I beg for your forgiveness.

I know it's been a long time, but I was really stuck on this chapter after the first scene. My mind went blank and I had no clue how to transition through the rest of this chapter to get to the next chapter.

I'm sorry it sucks, but please bear with me. The next chapter will be better.

Loves you all, Comet96 xx

ELENA'S BIRTHDAY

Urgh, my mouth was dry when I woke and I was in a different room than the little curtain flap area in the ER.

"Where am I?" I muttered catching sight of Caroline as she lounged in a chair reading a magazine.

"They had to put three pins in your arm." Well, that didn't really answer my question.

"Is the baby alright?" I asked, resting my hand lightly over my stomach. I felt the heaviness of my left arm and glanced at the blue cast covering my hand and ending at my elbow. "How long do I have to have this on?" My throat was all croaky and as if sensing it, Jenna came into the room a bottle of water in her hands.

"You're awake. Fantastic." She unclasped the bottle and handed it over, a smile on her face. "The sonographer and midwife are on their way down," she said, settling next to Caroline and glancing at the magazine in the blonde's hand.

I only realised then that she was reading a baby magazine.

"Have you told anyone?" I asked Jenna, gesturing to my stomach.

"No, I thought you could tell everyone." Great. Throw me in the deep end, Jenna. It wasn't like I was in shit anyway for the broken arm.

"Not today though," I muttered, rolling my eyes at the pointed look Jenna sent me. "It's Elena's eighteenth if I'm remembering? I don't think it's wise I take the day from her, especially since she blames me for Stefan being with Klaus."

"Well, you have a point," Jenn reluctantly agreed. "But you will tell Damon. I'm giving you till the end of the month or I'll do it."

And it wouldn't be pretty. She left that bit unsaid, but I got the message.

"Klaus sent you flowers," Caroline input nodding to the sunflowers on the other side of the room. "He's also paying for your room." It would explain why I was in such a nice room.

"He's always going to be in your life, isn't he?" Jenna asked, the sudden realisation hitting her. Caroline nodded along with me, but I could tell she was more excited about it. "I'm not sure if I can get used to that."

"He's not that bad," Caroline argued and I was confused as to whether our positions were mixed up. Shouldn't I be the one defending him seeing as I was his wife? Yet, instead, it was my best friend defending him while I was the one overly cautious.

"And he's what? Your husband because of some ceremony you did to protect Damon?"

Yes. I had explained everything to Jenna. How could I not? Especially since she thought I just slept with him because he wanted it. It couldn't be helped and I didn't want her thinking I had been taken advantage of.

"Yeah, but you can't tell anyone, Jenna," I begged her, flicking my eyes to the door as someone knocked. "They won't understand. Please, Jenna."

She nodded, getting up and answering the door. Nurse Johnson came in with two other women, smiling warmly at me as they dragged in a bigger sonography machine.

"I bet you're excited, huh, mommy?"

Caroline was going a little overboard.

Elean told her she didn't want a party, but Caroline was throwing her one anyway. She's commandeered the Salvatore Boarding House for the party and she's conned me into helping her decorate.

It was hard decorating with the use of one arm.

"Shall we go get dressed?" Caroline said, appearing by my side within seconds. I hadn't even known where she was. I could tell there was something bothering her though.

"Where are we going?" I asked as she dragged me out of the house and over to her car.

"The cottage, I've got your outfit planned and everything."

I nodded along with her and strapped myself into her car, resting my head on the window as I listened to her chat away.

I wasn't really in the mood for a party at the moment. I had too much on my mind, like the fact I was bringing a miracle child into the world.

I was so set on not telling Klaus but as each second came barrelling at me, I wondered if I was making the right choice. It was his child after all, he had a right to know.

Was I any better than my mother for keeping it from him?

I knew she told Richard Lockwood that she was pregnant with me and he knew about me, but I didn't know about him.

Did I want the same for my child?

Could I do that?

"Hey," Caroline said, nudging my arm gently. "You okay?"

"Just thinking about the baby," I told her climbing out the car when I realised we were outside the cottage.

"It'll be okay, Ethel. If you want to tell him you can. He is your husband." Why did she always know what I was thinking?

"Thanks, Carrie."

She hadn't been lying about having planned out my outfit. Set neatly placed on the bed was a cute white dress that was about thigh length and plain in design. It was really lovely and I knew why she'd chosen it.

One, it wouldn't take any attention away from Elena and it wasn't eye-catching so it should draw the doppelganger's attention to me. I didn't need her shouting at me again because of Stefan's decision.

She matched the dress with a green jacket and clunky bracelets, I guess I'd only be wearing them on one wrist. It was also pure luck that the jacket was baggy enough to fit my cast through the armhole.

There was also a pair of matching green boots and a cute pair of white frilly socks.

I would one day hire Caroline to be my personal assistant. She seemed to do it all for me now anyway, why not pay her for it?

"Hey, I got you something," she said, coming into the room with a collection of tiny gift bags.

I frowned at the bags, watching as she sat on the edge of my bed and dug her hand into one of the bags. I could feel my lips twitching as she held up the tiny baby grow and I had to wonder when she found the time between this morning and now to buy it.

