I am so excited to anyone that had continued with support for this story. I want to give every single person who has read, favorite, followed, or reviewed a virtual hug.
I hope everyone liked Caroline's little surprise in the last chapter, don't worry, this won't be easy for her, at all.
This week's episode was the BEST thing ever, completely making me forget about the horrid experience of 4x16.
Also, feel free to PM me with any questions, or follow me on tumblr at swingklaroline or louoftherings.
Thank you most of all to my ever-fabulous beta, StarJade101, who has been absolutely fabulous in the brainstorm process!
Anyone who has any names suggestion or ideas about the gender, please PM me or put in your reviews! With the next chapter, I'll have a poll out with my favorite options!
I have spring break this week, so expect at least 2-3 updates!
Thank you so much for your support!
-xoxo Katarhyne
Bound By Blood
Chapter XXI: Humanity
They are human after all, you think,
as the waiter steps up to a table
out of sight of you,
reserved, corner table—
they too are thin-skinned and pleasure-seeking,
with their own feelings and their own sufferings.
You're not so all alone
in your mess, your restlessness, your shakes,
they too will be full of doubt, dither, shilly-shallying,
even if it's all about making deals,
the universal-human
albeit in its commercial manifestations,
but present there too.
Truly, the grief of hearts is ubiquitous
and unending,
but whether they were ever in love
(outwith the awful wedded bed)
burning, athirst, desert-parched
for the nectar of a faraway
mouth,
sinking, drowning
in the impossibility of a union of souls—
you won't know, nor can you
ask the waiter,
who's just ringing up
another bock,
always avid for coupons
to quench a thirst of another nature,
though also deep.
-Gottfried Benn, They are Human After All
(Translated from German by Michael Hoffman)
Caroline POV
I shoved the test into my purse as I heard the door open to the sound of Kol's laughing and Klaus's playful tone. I ran for the shower.
Klaus could not know. Not yet. Everything was normal. Everything was fine. I was… lying to myself.
Throwing my purse behind a rack of clothes and jumping into the shower, I exhaled. His footsteps echoed from the bedroom nearing the door.
"Caroline?" He said knocking on the door.
"Yes?" I answered, hoping my voice sound normal. Surprisingly, it did.
"I got dinner." He said timidly. Why did he sound so nervous? Did he know?
"Ok, I'll be done in a bit." Could he just leave? I couldn't tell him. I had to figure out how to tell him.
"I'll be in my studio." He said awkwardly. His footsteps faded and I relaxed.
Why was I pregnant now? I was dead! The hysterical part of me tried to break it down. I mean there was something—a child—growing inside me, depending on me!
Calm down, Caroline.
Breathe.
I sat down on the tile floor of the shower, letting the stream pound onto my curved spin. I moved my hand over my abdomen almost hypnotically.
It had to be Klaus's.
Tyler… and I hadn't done it since the lady bitch-wolf had come into the picture, about 3 months ago. No way would I just be showing symptoms now.
Maybe it was because Klaus was a hybrid. But, Tyler was one as well… And we had been doing it for months. I hadn't been pregnant then.
"What had we done differently?" I muttered to myself, running my other hand through my soaked hair.
It hit me.
We had blood shared.
I had never been able to do it with Tyler, with my certain death. I couldn't explain how I knew, but it made sense.
I laughed in spite of all of this.
I was having a baby.
A baby.
I had always wanted kids. Wanted to show my parents how much better I could do. I always dreamed of being the PTA mom, driving her kids to soccer practice, and the cute husband and house to match.
I had thought I lost it all.
Apparently I hadn't.
Though my stomach looked flat, I ran my hands down it trying to imagine the bump.
This child was going to be loved, even if Klaus blew up and said he didn't want it. Both of us, to say the least, hadn't grown up in the best environments. But, our child was going to have the support, the love we didn't.
Bending down, I press my lips to my flat stomach, shielding my child from harm.
"I love you."
*Bound By Blood*
I had only known for a grand total of 45 minutes that I was with child and already, I couldn't stop touching my stomach.
It was a compulsion, really. I wanted to keep reminding myself that there was someone there.
The food smelled really good, however, pulling me away from my inspection of my stomach area. I pulled down my sweater shirt and evaluated myself.
Normal.
