Sweet

by Qveenn

Hosie

Josie was quite excited for her Friday night-in with her sister. She and Lizzie had spent the last five days preoccupied with work and barely had any time to even speak to each other. Josie had started a new job recently after having gotten her degree like her father and mother wanted her to. It wasn't her degree that had gotten her through the door of the research institute she now worked for.

The institute specialized in retrieving and studying rare dark magic artifacts and who better to work on your team than someone who specializes in linguistics, speaks several languages, and has traveled from the dark side of black magic back to the light. It also helped that she was very good friends with the family that sponsored the Mikaelson Institute for Magical Research and Containment.

But finally, on a cold and rainy Friday evening in October, Josie had parked herself on their old, ripped up couch from Craigslist and prepared herself for sister movie night.

Lizzie sauntered over to her usual spot next to her sister on the couch with a chilled bottle of Rosé. She poured them both a glass as she plopped herself down.

"I'm so tired of customer service," Lizzie mumbled into her glass. "Why is there no spell for dealing with idiots?"

"Seems like a fairly one-note spell, don't you think?" she laughed at her sister.

"I've had a harder week than you," Lizzie said. "I'm picking the movie this weekend."

Josie groaned but didn't argue as her sister opened up Netflix and put on the Notebook for the millionth time. They were stealing Hope's Netflix account (with her permission, of course) so Josie couldn't really complain. It was also true that Lizzie's job in corporate America was more taxing than Josie's job.

In fact, she and Hope and Lizzie had all gotten quite close since graduating Salvatore. They had passed the demon hunting baton on to the next wave of teenage upstarts looking to protect Mystic Falls from the monster of the week. The Super Squad had entered a quiet retirement as they went off to college to finally have actual lives.

Hope had graduated from Salvatore before them but had taken a gap year before college just to spend some real time with her family. Josie had then convinced Hope to come out to the east coast for school. Josie's father and even Hope's Aunt Freya had praised the public university Josie found as an almost aggressively normal school. Josie agreed that that was exactly what they deserved.

Hope and Landon were still together sharing an incredibly expensive downtown apartment. Once Hope had gotten out of high school she felt less embarrassed about her Mikaelson inheritance fund. She'd even graduated college a semester early with a double major in art and business. She'd spent a large amount of money (though hardly a dent in the overall volume of Mikaelson riches) working on opening an art gallery to open next spring. The rest of it she was funneling into research so they never had to be surprised or tormented again when magical artifacts randomly snuck up on them.

Landon was alternating taking night classes and interning at a local radio station. From what Josie could tell things seemed…fine. Normal. MG and Rafael had gone to school out west and they all did their best to Super Squad Skype once a week.

Josie would consider Hope her best friend these days. They got lunch nearly every other day and Hope crashed on their couch after a night of movies and games at least once a week.

Was Josie still crushing on Hope? Of course. Was she going to let it ruin her life and her friendship with Hope? Absolutely not, despite what Lizzie says.

Speaking of which.

"You're not even paying attention," Lizzie poked her thigh with her toes. "This is the best part."

"Yeah, this movie doesn't have a 'best part,'" Josie quipped. That earned her a swift kick to the same thigh.

"You never even try to watch my movies. I'm sorry it's not a Disney movie or something, you infant," Lizzie chided.

"I do try! You're just—"

A loud series of heavy KNOCKS on their door interrupted their argument. They both raised their hands in the direction of the door, spell at the ready.

"Did you order food?" Josie asked.

"We literally just finished Chinese food. Do you think I'm made of money?" Lizzie rolled her eyes, hand still raised.

The knocking got more insistent and mixed with the pounding of the rain.

Josie felt her back being heavily nudged by her sister's foot in an effort to lightly kick her towards the door.

She glared at Lizzie but walked to the door anyway. She looked through the peephole onto the front step of their shared, rundown apartment. Josie gasped as she saw who was on the porch getting drenched by the rain.

"Oh my god!" Josie exclaimed as she yanked the door open.

Lizzie popped up behind her sister to see what was happening.

Standing there in an old Salvatore sweatshirt, paint-stained PJ pants, and completely soaked in this storm was a bedraggled Hope Mikaelson. They could tell even through the rain that she was crying.

"Hope?!" They both exclaimed. "What happened?!"

Hope sniffled as she stood there.

"L-Landon...he...he left me," was all Hope could get out.

"He WHAT?!" The twins both cried.

"Landon. He's gone. He left." Hope shivered as she explained again.

"But WHY?!" They couldn't quite get a grip on themselves.

"Can...can I come in?" Hope asked gently.

That seemed to kickstart both girls as Josie grabbed Hope by the forearms and pulled her inside as Lizzie shut the door. Lizzie then ran to the bathroom and came running back out with a towel.

"What the hell happened?" Josie pressed as she threw the towel over Hope's shoulders and led her to their dinette set in the kitchen.

"He um…" Hope stammered as she sat down. "We had a discussion. A fight, I suppose. Well, an exchange of information that turned into a fight and then he just...left."

Lizzie brought their half-finished wine into the kitchen now.

"Thanks, that was incredibly detailed. I understand everything now," Lizzie said.

Josie slapped her sister for the sarcasm and looked back at Hope with a soft expression.

"Hope...do you want to talk about it?"

Hope had a thousand-yard stare going on at the moment. Lizzie shoved a glass of wine in Hope's direction who pushed the glass away. Lizzie shrugged as she took a sip of the glass and sat down next to Josie. Josie grabbed Hope's hand to try and reassure her.

"He said he wasn't ready," Hope said to the coffee-stained tabletop.

"Ready for what?" Josie asked.

"He said he had things he still wanted to do. Places he wanted to see. Said he was going to go and stay with Rafael in Arizona," Hope was just rambling now.

"Hope," Josie interrupted. "What's going on?"

Hope looked up with a tearful expression and finally met Josie's gaze. And that's when Josie's life completely changed.

"I'm pregnant," Hope whispered.

Josie just sat and stared with her jaw nearly on the floor. Lizzie sprang out of her chair.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN PREGNANT?!"

But HOW?!

Chapter Summary

Lizzie has questions, Hope needs sleep, and Josie hates being in the middle.

Hope didn't meet Lizzie's burning gaze and continued to stare at Josie's hand entwined in her own.

"HOPE! ANSWER ME!" Lizzie stamped her foot.

"I assumed that question was rhetorical—" Hope mumbled.

"Don't interrupt me!" Lizzie was now pacing. "How the hell did this happen?"

"Well Lizzie, when a man and a woman—"

"You know what I mean!"

"Lizzie, enough!" Josie scolded. She was now getting frustrated with her sister's hysteria. "Hope is clearly distressed. Now sit down."

Lizzie pouted and stayed standing.

"Or maybe go and get Hope some clothes to change into," Josie said. "She's got some PJ's in my room."

Lizzie continued pouting but noticed that the poor girl was shivering under her towel. She glared at her sister but stomped out of the kitchen. Josie sighed in relief.

"Okay, now that she's occupied," Josie squeezed Hope's hand. "Do you want to tell me what

happened?"

"What is there to tell?" Hope sighed. "Remember when I cancelled our lunch date because I had a doctor's appointment?"

Josie nodded.

"It was to get bloodwork done," Hope fiddled with her shirt sleeve.

"Oh," Josie said. "So you're like...really sure then."

"This isn't just a missed period, Jo," Hope whispered.

"And Landon?" Josie asked.

Hope shrugged. "Apparently he has dreams of some sort and he's not ready to be a dad. He talked about his issues in the foster care system and went off on this tangent of what if he's no better than Malivore at being a dad. He worked himself up so much he just...packed his stuff. Said he'll let me know when he's ready. I don't have high hopes."

"I see," Josie nodded.

They both sat there in comfortable silence. It's one of the things Josie loves about her relationship with Hope. Well, something she loves about Hope in general. She never feels pressure of speech to fill silent moments.

"It's gonna be okay, Hope," Josie whispered.

"Is it?" Hope asked her, looking hopeful.

Josie didn't know how to respond other than to give her the softest look she was capable of. She leaned forward and brushed a lock of wet hair out of Hope's face.

Luckily, her sister chose that moment to come bustling back in. Lizzie took a bundle of Hope's PJ's and tossed it at the girl.

"Okay, I'm back," Lizzie nearly panted. "What did I miss?"

Hope rolled her eyes and silently got up from the table to change. Josie sighed as she watched her go. She was broken from her trance when she felt Lizzie slap her shoulder hard.

"Ow!" she whined. "That hurt! What?!"

"Shut up, that didn't hurt," Lizzie whispered. "This is it!"

"This is what?"

"Your moment!"

"My moment?"

"What are you, a fucking echo chamber?"

"No, I'm confused!" Josie yelled.

Her sister shushed her as she continued to ramble. "My dearest sister, you have no idea what kind of opportunity awaits you. Hope is all alone and struggling and now there's going to be a baby? You love kids!"

"Yeah, I still don't follow—" Josie shook her head.

"Idiot! This is the moment where you swoop in like a shining pansexual knight on a black stallion!" Lizzie seemed almost crazed at this point. "Who else has the limitless patience to take care of a pregnant Tribrid? This is your moment to be everything Hope Mikaelson never knew she

was missing in her life."

"You're insane," Josie chided. "Hope needs support right now. Not someone trying to get into her pants!"

"There's not gonna be much room in those pants soon enough," Lizzie muttered.

Josie smacked her sister who whined at the hit. "You're a nightmare, Lizzie. I don't care what my feelings are for Hope. That's literally the exact opposite of what she needs right now."

Lizzie attempted to protest but Hope came shuffling back into the kitchen. She had shed the wet clothes and looked sleepy and comfortable in dry pajamas. Josie gave her a goofy smile as Lizzie rolled her eyes.

Hope smiled back. "Um, I'm kinda tired. Can I crash here tonight?"

"But I didn't get to hear about Landon!" Lizzie argued.

"Shut up, I'll tell you later," Josie shushed. "You can take my bed, Hope. I'll sleep with Lizzie tonight."

"No no, you really don't need to do that," Hope insisted. "I kinda don't feel like sleeping alone tonight anyway. If that's okay."

Josie had never seen the great Hope Mikaelson look so small as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

"Of course that's alright," Josie said. "I'll just change real quick and we'll go lay down."

"But my gossip!" Lizzie huffed.

"In the morning, Liz. Not right now," Josie huffed as she got up from the table and shuffled Hope along with her.

Josie left Hope in her bedroom while she ran to the twins' shared bathroom to change. It was barely big enough to be called a one and a half bath but she and a Lizzie made it work.

She quickly made her way back to her room, ignoring her sister's eyebrow waggle, and found Hope awkwardly sitting on the edge of the bed.

Josie sighed and motioned to get herself under the covers. Hope followed suit. She reached over to turn off the bedroom lamp and noticed Hope's small nervous gasp.

"Don't worry, I know you hate the dark when you're stressed," Josie said. "You're not in Malivore, you're here with me."

Hope still gave her an anxious look even as Josie siphoned off her shoulder.

Josie muttered a quick spell and tossed her hand in the air like she was tossing confetti. She threw a small mote of light up towards the ceiling. Hope watched as the ball of light quietly popped and gold light started raining down like fairy dust to softly light up the room.

Hope sighed in relief and in mild surprise. Josie smiled at her.

"This'll act like a nightlight for tonight," she said. "Should keep the bad things away."

Hope didn't respond but got herself cozy as she watched the lights trickle down indefinitely from an unseen source.

"Thank you, Josie," she muttered as she closed her eyes. Josie cuddled a little closer to her. Josie hoped that this would allow Hope to get at least a little sleep tonight. They can plan their next moves in the morning light when there's coffee and bagels at the very least.

Josie closed her eyes and fell asleep with thoughts of dancing lights and blue eyes.

Now What?

Chapter Summary

Maybe Hope feels like talking in the morning light? At the very least Lizzie brought breakfast.

Josie woke up to her sister banging on her bedroom door. She felt Hope shift next to her and groaned out a loud noise of protest.

"Whaaaat Lizzie?" She kept her face hidden in her pillow and made no move to get up. She felt Hope snuggle closer to her, whining at the banging.

Oh right, Hope . Josie's eyes shot open as she heard her sister yelling.

"I have waited ALL NIGHT for my gossip, Mikaelson," Lizzie exclaimed. "I have breakfast and coffee in my hands. I don't know what more I can do for you. Don't be ungrateful and come into the kitchen."

"She's unusually persistent today," Hope mumbled into Josie's shoulder. Josie blushed at the feeling of Hope's breath in her ear.

Not the time, Josette. Pull it together.

"She's had a rough week at her job and I think this is the only source of fun she's had in a while," Josie replied.

"Well," Hope said "I'm glad to be a source of entertainment."

"That's not what I—"

"I know," Hope said. The knocking got more insistent. Both girls rolled their eyes and shuffled out of bed.

"Josette! Come on, please!"

Josie flung her door open to a wide-eyed Lizzie holding a paper bag from the deli across the street and a carrier with three coffees.

" Elizabeth. Give us two seconds," Josie pleaded.

Lizzie looked back at a sleepy Hope, still in Josie's bed.

She leaned in to her sister and softly whispered "I can give you more time than that if you both need it."

Josie swatted her. "What do you want?"

"I have bagels?" Lizzie shook the bag as proof.

"Thank you, we'll meet you in the kitchen," Josie said. Lizzie took this as a victory and scurried to the kitchen.

Josie looked back at Hope with exasperation.

"Sorry, she's excited," Josie said.

"It's alright," Hope assured her as she got up. "I've known you both my whole life. I wouldn't expect anything less from Elizabeth Saltzman."

"Hope, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

"I know but I think talking about it is going to actually help me. I should figure out what the hell I'm going to do now."

Josie just grabbed Hope's hand and led her to the door. "Come on, before Lizzie starts to riot."

Lizzie managed to keep her composure through an unusually quiet breakfast. It wasn't the first time Hope had crashed at their place on a weekend. Usually Hope was the one to get up early and grab breakfast for them all but she seemed uncharacteristically tired.

After 40 minutes Lizzie had determined this was a respectable amount of time and couldn't help herself.

"What are you going to do, Hope?" Lizzie prodded.

Hope winced but answered. "I don't really know, Lizzie. I've kinda only had 48 hours to chew on this."

"You can't seriously be considering keeping it," Lizzie tactlessly said. Josie kicked her shin under the table. "Ow."

Hope scoffed into her coffee. "I don't even know if that's an option for me."

They gave her identical quizzical looks.

"You guys," Hope replied. "I have supernatural healing and I'm basically indestructible. I don't even know if 'removal' is possible. What if I heal halfway through the procedure? What if this baby is just like Landon and just can't die even if it is just a cluster of cells? And what if…" Hope bit her lip.

Josie nudged her to keep going. "It's okay, Hope."

"What if I actually want to keep it?" Hope whispered and then laughed. "It's not like I can't afford it. That Mikaelson money is damn near endless."

Both twins nodded as Hope continued.

