By the time I next woke up, I was alone in the house but I was at the very least, fully healed. My magic had worked on me whilst I'd slept, and now all I had was a sticky mess in my hair so I started to sit up. My hand immediately went to my abdomen, checking up on the baby and thankfully, she was fine. More than fine, actually. It seems my body had naturally swamped to protect the baby, cushioning her as I'd fallen and I could feel the multiple protective layers that had come to wrap themselves around her. I doubt you could drop a bomb on me and even leave a scratch on her. Me? Not so much. "Thank god kiddo. Turns out, I'm a lousy guardian. Maybe I should have left you with your mom."
Searching for my phone, I quickly located it then dialled Klaus, wanting to know that everything was okay and where the hell everybody was. "Ophelia, tell me you're alright." His voice came through with a harsh edge from worry, and I couldn't help but feel relieved to hear him.
"I'm okay, and so is the little one. We're both fine." I promised him, setting his mind at ease. "Nik, have you found Hayley? It was Tyler, he came and took her last night and I'm so sorry, it's all my fault, I let him in and I shouldn't have and now he's taken her to god knows where and I feel so stupid for thinking that I could trust him when I should have trusted my instincts…"
"Easy, sweetheart, calm down. Elijah and I are already tracking down our little wolf and that traitorous pup of mine. I'll find her so enough with the panicking and take deep breaths." He instructed me so I followed as he said, taking deeper breaths in order to calm down. "We'll talk when I get back. Just rest and don't leave the house for any reason, I'll be back soon."
"Alright. Nik?" Rubbing at my neck as I struggled to hold back tears, I sniffed softly. "I'm sorry I let you down." There was a long silence that followed and I heard Klaus stop walking wherever it was he'd been trekking through. I couldn't hear any people or vehicles, so I guessed it must be somewhere in the outback.
"My sweet Ophelia, I very much doubt there is anything you could ever do to truly let me down." With a voice so soft and tender, Klaus spoke to me with such gentleness that I almost broke down completely, feeling even worse about myself. "I'll be home soon. Take care of yourself until then, try not to move too much." Murmuring in agreement, I hung up so that Klaus could get back to finding Hayley. For a while I just sat there feeling miserable and like a failure, rubbing my stomach where I was carrying the little one and apologised repeatedly for putting her in danger, berating myself for dropping my guard and vowing that it wasn't going to happen again.
Wallowing for a few minutes, I snapped myself back into shape and forced myself to just get on with it, deciding on a shower first because my hair had blood and gunk in it from the poultice which I vaguely seemed to recall Klaus making for me. Either way, my hair was a mess and there was blood all over me and I couldn't stand it, so shower it was. I washed myself clean, removing any evidence from my hair before I then wrapped it up in a towel and changed into something more comfortable and fresh, then went to my bed and stripped off the pillowcases where I'd bled on them and tossed them aside to be washed later before then going downstairs.
Just as I'd suspected, there was still my blood over the floor so I cleaned it up, moving slowly and carefully, also bringing down my blood stained clothes and cases in order to let them soak in hot water for a while so that I could try and get the blood out later. Once everything was cleaned, or in the process of being cleaned, I then returned to my room where I put entirely new and clean bedding on my covers and pillows so that when I laid down to rest for a while, I felt like a new person and could at least relaxed.
I actually slept a lot longer than I meant to, probably still recovering from the shock of being attacked from behind, however when I heard the door open and someone come inside, I started to rouse myself from slumber and recognised the sound of Klaus's footsteps as he lightly came over to me. For a while he just stood there, looking at me before he then decided to come and lay down beside me, his arm coming over my waist in order to rest over my stomach to hold the child he'd created and also hold me close to him as I groaned softly. "Nik?"
"I'm here, Ophelia." Comforted that he was back, I turned over so that I was facing him, my eyes still closed as I exhaled dreamily.
"Where is everyone?"
