Hello all! I hope everyone is having a good week so far. Thank you all who reviewed, followed, favorited and read the last chapter. I love hearing what you guys think! Well, without further ado, here's the next chapter. I hope you like it! :)
The Compound was completely silent as the rays from the sunrise crept into Klaus' bedroom. He cautiously opened his eyes, not remembering if Caroline coming home was all a dream. Klaus turned his head to the left and she really was there next to him; using his left arm as a pillow and curled up into his side. Klaus smiled to himself. Caroline was his; wearing his shirt and carrying his child. He never believed he could adore something more than power, but he craved her companionship and his family above everything else. She was everything to him now.
Klaus glanced down at her stomach with alarm, noticing it grew overnight. When Hayley was this pregnant with Hope, she was nine months and about to give birth. Klaus wished he knew more about what was happening to her and his son but, no amount of questioning witches eased his troubled mind. Klaus also constantly worried about the threat of his mother and father to his new family. What would he do if Mikael showed up here and took everything away from him? Klaus sighed and hesitantly put his hand on her abdomen.
"Are you behaving in there, little one?" He asked and Henrik replied by moving his elbow across her stomach. Caroline stirred at the contact and grabbed his hand. "Good morning, love." Klaus said happily, trying to hide his inner turmoil. Caroline sleepily groaned and moved her hand to her stomach. Her eyes shot open.
"Seriously! He grew again?!" She gasped in disbelief.
"It appears so," Klaus said calmly. Caroline sat up with her blonde curls falling around her face in a messy fashion. The sun shone behind her and Klaus swore to himself he's never seen anything so beautiful.
"Why are you staring at me?" She asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I know I'm huge now, but you shouldn't stare." She said sassily and he held back his laughter. Klaus sat up and put his left hand on the side of her face.
"I'm not staring at your stomach, I'm staring at you, sweetheart," he said reassuringly.
"Why?" She asked. Her pregnancy hormones were making her feel insecure.
"Isn't it obvious?" He asked and Caroline shook her head no. "It isn't obvious you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen?"
"Ever? Ever? You've met princesses and…models…"
"And all of them are nothing compared to you," he said confidently as Caroline rolled her eyes smiling. Klaus leaned in and kissed her gently. He craved more from her, but knew it was impossible with her current condition. "Perhaps it's a good thing Henrik is growing quickly. I miss having you all to myself." He said huskily, causing Caroline's thoughts to fill with desire. She then became concerned about their future love life. Can vampires even take birth control? She thought to herself. "Bonnie and I discussed a spell that would prevent me from further procreation," he said as if he was reading her mind. "It is reversible however, if you…want more."
"I think two's enough," she said immediately. "For now anyway."
Their conversation was interrupted by doors slamming downstairs and what sounded like Jackson yelling. Klaus quickly pulled on a shirt while Caroline awkwardly put on some sweatpants. They rushed downstairs into the courtyard finding Jackson and several of Klaus' pack members. They were surrounding Sarah, the pregnant wolf, whose face was contorted in agony.
"Sarah's in labor and it's too dangerous for her to give birth in the woods with Tyler's pack around," Jackson explained. Lilah rushed into the room, overhearing the commotion.
"I was once a midwife; bring Sarah into my room and we will take care of her."
By then, the rest of the house had awoken. Rebekah, Hayley and Bonnie helped Caroline get wet rags and blankets together. The wolves put Sarah on Lilah's bed and Caroline let her squeeze her hand.
"Where's the father?" Caroline asked Hayley.
"He's in the hallway with Klaus and Jackson. It isn't customary for male wolves to be in the room." This upset Caroline. Would Klaus be in the hallway when she gave birth to Henrik? Sarah let out a loud yell, panicking Caroline.
"Can't we do anything for her?" Caroline pleaded.
"Our bodies just metabolize painkillers too fast," Hayley said putting a leather band into Sarah's mouth for her to bite down on. "This is all we can do for her." Hayley grabbed Sarah's other hand as Lilah instructed her to push. Sarah did and crushed both of their hands to the point of bones cracking. One baby was pushed into the blanket Bonnie was holding.
"It's a boy," Bonnie said and Sarah gave a weak smile, but immediately wanted to push again to get his twin out.
Caroline's hand was purple and she kept imaging the pain she was going to be in when she gives birth. Sarah then pushed out a girl, which Rebekah took care of. Lilah was about to start cleaning up when Sarah cried out again.
"Looks like there's one more," Lilah said bracing herself. Sarah pushed once more and let out a relieved sigh as another boy came out, ending her suffering. Lilah gave the last child to Sarah. She looked at the boy with so much love that Caroline wasn't afraid of the pain anymore; Henrik would be worth it.