The scene in the kitchen was quietly domestic. Bonnie flipped through a grimorie, her spoon half-raised to her mouth, stopped as she read. Kol had a football game on quietly; pointless really, I doubt he even knew what was going on. The faint stroke of a paintbrush came from Klaus.
I grabbed a blood bag and a plate, walking into the art studio, sitting quietly on a chaise behind Klaus. The canvas took up almost half the room, Klaus stood on a step ladder in the far right corner, detailing the top.
It was abstract. Unsure of it was exactly it was, it emitted a feeling of… happiness. I could pick out certain elements. The left half of the painting was dark, red and black, while the right was light, white and yellow like heaven itself. They met in the middle, entwining them as one. The dark was lighter, the light darker.
"It's stunning." I tell him taking a sip of the blood. It shouldn't make me sick. I had fed on someone today as much as I hated it. I should be fine.
"You like it?" He asked, glancing down at me. I smiled.
"Of course. What are you going to call it?" I think it's something to do with me, with us. Light and Dark.
"I really don't know yet. I merely built on the struggle and meeting of light and dark."
"What do you mean by that?"
He jumped down from the ladder and walked over to me. My heart pounded. Why was I so nervous? It was just Klaus.
I mentally scoff at myself. A couple of months ago, he wasn't just Klaus. He was Klaus: murder, hybrid, life-ruiner.
But, what was he now?
"Someone told me once, that darkness was merely the absence of light." He said, sitting down on the bottom edge of the chaise.
"From experience, I have a theory. Darkness purposely avoids light, while at the same time craves it. You fight it, becoming darker, but as the darkness consumes you, interestingly enough, you crave the light even more." Our hands meet about halfway. I like him this way. Waxing on philosophical, in the corner of his mind where the tortured artist resides.
"Redemption is needed by those who are the farthest away from it." I said, almost completing his thought. He nodded, eyes meeting mine.
His eyes are captivating. I find myself wishing our child would have them. They look so innocent. Sparkling with mischief sometimes, the deep cornflower iris stare into my soul. Unlike my own cerulean blues, his have so much more depth. Or maybe it's just the centuries behind them.
They made me uncomfortable, as though he could see my secret on display. Technically it was; he just was a bit blind. Or deaf.
"Caroline, are you ok?" He asked me quietly, gesturing to the glass of blood in my hand. I nodded, hopefully convincingly. I wasn't winning any Academy Awards at the moment.
He didn't believe it, though he doesn't question me further. Crawling over to me, he wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my forehead.
I closed my eyes, back to contemplating my question.
What was he?
Caring, sweet, kind.
Still dangerous, powerful, dark.
Though he was a man. Sure a broken, twisted, thousand year old man. But, a man none the less.
What was he? To me?
A protector. I was safe with him, right where I belonged, in his arms.
Lover, in every possible way.
Though he didn't know it, a Father.
He was everything I needed, wanted, and now, had.
*Bound By Blood*
I had to tell him. It was hard to keep a secret from him. I mean, his eyes, they cut into your soul, exposing all your secrets.
While he showered, I grabbed my purse from the depths of my closet, where I had carelessly tossed it.
Staring at the test again, I smile to myself and place a hand over my stomach, still not believing it.
Delicately placing proof of the miracle, I rolled into bed. I had changed into one of my favorite pairs of pajamas. They were so much more comfortable than just the sweatshirt I had worn earlier, and a lot more revealing. Just a lacy tank top and a pair of embroidered shorts I had kept since the start of high school. They reminded me of home.
I flipped through an old Cosmo waiting for Klaus to come to bed. I would just tell him in the morning.
As I read an article about spring trends, Klaus emerged from the bathroom in his standard pair of sleeping boxers.
He crawls into bed beside me, as I reach over to turn off the bedside lamp, then snuggled into him.
"I love you." He muttered. I grinned. I would never get tired of him saying that.
"I love you, too." I murmured into his chest, slowly drifting to sleep.
*Bound By Blood*
"Caroline? Caroline." Klaus was shaking me awake, the light of the bedside lamp shining in my face.
"What?" I grumbled irritably, throwing an arm across my eyes.
"Listen. Do you hear something?" Shit. I'm suddenly extremely alert. I forgot he could probably hear the heartbeat too.
"I thought I'm just imagining it. I mean I'm probably hearing things. Or it's Kol's." He rambled, sitting up.
