AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello my lovelies! Sorry the update was a bit late this week. Things have been a bit crazy for me. It looks like almost everyone was happy with the last part. Now we enter into the part of the story where we see Klaroline dealing with the changes that comes with being together.

I have put a new poll on my profile page, please check it out so I can see what you think.

Thanks to Becky, Erika, Ashley and Alex for their help with this part.

Part 33 The Morning After

The first thing Klaus became aware of when he woke was the missing weight of Caroline's head on his chest. Figuring she had simply shifted in her sleep, he rolled over but his arm met nothing but empty sheets. His eyes snapped open and he sat up to look around the room. Caroline was nowhere in sight. He felt his heart sink a little at the thought that after everything, she had woken up this morning with regrets and had ran off.

However when he spotted the red dress that he had taken off of her the night before still lying in a heap on the floor, which meant that either she had ran out without it, or she was somewhere in the house naked. He really hoped it was the latter and decided to go search for her.

Klaus quickly slipped on his boxers before heading out of his bedroom. As he made his way down the stairs, he was about to check her room when the scent of coffee told him exactly where she was. He found her the moment he walked into the kitchen; she was filling up two mugs of coffee, wearing only his dress shirt from the night before and a pair of fluffy purple socks. The combination with her mused curls made him think that she had never looked sexier to him.

As she filled up her coffee cup, Caroline suddenly had the feeling of being watched. She looked over her shoulder and saw that she wasn't alone. Klaus was standing just inside the door staring at her. She felt a little unsure of herself in the light of day. Not about him, just exactly how to act around him. The whole scene felt both a little strange but also familiar. Her and Klaus started the day together with coffee in the kitchen several times a week, but never without the kids or dressed so minimally. Not that she minded a bit in his choice to come down only wearing his boxers. Nevertheless the lack of clothes and his messy hair were clear indicators of what they had been up to the night before. She lowered her eyes a bit when his gaze became too intense. "Morning."

Klaus smiled at her as he moved into the kitchen towards her. "Good morning, Love."

"Morning." Caroline repeated feeling instantly stupid for it. She held up one of the mugs to him.

"Coffee?"

"Thank you." Klaus acknowledged. "I was quite surprised when I woke up alone in bed."

"Um...yeah. I needed some caffeine, since I didn't get much sleep last night," She replied, then winced at how it sounded. She hadn't meant to make it sound as suggestive as it came out though.

Klaus lifted his eyebrow at her over the top of his mug. Once he swallowed the hot liquid, he smirked her. "If I recall correctly, you were the one who woke me up, quite deliciously as a matter of fact."

Caroline couldn't help but blush a little at the memory of how exactly she had woken him up. It's not like any woman in their right mind could blame her after all, when you wake up in the arms of a naked man as gorgeous as Klaus, it was hard to keep your hands to yourself. "Yeah, well I can still blame you."

"Is that why you stole my shirt?" Klaus asked as put down his mug. He moved over so that there were only inches between them as he reached out and played with the buttons that rested between her breasts.

Caroline's breath hitched a little at the heat she could feel from his fingers through the shirt. She wasn't sure if her hands were steady enough to not spill her coffee on the two of them so she set it down quickly next to his and tried to reply. "Nooo. It…I was cold when I got out of bed and it was the closest thing I could find, since I didn't exactly feel like putting my dress back on or walk around the house naked. You don't mind do you?"

"Not at all. Actually I think it looks a lot better on you than me." He praised as he moved his hand up to her face. Her eyes looked everywhere except directly at him. His fingertips brushed her cheek, feeling the soft skin there before he cupped her chin. "Caroline, what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You are doing everything you can to not look at me, and you are shuffling your feet back and forth like you are nervous." Klaus explained. "Look at me."

It took her a minute but Caroline finally directed her blue eyes to look up at him. He could tell that she wanted to look away but was staying steady. "You aren't regretting last night, are you?"

"No." Caroline answered.

"Then what is it?"

"I'm not sure how to act exactly now." She replied. "I mean last night was wonderful, but this morning is pretty surreal. I'm standing in the same kitchen I am in every morning with you but now things are different, we are different and I'm not sure how I should be acting."

Klaus couldn't help but smile at her babbling. He moved his thumb to caress her chin a little before replying. "Act however you want Caroline, however makes you feel comfortable. Because I don't want you to feel as if you have to walk on eggshells or act a certain way. I'm quite familiar with you and I enjoy you."

She smiled tenderly at him before she moved forward and brought her lips to meet his. The kiss started soft, teasingly but he wanted more. His mouth pressed over hers urgently, his tongue parting her lips to deepen it.

His hand dropped from her face before he brought his arms around her, so that he could press her body fully against him. Caroline couldn't help but think of how similar this was to the dream she had had about them in Barbados. However, this time it wasn't a dream and she could indulge in him without a guilty conscience.

When her body hit the counter behind her, Klaus brought his hands down to her thighs before lifting her up and sitting her on the surface. Though she was seated securely, it didn't stop her from bringing her legs up to wrap around him so that she could keep him pressed close against her. She rolled her hips a little to grind against him. She wore nothing under his shirt so the only thing that separated her core from his obvious arousal through the thin material of his boxers. Something he seemed to realize. He pulled his lips away from hers before traveling down her neck, kissing, tasting, and sucking as he moved lower.