"My little surprise…your name is Garrett," Sarah started. "My other boy's John and my sweet girl's name is Lily." Sarah said as she turned to Caroline.
"Thank you all for helping us. I will be there to assist you when it's your time." Sarah said as the three men came into the room. Tony, the father, ran over to Sarah and was pleased with his new family. He, Jackson and Klaus each picked up a child and walked out in the hall to the balcony.
"What are they doing?" Caroline asked Lilah.
"Introducing the pack to its latest members; Since Klaus is the alpha, it's his duty to announce it." Caroline watched as the three men faced the dozens of wolves. "I see Henrik is coming sooner than expected." Caroline was going to say something but Klaus started to speak.
"Brothers and sisters," Klaus began. "I'd like you all to meet the newest members of our pack: John, Lily, and this little troublemaker, Garrett. It is our duty to protect them and help out Tony and Sarah. I'm sure they'll need it." The wolves cheered for Tony as Klaus put Garrett into Tony's free arm and let him go and celebrate with the pack.
Klaus walked over to Caroline to see how she was handling all of this.
"Are you frightened?" He asked.
"I'll be fine." She said reassuringly as they went downstairs to celebrate with their pack.
Quite a few hours after the triplets were born; it was time to get ready for Agnes' funeral. Caroline begrudgingly looked through her wardrobe; nothing was going to be able to fit her now. She settled for a black maxi dress she prayed would still be long enough. She held her breath as it rolled over her stomach and ended perfectly at her ankles. Caroline pulled her hair back into an intricate bun, the same she wore for her mother's funeral, and it brought tears to her eyes. She let it all pour out of her now; she held it in for too long. Not only was her mother gone, but now she would miss the birth of her grandchild and who knows what else. Caroline felt two strong arms wrap around her shoulders from behind.
"We don't have to go if you don't want to," he said in her ear. She turned around and faced him, wiping the tears from her eyes. Caroline noted that Klaus looked incredibly handsome in his black button-down shirt and black pants.
"It's your job; you're the king. Agnes promised she would try to fight Mikael off and she did. We have to honor her." Caroline said.
"Whatever you want love." He said and they went downstairs to meet everyone else.
The group walked in eerie silence to the cemetery as the sun began to set behind them. Bonnie was the only attendant from Mystic Falls going to pay her respects to the fellow witch; the rest stayed behind to look after Hope and Sarah.
The torches lining the mausoleums were flickering with the breeze as they walked inside. The coven didn't turn towards them when they entered; they just stared at the open grave in front of them. Caroline's stomach dropped; this was all too familiar for her. Klaus' thumb rubbed soothing circles on the back of her hand, letting her know she wasn't alone as they reached the spot where Davina was standing. Davina wrapped her arms around Caroline and cried into her shoulder. Caroline noticed Marcel was there to support Davina; he's been hiding in the Compound ever since Klaus took his finger off and Caroline wondered how Marcel was doing.
The witches invited Bonnie to chant with them as they began to consecrate Agnes' body to the Earth. Sophie walked up in front of the group of witches and faced them.
"There's been a lot of talk about whom the new Regent should be and now is the time to make our nominations. I, Sophie Devereaux, would like to nominate Davina Claire for Regent. Some of you are thinking she abandoned us during the Harvest, but has since proven herself to be one of the most powerful and loyal witches this coven has ever seen. All in favor of Davina Claire as Regent," Sophie said raising her hand, waiting for her coven to respond.
Slowly the coven began to raise their hands one by one and Davina looked at them in amazement. She slowly walked up to where Sophie was standing and looked to Bonnie for confidence.
"I, Davina Claire, accept your nomination of Regent. Agnes was one of the best witches and people I've ever known. I know I may have let you all down before, but I promise I will help make this coven strong again as we help the Mikaelsons fight our new enemy." Klaus walked up next to Davina with his hands behind his back; the coven took a cautious step backwards.
"I have no doubt Davina will make an excellent Regent. Agnes was an incredibly strong witch; very stubborn and she fought Mikael bravely out of loyalty to my family. I promise you all, not only as your king, but as your ally, I will avenge her death." Klaus walked away from the grieving coven and up to Marcel, putting his hand on his left shoulder. "Walk with me, Marcellus." He said and led him away to discuss where they stand now.