"And what if...what if I can give this baby what I didn't have? A normal life or as normal as things are with us. A life where they're not treated like a cosmic mistake that needs to be eradicated. A life with parents...who can't die." Hope was sniffling now and raised a hand to wipe away tears.

Josie got there first and wiped her tears and laid a hand on her cheek.

"I think you would make an amazing mom, Hope," Josie assured her. "If this is what you want we'll be here for you. I'll be here for you. In whatever way you need."

Hope leaned into Josie's touch and closed her eyes.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't think I can do this without you."

Josie looked into Hope's shining eyes. "You don't have to. I know Landon left but I'm not going to. I'm the caretaker, remember?"

Hope sighed a little as she leaned away from Josie's touch. "I'm not going to take advantage of you like that, Josie. Too many people have done that to you. I'll always accept your help in this...whatever this is but I need you to promise you'll be honest with me."

Josie gulped. "Honest about what?"

"When I ask you if it's getting too much you have to promise to answer me honestly," Hope said. "I know you. The last thing I want is for you to throw yourself head first into this and forget about your needs."

Josie sighed a little but nodded. "Okay. I promise."

Silence fell upon the table and Lizzie cleared her throat. The other too shook themselves out of their stupor and remembered they weren't alone.

"Okay so, what about Landon?" Lizzie asked.

"Ugh, what about Landon?" Josie groaned.

"Is he going to be a part of this?" Lizzie clarified.

"I honestly don't know," Hope sighed. "I gave him a chance and he told me he wasn't ready and he might not ever be ready."

"Oh, shocker. I'm absolutely flabbergasted that the hobbit chose to flee all responsibility and commitment as if Ring Wraiths were on his tail feathers." Lizzie said.

"Honestly, kind of an insult to hobbits," Josie muttered.

"Irrelevant," Lizzie said back.

"Yeah, he was afraid he would end up taking out his foster care issues on the baby," Hope added.

She then laughed mirthlessly. "Looks like this kid is going to live their life like me. With a dad who is never there when you need him. At least with my dad he was keeping his distance to protect me…"

"Oh boo hoo, we all have mommy and daddy issues," Lizzie groaned. "Yes, poor Landon and his poor insecurities. Listen. The only way we're going to break the endless cycle of childhood trauma is by taking advantage of the opportunities to be better than our parents."

Hope and Josie both blinked at her.

"Wow, that was actually really insightful," Hope teased.

"I know, right?" Lizzie smiled.

"So it looks like it's gonna be me and this baby on our own," Hope sighed.

Lizzie scoffed. "Speak for yourself, I'm gonna make a great godmother."

"Um, isn't that supposed to be my choice?" Hope asked.

"Yes, but who would be a better choice?" Lizzie pressed.

Josie felt Hope's eyes drift to her but she chose not to meet her gaze.

"How are you feeling physically?" Josie decided to keep the conversation going.

Hope shrugged. "A little tired but otherwise the same. It's obviously too early for things like cravings and morning sickness so fingers crossed this isn't gonna suck real bad."

Lizzie chimed in. "I'll ask the unasked question. Have you told your Aunt Freya about this?"

Hope blanched as Josie kicked her sister again.

"Oh god," Hope gasped. "She...she is going to literally kill me. I will be magically ripped from my apartment and sent down to New Orleans never to be heard from again and she will literally kill me."

"Okay, one thing at a time," Josie exclaimed. "Hope, let's spend the rest of the day watching Netflix and being normal. Starting tomorrow we'll be here when you call your aunt and see how long it takes for you to be teleported to your inevitable doom."

Hope actually laughed at that. Josie wasn't often sarcastic.

"But wait! We haven't even talked baby names yet!" Lizzie huffed.

The other two both groaned as they got up from the table to move to the couch.

"All I'm saying is that Elizabeth is a timeless name," Lizzie added.

Josie went out of her way to make sure their afternoon and evening were exceptionally normal. Just a group of 20-something year olds watching bad movies, ordering take out, and talking about school.

Eventually, Lizzie fell asleep sprawled out on the floor. Josie and Hope used this as an opportunity to continue talking without classic Lizzie interruptions.

"So how are you really doing with Landon leaving," Josie asked.

Hope fiddled with the edge of the blanket. "He wanted to leave so he left. Not much else to say. He doesn't want to be a dad."

"That's not what I meant," Josie said.

Hope sighed and averted her gaze to the floor. "I just...going through a breakup sucks. But I mean, I had a feeling things were coming to an end anyway."

"Oh, really?" Josie asked with a head tilt. "Why?"

"Yeah um. Some stuff kinda got in the way. It's a lot to talk about right now but I was considering leaving him soon anyway. I just...didn't want my child to grow up without a father. Like I did."

Josie leaned over and soothingly rubbed Hope's back.

"I kinda wonder if something is so wrong with me that fathers all just want to run away from me."

"No Hope," Josie interjected. "I think you've just had bad luck with father figures and men in general. Anyone who walks away from you is the broken one. Not you."

Hope wiped away tears and leaned against her friend's shoulder. Josie wrapped her in a tight embrace. They eventually got back to talking about the good things in their lives.

Hope even showed Josie the final designs she had decided on for her art gallery. She wasn't going to let the baby get in the way of her life plans. In Hope's opinion, it almost felt like nothing was wrong.

And maybe nothing was. You know, until her almighty Aunt Freya murdered her from the comfort of the Louisiana bayou.

What's Wrong with the Paints?

Chapter Summary

Hope starts to feel the realities of being pregnant and calls Josie when things get really rough.

They did eventually tell Freya and it went about as well as it could have, given the circumstances.

Josie had never seen someone astral project so fast and so forcefully. There was an appropriate amount of screaming between Hope and her aunt.

"How the hell could you let this happen?!"

"It wasn't like I planned this!"

"Your father is probably plotting some way to escape the goddamn afterlife to murder that boy."

"It's not his fault!"

"You can't seriously be thinking of keeping it! You're only 26 years old!"

"Why don't you ask me that again when you're confident that my supernatural anomaly of a body can even LET an abortion happen!"

"Hope, why weren't you more careful—"

"THE CONDOM BROKE!"

That revelation kind of shook Josie a little bit, mostly because it involved a mental image Josie would rather not have. While Landon may have been someone she was interested in when she was

in high school his "nice guy" image was definitely sullied now.

Eventually Freya was persuaded to drop the subject since Hope seemed determined to see this whole thing through. She knew her niece was a Mikaelson through and through and once a Mikaelson made a decision there was no going back. Josie almost giggled at Hope who stood there with her chin in the air, jaw clenched and eyes gleaming. She looked almost radiant in her confidence. Her sister whispered at her to stop gaping and she blushed.

The first few weeks of Hope's pregnancy went relatively smoothly. Her first doctor's appointment determined that she was about 5 weeks pregnant and nothing seemed abnormal. Josie went with her to the appointment and treated Hope to ice cream afterwards. Josie noticed that Hope was really tired but had otherwise seemed to be feeling fine.

Josie knew peace would eventually come to an end. About 7 weeks in, Josie got a call while she was working from what could only be described as a distraught Hope. She had been working on translating an old spell from Japanese.

"Hey Hope! What's going—" Josie answered and then got interrupted by sobs.

"Josie!" Hope whined from the other end.

"Hope? What's wrong?!"

"I...I-I can't," and she just continued sobbing. "Can you come to my place? I need help."

"I'm on my way!" Josie got up from her seat at her desk, shoved her translation tomes and scrolls back in her bag, and ran to her car. She frantically prayed to whatever gods were listening that Hope and the baby were okay.

When she got to Hope's apartment she let herself in with the key Hope had given to her months ago. She called out to the other girl, seeing only Hope's easel and paints set up in the living room.

Hope lived in a penthouse apartment downtown with walls of windows and a beautiful balcony you could access from the living room. Her kitchen, albeit small, was modern and updated with stainless steel appliances and white countertops. Her apartment just screamed light and bright.

"Hope? Hun, where are you?" Her question was answered when she heard retching from the bathroom.

"Oh boy," she muttered to herself.

She didn't need to knock as the door to the bathroom was wide open. She found the other girl with her forehead on the edge of the toilet. Josie could see the sweat on Hope's face and in her hair. She was white as a sheet.

"Oh honey, what happened?" Josie soothed as she ran to sit on the floor next to her. She started rubbing her back.

"This...this baby hates me," Hope muttered and kept her eyes closed. "They hate me so much. Oh god!"

Josie backed up and tied up the girl's hair as Hope got sick for what probably wasn't the first or last time.

She then went to the sink to run cold water over a washcloth. "That's not true, your baby loves you. This is just morning sickness."

Hope pulled herself together and leaned back. Josie wiped the sick girl's face with the cloth and she sighed in relief.

"You don't understand," Hope mumbled as she leaned back into Josie. "The paints."

"What paints?"

"My oils," Hope then started to cry. She laid her head on Josie's chest and Josie let her have her moment.

She'd been reading up on what they can expect in Hope's first trimester and a spike in emotions

was one of them. She just let her cry it out.

"What's wrong with your oil paints?" Josie asked when Hope had calmed down to sniffles.

"N-Nothing, I just can't use them. The smell. It's making me so nauseous. What am I supposed to do if I can't paint?!"

Hope was working herself up again and Josie felt her grip the front of her sweater even tighter. Not exactly how Josie always pictured Hope digging her nails into her skin but she'll take it.

Jesus, Josie. Snap out of it!

"No no no, don't cry Hope! We'll find you a new medium, it's okay," Josie carded her fingers through Hope's hair which seemed to be helping as Hope had stopped whimpering.

"I need your help," Hope said.

"Anything for you," Josie muttered into Hope's hair.

"Wolf senses. I can't leave the bathroom or I'll be sick again because I can smell the paint. Can you put the paints away and open the sliding door to the balcony? I need it to air out," Hope said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Of course," Josie replied. "Why don't you jump in a shower? I'll order us some takeout and get everything cleaned up out there."

Hope nodded as Josie helped her stand up. She was a little unsteady as she made her way to turn the shower on.

"Hey, Jo," Hope called after her.

"Yeah?"

Hope looked down and let her hair fall in front of her face. Josie resisted the urge to step closer and tuck it behind her ear.

"Thank you," she said softly. "I couldn't do this without you."

Josie nodded and smiled at her before leaving Hope to clean herself up. She tried to hide her blush as she swiftly cleaned the apartment. She used a little magic to help with air flow so Hope would be comfortable.

She put in an order for soup and sandwiches hoping something relatively light would settle Hope's stomach. Eventually, Josie went to inspect the painting Hope had been working on. It wasn't even close to finished but she could make out the silhouette of a brunette woman in a yellow sweater leaning against the railing of a balcony.

Josie wondered if this was another painting of Hayley. Hope had been sketching her mother a lot lately, especially since she'd found out she was pregnant. She had told Josie in one of their many recent sleepovers that she'd been feeling closer to her mother these days.

Josie was still admiring it when Hope joined her in the living room.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Hope asked. She looked much better now.

"Oh! Um. Nothing," Josie stammered. "Just looking at your painting. It's quite lovely."

Hope sighed. "Yeah, if I ever get a chance to finish it maybe I'll give it to you."

Josie smiled. "That would be nice. Is that your mother?"

Hope gave her a look she couldn't quite decipher. "No, no it's not." She didn't give any other details.

"Okay," Josie said. "You hungry for soup? I ordered from that place you like."

"You truly are amazing sometimes, Josie Saltzman," Hope laughed.

Josie scoffed. "Hardly," she refuted.

"Don't do that," Hope countered.

"Don't do what?"

"Sell yourself short like that," Hope said. "You're wonderful. You're the only person I knew I could call to literally carry me off the bathroom floor. I wish you would…"

"What?" Josie whispered.

Hope sighed a little. "Nothing. I just wish you were a little nicer to yourself. You really are amazing."

"Yeah, well tell that to my atrocious dating history," Josie chuckled.

At some point Hope must have strode over to her without Josie noticing. Hope was now firmly in her bubble and she didn't know what to say.

"Josie Saltzman," Hope said. "Anyone who chose to walk away from you never truly deserved to have you in their life in the first place."

Josie held Hope's intense gaze. God, her eyes are so bright. They're like...blue flames. She can smell Hope's floral shampoo and feel the warmth that is just distinctly Hope.

They both jumped apart at the knock at Hope's door.

"Food must be here," Josie said, clearing her throat. "Come on, let's try and get some food in you."

Josie and Hope settled into comfortable chatter as they ate. Turns out Hope didn't even realize how much she was craving French onion soup until it was in front of her.

In quiet moments like these Josie felt like everything was going to be just fine. And when Josie got the call weeks later that Hope had taken up glass blowing as her new medium and she may need assistance getting the broken shards of glass out of her right arm, Josie only yelled at her a little bit.

Josie was pretty sure the whole "getting woken up in the middle of the night" thing was something that happened after a baby was born. But leave it to Hope Mikaelson to break the mold.

It was now about 13 weeks and Hope was starting to show a little bit. Josie had expected Hope to be upset about it, like they show pregnant women in the tv shows, but Hope was embracing it. She brought Josie some of her old pants she was sure weren't going to fit anymore. The only complaints she made were that she was pretty sure they didn't make bra sizes as big as she was soon going to need.

Hope's cravings had mostly consisted of French onion soup or Sour Patch Kids. These days she traveled with an oversized purse that was mostly full of Sour Patch Kids that she would suck on throughout the day.

"It's not even the gummy that I want," she told Josie. "I just need something sour."

She only wanted the green and the yellow ones and left all the other colors for Josie to pick at. When Josie accidentally grabbed a green one she felt Hope grab her wrist in a flash out of the corner of her eye. Hope was actually growling at her, her eyes flashing gold.

"Those are mine," she growled. "You take the other ones."

Josie immediately dropped the candy and Hope snapped out of it. She then proceeded to cry in excessive apologies as Josie shushed her and reassured her that everything was fine.

"I'm so sorry," Hope sobbed. "I don't know why, sometimes this baby just makes me do stuff and I don't know what's happening!"

Hope shared her green ones with Josie for about an hour before she started hoarding them again. Josie still felt like it was a victory.

So far, Josie had been spending an equal amount of time between hers and Lizzie's apartment and Hope's penthouse each week. Josie argued that it was just a precaution in case Hope needed anything during the night. Lizzie didn't buy it but didn't press her sister too hard.

Unfortunately, Josie's time had run out on that teasing. About a week after the "incident" with the Sour Patch Kids, Lizzie and Josie were woken up around 2:00 in the morning by rapid pounding at their door.

Josie ignored it since this wouldn't be the first time the idiot kids in the townhouse next door had drunkenly pounded on the wrong door thinking they'd locked themselves out. They usually figured it out within five minutes so Josie just turned over and waited it out.

No such luck. The pounding continued and she heard Lizzie angrily shuffle out of her bedroom and throw the door open. She awaited the sound of Lizzie verbally assaulting whoever had disturbed her Thursday night of sleep...but it never came. All she heard was…

"Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me. JOSIE!" Her bedroom door was then promptly thrown open by her sister who slammed a pillow against her head.

