FYI – The timing of this chapter is going to be way off from the timeline of the show. I felt that the girls needed to start ageing and time needed to jump a little bit in order to keep the story moving. Also, I changed the circumstances of Elena turning into a vampire, because given the state of Matt and Rebekah's relationship, I didn't think that she would have tried to kill him.
Chapter 28
One (ish) Year Later
Mystic Falls
Klaus awoke with a start. He had a bad feeling, but he couldn't identify where it was coming from. Knowing that he wouldn't fall asleep again, he decided to get up and make breakfast.
Everything had been going well in Mystic Falls for about a year. Well, at least for Klaus and Caroline. Matt had swerved trying not to hit a deer and crashed into the water under Wickery Bridge. Matt had almost died, and Elena did. Fortunately, or unfortunately for her, she had Damon's blood in her system. Caroline told him that she wasn't doing well.
Reverend Young and a group of people had perished in the explosion of a small cabin due to an apparent gas leak. The funeral was today, and Caroline was planning to attend. Klara and Carina were going to stay at home with Klaus to avoid the inevitable drama.
Lost in thought and stirring pancake batter, Klaus didn't even hear Carina come down the stairs. In fact, she surprised him so much that when she hopped up to sit at the counter, the bowl of batter flew from his hands and splattered all over his face and clothes.
Knowing her father's temper, Carina stared wide-eyed at his pancake-covered face, waiting for his reaction. Klaus was almost angry, until he looked at the three year old before him. His face softened and he cracked a smile to let her know that he wasn't mad.
Carina took that as a sign and burst out in fits of giggling laughter. Soon they were both laughing and Klaus walked around the counter, reaching towards his daughter, threatening to cover her with batter as well. Carina held up a sassy hand, he blamed her mother, and stood up on the bar stool so that they were eye-to-eye.
She slowly reached a finger towards his face and scooped a little batter from his cheek. She popped the finger into her mouth and grinned. "Yummy," she said goofily, and then immediately doubled over in laughter again. Klaus joined in and grabbed her with his sticky pancake hands and tickled her, causing her laughter to turn to shrieks.
Caroline came walking down the stairs with Klara in tow, yawning. "What is going on down here?" Caroline asked the two suspiciously quiet and innocent looking blondes in the middle of the room. She tried to soften her tone, knowing that they were having fun.
"Mommy, Daddy has yummy pancakes all over his head!" Carina said innocently.
Caroline walked over and kissed her husband. "Mmm," she hummed, "Yes, he does."
"Caroline, love, why don't you go and get ready for the funeral and I will finish making breakfast with the girls," he suggested, knowing that Caroline needed a break from getting everything ready for once.
Caroline grinned. "That would be amazing!" As she headed up the stairs, she turned around to see her three favorite people having fun. It made her so happy. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Oh, and Nik?" she yelled down to him.
"Yes, love?" he responded, wiping his face with a towel.
"Clean up that mess!" she said, as she turned back around and walked to their room.
Klaus chuckled, shaking his head. It made him laugh to see Caroline acting like her old, controlling self… Occasionally.
Even though they had been through a lot, Klaus and Caroline considered themselves to be good parents. However, they still had to deal with the occasional issue. As Klaus poured Caroline a glass of her needed sustenance, and covered it with a lid, he remembered a few months ago when Klara had reached for Caroline's glass, wanting to be like her mother.
They had both started yelling in panic to keep her from drinking the blood, and had scared her so bad that she had burst into tears, thinking she was in trouble, which made Carina start crying. They had tried to comfort them as best they could, but as they locked eyes, they both dreaded the day that they would have to explain everything to them.
Klaus and the girls finished making breakfast and he settled them in the living room watching a cartoon, so he decided to go upstairs and clean himself up, as well. He heard the water running, and smiled mischievously. It had been a long time since they had been able to shower together, because of the girls, so he planned to act on this opportunity.
Caroline was so distracted by the hot water on her skin that she didn't even notice Klaus creeping into the shower behind her. He pressed his lips to the back of her neck and she jumped about a foot. She quickly turned around, annoyance clear on her face. Klaus put his hands up, eyes wide.
"I'm sorry, love. I thought you heard me coming in," he said as innocently as he could.
Caroline's face softened. "Sorry, we haven't showered together in a while, so I wasn't expecting it. Where are the girls?" She asked, hoping that they weren't destroying the main floor.
"Watching TV," he said, rubbing his neck and seriously regretting his decision.
