A/N This was written for Klarosummer Bingo using the prompt, "Summer Blockbuster Movie." Make sure to check the event out on tumblr at klarosummerbingo for all the new KC content! Let me know what you think if you liked this, but no concrit, please!

Portrait of a Marriage

Paparazzi were obnoxious little vermin. Caroline Forbes and Klaus Mikaelson were engulfed by a swarm of photographers all trying to capture the best shot of Hollywood's favorite couple as they walked arm in arm up the red carpet outside the Dolby Theatre. They stopped to smile and pose at appropriate intervals, the modest diamond of her engagement ring flashing brightly over her platinum wedding band as she waved to the fans watching the 97th Academy Awards at home. They made the perfect pair and had since they married ten years prior after a whirlwind romance that lasted all of six months before they decided to spend their lives together.

They didn't know at the time that ten years was all they'd ever get.

Caroline and Klaus were both passionate people. She'd been raised in a small town to a single mother more dedicated to her career than her child. Drama classes were the one place she felt she belonged, so moving to Los Angeles had been an easy decision once she hit eighteen. He'd been raised in London and learned to act by lying to doctors about many, many childhood injuries from a man he learned as a teenager was not his father. Leaving for America at seventeen when his older brother landed a scholarship to UCLA was an obvious choice.

When they met at a casting call for some lame commercial that never even aired, Caroline's bright and bubbly personality was a perfect dichotomy to Klaus' mercurial ways. Their chemistry on and off the set was undeniable and every director in Hollywood wanted to cast them together. It was an easy thing to capitalize on, but after a couple of years, they wanted to explore roles beyond husband and wife and had the clout to do it. Their lives were about work and each other with very little time for anything else. They took turns traveling to various locations so one of them could work grueling eighteen hour days while the other watched from the sidelines. It wasn't until they'd been presented with a script so captivating and profound that they agreed to return to each other on the silver screen.

Portrait of a Marriage caught their attention as soon as Klaus' agent sent it over with a strong suggestion that they take the time to read it before turning it down. They each flew through the script in less than a day and fell in love with the story of a taciturn artist and his brilliant yet impulsive wife. It was a period piece that portrayed the birth and death of a relationship over the course of three inspiring yet heartbreaking decades. The sets and special effects were minimal, the focus on their acting. The roles were intense and required Caroline to lose thirty pounds. It was the most challenging yet rewarding experience of their careers and less than two years after receiving the script, they found themselves seated in the famed theater surrounded by the biggest names in the industry. The crowd buzzed with excitement as an up and coming actress took to the stage to introduce their film.

Klaus and Caroline couldn't even look at each other.

"Our next nominee for Best Picture was written and directed by Logan Fell and stars Klaus Mikaelson and Caroline Forbes, all three of whom are among tonight's nominees," Katherine Pierce read from the teleprompter, her tone clear and crisp. "Based on a true story, Portrait of a Marriage is an epic saga beginning in the late 19th century and spanning more than thirty years as it follows the tumultuous relationship between iconic Russian impressionist Nikolai Anselovich and Lina Vervain, a French ballerina who gave up dancing in the Bolshoi Ballet to follow him around the globe." The lights dimmed as a clip from the film began to roll and the audience was transported a century back in time…

Sitting up against the cherrywood headboard, Nikolai ran his calloused fingers through his thinning dirty blond curls and sighed. It was 3:00 AM and he'd lost track of time in his studio. Again. He'd expected his wife of thirty years to be asleep in their penthouse, but Lina was up waiting for him when he came in at 2:30 and they'd been arguing ever since. "This will pass, dorogoy," he promised, hoping the epithet from his homeland would soothe her as it came out in his thick Russian accent. "The exhibit will open and I'll have more time for us. We're just going through a rough patch."

"No, we aren't! This is it - and it's all the time!" Lina shrieked in her flowery French accent with elongated vowels, high-pitched nasally voice hoarse from yelling. She ripped the light green summer blanket off and jumped up from the bed. Waving her bone thin arms around, she gestured between them erratically as the silk of her nightgown clung to her skin and highlighted her slim frame. "I have been waiting and waiting and waiting and it never ends!"

