"You're more than welcome to invite Seylah and your brother for next weekend," Freya said as she buttered her bread. "Since it's a three day weekend, it would be the perfect time to for them to come for a visit."

Ryan froze, the set his fork down into his plate, his scrambled eggs and bacon momentarily forgotten on his plate. He chewed the food in his mouth and swallowed thickly. To clear his mouth, he took a sip of his orange juice.

Hope studied him for a moment, her brows furrowing. He rarely ever stopped eating until he was full, so whatever was going through his head, it needed to be stopped in its tracks.

"I didn't want to inconvenience anyone by inviting them into a house that's not mine."

"They're your family, Ryan. And you haven't seen them since we left Washington."

"You're with Hope, and you live here now. So as long as you talk to us about it, don't be afraid to have your family around." Freya smiled softly at him. "Besides, after Nyssa is born, you and Hope won't feel much like having guests for a few months and she's very close to her due date. Yes, you'll have us to help, but you're her parents and most of the responsibility will fall on the two of you to raise and care for her."

Hope rubbed her belly and Nyssa kicked in response. She had trouble moving sometimes, even with her werewolf agility and strength, but she wouldn't trade this experience, bringing Ryan's baby into the world, for anything.

"Seylah wants to see you." Hope placed her hand on his back. "I heard your last phone call with her. It sounded like Landon is struggling without you. I mean, you are the only father figure he's had, so having you leave so suddenly, it probably left him feeling abandoned."

"I'll talk to her when she gets off work tonight."

Hope scooted her chair over just a little, then leaned over and kissed his shoulder. Ryan sighed and pressed his cheek against her hair.

"If Rafael comes along, let me know, so I can have a room prepared for him too."

"Knowing him and Landon, they'll probably end up sharing a room."

"So I'll prepare two rooms and have a futon set up in Landon's, just in case," Freya decided.

"Is Rafael still struggling with everything?" Hope asked.

"He is, yeah. Landon is worried about him because he's not adjusting like they'd hoped."

"I can't say I'm surprised." Hope sighed, her heart aching for the werewolf. "He found out about this terrifying world and that he was a part of it after accidentally killing this girl he thought he was going to spend at least a few more years with, if not the rest of his life."

"Having Landon around, even if no one knows what he is exactly, it helps him," Ryan said.

Freya added, "Clinging to the familiar is not uncommon in such traumatic circumstances. And if he does come with your family, we can introduce him to the Crescent pack so he can start to learn what it means to be a wolf outside of the school pack."

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that."

"Oh, and Ryan? You're family. We're not going to throw you out or reject you. We Mikaelsons may fight like wolves and argue and in the past have even tried to kill each other, but at the end of the day, we love each other. No matter what happens in the future with you and Hope, you are Nyssa's father and that makes you family, always and forever."

The older witch picked up her coffee mug and took a sip. Taking that as the matter being settled, Ryan turned his attention back to his breakfast and dug in with renewed gusto.

Hope smiled as the tension drained from him. They might have to talk more about this later, but for now, he seemed to be fine.

After breakfast, Hope made her way to the nursery. With Nyssa's due date approaching, it was high time they finished getting everything together. Rebekah and Hayley had done most of it, but they hadn't yet found the perfect crib for it.

When she entered the room, she stopped short. There, against one wall, was her crib, with a patchwork quilt tucked neatly over the mattress and a mobile hanging over it. Judging by the freshest scent in the room, it was Klaus who'd set it up.

Her throat tightened and tears filled her eyes.

"I hope you don't mind," Klaus said. "I just- I wanted to help you give your baby the welcome into the world that we couldn't give you."

Unable to speak, Hope threw her arms around him as best she could and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you, Dad," she managed to choke out.

"I love you, sweetheart." Klaus kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too."

"I hope you know I'm going to be very protective of her since Triad deprived me of the opportunity to do that for you after they stole you away."

Hope pressed herself closer to him and smiled. She hadn't been able to spend much time with him as a child, because he was busy being tortured and keeping their family alive. So having him here now, protecting them, it soothed the last of her worries away.

