Much to Elijah's surprise, Amanda seemed to have a fondness for Lucy. This made him immensely happy, both because it meant that Amanda, no matter how she acted, would most likely be an intelligent child, and also because it meant that he got to see Klaus and Selina's youngest daughter more often than he had in a long time.
"So, will you be able to babysit again on Friday?" Elijah asked her when she came to their house Monday night. "And if it's an imposition, feel free to say 'No'."
"Actually, I have a party to go to with my friend, Alexandra Croft that night," Lucy replied. "But maybe you could ask Viktor to watch her while Alexandra and I are gone. Didn't you say that they got along well?"
"Sometimes they do," Selina replied. "It depends on the day. Or if Viktor's wearing anything small and shiny that she can put in her mouth." She paused. "So…" she said, choosing her words carefully. "How's everyone at your house?"
"Good," Lucy replied. "Fine. We had Lenora and James over for dinner the other night. He and Damon get along really well."
"That's good," Selina replied, trying to ignore Elijah tensing up. However, it caused Amanda, who was sitting in his lap, to let out a squeal, reached for Lucy, and then gave her father a dirty look when she was safely in Lucy's arms.
"I can't believe you still have trouble with Damon after all these years," Lucy told her uncle. "He's not bad to me."
"Well, I know," Elijah replied. "And I know you can take care of yourself. It's not necessarily your relationship with him that makes me upset."
"Oh, come on!" Selina cried. "I haven't been near Damon in who knows how long. And even when I do see him anymore, it's only because of Sam. Not because I want to have an affair with him. I've learned my lesson on that score."
"Good," Elijah nodded, taking Amanda, who seemed to have forgiven him, back from Lucy. "I hope so." Then he looked down and noticed Amanda was chewing on his tie. "No, no, dear," he said, taking it out of her mouth and frowning at the slobber stain. "We don't want to do that to Daddy's expensive silk tie."
That's why I told you not to wear one," Selina said as she and Lucy had a smile at Elijah's expense. "She's attracted to things that hang or are shiny, and it never ends well."
"I'll try and remember that," Elijah replied as Lucy handed him a napkin to wipe himself off with the best he could.
"No. you won't," Selina replied. "I always tell you stuff like that, and we always end up in situations like this."
"Well, this time, I'll actually try and remember," Elijah said. "I promise."
"So, what are you two doing on Friday?" Lucy wanted to know. "Something exciting?"
Elijah sighed. "Not really. My friend Jasper invited us to this party he's throwing for his son to celebrate all he's accomplished at his company. His son is not my favorite person, but since our daughter Annaliese is dating him, Selina is telling me I have to go and be supportive."
"Oh, stop making me sound like the bad guy," Selina said. "It won't be as bad as you think. You can spend the whole night talking to Jasper after saying a few words to Peter, and then you won't have to deal with him at all."
"I hope you're right," Elijah replied. "There's only so long I can tolerate that boy before I feel myself wanting to wring his neck!" He made wringing motions with his hands and Lucy looked at her mother. "Who wants wine?" She asked. "I know I do!"
"And here it comes again," Elijah sighed. "Damon got your mother drinking and he's made you pick it up as a habit too."
"No, actually I was just trying to defuse the tension," Lucy replied. "I don't need to drink."
"Oh," Elijah nodded. "Okay." He then got up and wandered around with Amanda (who was starting to get fussy), getting some blood from the kitchen and putting it in a bottle for her along with some formula and bringing her back to the living room where he fed her.
"I thought you'd kick up some sort of fuss about having to give her blood," Selina told him. "You're handling that well."
"Of course I am," Elijah replied. "It's not the first time, is it? But thank you."
Then the oven went off and Selina went to check on dinner, which they all ate without incident soon after.
"You're a brave man," Elijah told Viktor as he came through the door on Friday and Elijah took his coat. "Thank you so much for doing this for us tonight. I know you probably have other things you'd rather be doing."
"You know, Alexandra offered to bring me to the party, but I passed on it, and now I have something to actually occupy my time instead," Viktor told him. "It's really not a problem."
"Well, I hope you and Amanda have a good time," Elijah replied.
"Is he here?" Selina called from Amanda's bedroom.
"Yeah, he is!" Elijah called. "Bring her out."
Viktor smiled as Selina brought Amanda into his sight and she reached out for him. Viktor took her in his arms. "You're very cute," he said, smiling at her lacy white dress. They were nose to nose, and then her little tongue came out, she blew a raspberry, and spit sprayed all over his face.
Selina was about to apologize again and run to get him a towel, but he just moved back a little, grabbed a handkerchief from his pocket and calmly wiped off his face.
"Are you okay?" Selina asked.
"Of course," Viktor replied. "It's not as if she spit acid in my face. I can manage."