Despite what he was doing to her, Caroline was still somehow aware of what was going on around her and when her eyes landed on a drawing on the fridge, she couldn't stop herself from blurting out.

"How are we going to do this?"

Klaus pulled away from her neck to look at her quizzically. "Well, love, if you don't know, then we didn't do it right the first couple of times."

She lightly smacked him on the shoulder as she rolled her eyes. "Not that. This." She replied as she motioned between the two of them and then the room around them. "Us and the twins, telling them. We never talked about it last night."

"No, we didn't, did we? I believe you distracted me before we could." Klaus teased as he returned to the spot on her neck where he had left off. He slid his hands up from their place on her outer thighs to her hips. He had been very much aware a minute ago at how little she wore underneath and very much wanted to get back to that. All it would take was a shift of his boxers for the barrier between them to be gone and he could be inside of her again.

What the man in front of her was doing to her neck was positively sinful and though she really wanted to give in, and let him have his way with her, even there on the counter, she tried to focus on what she had been saying. "I'm serious. This is a big change."

He could tell by the sound of her voice how serious she was so he unhooked her legs from around his waist and held his hand out to help her down from the counter. As he did, he tried not to show the disappointment he felt at not being able to continue what they had started and attempted to get his body to calm down. Not an easy feat considering what they had been doing or the fact that she was still so close to him dressed only in his shirt.

"I know it is sweetheart, I'm well aware of the fact. However, it's not as if I have any kind of past experience with these matters."

"Me either. I've never dated anyone who had a child or children, let alone children that I already have a relationship with," Caroline replied as she thought over things. "Should we even tell them yet? I mean, this is a brand new thing for us and though I haven't done this before, isn't it typical that single parents don't bring in the kids right away?"

"Again, no experience here and this isn't exactly a typical situation," Klaus stated. Though now that she mentioned it, it probably was the best idea for them to hold off a minute before telling Henry and Lexi. He and Caroline were so new and they needed to find their footing without the kids being stuck in the middle and with hearts in their eyes directed at them. They were already so attached to Caroline, especially Henry, that he wouldn't be surprised if once they did tell them, that the twins would expect them to get married the next week. Their ideas on romance and relationships were still that innocent.

"But I agree; we should hold off on telling them. As well as everyone else or we'll risk the twins finding out before we can tell them."

"So we just wait and tell them whenever it feels right?" Caroline asked. She needed some adjustment time to deal with her new status with Klaus before it all came out. After all, if this was a relationship with anyone else, she wouldn't be telling anyone about it for a little while.

"Well the twins have been begging me to take them down to Orlando for their birthday," Klaus replied. "What if we take them down there next month when they are on break and tell them then?"

Caroline couldn't help but laugh at his suggestion. "You want to bribe your kids by taking them to the Happiest Place on Earth to like your girlfriend?"

"No, they already love you, I'm bribing them to let me share you with them." Klaus explained. "In case you weren't aware, they are a tad protective of you so bribery is probably the way to go."

"Then I guess we are going to Disneyworld." Caroline agreed before her thoughts went into planning mode. "If we are going to go next month there's going to be so much to do. I need to make a list and..."

Klaus listened for a minute as Caroline started listing off everything that they needed, and he knew that she could go on for awhile like this. While things needed to be done, they could wait a little while. They only had a few more hours alone and he wanted to take advantage of that. So he decided he was going to have to do something to get her mind off of it for the moment.

Caroline's mind was going a mile a minute with all of the plans she needed to start working on that she didn't even realize that he had moved until she felt herself being suddenly lifted off of the floor. His hold on her legs forced her to wrap them around him or risk falling. "Klaus! What are you doing?"

"Just taking advantage of having an empty house," Klaus informed her as his mouth covered hers for a moment, kissing her quickly before moving up her jaw, to her neck again. He lifted her a little higher so that he was able to lower his mouth to the top of her chest while he walked towards the staircase before climbing them. "Keep talking, I don't mind."

'Seriously?' was all Caroline could think of as she tried to remember what she had been talking about. Right, the twins' trip. "I need to start searching online, see what...um...I can find..."

"Mmmhmm?" Klaus asked when he reached the top of the stairs and pressed her against the wall for a moment.

"...on plane tickets, hotel reservations, tickets to the parks..." Caroline stuttered as Klaus tugged open the top two buttons of her shirt with his teeth, allowing him complete access to her breasts. He left wet open mouth kisses along the swells before taking one of her nipples in his mouth, causing her to throw her head back and moan. "You're making this very hard you know."

He released her with a quiet pop as he smirked at her. "I don't think I'm the one making things hard here, love."

Caroline gasped in pleasure as he jerked his hips against her to show her exactly what he meant before he rested his forehead against hers. "Caroline, you're babbling, and I enjoy listening to every word that comes out of your mouth but just know that I'm going to take you into your room and make love to you again and again... so if you want to keep talking, go ahead but pretty soon you'll be screaming whatever it is you say."

