Elena looked around the set up they'd provided for the wolves. Klaus and Rebekah were setting up a keg of beer while Hayley fiddled nervously with one of the dishes. Elena gave the stew she'd mixed the spell ingredients into another stir, then made her way over to Hayley.

"Relax, Hayley. They'll love you." Elena placed her hand on the werewolf's shoulder right over the bared birthmark.

"I just want it to be perfect."

"If that spell actually works, you'd earn the entire pack's loyalty, even without you being Andrea Labonair," the blonde human, Eve, commented, eyeing the vampires present warily.

"See?" Elena smiled. "It'll be good. I promise."

Elena patted Hayley's back and then headed over to Elijah.

"Have you heard from Ryan?" Elijah's brows furrowed, his mouth turning down.

"He and Caroline were setting up the spell to free the children. They should be on their way here in an hour."

"I'm afraid for him," Elijah admitted.

"Why?"

"He's performing this dangerous spell without us there."

"He's smart, he's strong, and he's got the power of my blood behind him," Elena assured him. "Not to mention that Caroline is there too. She'll make sure he's okay."

"I know. It's just-"

"You're just being a good father, worried about your son doing something potentially harmful."

"If I'm like this with a grown man, how am I going to be with the twins?"

"Not to mention an overly protective uncle." Elena rested her head against his chest and wrapped one arm around him.

"I don't want to fail any of them," he whispered.

"Worrying is sometimes the best you can do when they decide to do things on their own. And while they might complain about it, the knowledge that you care helps them through it when they do struggle."

Elijah inhaled sharply, then lifted his head and moved Elena to stand behind him.

A dark haired man with a short beard walked up to the vampires slowly. He glanced at Eve, his brows furrowing.

"I'm not compelled. Andrea Labonair has come home, though she goes by Hayley Marshall now. She's pregnant and the father of her child is Niklaus Mikaelson," Eve explained.

The man's face crumpled and he swallowed thickly.

"Hayley did what she had to do to save a bunch of humans after Klaus broke his curse to become the hybrid he was supposed to be," Elena cut in quickly. "And sex is the quickest way to distract a vampire from the kill. They're not together as a couple."

At this, man relaxed considerably.

"But I will be in my daughter's life. I won't do to Hope what was done to me," Klaus vowed.

"You're the wolf who was following me," Hayley said softly.

"Yeah. Jackson Kenner." He held out his hand and Hayley took it. "But everyone calls me Jack."

"It's nice to meet you, Jack."

"They might want to get to the stew before it's too late and we have to find a way to negotiate with Celeste again," Elijah murmured.

"Like that will happen, considering what I did to her."

"Exactly."

"I hate to interrupt, but I've got something for the wolves," Elena waved her hand towards the simmering stew, "a way to reverse the curse and return to the way things are supposed to be."

"You mean-"

"Human every day except the night of the full moon," Elena confirmed.

With a wide smile, Jackson whistled and waved his arm. At his command, the rest of the pack melted out of the forest. Then, he led the way to the stew pot, keeping order as they dished up, and they all dug in.

"Make sure everyone gets at least a bite of the stew!" Jackson directed the jostling group at one point.

Finally, they cleared the pot and every single member of the Crescent wolves, triggered and not, had at least a small bit of the stew.

Jack filled a mug with some beer and stood up on a table, then said, "Our curse is reversed and Andrea Labonair has come home! Also, we acknowledge a truce with the Mikaelson family for the sake of her child and because it's her connection to them that enabled us to be freed."

Everyone cheered and clapped, smiling at Hayley. She ducked her head, but couldn't fight her own smile.

"Come on everyone, it's a party!"

At Jackson's final announcement, a crowd converged on the beer kegs.

Jackson made his way over to Hayley and gestured for her to follow him down to the dock.

Elena glanced up at the moon. Ryan and Caroline would be finishing up soon if the spell went according to plan.

"Have you heard from them?" Elijah asked when he caught her furrowing brows.

"Not yet. But if I don't hear from them soon, I'm gonna get a hold of one of them and see what's going on." Elena reached into her pocket and fiddled with her cellphone.

After a few moments, Elena pulled it out and sent a text to Ryan.