Klaus Mikaelson would protect his princess and her baby and anyone who dared try to harm them would pay dearly. To the rest of the world, he was The Great Evil, but her her, he was her dad and he loved her.

Nyssa chose that moment to start kicking and Klaus started laughing.

"I know who she got that from." His blue eyes twinkled.

"Who?" Hope shifted so she could look at the crib, but she kept one arm wrapped around him.

"You. Because you were a fighter even before you were born, which was a good thing, considering all the people who tried to kill you even then."

Soon, very soon, her baby would be sleeping in that crib, and Hope found herself wondering who Nyssa would favor more, or if she'd be perfect combination of the two of them. She rubbed her belly and Nyssa kicked at her hand.

"I wish-" Klaus swallowed thickly.

"Don't, Dad. I'm home now, I'm happy, I'm with Ryan, and you're going to be a grandfather."

"Still-"

"No, Dad. No regrets."

"I'll still blame myself, you know."

"And I'll remind you every day if I have to that what happened to me was not your fault. And even if you come up with ways to blame yourself, I'll still tell you that you're wrong."

Klaus chuckled, then said, "I don't suppose you would want to sit in on some meetings I have to have."

He led the way towards the door, closing it behind them.

"What's going on?"

"Just business as usual with the different factions. I am the king after all, and it is my responsibility to see to the needs of the city."

His smirk didn't sit well with Hope. If he was smiling like that, he must have had a hand in it somehow, so she raised one eyebrow in skepticism.

"Alright, the new mayor is going to be briefed on everything she needs to know about the supernatural," Klaus admitted.

"What happened to the other one?"

"He had his own best interests in mind, and decided to help himself to city funds."

"You didn't have anything to do with that, did you?"

"We didn't make him steal from the city. He did that on his own."

"But you may have had something to do with him getting caught."

"I will neither confirm nor deny such an accusation, but I will say that the funds he stole from were to improve on the city I rule."

"He was willing to sacrifice the well-being of his people for money. People like that have no right being in command."

"My thoughts exactly."

"When will they be here?"

"In a few minutes."

"I need to get changed."

Hope looked down at her loose fitting sweats and t-shirt. Pregnant or not, there was no way she was meeting the higher ups of the city dressed like this. She had to live up to her family's name and represent herself accordingly.

"Alright, sweetheart, I'll see you downstairs." Klaus kissed her hair and walked away.

Hope hurried to her room and changed into a royal blue jersey dress. She pulled her hair back into a braid, then put on a little makeup. After double checking her reflection, Hope slid her feet into a pair of flats and headed down the stairs.

When she entered the room, the last of the faction leaders was taking a seat around the table. There was one open chair next to Klaus and the humans in the room all stared at her as she cross the room to sit down.

"My daughter, Hope, who most of you are aware of."

Some of the humans started whispering amongst themselves, doubting her origins.

"I'm sure you're aware that most of us have sharper hearing than you do," Hope said. "If you'll save your gossip until we actually can't hear you? And for the record, I am actually his biological child, not his girlfriend, not some hanger on, his daughter. I'm sure his actual girlfriend would be offended that you suggest he'd cheat on her."

Hayley, in her role as the wolves' alpha, snickered and ducked her head, to hide that she was laughing, and the other supernatural factions reacted similarly.

With her little speech, the humans became more subdued, glancing at each other sheepishly.

"Now, I gathered you here to introduce my daughter, Hope, to you, Madam Mayer, but she already introduced herself."

"Let's get down to business, shall we?" Hope shifted to get a little more comfortable.

Klaus smiled proudly at her and Hope grinned.

The meeting came to an end several hours later and Hope was ready for lunch and a nap, in whichever order she could get them in, preferably lunch first.

When she walked through the door, she almost ran into Ryan.

"Rebekah told me the meeting had come to an end," Ryan explained. "I made some lunch for you."

The mayor looked Ryan over, her expression clearly interested. Of course she would be. Ryan was a beautiful man and the lack of daylight ring even though he was standing in the sun probably gave her hope that he was human.

"Good. I'm starving."

"I thought you might be."

"Who's he?" the mayor whispered to one of her cronies. "He's gorgeous."

