Ten years later
Caroline walked into Salvatore mansion, marveling at the place. It'd been ten years since she was in this house. She'd forgotten how beautiful it was. Stefan walked down the corridor and she returned his smile, then hugged him.
"How are you, Stefan?" She asked.
"Oh fine, Damon's still driving me crazy, but at least Elena's keeping him occupied." He replied. She scoffed at him and saw a figure appear from a doorway.
"It is surprising that you and Elena aren't the ones driving Damon crazy any longer." A familiar voice said. Stefan turned back to him, and Caroline's eyes dulled. Standing there, in the doorway, was Klaus. His hands behind his back, in his trademark jacket. He looked at her in hope, and she could see how much he'd missed her.
"Well, turns out I wasn't the one Elena wanted. Could you drop it now?" Stefan asked. Klaus nodded in reply, and his eyes immediately went back to Caroline's, whose eyes never tore themselves away.
You left me. Was all she could think of. Then a small hand tugged on the bottom of her jacket. She turned around and there was Matthew, her son. She picked him up and dropped him onto her hip, smiling at him.
"How're you doing, Matty?" She asked. Stefan walked up to him and held out his hand.
"Hi, Matty, I'm Stefan." He said. Matthew shook it and stared right at him.
"Hi Uncle Stefan, Mommy told me about you." He said in a small voice. Caroline ignored the feeling that she wanted to see what Klaus thought of this small child. She half-hoped that he thought Matty was Tyler's, and she'd moved on from him. But that wasn't true. Matthew was Klaus's son. And sooner or later he'd figure that out.
A moment later Klaus walked down the corridor to them and he looked Matthew in the eye.
"Hello, Matthew." He greeted with a smile. Matthew looked back at him and smiled in return.
"Hi." He replied. Caroline put her son down and Klaus looked down at the boy.
"My name's Niklaus." Klaus said.
"Hi Niklaus." Matthew replied.
"Oh, call me Klaus, young man." Klaus said. Matthew nodded and Tyler came walking in the door.
"All the bags are unloaded." Tyler told her and she nodded. He kissed her and suddenly Caroline wondered if that would affect Klaus. When she broke the kiss Tyler saw Klaus was standing there. His eyes went into danger mode.
"Klaus." He greeted. Caroline looked at Matthew and he looked up at them, wondering what was going on. His father never sounded on guard, especially when he was around. Something was up.
"Stefan" She said, cutting the tension. Klaus looked at her and smiled, she ignored him. "What rooms are open?" She asked. Stefan smiled at her.
"There are a couple open at the top of the stairs, if you want to stay away from the rooms that'll keep you up all night though, I'd suggest going to the end of the hall." Tyler's eyebrow rose, Klaus hid his amusement and Caroline cocked her head.
"That won't help." Caroline muttered in reply, so Matthew wouldn't hear. Five years after Matthew had been born, she was turned. It was a hostage situation demanding Tyler help them, and when he refused, they killed her. What they didn't know, was that Tyler fed Caroline his blood. She wasn't a hybrid, they found that out after she killed the men who took her hostage, but she was indeed a vampire. And Matthew didn't need to know yet.
"Caroline." Klaus called out to her and she turned around, her hands on Matthew's shoulders. "Might I have a word?" He asked.
"Actually we need to get settled in, and help Matty with his room." Tyler replied.
"It'll only take a moment, young Matthew will still get help from his mother." Klaus said. Caroline studied his face, and saw how badly he really wanted to talk to her. She turned back to Matthew and bent down to his eye level.
"Go with your father and pick a room, okay?" She asked. Matthew nodded and Tyler took the role of leading Matthew before him. She looked after Matthew and the man he knew as his father until they'd turned the corner. Stefan left with them. And then she looked at Klaus.
"You've become a vampire." Klaus observed unsteadily.
"You noticed." She replied sullenly. Klaus looked away and then back at her.
"How have you been, Caroline?" He asked. Caroline looked at him incredulously
"How have I been? You mean since you left me." Caroline asked rhetorically
"You know why I left, Caroline." Klaus replied.
"Yes, because you thought I deserved better. But that didn't stop that night from happening, did it?" She asked.
"I wanted to be there with you that night, Caroline, I couldn't help it. I loved you." He protested.