"Ow! Lizzie WHAT--" Josie shoved the pillow off.

"Your wife is here. Go deal with this. I'm going back to bed." And with that Lizzie fucked off back to her room.

"Wait, who is—"

"Hope! Go! Fix it!" Lizzie yelled as she stomped away. Josie shook her head to try and clear her thoughts.

What the hell is Hope doing here?

She immediately assumed something was wrong and scrambled out of bed. She stumbled a little trying to pull on a pair of old pajama bottoms and rushed to the door.

Hope was standing there in sweatpants and an old Salvatore t-shirt. Her hair was thrown into a quick bun, the same way she tied it back every night before bed. On her feet were some beat-up old tennis shoes that Josie was a bit surprised she even owned.

"Hope, what's wrong?" Josie asked from the entryway.

"Hi," Hope answered cheerfully. "Nothing...why would something be wrong?"

Josie was stunned. Hope seemed fine. "It's 2:00 in the morning. What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to that diner on Lexington Ave. I really need French onion soup. Do you want anything?" Hope asked.

"The diner?"

"Yes."

"On Lexington?"

"Yes?"

"The one half an hour from here?"

"Yeah, it's 24 hours and I know they have French onion soup."

Josie tried another approach. "Hope. It's 2:00 in the morning."

"Yeah, do you want anything?" Hope wasn't getting it.

"No," Josie said slowly. "Because it's 2:00 in the morning. And we were sleeping. Like you should be."

That seemed to do it. "Oh...oh!" Hope shook her head a little and seemed to finally realize what she was doing. "Oh. Right."

"I mean...sure, you can get me some waffles if you're really going. I'll eat them in the morning," Josie felt like she was somehow losing control of the situation.

Hope looked at her with tears in her eyes and her lower lip started to tremble. Oh boy.

"You...you don't want to come with me?" Hope asked, clearly heartbroken.

"NO! No no no, I'll come with you if you want—" Josie tried to soothe her.

"But you said you were sleeping and now I'm bothering you and being a burden and I just," Hope threaded her hands in her tied up hair. "I just really need soup and if I have to wait any longer I'll cry. Please help me? I don't know what to do."

Josie sighed as she went back inside and grabbed her jacket, her boots, and her car keys. She could see an amused Lizzie giggling behind her hand from the door of her bedroom.

"Wow Jo," her sister teased. "I don't think I've seen anyone so whipped in my life."

"Fuck you, Lizzie," Josie sighed as she closed the door behind her. She could hear Lizzie doubled over laughing even on the front porch.

She looked at Hope who now seemed to be finally realizing what was going on. "Okay, but I'm driving. Get in the car, let's get you and Sugar some soup."

Hope smiled as she trotted behind Josie. "Sugar? Where did Sugar come from?"

"I watched you demolish a 2 pound bag of Sour Patch Kids today at lunch. I'm pretty sure that baby is 90% sugar now," Josie teased as she got into the front seat of the old Corolla she shared with her sister.

Hope laughed as she settled into the passenger seat. "Since you're being nice enough to take me to a 24 hour diner in the middle of the night I will allow that nickname. For now."

Half an hour later, Josie walked with her excited pregnant best friend into what could only be called a greasy spoon. She guided Hope to sit down at the counter while she went and placed the order. Hope pouted when Josie asked for their order to go but didn't complain.

"No pouting, I have an 8:00am debrief with my team and I can't skip this time," Josie said, pulling out her wallet. Hope got up and smacked her wallet out of her hand and handed the cashier a $50 and told her to keep the change.

Hope then skipped over to the counter to wait for their food with her chin propped up on her hands. Josie smiled at her friend's wistful expression at the mere prospect of soup.

"You're really sweet."

Josie turned around to look at the woman behind the register. "I'm sorry?"

The cashier chewed on her pen as she laughed at Josie's confused expression. "You're not the first exhausted spouse to come into this diner with their pregnant wife who had some strange late-night craving. Most husbands who come in complain about it. It's nice to see someone so in love."

Josie sputtered. "Oh! Oh, no we're not— "

"JOSIE! Josie, I got it! We can go home now." Hope held up their to-go bag over her head in triumph as if it were the Stanley Cup. "Can I eat this in your car? Please?"

Josie ignored the look from the cashier as she thanked her for her help. She got Hope settled in the front seat with her soup and pulled out of the empty parking lot.

Through several bites of sourdough bread and cheese Hope asked "So, what was that lady talking to you about? You seemed flustered."

"What? No I didn't," Josie protested.

"Yeah, you did," Hope giggled. "Did she ask for your number?"

Josie blushed and hoped it was dark enough in the car that it wasn't noticeable. "No, she just thought I was your wife. Funny, right?"

She couldn't look over to see Hope's reaction but she didn't get anything more than a "hmm" from the other girl.

Hope scarfed her food in record time and even let Josie have a few bites. About 15 minutes into their drive back Hope had fallen asleep. Josie couldn't bring herself to wake the other girl, assuming she hadn't slept all night. Josie was pretty much awake and didn't have plans to go back to sleep so she drove around the block for another 45 minutes before pulling into the street across from her apartment.

She softly shook Hope's shoulder who gasped a little, confused at where she was. "Hey, Hope. It's okay, it's just me. We're back at my house. Want to sleep here tonight?"

Hope hummed a soft "mhmm" and Josie helped her sleepy friend out of the car. She got Hope tucked into her bed and went to put their leftover food in the fridge. It was about 4:15am at that point and she chose to just watch some tv for a few hours before she had to shower for work.

Not ten minutes into her first episode of "Worth It" did Hope come shuffling out of the bedroom.

"Jo?"

"Yes, Hope?"

"...Come to bed? I don't like sleeping without you these days," Hope asked shyly.

Josie sighed with soft affection and turned the tv off. "Sure thing. Come on, let's see if I can get some actual sleep before I leave for work."

They got into bed, Hope laying on her side and facing the doorway and Josie facing Hope's back. Hope hesitated briefly before reaching over and grabbing Josie's arm. She pulled Josie's arm protectively around the imperceptible swell of her stomach. Josie closed her eyes as she laid her forehead between Hope's shoulder blades. Both girls said nothing as they quietly fell asleep.

Chapter End Notes

Fun fact! This is a little bit based on an experience I had when I was younger and my mom was pregnant with my brother. I was 13 and she woke me up at 2am to let me know she was going to the gas station because she needed candy. She wanted to know if I wanted anything. I gave her a weird look and told her "No mom. I don't want any candy. Because 2am and I'm sleeping." She was just like "Oh. Right." and left my room. She apologized in the morning saying the baby took over her brain for a second. Maybe that's why my brother will murder you for the mere promise of a bag of sour patch kids?

Since getting woken up at odd hours seemed to be a trend towards the end of Hope's first trimester, Lizzie had all but kicked Josie out of their apartment to sleep at Hope's so she wouldn't be disturbed. Josie didn't mind. Plus, if it was at the behest of her sister she normally didn't get teased about staying there so often. Most nights during the week were spent at Hope's and, as a compromise, Hope drove her to work everyday before she went to the gallery since Josie and Lizzie shared a car. And really, Josie definitely didn't mind getting dropped off in front of her coworkers in Hope's shiny silver Lexus everyday.

Josie and Hope fell into a fairly domestic rhythm throughout the first few weeks of Hope's second trimester. Josie worked on her research everyday and Hope went to work preparing her gallery for opening. At the end of the day, Hope would grab Josie if she didn't have the car that week and they would both help with cooking dinner unless Hope wasn't feeling well. They would start the evening with Josie going to sleep in the guest room but she eventually woke up each morning with Hope having snuck into her bed at some point in the night. Sometimes even Hope didn't realize she was doing it.

"Sugar doesn't like sleeping alone," was her only justification.

And while Josie was completely fine with all of this she was starting to get stressed out with just how okay she was with all of this. Sure, she and Hope were settling into this perfect vision of domestic bliss with Josie being the perfect partner for Hope as she created what was probably going to be a perfect baby. But all she could hear was Lizzie's voice in her head that this was the perfect opportunity to prove to Hope that she could be the perfect wife and mother.

But if that wasn't what Hope wanted then...Josie knew she was headed for a cliff labeled "codependent heartbreak" at a million miles an hour.

"And have you, I don't know, talked to Hope about this?" Lizzie asked her during their weekly sister movie night one Friday.

"No way," Josie said through a mouthful of popcorn. "I don't need to put that on her. She's got enough on her plate."

"Ugh, not this again," Lizzie sighed as she rolled her eyes.

"Dare I ask—"

"Your whole 'oh, I don't want to be a burden and I'm always second-best anyway' routine is getting old," Lizzie whined as she got up for more snacks.

Josie gasped in indignation. "That's not true! I don't do that! Name the last time I did that."

"With Penelope—"

"She left me first. And cheated on me. I'm not wrong on that one."

"With Landon—"

"He picked Hope over me!"

"With Jade—"

"She had a lot of stuff going on that she needed to sort out on her own and she didn't need a relationship to complicate it."

"Irregardless!" Lizzie snapped. "The point is, you always do this. You basically shove your own happiness aside for everyone else even before they hurt you."

"Liz...it's not that simple."

Lizzie sighed now and sat down next to her sister. "I know. And it's one thing if you're fine with all of this going the way it's going. But if you're uncomfortable...you need to do something about it."

Josie sighed and laid her head on her sister's shoulder. "I know. I'll get there. Can I spend tomorrow here with you? I'm sure Hope will be fine."

"Yeah, of course," Lizzie said. "It's your home too."

Josie sent off a quick text to Hope and turned her phone on silent.

Josie stayed at her own apartment through the weekend. She had genuinely missed hanging out with her sister and they had a lot to catch up on in general. She tried not to check her phone and she tried not to get sad when she saw only one text from Hope that read "okay, have fun!" and that was all.

She eventually returned to Hope's on Sunday night. Hope was sitting on the couch reading with her feet up. She smiled brightly at Josie when she walked in and Josie felt her stomach drop a little bit.

"Hey, you're back!" Hope said.

"Yeah," Josie laughed. "Couldn't leave you and Sugar to fend for yourself."

Josie deposited a bag containing a few containers of soup for Hope onto the coffee table. Hope's smile got so bright her eyes crinkled are the corners.

"You're a hero," she said. "You have no idea how hungry I am."

Josie chuckled and added "I think you underestimate how well I know your schedule by now." She sat down next to Hope who smiled but then frowned.

"Whoa," Hope said and grabbed her stomach. "That's...weird."

"What's wrong?"

"There it is again!" Hope grabbed Josie's hand and laid it on her stomach. "Feel anything?"

She sat silently and waited and then shook her head.

"I felt a flutter," said Hope.

"I don't know, I don't feel anything—"

"Wait!" And then Josie felt it. Little flutters in Hope's stomach. "It's them! It's Sugar! They're moving!"

Josie put her face close to her hand. "Oh wow. Hi Sugar!"

Josie felt little flutters again. "Keep talking! I think they can hear you. They didn't move all weekend but now that you're here they're moving…" Hope was so excited. She had felt small movements before but never enough for Josie to feel them.

Josie got closer. "Hi Sugar! It's um...your Aunt Josie. I love you so much already. We're so excited for you to get here."

Hope was giggling now. "This is so weird, it almost tickles. I think they must have missed you. You were gone for so long."

Josie went to apologize but Hope waved her off. "You're allowed to spend time with your sister. We were fine."

The fluttering stopped after a while and they sat in silence. Hope whined a little when the movement stopped.

"Damn, I like when they move," she sighed.

And without thinking, Josie leaned towards Hope's stomach and tried something. She started singing, softly.

"Sugar, you

I wanna get to know ya

Sugar, you

I wish that I could hold ya"

Hope gasped. "They're moving again! Don't stop!"

"You're busy playing nice

You sweetened up my life

I'll be making eyes tryna keep you by my side"

Hope was now laughing as Josie finished singing.

"Sugar, you

I wanna get to know ya"

Josie leaned back and giggled. "Looks like Sugar likes music."

Hope flashed her another bright smile and added "I think they like you and the music helps a little."

Josie wanted to give her a full smile back, she really did. But somehow this made her stomach drop further.

God, Josie. You really screwed yourself on this one. You can't fall in love with your pregnant best friend. You just can't.

Josie didn't know how to respond to that. "Well, I'm pretty lovable," she teased.

"You really are," Hope said.

Hope was really starting to show by 18 weeks. Her back was starting to hurt, her feet were swelling, and she was tired all the damn time. She was starting to see just how much she had taken that Tribrid strength for granted. The one blessing to all of this was that the morning sickness stopped.

Josie thought she looked radiant though. She looked tired but her friend was really starting to get excited for everything. Josie was...dealing with her feelings for Hope that just seemed to nag and nag at her the more time she spent with her.

But she never wanted to be the reason that lovely smile fell from Hope's face. She could keep herself in check at least until the baby was born. Maybe?

It was just...all the little things Hope did that made her feel seen. Like how she always packed Josie a lunch every morning. She even dropped it off when she forgot it one morning.

She always knew when Josie had a bad day and would have a hot bath waiting for her in her fancy jacuzzi tub right as she walked in. Hope once even spelled rose petals in the water for her and placed several lit candles around the tub. Josie had blushed as Hope gave her a wink and left the bathroom. Josie resisted the urge to drown herself in the tub with monumental effort.

But what really shook her foundation was what happened at Hope's doctor's appointment.

Hope was bouncing with excitement since they would be finding out the baby's gender. She was practically brimming with joy.

"Someone's excited," Josie joked as Hope squirmed happily on the table with her shirt pulled up

over her stomach.

"Of course I'm excited," Hope chirped. "This just...this makes it real."

"What do you mean?"

Hope shrugged. "I don't know. Before the baby was just more of an object. Giving the baby a gender means I can pick a name and that just makes them a real person . Not a mystery."

Josie gave her a look.

"Well," Hope laughed. "At least less of a mystery as any baby that comes from me."

Josie grabbed Hope's hand and squeezed.

"I get what you mean."

The ultrasound technician greeted them cheerfully like usual. They went through the routine examination with her and confirmed everything looked good.

The technician turned to Hope. "Do you want to know the sex of your—"

"Yes!" Hope exclaimed before clearing her throat. "Um, please."

The woman smiled, fully expecting that answer. "Okay! Well, with everything I can see here it looks...like you're having a girl."

And just like that, Josie understood what Hope meant. Her entire world instantly narrowed to and started revolving around one perfect and special little girl. She came back to reality when she heard Hope heave out a heavy sob. Josie turned to see Hope covering her face and sobbing into her hands. Her whole body was shaking.

Josie looked at the technician with a pleading gaze who decided to give them a minute.

"Hope! Honey, what's wrong?" Josie softly pleaded, grabbing for Hope's hands and moving them from her face.

