Hope was leaning against a tree, cradling her stomach, head resting against the trunk, her breathing had finally calmed down, but she was still mad, perhaps irrationally so, but still mad, anything could spark her off. Klaus stalked over to Hope and just wrapped one arm around her with hesitation, not wanting to hold her if she didn't want to be held, but went for the full on hug regardless, stroking her hair with his left hand and then used his right hand to wipe her tears away, her eyes that seemed to be a mixed color of his and Hayley's, glossy from the tears.
Wyatt observed the two of them from a small distance. He was somewhere between grateful and grumpy towards Hope, not sure how he really felt at that moment. And he wasn't even sure why she was moody. It was probably the pregnancy thing. As usual. Wyatt sighed and tucked his hands into his pockets, licking his lips and rocking back and forth on his heels ever so slightly, just waiting for any cue to join their... interaction, somehow. Hope stiffened upon sensing Wyatt and Klaus, and turned to assess their positioning, eyes fixing immediately on their joined hands, and she rolled her eyes in a highly exasperated fashion, as she knew she would never get thanked for what she'd just done for them, and was likely to get flack for it instead, she gave them a withering look, and turned away again, sharply, as if dismissing them. Hope then threw her arms up in exasperation, pushing Klaus away, and staggering a little away from him, clearly distressed. She was having a full on fit now, crying and running her hands through her hair,
"How is this fair?!" She cried, throwing her hands up again, looking up to the sky, "Now you two are completely fine, and I'm upset! Where is my goddamn gratitude?! Why-" She was getting slightly hysterical now, and then cried out in pain, clutching at her stomach and doubling over a little, sobbing at that now, too, everything seemed to be going wrong, once it had passed, she stood up and twirled to face Wyatt, pointing an accusing finger at him, "And you threw cheese at me!"
Wyatt threw his hands up in wide-eyed surrender. To say he'd been surprised would have been... only a half truth, since he'd sort of been expecting something like this to happen what with Hope's constant raging hormones and pregnancy mood swings. God, if he'd thought a human pregnancy was drastic, well. Nothing, he imagined, could ever be quite like being pregnant with twin tribrids.
"You locked me in a damn cellar with him! AND! You threw the cheese at my head first, along with a ball!" He argued indignantly, determined not to be swayed into submission just because she was pregnant. Hope gave the most dramatic huff of all time, twinned with a full body gesture to go with it,
"Oh, just stop talking. You're so smart, aren't you, babe?" She lowered her accusing pointer finger, and returned both hands to their default position on her baby bump, begging her children to either hurry up and just get out of her, or give her a break for once. She was trembling now with the sheer velocity of the emotions rattling around inside her, "And I locked you in that damn cellar with 'him' because he is your brother, and someone had to do something to kickstart this high school drama. For God's sake, Wyatt, you're killing me." She cried and started to sob, suddenly exhausted, clutching at her chest.
Wyatt stared, wide-eyed at this woman with whom he'd chosen to commit himself to, this woman who was carrying his two children. He went to respond, but found that he couldn't, instead finding himself awe-struck, lips parted as though he'd suddenly began to buffer, frozen in a moment of action. It struck him how, right now, this woman in front of him was crying and screaming at him, not giving into him, smart mouthing him despite it all, carrying his children, still looking beautiful- it just- all at once, he found himself overwhelmed. He had no control over the next words out of his mouth.
"Marry me."
Hope sniffed and then opened her mouth to speak, and did a perfect imitation of Wyatt in his buffering stage, she stood there for a moment and just breathed, her chest rising and falling harshly, until she suddenly caught herself, and calmed down, all at once. She blinked in confusion, and then frowned somewhat, her arms falling to her sides uselessly,
"Excuse me?" She asked dazedly. Klaus looked between Wyatt and Hope and then fainted. Wyatt took a steadying breath, letting out a nervous-sounding, sort of half chuckle. He could feel his heart flutter a little inside of his chest, and for a moment he almost felt human again. The moment was short-lived and quick to pass him by, but it was a moment all the same.