"It's this place." Getting up from the bed they'd shared for so long, Nikolai walked over to the open door leading to their balcony and looked out over the city that once shone so brightly but was now as dim and lifeless as the light that had gone out of his wife's sapphire eyes. His angry words reverberated to create a low rumble in the back of his throat and rolled off his tongue effortlessly, his consonants garbled in the guttural accent he spoke so well. "Manhattan is a toxic cesspool of concrete and crime and everything you hate." Inhaling a deep breath to steady himself, he dragged his paint-speckled hands down his gruff cheeks and turned to face her, overgrown stubble flecked with grey. "Let me take you someplace else, anyplace else," he pleaded with her, topaz eyes wide with desperation. "I still need one more piece for the Hermitage. I can paint anywhere in the world you'd like to go. Let us leave this putrid sea of filth and I'll take you somewhere beautiful. Rome… Paris…" Flashing his dimples as he reached for her hands, he added playfully, "Tokyo?"

Lina pulled away from his grasp and shook her head, messy golden curls now shot with silver bouncing around her shoulders. This was what he did, how he won her over every time. He'd flash her those damn charming dimples and make promises he'd never keep. And she fell for it. Every. Single. Time. Not this time. "It doesn't matter what city we're in because your art will still be there. New York isn't the problem anymore than Moscow was the problem, or London was the problem. We are the problem." Her melodious voice that was usually a calming lilt cracked as she looked away, eyes rimmed with red. "You are my problem."

"Nice," he muttered darkly under his breath, nodding his head ruefully as he pressed his wrinkled lips together to keep from screaming. Staring down at the light green carpet they'd picked together, he placed his hands on his hips to ground himself. "That's really nice, love."

Despite the balmy summer breeze engulfing the city wafting in from the balcony, Lina felt a chill wash over her as goosebumps formed on her smooth skin. Looking over at him, she wrapped her arms around her tiny torso and rubbed her palms up and down her bare biceps, light pink camisole nightgown doing nothing to stave off the ice piercing her chest. Her aging body knew what she hadn't realized until that very moment. Blinking away a few tears, her voice was nothing but the remnants of a broken whisper. "This isn't going to work, Nikolai."

The artist rounded on her, face reddening as tears swam in his topaz eyes. "There is still love here!" he choked out, his throat thick as he struggled to keep his volume down. She hated it when he yelled.

"Not enough." Lina shook her head sadly as she felt her heart shattering but her tone remained even, her words the simple truth she'd been hiding from for far too long. "Traveling the world is simply you looking for an easy fix for something that can't be fixed."

"Because you have unilaterally decided we are irreparably broken!" Nikolai growled in a deep baritone as the words came tumbling out, his syllables blending together as he lost the battle with his emotions. Stepping forward, he crowded her airspace, eyes flashing in the dim light of their incandescent bedside lamps. "You don't even want to try." He reached for her shoulders, but she took a step back to keep from falling into his familiar embrace.

"That is so unfair," she spat back, holding up her wrinkled palms defensively. "I have been trying for years and I just… I don't want to do it anymore! I can't. I cannot keep coming in second to a paintbrush." A single tear ran down her cheek but she quickly swept away a second before it could fall. There would be a time to cry. Not now. Not in front of him. Not again. "I don't want to fight with you anymore. I think…" Breathing ragged as her slender body trembled, she inhaled a shaky breath and squared her bony shoulders. In her head, she said it with such strength and conviction, but as the words spilled out and flowed together, they sounded so small and unsure that they were barely audible even to her. "I think we might be done."

The star-studded audience burst into applause as the clip faded to black and Klaus and Caroline came into focus, their youthful faces smiling on camera for the world to see with none of the make-up that had aged them thirty years. The grey in their hair was gone and their clothes were no longer reminiscent of the early 1900s, instead replaced by fabulous formalwear. It was strange seeing older versions of themselves at the end of their marriage. Even with the costumes and sets and well performed but still phony accents, it was disconcerting to Hollywood's favorite couple.

With a bright smile full of perfectly white teeth, Klaus muttered from the corner of his mouth amidst the applause, "The irony of using that particular clip fucking kills me."