"I-I...I'm just…" Hope hiccupped. "Oh, thank GOD!"

"What do you mean?"

"I was so afraid this baby was going to be a BOY!" Hope barked while wiping at her face.

Josie handed her a few tissues. "You what?"

"I was so worried this baby was going to be a boy. I wouldn't know what to do with a boy, Josie! How would I tell him that his father walked out on him?! At least with a girl we would have a connection like I did with my mom. I'm just so relieved."

Josie gently stroked Hope's head and pulled her into a hug. "I'm happy too," Josie muttered.

Hope then looked down at her jelly covered stomach. "Hey Jo?"

"Yeah?"

"That's our little girl in there," Hope said with a giggle.

Josie's stomach dropped like a lead weight.

"Our" little girl? That's our little girl. My...little girl.

Josie prayed the tears falling down her cheeks could be mistaken for happy tears because god did she wish that were true.

That night she snuck out of Hope's penthouse and ran straight to her sister. Opening the door to her apartment she found Lizzie on the couch.

"Hey," Lizzie greeted. "I didn't know you were coming home. Is everything okay? You look upset."

Josie opened her mouth to reply but all that came out was a choked sob. The weight of everything she'd been carrying since Hope showed up on their doorstep finally became too much to bear.

Her sister scrambled towards her as her knees buckled and she succumbed to the heartbreak.

"Jo! Jo, hey it's okay," Lizzie mumbled as she held her tight. "What happened? Is Hope okay?"

Josie nodded and wiped her face on her sleeve. "I just, I just can't do this Lizzie! She was so sweet and-and at the ultrasound today she called her 'our little girl' and I just don't know what to do!"

"Aw, I'm gonna have a niece?!" Lizzie beamed.

"Yeah," Josie sighed.

"Wait, she called her your little girl?"

"Mhmm."

"Like as in 'co-parenting and you're both the moms' kind of thing?"

Josie let out another broken sob and shook her head. "I don't know."

"Oh Josie…"

Josie was quickly led to Lizzie's bedroom by her sister. Lizzie gently guided her into the bed and they huddled together the rest of the night like when they were small.

Josie woke up feeling like she was somehow emotionally hungover. She knew Hope was going to wonder where she went if she hadn't already noticed by now. Reluctantly, Josie untangled herself from her sister's embrace and got out of bed.

She left her sister a thank you note and made her way back to Hope's penthouse. When she got there she found a nervous Hope sitting at her kitchen table.

"Hey!" Hope exclaimed. "I woke up and you were gone. Are you okay?"

Josie shrugged a little. "Yeah, yeah I'm okay. I need to talk to you though."

Hope wobbled a little as she stood up from her seat at the table.

Then she wobbled a lot more than usual. Josie reached out to steady her.

"Whoa," she gasped. "What about you?"

Hope waved her off but panted a little. "No, I'm fine. Sugar is giving me a little heartburn this morning, that's all. Just a little dizzy."

Josie gave her a skeptical look but let it go. She walked over to the fridge to grab a water bottle. She needed to keep her hands busy.

"So," she started. "Remember how we talked about me being honest?"

"Yeah," Hope said, clearing her throat.

"And about me having to ask for things if I need them?"

Hope laid a hand on her own chest and rubbed. "Yep," she replied in a low voice.

"Wow," Josie said with concern. "Is the heartburn that bad?"

Hope shook her head. "I'm not sure it is heartburn. Anyway, keep going."

"Um, well anyway I just needed to tell you something. I just...I'm having these...feelings. It's just that...Hope, I'm—"

Hope interrupted her with a heavy hiccup. And then a heavy cough.

Hope moved her hand away from her mouth with a wide-eyed look of shock. Josie was nearly bowled over with surprise when she saw what was happening.

Bright blue bubbles made of light came floating from Hope's mouth. Hope was breathing heavily. She looked at Josie with a glazed over expression and confusion.

"Uh oh," Hope mumbled. "That's...that's probably not good."

Her words were slurred and suddenly the cabinets around Josie started to rattle. All at once the lightbulbs in the kitchen shattered but Josie practically didn't notice.

Hope gave her one last look of confusion before her eyes rolled back in her head and she hit the kitchen floor in a heap.

"Hope!"

Josie ran forward to try and catch her. She mostly just ended up cushioning the unconscious girl's fall. She cradled Hope laying the girl with her back to Josie's front.

"Hope! Hope, wake up!"

Josie was now in full panic mode. Everything in the kitchen was shaking now.

"Okay," Josie panted. "Okay, definitely magical. Definitely baby-related. DEFINITELY BAD!"

Josie tried to breathe and think clearly. The first thing she could think of was to call the only expert she knew on weird, Mikaelson magic.

"Freya," she mumbled to herself. She pulled Hope's phone out of the other girl's jean pocket and pulled up Freya's number, dialing without hesitation.

Freya answered after a few rings. "Hey sweetie, what's up?"

"Freya, it's Josie! Hope is unconscious and everything is shaking and I don't know what to do!"

Josie didn't have to wait long before the astral projection form of Freya Mikaelson was standing in Hope's kitchen.

She looked down at her niece in anxiety. "What happened, Josie? Start from the beginning."

"She-she was feeling a little sick, bad heartburn. Then she hiccupped and blue bubbles came out of her mouth and-and then all the lights shattered and the cabinets shook and then she just PASSED OUT!"

Freya listened as she inspected Hope.

"Shit," she muttered. "This baby is really fucking powerful, which makes sense with the insane lineage of this thing."

"Girl."

"What?" Freya questioned, whipping around.

"She's not a thing, she's a girl! Hope's having a girl. We found out yesterday."

"Either way," Freya interrupted. "This girl is powerful. It looks to me like Hope is hyped up on too much magic. The baby probably released a surge of magic into her system and she's overloaded, like a juiced up car battery. Even genetics like hers couldn't take the stress."

Josie looked at Freya in distress. "What do we do?!"

She watched as Hope's aunt paced around the kitchen. Hope was twitching in an uncomfortable way that was starting to freak Josie out. She was breathing normally but the twitching seemed to be getting worse. Hope was completely unresponsive.

Josie was shaken from her reveries when she heard Freya snap her fingers.

"I got it!" She exclaimed. "You! I need you to siphon from her!"

"What?"

"Don't just sit there, Saltzman. Siphon from Hope as if your life depended on it because hers very much does."

"But I—"

"Now!" Freya bellowed.

Josie didn't hesitate any longer. She laid both hands on Hope's stomach and siphoned as hard as she could. Josie had never felt power like this. Siphoning from Hope and the baby felt like being electrocuted. It was intense and she could almost taste the magic in her mouth. Her body felt like it was jolting but she didn't stop.

Please let this work. Please let them be okay.

After several minutes and once Josie felt like she was overflowing with magic, Freya yelled at her to stop. Josie fell backwards against the kitchen wall with Hope still in her lap.

Everything after that felt blurry. Siphoning had never felt as electrifying as that did. Josie was afraid she would breathe too hard and burn down the entire building with the amount of magic coursing through her.

She felt her shoulder being shaken and she opened her eyes. She looked over and saw an exhausted but thankfully awake Hope.

"Jo! Oh god, I was so worried," Hope exhaled in relief.

" You were worried?!" Josie yelled, her teeth chattering with the overflowing power. "I've never been more afraid than I was just now!"

"As touching as this is," Freya said. "I don't have much more strength to keep myself here."

"Listen," she instructed as she looked right at Josie. "Hope needs you now more than ever. It looks like the little girl is coming into her powers a bit. Hope, you're gonna start feeling some surges of power every so often. Josie, you need to monitor her and keep her evened out. Siphon from her as much as you can stand each day until the baby arrives. It shouldn't be as bad as this was in the future. This seems to me like you built up a huge reserve of magic and everything just burst."

Hope looked frantic now. "Freya, you can't be serious. I can't ask Josie to hurt herself like this everyday."

"No," Josie shook her head. "I can do this, Hope. I swear, I'm fine. Just dizzy."

Freya shrugged. "Get the other Saltzman to help if you have to, I don't know what to tell you. This is how it's gonna be. You can't provide a healthy environment for the baby to grow if the power of this baby is killing you from the inside out."

Hope subtly tried to wipe away tears. "I can't use Josie like this...I won't."

"You don't have a choice, Hope!" And with that, Freya lost her hold on the astral projection and disappeared. This left two very awkward girls sitting on the kitchen floor.

"Hope," Josie said, softly. "It's okay. I...I swear."

Hope finally succumbed to the tears and threw herself into Josie's arms. Josie held her as tight as her shaking frame would allow. The other girl pulled back after a moment when she noticed the shivering.

"You need to let that magic go," Hope demanded.

"I have nowhere to release it," Josie mumbled.

"Okay, then I'm calling Lizzie. She can siphon the excess and even you out." She pulled her phone out and dialed Josie's sister who made a beeline for the penthouse after a brief explanation.

Not even half an hour had gone by and her sister came bustling through the door. Josie used her overwhelming supply of magic to levitate herself to the couch with Hope sitting next to her. Lizzie slid onto the living room floor by her sister and didn't hesitate before siphoning.

"Oh my—whoa! Okay, what the fuck is this baby made of?! Cattle prods?!" Lizzie grunted as she

siphoned. Josie let out a sigh of relief.

Hope rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, Mikaelson. I finally know what it feels like to sit in a full bathtub and drop a toaster in there."

When Lizzie felt like she had taken enough she stopped. Josie closed her eyes as the buzzing in her veins started to fade. Once Lizzie let up on siphoning Josie started to sit up. She leaned against her sister a bit but she otherwise felt much better.

"Okay," Josie exhaled. "That was a rush. Liz, we'll need to work out a schedule for this. I can take the brunt of it but I'll need a break every so often."

Hope looked at them both in disbelief.

"Yeah, definitely," Lizzie nodded. "I can do every couple days or siphon off the excess if you go overboard."

"That works. I'll do every morning but we'll need to move more of my stuff and—"

"WAIT!"

Lizzie and Josie jumped and looked at Hope. She was looking at them with distress.

"What?" They both said.

"This is completely upending your life!" Hope exclaimed gesturing to Josie.

"Hope, it's okay. I can—"

"No!" She interjected. "You can't just...you can't!"

"Alright, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Lizzie bellowed at them both.

They turned to look at her but Lizzie was just boring her gaze into Josie.

"Jo, you can't hide this anymore," Lizzie whispered.

Josie subtly tried to shake her head at her sister. She mouthed a silent please.

Lizzie shook her head back at her. "You can't do this. All of this is about to get more intense and you won't be able to ignore this. She needs to know."

"Needs to know what?" Hope prodded.

Lizzie and Josie had a silent standoff. They could feel the emotional struggle between each other, something they've always had. Josie felt Lizzie's empathy and Lizzie felt Josie's fear and her pain.

Hope stamped her foot. "Enough with the silent psychic discussions! What the hell is going on?!"

"I have feelings for you!"

There. She said it. It was out there.

The silence went on for what felt like an eternity. She didn't dare look at Hope. She heard more than saw Lizzie shuffle out of the living room, grab her keys, and open the door.

"Jo, if you need me I'll be at home," Lizzie threw over her shoulder and then closed the door behind her.

Leave it Lizzie to blow up my life and then walk away...

The sound of the door closing was like glass shattering. Hope's voice came out in a whisper that felt like a shout.

"You have feelings for me?"

"Yes," Josie sighed. "I'm so sorry. I tried, I really did. And I know that...I know that you're not ready for anything right now and I have no expectations. Nothing needs to change but that's what I wanted to tell you this morning. That I was struggling a little bit with...everything. But now with this whole thing I just—"

"Will you shut up for a second!"

Josie jumped as she finally met Hope's gaze. Her eyes were a burning blue and seemed to be attempting to almost look into Josie's soul. She tried to find any lies in Josie's face. Josie let her guard down completely for the heavy inspection.

"How long?"

"What?"

"For how long, Josie," Hope clarified. "How long have you had feelings for me?"

Josie shrugged. "I mean, I've always had feelings for you and don't pretend you didn't notice. It became...a little overwhelming about a month or two before the baby."

Hope then started to pace. Her hands were threaded in her hair. Josie just followed her with her eyes but stayed seated.

Eventually, Hope's face changed from stressed to determined. She looked at Josie and sat on the couch.

"Josie," Hope began. "I've had feelings for you since we graduated college. I didn't do anything

about it because of Landon but...when he and I started drifting apart I started prepping myself to tell you after I worked up the courage to call it off with him. And then the baby happened."

Josie's vision was swimming with all the emotions inside her. She felt Hope lay a hand on her cheek.

"Jo, if this was just you and me I would jump into this in a heartbeat. I want this so much it's killing me."

Josie leaned into Hope's warm hand and covered it with her own.

"But now...now there's her. And she comes first, forever."

Josie nodded and looked down at her lap. Hope adjusted her hand to cup her jaw and lift her gaze again.

"Josie, if I could choose anyone in my life to help raise my daughter it would be you every time. And if you...if that's something that you want then I want this so much. But if you're not ready to be a parent then this can't—"

Josie surged forward and caught Hope's lips in a firm, sweet kiss. Hope sighed against her mouth and she tried to put every ounce of love into the soft movement of her lips. Josie felt both lost and found at the same time as she felt Hope enthusiastically kiss her back. She eventually cut the kiss short to answer Hope's rambled question.

"There's nothing I want more than to love you and this little girl...for as long as you'll let me."

She whispered it softly, afraid that the intensity of the statement would shatter the moment. Hope laid her forehead against Josie's.

"Why did you leave last night?"

Josie sighed. "It's irrelevant now but...you called her our little girl and I just couldn't bear the thought that she wasn't mine."

Hope pulled her into a tight embrace or as tight as her belly would allow. "I'm sorry. I never want to cause you pain."

"You don't," Josie said. "You never could. The only time you've ever caused me pain was when you weren't there."

Josie allowed herself to be snuggled into Hope and they fell into a comfortable silence on the couch. She laid her hand on Hope's belly and siphoned a little.

"I'll protect you," she whispered. "Both of you."

Things got a little easier for Hope and Josie once they got through that awkward confession. It was a lot more manageable for them both. They worked out a good schedule for Josie to siphon from Hope without knocking herself out and Lizzie did the job on weekends to give Josie a break. Every weekend Lizzie brought more of Josie's stuff to the penthouse little by little.

Hope was about hitting the 24 week mark and was starting to feel exceptionally tired. She had never experienced being this tired before and Josie did her best to keep her comfortable. She didn't want to admit it but regular tasks were starting to wear her out.

It was strangely easy to fall into this romantic and comfortable rhythm with each other. Hope had told Josie that she had already seen the worst of her between her violent mood swings and horrible morning sickness.

"After I growled at you over sour patch kids I'm not sure there's much I can do at this point to scare you off," Hope argued.

Josie just laughed because Hope was honestly correct. There's nothing Hope has ever done that quelled any of these feelings she's had since she was a kid. Josie was just happy that when Hope handed her a packed lunch for a full day of work she now handed it over with a sweet kiss.

