Happy New Year, everyone!
I hope everyone had a marvelous holiday, whatever it is you celebrate, if you celebrate anything at all(:
Anyway, I promised to update as early as possible in 2018 (!) so here's Chapter Ten!
Thank you all very much for all of the reviews last chapter and all of the reviews from last year! I love that so many people are reading my story and offering their thoughts on it!
Alaric makes his return this chapter. I was surprised by the amount of interest readers seem to have in him. One of the plotlines of this chapter is Alaric and Caroline working out a tentative custody agreement for the twins, so he plays an important role in this chapter. On a related note, I've read some stories in which Caroline moves to New Orleans and the twins stay in Mystic Falls with Alaric, and I've read some stories in which Caroline takes the twins with her when she moves to New Orleans, but I personally find both of those scenarios unrealistic and out of character. I don't think that either Caroline or Alaric would voluntarily settle for seeing their children on holidays and during the summer. I think they would both want to split the twins' time between them as evenly as possible, so that's what I've decided they'll do. I hope that's okay with all of you.
Also, I probably should have said this before now, but after ten chapters together we're friends now, right? If you are so inclined, you can contact me on my tumblr-my URL there is the same as my username here: 'thatsanotherlovestory.' I still of course encourage everyone to review, because I love reading reviews, but sending me messages there might be a more convenient option for those of you looking for a more detailed answer to a specific question, or if you'd like a response sooner than my next author's note, or if you have a question/comment/concern that isn't strictly limited to feedback on a chapter of this story. Plus, you can send anonymous messages there and I can answer them, whereas I can't respond if you leave a review as a guest. I just thought I would give you all the option, and you can communicate with me on whichever platform you prefer.
It's a good thing my New Year's resolution wasn't to write shorter author's notes, because I've already failed.
Happy reading!
Klaus was just starting to wonder if a child's trip to the restroom could possibly take as long as Caroline and Josie had been gone, when they came walking up to him.
"What took you so long?" he asked, picking Josie up.
"We ran into Hayley and we talked to her for a little while," Caroline said. "She went to get Hope ready for bed. Which means I think it's time for the twins to call it a night as well."
"But Mommy," Josie whined.
"You have already been allowed to stay up way past your bedtime, young lady," Caroline scolded.
"Let's go see if we can steal your sister from your sister," Caroline said to Josie, turning to Klaus as she kept talking. "I don't think Lizzie had left Rebekah's side all evening. At least she's in good hands with an Original vampire babysitter."
Klaus led them over to where Lizzie and Rebekah were talking to Freya.
"I'd like my daughter back, if that's all right with you," Caroline told Rebekah.
"If I must part with her," Rebekah sighed, picking Lizzie up and placing her in Caroline's arms. "Are you leaving already?"
"Yes, it's past bedtime for the three-year-olds among us," Caroline said, "Say goodnight, girls."
Lizzie and Josie said goodnight to Rebekah and Freya, then Klaus and Caroline took them upstairs to the guest room they were sharing.
Caroline quickly changed them into their pajamas and tucked them into bed. After Caroline turned out the light and closed the door behind her, Klaus turned to face her.
"Will you tell me what really happened?" Klaus asked.
"What do you mean?" Caroline tried to stall.
"I can tell when you're lying to me, sweetheart, and I know that you didn't just stop to make small talk with Hayley," Klaus said.
"I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone," Caroline told him. "And we're actually getting along at the moment; I don't want to jeopardize that."
Klaus just looked at her for a long moment, his eyes boring into hers like he was searching for something within them. When Caroline tried to pull away, Klaus gently took hold of her jaw and softly stroked her cheek with his thumb.
"You're a far better friend to her than she deserves," Klaus said. "You're far better to all of us than we deserve. But if you realized how much better you deserve than us, you would leave, and I don't know how we would survive that."
"Where would I go?" Caroline asked rhetorically.
"I can tell you that in my nightmares you find some saint-like king, who's richer than Midas, who buys you diamonds every day just to see the way they make your eyes sparkle," Klaus confesses in a slightly choked voice.
"You know better than anyone how graciously I accept gifts of diamonds," Caroline teased softly.
"You should try to get some rest, love," Klaus said.
"Okay."
