"Okay," Regina said as she came out of the closet in her underwear and let Declan carry her to the bed so he could cuff her. "You have to admit, it's much nicer here at my house than it was living with Doctor Vladimir, isn't it?"
"Well, I get better nourishment here, that's for sure," Declan replied as he bit Regina's neck. "And may I say that you smell awfully good."
"Yes you may," Regina nodded. "I don't mind. You're so handsome I could eat you up!" Declan then kissed her and then began tickling her until she laughed so hard she could barely breathe. "Stop," she said when she could get a breath. "Stop!"
"All right," Declan replied, moving her hair out of her face and running a finger down her cheek. "We'll stop. For a little while." He leaned forward to kiss her while he undid the handcuffs and she snuggled against him.
"Do you really think you're done with Doctor Vladimir for good?" She asked. "Or is he just gonna make you come back to him? Cause I don't think I can really handle us being together all nice like this and then you going back to being evil."
Declan shook his head. "I'm not a danger to you anymore," he assured her as he pulled her close. "I promise."
Regina looked into his eyes for a long time, and then decided to believe him. "I trust you," she said. "In so many ways, I trust you."
"Who do you think is at the door, Mary?" Savannah asked her daughter as the doorbell rang and the little girl made a beeline for the door. "Do you think it's Liam?"
"I want Liam!" Mary cried, clapping her hands and jumping up and down. "I want Liam!"
So when Savannah opened the door and Liam was on the other side, she had to hold Mary still so she wouldn't launch herself onto the front steps.
"I know you probably weren't expecting me," Liam replied. "So I'm sorry for just dropping by, but…I had a day off work and was supposed to meet Regina for lunch, however, it seems that she's ditched me."
"Well, I'm sorry," Savannah replied. "But can I offer you a very enthusiastic replacement?" She let Mary go and the little girl tackled Liam the best she could.
"Of course you can," Liam replied and picked Mary up. "She's a more dependable date anyway."
"Abacaba!" Mary cried and touched Liam's nose.
"What was that for?" Savannah asked.
"I can do magic too!" Mary proclaimed. "Liam is a doggy now."
"Is that so?" Savannah asked.
"Yes," Mary nodded resolutely. "A big, slobbery yellow one!"
"You know, you're right," Liam agreed as Savannah left to do errands and he put Mary down and got onto his hands and knees, barking and panting as Mary picked up a ball. "Fetch!" She cried.
Liam obligingly crawled over to the ball, picked it up with his teeth and brought it over to her. "Good doggie!" Mary said and patted his head.
They repeated this process a few more times and then Mary decided she wanted to be the dog. This game went on until Jonathan came home, saying that Savannah had been delayed visiting a friend, and that if Liam wished to do other things, he could.
"You come back, right?" Mary asked.
"Yes," Liam nodded as he headed toward the door. "When I don't have to work, that is."
"How long is that?" Mary wanted to know.
"Just wait a few more days until Saturday, then I'll come back," Liam assured her. "I promise."
"Phone call for you," Margot told Kol. "Sounds like it's your grandfather."
"Well, what does he want?" Kol asked, not turning his head as he gave his bat a good swing and Margot ducked.
"I don't know," Margot shrugged and held out the phone. "He won't tell me. And have you ever actually considered actually playing baseball with that thing instead of, oh, just hurting people with it all the time?"
"Possibly," Kol acknowledged. "But I see no reason to change my ways yet." But he took the phone and put it to his ear. "Yes, Grandfather?"
"Hello, Kol," Doctor Vladimir greeted him. "Are you busy? If not, I would like to talk with you."
"No, I'm not busy," Kol told him. "What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to apologize for what happened with Regina," he answered. "It was a clear misstep on my part that probably worried you greatly."
"Well, thank you for acknowledging that," Kol said. "It was a very stressful situation for us all, and we're very relieved that Regina was returned in good health and relatively unharmed. Do you still want me to come over?"