Josie just loved the comfortable atmosphere and the easiness with Hope. It had never been this easy with anyone Josie had dated before.

They sat together on the couch with Lizzie lounging in Hope's fluffy armchair throwing around baby names. Hope had finally decided it was time to "retire" the moniker of Sugar, much to Josie's disappointment. Josie was rubbing Hope's sore feet while Hope was reaching over towards the coffee table for another handful of sour candy.

"So, have you thought about naming her Hayley?" Lizzie rattled off.

"Ugh," Hope groaned. "I really don't want to be calling my daughter by the name of my dead mother her whole life. Too much of a bummer, honestly."

"Yeah, I wonder what that's like," Josie giggled. "To be named after someone that everyone knew so well and died tragically and who they constantly think of every time they look at you and say your name. Can't relate."

All three of them laughed at that.

"But seriously," Josie continued. "What about something fresh and cool like Harlow?"

Hope shook her head. "Too hipster. We don't need this baby taking after Landon anymore than she already does."

Lizzie raised her hand for a fist bump that Hope returned. Josie snorted.

"What if we kept the letter the same as your mom's name?" Lizzie offered. "Like Hannah?"

Hope scrunched up her face. "I don't like 'H' names."

"Your name is Hope," Josie teased.

"I'm aware," she replied. "I stand by my statement."

"I just want to remind everyone that Elizabeth is a timeless—"

"No!" Josie and Hope shot her down. Lizzie pouted and crossed her arms.

"Why do you both hate me?"

"We don't hate you, Lizzie," Josie retorted. She reached for a Sour Patch Kid herself until Hope unconsciously swiped it from her.

"Well," Lizzie argued. "Can I at least get on the ballot for middle names?"

Hope just chuckled but made a thoughtful face, considering it.

"Wait," she said. "What are your middle names again? It's slipping my mind."

"Jenna," Lizzie answered.

"Olivia," replied Josie.

"Have you thought about Andrea?" Lizzie asked.

Hope shook her head again but kept her gaze on Josie. "No, same thing. Sad mama drama doesn't need to be in my kid's name. But hold on, I actually really like that."

"Like what?" the twins parroted.

"Olivia," Hope said. She said the name slowly, as if trying it on. She gave Josie a soft smile who blushed in return.

"Oh yeah?" Josie laughed.

"Oh, so she gets to be part of the name but I don't?" Lizzie shouted with indignation.

Hope sighed. "How about this? Olivia Beth Mikaelson. Sound fair?"

Josie let out a watery chuckle and nodded. "That's really pretty."

"Oh my god," Lizzie gushed. "I feel so honored, Hope!"

And it appeared that she was being sincere about it as they saw Lizzie wipe away her own tears. Josie reached her arms out to pull the three of them into a puppy pile on the couch. Lizzie jumped off her seat and laid herself out on top of both girls, Hope smushed below both twins.

"No no no," Hope struggled with her hand outstretched under the cuddle pile. "I can't reach my Sour Patch—"

WHACK!

The bag of Sour Patch Kids flew from the coffee table in the direction of Hope's hand and slapped Lizzie on the back of the head.

"Ow," Lizzie exclaimed. "Hope, what the hell?"

"That wasn't me," she insisted. "I think that was...Olivia?"

Josie gave a wide-eyed look at Hope's belly. "She wanted the sugar so badly that she used her magic to bring them to you?"

Hope nodded slowly. "Yep, yep that's a thing she's doing now."

Josie leaned forward and kissed Hope square on the lips with a little look of surprise from Hope. She then looked down.

"Olivia," Josie said with her mouth close to Hope's bump. "Honey, be nice to your Aunt Lizzie please."

Hope hiccupped quietly and a barrage of blue bubbles made their way out of her mouth and towards Lizzie. They all popped lightly on Lizzie's face and then dissolved into little puffs of light.

Lizzie did not find this half as funny as Hope and Josie did. "This girl is a Mikaelson through-and- through, I see."

"Livvy," Hope chided. "Don't blow bubbles at Aunt Lizzie." But she could barely get out the lecture before dissolving into belly laughs.

Lizzie got up and smacked Hope in the face with a throw pillow. Hope only laughed harder causing Lizzie to indignantly grab the bag of candy.

"I will not tolerate teasing from my niece even if she is basically named after me," she proclaimed. "I'm leaving and taking these with me."

She shook the bag, spilling sour dust all over the carpet, and made her way towards the door. Hope made a noise of discontent and then grabbed at her stomach. She then looked at Josie.

"Uh oh," she said.

"What?" Josie asked.

Hope sneezed softly but before Josie had a chance to bless her, Hope disappeared from the couch with a loud CRACK and fizzle of blue light. Josie fell face first into the couch with a yelp as she was no longer leaning on Hope. She pushed herself up on her hands and looked around when she heard Lizzie gasp.

Hope had appeared in front of Lizzie with a poof of blue fairy dust, cutting her off from the penthouse entry door.

Lizzie just stood there in shocked silence. The bag of Sour Patch Kids was magically pulled from her clutches and landed on Hope's chest who fumbled but caught it.

All three of them just stared at each other in dazed silence. Hope then quietly put a few green candies in her mouth. She looked down and addressed her belly bump.

"You and I need to have a talk about boundaries, Liv," she said with a mouthful of gummies.

Josie and Hope did their best to manage Olivia's...eccentricities. Most of the time it was food related, making different munchies fly around the room if Hope was craving it. Hope did have to be rescued once or twice. While at the gallery, she called Josie to tell her that the baby had hiccups which was somehow causing all the light fixtures to turn into hanging orchid baskets.

Josie might have laughed the whole way to the gallery and the whole way back to the penthouse with her pouting girlfriend.

Hope was experiencing some shortness of breath with how big the baby had gotten and she was extra cranky lately. The baby was kicking and squirming pretty much all night and once Olivia's little eyes could start differentiating between light and dark she started using her powers to make bright motes of light randomly while they were both sleeping. Josie brought them home sleep masks one evening and that seemed to be helping.

At about 32 weeks they decided to spend the day painting the nursery. Hope's penthouse had two bedrooms and a third room she used as an office. They had moved a lot of Josie's belongings into the second bedroom when she had started sleeping over in the beginning but everything had since been moved to Hope's master bedroom with her en-suite bathroom.

Hope's family had been sending them gifts of furniture and baby essentials for months now. Their daughter's bedroom was filled to the brim with rich rosewood furnishings. The dresser was beautifully engraved with vines and flowers that swirled up the drawers and the sides. The changing table had a similar pattern with enchanted drawers that could hold a near endless supply of cheesecloths, diapers, and onesies and had plush beige padding on the top to lay their baby down on. A rocking chair carved with wolf heads on the arm rests sat in the corner of the room. Hope had groaned at how gaudy the chair was but now seemed fond of it.

The centerpiece of the room was the absolutely regal crib that Rebekah had sent them. The crib itself was completely circular with a ridiculously fluffy mattress. The bars and posts were intricately carved to resemble tree bark and branches. Hope had placed a blown glass mobile of blue and purple swirled orbs bewitched to constantly spin at a slow speed. It was Hope's last project in her blown glass phase of pregnancy before she went back to her oil paints once the morning sickness subsided.

They had decided to paint the walls a soft brown on the bottom half and a barely noticeable rosy pink above it on the top half. Now, Josie had been led to believe this would be a team effort. Needless to say, Hope's back started hurting about two hours into the endeavor. Once she started grimacing and rubbing at her back Josie sat her beloved girlfriend down in the rocking chair and went to work finishing the paint job.

"So," Josie prompted, working on the trim. "Are you getting excited?"

"Yeah," Hope answered from her seat where she was folding a mountain of clothes. "I'm excited to see my feet again. I'm excited to stand for a few minutes without pain. I'm excited to not have heartburn every other hour."

Josie rolled her eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"I know," Hope giggled. "I am excited though. Excited to hold her. Excited to just look at her."

Josie hummed in agreement. "I'm excited to kiss her little kicking feet."

She then scooted herself over to Hope to leave a kiss on her stomach before leaning upwards in a gesture asking for a kiss from Hope.

"I can't bend that far, babe," Hope laughed.

"So demanding," Josie teased but straightened herself up to give Hope a proper kiss. Their kiss quickly turned heated as Josie threaded her paint-stained hands in Hope's hair and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her closer. Hope kissed her back with enthusiasm and Josie melted. It had been a minute since either of them had the energy to be intimate together with how tired they'd been.

Josie was pulled out of her reveries by a frantic knock at the door. It was probably their delivery food order. She sighed and decided to ignore it, turning her attention to her girlfriend's sensitive neck. She felt Hope's hands snake under the back of her old t-shirt and scratch down her back. The delivery person would leave it at the door if they don't answer, she was sure of it.

The knocking didn't cease. Josie grumbled and untangled herself from Hope.

"Don't go anywhere," she ordered. "I'll be right back after I murder the Thai food guy and bury the body."

Hope chuckled at her. "Okay, but don't drag out the torture. Just hurry back."

Josie winked at her and skipped out of the room. She grabbed her wallet from her purse as she approached the door. Maybe they forgot to tip?

Josie didn't even look through the peephole. She yanked the door open with a handful of cash outstretched.

"I'm sorry, I was sure we'd tipped on the app—"

She froze. It felt like she literally froze as her veins seemed to only be pumping ice straight to her heart. Her arm fell as she stared into the face of the only person in the world who could ruin her little pocket of happiness. There he stood with a quizzical look on his handsome face, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

"L-Landon…" she could barely speak his name louder than a whisper.

Landon tightened his grip on the strap across his chest and gave her a brilliant side-smile. He seemed to be surprised at who answered Hope's door. He also seemed to be slightly shaking.

"H-Hey um, Josie," he stammered. "Is...is um…c-can I talk to Hope?"

"What are you doing here?" She ignored his question and settled on interrogation.

"I mean, that's kinda what I want to speak to her about," he laughed nervously. "So like...is she here?"

Josie grit her teeth as she watched him scan the penthouse behind her, searching for any sign of the other girl. It enraged her. Josie had never felt so protective of anything or anyone. She didn't budge

from her spot.

"Please Josie," he begged, tugging at her good-hearted nature. "I know you're probably not my biggest fan right now—"

"You're damn fucking right I'm not your biggest fan," Josie hissed trying to keep her voice down.

"I get it, I deserve it," he argued. "But please, I really need to speak to her."

"Now?" She barked at him. "Really? Now ?! Where the hell were you when her oil paints aggravated her morning sickness? Where were you when the midnight cravings hit? Where the fuck were you, Landon, when she needed someone to hold her through the hormonal mood swings? You don't get to—"

She cut herself off when she heard heavy footsteps shuffle from the nursery.

"Babe, how long does it actually take to murder the delivery guy? I need you to—"

Josie closed her eyes and sighed. Fuck.

She didn't even turn around for a few seconds. She saw Landon's eyes widen and his jaw drop and she knew he was probably taking in the radiant sight of a pregnant Hope Mikaelson.

That's his baby…

Landon shuffled past her and she didn't have the strength to stop him. She whipped around to see the blank look on Hope's face.

"Hope. Please. I'm so sorry." It was all he could think of to say. Josie rolled her eyes. It's not like he had an entire flight from the west coast to think of something better than I'm sorry to say to her. God knows he had 32 fucking weeks.

Hope didn't respond. She seemed to be frozen in place. Josie shook off the incredible urge to put

herself in front of Hope's belly.

He doesn't deserve to look at her like this.

"What are you doing here, Landon?" Hope said in a monotone voice. "You said you weren't ready. I'm sure it's fairly obvious but nothing has really changed in that regard."

"No, I know that," he interrupted. "But listen. I know I fucked up, believe me. I mean, Raf has been yelling at me about it for the last several months—"

"Why should I?" Hope whispered.

"What?" Landon was confused.

"Why should I believe you?" Hope said slowly. She seemed genuinely curious more than overly angry.

Landon shook his head and seemed to finally notice Josie's presence.

"Could you give us a minute, Josie?" He addressed her. That seemed to shake Josie out of her own trance.

Why would she want me here anyway? It's his baby, not mine. He was her first choice in a partner to raise their daughter and it looks like now he's ready. Don't stand in the way of this, Josie. Get out before you get hurt.

She just nodded as she grabbed her jacket and slipped on her shoes.

"No wait, Jo," Hope called after her. " What are you doing? Don't leave."

Josie paid her no mind. She pretty much didn't hear her over the blood pounding in her ears. As she walked to the door she bumped her face into something.

She cursed and rubbed her nose as she looked up to see a transparent blue shimmering magical forcefield. She looked back at Hope who looked down at the baby bump.

Olivia.

"I'm sorry, Sugar," Josie whispered as she siphoned the forcefield and ran out the door. She didn't hear Hope yell her name behind her.

Hope's heart sank deep in her chest as she watched Josie siphon Olivia's barrier and run out the door.

"Josie!" she called after her but the door slammed shut behind her.

Great. She whirled around to stare down Landon.

"Look what you've done," Hope growled at him. He took an involuntary step back. "I have more than half a mind to go after her right now so you better have a good reason for swooping in and ruining my life."

"How am I ruining your life?" he yelled back at her.

She gave him a deadpan stare, jaw dropped as she gestured around herself.

He gave a resigned sigh. "Don't answer that."

"Landon," she said slowly. "Tell me what you're doing here 8 weeks before I give birth or I swear to god I will throw you off the balcony."

The coffee mugs on the table nearest them shattered in her rage. Landon jumped while Hope just groaned. She flicked her hand to clean the mess and rubbed her stomach soothingly.

"It's okay baby," she said to herself.

"What the hell was that?" Landon exclaimed.

"Something you decided to walk out on and now are no longer privy to. You don't get to make demands of me. The love of my life just walked out that door in a fit of insecurity and your presence is making the other love of my life upset."

"Okay fine!" he huffed. "Wait, you and Josie?"

"Are none of your business!" she retorted.

"Wow," he scoffed at her.

"Wow what?"

"Look Hope," he mumbled, running his hands through his curls. "I came back to apologize. I ran out on you and our baby. I own that."

Hope flinched at the word "our" but shrugged it off.

"I was scared," he continued. "I was afraid I would be an awful father and I slipped into some self- fulfilling prophecy. I convinced myself that I needed to leave before I could cause you both any pain. I didn't trust myself to be good or selfless."

"Yeah, sounds accurate so far," Hope replied. He also flinched but pressed on.

"And when I was with Rafael in Arizona all I could think about was how guilty I felt. I left you all alone to struggle with this baby on your own. You didn't deserve that. You deserve to have someone reliable, someone loving, someone who will love you. And Hope...I didn't leave because I didn't love you."

Hope crossed her arms and sniffled back tears. She was already feeling hormonal and exhausted today and she just really wanted her Thai food and Josie.

She looked up at Landon and gave him a sympathetic smile. She regretted it almost immediately as Landon seemed to misinterpret that look as an invitation.