"I loved you too." Caroline replied. Klaus caught his breath.
"And now?" He asked. Caroline's eyebrows rose.
"Are you serious?" She asked him. His stare never wavered.
"Yes, I am." He replied. "From that night on, I loved you. Every day since the day I left, all I could think about was you. I want to know if you feel the same way." He replied. Caroline smiled at him dubiously.
"How can you ask me that?" She asked in return.
"It's a simple enough question, Caroline, do you love me, yes, or no?"
"Yes!" She cried. Klaus caught his breath. "Of course, I love you Klaus, I wouldn't have had sex with you in that cave of all places, if I didn't love you." She replied. Klaus walked to her and she embraced him as he held onto her tightly, breathing in her scent. She missed how his arms felt around her. He'd missed her all the more.
"Is Matthew my son?" Klaus asked, pulling away. Caroline held onto him as he looked her in the eye.
"Yeah, he is." Caroline replied. Klaus could barely suppress a smile as he kissed her. She kissed him back and they hugged one more time. "Tyler doesn't know, by the way. Although if he's listening in right now there's going to be hell to pay when I get up there." She added.
"Don't worry, no harm will come to you while you're in this house. No harm will come to the boy, either." Klaus replied, saying it made his eyes light up.
"Oh, since Matty was born, Tyler became a whole new person. His rage doesn't control him as much anymore." Caroline replied. Klaus looked impressed.
"Then no harm has come to my son while in Tyler's care." Klaus asked. Caroline smiled at him as he looked towards where Matthew had gone and smiled.
"Tyler's been a good dad." Caroline assured him. Klaus pulled away and she could see the guarded look in his eyes.
"Are you going to tell Matthew?" Klaus asked. Caroline searched his eyes. "Will you allow me in his life?"
"Of course I will, Klaus, you'll be a good father to Matthew too." Caroline replied. "And Tyler's going to be his dad too." She added. Klaus nodded. Caroline put a hand on his back as he turned to where Matthew disappeared again.
"Hey," She soothed. "he'll love you, Klaus." Klaus looked back at her. "He will. You're his father. Just because Tyler has been in his life this whole time doesn't mean he won't let another dad in his life." Klaus nodded.
"Perhaps you'd like to bring him down here." Klaus asked nervously. "I'm not quite sure Tyler will improve the situation if he is here to witness it."
"Of course." Caroline soothed and rubbed his back once before going up the stairs. She turned a corner and saw the door open that Matty was playing in. Tyler watched over him, and as she drew nearer, he looked at her. He knew. The look of betrayal was written so clearly on his face she almost felt guilty for what she did. Almost.
"Hey Matty." Caroline said, Matthew looked at her and then returned to playing with his toy school bus. "Do you like your room?" She asked
"It's got a big bed!" Matthew replied excitedly, grinning at her. He had so much of his father in his face. She smiled back at him and kissed the top of his head.
"Well, now that you've seen your room, I have one more surprise for you." Caroline said. Matthew grinned at her again and immediately put his school bus down.
Klaus turned around to see Caroline holding Matthew's shoulders, leading him to Klaus. When Caroline let Matthew go, she stood beside her son. Matthew looked up at his mother.
"Where's my surprise?" He asked timidly, turning to his mother. Klaus smiled and knelt down.
"It's a bit complicated, Matty." Caroline replied. Matthew looked at her, ready to listen.
"You know that your daddy loves you very much." Caroline said. Matthew nodded and Caroline brushed a hand through her son's hair. "Tyler, will always be your dad, even if he isn't, your dad. Do you know what I mean?" She asked. Matthew considered it and nodded. Klaus smiled again. How clever his son was.
"Matty, Tyler, isn't your dad. Not your biological one." Caroline said.
"What does biological mean?"
"That when I was pregnant with you, the man that made me pregnant wasn't Tyler." She replied
"Who made you pregnant?" Matthew asked. Caroline considered him. Then she looked at Klaus.
"Klaus, is the one who did." She replied. Matthew looked at him. "He's your father." She said. Klaus looked at him, wondering how he'd react. Matthew then turned to face him.
"You're my dad?" Matthew asked. Klaus smiled and nodded.
"Yes, I am, Matthew." Klaus replied. "And it's very nice to meet you."