"Klaus." I said seriously.
"I mean I am half-asleep and…"
"Klaus." I repeat, louder, sharper this time.
"Quite frankly, I'm a bit too paranoid…"
"Klaus!" I yell. He shut up.
"You're not hallucinating." He looked at me, confused. I reached over to the bedside table, opening the drawer, and pulling out the test.
"What's that?" He asked. He couldn't see it yet.
"Klaus, I'm pregnant." I say, handing him the test. His eyebrows scrunch together. He's dazed, confused, worried, and…. fearful?
"I'm sorry Klaus." I breathed. I'm really not, but it seemed like the right thing to say.
"Mine?" He asked, staring at me. I couldn't judge his reaction. He was still in a state of stunned silence, processing the news.
"You're the only person I've slept with in four months… Unless I'm the reincarnation of Mary Immaculate, it's yours." I replied taking the test from him and returning it to its' careful place inside the drawer. When I turn back around, it's my turn to be stunned.
There are tears in his eyes, slowly making their way down his cheeks.
Suddenly, he grabbed me, burying his head him my shirt. He's actually sobbing. Flat out, snot and all, sobbing.
I awkwardly rubbed his back, unsure of exactly why he was crying. Trying to get a grip on himself, he mutters something into my stomach.
He looked up at me, his chin still resting on my stomach.
"I'm… I'm sorry, Caroline. It's just… I thought I lost this opportunity a long time ago. I'm not meant to have kids. My father said..." I was suddenly angry. Mikael was reaching back from the grave to screw with Klaus. I had enough of this man, who I hadn't even met. He screwed up Klaus, physically and emotionally. He tore his whole family apart.
"Your father was an asshole. Stop letting him dominate your mind! Klaus, listen to me." I exploded at him, firmly taking his chin with one hand, forcing him to look me in the eyes.
"You are going to be a great father. Prove Mikael wrong; show him how great your werewolf side is. That part of you doesn't come from him, it's your own. And it's one of the best things about you, Klaus."
He looked at me, confused. He being a hybrid had basically destroyed my life.
"Werewolves are loyal, strong, and fiercely protective. They would rather die than see their family getting hurt. Isn't that the Original Family mantra? Family is everything? You are the reason they've survived this long. Sure, your techniques were a little rude, but you kept them safe. Just as you're going to do with this baby. Alright?"
He nods his head, and I take my hand off his chin. However, he keeps his head pressed to my stomach.
I reached over a bit, and turned off the light. Lying back on the pillows, he was still there. I quirked my eyebrows, though he couldn't see them.
"Klaus… Are you going to get off of me?"
"No." He says defiantly into my stomach.
"But Klaus…" I whine. "I'm going to be up puking at five. I wanna go to bed."
"Fine." He conceded, rolling over to his part of the bed. I turned to face him. He was staring at me again, his eyes once again serious, a stormy color they seemed to turn during moments like these.
"Caroline… I'm scared."
Did he seriously just say that? Klaus, the second most powerful creature to walk the face of the earth, was scared?
"Ummm… what?" I was actually shocked. How could he be scared? Most people would be excited. Then again, we weren't normal people.
"You heard me." He said inaudibly. "I'm scared. I don't know any of this. The last time I was around children, really around them, I didn't have a very good role model. What if I do turn out like Mikael?"
He always thinks he's never good enough. Like he said earlier, the darkness craves light. Or in this case, love. But he shies away from it, thinking he doesn't deserve it. And of course, he was wrong.
"You won't. I won't let you. I'm not Esther. I won't let anyone I love get abused. You're sure as hell not Mikael."
He wanted to protest with me, still with lurking doubts planted all those centuries by Mikael.
"I love you. So stop, worrying about it and go to sleep." I told him, ending the topic. I kissed him, quickly then roll over, immediately pretending to be asleep.
He would be a good father. Better than Damon anyways.
I just hoped I would be a good enough mother.
*Bound By Blood*
Klaus POV
I couldn't wrap my head around the idea.
Caroline was pregnant. She had a baby—my baby—growing inside of her.
I was going to be a father.
The word "father" has so many negative connotations to me; I shrink away from the title.
Father was an abusive man who said no one could ever love me. Father was an angry title, which I would shout when I was near death from beatings. Father was what I shrieked when he plunged his sword into my chest.