He made several purposeful strides in her direction. His hands were outstretched as if to cup her cheeks. As his eyes closed she realized with a horrible pit in her stomach that he was going to kiss her.

He didn't get that far.

Even before Hope could think to push him away she watched as his body went flying. His back hit the couch with force as he went toppling over the other side of it. She gasped as she wrapped her arms around her stomach.

Olivia must have felt her fear and discomfort. She made the decision to force this stranger away from her mother.

"Oh baby, I thought we talked about boundaries," she whispered as she rubbed her stomach.

Landon dusted himself off and groaned. "Okay, I know I should've asked before doing that but you didn't have to throw me."

"That wasn't me," she hissed.

"Well who was it then?" he mocked.

"The baby," she snarled. "And you're wrong."

"About what?"

"I'm not alone," she shook her head. "I don't know what fantasy you cooked up in your brain

where I was sitting here by myself crying myself to sleep in your absence but that's not how it is."

She started stalking towards him and the bookshelves started to shake. Her eyes were a bright gold and he started to shrink away.

"You want to know who has been here the whole time? Josie. And honestly even Lizzie. Do you know how absent you have to be for Lizzie Saltzman to be more reliable than you? This baby is so fucking powerful that the sheer volume of their magic is burning me from the inside out. Literally. The only thing that is keeping me alive is Josie siphoning all this extra fucking magic from me everyday."

"What?"

"Yeah!" She bellowed. "But you're actually right about one thing. I do deserve to be loved and I am. Josie loves me but honestly, that doesn't even matter to me. In your little 'romantic' speech or whatever not once did you ever mention the only important thing in the world that does matter to me: this baby. And Josie loves this baby as much as I do. She is this baby's mother."

"But Hope I—"

"No Landon," she whispered. "I don't doubt that you love me, I really don't. And at one time I did love you. But Josie and I have made a life together and I love her. I don't even know if you actually care about this baby or if you just view this whole thing as something you needed to make your peace with in order to be with me. Either way, if you want a chance at being in this baby's life then I'm willing to work something out with you. But that's all I can give you."

Landon heaved a frustrated sigh and kept his gaze on the floor. He then gave Hope a sad smile.

"Figures," he huffed.

"What figures?" she asked, placating him.

"It's one of the reasons I left in the first place," he argued. "I could tell you had feelings for her. I'm not stupid."

Hope just shook her head and gave no response. It wasn't worth it.

"Did you cheat on me?"

Hope scoffed a laugh. "No Landon, I didn't cheat on you. Not everything is about you strangely enough."

"I came back to be with you, Hope. I wanted to raise this baby together. I don't want to do this where we split this baby between two households all the time."

"I can't give you what you're looking for," Hope lamented. "The baby lives with me and Josie. I'm not splitting anything. This baby is our baby, mine and Josie's, and we'll allow you to see the baby —"

"Oh, you'll allow me to see my own child? Really?"

"Yes, really. And if you only want to do this because you have some vision of us married and settled with a family then you can just leave."

The entry door was magically thrown open and slammed against the wall. Silence engulfed them both. Landon just stood there giving her a strange look of defeat. She shook her head and changed the subject.

"If you want to work something out about seeing her then I'm willing to listen. I won't keep her from you. But it's gonna be on my terms."

"Her who?" he asked.

Hope chewed on her bottom lip for a moment before responding, frustrated at her slip up. She genuinely did not want to tell him anything about her child but it was already out now. "My daughter."

She watched Landon's face change as his world shifted on its axis. She understood that feeling quite well. It was exactly what she felt when she found out she was having a girl. This baby wasn't

just a concept anymore. She was a person.

"Yeah," he exhaled with eyes fixed on her stomach. "Yeah, I would like that."

Hope nodded and gestured for him to sit on the couch. She hoped giving Josie space to cool off wasn't the wrong decision.

A knock on the door disrupted her thoughts.

"Ugh, this better actually be my Thai food or I swear to god," she mumbled.

Oh Josie. Sometimes insecurity makes us make bad decisions. Calling Penelope Park probably doesn't help.

Josie made it to her car before the tears fell. She was moderately proud of herself that the doorman and their neighbors didn't have to see her tear-stained face as she ran by. She really didn't need that kind of embarrassment right now.

As she slammed the door of her old Corolla she just laid her head down on the steering wheel and let out all of her frustrations in a fit of sobs.

Of course this is how it ends. Why would this go any other way? That's the story of your life, Josie. Always second best.

She wiped her tears aggressively and huffed a sigh of frustration. She didn't dare go back upstairs. It was a little after 5 o'clock and Lizzie would probably still be out. She really didn't want to have to explain all this to her sister right now anyway. She just needed someone who wouldn't judge her. She definitely needed someone who wouldn't judge her for being selfish.

Somewhere in the recesses of her brain she could hear a little voice screaming at her that this was a bad idea but once it took root in her anxiety brain she couldn't let it go.

Josie pulled her phone out and texted the one person who never judged her selfishness. The only person who ever encouraged it.

Josie: You wanna get a drink? I need to not think right now.

She didn't have to wait longer than 5 minutes for a reply.

Penelope: I always have time for you. Meet me at the bar on Hancock street. They have great pub food. I know you like fried pickles.

Josie sighed and laid her head back on the head rest. Even in her paint-stained clothes and red- streaked face she chose to just say 'fuck it' for one evening.

Penelope had come back into her life within the last few months. Josie's employers had been working with what they called a strike team out in Eastern Europe looking for some dangerous dark magic items. Josie had been a little shocked when she saw the name of the woman in charge of ascertaining the items and bringing them back to the research institute for study and containment.

She had reconnected with Penelope over Facebook once or twice since their messy breakup in high school but this was the first time she had seen her in person in years. Penelope was as beautiful as ever as she came striding into her research facility with an ominous silver briefcase dressed in a freshly pressed blazer, skin-tight pants, and stilettos. Josie almost rolled her eyes but she was genuinely happy to see the other girl. They got their work duties out of the way first but had spent the last few weeks getting lunch once or twice while Penelope remained in the states. She would probably be getting sent out on another retrieval mission soon.

She took one last longing look at the penthouse windows, sent Penelope a text that she would be there soon, put her car in gear, and drove off to the bar.

Josie didn't expect the bar to be so fancy. Penelope had mentioned pub food but this bar appeared to be one of those nice hipster bars where they charge you $20 for a basket of fries with garlic salt on it. Josie felt a moment of hesitation at her workout clothes covered in paint before shrugging it off and heading inside. She kept her pea coat buttoned and made her way to the bar where Penelope sat.

She gave Josie a once-over as she pushed a mojito into her hands. She still knew Josie's favorite.

"You know you'll always look stunning to me but even this getup is pushing my limits," Penelope teased. "What happened to you?"

"My life was ruined by a hipster pigeon," Josie said after a heavy swig of her minty drink.

"Easy there," Penelope advised with a laugh. Josie gave her a middle finger and finished off her drink in one go. She flagged down the bartender and ordered a bourbon on the rocks.

"Okay Jo. Tell me what happened. I'll order you some food to pad that booze in your stomach."

Josie winced as she took a sip of the bourbon. It was Hope's favorite.

"That asshole came back to reclaim his life he feels entitled to," she answered.

"What asshole?"

"Landon," Josie snarled around the name. "He just showed up on the doorstep just now with a whole I-want-you-back speech prepared with his cute, stupid smile and nervous charm."

"Ouch," Penelope winced. "And what did you say?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I assume you stuck around to see how that played out. Did Hope choose him? Mikaelson didn't seem like the flaky type but I'll light her on fire for you if you like, pregnant or not."

Josie shook her head. "I-I didn't stay. I just bolted and texted you."

"Are you serious?" Penelope scoffed. "So you have no idea what's happening up there?"

"I don't want to know, Pen! I wasn't going to sit there and watch as my life fell apart!" She downed the rest of her drink and ordered another.

"I think you're just hurting yourself before you get hurt," Penelope observed. "You know that girl loves you, right?"

"Fuck you," Josie mumbled around the glass of another bourbon.

"Oh, you wish," Penelope laughed. "So. You have no idea what's going on between them right

now but you just...what, assume that they've fallen into bed or they're on their way to the courthouse to get married?"

Josie growled at the image it painted in her mind.

"You're as crazy as your sister, Jojo."

"What the hell do I have to offer her that even competes with him? He's her first love. He's the father of her child."

"No," Penelope interrupted. "He fathered her child. He's not a father to anything. Any man can make a baby. But you're this baby's mother. You're just scared."

"SO WHAT?!" Josie yelled, disturbing other patrons. She blushed. "So what if I'm scared? You know first hand how easy it is to walk away from me."

Penelope's cheeks flushed with embarrassment but she chose not to comment.

"Yeah," Josie nodded. "I'm not stupid. I know I'm always everyone's second choice. You, Landon, even fucking Miss Mystic Falls. It's fine though. I'm fine."

"Yeah, you look fine."

She sipped her drink in silence. "Spare me the judgment. Can we talk about something else please?"

Penelope shook her head but let Josie wallow. "You're only anyone's second choice because you always remove yourself as a first choice option. You sabotage yourself or you run or you push someone else in front of you. Don't be a martyr, Jojo."

Josie sniffled in response. "I need another drink."

"Well, I'm not gonna stop you," Penelope said. "But I will drive you home. Try and take it easy."

Several drinks and several hours later, Josie felt much better but somehow worse. Emotionally she felt numb which was nice but physically she was feeling a little sick. True to her word, Penelope confiscated her keys and offered to drive her home with an aggressive warning that she would never speak to Josie again if she puked in her BMW.

Josie practically needed to be carried to the car. Penelope looked over at her from the driver's seat as she laid her forehead on the nice, cold window.

"You gonna answer that, Jojo?"

"Hmm?" Answer what?

"Your phone has been ringing for the last hour," Penelope said. "Here, gimme."

Josie fumbled a little but handed her the phone. She hadn't bothered to check it since she left.

"Hey Lizzie," she heard Penelope answer. "Yeah, she's with me—what? Oh. Oh jeez. Yeah, it's okay. She's a little drunk but you know her...No, I didn't take advantage of her. Lizzie, I...yes, I'm on my way with her now. Like fifteen minutes."

Josie sent Penelope a quizzical look as she laughed to herself. "Oh Jojo. You're such an idiot. I just adore you."

"Why?" she slurred. "What happened?"

"Oh I'm not about to ruin the surprise," Penelope teased. "Sleep, you'll need it."

Josie didn't have the strength to argue so she just leaned back on the window and closed her eyes. Hopefully she would be back at Lizzie's...at her and Lizzie's apartment soon.

All too soon Penelope's car jerked as she parked. Josie moaned as Penelope shook her shoulder.

"Come on, Princess," she said. "You've got dragons to slay."

Josie didn't bother responding. She was just super confused. Penelope came to the passenger door and threw Josie's arm around her shoulder. She walked her all the way to the door of the apartment and used Josie's keys to open it.

They were greeted by a flustered Lizzie.

"Where the hell have you been?" Lizzie barked. Josie just winced at the noise. "Oh my god, you said she was drunk! You didn't say she was fucking smashed!"

"'M not that drunk," Josie argued as she stumbled into her sister's arms. "Is fine. I just need a nap. I can nap here?"

"I swear to god if you gave my sister Hep C I will fucking murder you, Satan," Lizzie hissed. Penelope just rolled her eyes.

"Josie," she said. "Text me later." And with that she turned on her heels. Josie closed her eyes as the room spun a little.

"You are in so much trouble," Lizzie chastised as she carried her. "I have a fucking furious and pregnant Tribrid on my couch right now—"

"Josette Olivia Saltzman!" She flinched.

Oh fuck. Hope is here. She full named me. I don't wanna be dumped while drunk.

Her sister unceremoniously dumped her onto the couch. When she opened her eyes the room was still spinning but her eyes were locked with the aforementioned angry Tribrid.

Hope stood there damn-near vibrating with rage. Her eyes were fully gold and she had a snarl curled across her face. Lizzie walked over to her and quickly siphoned off her belly and then stood near her bedroom door to watch the fireworks.

"Josette Saltzman," Hope breathed. "Did you leave me alone in that situation so you could get drunk with Penelope fucking Park?"

I feel like this is a trick question.

"No," she shook her head.

Nice one, moron.

Hope pinned her with a heavy glare. "Oh, so you're just fucking wasted for absolutely no reason then?"

"I-I'm not that drunk," she argued as she hiccupped. "Just tipsy."

Hope rolled her eyes. "You are unbelievable right now."

"Just get it over with, Hope."

"Get what over with, Josie?"

"JUST LEAVE ME ALREADY!" she shouted. The silence that followed rang through the apartment.

Hope had the nerve to laugh at her. "Really? Me leave you? Josie, you fucking walked out on me just now! You walked out on me and Olivia like you promised me you wouldn't! I've been looking for you for hours."

"Psh," Josie scoffed. "Not like she's mine anyway. She's his."

She regretted it instantly. Not a moment later she felt herself magically yanked from the couch and pulled into a standing position in front of Hope. She gritted her teeth to keep from losing all that

alcohol all over the carpet. She heard Lizzie hiss sympathetically from her vantage point.

"How dare you," Hope whispered in her face.

"I didn't mean that," Josie said. "I'm sorry. I'm...I'm scared. I don't want to lose you both."

Hope wiped away a wayward tear and looked away from her.

"Get your shoes," she ordered. "I'm taking you home. We'll talk about this when you're not fucking shit-faced. Let's go."

Josie tried to walk and tripped a little. No one caught her this time as she fell into the wall and pushed off. She did as she was told and walked in awkward silence to Hope's car feeling sorry for herself.

She could feel the rage radiating off Hope the whole drive but she remained silent. Once they got to the penthouse door Josie had sobered up a bit. Hope opened the door and went through to the bedroom.

Josie made to follow but Hope came stomping back out with Josie's pillow and a blanket. She threw the items onto the couch and slammed the bedroom door closed.

Josie sighed. "Shit, what have I done?"

She fell onto the couch and curled up under the covers as she let the regret wash over her. She only allowed herself a few pathetic sympathy tears before the alcohol overtook her and she promptly passed out.

It felt like Josie had only just closed her eyes before she was being woken up by her still-angry girlfriend. The curtains in the living room that she now remembered she fell asleep in were thrown wide open and the light attempted to burn her retinas through her eyelids. Her mouth was dry and tasted like stale liquor. Her stomach felt empty but the thought of food was making her feel atrocious.

Jesus, how much did I drink last night?

She chanced a glance around her. Hope stood there with her arms crossed and resting on her stomach in her oversized sleep shirt and plaid pajama pants. Her eyes were thankfully no longer gold but she still had a scowl painted across her face. She stood tapping her bare feet on the floor.

For a while Josie thought that Hope wasn't going to say anything. Josie shuffled in an attempt to sit up straight against the armrest of the couch. She ran her fingers through her greasy hair and put it up out of her face so she could see properly. Eventually Hope gestured to the coffee table where a glass of water and a handful of Ibuprofen sat waiting for her.

