Chapter 36

Bonnie had looked up the address for an upscale nursery store and they soon arrived. She instantly smiled as they made their way inside and she realized that she could shop for these things now. She had been browsing for a while when she fell in love with a white crib displayed with a beautiful chiffon canopy. It had pale pink tick stripe sheet with a blanket that had the Eiffel Tower and French script on it in pale cream, pink and black little towers. The dresser had a rod iron lamp that was a replica Eiffel Tower with a lamp shade atop it. The room also boasted a mini chandelier an oversized club chair in cream and a rug with French phrases. Bonnie was completely enchanted as she fingered the delicate bedding which also came in blue.

"Do you want me to buy it?" Kol asked as Elijah saw Elena stare at a mahogany crib with a green bedding and a mobile with stars on it.

"Yeah and I have a feeling Elijah's going to buy that one for the little boy they're having." Bonnie said as she saw Elena smile at him and turn to look at a different mobile-this time, with fast cars on it.

"It looks like it." He agreed.

Kol bought everything to match the display plus another set in blue. Then they also picked up extra blankets, basket organizers, diaper genies, bottle warmers; the whole nine yards. By the time they were finished the store would be delivering a truck full. Even Caroline had fallen in love with an Espresso stained crib though she didn't know what color bedding she would need yet.

Klaus was watching Elijah and Kol decide what colors to make the rooms. Elijah was wanting to go with a forest green color while Kol was undecided-having a boy and a girl.

"The forest green will be a great color." Klaus told them, making them turn around. "Though Kol should go with the blue-start off lighter and then go darker."

Kol knew that would be the best painting advice Klaus could give him.

"I was thinking cream and white vertical stripes but that blue sounds great," Bonnie smiled. She reached back to rub her back that had started aching and her feet were starting to hurt too.

"I used to be able to shop all day," Bonnie sighed.

"I know," Elena sighed as well.

Caroline groaned. Pretty soon, that will be her and she wasn't looking forward to it.

"It's going to be bad, isn't it?" She asked as she was already envisioning it.

"Actually most of the time it's exciting and I'm really enjoying experiencing it," Bonnie grinned.

"It's wonderful Caroline there's just some changes that come with starting to get bigger," Elena smiled.

"I think it's incredible," Kol grinned. He absolutely could not get enough of Bonnie growing larger with his child.

"I agree with my brother on this." Elijah said happily. His hands went straight to Elena's waist and the smile was plastered on his face.

This was the best day of his life.

They returned to the house and the girls settled in an upstairs sitting room with their feet up. Caroline noticed that both girls couldn't stop touching their bumps. She realized she had mixed feelings about growing larger...of course not that she wanted to but it was a little late to change her mind.

The second that she touched hers, she realized what her friends were experiencing.

A feeling of happiness. Smiling down at hers, she began to suddenly stop caring about what her child is but the fact that there was a child being held in there.

"Are you hungry?" Elijah asked as he walked in. Elena smiled and nodded.

"Very hungry. For Italian food and strangely enough, halibut." She blushed. "Maybe a spaghetti dinner with halibut that was cooked in butter and garlic."

"Oh Elena that's revolting!" Bonnie gasped, "I want steak fajitas for dinner."

"Mmm...that sounds good but I want a side of pickles with it," Caroline said which caused Elena and Bonnie to give her looks of disgust.

"I can understand the steak fajitas and the pickles," Elena told her with a look of revulsion. "But not together."

Elijah and Kol decided that instead of having one dinner, they would have two different ones.

"We will have steak fajitas," Klaus said from downstairs. "Pickles, spaghetti and halibut."

All three girls smiled at them.

Somehow all of them managed to get through dinner. Stefan was feeding his daughter her bottle and humming gently to her. Absently he wondered about Rebekah and what she was doing. He hoped she knew that he loved her but he couldn't condone her actions.

Kol saw that and asked, "do you want to talk to her?" Stefan nodded.

"I do and I want to know why she would do what she did and said she wanted to do." Klaus gave him a phone number.

"Thanks." Stefan said as Kol went to feeding Lilly.

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Stefan dialed the number and waited until he heard her say, "hello?"

"Rebekah." He heard her sharp intake of breath. "I want to know why you did what you did and why you said what you said."

She sighed. "You don't want to know."

"Try me." He said in a demanding voice.

"For a thousand years it's been the four of us in some combination or other. It was always my brother's and I. They were very protective of me and as I was the only girl they doted on me. Then suddenly their attentions were all captivated by little human girls nonetheless and at first I thought it was just another harmless flirtation but then they got serious. They forgot me and Elena, Bonnie and Caroline took my place."

"You had me Rebekah, still do," Stefan said.

"Do I, Stefan?" She asked. "Do I really?" He leaned against the wall he had his back in front of.

"You do but your punishment isn't for all of Lilly's life-it's till her sixth birthday." He told her.

She could hardly breathe.

"There's a condition to it, isn't there." She knew her brothers well.