I didn't know if I could be something other than what I had been for the past thousand years. A monster.
I wasn't someone you wanted to hug, to read you stories, to play with you. People shrank away from me.
But, children loved unconditionally. And that's what I feared most.
I wasn't worthy of a child's love, unlike Caroline.
Caroline, she deserved this. I could tell something had been off with her earlier. Her heart rate had been up, masking the beat of her child's and she had almost a nervous excitement about her.
She wanted this.
I wasn't sure if I was worthy of this.
I looked over at her sleeping form. She really was an angel. Her aureate hair spread out on the pillow in a golden sheaf, clothed in white, she curled in on herself. Both hands cradled her stomach subconsciously. In fetal position, the focal point was her stomach.
I reached over to put my hand on it. There was a slight curvature to it, not very noticeable, but it was certainly there. I wrapped my arm around her midsection, pulling her into me. She makes a slight "murph!" at her disapproval, settling into my chest sighing.
My arms settle, one around her shoulder, the other protectively around her waist.
"I'll protect you. At all costs." I vowed, though I'm not sure to who exactly. Both I guess.
*Bound By Blood*
Caroline POV
The vomiting was not as bad as yesterday's. I didn't get it all over me. Yet, I was still running out of bed at five am.
Klaus had actually gotten up. Probably because it was sort of hard to sleep with the sounds I was making. He walked into the bathroom, took one look at me, and held my hair back while I puked my intestines out.
It was his fault after all, though I wasn't going to tell him that.
But how was I going to tell everyone else. It wasn't like I could say, "Hey, I'm pregnant with our former enemy's baby even though both of us are technically dead!"
I guess I should tell our families first, though I wasn't even exactly sure how to tell even my mom, much less the Original Family.
I guessed I would just start with Bonnie and Kol. Bonnie had suspected with me, while Kol takes everything in stride.
Klaus had an odd look on his face, a mixture of perpetual astonishment and fear, since I had woken, vomiting off and on until I just went back to sleep at early light.
When I woke up again, he was gone.
I didn't particularly want to get up. I was comfortable in bed, avoiding the world. I didn't want to have to tell anyone.
Kol and Bonnie were arguing again. I couldn't hear Klaus, but I assumed the third sound of sipping coffee was him.
Throwing off the covers, I stared down at myself. There was a bit of blood on my top. I huffed, getting up and walk over to the closet. I pull out one of Klaus's Henley's and switch it.
The kitchen was quiet. Klaus was still wearing that same annoying expression on his face, while Bonnie and Kol, who had been fighting just a moment before, were laughing about something.
"Morning!" I chirped, walking over to Klaus, who stood next to the coffeepot. Planting a kiss on his cheek, and pouring myself a cup, I appeared cheery; probably giving Bonnie the impression the test was negative.
Klaus was a wreck. His hair stuck out, the curls all going in different directions. Bags lined his eyes, which were wide and just in pure shock. Personally, I thought he looked adorable.
He looked vulnerable, something he hated. But, I liked him like this.
His phone rung. Klaus temporarily mushed his pants searching for the device before pulling it out of the back pocket.
"Go." He ordered shortly into the phone.
"Can we come up?" a voice asked on the other end.
"Did you find something?" Klaus asked harshly into the phone.
"Definitely." The man says shortly before the line goes dead.
Bonnie met my eyes, asking me for my test results. I mouth to her "later." Her eyes went wide.
"Care…" She started, before I waved her off.
The front door opened and Masterman strides in with an armful of papers.
"She left New Orleans today, under the alias Tatiana Karlowa. Russian passport. We had two men at the airport. One tracked the car service. The other went on her plane."
"Where was she going?" Klaus asked sharply, grabbing his phone already punching in numbers.
"She changed planes twice. She flew to Mexico City, first. Then, got on a plane to LA. About 1,000 flights leave LAX every day. We don't know which one she's going on."
"So she's still there?" He asked, pausing in his vigorous number punching.
"Yes, our man still has eyes on her. Well, a camera."
"What did your man at the car service find?"
"Well, she was staying at the swankiest hotel in town. And the man's been watching the lobby. About five minutes ago a man matching the description you gave us for Tyler Lockwood came downstairs with a woman matching the description for Hayley Maxwell."