Not waiting for a response, Klaus pulled them back away from the wall and headed down towards her bedroom. His was too far away. They could talk later, right now he just wanted to enjoy some time with his girlfriend.

/

"Oh, God!" Caroline moaned.

Klaus watched as her eyes rolled back in her head and her lips curled in a satisfied smile. "Enjoying yourself love?"

She nodded her head vigorously in answer. "Yes, but I want more."

"You can have as much as you want." He replied. "Do you have a choice of what you want next?"

"Um, how about some of the noodles?" Caroline answered as she pointed the takeout container with her chopsticks. Klaus handed the container to her before reaching for the one she'd been enthusiastically enjoying for himself. She waited until he took a bite before she spoke. "It's unbelievable isn't it?"

Klaus shrugged. "It's good, I don't think I'll be as passionate about my enjoyment of it as you were."

Caroline couldn't stop her from teasing him, "Jealous?"

"Not at all," Klaus replied with a nod of his head before a wolfish smile appeared on his face. "Because the noises I brought out of you were much more vocal and...numerous."

At his words and the memories of what they brought up, she felt her body heat up with arousal again even though it was still relaxed and tingling from their earlier coupling. She had a feeling that this was going to be a regular thing for her now, feeling both sated and aroused.

Klaus saw the red blush tinting Caroline's cheeks and knew that his words had done exactly what he wanted them to do. They lounged there eating and enjoying being around each other. After their last round, Caroline had said she was spent until she could get some food into her system. So they had ordered in and were now eating and relaxing on her bed, enjoying a bit of a picnic lunch.

From his spot reclining against her headboard, he looked around at the various containers, Caroline on the other side of them sitting cross legged at the foot of her bed, now dressed in a tank top and pair of tiny shorts. She had put them on claiming that they were more decent than her just wearing his shirt but he was pretty sure she was less covered. Not that he was complaining. However the food and her state of undress did bring something to the forefront of his mind. "I should have taken you out to get lunch, instead ordering in."

"Why?" Caroline asked confused. "We have everything we need here and it's nice."

"As nice as this is, I plan to take you out for a proper meal soon sweetheart. I don't want you to think that I want to keep us strictly in the bedroom." Klaus answered.

"I don't. After all, it's not like this is going to be happening all of the time." She assured him as she put her food aside and crawled up onto his lap. His hands came up to rest on her hips while she settled onto him comfortably. "Once Henry and Lexi come home, we'll be back to each of us in our own beds."

"It's going to test my resolve greatly knowing you are down here, alone wearing only these skimpy pajamas every night." Klaus commented as he brought one hand up to play with the strap of her top.

"Well maybe we can figure something out where you'll be going to bed alone, but not frustrated." She said with a smile. "But first, I thought maybe I could make dinner tonight for the four of us."

"Caroline, I don't want you to feel like you have to." Klaus stated. "I'm normally the one who makes dinner on Sundays."

"I'm not doing it because I have to, I want to. I want to make dinner for ...my boyfriend?" Caroline said in question, not sure exactly what his title would be: Boyfriend? Lover? However, Klaus answered her implied question with a nod and she smiled before continuing. "My boyfriend and his kids. Just have a quiet dinner before the weekend is over."

"Then please do, but I highly doubt the dinner will be anything but quiet," he replied with a knowing smile. She returned his smile before she leaned in to kiss him but stopped when his phone rang. Recognizing the number, he quickly answered it. "Hello, Sage. Called to tell me you'll be returning my children to me soon?"

Caroline's smile returned as she listened to him talk. She slipped off his lap and reached for her own phone to check messages. There were a few text messages, from Elena and her dad but that was it. What was strange was that she hadn't gotten any from Bonnie. She hadn't heard anything from her friend since the night before at the wedding. She would have to call her soon. She put her phone away when she heard Klaus ending his call and turned back to him.

"What did Sage have to say?"

"Actually it was Lexi, she called to tell me that Sage would be bringing them home within the hour."

"That sounds like our cue to finish this up. I need to jump in the shower before I run to the store to get a few things," Caroline said. She started collect the containers to take them downstairs, but paused when she felt his arm snake around her waist.

"How about some company in the shower?" Klaus asked, his mouth close to her ear. He was surprised when Caroline shook her head and squirmed out of his grasp.

"As appealing as that sounds, and believe me it does, I don't think that's a good idea. I know exactly what would happen in there and we have things to get done," she explained. "So I'm going to go take a shower in my bathroom, you go use your own."

Klaus wanted to argue, but could see the conviction in her eyes on her decision. He moved forward, her watching him warily as if she thought he was up to something but instead he took the food from her hands with the intention of taking them for her. "As you wish sweetheart, but the offer stands if you want to join me."

Caroline watched him walk away, still clad in only boxers, before quickly turning away to busy herself cleaning up what was left. Anything to keep her from taking him up on his offer.

So what did you think? Too fluffy? For those of you who wanted Morning after smut, sorry to disappoint.

What do you guys think of them making the decision to wait to tell the kids? I know it probably surprises some of you but if they were in an ordinary relationship where they didn't live together, etc they wouldn't be announcing their new relationship then either.