Previously on ABaD: "One thing at a time"


Thanksgiving in the Forbes household was, yet again, a lovely occasion. Caroline had resolved during the very first year that she would always throw a marvelous holiday party, and even with the events of the previous days, this year was no exception.

Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and sunny, a crisp wind in the air. Unable to sleep after the past night, she was up and zooming around her house, stress-cleaning everything and doing some minor prep work for their early dinner. It was in this way that her daughter, who had managed to be an early riser as well, found her.

"Mommy? What are you doing?" Margret rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, padding softly in her panda footie pajamas.

"Hmm?" She snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, good morning Meggie! Did you sleep well?"

The little girl nodded, walking over and giving her mother a sleepy hug. "I dreamed 'bout pink unicorns." She yawned. Her hair was in a curly and knotty mess around her head, and Caroline internally sighed. That was going to be a mess to brush out.

"Really? I bet they were pretty unicorns, huh?" She leaned her broom against the kitchen wall, and picked up the five year old. "You ready for breakfast, sweetie?" Caroline got a nod in response. Margret was always ready to eat first thing in the morning, a trait which she herself, who could go for hours without having anything but coffee, did not possess. She deposited the little imp at the table, and went to pulling out breakfast items.

"What were you doing last night, Mommy?" Margret sounded considerably more awake. "You always tuck me in."

Caroline sighed as she chopped up some fruit. "I ran into some old friends of mine the other day, and we had dinner. That was all." Actually, sweetie, they were your family, but since it is an entirely confusing situation for a five year old to comprehend, we are just sticking with the whole 'friends-only' route right now. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. Thankfully, it appeared to be a reasonable answer, as Margret nodded and accepted it.

"Glad to see you're back." Liz said as she walked into the kitchen, receiving a happy "Morning, Nana!" from Margret.

Caroline passed her mother a coffee cup, and finished up preparing her daughter's breakfast of fruit, toast, and a glass of milk. "I got back around midnight. Everything went well." She gave her mom a look, letting her know that she would fill her in later. The whole Margret situation was one she was trying to figure out.

"I'm glad. It certainly has been years since you've seen them." Liz caught on, nodding in agreement. "So, who is coming this afternoon?"

"My grandmas!" Margret giggled. Technically, she was correct. With all of the book club meetings they had gone to over the years, she had eventually begun to call those ladies each 'Grandma', and they had all accepted it. To be frank, Caroline found it kind of cute.

"I thought I was your grandmother?" Liz made a serious face, causing the little girl to laugh more.

"No, you're my Nana. There's a difference." She rolled her eyes.

"It'll be nice to see everyone again." Of course, her mother knew all of the ladies, as they had all met over the past few years.

"Navya will be here this year, as it's the other side of the family's year to get her son and daughter-in-law, and it's the same with Violet and her family. You did see Eva, Helena, and Joan last year, though." Caroline shrugged, sipping her breakfast of blood. "I think Joan is bringing her grandson who's around my age, but we've met before already, and I don't have the heart to tell her I'm not interested. Oh, and Helena might be bringing her daughter and her family, though I'm not entirely sure if they're coming or not. Either way, I'm preparing enough, and everyone's bringing a side dish like normal."

"It sounds like it is going to be yet another Caroline Forbes affair." Liz said.

"It's Walters, Mom. But don't worry, it will be." She smirked. Yes, this Thanksgiving was going to be her best yet. It had to be.

-0-0-0-0-0-

All in all, Thanksgiving went marvelously. Caroline had been right in the fact that Joan brought her, admittedly very handsome and nice, grandson, but there just was not that…spark. Helena had a couple of grandchild around Margret's age, so those three had gone off and played all afternoon. Liz had caught up with the women who had adopted her daughter and her daughter, and the other guests had enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Overall, it had been yet another successful event for Caroline.

Out of all of the 'grandmas', only one noticed something was wrong with the hostess herself. She had managed to put on a favorable face, but even perfect masks slip, and eventually it fell completely. Caroline had not even been aware how open she had appeared emotionally, until Eva had asked her about it. To be honest, Eva was, at first glance, the least likely to be the one in tune with everyone's emotions. And, normally that was true. She was a fast-talking and brusque Russian-African-American woman, and she had been the last one of the book club to fully warm to them. However, she was observant, and that was all it took.