"Are they still there?" Klaus asked his eyes extremely bright.
"They didn't check out."
"Well, then it looks like we are going to be paying Marcel a visit. John, I want you to set up your team in DC. We'll be back in Mystic soon, but I need you to get a hold on the CIA agents. We need more eyes. Call me as soon as Katarina boards a plane. I'm sending my brother after her." He barked.
"Is that all?" Masterman asked mildly.
"Yes, thank you." He walked out, as Klaus violently punched the keypad of his phone.
"ELIJAH!" he yelled into the phone.
"What?" the other Original voice came from the other line sleepily.
"Katarina is on the move. Left New Orleans, changed planes twice. Currently in Los Angeles. There's a man at the airport. Get on a plane, NOW."
"Where to?" Elijah asks. I can hear him getting out of bed, pulling on clothes, slamming drawers.
"Well, where are you now?"
"Las Vegas." I was surprised. The stodgy Original in Vegas? There was obviously more to Elijah that what meets the eye.
"Then LA. Hopefully she'll still be there."
"And what is your plan, brother?"
"I'm going to visit old friends."
It was quiet for a few moments before Bonnie exploded.
"Care what do you mean?" She shouted. I was surprised she lasted this long. I mean none of us were exactly known for our patience.
"Wait what?" Kol said confused. I let out an exasperated sigh. I glanced at Klaus. He doesn't make eye contact; he's too busy having a staring contest with the floor.
"Um. So…" I started, placing a hand on my stomach. Both Bonnie and Kol's jaws drop. Klaus clears his throat uncomfortably.
"Are you kidding me?!" Bonnie screeches.
"No… I'm having a baby…" I say, actually quite calmly.
"Well, congratulations brother. You now currently hold the title of biggest mistake made by a Mikaelson. But, don't worry. I'll do something reckless soon enough." Kol said, making it into a joke. I smile a bit, so does Klaus, though clearly Bonnie doesn't find it amusing.
She whacks him on the side of the head.
"What the hell was that for?"
"This isn't a joke, Kol! This isn't supposed to happen. Actually, it hasn't ever happened before! So stop making a joke of it!" She rambled, before smashing into me with a massive hug.
"I suppose I should tell you congratulations." She mutters into my shirt.
"I didn't do anything." I laughed, awkwardly patting her head.
"Hey, Bonnie, could you like… get off of me? I think I need to go throw up again…" She immediately detaches herself from me and I vamp speed away, barely making it.
Delightful. I thought to myself.
*Bound By Blood*
Packing didn't take long. Well, for us anyways. For some reason, Bonnie and Kol took the longest. Their room was a mess, grimories shoved into every corner, papers strewn about.
While we waited, I called my mom.
She picked up the fourth time, groggily. She must have taken another night shift.
"Mommy?" I asked, suddenly feeling like a little girl again.
"Caroline, honey, how are you?" My mom asked me. I could almost see her. Her short blonde hair looking like a cannon hit it, mashed into one side of her head. Her police uniform, which she slept in is rumbled, and the worry lines as she speaks to me.
"I'm… amazing." I told her smiling. I didn't want to lie to my mom. "We're actually about to leave Miami for New Orleans. How are things back home?"
"Quiet. Every single vampire is gone, so we are getting back to some sense of normalcy."
"Mom… Something's happened." I started.
"What! Did Klaus hurt you?" She said sharply, the sleepiness gone from her voice.
"No, never Mom! It's good! Amazing, Impossible actually! I'm pregnant!" I burst. I was horrible at keeping secrets.
The other end was dead silent for a moment. I headr her exhale and inhale once.
"Caroline, are you sure? Both of you are technically…"
"Dead. I know. I think I had something to do with blood sharing. I'm not sure. All I know it that about thirty tests can't lie. And I can hear the heartbeat. Mom, I can hear it. It's weird and incredible at the same time."
"Care, honey, are you sure that you're ready for this? I mean you are only 18…"
"Mom, it doesn't matter. I'm not going to get an abortion or loose this child, it might be my only chance."
"I guess it is your choice." She sighed. It was a lot to take in, not all over it good. Your immortal vampire daughter who is pregnant with her thousand year old hybrid killer boyfriend's baby is not what every mother wants to hear. No mother wants to even hear her daughter is pregnant, at least before she's married.