"Smile for the cameras, honey," Caroline whispered sideways as the applause began to die down, her smile wide and saccharine. Flashing her his brightest smile, he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek as America ooooed and awwwed. Resting her head on his shoulder, she waved at the camera one last time before attention shifted to the host of the prestigious ceremony.

After the fight they'd had, playing the happy couple was the role of a lifetime.

Portrait of a Marriage received the most Oscar buzz by far of the seven films up for Best Picture. Of the twenty-four awards to be announced that night, the summer blockbuster movie had been nominated for a staggering seventeen. Klaus and Caroline were the clear front runners in their respective Leading Role categories and Logan was favored to win Best Director. As the night progressed, they watched with pride as their coworkers accepted statue after statue. Finally, it was time for the awards they'd been waiting for. With the cameras focused on them, she gripped her husband's hand so tightly that he grimaced and worried it would sprain.

"Breathe, sweetheart," he reminded her tersely. Her response was a short, dramatic inhale as her body reverberated with excitement and anxiety despite her skin crawling at the feel of him.

The audience watched with bated breath as Hollywood icon Sheila Bennett took to the stage to announce the next winner. "And the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role goes to… Caroline Forbes as Lina Vervain in Portrait of a Marriage."

Klaus immediately joined the crowd in a standing ovation, but his wife was glued to her chair. Eyes wide in shock, she shakily got to her feet as he pulled her up and gently pushed her toward the stage. Her speech was lovely; she was humble and gracious and said all the right things to make the crowd ooo and ahh, thanking her husband most of all.

What a sham.

When the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role went to Klaus for his performance as Nikolai, his speech was equally moving with an appropriate amount of approbation for his lovely and talented wife and costar. It was good to be one of Hollywood's top actors because without all those years of training, he couldn't have kept a straight face. Together, they joined the rest of the cast and crew on stage as their director gave a speech when Portrait of a Marriage was awarded Best Picture. They breathed a collective sigh of relief as the ceremony drew to a close and they could finally leave, citing Klaus' immediate flight to Norway to begin filming his next movie as the reason for skipping the after party.

For the first time, she wouldn't be flying with him.

Caroline's fake smile was the first to go as soon as they got in their limo, followed immediately by her stilettos. Neither spoke a word the entire ride home to their beachfront mansion. His bags were already packed so there was little left to do except rid himself of his ridiculous tuxedo before leaving. He had every intention of walking out the door without a word, but then he caught sight of her staring morosely out at the waves crashing on the shore.

Klaus never could resist stopping to stare at her.

With a sigh, the actor slowly walked over to her with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans to keep from reaching out and touching her bare shoulder, the silk and chiffon of her light blue gown clinging to her porcelain skin. "You're really not coming to Oslo?" he asked softly as he came to stand beside her, both of their gazes on the Pacific ocean.

When she answered, Caroline spoke in a monotone and couldn't bring herself to look at her husband's profile in the moonlight. "What is there for me in Oslo?"

"I'm there. That used to be a perfect reason to fly off together." Despite his best efforts to keep himself calm, there was an accusatory edge to his tone. "When did I stop being enough?"

"When you lied to me, Klaus." Spinning angrily on her bare heel, the actress turned to face him at last, artfully styled tendrils framing her face. "It stopped being enough when you looked me in the eye and made a promise you had no intention of keeping."

"I didn't lie, Caroline," he argued with a heavy sigh as he ran his fingers through his tousled curls. "I said we could discuss children a few years down the line."

"What you forgot to mention was that there was nothing to discuss because you'd already made up your mind that kids were off the table!" It was the same argument they'd had before the awards, only this time she didn't stop her voice from turning to a shriek. There were no longer any paparazzi waiting for them. Who cared if mascara ran down her face and her eyes puffed up to twice their normal size? "You let me marry you thinking we'd have a family someday when you knew damn well that day wasn't coming!"