"What's wrong, girlie? And don't tell me it's nothing, because I can see it's something." Caroline was fully surprised when Eva pulled her aside, but decided to go with the truth for once.

She took a deep breath. "I found Margret's father. And his siblings."

"And are you going to do anything about it?"

"Already have." The blonde crossed her arms. "I had dinner with him, his brother, and their sister, last night. Margret's meeting just him on Saturday, though she doesn't know yet, so don't tell her. Or anyone, for that matter."

"Hmmm…" Eva trailed off, narrowing her eyes. "Are you just going to let them back in? After five years of nothing?"

Caroline sighed. "Not immediately. I practically had to fight his sister off just to keep her from driving over the moment she found out. I've never really been able to get a read on his brother, but he seemed to be okay with the whole thing. Klaus took my side when I argued with his sister, so I'm taking that as a good sign, and he seems fairly supportive of me. Saturday is really when I'm going to have to figure things out, I suppose."

"Will you be telling that baby-faced schemer of yours beforehand, or when he is present?" Eva had always been a bit…cynical when it came to Margret, but Caroline knew the two secretly got along well. Eva was responsible for teaching the munchkin all of her sneaky techniques, after all.

"I'm going to tell her tomorrow, I think. You know how she is… Meg takes things better when she has a bit of time to think it over. I hope she'll be okay with the whole situation; I've done the best I've been able to over the years, and she knows what he looks like because of pictures and things. I'm just scared." Caroline could not even voice her concerns about Rebekah, or the fact that Margret was not biologically hers, and therefore all she had was the past five years. That had to be enough. It had to be.

"Bring him by the next meeting. We'll properly threaten him for you." Eva patted her arm, an all-too-familiar glint in her eye, before walking off. The thought of a group of elderly ladies threatening the Original Hybrid was just too great of an opportunity to pass up… She was going to get Klaus to that next meeting if she had to drag him there herself.

Caroline flitted around the room, happily interacting with her guests, but not totally there. Her mind was across Central Park, where the Mikaelsons were, and she had gone into full-blown worrying mode. She had to have a conversation with her five-year old tomorrow about a life-changing fact, and then said life-changing fact was coming by on Saturday, and just… What if they did not get along? She did desperately want them to get along, after all. Before the whole torturing thing, some of Caroline's best childhood memories were with her father. Every little kid needs a daddy to look up to, after all.

She also had to worry about how Klaus was going to be with Margret. Would he be the loving father she needed, or would he be cold, like he had been at times towards his siblings? The last thing her baby needed to see was that. Would he even want to be a large part of Margret's life? Caroline could not imagine otherwise, the child charmed everyone she met, after all, but it was a concerning idea. Saturday would be a very telling day, and that was ignoring the whole Rebekah (and possibly Elijah) situation. God, just… It felt like everything had fallen apart within the past two days.

For the first time in ages, Caroline wondered if she was going legitimately insane.

-0-0-0-0-0-

This was it. It was time. It was Friday evening, Klaus would be at her home tomorrow, and she could not put this conversation off anymore. It was time to tell Margret.

Caroline had faith in her daughter's love for her. This would not change much of anything in their personal relationship. It was just… It was how Margret would react to everything else. This was going to be a very tumultuous time for her daughter, and the influence the Mikaelsons would bear upon the child were bound to be significant. She did not want her little girl to change, perhaps. At least, not for the negative.

She was not ready for this. She was not ready to turn Margret's world upside down in just a few words. I found your father, sweetie. That was all it would take. Five words. Five. Simple, Words. And then nothing would ever be the same again.

But yet, could she even go back now, without telling her daughter? Of course not. If she had ever wanted to keep Meggie from her father, aunt, and uncle, that could have been easily accomplished. They could have gone undercover and Margret could have been kept in the dark; nothing would have ever been complicated. For a brief moment, Caroline wished for the uninterrupted life that could have been, but that desire faded quickly. From the very beginning, after it became apparent that the Mikaelsons were either detained, or believed the child was dead, she had never intended to keep Margret's true identity from her. When the little girl was old enough to understand, Caroline told her the story of how she adopted her. The yellow book was made specifically to educate Margret upon her family's past.