Are you okay?

She waited, staring at the screen and her heart started to pound. This couldn't be happening. Her son couldn't be in danger, not because of her. Right as she made the decision to go back to New Orleans, she got a reply.

We're done. Delivering the children to Josephine now. We'll be heading to the bayou in about ten minutes, hopefully.

"What's going on over there?" Klaus whispered as he approached them.

"Where?" Elena asked.

"Down there." Klaus gestured with his head towards Hayley and Jack.

"Jack seems to have feelings for Hayley."

"He won't-" Klaus tried to walk down to them, but Elijah and Elena both stopped him.

"Wait, Niklaus. Wait. Let them talk."

"She promised she wouldn't shut you out, Klaus. She promised." Elena placed her hand over Klaus's heart and encouraged it to slow down just a little.

"She'll have to go through all of us to take Hope away from you permanently," Elijah swore.

"She knows what it's like to grow up without her parents. She won't do that to her baby."

"You'd better be right," Klaus hissed, then relaxed against their grip, but his face remained tense. "Where's Caroline?"

"She'll be here. Ryan texted just a little bit ago. They're on their way."

"Why didn't she text me?"

"Because they had seven children to wrangle. Ryan only texted me because I texted him first."

"I'll text her now." Klaus stared at Hayley and Jack as he spoke.

"Hope is a Mikaelson. We'll make sure she knows us," Elijah said.

Klaus headed towards the edge of the gathering, putting his phone to his ear as he went.

Elijah turned his head suddenly towards Hayley and Jack, raising a brow.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"Hayley wants to talk to the two of us."

Offering Elena his arm, he led the way down to the dock.

"What's going on?" Elena asked.

"Apparently, before Marcel hid me, I was betrothed to Jack. Something about uniting the packs and to try to stop the infighting. How should we tell Klaus?"

Elena glanced at Elijah and then said, "Wait until after Hope is born. He'll be less likely to have an issue if she's born before you marry someone else."

"And we might be able to convince him that it was his idea in the first place."

"Can we get Caroline involved? She can make him back down like no one else."

"I'll talk to her, but in my opinion, it would be best to wait until Hope is born before getting married."

"Why?" Jack demanded.

"Because there's something Hayley needs to know about her baby," Elena replied.

"What?" Hayley wrapped her hands over her belly.

"Her blood can create hybrids. If you become a hybrid before marrying Jack, you can share that with his pack and then the entire pack will gain your ability to control when you turn," Elena explained.

"Which would be a good thing in the fight against Dahlia," Hayley breathed out. "She wouldn't be able to turn the wolves against us if we give the wolves the only thing she can offer them that might convince them to her side."

"Exactly." Elena smiled.

"If Hope is the only kid Hayley has, I'll love her like she was my own," Jack promised.

"IVF," Elena suggested. "Once Hope is born, we could take steps to ensure that you can still have a child even after you turn."

"Can vampires carry children?"

"They can be surrogates."

"If Jack had his own child with Hayley, Niklaus would have even less of a reason to object." Elijah mused. "Though it is your decision whether or not to go through with it."

"Okay. We'll talk about that." Hayley looked at Jack, one brow raised.

"Yeah. But what we can agree on is that we won't get married until Hayley is a hybrid. And we'll talk to Klaus about a custody arrangement that works for everyone."

"He's already agreed to an arrangement, but that was before we found out that Hayley was betrothed."

"Because I didn't know."

"Wait until Caroline gets here, then we'll talk to him," Elena said.

"We could just announce it." Jack looked from Hayley to Elena then Elijah.

"NO!" the three shouted simultaneously.

"The best way to get my brother to agree to be supportive is to approach him quietly, with Caroline at his side."

"Why her?" Jack asked, confused.

"Because she's the first woman who's ever really seen him, who never sought to use him, who's never needed anything from him, but who fell in love with him anyway," Elijah murmured. "She sees Niklaus the man, not Klaus the monster. She sees my brother. She's by no means blind to his faults and she's the one person who can call him out on his crap without fearing retaliation."

Another SUV pulled up and the headlights cut off.

"They're here." Elena smiled.