Caroline shuffled into her room and changed into flannel pajamas before taking down her hair and cleaning off her makeup. Then she got into bed, where she tossed and turned for hours before she was able to fall asleep.
{ }
The next morning, Caroline drifted downstairs and found the twins in the dining room eating breakfast with Hope, while Klaus, Rebekah, Freya, and Kol sat with them.
"Good morning everyone," Caroline said.
"Hello, Caroline," Klaus greeted.
"How did you all enjoy the party last night?" Caroline asked.
"It was great; you sure know how to plan a party," Kol complimented.
"Thanks," Caroline replied. "How late did the party end up going anyway?"
"The last of us finally called it quits at about 3 a.m." Kol said.
"And Marcel never showed up?" Caroline asked incredulously.
Kol shook his head. "I never saw him," he confirmed.
"I'm sorry," Caroline apologized to Klaus.
"Why are you apologizing, love? You've done nothing wrong. The party was wonderful; you were brilliant as always," Klaus praised.
"But the point of the party was to lure him here and show off how rich and powerful you are, and I couldn't do that, because he didn't come to the party!" Caroline cried.
"Which isn't your fault," Klaus insisted.
"You are perfect," he said, kissing the back of her hand and then her forehead. "And he missed out. I hate to see you upset and blaming yourself when he isn't worth it. And now this conversation is over."
"Are you working on another plan?" Caroline asked.
"I always have another plan, love," Klaus assured her. "There's no need for you to worry."
Just then, Hayley trudged into the dining room wearing a dark green tank top and green and blue flannel pajama pants, clearly hoping to sneak in and out without anyone noticing, but as she entered the room, everyone turned to look at her.
"Hi," she said quietly, quickly filling a glass with water and leaving the room.
"That was weird," Kol said.
"I guess she doesn't want to hear your plan," Caroline said, hoping to deflect anyone from asking why Hayley was really upset.
"I wasn't going to tell her my plan," Klaus replied. "I'll tell you my plan, but not in front of the children."
"Dad!" Hope whined.
"It isn't anything personal against her," Klaus reassured Hope and Caroline. "It's just that she plays her own role in the supernatural politics of the city, and if I can keep her from being involved in my plans, it keeps us from being at odds or putting Hope in the middle of a conflict."
"Oh yeah, because of her being the queen of her werewolf pack, right?" Caroline confirmed.
"She told you about that?" Klaus asked.
"Yeah, she was explaining how her werewolf instincts are why she's such a protective mother, and that as the queen of her pack it's her job to protect her pack, and Hope is part of the pack," Caroline explained.
"Did she threaten you?" Klaus demanded.
"No," Caroline said.
"Then why did she tell you that?" Klaus asked impatiently.
"She doesn't want me to be Hope's evil stepmother," Caroline confessed. "She wants control over my involvement in Hope's life, and she wants me to be sure that I'm ready to commit for good before I get involved with you, and therefore Hope as well."
It wasn't until she finished speaking that she noticed that everyone else had silently left the room. Caroline was glad for the privacy.
"I trust you completely," Klaus assured her. "Especially with Hope. I'm sure Hayley will let her guard down after she sees for herself how trustworthy you are and things settle down here enough that she realizes she doesn't have to be so paranoid anymore."
Caroline agreed, but she wasn't as confident as Klaus was.
"Now that we've gotten that over with, what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Klaus asked.
"The twins and I have plans to call Alaric later," Caroline said. "He'll catch up with the girls, then he and I have to work out some sort of custody arrangement for them, and I have to ask him to ship more of our stuff down here. I packed everything we couldn't live without when we left, but we could use some more clothes," she explained.
Klaus thought for a moment.
"Rebekah wanted to take Lizzie and Josie on a tour of New Orleans. Does she have time to take them this morning?" he asked.
"He's supposed to call at three; she has almost six hours to show them the city," Caroline answered.
"I'll take Hope and go along to keep her on track," Klaus decided.
"All right, thanks," Caroline said.
{ }
Four hours later, Rebekah, Klaus, Hope, and the twins returned, laden with shopping bags.
"What is all of this?" Caroline asked.
"You said that you and the twins needed some clothes," Klaus replied matter-of-factly.