"Good." She stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She waited for his eyes to meet hers and then she kissed him. When she pulled away, there were veins around her eyes and her fangs had dropped. The sight made Klaus growl, his eyes turning yellow as he brought his lips to her neck and let his fangs sink in. She moaned loudly and threw her head back. Soon it was too much for her and she knew she needed to drink from him to counteract the venom, so she pushed her hair behind her ear and leaned towards his pulsing veins.
It had also been a long time since they drank from one another, because there was too much of a risk of the girls barging in to find their parents a bloody, fanged mess. The shower really was the easiest place.
When Caroline felt Klaus retract his fangs, she waited a moment to make sure that she wasn't infected, and then pulled away, licking her lips. Nik pressed his lips to hers, tracing her tongue with his. When they finally, but reluctantly broke away, they pressed their foreheads together.
Caroline sighed. "Why don't you get dressed and check on the girls while I finish getting ready for the funeral," she suggested.
Klaus nodded, kissing her cheek, and exited the shower. Caroline let the water run over her for a few more minutes before groaning and turning the shower off.
She put on her robe, dried and curled her hair, and put on her make-up. She chose a strapless black dress and sweater. She hated funerals, but in a small town like Mystic Falls, skipping major events rarely went unnoticed.
She looked herself over in the mirror, smoothing out the skirt of her dress before heading downstairs. She found the girls watching TV and snuggling with their dad, which brought a smile to her face. She waved a quiet goodbye to Nik and crept out the front door, not wanting the girls to notice.
Elena was not having a good day. She couldn't keep blood down, which was just wonderful because of the mysterious vampire hunter that had found his way to Mystic Falls. She couldn't bring herself to tell Stefan what was going on because she didn't want to disappoint him. Damon was trying to be helpful as much as possible, but she couldn't help but feel like Stefan should be the one helping her through this time. All she had to do was make it through the funeral without incident, and everything would be okay. For the moment.
Bonnie was having a hard time as of late. Watching her Grams die, real or not was horrible. And to make matters worse, Kol wasn't in town to comfort her. She knew that he would come immediately when he heard what happened, but she didn't want to be so desperate. She was upset with a lot of people, but none more than herself. She had agreed to see Stefan long enough to make Elena a daylight ring, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone but Kol. Needless to say, she would not be attending the funeral.
The funeral was a disaster. April Young had almost died, and to top it off had almost been injured worse by Elena before Caroline stopped her. Tyler was shot in the heart with a stake, but luckily the hunter hadn't anticipated him being a hybrid. Elena fed off of Matt, which was quick thinking on everyone's part in the middle of the memorial. The day had gone horribly, and Caroline couldn't wait to get home to her family.
When she walked in the door, she was greeted with hugs and kisses from her adorable twins.
"Hey girlies, how was your day? Did you have fun with Daddy?"
The girls nodded excitedly. "We watched TV, we played house, and we went for a walk outside!" Klara said happily, while Carina grinned.
"I'm so glad," she said smiling.
"And how was Mommy's day?" Klaus asked, walking in from the kitchen. He leaned in to kiss his wife on the cheek, earning a grimace from both girls.
Caroline put the girls down and sent them off to play before answering.
"Well, it was awful. Despite being a memorial service, there is a new vampire hunter in town who seems hell-bent on identifying and destroying us all. I think he only knows about Tyler for now."
Klaus's face hardened. So this was the origin of his bad feeling. He had been so caught up in spending time with his family that he had ignored the inevitable threats that constantly loomed over Mystic Falls. This all seemed very familiar, and if this was the kind of hunter that Klaus thought, he wouldn't be easily stopped.
"Is something wrong?" Caroline asked, putting her arms around his neck.
Klaus cleared his throat. "No, nothing. Just worried about you. You should've told me about all of this sooner."
"I'm sorry. But don't worry, we'll get rid of him sooner or later."
That was, in fact, what worried Klaus. The Hunter's Curse was not something to be taken lightly.
Okay, so as you may have guessed, I'm continuing this story! I decided that in order to keep going, I needed some plot points, so I am going to follow season 4 (loosely). I changed the timing of a lot of things, and the circumstances, but major plot points will be similar. Also, I might move the story to NOLA around the time that TO starts (Hopefully at least 5 chapters from now), but I need ideas for reasons that Klaus would need to go there, since he wouldn't be having a baby with someone who isn't his wife.
As always, thank you for reading and reviewing and following me after all of this time!
Until next time~