"You need to let go of all this hate and anger you have for them otherwise, the next time you'll see Lilly is her high school graduation." He warned her.

Rebekah took a long, deep breath and sighed, "They're the real thing aren't they? They're my brother's mates?"

"It's real Rebekah. Believe it came as quite the surprise to them too," Stefan said, "remember when Bonnie first met Kol? They couldn't stand each other. Now they're both different...because this is how it is meant to be. The same thing for Elijah and Elena or Klaus and Caroline. By the way Klaus is going to be a father."

She sighed again. "I can try my best but it might take a while." Stefan let out a breath.

"That's going to be good then. You have six years to let it go." He told her.

"Stefan," she said gently, "I don't want to let you go. I miss you already and I really do love you. I don't want to lose you too. It's bad enough that I will be a stranger to my daughter when next I see her..." Rebekah began to break down and sob. A moment later she hung up the phone.

He looked at his phone before he threw it at the wall, watching it break and falling to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Kol asked. The youngest brother was surprised to find that he liked the younger Salvatore. He knew his sister had messed up horribly and deserved her punishment but he still loved her.

"I'm doing better." He said.

"How can someone be so easy to love and so hard to love at the same time?" Stefan sighed.

"That's Rebekah for you," Kol smiled, "we spoiled her. I mean it was how we were taught to treat a lady and Bekah was our sister. She was the only female constant in our lives. By the time we were turned Elijah and Klaus already understood relationships but Bekah and I were still treated like children for a while. I rebelled a lot and she cried a lot. Ironic that love, the real thing should find us both in Mystic Falls. I've had Elijah for help but Rebekah pulled away because she didn't want us to tell her no this time. I guess she couldn't figure out where she fit back in once the three of us had our arms wrapped around Bonnie, Elena and Caroline."

He knew that he had his work cut out for him.

"I'm making sure that Lilly doesn't turn out like her mother." Stefan told him with conviction.

"That's always a start." Kol said as he hit him on the shoulder. "Now c'mon, I need to clean this mess and you need to buy a new cell phone."

"Sorry about that," Stefan apologized.

"That's alright," Kol said. Stefan put Lilly in her little carrier and headed out to get a phone.

"How's he doing?" Elijah asked quietly as they watched Stefan leave.

"He's hurting," Kol acknowledged, "he loves them both but he's going to be a good dad to Lilly. I think she'll get what she needs. Actually I'm hoping they both will."

"You're starting to sound like me," Elijah said shocked.

"You just assumed I wasn't listening over the last thousand years," Kol grinned.

"There is that." Elijah told him with a smile. "You never seem to want to listen to me whenever I try getting you to actually listen."

Kol smirked at him.

"At least I try to listen! Not like Nik!"

"You are doing better Kol," Elijah smiled, "I'm proud of you. You're going to be a great father."

"I only hope to be better than Mikael had ever been." Kol admitted.

"We're going to be better than him." Elijah promised.

"Come on we've got to paint nurseries. I don't want Elena anywhere near paint fumes," Elijah worried.

"You know Bonnie wants three different shades of blue," Kol mentioned.

"Yes, well, Elena wants some different greens for little Henrik's room." Elijah groaned.

"Whatever happened to one color? For that matter when did you and I become so...domesticated?"

"When we met Elena and Bonnie."

Kol smiled happy at the mention of his fiancée. Almost as though he sensed it he turned back to look up at the walkway and there were Bonnie and Elena . Only the looks on their faces were worried.

"Where is Klaus? Something is very wrong with Caroline. She's feverish and weak. She looks like she's dying..." The two brothers looked at each other and ran to find out where Klaus was. Caroline needed him.

Meanwhile Bonnie and Elena sat on the bed next to Caroline. Elena was monitoring the steady heartbeat of Caroline's baby while Bonnie was doing a spell to try and see what was wrong.

"Caroline it's going to be okay," Elena tried to reassure her as she wiped away the perspiration from her friend's forehead and the tears from her eyes.

"I can't lose his baby," Caroline worried.

"You won't," Elena promised. "I swear that you won't."

Klaus rushed into the room with a horrified look on his face and took Caroline's other hand.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Klaus asked with obvious worry.

"That's what Bonnie is trying to find out," Caroline replied.

"The baby is poisoning you," Bonnie pronounced a moment later. "Werewolf secretions are poisonous to vampires. It's blood is toxic to you."

"Will my blood work to save her?" Klaus asked with worry coming out of his voice.

"It couldn't possibly hurt to try," Bonnie worried. "I mean basically I assume the principle is the same as if she had gotten bitten." Klaus didn't hesitate. He offered her his wrist and held her tenderly as she sank her fangs in. A few minutes later her color was back and she was feeling fine.

"I would assume she'll have to keep your blood in her system for the remainder of her pregnancy," Bonnie said.

"Sounds fine by me." He said tenderly as he stroked her hair back and kissed her sweat covered forehead. "I'm never leaving her side in case this happens again." He vowed.

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