Klaus and Rebekah were each carrying what looked like at least a dozen bags, from several different stores. Klaus handed a few of his over to Caroline so she could look at the contents.
There were more dresses, shirts, pants, skirts, and shoes than the girls could possibly wear before they outgrew them. And that was only a small fraction of what they'd bought.
Rebekah led everyone into the dining room so that they would have space to sort all of the clothing. Everyone holding bags unceremoniously upended them on the table, forming a huge mountain of clothing that covered the entire surface.
"Is there any clothing left in New Orleans?" Caroline asked rhetorically.
"Only the things that didn't come in their sizes," Rebekah answered.
The three girls reached into the pile, pulling out things that they'd chosen. Under what was surely Rebekah's influence, Lizzie's pile was primarily bubblegum pink, with much of it sparkly or patterned with hearts. Josie's pile also featured a large amount of pink, but she'd collected a more varied array of colors than her sister. Klaus hadn't needed to buy Hope as many new clothes as he had bought the twins, since she had packed all of her clothes from the safe house, but she still had a substantial amount of clothing, much of which was purple, blue, and green, which both complimented her red hair and bright blue eyes, and celebrated her newfound love for The Little Mermaid.
"I was uncomfortable with the idea of you buying them one dress for the party. What makes you think that I would be okay with you buying them entirely new wardrobes?" Caroline asked.
"That's why I didn't ask you first," Klaus asked. "I'm not going to apologize for trying to take care of you and your children."
Caroline sighed.
"Girls, did you thank Klaus and Rebekah for taking you shopping?" Caroline asked, resigned.
"Thank you!" the twins chorused, running over to hug them both.
The girls looked so happy, both at having new clothes and at having spent all morning shopping with Klaus and Rebekah, that Caroline decided not to fight with Klaus anymore about her discomfort with him spending so much money on her and her children.
"I hope you made sure the girls know that these shopping sprees won't be a regular thing," Caroline told Klaus, knowing that Rebekah was listening as well. "I don't want to fight with anyone else today, but it makes me uncomfortable when you spend so much money on us. I'm a grown woman, I'm responsible for myself and for my daughters. We aren't your responsibility. They aren't your children, and I'm not your trophy wife, so I would appreciate it if, in the future, you didn't treat me like I am."
Klaus looked taken aback, but nodded in understanding. Rebekah was watching the scene with keen interest, and the girls had frozen in place, turned around to look at her with dresses in their hands.
Caroline noticed that a few bags had been left on chairs around the table.
"What are in those bags?" Caroline asked.
"Bedding for the three of you, and stuffed animals for the girls," Klaus answered.
Earlier that week, Klaus had replaced the crib in Hope's room with a twin-sized bed, and the queen-sized bed in the guest room Lizzie and Josie were staying in with two twin-sized beds. While Hope had taken her bedding and décor from her room at the safe house, the twins hadn't been able to keep any of the decorations from the guest room they'd stayed in or their rooms in Mystic Falls.
Lizzie pulled out light pink blankets and sheets, a light pink comforter patterned with brighter pink hearts, and a stuffed Marie from The Aristocats. Josie took out a white comforter with a dark pink floral print, white sheets and blankets, and a stuffed Lady from Lady and the Tramp.
"Okay, girls, when you're done finding your clothes, bring them upstairs to your room; we're supposed to talk to your dad in a little while," Caroline told them.
Caroline took the bag with her bedding and a change of clothes from the pile before leaving the room and heading up the stairs.
{ }
For Lizzie and Josie, the phone call with Alaric was a success. They told their father all about how they loved New Orleans and how they'd managed to save the Mikaelsons and now considered them all good friends, except for Elijah, whose uptight sternness made them a little uncomfortable. They cheerfully talked about the party they'd attended the night before, and shopping with Klaus and Rebekah earlier that day.
For Caroline, the phone call with Alaric was stilted and awkward.
"I don't think I'm ever coming back to Mystic Falls," Caroline confessed.
"I can't say that surprises me," Alaric replied.
"So we need to agree on some sort of custody arrangement for the girls," Caroline proposed.
Alaric paused.
"We have to shuffle the girls back and forth between us like divorced parents?" he asked.