"We are a family!" Klaus shouted, his voice reverberating around the massive room."You are my family and I am yours. We've built a life together." Pulling his hands from his pockets, he dramatically gestured around. "Look at this place. Every inch of this home was designed, built and decorated by and for us. We've made names for ourselves in Hollywood. We're the most talked about couple in America! Why can't you just be happy with that? Why must you always insist on having more?"

"This house…" Caroline scoffed, shaking her head as her hands came to rest on the waistline of her exquisite ball gown. "This house has seven bedrooms… What in the hell do you think I wanted so many rooms for?" She scoffed again when he said nothing, turning his head guiltily away. "I loved you, Klaus. I loved you so much that I wanted to fill those rooms with our children. I wanted to raise a family and watch them grow and grow old alongside you until we were wrinkly and gray and surrounded by fat grandchildren. And possibly a dog…" Frowning, she paused in a way he'd always found adorable before adding almost as an aside, "But I'm really not sure about that dog part because they drool and it stains the upholstery. And then there's the shedding and you know how much I hate that…" Shaking her head to bring her focus back to him, the blonde poked him hard in the chest, finger brushing his wolf's tooth necklace. "But I wanted the option to have drooly, furry furniture. And you never wanted any of it!"

"I wanted you." Unable to resist, he wrapped his hand around the finger poking him, flinching when she pulled away. "I still want you. But it's clear you don't feel the same."

"That is so unfair," Caroline humphed, crossing her arms over her chest defensively as she turned and took several steps toward the window to put some space between them.

"What's unfair is you trying to force me to have children when I don't want to be a father!"

"No, you do not get to play the victim," she growled, rounding on him as she waved a finger furiously in his direction. "When we got married, you let me believe you just weren't ready yet. What you meant was that you were never going to be ready. You knew I wanted children and I thought you wanted the same thing."

Klaus' topaz eyes were steel as a muscle in his jaw twitched, his tone bitter iron. "And would you have married me if I told you the truth?" The words were barely out of his mouth before his stomach was rolling, heart hammering wildly in his chest. He didn't want to know.

"I…" Caroline paused, unsure of the answer. Her mouth opened and closed a few times as she debated it. Looking over at her, he raised his eyebrows expectantly as he stepped closer. "I don't know. Maybe?" With a huff, she threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. "It at least should have been a damn discussion! But no. No, we can't discuss it because you've already made up your mind, haven't you? Don't answer that." She held up her palm to stop what she was sure was a wholly inadequate explanation. "We both know you have. What I don't get is why. Don't you think I'd be a good mom?"

Biting the inside of his cheek, Klaus gulped down his emotions as he stared out at the crashing waves. How could he tell her? It wasn't something he thought he'd ever have to explain. Caroline always knew what he was thinking, sometimes before he did. It was why they'd worked for the last decade. Lowering his voice, he finally replied, "It has nothing to do with you."

"Well, then what does it have to do with it if it isn't me?" the actress demanded, oblivious to his inner turmoil. "You have not given me one good reason why we can't be parents. You've been dodging the question ever since you dropped this bomb on me and I think I have a right to know why."

"Do you even have to ask?" Rounding on her, he rolled his eyes and scoffed before shrugging in disbelief. "I mean, look at me."

"I am looking at you."

"LOOK AT ME!" Klaus' bellow made her jump as he grabbed her by the shoulders, their faces mere inches apart. "I'm selfish, and I have a temper, and I put my work before anything else, and that's worked for us because you do the same. But kids?" Letting go of her, he shook his head and returned his focus to the wall of windows overlooking the pacific ocean. "They're going to need us to be there all the time. What do I say to them when it's been a shit day working on a shit role with a shit director and I want nothing more than to crawl into bed with my wife, but she's busy changing diapers or running lines for her next role and I have no one but myself when I've always been my own worst enemy?" Turning back to her as he continued to rant, she could see that his hands were shaking and his eyes were rimmed with red. "How do I tell them to leave me alone because I can't control myself every second of every day and sometimes fall apart completely? That I need you to help me but you're not there to do it? What do I say when I can't find a way to put my broken pieces back together and end up scaring them? Or worse, what if I-"

"What if you end up just like Mikael," Caroline finished for him softly. Their eyes met and she felt all the rage fall off her shoulders when a tear rolled down his cheek. It wasn't that he was selfish. He was scared.