"Take that and then we'll talk," Hope ordered. She then shuffled her way into the kitchen where Josie heard the chair of the dinette set scrape across the floor.

She did as instructed and threw the pills back in one swig and chugged the glass of water. It didn't sit well in her stomach but at this point she was so anxious about everything she really couldn't tell if that was alcohol-related or just nerves. With intense effort she pushed herself off the couch and followed after Hope.

Hope had her hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea. Josie saw a cup of coffee waiting on the table for her and she took a seat. She sipped her coffee and let out a sigh of relief when it didn't make her nauseous.

"Josie," Hope started with an exhale. "What...what the hell happened yesterday?"

"I know I fucked up," she answered. "I let my insecurities get the better of me and I got overwhelmed. I texted Penelope to see if she wanted to get a drink with me because I just...needed a break I guess."

"Yesterday you yelled at me to just 'leave you already.' Is that what you think is really going to happen?"

Josie sighed into her cup. "No? Yes? I just...I don't know. I saw him standing there looking at you like that and all I could see was this happy, perfect little family and I ran. Okay?"

"No, no it's not okay," Hope barked back at her. "You left me in a situation where I didn't know what was going on or what I was supposed to do. I needed you there to ground me and you left me alone."

"I know," Josie nodded. "I'm sorry."

"I believe you," Hope muttered. "I know you really need to hear me say this and I wish you didn't but...Jo, I'm not leaving you. Not for Landon, not for anyone. I'm not going back to Landon at all."

Josie covered her face with her hands and wiped away relieved tears. She really did need to hear that but at the same time she was disappointed in herself that she put Hope in this position.

"Can...can I ask what happened when he was here?"

"Well, you would know if you'd stuck around long enough to—"

"I know," she interjected. "Just humor me."

"We talked about...visitation for him and Olivia. After she's born he can come and see her when you and I are both here to supervise. When she's older, depending on how things go, she can stay with him for an overnight visit once a month. He has to make sure he has a job and an actual room for her to sleep in."

Josie nodded her head to all of that.

"But I also told him I would have to run that all by you first before I agreed to anything," Hope added. "Because you're her mother too."

Hope then reached across the table and grabbed her hand. She stroked her thumb over the top of her fingers. Josie relaxed at the touch.

"Is...Is that all he wanted?" Josie continued. "He just wanted to see her?"

Hope shifted uncomfortably in her seat as her only reply for a while. That made Josie nervous.

"He also...um," Hope stammered. "He tried to kiss me."

Josie pulled her hand back. "He what?"

"Now, don't freak out okay? It's not like that. He tried to kiss me but um...before I could tell him no Olivia decided to...make him stop."

"What does that even mean?" Josie exclaimed.

"I think she could feel that I was uncomfortable and a little scared and she just...blasted him with an explosion of magic and sent him flying over the couch."

Josie could only giggle. And then laugh. And then heave with tears of laughter as she nearly fell out of her chair. Hope rolled her eyes.

"Don't encourage her, Josie," Hope chided. "She can't throw people around rooms."

"How could you not laugh at this?" Josie asked, wiping away tears. "She was just protecting her mommy! Weren't you, baby?"

Josie leaned forward and rubbed Hope's belly quickly. She felt a small kick against her hand and smiled.

"So he wanted to kiss you?" Josie prompted.

"Yeah, the reason he came back was because he wanted to get back together," Hope answered. "I told him that maybe at one time that would have been something I wanted but…"

"But?" Josie said.

"But I love you," Hope whispered. "I love you so much and we have a life together. I can't lose you either, Josie."

Josie leaned forward and laid her forehead against Hope's. "I love you, too. I'm not going to leave you. I'm so sorry I got scared but I will always be here for you no matter how insecure I get. From now on."

Hope left a chaste kiss on her lips as she sighed. "You promise?"

"I promise, Hope. I should've been here to protect you and...I should have trusted you."

"You can always trust me. But I also need you to understand that when I call Olivia your daughter too I mean it," Hope emphasized. "You can't come at me with this whole thing where you think that just because Landon knocked me up that he's somehow going to replace you."

Josie winced at the hazy drunk memory. "Yeah, that was cruel. That was an awful thing to say. I'm so sorry. I think just seeing him here threw me over the edge."

"I know," Hope nodded. "But that stuff hurts and it makes me feel alone. I just need to know that when things get hard you're not going to just throw that back at me that she's not your child or something—"

Josie raised her hands and laid them on Hope's shoulder. "Absolutely not, I swear! Never, not ever. I may get a little jealous from time to time but I will never do that to you or to her."

She pressed a kiss to Hope's forehead who leaned into her.

"Okay," Hope sighed. "Okay. Are you good? Did you get it all out of your system with Penelope?"

"Yes," Josie chuckled. "And I am never drinking again."

"Good," Hope replied. "Let me make you some breakfast to soak up all that liquor in your stomach."

She got up and ruffled Josie's messy hair who slammed her forehead onto the table dramatically.

"God, I love you so much," she mumbled into the tabletop.

Hope laughed as she muttered "anything for you, baby" while she went to the fridge to grab eggs and butter.

Josie grinned as she watched her flit around the kitchen. She had the reassuring realization that she had never felt more secure and loved in her entire life.

It was coming down to the wire for them. It was only about three more weeks before Hope's anticipated due date. They finally got all the furniture put together with minimal arguing. They purchased the last of the essentials like the stroller, the baby swing, the bassinet, and a ton of toys. Josie struggled with Lizzie for two hours getting the car seat properly secured in Hope's new SUV. Josie had nearly passed out when Hope handed her the keys to her Lexus with a wink.

"I feel like it's going to be a little more challenging to drop you off everyday when Olivia is here," Hope shrugged. "Enjoy it. You deserve it."

Cabinets and table corners were baby-proofed. The nursery was finally painted and decorated with several of Hope's paintings. Laundry baskets full of onesies and cheese cloths were stacked in all corners of the penthouse for accidents.

Hope and Josie were not planning on doing the first week or so with Olivia on their own. Josie drove the SUV with Hope happily lounging in the front passenger seat on their way to the airport to pick up her Aunt Freya. Once Olivia's powers started making things challenging for Hope they enlisted Freya's help in finding them a doctor who was supernaturally-inclined, for lack of a better phrase. Keelin had called in several favors and together with Freya they had found a hospital not too far from their home that was prepared for whatever was about to happen with Hope and her baby.

Freya would be staying with them for a little bit to make sure that nothing magical interfered with the birth or put Hope or the baby in any danger. Josie was grateful for her help in this as she didn't want another incident like the one on Hope's kitchen floor all those months ago. Freya felt pretty confident that they were prepared for anything and it put Josie at ease.

Hope threw herself into her aunt's outstretched arms as they greeted her in the airport arrivals zone. Freya laughed as she tried to wrap her arms around her niece. Josie just leaned against the car smiling at them both. Hope had been incredibly excited to have her aunt there. She told Josie it was the next best thing to having her mother there with her.

"Oh my god look at you!" Freya exclaimed. "You look so gorgeous. Are you ready to be done yet?"

"Oh god I'm so ready," Hope groaned. "I've been standing for two seconds and I already want to sit down. I can't sit down though because I have to pee so I'm going to run inside real quick. Jo, can you help her with her stuff?"

Josie nodded and greeted Hope's intimidating aunt. "Thank you so much for coming, Freya. We probably couldn't do this without you. We had no idea where to go with finding a supernatural doctor."

Freya grabbed her carry-on and handed Josie her bigger suitcase. "I wouldn't miss this for the world. She's practically my daughter. You'd think with all the fireworks that surrounded yours and your sister's birth that your mom might have known someone."

"Oh um," Josie stammered. "She's been busy in Europe recruiting and all that."

Freya gave her a look from over her fashionable sunglasses that Josie couldn't quite decipher. She shifted awkwardly under her gaze.

Freya hummed. "Must have been hard for you and your sister with such an absent mother."

"I...I guess. We had our dad a lot of the time."

"It's hard for children when they grow up with just one parent. Isn't it?" Freya was still staring her down.

Josie stood there with a confused look on her face, unsure of how to respond. She was rescued by her girlfriend waddling back to the car.

"Okay," Hope exhaled. "Much better! Ready to go?"

Josie just nodded and hopped into the driver's seat. She chalked up that weird exchange to her own nerves being around Hope's aunt and drove them all back to the penthouse.

When they got home Hope excused herself to go lay down on the couch for a little bit. Josie gave her a nervous look that Hope caught pretty quick.

"I'm fine," she said with a peck to Josie's worried pout. "I'm just really tired. Nothing to worry about."

"You packed our hospital bag though, right?" Josie pressed.

"Yes, now stop worrying yourself." Hope gave her aunt a hug and shuffled to the living area. Josie reached down to help Freya with her bags and showed her to the office turned guest room.

"So, was it a bumpy flight or—"

"Alright, enough small talk Saltzman," Freya hissed as she closed the bedroom door.

Josie was startled and couldn't think of anything to say besides "uh...what?"

"I'm going to give you one chance," Freya whispered as she stalked towards Josie. She could only stare at the intimidating woman.

"That girl in there is my daughter and I've seen everything she's been through. I heard about your little 'night on the town' with your ex-girlfriend and I don't like this flightiness and insecurity that I can feel radiating off of you. Hope loves you for whatever reason so I can respect that. But I'm not going to tolerate anyone abandoning that girl. She's been let down and left alone quite enough."

Josie just stood there with her jaw dropped in stunned silence.

"Now," Freya continued. "You seem a little bit of a nervous type. I've known girls like you. Easily manipulated by their own insecurities into a black magic addiction that nearly caused my niece to be impaled on a stake. Beautiful blonde sister you're always in competition with. Little Miss Second Place. Only ever remembered when someone wants something from you."

Josie actually gasped at that, feeling like she'd just been slapped. She still had no strength to deny any of the vitriol being flung at her.

"Hope is precious," Freya exhaled, still simmering. "She is the most precious thing in my life besides my wife and my son. Being a mother isn't easy. It's rewarding, of course it is. But it's also fucking hard. You're going to want to give up on some of your very best days and sometimes you're going to feel utterly alone. Now, I'm a benevolent woman. So I will give you the opportunity to run right now. You know perfectly well what it feels like to have an emptiness in your life with a mother like yours. Do you really want to do that to this child? Have them grow up with a mother who leaves when it gets hard?"

Josie was hyperventilating at this point.

"I'll even cover your tracks for you, Josie. I'll tell Hope something convincing and I will take her home to New Orleans where she belongs, no questions asked. After all...it's not your baby anyway —"

"Alright, that's ENOUGH!" Josie bellowed. "You have said quite enough! I don't care if you are a Mikaelson or the fact that you're the only mother Hope has anymore. I'm not afraid of you, Freya."

Josie got right into Freya's face.

"You have insulted me in every possible way imaginable," she snapped. "The attacks on my character, from my flakiness to my insecurities, I will accept. Yes, I've struggled in my lifetime. Who hasn't? And yes, I fucked up and went out and got wasted when Landon showed up attempting to reclaim what he thought was his. I will own all of that."

She erased as much space between herself and Freya as she could as her voice fell to a whisper.

"But nothing in the world could ever sever me from Hope's side. Do you know why? Because that is my baby. I may be insecure about being good enough for Hope, sure. But I know for a goddamn fact now that that little girl is mine. I love her more than I've ever loved anything and I haven't even met her yet. If Hope asked me to leave tomorrow I would but I would never stop being a mother to that child. Because that's what I am now. I'm her mother."

Freya kept her burning gaze locked on Josie. The room fell into an electrifying silence for a

moment before the bedroom door flung open. They whipped around to face the door.

Hope stood on the other side looking angry, uncomfortable, and a little...pale? Her eyes were gold.

"Aunt Freya," she said. "If you are quite finished interrogating the mother of my child that would be great. It's clear that Josie isn't going anywhere and that she fucking loves me and my daughter. I swear, just because dad isn't here anymore doesn't mean you have the right to scare away my romantic partners with that Mikaelson charm."

Freya shrugged. "It was worth a try. I was just testing this girl's mettle. She seems like a good girl, Klaus would approve."

"Fucking what?" Josie squeaked. "This was a fucking test?!"

"Yep," Hope nodded, panting a little and rolling her eyes at her aunt's antics. "Nice job, babe. Looks like you passed. Freya, seriously? Leave her alone."

Josie finally got a good look at Hope. "Are you okay, honey?"

Hope was leaning against the door frame sweating a little and was grimacing uncomfortably.

"Um, I think we need to get the hospital bag," Hope mumbled. "I think Sugar might be ready to be done here. I'm really uncomfortable and everything hurts and—"

Olivia must have felt it necessary to hurry things along because, right on cue, Hope's water broke all over the Cherrywood floors.

Josie's eyes widened and she just stood there. Paintings on the wall started to rattle and blue sparks surrounded Hope's tightly clenched fingers.

Hope and Josie locked eyes. "Jo…"

At that moment Freya slapped the back of Josie's head and rushed forward to cradle her niece in a

loose embrace. "Let's go! Get the bag! I'll call the doctor on the way. Move!"

The slap seemed to dislodge Josie's anxiety so she couldn't be too angry about it. She grabbed for Hope's hand that was outstretched for her's.

"Jo, we're having a baby!"

"Yeah, yeah we are," Josie laughed through tears. Hope gave her a smile that was slightly forced through the start of a contraction.

"Okay, we gotta go now," Hope barked. "Fun fact, this really fucking hurts."

Josie ran to the bedroom to grab the bag while Freya helped Hope to the SUV. Josie threw the bag into the trunk of the car and went to get in the driver's seat. She found Freya already sitting there and gave her a confused look.

"Get in the back with Hope," Freya said. "I'll get us there, she could probably use you right now."

Hope groaned on cue and a surge of magic caused the radio to fritz. Josie didn't hesitate any longer and jumped into the back. She laid a very tense Hope against her chest and siphoned from her stomach. Hope let out a small sigh of relief and Josie felt her teeth chatter at the strength of the magic she was pulling.

She sent off a quick text to Lizzie and her dad. Her dad had been filled in about her and Hope's situation a few weeks ago. While he initially wasn't too thrilled that his daughter was having a baby at 25, he was pretty excited that Josie and his favorite were doing this together. He was also looking forward to being a grandpa.

Josie: Code Green! Sugar is on the way!!!

She didn't have to wait long for a response. Hope felt the buzz of texts and looked over at the screen with Josie.

Lizzie: OMG OMG OMG! Do you want me to meet you at the hospital?!

Josie looked at Hope with a raised eyebrow who nodded her head as she panted from the pain.

Josie: Yep, we might actually need you anyway. I just siphoned from her and Olivia is like a live wire right now.

Lizzie: I'll let my boss know I'm leaving and I'll be there soon! Be safe. Love you both.

Josie laid her girl further into her chest as Hope nuzzled her neck. The groans of pain started taking a turn into cries and it made Josie's heart ache.

