's eyes. She'd know them anywhere.

That had to mean something, didn't it?

She took out her phone and took a quick picture of it before sending it off to Lizzie with a text. He draws mom still? She put the phone away and set the book back down as her timer started going off, not wanting to get caught with it. Thankfully she had everything put away and was finishing up her pizza when her dad and Uncle Elijah headed into the room.

"Niklaus, this is too important for you to just leave now," Elijah continued, following Klaus inside but stopped upon seeing her. "Hello, Elizabeth. It is wonderful to see you again."

"Hi Uncle Elijah," she greeted with a smile before dumping her trash into the wastebasket beside the desk.

"Lizzie and I have plans, Elijah. The team knows what I want them to do. I'll check back in with them on Monday and we'll go from there," Klaus replied, his voice harder than Charlotte had ever heard it before.

"I don't know if looking at it Monday will be soon enough," Elijah protested and Charlotte got off the chair when Klaus motioned for her to head toward the door. "Perhaps tomorrow Elizabeth can visit with Rebekah and mother while you put in a few hours here."

While Charlotte wanted to eventually see her aunt and grandmother, she really didn't like the idea of giving up time with her father. She frowned as she listened to her uncle speak and tried to figure out what Lizzie would have said in that moment. "We can always see the horses another day," she tried, offering up as big a smile as she could muster.

Elijah nodded at her, obviously liking her idea while Klaus glared at his brother before looking down at his daughter. Charlotte looked up at him, unsure what his answer would be. She knew her mom would have said everything could be taken care of on Monday because she was her number one priority, but maybe it was different with fathers.

"Lizzie and I will be enjoying our day together tomorrow." Klaus smiled at her before opening the door and urging her to step forward. He didn't' follow right away though and she stopped, watching him turn back toward her uncle. "Don't make me choose between this job and spending time with my daughter, Elijah. You won't like which one I'll choose. Say goodbye to your uncle, Lizzie."

Lizzie waved at him, noting the way Elijah frowned and the tension that seemed to surround him because of her father's words. "Do you want to come with us? We're going to see some paintings and get ice cream." She looked over at Klaus. "We're still getting ice cream, right?"

He had been staring hard at his brother but his expression softened when he looked down at her. "Yes we are."

"Thank you for the offer, Elizabeth, but I have responsibilities to finish here," Elijah told her, though at least he was smiling as Klaus steered her out into the hallway.

"Do you need to stay? We can always go see the paintings and get ice cream another day," Charlotte started when they got to the lift.

"No," Klaus shook his head as he let her push the arrow. "Your uncle and I have very different priorities in life, Lizzie. You will always be the top of mine while his will be the family firm."

She nodded as the doors opened and they stepped on, taking his hand in hers and swinging it slightly as the doors closed. So it wasn't different with fathers. She was still the number one priority. That was nice to know. "Okay, then let's get ice cream first."

Klaus laughed and nodded for her to hit the lobby floor button. "I'm sure I can be persuaded to make that happen."


November 2004

Klaus looked over his childhood room. It practically looked like every other room in the house and many would have thought it another guest room from the lack of anything personal on display. There were no childhood toys to be looked at, no pieces of the boy he had been or the teenager who had occupied the room during school breaks. There was a photograph of him on the dresser but that was the extent of anything that made the room his own.

Kol's was the same a few doors down, even Rebekah's who actually still lived in the house with their mother had barely anything to distinguish the place as hers unless someone opened the closet. The only room that had any sort of reminders to it was Henrik's room down the hall. It hadn't been touched since the boy's death, old toy train still half off the track from how he left it, a living memorial to the boy who would never grow up.

Klaus despised the place. He hated the smells of the house, the routines that were strictly adhered to even though Mikael was dead and gone. Everything ran to his mother's specifications and the last thing he truly wanted to do was bring Caroline there. But she needed to be able to get help at a seconds notice and with the number of servants running around plus his mother and the occasional sibling there would be plenty of people around to tend to her needs.

After the scare on campus neither of them wanted to take any chances.

"I've had the sitting room cleared out for you," Esther informed him from the doorway that led to that area. "We'll have it converted into a proper nursery in no time."

Klaus placed down the box he had brought up, thankful that Caroline was busy speaking with his sister downstairs at the moment. "We won't be here that long, mother."

"Nonsense, Niklaus," Esther shook her head and he noted the disdain in her eyes as she looked at the contents of the boxes. "With your work schedule Caroline will need help with the children and who knows what kind of state she'll be in after giving birth if there are already complications."

He couldn't discount that possibility but he meant to have them in a place of their own as soon as possible after the twins' birth. Her dads wanted to come over to help, Bonnie probably would as well, and Klaus had no problem hiring someone to assist once things were cleared. He'd take days off, cut down on his hours to be there as well. Elijah and the rest would simply need to understand where his priorities lay.

There was no use in bringing that up to his mother though. Not until he had everything set in place.

Klaus spotted a table that hadn't been there before in his room, wondering what it was for. Esther headed over to it. "You said she shouldn't be doing too much. This way she can have meals up here when she's not up for attempting the stairs."

Which was why he had wanted them to be on the ground floor but Esther had said the lower level guest room was being renovated. "She'll be right near your sister and me so if there are any difficulties we'll be able to hear her call for us," Esther continued, wiping a finger along the dresser near her. "I'll have the staff do another round of dusting before Caroline is brought up here and I expect you to go over the rules with her for how rooms are maintained here. She'll have help as her movement is limited but I won't have this place looking like your school dorm did."

"Considering Caroline's neat tendencies I doubt that will be an issue." If anything it was probably going to drive his wife crazy that she wasn't able to clean like she normally did. With the stress she was under, Klaus knew she probably missed one of her go-to ways of dealing with it.

Esther waved his comment off and headed toward the door. "Mealtimes will be adhered to and you will call to let the kitchen know if your dinner needs to be put aside for later because of your work hours."

"I won't be working late," Klaus told her. Or at least that was the plan. He was sticking around until six and then he'd head home, take a few files with him if absolutely necessary, but after six his time was for Caroline. "I won't be going out of town either. Someone else can go in my place."

He watched his mother tense at those words, could almost imagine her mouth drawing into a tight line before she turned toward him. "You'll do what you need to do to continue soaring in your career. This pregnancy is not allowed to damage your current trajectory. Do not forget your priorities."

"Priorities change, mother." Shouldn't she understand that?

"This family cannot afford for you to start making mistakes now," Esther reminded, clearly not happy with his response. "Do not throw away everything you have worked for all of these years. Rebekah and I will ensure that Caroline is fine. You make sure that you'll be able to provide them with the life they deserve."

She turned on her heel and left before he could say anything else. He heard Rebekah and Caroline walking down the hall and forced himself not to follow after his mother, to set her straight. Caroline didn't need to hear another argument between him and his family, especially not one that was even slightly about her.

Rebekah dropped her off at the door before hurrying away. Caroline smiled at him before her features quickly grew concerned. "What happened?"

Klaus closed the distance between the two of them, taking her hands in his and kissing her fingertips softly. "I was thinking we should order pizza."

Caroline looked him over and Klaus made sure to keep the smile on his face, trying to assuage any of her worries. "Alright. I'm gonna need some sour cream then."

"I'm sure I can wrangle up some of that for you," he promised, and nodded for her to go sit down, knowing she'd already been up on her feet more than necessary.

"I love you," Caroline told him and then tugged her hands out of his grasp so she could hug him tightly.

"I love you too," Klaus murmured against her forehead before kissing it. All they needed to do was make it through the next few months. He'd managed to live eighteen years in this house; surely they could survive a few more months.