Unable to hold her gaze, Klaus turned his back on her and shrugged. "What kind of a father could I ever be?" With one forearm over his head, he leaned forward and pressed his forehead to the cool windowpane, his hot breath forming steam against the glass.

"Is that what all of this has been about?" she asked quietly, slowly walking up behind him and standing at his side as she eyed him sympathetically. "You're afraid of turning into him?"

"The apple never falls far from the tree, sweetheart." Still unable to look at her, he huffed out a dry, humorless laugh. "How can you ask me to bring children into the world just so they can have my life?"

"Because they won't have your life!" Caroline shouted, startling him into turning to face her with a small jump. "We are not your parents, Klaus. We weren't forced to get married at sixteen because our parents wanted to avoid a scandal when we got pregnant after a drunken one-night stand. And I would never have a child with another man and try to pass it off as yours just for you to hate it when you found out." Scoffing, she added with a grimace, "And for that matter, I sure as hell don't want seven children. I want one baby, maybe two, and I want them with you…" She waited for her husband to take the bait and say something, anything, but he just stared at her as words eluded him.

Caroline inhaled a deep breath and wiped a stray tear from her sapphire eye before it could fall and bleed mascara on her $30,000 gown. "But if you really can't even consider the possibility that maybe you want one with me, too… That maybe, just maybe, you could be the terrific father I know you would be, then go." Squaring her shoulders, she placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head at the foyer where his suitcases were waiting. "Get on your plane. Go to Oslo. But know that I won't be here when you get back."

"So, that's it then? I either give you what you want or, what? Exactly how far are you willing to take this, Caroline? Are we talking about taking some time apart or..." He couldn't bring himself to say the word, instead letting his voice trail off.

"I can't pretend it would be a trial separation. If you get on that plane..." Inhaling a deep breath, she couldn't say the word, either. She blinked a few times, but it wasn't enough to stop a tear from rolling down her cheek. "This isn't going to work, Klaus."

"There's still love here!"

"Not enough." Wrapping her arms around her shoulders, Caroline sniffled as she tried to keep from shattering completely. "I don't want to fight with you anymore. I think… I think we might be done."

Klaus looked at her and she looked at him and neither knew what to say. They stood there in the middle of their massive living room in complete silence for several very long, tense minutes as each waited for the other to break. Finally, he looked down at his watch and cursed the time staring back at him. "I have a flight to catch."

Nodding her head, Caroline wiped away a tear, mascara smearing all over her index finger. "Yeah, filming starts in two days. You'll need one to settle in. You should go."

Klaus nodded as he turned his back and walked to the foyer where his suitcases were waiting. With one hand on the doorknob, he looked back at his wife crying alone. "I'll call you tomorrow when I land."

"Yeah, okay," she sniffled, unable to watch him walk away. She wanted to run to him, to beg him to change his mind, to offer to change her own… but she didn't. She couldn't.

Caroline stood in her living room in her expensive gown with her shiny golden Oscar beside her on the mantle and did nothing as Klaus walked out the front door and out of her life.

The phone didn't ring the next day.

After two days of radio silence, Caroline was crawling out of her skin. Despite her vow to not be there upon Klaus' return, she hadn't set one foot outside of their house. She couldn't. They'd never gone this long without speaking and not hearing his voice was deafening. She felt like half of her very soul had flown across the sea, never to return. Breathing was more like choking and she was quite certain her heart was steadily escaping from her ribcage. Tears ran dry as sobs made her stomach tap dance and her body lay broken on the ground. In twenty-nine years, she'd never known such pain as those two days.

Actors could be a little dramatic.

Caroline was sitting curled up in a ball by the massive wall of windows in old pink sweats with her hair haphazardly thrown up in a messy bun. Without a speck of makeup, she was quietly watching a gentle tide roll in as her mind spun in circles. All she could think about was Klaus' question. Would you have married me if I told you the truth? They were nineteen and twenty-one when they'd met. She was wild and impulsive and so was he. Looking back, their conversation about children lasted all of thirty seconds. The actress had grown up since then and had learned that while restraint was often dull, it was occasionally necessary. She was a woman nearing thirty with the world at her feet and the talent and control to do anything and be anyone, but that didn't change the reckless and carefree girl she'd once been.

