"I hope it's not too much of an inconvenience for me to come and stay for a few days," Malachai told Victoria. "If you need me to do anything…clean the house, mow the lawn, whatever, I'll do it to earn my keep."

"That's sweet," Victoria told him. "But you're a guest; you don't need to do any of that stuff." She paused as Molly came crawling into the kitchen and tugged on Malachai's pant leg. "However," she said, looking down as he picked Molly up, "It wouldn't be too much trouble for you to watch Molly and Finn sometimes while Kai and I go out? Or just one of them? You have powers, don't you?"

"Oh, yeah," Malachai nodded. "I have powers. I can handle these children. Compared to what I've encountered on some of my adventures, they're going to be very simple to deal with."

"Don't take them so lightly," Victoria urged when she heard this. "Have you ever actually dealt much with children?"

"Well, no," Malachai admitted. "But really, how hard can it be? From what I've seen, you have two very easy-going babies in your house."

Victoria snorted. "If that's what you think, then good luck to you," she replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Malachai called after her when she left the kitchen. "If you know something, tell me!"

But Victoria didn't hear him cause she was heading toward her bedroom to talk to Kai.

"I'm really worried about your uncle," she told him. "I don't know if he'll be able to handle the kids. He thinks they're just a couple of well-behaved babies. Or maybe easy-going was the word he used. He hasn't spent enough time around them. Once he does, he'll see that they're not as nice as he believes."

"Oh, I don't know," Kai shrugged. "Maybe he is reading them accurately. I mean, Molly only misbehaves around people she doesn't like and she seems to have taken a liking to my uncle. And I see no reason why Finn wouldn't like him. Finn gets along reasonably well with everyone."

"Maybe you're right, but I just don't want one of them to hurt him so he leaves and hates us forever," Victoria replied.

"Hey, if he's still willing to come visit me after all I've done, I think it will take more than being hurt once by a couple of babies to make it so he never wants to see us again," Kai assured her.

"I hope you're right," Victoria nodded. "Cause I really like your uncle. He's nice."

"Yeah," Kai nodded. "He really is. No wonder my mother hated him."

"So your uncle is visiting?" Adrian asked Kai as they sat in Kai and Victoria's living room. "What's he like?"

"Probably the only relative I have who likes me," Kai replied. "And he really likes the twins as well. Molly's really taken to him and so has Finn. I think he's out with them right now on a walk or something. Is that the case, Vicky?" He asked as Victoria came into the room with Ginger at her heels.

"Is what the case?" Victoria asked.

"Did Uncle Malachai talk the twins out for a walk?" Kai repeated.

"Oh, yes," Victoria nodded. "I think he did. I'm really amazed that he can handle them by himself, even if they do like him. It's amazing. You would think he'd be overwhelmed, but he's not."

"Well, you heard what he said about all his adventures," Kai reminded her. "After all he's experienced looking for treasure, a couple of babies don't faze him, even if they do have powers."

"Where'd the dog come from?" Adrian asked as he reached out to pet it.

"Her name is Ginger," Kai replied. "I got her from our neighbor."

"And when he says 'got' he means 'stole'" Victoria replied, but with good humor.

"Well, the man is dead," Kai told her. "Someone had to look after his dog. Why not us?"

Suddenly, a glimmer came into Adrian's eyes. "I just had an idea," he said. "You having a dog is very helpful to me."

"Why?" Victoria asked.

"Well, Helene's having baby yearnings again and as usual, the thought of that terrifies me," Adrian replied. "Your dog made me think of a genius way to stall that."

"Oh?" Kai asked. "And what is it that you're thinking of doing?"

"Just a minute," Adrian replied and pulled out his phone to call his wife. "Hello, Helene? Would you mind bringing Rusty over to Kai and Victoria's? They have a dog named Ginger that I want him to meet."

"Is this some way to stall a discussion about us having another kid?" Helene asked suspiciously.

"Why are you asking that?" Adrian cried. "You should know by now that the answer is 'Yes'!"

"Well, at least you're honest about it this time," Helene said. "And I suppose that giving you a chance to do this thing with Rusty will give you more time to mentally prepare for us having more children and I'm all for that. I'll be over with him in a minute."

"Thank you, babe," Adrian told her and ended the call. "Helene is bringing Rusty over so that he and Ginger can play," he told Kai needlessly. "And don't worry, if they hit it off. Rusty can't have puppies. We had him fixed years ago."

"Wow," Kai said in amazement. "You really are determined to let this baby thing linger, aren't you?" He asked.

"No, I'm not totally against kids," Adrian told him. "It just takes me some time to get comfortable with the idea. That's all."

"Okay," Kai nodded. "Sure. Whatever you say."

A few minutes later, Helene knocked on the door. Kai opened it and saw a dog at her side, specifically a white west highland terrier. "You remember Rusty," She said as they came inside. "He kind of gets handed around between us and our kids. Lucky for you he's at our house for the moment."