"Well, good," Selina replied, grabbing her coat and her purse. "You two have a good night. We should be back in a few hours."
They headed to Selina's car, and she got in the driver's seat cause she knew that if it were up to Elijah, they wouldn't go anywhere. She drove while he grumbled, and when they reached the ballroom where the party was being held, she had to order Elijah out of the car. She headed in first and he came after her, looking very much like he didn't want to be there. However, he perked up when Jasper came to meet them at the door.
"So glad you could come to the party!" He said, shaking Elijah's hand and then Selina's. "Peter's been doing awfully well, and that daughter of yours is just a delight. You know, it's partly because of her that Peter's been as successful as he has been."
"Well, why don't we go and congratulate him then," Selina smiled. "Where is he?"
"I'll show you," Jasper gestured ahead of him and led Selina and Elijah to the center of the room where Peter and Annaliese were being congratulated by Peter's co-workers. Much to Elijah's relief, Peter had cleaned up and was wearing a nicely tailored gray suit, which his daughter's dress matched.
"Sorry to interrupt all the praise," Jasper told his son. "But Peter, Annaliese, look who came tonight."
"Hi, Mom!" Annaliese cried and ran over to hug her mother. Then she held out her hand to take Elijah's. Hello, Daddy."
"You look lovely," Elijah told her. "And when you can get them, I would love to see the pictures from you and Peter's latest trip."
"Oh, you'll love them," Annaliese assured him. "Hawaii was lovely." Then, to her surprise, Elijah gave her a hug before finally turning to Peter, giving him a brief, firm handshake, and saying "Congratulations. I'm pleasantly surprised to see that you're making something of yourself."
"Well, I'm glad that you're pleased," Peter replied. "It makes things a little easier between us, doesn't it?"
"Yes," Elijah nodded. "I suppose it does. Congratulations again." Then he sped away and spent the rest of the might talking with Jasper while Selina talked with Peter and Annaliese until it was time for them to go.
They then got in the car and Elijah drove this time, going much faster than Selina thought was warranted. Miraculously, they got home without being stopped, and went inside, heading straight to Amanda's bedroom, where they heard Viktor singing to her off key.
"What's going on in here?" Selina asked. "Viktor, are you okay?"
"She doesn't want to sleep," Viktor replied, looking very tired while Amanda was sitting up in her crib and smiling at him, seeming to be very wide awake. "This was the last thing I could think of to do."
Amanda then climbed to her feet and smiled at him. "You need to go to sleep," he told her firmly.
Amanda shook her head and stayed right where she was.
"You might as well go home, Viktor," Elijah told him. "I think I can handle this."
"Thank you," Viktor said and hugged him. "Thank you so much!" He then left, slamming the door behind him as Selina and Elijah tried to get Amanda to bed.
Rebecca stared at the photo of her and Eli in their wedding clothes and smiled to herself as Eli came up behind her and put his arms around her. "Good morning," he said to her. "We take a pretty good picture, don't you think?"
"Yeah," Rebecca nodded. "We do." Then she winced and moved his hands. "Sorry," she said. "I just have a bit of a headache this morning."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Eli replied. "Can I get you anything?"
"No, I can manage," Rebecca replied.
"Nevertheless, have this anyway," Eli replied, taking her arms and kissing her forehead. At that point, things began to clear, as if she'd been in a fog ever since Eli had rescued after her kidnapping and now it had lifted.
"You okay?" Eli asked. "You've been acting weird ever since we went and met your brother."
"I have to confess…I found Declan attractive," Rebecca cried. "I mean it was only in an aesthetic sense, I'm sorry! But I love you. Even so, though, you shouldn't have to deal with someone who's always looking at other men. You deserve better."
"Well, how strong are these feelings you have for him?" Eli asked. "Do you really mean them?"
"No," Rebecca shook her head. "It's purely aesthetic now, like I said, but given my habits, it could escalate into something worse, which is why I'm gonna go and you can be with someone who can give you their full attention."
"I don't mind if you find other men attractive, as long as you don't want to actually be with them," Eli reasoned. "You don't have to go."
Rebecca sighed and put a hand on his face. "When you're a bit older, you'll understand why I did this. I promise. And maybe, by then, I'll be brave enough to come back. I hope so. Goodbye, Eli."
Eli sighed. "You don't have to do this," He repeated. "But if you're going to, can I at least kiss you one last time before you leave?"
"Sure," Rebecca replied. And he kissed her deep, which spread warm feelings from her lips to her toes, and when he finally pulled away, she began to have second thoughts about leaving. But then, she shook her head, reminded herself that it was better this way, then zapped up some suitcases, told Eli 'Goodbye' one last time, then left the house and went to tell Gwen about her decision.