The mayor's continued interest annoyed Hope, especially since it should have been obvious that Ryan was there for her, so she took his hand and linked their fingers together. Ryan brought their joined hands to his lips and kissed her fingertips with a smile.

"Ryan." Hayley greeted him.

"Hayley, good to see you."

"I hope you don't mind if I invite myself over for lunch." The corners of her lips curled up a little teasingly, knowing that Ryan would never keep her and her daughter apart.

"I made extra, just in case, since Hope being in the bayou so close to her due date will go against Keelin's orders, and you were in town."

Ryan guided Hope towards the kitchen and Hayley fell into step beside them.

"You're sweet."

"Hope is the only one allowed to say that about me." The lack of venom in his voice made Hayley laugh.

"While you're here, we do have a dilemma we could use your help with though, so maybe we could talk about it while we eat?"

"Sounds good."

As soon as they entered the kitchen, Ryan went to the oven and pulled out a pan.

"Lasagna, garlic bread, and a tossed salad."

"Good, because I've got a serious craving for Italian, even though it will probably give me heartburn later."

Hope's stomach growled as soon as she finished speaking and Ryan grinned.

He served Hayley and Hope their plates before scooping twice the amount of lasagna that he'd given both of them onto his plate. Once he had his food, he sat down beside Hope and dug in with the gusto of someone who hadn't eaten in a day, instead of a few hours.

"So, what did you need?" Hayley finally asked

"Landon and Seylah will hopefully be coming into town next week, and Landon's best friend is a werewolf who's struggling with being what he is and should be coming with them."

"How can I help?"

"It might help if Rafael spent time with an established pack, instead of just the school pack." Ryan finally set his fork down for a moment.

"Let me know and I'll have some of the guys come around. Or send him to us. Whichever works best for helping him."

"I'll talk to Seylah tonight."

"He didn't know about the supernatural at all before he turned, did he?" Hayley guessed.

"No," Ryan confirmed. "He found out after he'd already triggered the curse."

"Poor kid. Yeah, he definitely needs time with us in the bayou. Let him see what it truly means to be a wolf."

"Thanks, Mom."

"Just keep me informed about what the plans are. I'll make sure we're ready for him."

"Landon will be relieved to hear that," Ryan said and he relaxed a little more.

When Hope saw his reaction, she felt guilty. She'd taken him states away from his family, from the woman he'd saved and loved like a sister and the boy he'd helped her raise. And with him so far away, he probably felt like he wasn't helping any longer.

"Maybe we could think about having Rafael join us for the summer. Surrounded by the Crescent wolves, he won't be a threat to the humans on the full moon," Hayley suggested.

"We can talk about this when they get here, to give Rafael a sense of having some measure of control over his life, but I think it's a good idea."

Hope reached under the table and wrapped her fingers around Ryan's free hand. She rubbed her thumb across the back of his hand and smiled at him when he looked at her. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to her hair.

"Thank you for understanding," he whispered.

"Family is family, no matter how far apart we are, and you've been their primary protector for over a decade, so of course you'd be worried about them and miss them."

"It's only been recently that you've had a family to care about you after years alone, take it from someone who's been there, it's a hard thing to accept, that there are people who find you worthy of love and affection," Hayley murmured.

That night, Hope walked into their bedroom, she heard Ryan on the phone.

"Yeah, he's welcome to come along. Hell, the Crescents are expecting him and their alpha wants him to spend next summer with them."

Seylah said something, but Hope wasn't close enough to make out her words.

"You can come back when the baby's born if you want to, but Hope and I will be too busy with the baby to be much company, so..." he trailed off and laughed.

He paused as Seylah replied.

"Goodbye, Seylah. See you soon."

He pressed the end button, then turned around.

"Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. I'm just not used to this, letting people care about me, and trusting that they actually mean it when they say they do."

"Get used to it." Hope sat down beside him and ran her fingers through his curls.

"I've been a failure and useless to my father for centuries. Unwanted is all I've ever been."

"Your father is a dick and you are wanted and loved. So get used to it."

Hope kissed him softly and he smiled against her lips.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too."