"We aren't together, Ric," Caroline said as gently as she could. "We aren't together, and we aren't meant to be together. You were my high school history teacher, and you were a sort of father figure to my best friend. And you tortured me, and killed my father. There is no way that we would ever get married and be a happy family," she explained.
"I guess you're right," Alaric conceded.
"When you told me to come here, I thought that you were okay with it. I thought that we were in agreement that our first priority is the girls' safety. I thought that you were trying to do what was best for them, even if that meant that you wouldn't be able to see them for a while. We have to trust that they know that they have two parents who love them, even though their parents don't live in the same town anymore," Caroline said.
"Well, they may never want to come back to Mystic Falls if the Mikaelsons keep spoiling them," Alaric complained.
"I've asked him to stop, but he refuses," Caroline said.
"Well, who knows if they'll even want me anymore now that they have their ultra-rich stepfather buying them anything they want," Alaric continued to gripe.
"It isn't like that," Caroline rushed to correct him.
"Of course it isn't," Alaric placated. "And I'm glad he's being decent to them. The only person I can remember him actually being nice to was you."
There was an awkward pause as they each considered what they should say to answer that.
"I'm sure that we can come up with an arrangement that's fair to both of us and is only minimally disruptive to the girls. And it will only be for a limited amount of time anyway, since we'll have to adjust it once the girls start school. How about we each brainstorm some agreements that seem fair and we can compare notes later this week?" Alaric proposed.
Caroline agreed, and hung up the phone with a cordial goodbye.
{ }
When Caroline ended her phone call and went to find the twins, she found them with Hope and Klaus, hanging up their new clothes in their closets.
"Hi Mommy," Lizzie called out.
"Hi Caroline," Hope echoed.
Klaus seemed to sense Caroline's unease and led her downstairs and into the kitchen.
"What happened?" Klaus asked.
"I have to come up with a proposal for a custody agreement for the twins, and then Alaric and I will negotiate later this week," Caroline explained.
"I'm sure that you will do all you can to make your daughters as safe and happy as possible," Klaus assured her. "So why are you so upset by the premise?"
"Alaric seemed reluctant to accept that we aren't together and I'm not going to go back to Mystic Falls," Caroline admitted.
"Does he realize that you would have to leave Mystic Falls eventually anyway, so that people don't get suspicious that you never appear to age?" Klaus asked. "And your own parents were divorced and lived in different towns, and you were content with that arrangement, were you not? You don't seem to suffer from any lasting trauma as a result of your parents not being in a romantic relationship for your entire childhood."
"That's easy for you to say when your whole family lives in the same house, including your daughter's mother. Hope hasn't gone a day without seeing both of her parents since you've been back in her life. If she doesn't see you both every day, it's because something has gone terribly wrong," Caroline countered.
"Perhaps you've noticed, love, things go terribly wrong fairly often around my family," Klaus said.
"I just don't want them to think that I'm choosing to leave them," Caroline started. "For years, I haven't really had that many choices in my life. I didn't even choose to have children, then all of a sudden my entire life was a balancing act between what Stefan wanted, what Alaric wanted, and what the twins needed, and no one cared what I wanted or needed. And I don't hold that against the girls, they didn't know any better, but I worry that he's going to try to take them away from me and just expect me to go along with it like I have since I was pregnant," she continued.
"You know that I won't allow him to do that," Klaus promised.
"This is between him and me," Caroline insisted. "He's already worried that you buying the girls anything they want will make them like you more than him. If you get involved with this, he'll be even more uncomfortable."
"If that's what you want," Klaus agreed. "Do you have any ideas for how to divide the girls' time between you?"
"I'm not sure because we'll have to change their schedule once they start school anyway. Then one of us will have them for the school year, the other will have them for the summer, and we'll each take half of the holidays. It's only about a three hour flight from New Orleans to Virginia, but once you count driving to the airport, going through security, then driving to Mystic Falls from the airport, the trip would take most of the day, so they can't really travel back and forth on weekends," Caroline brainstormed.
"And you want to be the one who spends the larger portion of the year with them," Klaus assumed.