"Yes, please," Doctor Vladimir replied. He then gave Kol the address and waited, the new plan to catch Mikael very clear in his mind.
"You haven't forgotten our plan, have you? Now that Declan is gone?" Demetri asked Doctor Vladimir as he came in after the call to Kol was over.
"No," Doctor Vladimir shook his head. "I haven't, don't worry. It took me a bit of time to think up a new plan, but I've already gotten it taken care of."
"You have?" Demetri asked. "I hope I'm not overstepping if I ask how."
Just then, he heard a voice. "Grandfather? Where are you?"
"It's my grandson, Kol," Doctor Vladimir smiled. "Mikael's son, you know. I figure if we do work on him, or at least threaten to, Mikael will come right to us.
"How'd you get Kol here?" Demetri asked.
"I told him I wanted to apologize about Regina," Doctor Vladimir answered. "And that's what I'm going to do." He then went to meet Kol while Demetri pondered exactly what that meant.
"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Doctor Vladimir apologized. "Why don't we go into my office and we can talk?"
"Okay," Kol replied. He followed Doctor Vladimir into his office and the first thing the good doctor did after Kol sat down was hit him over the head, coincidently with a bat. The blow was hard enough to knock him out for a minute or so, just enough time for Doctor Vladimir to inject a concoction of his own creation into Kol's bloodstream to that he'd be paralyzed and easy to control. He then picked him up and ordered a stunned Demetri to come with him down to the laboratory.
"My god, what have you done to him?" Demetri cried. "Is he gonna be like that forever?"
"No, not forever," Doctor Vladimir shook his head. "Just long enough so that I can work on him. Oh, and while I do that, I need you to go call his father and tell him that Kol is here. If anything can get him in our clutches, it's threatening one of his children. And by the time he gets here, Mikael won't even recognize his son."
"Is Vivi ready for school?" King asked Amy when he came to pick her up one day soon after. "She wasn't waiting for me in the driveway."
"Well, she's not feeling well," Amy replied. "Sorry you had to come over here for nothing."
"Can I ask what's wrong with her?" King wanted to know. "It's nothing that can't be fixed, right? Maybe with a little blood?"
"No, blood won't help," Amy shook her head. "As for what she has, go up and let her tell you. I would, but it's not my place, really."
Confused, King went up to see Vivi and was horrified when the first thing he saw was her getting out of bed and throwing up just as her feet hit the floor.
"Sorry," she said, noticing him after she cleaned it up. "You shouldn't have had to see that."
King shrugged. "I've seen worse, trust me. What's the matter? Your mother says you're not feeling well."
"No," Vivi shook her head. "I'm not. I ache all over, I have a fever, and every time I move, I feel like I want to puke. My boobs hurt and I'm so, so tired. I missed a period too."
"My god, that all sounds so awful…wait." King paused. "Missed a period? Are you trying to tell me that you're…"
"Pregnant?" Vivi finished. "Yeah. I took the test yesterday. I haven't told my dad yet, though. Can you get me some blood? It might help me wake up enough to haul my sorry ass to school."
"Oh, no, you shouldn't be going to school today," King said. "Stay in bed. Rest. Heck, I'll even stay here with you, if you want."
Vivi smiled. "That's sweet, but you really don't have to. I'm sure you have better things to do than look after me."
"And what do you imagine those things are?" King wanted to know.
"I have no idea," Vivi shrugged and went to the bathroom. "Just things."
"Look, if I'm the father (and I'm pretty sure I am)," King told her, "I'm not just gonna leave you."
"Cause your mom would kill you if you got me pregnant and left?" Vivi asked knowingly.
"Well, she would, but that doesn't have anything to do with it," King replied. "I want to stay with you today, and then, when you feel like it, you and I can tell your dad what happened, all right? We can tell him about how my powerful swimmers broke through your defenses, and here we are."
"Yeah," Vivi smiled as she got back into bed and King tucked her in with a kiss to her cheek before going to tell Amy he would watch her. "I'm sure that's exactly what happened."