"When I met you, I had no idea you'd become this important to me. I didn't think that anyone ever would, or that anyone ever could. I didn't care for love, romance, any of that stuff. My life was lonely, a constant void lined with ghosts from my past and nothing more. I might have had one or two... allies, so to speak, in various places, but nothing more. My life had no meaning until I got to know you. On the night that we met, roughly a year or so ago, you mistook me for my nephew in the Mystic Grill back home - though you soon realised that I wasn't him, even though we look a lot alike. You got curious about me and tried to analyse me from the other end of the bar, and I caught you looking. You tried to slip away, and when I approached you, you ran off. Like a crazy stalker..." Wyatt laughed a little, shaking his head a little, dropping to one knee as he looked at her, fond amusement in his eyes. "I followed you. Chased you, actually. It probably looked dubious, and I'm pretty sure I even scared you a little as we engaged in what was perhaps a fairly snarky conversation, until I asked you to dinner. Right there and then, even though it was 10 O'clock at night, as you pointed out to me; but I guess that you and I don't care much for the conventions of time, because you accepted. After, I took you out to a cliff point in the woods and we watched the city's lights below glow against the night sky; you let me tell you, despite only knowing each other for two hours, about my brother's death, and how our parents tried to kill us, how we ran. I guess there was an instant connection, some form of trust, even if I hadn't realised I was even genuine in my own intentions. You held my hand. You listened to me. Then I kissed you for the first time on the sofa in your living room, and when we'd shared stories and ate dessert with plenty to drink, I left, and you allowed me to see you again. From there, the rest of my life - a well-lived, semi-functional one - would begin. You reunited me with your father, the best friend that I'd been searching after for years after losing contact with him. You've showed me what it's like to have someone that genuinely loves and cares for me, someone who has no intention of betraying me, or torturing me, or using me as a pawn in their own selfish game. You've given me reason. I've never had reason before. You're my universe - everything in my life narrows down to one central point: you. In a dark, soulless, monster of a man, you somehow found and took a hold of his heart and preserved what was left of it, nurtured it, so that in return he could give everything that he has left into this relationship. You're the only person I can manage loving, and you're the only person I want to love."
Wyatt's hands shook a little bit as he produced an 18k white gold, Ceylon blue sapphire, diamond engagement ring and held it up towards her. He hadn't even questioned its excessive price; it'd caught his eye immediately, and it was beautiful. He was fairly certain - though not entirely, which was part of the reason he was so nervous - that she'd be enraptured by it.
"Honestly, if someone had told me then that I'd end up becoming serious about you, that you'd bear my children, twins, and that one day I'd ask to marry you... I would have run. I would have packed up and disappeared from town. Even now, this whole thing? It makes me uneasy, uncomfortable. I'm not good with emotional things, relationships, any of that. But being with you makes it worth it, and I can say with the utmost sincerity that, now, I can't see my life being lived without you. Forever is a long time, and I want that with you. I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. So, Hope Analise Mikaelson, mother of my children - our children - and the only love of my life, will you do me the greatest honour of accepting this ring and giving me your hand in marriage?"
Hope stood there, dumbfounded at first, blinking furiously at him, eyes wide and whole expression bewildered, reminding those who were to look at her of bambi. She slowly closed her mouth, and swallowed, licking her lips nervously, eyes trained entirely on Wyatt, and her hands regaining momentum, she placed them lovingly on her bump, no longer desperate for her children to stop moving, she wanted them to move, to share in the moment with her. Hope felt her breathing catch in her throat once he had knelt before her, and it finally actually hit her what was happening. He was going to propose. Wyatt was proposing. She stayed completely silent as he gave his little monologue, and gradually, an adoring, besotted smile spread over her face, and her eyes lit up, she laughed a little giddily as he spoke, her eyes shining with happy tears now, and she was suddenly glowing, no longer exhausted and worn down, hysterical. This is what her love for Wyatt had the power to do, it saved her, enriched her, gave her renewal and life, she tilted her head as she watched him, completely enthralled by his voice, every movement he made, the self conscious way he was smiling, and it was honestly as if he were the sun, in that moment, he was so vibrant and important. She let out a shaky breath as Wyatt produced the ring, absolutely in love with it the very moment she saw it, and she put her hands to her mouth, her eyes widening. She realised the time was coming for her to reply, and he was going to ask her the all so important question. She knew what the answer was already, but she had never actually sat down with her own thoughts and wondered over how she would say it, as nothing seemed to suffice. However, when the question was eventually asked of her, there was a heartbeat as a measurement of the time between it and her answer, and she took a step towards him, tugging him up onto his feet and cupping his face, fingers curling under his jaw, kissing him with all the passion and love she held inside of her, making a delightedly heartfelt noise, melting into him as best she could with the damn bump in the way.