"Oh my god, this really fucking hurts !"

"Did you think this was going to be easy?" Freya teased. Probably not a great idea.

"FREYA! Don't FUCK with me right now! You and your bullshit almost scared away my wife!" Hope shrieked through her teeth.

Josie's head spun in a beautiful way at Hope calling her her wife. She chose not to comment on it.

The car jerked to the next lane over with the surge of magic that ran through all the equipment. Luckily, there was no one in the lane and Freya got the car under control quickly. Hope just sighed as the contraction passed.

Josie siphoned some more from her stomach and added a soft "okay, let's not tease the woman in labor."

They pulled up to the hospital and waited for a few nurses to attend to them. A nurse got a much calmer Hope settled into a wheelchair and brought all three of them through. Freya made sure that the hospital staff were trained in supernatural anomalies and made everyone sign non-disclosure agreements ahead of time. The team had isolated an entire floor of the building for Hope in case things got a little chaotic. Josie anticipated they probably would.

Freya had been friends with Dr. Locken for a few years now. Josie and Hope met her a few weeks back and felt incredibly comfortable with her. Regardless of the fact that Freya seemed to have no faith in Josie's commitment, Josie would still have to make sure she sent Freya a fruit basket for the work she'd done in finding this woman.

The doctor got their paperwork pushed through, insurance worked out, and had Hope in a hospital bed in less than half an hour. Hope was still in discomfort but seemed to be doing just fine.

Josie smiled at her as she munched on ice chips with her feet cozy in hospital socks. Josie sat next to her hospital bed in a comfy armchair that she was sure she was going to hate once this was over. It was comfortable now but no matter how comfortable a chair is she knew that several hours stuck in one was going to suck eventually. Hope turned to her with that adorable grin that crinkled her nose.

"Hey Jo," Hope whispered. "We're gonna leave here with a baby. I'm so excited."

"Me too, love," Josie smiled back at her. She siphoned softly from her stomach and gulped down her gasp at the shock of the force of it.

"Are you okay?" Damn Hope and her intuitive nature.

"Am I okay? You're the one in labor, silly girl." Josie deflected.

"The only way we're gonna get out of this with our sanity is if we're honest with each other, Jo. You promised me," Hope grit her teeth through the start of another contraction.

"Okay, you're right," Josie conceded. "Sugar is just a little rambunctious today for obvious reasons. She's a little more intense than usual. I told Lizzie we might need her to help me siphon."

"Oh god," Hope said through a groan. "Please don't make me indebted to Lizzie Saltzman. I couldn't bear it!"

Lizzie chose that moment to sweep into their hospital room with several bags and coffees. She had the biggest smile Josie had ever seen sitting on her face. Josie actually had to giggle at her sister's excitement.

"Okay," Lizzie announced. "I have got all the baby onesies that I bought recently that I think are the cutest to put my perfect niece in once she's free of you . I brought my good camera so we can stage some pictures because you only get newborn photos once, obvi. I've also got coffee for you both, protein bars, sandwiches, and—"

Hope cut her off with a cry as her body involuntarily clenched in on itself. The lights around them flickered through the contraction as Josie held her hand tightly.

"Lizzie, I appreciate all the help but I'm not sure we're gonna have to wait that long," Josie placated. "Her contractions are getting a lot closer together. What we need from you right now is for you to help me siphon. Now please!"

Freya left the room to notify the doctor that things were starting to heat up here. She threw a protective barrier around the girls as several light bulbs exploded overhead.

"I'm going to get the doctor," Freya said. "Everyone just try and relax. And siphon!"

Lizzie scrambled to the other side of Hope and grabbed her free hand.

"Oof, you weren't kidding," Lizzie muttered. "She's real excited to get out of you, Hope. I mean, I don't blame her. I have no idea how any of your boyfriends or my sister—"

"LIZZIE SALTZMAN DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" Hope shouted as her grip tightened on their hands.

Medical equipment went flying and the twins used their magic to settle everything.

The contraction passed and Hope fell back against the pillows with a heavy sigh. Josie wiped the sweat from her brow with a cool, wet rag. Hope leaned into her but kept her eyes closed.

"This sucks," Hope mumbled. "This sucks so much babe. Is it too late to not?"

"Too late to not what?" Josie asked. Hope gave her a pleading look.

"Too late to not have a baby? Don't you idiots know a spell that can just poof her out of me?! I don't wanna do this!"

Josie kissed her damp forehead by her hairline. "Honey, it's a little late for that and we already talked about this. Some things have to happen the um... natural way."

Hope just nodded and closed her eyes with a quiet "I know, I know."

Freya ran back into the room with the doctor. The doctor examined an exhausted Hope.

"Okay," she said, popping up from under the sheet covering Hope's modesty. "Looks like we're getting close. Maybe another few hours—"

"HOURS?!" Hope barked with golden eyes. "You will get this thing out of me now or so help me god I will unleash the unrestrained fury of the only Tribrid on Earth onto you and your whole family!"

In a flash of blue lightning, both Josie and Lizzie who were gripping Hope's hands were thrown clear across the room into opposite walls. The force of the magic was enough to blow them off their feet and away from their posts. Hope gasped as she whipped her head back and forth between the twins who let out identical moans of pain.

"Fucking Christ, Mikaelson," Lizzie muttered as she pulled herself onto her feet. She rubbed the back of her head that had made contact with the wall.

"Hope," Josie said delicately. "Honey, let's try and breathe through this okay?"

Josie heaved herself off the floor rubbing her shoulder. She looked at Hope who was staring at her in distress.

"Josie?" Hope whispered. "I'm so sorry…"

"No no, it's okay. I promise I'm fine—"

"But you're bleeding," Hope said through tears.

Josie ran a hand over a stinging spot on her forehead. Her hand came away with a little blood. She did her best to try and placate a hyperventilating and frightened Hope.

"Really honey," she insisted. "It's just a scratch. I'm totally fine. Now let me take your hand so I can siphon."

"No!" Hope exclaimed. "What if you get thrown again? Jo, what's happening?"

"Nothing's happening," Josie replied. "Olivia is just strong like her mom. She's going to come into this world kicking and screaming like I'm sure you probably did. It's going to be a long night but everyone is here to help you."

Josie grabbed onto Hope's hand who put up minimal resistance. She felt Hope start to relax into her as she siphoned. Josie had never been so full of magic but she wasn't about to stop now. Lizzie gave Hope a wary look of caution but grabbed her hand again when Josie sent her the fiercest glare she was capable of making.

Hope did eventually manage to find a little sleep after that incident. They had decided in the beginning that an epidural would be too risky since it had to be threaded near her spinal cord and with her fast healing the risk of causing any damage and having it not heal the right way was too great.

Under Freya's instruction, Josie and Lizzie used all of that baby Mikaelson magic to surround the delivery room with protective magic. They reinforced the foundation of the room as much as they could in case the force of this experience caused any dangerous tremors. Magic to discourage anyone from investigating what was about to happen was put up around the entire floor that Hope was resting on and only a select few were allowed through it. Once Josie and Lizzie had let off enough steam they came back to Hope's room.

Their timing was impeccable as Hope started moaning from her spot as she was roused from her sleep. Josie's heart ached when she heard a sleepy Hope cry out for her. She ran right to her side and cooed softly as Hope opened her eyes.

Josie unconsciously brushed hair off of Hope's forehead. Her girlfriend…fiancé? Eh, she's going to stick with girlfriend for now. Her girlfriend looked at her with glassy, tired eyes.

"Am I done yet?" Hope muttered.

"Almost babe," Josie soothed. "You ready?"

Their doctor helped get Hope settled into the stirrups but she was hardly paying attention. Josie grabbed her hand and left soft kisses on the back while siphoning. She felt a shock as she siphoned and saw crackling blue magic shoot up her own arm.

Josie grit her teeth. Hope's grip tightened as she started to push.

"You got it, honey," she encouraged. "You can do this."

The lights above them flickered. Freya kept her hands raised to intercept any possible magical complications. Hope let out a cry as she leaned forward with the force.

With the force of the push Josie was nearly pushed back against the wall for a second time. She shifted her grip to the side of the bed. Freya used her magic to hold Doctor Locken in place and Lizzie knocked over a tray of supplies but stayed on her feet as she skidded a few steps backwards. The magic was intense. Josie felt like her hair was standing on end.

"Josie, this SUCKS!" Hope cried as she let a few tears fall.

Josie scrambled to find her balance and she grabbed Hope's hand tightly. "It's okay, just keep going! You've gone through worse and she's almost here!"

"We just gotta get her shoulders through," the doctor told them. "Hope, I need you to give us one last strong push, okay?"

Hope shook her head but adjusted herself to get more grounded. With one last cry, Hope gave a heavy push. Everyone in the room braced themselves.

Olivia Beth decided to come into this world with a bang, literally. Lightning came down from the ceiling tiles and Freya and Lizzie did their best to shield the others with their magic. With every deflected bolt of lightning came another and Josie just leaned herself into Hope in search of protection. She kept siphoning as hard as she could without causing Hope any pain.

"Almost there, babe!"

Lightning changed to legit fucking fireworks and Josie grimaced as the sparks burned into her skin. She put up her hand to shield herself and Hope and siphoned as hard as she could.

As she sparks from the fireworks turned into soft chilled snowflakes...tiny, high-pitched cries filled the room.

!

Olivia Beth Mikaelson was born in the early hours of the morning on July 2nd. She was only a little over 6 pounds with wrinkly slightly tan skin and a small patch of swirly black hair. She cried upon entry into the world but the moment she was laid on Hope's chest, after being cleaned off, she was immediately quiet aside from silly cooing noises that made Josie feel like crying with tears of joy. So she did.

Hope held onto their daughter for about half an hour before she became too tired to even hold her securely. When Hope started to doze, Josie grabbed the baby and just held her as close as she could. Freya had decided to head back to the penthouse when she was assured that Hope was safe and comfortable.

Lizzie perched herself on the arm of Josie's chair and stroked her niece's soft, fuzzy head. Hope had been napping for a few hours now but the twins were too wired to sleep.

"Look at her little curls," Lizzie commented. "Her hair is gonna be so cute. You can see the outline of all these little ringlets that'll pop out when she gets older."

Josie just hummed in agreement.

"The only thing I'll ever thank Landon for are those little black curls," she muttered. "Well, I guess not the only thing."

"Do you think her eyes will change color?"

"Most likely," Josie answered. "They usually change from that gray color around 3 months. I hope they turn that lovely shade of blue her mommy has."

"Excuse me."

Josie and Lizzie turned around to see a nurse standing in the doorway.

"Yes?" Josie whispered.

"I have someone here who is...rather insistent on seeing you all," the nurse said. "A man? He says his name is Landon."

"Oh Jesus fucking Christ," Lizzie exclaimed only to be shushed by Josie. "I'll get rid of him."

"What does he want?" Josie asked.

The nurse shrugged. "I believe he wants to see the baby. He said he was the father."

"Bull SHIT he's the father! My ass—"

"Lizzie, hush," Josie chided. "I want them both to sleep. What do we do?"

"What do you mean? We kick him out! He's not the father and he doesn't get to muscle his way in here."

"How did he even find out that Hope gave birth?!"

"Um," Lizzie got quiet. "I may have posted about it on Instagram?"

"Are you serious?!" she hissed.

"Yes! I wanted to show everyone my niece!"

Josie sighed and looked down at the tiny human swaddled in her arms. She couldn't imagine someone taking her out of her sight. She was so blessed to be able to see her and hold her. It may have been the emotions of the day or just her lack of sleep but she felt sorry for Landon in that moment.

"He can come in," Josie said to the nurse. The nurse excused herself to go get him.

"He can look but not touch," she said to her pouting sister.

It was barely a minute before Landon came skidding into the doorway, his eyes searching the room before landing on Josie and the bundle in her arms. He let out a heavy exhale, as if he'd been holding his breath until that moment.

"Oh my god," Landon whispered. "She's just…"

"Perfect," Josie finished for him. Lizzie laid a supportive hand on her sister's shoulder and stood to act as a barrier between them.

"Landon, you can't just fucking stalk your ex-girlfriend all the way to her hospital room after she gives birth!" Lizzie protested.

"I know," he said, not taking his eyes off the baby. "I know I just...I needed to see her. Can I hold her?"

Olivia started to wiggle in her arms. She looked down to see her daughter making little sucking faces and then grimacing with a soft whine. She then started to cry, most likely hungry.

Shit. This'll wake Hope in about three seconds.

"Liv?" Hope mumbled in her sleep. She then shifted up almost abruptly looking around the room. "Jo, where's the baby?"

Josie winced as Hope locked eyes with her and saw who was standing in the doorway. She shot Josie a look of confusion with her arms outstretched for their daughter.

"Why is he here?" She asked, ignoring everyone else. Josie laid the crying baby down in Hope's arms.

"He wanted to see her," Josie whispered. "He saw a post on Lizzie's Instagram and he just showed up. I told him he could look and then he asked if he could hold her."

"Please Hope," Landon begged.

Hope turned her attention to the doorway. "No, you can't hold her. You're lucky you got to look at her. You're also lucky I just birthed a fucking human or I would physically remove you from this hospital myself."

Landon shifted uncomfortably but said nothing.

"We talked about boundaries and how Josie and I get to decide on when you can see her," Hope said. "You've seen her. Now get out. I need to feed her and you definitely lost privileges to see that a while ago."

Lizzie didn't give him any time to try and plead. She stormed over to him and grabbed him by the arm. He hesitated, clearly thinking about resisting, but gave in at the look Hope was giving him.

"What's her name?" Landon quietly asked.

Hope hesitated but relented. "Olivia. Olivia Beth Mikaelson."

"Olivia..." Landon mumbled.

He seemed satisfied with as much as he had been given. With one last longing look at Hope and Olivia he let Lizzie lead him from the delivery room.

Once he was clear of the room Hope got Olivia settled to nurse. Josie just softly pet her daughter's head in the silence.

"I'm mad at you," Hope whispered.

"I know," Josie replied.

"He can't just show up here, Jo. He had every opportunity to be the one in this room with me and he chose not to be that person. I'm glad that he's clearly interested in seeing Olivia and being there for her but that's gotta be at our discretion. Which means I have to agree to it too."

Josie left a kiss on Hope's forehead. "I know. I just thought about him sitting outside the room and about how I would feel if someone told me I couldn't see her. It just broke my heart too much and I...made a snap decision."

Hope hummed at her in understanding. "I know. You're a good person and that's one of the things I love most about you."

They then fell into comfortable silence again. Olivia's left hand was opening and closing as she nursed.

Josie reached forward with a finger outstretched and put it near for Olivia to grab. Olivia opened her baby gray eyes as she wrapped her tiny hand around her mama's finger. She looked right up and locked eyes with Josie who just smiled.

"I love you, Sugar," Josie whispered. "I'm so excited to get to know you."

Olivia closed her eyes again and sighed.