The coven kept staring at Caroline strangely, probably noticing how pregnant she was. She remembered Lilah telling her how they feared Hope's birth, saying she would be the death to all witches, and Caroline wondered if they thought the same thing about Henrik. Caroline suddenly had a bad feeling about tonight and rested her hand protectively on her stomach the whole time. She didn't know if the feeling was just from being at a funeral or something else entirely. Caroline decided it was a good time to leave; locking arms with Lilah and beginning to walk back to the Compound.
Bonnie decided to stay behind after the funeral to talk through Davina's new duties with her, while the rest of them returned home in silence. As Caroline walked upstairs, she couldn't wait to get that maxi dress off of her and put on a large t-shirt. She opened their bedroom door and it was completely dark, with the exception of the moonlight coming in through the balcony doors. The door all the way to the left was open and she didn't remember opening it at all today.
Caroline walked over to it and closed it, thinking nothing of it, and went over to the dresser by the door to look for something to change into.
"So the rumors are true, there's going to be another Mikaelson," a maliciously familiar voice said from behind her. Caroline clutched the t-shirt in her hand and turned around slowly, coming face to face with Mikael.
"How did you get in here?" She asked nervously.
"My wife may have put counter spells on top of you Bennett witch's spells. I just wanted to see if you were really pregnant or not, and now I'm afraid you'll have to come with me." As he was speaking, Caroline was scanning the room for anything and everything she could use as a weapon, but her fear was getting the best of her.
"Why would I go anywhere with you?" She asked trying to sound like her usual fiery self.
"Because if you don't, I will kill all of your little friends downstairs and your child, plus I have this," he said holding up a syringe with obsidian and vervain in it.
"I'm not going anywhere. Obsidian and vervain can't kill me anyway." He laughed at her.
"I admire your confidence; I look forward to taking it from you. This syringe may not be able to kill you, but think of all the damage it can do to your unborn child." Mikael said evilly, walking closer to her. Caroline's entire arm was across her stomach now as she braced herself against the dresser behind her.
"Why are you doing this? Why would you do this to your son? Your grandchild?" She asked trying to reason with him and he just laughed at her.
"That is not my grandchild; Niklaus is no son of mine."
"But he is mine." Another voice said from behind Mikael. The figure stepped forward, standing in front of Mikael and Caroline recognized him as Klaus' biological father. They were under the impression that Ansel was very much dead, especially after the Harvest ritual, but Caroline was glad he was here now.
"Haven't I killed you enough times already? Don't you ever get tired of losing?" Mikael asked Ansel.
"I will always fight for him." Ansel said.
Suddenly, Klaus threw the bedroom door open and saw both of his fathers standing in front of Caroline. His eyes wandered and saw the syringe Mikael was holding and Klaus' blood boiled, causing him to growl, drawing everyone's eyes to him.
Klaus stood protectively in front of Caroline; his eyes turning yellow and black as he looked upon the men that let him down his entire existence.
"I was wondering when you were going to show up," Mikael started. "Really Niklaus? Leaving your pregnant mate alone with killers on the loose? I see immortally has made you no less foolish. Perhaps I will take her off your hands and show her what it's like to have an adequate mate." Mikael said. Klaus was going to kill him if it was the last thing he ever did. He wanted nothing more than to make Mikael suffer in the only ways Klaus knew how to do.
"Coming into the King's house filled with vampires and wolves? I see death has made you no less foolish. Perhaps I should kill you again so you can learn a thing or two." Klaus said stepping towards Mikael, but Ansel put his hand in front of him.
"Take Caroline downstairs. I will lead Mikael out into the bayou, giving you some time to put better spells on this place." Ansel said to Klaus.
"I will do no such thing. I plan on killing Mikael myself as soon as possible. I don't need you to protect me. You never have before, why start now?" Klaus challenged and Ansel looked at him with sadness in his eyes.
"Let me do this, Niklaus." Ansel pleaded. Klaus was going to argue with him again when Caroline grabbed his hand. He was reminded then he still had something to lose and swallowed his pride—for now.
Klaus nodded, pulling Caroline out into the hallway and they watched as Ansel grabbed Mikael by the shoulders and forced him outside into the darkness. They both stared into the room for a while until Klaus turned to Caroline, wrapping his arms around her.
"I'm so sorry, Caroline. I shouldn't have left you alone."
"You can't be with me every second. You didn't know he was going to be here." Caroline tried reassuring him.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight again, do you understand?" He said with such intensity in his voice, it caused Caroline to gasp a little. Caroline then felt a foreign pain coming from her abdomen. The first pain was tolerable, but the second was ferocious. "Caroline?" Klaus asked worriedly. Caroline toppled over in pain as the both looked down and saw that her water broke.