She jogged up to Ryan and hugged him tightly.

"I'm alright. The spell gave quickly and the kids are probably home right now," Ryan assured her.

Elena stepped back and ran her hair over his curls.

"You knew I could do this."

"I know. I'm just not good at letting my children put themselves in danger."

Ryan leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm proud of you," Elijah said, wrapping his arm around his shoulders.

Ryan grinned and ducked his head.

"He was great." Caroline smiled. "And he's crazy powerful."

Klaus hugged Caroline from behind and kissed her temple.

"Hey, you," Caroline leaned into his embrace.

"Um, Klaus?" Hayley approached slowly. "Can we talk? You, Caroline, Elena, and Elijah? Please?"

Klaus looked at his brother, his face wreathed in concern.

"It's something that you need to know about, but it's not too concerning," Elijah assured him.

The hybrid nodded once stiffly and they made their way back down to the dock where Jack waited.

"What is this?" Klaus demanded.

"Hayley and I were betrothed before she disappeared." Jack hastened to add, "If we do get married, we've agreed to wait to marry until after the baby is born and I won't try to take your place as Hope's father. Though, I do promise to treat her the way I'd want my kids treated."

"You're betrothed," Klaus confirmed slowly.

Hayley nodded.

In anticipation of his reaction, Caroline wrapped her hand around Klaus's arm with one hand and rubbed his back with the other. He looked down at her, subtle fear in his eyes and she smiled up at him.

Caroline mouthed, "It'll be okay."

Klaus didn't relax, though he leaned into Caroline just a little bit more, as if to absorb some of her strength.

"Yes. The original agreement still stands. Every other week, until she starts school, then we'll renegotiate."

Klaus stepped forward and got into Jack's face. "Hope is my daughter. She will never call you father or dad or whatever. I am her father."

"I won't argue with that. She's yours and every kid needs their parents, if they're good to the child."

"So long as we have this understanding," Klaus smirked, "I wish you all the best of luck. Just don't turn any wolves into hybrids without discussing it with me first."

"Of course, like any other big decisions before she can make them herself, we make together," Hayley said pointedly.

"Just think, Klaus, if Hayley does decide to marry Jackson, it will give us allies in the wolves," Elena commented.

"Alright, I insist you marry him immediately."

"Niklaus. Hayley will make her own decision in this and whatever she decides, we support her."

"Women can make their own decisions regarding marriage nowadays, Klaus." Hayley tipped her chin stubbornly in the air.

Seeing that this could easily dissolve into a fight since they were both incredibly stubborn and got along like fire and gasoline when they got angry, Elena exchanged glances with Caroline. Caroline tilted her head towards the celebrating people and Elena nodded once.

"Come on." Elena linked her fingers with Elijah's. "It's a party."

Jack's brows furrowed as he glanced back at the pair remaining on the dock and Hayley shook her head, putting her finger to her lips. Finally, he nodded, following Hayley's lead to let Caroline handle Klaus.

After a few moments, Jackson looked up at the moon and then started laughing.

"What?" Hayley asked.

"Look at where the moon is. The curse is actually broken. We're free."

"I told you that Elena would come through for us."

"You did. Which means, it really is a party." Jack smiled at Hayley and nodded in Elena's direction.

"Your pack is Hayley's pack. And Hayley is family," Elena said as they walked.

They made their way up to the crowd where Ryan was entertaining the children with magic tricks.

"Who is he?" Jackson whispered to Hayley.

"He's Elena's son, Ryan Clarke-Gilbert. Most people just call him Ryan though."

"How?" Jack looked from Ryan to Elena and then back to Hayley.

"It's a long story," Hayley replied. "Don't worry about it. He's a good man and he'll tell you if you earn his trust though."

"Did you earn it?"

"Enough to know the basics."

"I'm sure it won't take much longer for you to earn his trust fully," Jack assured her.

The way Jack looked at Hayley, Elena knew, the werewolf alpha was in love with Hayley and no matter what she decided, he'd make sure Hayley was protected and cared for. Secretly, Elena hoped that Hayley decided to marry him. She deserved a man who looked at her like that, who loved her like that, who wanted her wholey, Mikaelson baby drama and all.