Rusty had been in Adrian's family for as long as he could remember and even before that. His parents had owned Rusty first and then when Adrian had gotten older, he'd taken charge of him. The amazing thing was that he was technically not a dog at all, but a man who'd gotten on the wrong side of his Aunt Anna, and was just one of many rejected suitors that she'd turned into puppies and then sold or given to her magical friends. Most of them just got to live normal dog lives and then die, but some, if they'd really ticked her off as Rusty had in his human form, got a spell put on them to make them immortal. Adrian wasn't sure how old Rusty actually was, but he knew he'd been around a while. They watched Rusty and Ginger circle and sniff one another, and then they must have decided that they were acceptable because they begged to be let outside where they romped around the yard together.

"I think it's good for Ginger to have a friend," Victoria remarked as she watched them. "She got taken away from her owner so abruptly."

"Well, if he would have just kept her inside in the morning, he'd still be alive," Kai said irritably.

It was then that Malachai returned with the twins. "Oh, hello," he greeted Adrian warmly. "Who are you?"

"Adrian is a friend of mine," Kai told his uncle as Malachai handed him Molly. "He's visiting for a bit. And his wife Helene is here too."

"Well, you don't need to introduce her," Malachai said with a wink, giving her hand a kiss as a growl escaped Adrian's throat.

"What was that for?" Malachai asked him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Adrian nodded and tried to calm himself down. "I'm fine, really." He then busied himself entertaining Finn and tried not to think about this man who was putting his paws and lips all over Helene.

"I really think you should come with me to meet Kai's uncle," Amy told Klaus who glared at her. "He's a really charming man. I think you would be amused by what he has to say."

"Why?" Klaus asked. "Is every word out of his mouth dripping with idiocy? And Adrian told me he's a big jerk with a roving eye."

"No!" Amy shook her head. "Of course he's not an idiot! He's an adventurer. He's seen all sorts of things! Not as much as you've see in the last thousand years, but you could probably exchange some interesting stories."

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't make a habit of making friends," Klaus told her. "I prefer to be by myself, or with my family, that's it."

Amy tilted her head to look at Alistair who was making up tea in the kitchen. "Is that true?" She asked him. "Does he really refuse to make friends?"

"When he's sober, yes," Alistair nodded. "When he's drunk, he's made plenty."

"You know who else is terrible at making friends?" Klaus asked Alistair. "Your wife. She turned me into a frog the other day. I didn't appreciate it."

"Well, you were being irritating," Alistair said simply. "She didn't become head of the Witch's Council by sitting back and taking people's nonsense."

Klaus grumbled a reply and the Amy said, "Get up and let's go see Kai's uncle. It's been a while since you've been out of the house anyway. It'll be good for you."

"Fine," he huffed. "But we have to pick up Kol along the way. I'm not doing this alone."

Amy groaned. "Oh, all right, you big baby. We'll check if he's home, but if he's not, no more stalling. Am I clear?"

"Oh, all right, whatever!" Klaus cried as Alistair chuckled silently behind his back. They then marched out to the car and went to pick up Kol, who was home.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Amy's making me meet Kai's uncle," Klaus huffed. "She thinks we can be friends."

"She knows you don't make friends very often right?" Kol asked. He then pulled a small flask of whiskey out of his boot and handed it to Klaus. "Here's something to help the process, brother."

"Are you wonderful or what?" Klaus asked and emptied the flask without taking a breath before handing it back to Kol. Amy rolled her eyes in the front seat, but said nothing, knowing that whatever she did say wouldn't help anything.

When they finally reached Kai and Victoria's, Klaus was genuinely surprised (although he didn't want to show it too openly so Amy wouldn't be able to gloat about being right) how much he actually liked Kai's uncle. Victoria and Amy watched, very pleased as the two men conversed.

"I spent some time in Egypt myself, you know," he told Malachai after hearing his story about searching for tombs and taking back magical objects that had been taken from ancient Egyptian warlocks who were being held hostage by the Pharaohs as a way of maintaining their powers.

"Did you really?" Malachai asked. "What did you do there?"

"Well, it was the late nineteenth century and I sponsored several digs in the Valley of the Kings," Klaus told him. "You know, the race to find the next big mummy, or any mummy at all, really. It was fascinating if you ignored the heat and the bugs and the sickness. Fortunately, I was a vampire at the time so the malaria that brought down many didn't faze me at all."

"How lucky for you," Malachai replied. "Did you find any big mummies?"

"No, but for a while, I had one in my living room to show off to friends at parties. He wasn't a king or anything. Just some nobody. I mean, I thought about killing Lord Carnarvon and taking credit for King Tut even though I had nothing to do with that and wasn't even in Egypt at the time, but Alistair wouldn't let me." Klaus sighed. "Such a shame. Although the curse of Tut's tomb brought him down quick enough I suppose."

"So you don't have the mummy anymore?" Malachai asked. "Because if you did, I would love to see it."

"Oh, I'm sure it's around somewhere. I'll look for it and show it to you if it turns up," Klaus promised.

They talked until Klaus grudgingly had to admit that Adrian's assessment of him was wrong. He was a good man. Maybe Adrian's belief that the man was after Helene had colored his thought of him. Because he didn't seem bad to Klaus at all.

Meanwhile, Kol wasn't paying any attention to Malachai at all. He had occupied himself with Molly and they were in her room working on her powers.

"I remember the brief period of time when I had magic," he told his granddaughter as she sat on his lap. "But that was a long time ago. But I've been good to witches since then. I wonder, if I asked nicely, if I could get my powers back? Astrid gives them back to anyone these days. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try."