"How did Klaus take the news?" She asked quietly. His temper was no secret in Mystic Falls.
"Surprisingly well… I mean he wasn't angry, he's actually scared."
"Klaus? We are talking about the same person right?" We both laughed a bit. It was rather ridiculous, though it hadn't looked so at the time.
"Caroline, are you happy?" She probed, interrogating further.
She hadn't asked me that before. Ever. Sure, she had asked if I was ok, the proper answer being fine, but never if I was happy. And for the first time in my life, I realized I was.
"Yes mom, more than you can ever imagine." I confessed, mentally wrapping my arms around her and hugging her.
"I love you, Mommy. I'll call you when I can" I make a kissy sound into the phone and hung up.
*Bound by Blood*
Kol shut the trunk with a sense of finality.
It has to be the 7th time calling Klaus was calling Rebekah, while I tried Stefan. His fingers drummed impatiently on the steering wheel.
Kol slammed the door to the middle section of the SUV, climbing in next to Bonnie. She quietly flipped through a grimorie making notes on a laptop.
"God dammit, Bekah answer your phone! What's the point of having one if you don't answer?" Klaus says angrily, slamming it down into the console, and putting the car into drive. I tried Stefan again, this time however he picked up.
"Hello?" He slurred from sleep or maybe a hangover.
"STEFAN!" I yelled into the phone. Two voices groaned at the sudden volume. "WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU FOR AN HOUR!"
"Caroline, could you please be a little quieter?" Stefan moaned. "I think I'm hung-over."
"Well, Klaus needs to speak with Rebekah ASAP, so if you could get up and find her."
"Hello? Caroline?" Ok that was way too suspiciously quick for Stefan to go and give Rebekah the phone. Had they been…
"Caroline? Could you please give the phone to Nik so I can find out what the hell he wants and go back to bed?"
Klaus snatched the phone from me.
"Rebekah, you and Stefan are not going back to bed. Both of you are packing and compelling yourselves on the next flight to New Orleans." He ordered quite rudely.
"WHAT?" She snapped. "You can't order me around like that Nik!"
"Yes, I can Bekah. I need you and Stefan in New Orleans."
"No."
Klaus rolled his eyes, huffing.
"Please." He muttered.
"Sorry, what was that?" She was playing with him. And, of course, he was giving in.
"Please." He uttered, almost intelligible through gritted teeth.
"I haven't heard you say that in quite a while Nik." Rebekah laughed, "We'll be there as soon as a flight can leave. How far are you?"
"Another eleven hours." He grumbled. Kol groaned from the back seat. Bonnie and I shared an eye roll.
"Have fun brother."
"You too, sister. And next time, be a bit more discreet about sleeping with Stefan." She scoffed, though Klaus just chuckled hanging up and focusing on the road.
I reached into my bag at my feet, pulling out one of the iPads Klaus left lying about in the apartment. Shopping would be fun, or a good way to block out the impending inevitable arguing of either Klaus and Kol or Kol and Bonnie.
I didn't really want to shop for myself, I realized, as I scrolled through some of my favorites sites. Ustrendy, shopbop, and zappos weren't appealing to me.
Kol and Bonnie were passed out in the back, him crumpled over his body bent in half while she curled herself in a tiny ball.
I put my back against the door, hiding the screen from any peeking eyes (Klaus!) and go to Pinterest, searching nursery.
I hand on my stomach, with a secretive smile on my lips.
"What are you doing?" Klaus asked me. I looked up, meeting his youthful grin. His eyes alight with their normal mischievous twinkle.
"Nothing."
"Are you mad at me?" He asked with his stupid puppy dog eyes.
"Why would I be?"
"Most women don't like unexpected pregnancy." He stated with a sideways glance. Was he saying sorry?
"You. Are. An. Idiot." I pointedly told him, emphasizing my words with a poke on one of his cheeks.
"Cut it out!" He says playfully, grabbing my hand. I giggled. He's laughing too, dimples coming out to play, that same infectious laugh that he teased me with my Miss Mystic application with.
"Seriously, stop stepping around me like I'm a time bomb! I'm not mad about this! Can't I just be happy for once!"
"Caroline…" His attention was back on the road, his eyes downcast.
"Yes…"
"What do you want it to be?"