"I left them out in the Bayou. Hayley is recovered and unharmed much to my brother's relief, and Tyler lives yet to see another day." My nose wrinkled at that, gradually opening my eyes to look at Klaus and shift slightly so that I was more comfortable, my hand tucked up against my chest as his arm continued to lay over my waist. "What, you think I should have killed him?"
"He would have deserved it." I muttered coldly, closing my eyes again but I could already feel Klaus's smirk as he chuckled quietly at me.
"Ophelia Martin-Jones. Are you really condoning the death of another being? What have you done with my sweet, innocent and harmless girl?"
"Tyler whacked me on the back of the head and kidnapped Hayley despite several warnings from me to stay away. If he's an idiot with a death wish, then let him go looking for it." Not caring one whit about Tyler Lockwood, I thought back to something else Klaus had said. "Why did you leave Hayley and Eli out there?" Klaus stiffened slightly and I could feel his anger flaring slightly so I turned my hand around and touched my fingertips to his chest, making a sleepy humming sound in order to tell him to calm down.
"My brother and I had a quarrel. It appears that Tyler is under the impression that it is possible to create more hybrids using the blood of my child. He intended to prove it, but of course Hayley no longer carries the child and thus, the experiment failed. All the same, Hayley and Elijah are now under the impression that my only concern for the child is that I can use it to sire more hybrids loyal to me." I could hear the rage behind his voice even as he struggled to hold it back for my sake, so I started to run my fingers against his chest lightly, trailing them like a slight tickle. "My own brother…thinks me so monstrous that I would use my child in such a manner…they were both ready to believe the worst of me, so I bit Elijah so that he would suffer for a few days."
When I opened my eyes, I could see how tortured Klaus was, how hurt he felt under the accusation that he had known that this baby could help him create more hybrids and that he only sought to serve his own purpose with it. Although I was upset Elijah was now going to suffer through the werewolf venom, I was too preoccupied with Klaus to really pay him too great a care as of this moment. Pausing in my ministrations, I shifted my hand closer so that I could touch Klaus's throat instead, my heavy lidded eyes flickering down to watch my own fingers gently stroking against his neck. "That was wrong of them." I murmured, earning a surprise flicker from Klaus as he went very still. "I'm sorry they accused you like that."
"You don't agree with them?"
"Of course not. You've never had a child before, how could you possibly know how it's going to turn out?" I reasoned with a light shrug, my fingers now moving towards his jaw as I rather curiously began to familiarise myself with the form of his features which they had long since forgotten owing to the length of time away from him. "And I know that you care about the little one. The others might not be able to see it, but I can. You want this, even if you're afraid to admit it." Emotion swept over him, pure and heartfelt as it lay openly on his face. Klaus moved closer to me, an arm sliding underneath me as he lowered his head to mine in order to press his forehead against me.
"At least you have yet to give up on me, sweet Ophelia."
"Oh don't sound so sorry for yourself. I'm the pregnant one here, if anyone gets to feel miserable it's me." Teasing him lightly, we both smiled at one another until I felt my eyes beginning to droop again. "I can't wait for the baby to be born." I told him quietly, still completely wrapped up in his arms as I continued to smile into him. "I can't wait for you to meet her."
"Why's that, sweetheart?" Drawing back slightly, I pulled one hand free in order to rest it against his face, searching his face a moment before I then relaxed into a final smile and closed my eyes in order to rest some more.
"Because you're not going to love anyone as much as this little one. She'll bring you hope, and I can't wait to see the look on your face when you hold her for the first time." Klaus stayed quiet after that, occasionally pulling his fingers through my hair until I was asleep again. I only stirred when he untangled himself from me, rolling me onto my back in order to slip free and pressing his lips to my forehead rather affectionately before leaving me be so that I could rest and fully recover, and as I heard the door click softly shut I buried myself further into my pillows, hugging my covers to me and smiled, feeling the throb of life deep within me and praying that I was right.