Wyatt felt himself slump with relief into the kiss, a small, grateful groan escaping him as he rose from his knees and wrapped his arms around Hope's shoulders, drawing her into him as close as he could possibly bring her with their two children still curled up and cosy inside her. He tilted his head into the kiss, relishing in the gently firm clasp of her hands on his face, lightly trailing his fingertips down the line of her back as he deepened the kiss somewhat, kissing her with every ounce of passion he could muster. Emotionally wrecked and stunted as Wyatt was, anything he did manage to feel? He felt it for her. He loved her. Enough to make her his wife. Hope realised suddenly that she hadn't actually answered, and pulled back from him abrupt with a gasp,
"It's- I- It's a yes. I will marry you. Yes." She breathed out in a hyped up rush, eager to get back to kissing him, but as she did so, her face nearing Wyatt's, she registered the lack of motion or sound from Klaus, and inches away from Wyatt's face, she suddenly spun and darted over to where he was lying on the ground, vaguely noting the sulky noise Wyatt made. She crouched down next to Klaus with the help of Wyatt, and cradled her father's face in her hands, his head on her lap, and gave him the smallest shock, just to wake him up,
"G'morning, Sleeping Beauty." She muttered. Klaus jolted awake from the feeling that surged through him, looking up at Hope with a look in his eyes of despair, not wanting to say anything, he had just gotten them both back in his life and he didn't want to be the one to ruin their big happy moment. And although he felt like he was being as strong as he could, his mind was weak, the wall he had built to keep Wyatt and Hope out of his mind now almost invisible as he thought to himself, "And now she won't need me anymore." He sat up and gave them both a genuine smile, giving her a hug and giving Wyatt a pat on the back with a smirk, putting on the best front that he possibly could at this point,
"Congratulations," he said before walking back into the house with a groan, a hand to his head as the small wound that had occurred in his fall finally finished healing. Hope frowned as he left, and promptly followed after him, catching up with him very easily,
"Dad-" She called out to him, and then took a steadying breath before starting on her little speech,
"I will always always always need you. You're my father. My rock. I love you, you know that? More than you and I would ever care to admit, or could find the words for. I would take the stake for you." She spoke this particular part passionately, gesturing towards her chest, over where her heart was, "The white oak one, or just anything that could harm you, I would take it, and I will." She promised him solemnly, taking his hand in hers, "I'm not going anywhere, Klaus. I could never leave you alone in this big old house, you'd go even madder," she joked, smiling up at him sweetly, going up onto her tiptoes to stroke his cheek, "I'll have my family here, where my family already is," She told him, nodding serenely, expression open and honest. She really did mean it. She couldn't bear the thought of moving out and leaving Klaus all alone again, she just couldn't do it. She understood him. All he wanted was to not be alone, to be able to trust and love, and be trusted and loved in return. She increased the intensity of her smile.
Klaus picked her up, despite the whole pregnancy thing and just cradled her in his arms, he held her up and fell back into a chair that had been in the little walkway the connected the garden to the other parts of the house, just holding her in his arms without another word to say. Not saying anything felt off, he felt like he had so much to say to her, starting with I love you too. All he wanted is what's best for her and if marrying Wyatt is going to be good for her, if she will be happy with it then he would be the last person to stand in the way of it, he knew Wyatt would treat her right, not just because he was terrified of seeing overprotective Alpha father Klaus, but because he had a true love for Hope that Klaus thought no one else would be able to share with him, that no one could love her more than he did, but here was that person. His best friend, his brother. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, not moving his lips, not wanting to miss anymore time, just laying there in the same position.
Wyatt observed the two from a short distance away, a small, fragile sort of smile on his face. He wasn't entirely... all there, in that moment. His head was cut between so many different directions, he felt like his own brained had transformed into one of those complex maps with too many lines and colours. He blinked a little and glanced down at his own faintly trembling fingers, the slight shake to his hands. He'd just proposed. Over 180 years of existence, and he'd just proposed to a woman he'd spent just under nine months with. Crazy? Perhaps he was. But then, really, he couldn't see himself ever loving another. He had no idea what it was about Hope that meant he, the sociopath, the cold, psychotic killer, had fallen in love. But there was something, and he'd taken the inevitable plunge. Glancing up at the two again - his best friend, his brother, and his fiancee - Wyatt took a steadying breath, before he slowly approached them.
Hope made a small noise of protest, but decided to allow Klaus this, in his own way, he was saying everything he ever wanted to say. She could tell he was struggling with the words, and the way he cradled her was reminiscent of how he had when she was a baby, in pictures she'd seen, he'd held her exactly like this, with the same adoring little smile, and the doting father persona. She huffed and conceded, allowing herself to be cradled, she picked lamely at a loose thread on her woolly maternity jumper-dress thing, and smiled up at Klaus when he demanded her attention. She sighed tiredly and kind of just... drifted off to sleep. She was exhausted. Emotionally, phyiscally, babywise, in every possible way... Hope was tired.