Yes, she still would have married him.

What the moping blonde didn't know was what that meant for them now. They'd married almost on a whim after the words came tumbling out of him the night he landed his first big role. All Klaus wanted was to share it with her and that was reason enough to ask her to marry him. He didn't even have a ring when he turned to her in bed, but she said yes before it even occurred to her that he needed one.

Ten years later, was it just as easy to divorce as it was to marry? Caroline didn't know if there was hope for their future, but she wasn't willing to walk away without finding out. She hadn't decided if she wanted to stay together, but she had made up her mind that she would still be there when he came home in six weeks. She would take that time to think and when he came back, maybe she'd know what to say. Resigning herself to mulling it over alone, she stared morosely out at the unfairly sunny day with her forehead pressed to the glass when her misery was disturbed by the doorbell. Groaning, the actress forced herself to drag her feet over to the foyer.

Suddenly, life was worth living.

"I thought you left," she began shakily as she opened the massive front door and saw her husband standing there, his Porsche convertible in the driveway. She wanted to run to him but her feet were frozen to the floor, unsure what this meant or what was the appropriate response. Where was a script when an actress needed one? Blinking a few times, she asked the first thing that came to mind. "Aren't you supposed to be on set?"

"I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be," Klaus replied, taking a tentative step toward her. He was relieved when she didn't step away and released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

"But filming starts today," she pointed out, shaking her head in confusion. If there was anything she knew about her husband, it was that his job always came first. "What about the movie?"

"As it turns out, they can't actually start filming without the star." A small smile curved up the corners of his lips at the way she had to bite back a grin. There was a time they'd have been cut as extras for being a minute late. Now, the world would wait. "I'm needed here. My family comes first. Everything else will just have to wait."

Family… Caroline could feel her heart beating erratically in her chest, the staccato rhythm pounding in her ears. If he was here, did that mean… What did that mean? She opened her mouth to speak but all she heard was a loud bark. Slamming her lips together, she looked around in confusion. Did she really just bark? Maybe she was so desperate to save her marriage that she was hallucinating. Looking over at her husband, she heard it again and felt slightly less insane but definitely more confused.

"Ah, well, I guess not everything can wait," Klaus explained sheepishly, awkwardly reaching behind his back to reveal a leash. Giving it a tug, a small puppy with a roan coat and bright, happy eyes and a wide smile came up beside him and immediately began nosing his pockets. Reaching into his jeans, he produced a small treat and held it up high. "Sit." The dog did not sit, instead jumping up on his tiny legs and dancing around in eager circles. Dropping the treat to the front step with an annoyed huff, he looked up at his wife bashfully. "He's a work in progress."

Caroline couldn't help but smile despite her confusion as she knelt down to pet the energetic little creature. "Who is this?" she asked in a high-pitched tone as she rubbed his ears. The puppy's tongue darted out to lick her face and she yelped, laughing brightly. "Whose is he?"

"Questions yet to be determined," the actor replied evasively, grinning happily at the way the puppy was all over his wife. "What's definite is that he needs a walk. We've been in the car a long time. Would you like to join us?"

The blonde had always been a sucker for animals. She wasn't sure what her husband was up to, but she knew she had to find out. "Yeah, okay. Let me just grab my shoes." Standing up, she looked down at the dog worriedly. "He's not going to drool on them, is he?"

"Basenjis dogs clean themselves. They don't have a lot of drool to spare." He flashed her his dimples. "Your upholstery - and shoes - are probably safe." She breathed a sigh of relief as she ran up the stairs and threw on the first pair of sandals she could find, eager to find out what this animal meant for her future. "That was quick," he commented as he took in her flushed face. "I thought we'd see if he likes the beach. Can we cut through the house?" he asked as though his name wasn't still on the deed.

Caroline narrowed her eyes as she looked down at the happy little puppy. "Do Basenjis shed a lot?" she asked warily.

"Very minimally," Klaus assured her as they stepped inside. "I did my research. No drool stains. No furry furniture."