"I don't know… Why do you ask?"
"Because it's bloody uncomfortable calling it "it" all the time." Our eyes met again. It was weird doing this. The good kind of weird, but weird all the same.
"So you're asking about names basically."
"I think that Kol is an excellent name." A voice piped from the back. Klaus and I whirled around, to where Kol is sitting placidly. Bonnie was still asleep.
"No." Klaus says with finality.
"Why not? It's such a wonderful name." he protested.
"Because the name is associated with an asshole." Bonnie said from her ball, her hair matted over her face.
"I don't know any other Kols… Do you Miss Bennett? I would like to talk to the person sullying my grand name."
"He's in this car." She emerged from her ball, pushing her hair out of her eyes.
Kol looks moderately injured, while Bonnie just rolled her eyes.
"I don't know Caroline. Men don't really think of this sort of stuff, unless we have to. Now, I do."
"Well, all of you have sort of a theme."
"What do you mean? That we're devastatingly attractive and brilliant?" Kol joked, paying for it with a blow to the head from the witch.
"No, don't all of you have K in your names? Well, except for Elijah…"
"And Finn…" Klaus corrected.
"No one cares about Finn." Kol chimed in. Another blow this time courtesy of his brother.
"Seriously, I'm going to get brain damage if you two don't stop."
"Too late." Bonnie said, hitting him again.
"I've looked at a couple of sites. Your names are Old English right? Do you know any others? Because, I am not naming my child something like Kyle or Kaitlin. Those are too modern."
"You know she miscarried a couple of times after Henrik. You remember that Kol?"
"Of course I do nimrod. Father was so angry we hid in the forest for 2 days." Kol said, making it a joke. However, the looks on Bonnie's face and mine were horrified. Though it had been a different time, this man, the real beast of the Mikaelson Family, had let his own family live in such fear that they became monsters.
"What were the names she liked? I think she had some picked out."
"Ask Rebekah, how the hell am I supposed to know?" Kol snapped. Klaus rolled his eyes and turned off the highway on an exit labeled "New Orleans."
We were here.
*Bound By Blood*
The French Quarter was alive though the regal antebellum mansion was quiet. Few lights were on, giving it the look of abandonment, despite the two blondes walking out to meet us.
The gates and walls were covered in thick ivy, obscuring the streets.
Instantly after Klaus parks, Kol opens the door and tumbles out of the car soon followed by Bonnie.
"About time! We've been up forever." Rebekah said impatiently, violently opening the driver's door and hugging Klaus fiercely.
"We'll I'm positive you and the Salvatore brother found some way to entertain yourselves." Kol drawled from the ground. He got up and dusted himself off before offering Bonnie his hand. She looked at him suspiciously, though he just rolls his eyes.
"Hey Care." Stefan said huskily, coming up behind me. I squeal and pounce on him, crushing him with a hug.
"Nice to see you too." He breathed sarcastically.
"How was Chicago?"
"Fabulous." Rebekah answers for him, coming around behind us. "I hope my brothers didn't try to kill each other too many times. How was Miami?"
"Hot. But, lovely all the same. Hey Klaus, could you get our stuff?" I called to him. He gave me a look, one saying "I-am-not-your-little-bitch", I counter with "Yes, you are." He huffed though he walked around to the trunk dragging Kol behind him as he went, both grumbling.
I laughed, as Rebekah sent Stefan back there too, though he doesn't complain quite as loudly as Klaus or Kol did. As the men grabbed all the suitcases, boxes, and canvases (yes, apparently Klaus travelled with his art), she led us inside the grandiose mansion.
*Bound By Blood*
"We've own the house since the 1850's, though I suspect Nik has remodeled more times than we were daggered. We spent most of our time here during the Civil War, though we ended up in Washington once the city burned." Rebekah lectured, our heels clicking rhythmically on the dark glossy wood floors.
The house didn't have the same kind of grandeur as their estate in Mystic Falls nor the modern airs of the Miami apartment. It had a southern charm, while at the same time imposed the same stature as a plantation home.
The entryway was lined with pink marble columns, topped with golden gilt framing a grand staircase, which curved and twisted and disappeared into the heights of the house.
She led us past the staircase, and through a black painted door and into the dark living room, decorated in black and red. The fireplace roared with orange flame in front of a main sitting area. We flopped onto the couches, decorated in a dark ombre fabric that had the most pleasant texture.