No, keeping Meggie unaware had never been an option. Her moral code and sense of family would not allow that.

Grow up, Caroline, she told herself. Do the hard thing like you always do, and just sit her down. Just get it over with. "Meg?" She called out in the apartment. "Margret, could you come here please?"

The pitter-patter of little feet came down the hallway. "Yes, Mommy?"

"Mommy has some big news, sweetie." Caroline patted the spot beside her on the sofa. "And we need to have a talk."

"Is this about special secret business?" The five-year old's eyes grew wide. That was what Caroline had called it when they had the 'vampire' talk.

"Sort of." Caroline took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment as she let out a breath. "Margret, I've found your father."

"What?" Margret cocked her head to the side, confused.

"The friends I ate dinner with the other day; that was your father, and his brother and sister."

"Where? I want to say hi!" She popped up off of the couch and ran to the door. Well, that was certainly not the reaction Caroline had been expecting.

"Meg, he's not here right now. He's coming over tomorrow." She stood, walking towards the front door.

"No!" The child stamped her foot and crossed her arms, the angry-pouty expression coming on. It would be adorable if Margret was not so strong-willed. "I want to see my daddy now!"

"Margret, you are going to have to wait. We have plans with him tomorrow, and that is that."

"I don't wanna wait!"

"I am truly sorry about that, but tonight you will go to bed, tomorrow morning we will take Nana to the airport, and then you can meet him. Not before." Caroline raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. Margret may be defiant at times, but she was still a small child. If all else failed, the naughty corner certainly worked.

Her daughter pouted, and looked at the floor. "Yes, Mommy."

"Good girl." Caroline picked her up. "I promise, you'll meet him tomorrow, okay?"

"Why hasn't he been with you and me, Mommy? Did the bad guys make him?" Margret laid her head on her mother's shoulder as Caroline took her back to her bedroom.

She sighed, pushing open the door to her child's bedroom. "The bad guys had him, yes, sweetie. But I'm sure he's very happy to meet you, and you can ask him all your questions tomorrow, alright Meg?" Her daughter nodded, and Caroline set her down before browsing in the closet. "Now, since it's your Nana's last night here before she goes back to her house, we're going to dinner. So, the important question is," she whirled, holding two tiny dresses, and smiling, "purple or green?"

Margret scrutinized the outfits in the same way Caroline herself always did, before perking up. "Purple! I want to wear purple!" She bounced on her toes, wiggling in excitement.

"Perfect! And, it's a color fit for a princess, just like you!"


AN: This was shamelessly a filler chapter, I know. However, I felt it did a good job of capturing Caroline's fears, her and Margret's relationship, and their life in New York. So, please let me know what you think!

I am extremely pleased to say that my muse has come back after a very long absence (thankfully I was ahead in writing this story, which is why updates continued), and now I am partway done with a VotF update, as well as chapter eight of this story. Basically, I know what happens when Klaus and Meggie finally meet, and all of you have to wait until Wednesday... :P Perks of being an author, right there.

Now, onto answering your commonly asked questions from last chapter!

"What happened to Davina and Cami?" Honestly, since they are never going to show up in this story again, I have no clue. However, they did not see the Mikaelsons before said family left NOLA.

"Why did Elijah ask about Hayley's family? Is it because they had a thing?" Haha... In this story, Haylijah never happened, and Katherine was still Elijah's love. It's the one part of canon that I warped and it may come up later. Anyways... Elijah asking about that was a test on Caroline's character. He may not know her very well, but given how she had spoken about Hayley minutes before, and a few hints she had dropped over the course of the evening, if Caroline had said she would have kept Baby Mikaelson, knowing of Hayley's family, it would have been a lie.

"Is Caroline going to tell them Margret can transform into a wolf?" This, as well as the whole Margret-is-a-hybrid issue, will come up in the next chapter.

Anyways, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing, and I hope this chapter did not disappoint! If it did, however, the next one will make up for it by leaps and bounds.

-Abi