"Okay, but he'd better not eat the sofa," she replied with an accusatory finger pointed in her husband's direction as they led the puppy to the back door of their mansion, his tiny nails clicking on the hardwood floors.

"That one is a matter of training, I'm told. He's nine weeks old today, so there's plenty of time to stop him from developing bad behaviors."

Caroline sideyed him, wondering where he was going with this. "Does he have a name?"

"Not yet." Their mansion overlooked the ocean; it was something she'd insisted on after living hours from it growing up. Unsure what to say, she followed him along as the puppy struggled to break free of his leash. He wanted to sniff everything, stopping every few feet and squealing when a sand crab went scuttling away from his intrusive nose. The couple began to chat idly about nothing in particular, all the while letting the puppy lead the way. His enthusiasm was infectious and the longer they walked, the more names she kept coming up with. Klaus rejected every one of them and made a mental note that if they ever did have children, he was naming them without her.

"I always wanted a dog when I was growing up," the actor commented, trying to keep his tone casual even though she'd always been able to see right through him. "But Mikael would never let us have anything, not even fish. Rebekah brought sea monkeys home from school once and he made her flush them down the drain."

"I guess that explains the five aquariums," Caroline pieced together, nodding thoughtfully.

"Indeed," the actor confirmed, stealing his resolve to get the next words out. "So, I decided that if we're going to have children, I'd better make sure they have a dog." Caroline stopped dead in her tracks, her body frozen as she stared at her husband unblinking. "Oh, they can have sea monkeys, too. I'm not sure why they'd want to. Always seemed rather dull to me, but they can have them if they'd like. And fish. I'm sure Rebekah would love to set up aquariums and teach them about saltwater and freshwater. She tells me they're very different. They could choose one or the other, but she'll probably insist on both. But we probably shouldn't have smaller pets like birds or anything. Basenjis eat birds. They were originally hunting dogs, so it's in their nature to be-"

Caroline lunged forward and placed her palm over his mouth to stop his nervous ranting. "Are you saying we can have kids?"

Klaus pulled her hand away and smiled nervously, stopping to kiss her palm before intertwining their fingers and giving her a squeeze. "I'm saying I bought a dog." At her cautiously optimistic yet bewildered expression, he shrugged his shoulders. "You were right. I am afraid I'll end up just like him." Gulping, he looked down at the puppy snuffling the sand at his feet and couldn't help but feel hopeful. "But Mikael never had a dog." Letting the loop at the end of the leash fall down his wrist, he lifted his hand to stroke his wife's cheek as she leaned into his touch. "And he never had a Caroline."

"You're not him, Klaus," she whispered, pressing a kiss to the inside of his wrist. "You could never be him. You couldn't be him anymore than I could be my mom. You're not the only one who's scared. Everyone is afraid to be a parent."

"You're not."

"Like hell," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm a neurotic, insecure control freak with the most insane work schedule to ever be insane. Having kids is going to mean scaling my career way back for a few years-"

"I would do the same."

"Damn right you will, but you're not the one who's going to get enormously fat," she spat like this was the worst part of parenthood by far. "They don't make cameras with a wide enough angle to capture how fat I'm going to get because after starving myself for six months to play Lina, I am going to eat everything in sight. I'm talking cupcakes and pizza with pineapple and ice cream with pickles and french fries with hot sauce. And when I want all of it at three in the morning-"

"I'll go out and get it for you," he finished for her, fervently nodding his agreement. "I'll get you anything you want." When she peered up at him from beneath long lashes, he looked so sincere and so scared she'd say no that she couldn't help but close the space between them. Pressing her lips to his, she kissed him deeply and wrapped her arms around his neck. They didn't break apart until their chests were heaving. With their foreheads touching, they breathed the same air as Klaus whispered, "You are all I've ever wanted." Voice cracking, he pulled back just enough to look in her eyes. "And if what you want is children, then I want to be the one to have them with you. I don't know if I can be a good father, but I'm willing to try… if you'll still let me."