"I think so," Caroline said. "They're too young for me to ask them what they want. But I don't think Alaric would allow that. I haven't exactly always been an exceptionally attentive parent. There were times when I should have put the girls first when I decided that keeping Stefan from going off the rails or cleaning up after him was more important."
Klaus looked… disappointed. Caroline could understand why. He never prioritized anything over his daughter, and she had put taking care of a man who had been a vampire for over a century and should have known how to take care of himself before taking care of her children. She had come to realize that when she'd been with Stefan, she'd returned to being insecure human Caroline, who was willing to sacrifice herself and her goals if it meant keeping the attention of a boy she liked. She'd made excuses for him, ignored her friends and daughters, and forgiven him for things that should have made her walk away for good.
"And, if we're on the subject of things he can use against me…" Caroline trailed off.
"You are their mother," Klaus insisted, immediately knowing what she meant. "You carried them to term, you gave birth to them, you raised them. Just because they don't share your DNA doesn't mean you aren't their mother."
"Thanks."
"I only have one more thing to say on this subject," Klaus said.
"Which is?" Caroline asked.
"Don't settle for less than you deserve."
{ }
"I don't mean to tell you what to do," Alaric said, in a voice that clearly meant to tell her what to do, over the phone two days later. "But I really think it would be best for all of us if you all came back to Mystic Falls. The twins could live in the house they're used to, in the town they're used to, with both of their parents."
"I can't stay in Mystic Falls for much longer, even if all of my friends weren't either dead, or in magical comas, or trying desperately to eliminate all things supernatural from their lives. It's very hard to hide that you aren't aging in a small town where the librarian has known you since you were two and knows exactly how old you're supposed to be," Caroline explained.
"Just because you've rejected Mystic Falls as your home, doesn't mean it isn't still my home, or that it can't still be the girls' home," Alaric argued.
"I'm not denying that," Caroline said.
"The girls haven't said anything to me specifically about missing home, but I think that they see this trip to New Orleans as a vacation. I don't think they think that they've moved out of state permanently," Alaric mentioned.
Caroline hadn't considered that. The girls had adjusted so well to living in New Orleans that she hadn't realized that they may not know that she intended to stay there, even if the twins eventually returned to Mystic Falls to live with their father at least part of the time.
"You've had them with you for two weeks," Alaric stated. "I want to spend two weeks with them here, so that all four of us have an understanding of what this family being split up into two households is like, before we make any permanent decisions. If this works, we can keep alternating two-week periods for the time being, and if it doesn't, we'll at least have a frame of reference."
Caroline agreed that Alaric's request seemed fair, and they made the logistical arrangements for Caroline to accompany the girls on their flight to Virginia the next afternoon, where Alaric would meet them at the airport, then Caroline would fly back to New Orleans that evening.
When Caroline informed Klaus of her plan, he thought that it was convoluted and would be disruptive for the twins, but while Caroline was inclined to agree, she also didn't have a better solution.
{ }
When Caroline returned from the airport after spending the day flying from New Orleans to Virginia and back, it was dark outside. She parked her car back in the garage and walked around to the gate.
Klaus had offered to drive her and the girls to the airport and then pick her up when she returned, but Caroline hadn't wanted to lean on him as she dropped her children off to stay with their father. Alaric was already worried enough about the twins' developing relationship with Klaus, she didn't want to him to think that she was becoming dependent on Klaus as well. She had to do this on her own.
Through the darkness, Caroline could see the silhouettes of Klaus, Rebekah, Elijah, Kol, Freya, Hope, and Hayley in the courtyard, as well as two other figures facing away from her. The Mikaelsons and Hayley were standing facing the gate, standing in a loose horseshoe shape with Klaus at the center, Rebekah and Elijah flanking him.
The two men who were facing them turned around to look at Caroline. Caroline recognized the man standing closest to her as Vincent, who gave her an almost apologetic look as their eyes met.
The other man Caroline had only seen once, and had never spoken to. She had seen him leave Klaus's house with Vincent the day she'd arrived in New Orleans.
This was the man who had held Klaus hostage in his own home.
"It's nice of you to join us," he said. "You must be Caroline."
Sorry!
Thank you very much for reading!
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts on this chapter and/or the story as a whole, so please leave a review! I can't wait to read the first reviews of 2018!
love,
charlotte