"Mama's main squeeze. Really, Caroline?" The vest was white but was covered in words and a massive lemon. She didn't say anything, just pulled out another vest. This one had an avocado in the middle with the words 'I want to Avocuddle' lopping around it. "Caroline."

"Oh come on, these are just the cute ones, wait until you see this one," she said, digging into another bag and pulling a black vest that had me laughing.

"I only cry when ugly people hold me. Really? I'd like to see you explain this to Jenna. How did you even get these so fast?"

"There's this really cute baby shop a town over, the one you were in last night. Well, while you were sleeping I thought I'd get you some presents, help cheer you up a bit." I gave her a soft smile and ran my hands over the baby vests. "This isn't a bad thing, Effie. It happened for a reason, right. There has to be a reason why he can have children."

"I guess you're right. I just, we don't exactly live safe lives, Caroline. He's the Original Hybrid and there are bound to be people out there that want to hurt him. What if they come after me because of her?"

"You can't live your life in fear, Effie. Make the most of it before she comes. We can find a way to keep her safe." She pulled out one more rest, this one white as well and placed it in my hands as she stood from the bed.

I was Daddy's fastest swimmer.

"Caroline!"

There was an awkward tension.

Caroline told Tyler she wasn't ready to be with him and I had a feeling it was because of me. Did she really think I'd care if she dated my brother?

And then she got all pissy when he turned up at Elena's birthday party with a date.

She was literally glaring at her right now and I was afraid she'd be able to harness the power of laser eyes.

"Why don't you go talk to him?"

"I'm not interested," she said, her eyes following Tyler as he walked over to Matt.

"You've been staring at him since he arrived. Go speak with him. Tell him how you feel and ask him to forgive you." I nudged her arm and gave her a pointed look. "And then you can jump his bones."

"I told Jenna I'd look after you."

"Caroline, we're at my dad's house. I don't think anything is going to happen to me here. If I get tired I'll go upstairs and put a charm on the door to prevent anyone from coming in." I pushed her away in Tyler's direction. "Go."

As soon as Caroline left, Elena's dark eyes found me and I was not prepared to listen to her complain all night about how I'd ruined her life.

Grabbing a can of soda, I pushed my way through the crowd and made it upstairs to my bedroom, closing the door behind me and putting up a shielding charm.

Settling on the bed, I curled up under the covers and turned on the telly. I could do a horror film. One of those stupid ones where the girl runs upstairs instead of out of the house when she finds out the killer is in the house with her.

Buzz. Buzz.

I glanced down at my phone, surprised to see Klaus calling me.

Did the hospital tell him I was pregnant?

He was my husband, after all, he had that sort of power. Or he could have compelled them to tell him.

"Hello?" I muttered, biting my bottom lip as I waited for him to shout down the phone at me.

"Are you back home, love?"

"Umm, I'm at the boarding house. It was meant to be Elena's birthday today …" I trailed off hoping it would be enough to distract him. I was so good at this lying to him thing. Not that it was a good thing.

"It would explain why Stefan's so … dramatic today," he mumbled. I could hear the smile in his voice. He was obviously pleased by Stefan's reaction.

"I'm thinking about getting a puppy."

So, I might have panicked. It was like I was afraid I'd blurt out the truth to him and I was trying to do anything to get my mind off the baby.

"A puppy?"

"Yes, I was going to call him Klaus."

"Very funny, love."

"I am thinking about getting a dog though. Not a puppy, that's too much drama and training and time I don't have." Especially considering there would be a tiny tribrid in eight months.

"Is there a certain breed you'd want?"

"A husky."

"I find it humorous that your favourite dog also happens to look like a wolf, sweetheart. Perhaps we were always fated to be together."

"Have you hit your head recently?" I asked, not liking him when he was like this. It was strange to hear him talking about fate bringing two people together. I only really pictured him as the sort to hunt down and kill a bunch of people.

"How's your arm?" It looked like he wasn't in the mood to argue and decided to change the subject instead.

"Heavy. They don't give you light casts, do they? Did Caroline tell you they needed to put three pins in?"

I wanted to know exactly what Caroline had said to him.

"She might have mentioned it. Have you looked into the vampire that attacked you?"

I knew there was a reason behind his call. Did he think it was a vampire he'd pissed off and was getting back at him through me?

"No, but Jenna and Alaric are trying to find something that might help them find out who it is. Jenna's asking my mother about the vampire she's hunting. She might know something."

"If you need my help, love, don't be afraid to call."

"Klaus, I need to …" I trailed off not knowing if I could tell him. Was it the best idea to tell him about his daughter? He was off hunting werewolves to transform them into hybrids. It didn't really show how responsible he was. "I've been having these dreams."

It seemed like the best route to go down.

"About what, love?"

"Werewolves. I see you a lot of the time. You attacked this boy. You attacked me."

"I wouldn't do that to you, Ethel." I could hear the hurt in his voice but he didn't blame me for sharing my dreams.

"I don't believe you would." I didn't want to tell him I was afraid he'd try to trigger my werewolf side once he found out about it. Was my dream warning me that he'd try to change me into a hybrid?

I would never agree to it. Not at the risk of losing my power.

"Get some rest, love. I'll speak to you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Klaus."

Thank you for reading xx