"When did you and Stefan get here?" I asked, as Rebekah busies herself at the bar.
"A couple of hours ago. I went shopping, he raided a blood bank." She said, holding up the bottle, offering us the bourbon. We shook our heads.
Stefan and Kol walk into the room as Rebekah flopped herself unceremiously onto a couch with her drink.
"Where's Klaus?" I asked
"He's on the phone with Elijah. Katherine's about to board a plane to Tokyo and we need Elijah on there with her." Stefan stated, grabbing a bottle of bourbon from the side table.
"Why are we stepping so lightly around Katherine? I mean she's just another vampire." I argued, huffing.
"She's good at evading people. And getting the cure away from her won't be easy." Stefan countered.
"But I am hell bent on finding her." Klaus announced, stomping into the room and sitting down beside me, snatching the bourbon bottle out of Stefan's hands and taking a long swig from it. Rebekah and I crinkled our noses in identical disgust.
"Manners, brother, or has Kol completely seeped them out of you?" I grabbed the bottle from him in mid-drink and set it on the table, hard, giving him a dangerous look. He raiseed his eyebrows at me, questioning my action for a moment, but I merely return the raise, challenging him. He surrenders, lying back into the cushions and pouting.
"Is it still standing?" he snaps at his sister.
"Didn't your informants already tell you it's there? God, Nik you're getting thick. It's like a normal club, a bit higher class, but still a club." She shortly said, taking a dainty sip from the glass.
"Well, just get started in the morning." He grumbled, looking at me before getting up and stomping off into the depths of the house. I whispered a quick "good night" to the gathering before running after him.
"Caroline." He warily greeted me on the staircase, and then carries on climbing. The house has height rather than width, probably due to its location in the heart of the bustling city.
We ascended to what had to be the top, the fourth floor, Klaus quite rudely kicking open the black door at the top. This house seemed to have a theme. Red and Black. Blood and darkness.
The chamber took up the entire floor, almost like a loft. Windows line the walls, displaying the landscape and sky like works of art, while two pairs of French doors at either end face each other, while a dark mahogany bed dominates the center. Our bags sat beside it.
"Finally…" I groaned, pulling my trunk towards the set of doors leading to the bathroom and presumably the closet. The bathroom was black, with a bronze bathtub in the center of the room and an obsidian shower in the corner. Abstract art of the same shades stares from every side. I pushed my way through a set of darker doors, to reveal my closet. It's nearly identical to the Miami and Mystic Falls one.
As I unpacked, I heard the shower start running, presumably Klaus. I didn't want to join him though, instead standing in front of the copper rimmed body-length mirror, inspecting my stomach. Was that a bump?
I turn to the side, moving my hand across it. Yes, it was defiantly there.
"Are you kidding me?" I whined, storming out into the bathroom just in a pair of panties. Klaus's head literally follows my every move as I stomp towards his closet.
"What are you doing love?" He asks clearly amused. However, I was not in the mood.
"Shut up, Klaus." I walk into the closet and grab a Henley, throwing it on, and marching back out into the bathroom and curling up in the black sheets.
Confusion overtook me. I shouldn't be showing, not this early. Ugh, what was my body doing? Was there some freaky supernatural factor that we didn't know about?
I pushed my worries to the back of my mind as Klaus walked into the room and into bed with me.
"Um, Klaus, you left the lights on." I tell him irritably. I was tired and messed up. I needed sleep.
He smirks at me, and clapped his hands twice. The room goes pitched black.
"I still have my tricks, love." He said, grabbing me by the waist and pulling him into his chest. "What is with you and my clothes?"
"Because you smell good." I muttered into his chest. He does, something almost pure masculinity, unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It was maturity, really, and I reveled in it. He brought one hand to my hair, running his finger through my waves, while the other stayed around my waist.
As I slowly drift off to sleep, I realize this isn't a side of Klaus I had ever seen. Never had his humanity been clearer than in the vulnerability he looked down at me with.
"I love you both." He whispered into my hair when he thought I was asleep.
Smiling a bit from the shores of slumber, I whispered back, "Love you too, daddy Hybrid."
The last thing I hear before I succumb is his amused chuckle, as he tightened the grip around my stomach.