There were no words. She'd heard them all. Caroline hugged him so fiercely that they toppled to the shore in a heap. The puppy lost his mind and immediately joined the pile, jumping and sniffing every inch of the happy couple. They laughed until their sides ached and they were covered in sand. The dog would have kept playing, but Klaus drew the line when instead of kissing his wife, he got a mouth full of puppy tongue. Slowly getting to their feet, they brushed the sand off each other and walked hand-in-hand back to their mansion.

Just as they were nearing the path to their backdoor, Caroline spied the tell-tale flash of a camera in the bushes and knew they weren't alone. Notoriously friendly to the paparazzi, she waved her hand at the mystery man and smiled brightly. "I know you're there! Come out and make sure I don't have hair blocking my face!"

A middle-aged man with a large camera hanging by a thick strap around his neck emerged from the foliage and nodded gratefully. "Thanks. This shot is gonna pay for my kid's braces." He held the camera up to his eye and snapped enough pictures to blind the actors, leaving spots dancing in their vision. "That little guy yours?" he asked conversationally, although they all knew whatever answer they gave was going to be online within the hour.

"Just brought him home today," Klaus replied as Caroline picked up the puppy and gave him kisses. More clicks of the lens.

"Cute little thing," the photographer commented, reaching forward to pet him briefly on the head. "Does he have a name?"

"We've been kicking a few around," Caroline answered, the panic in her husband's eyes amusing her. "I'm leaning toward Oswald."

"Don't quote her on that," Klaus rapidly spat out, vehemently shaking his head and holding up his hand. "The dog's name is not Oswald." His wife looked at him with a pout so adorable it brought out his dimples. "We'll post it on Instagram when we settle on something, but you can go ahead and announce his existence. I hear orthodontics cost a fortune."

"You got no idea, buddy. She can't just have clear rubber bands. Has to make me shell out for the turquoise." He shook his head, clearly already mourning the loss of the money the photo would bring. "You know, a lot of you Hollywood types either get a dog because you're planning a kid or decided on no kids. If you give me a quote, I can pay for these dance classes she's been wanting."

The photographer looked at the famous couple hopefully and while they knew the sob story about his kid was probably nothing but a manipulative tactic, they were in too good a mood to care. "What do you think, babe? Do we have anything to say about that?"

Rubbing the dog who would not be named Oswald's head, Klaus smiled with his dimples. "I would say that every child deserves a dog. So, we thought we'd better have one just in case." Caroline leaned over and kissed him lightly on the cheek as the photographer jotted down a note. "And yes, that you can quote me on."

Smiling widely, the older man tucked his notepad back in his knapsack and snapped a few more photos before nodding gratefully. "Hey, thanks guys. Wish all celebs were this friendly. Congratulations on the dog." They smiled politely as he walked down the path between houses. Turning back, he added to the blonde, "And listen to him, honey. Oswald's a shitty name for a dog."

Klaus smiled smugly all the way to their back door. It was at that moment that Caroline decided the dog would definitely be named Oswald.

Klaus let her get away with it mostly because he was so relieved she wasn't going through with that word neither of them could say, but also because it made her smile every time he cringed. He would do anything to see her smile. The happiest he'd ever seen her was three years later when she held their son for the first time. He cried when she put Jacob Ryan Forbes-Mikaelson in his arms and again two years later when she did the same with Laila Marie. He knew the first time he set eyes on their firstborn that he would never become the man who'd raised him. By the time their daughter came around, he'd put his own childhood behind him for good.

Together, Klaus and Caroline raised their children in their mansion by the sea with a very well-trained dog named Oswald who neither drooled nor shed. They both put their careers on hold while Jacob and Laila were young, but they eventually returned to the silver screen to critical acclaim. Despite their fame, they managed to give their children relatively normal lives full of scraped knees and homework and one particularly embarrassing debacle involving sea monkeys in the third grade that their son never let his sister live down. It wasn't perfect, but they were happy.

Caroline had been right: Klaus turned out to be an amazing father. He hated ever letting her say she told him so, but after walking Laila down the aisle, he conceded that he'd been wrong. It wasn't until their golden anniversary that she finally admitted she'd been wrong, too.

Oswald was a terrible name for a dog.