Author's Note: I had a lot of fun writing this one, and there's definitely going to be a part two. Apologies for Klaus' behaviour in this chapter. I promise to make it up to you xx
Caroline swung open the door with her practiced Miss Mystic smile in place, but it quickly dropped into a confused frown when she was met with empty space. Puzzled, she leaned out of the doorway to look around when she had a gurgle. Glancing down, her eyes befell a wicker basket that bore a baby swaddled carefully in a white blanket. She was certainly no expert on babies, but if she had to guess, she'd say this one was no older than four months. Looking around again to make sure no one was around, she picked up the baby gingerly, and gave the basket a light kick so it would slide into the foyer.
"Guys? Come down here for a second," she called, bouncing the baby gently in her arms. It was sleepy, but not quite asleep yet, if the slow blink of its gigantic green eyes was anything to go by. Oh jeez, was it mean of her to refer to it as it? They seriously had to find its parents.
Klaus was the first one down, having flashed there from his study. Now, Caroline had watched this man battle the greatest witches on the planet, fight off a dozen werewolves and even face-off with Silas but she had never seen him look more horrified.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing with that- that thing?" He asked her, pointing at the child in her arms in accusation.
"Klaus relax, it's just a baby," She replied, rolling her eyes at his expression. You would think that after a thousand years he would know how to handle a baby.
"Is my vampirism malfunctioning or did I just hear you say you had a- oh," Rebekah emerged, tying the sash of her wrap-around shirt. Aside from initial surprise, the only female Mikaelson was alright, even coming closer to examine the child."Where did you find it?" She asked, reaching out a manicured finger to trace the baby's open palm.
"The doorstep. There was nobody there, just this little pile of cuteness in a basket," Caroline responded, warming up to the baby already. She jerked her head in the direction of the abandoned basket in explanation.
"Was there a note?" Rebekah queried, already striding towards the basket.
"I didn't check actually," Caroline frowned, shifting the baby in her arms. Rebekah picked up a piece of paper marked with blank ink in perfect calligraphy and read aloud.
Dear Mikaelsons, present residing company included,
Consider this karma.
There was a sudden guffaw from Kol, who appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, beside a stunned Elijah.
"Niklaus-"
"No, Elijah, before you use that condescending tone on me, I did not piss off any witches. At least not in the recent past." He smirked, mischievously.
"Gee, are you sure?" Chirped Bonnie, from her perch on the stairs. She only got a threatening glare from Klaus, which she answered with a slight narrow of her emerald orbs, a silent reminder that she could fry his brain at will.
"Okay so if its not the witches, who else would give us a baby out of revenge?" Caroline asked, half out of curiosity and half because she wanted to dissipate the simmering tension between her boyfriend and best friend.
"Does it matter?" Growled Klaus, "We're giving it back."
"To who?" Rebekah retorted defensively.
"Aren't there thousands of insipid humans in desperate need of a child?" Klaus shot back, completely unwilling to share a roof with it.
"Yeah, but the kid might not even be human," Bonnie muses aloud. All the heads in the room swivel to her in shock and she scoffs. "What? Haven't any of you thought about that?" As if choreographed, they all turn to the baby, expecting to see some sort of sign that it was was supernatural but all they got was a small sigh and an uncomfortable wiggle.
"He's probably hungry. Give him to me," Rebekah offers, stretching her arms out to receive the baby. Caroline hands what her friend has deemed a he to her, and pockets, suddenly not knowing what to do with her hands when his warmth left them.
"Do we even have baby food?" Kol asks his sister, popping a lollipop out of his reddened mouth.
"He's too young for it. He needs formula milk." Rebekah says, positioning the baby to settle on one hip while searching for her car keys. "Witch, you're up." She delegates, throwing her keys to a stupefied Bonnie.
"Why me?"
"Must I always be the smartest one in the room?" The Original lets out a long-suffering sigh. "Caroline over here needs to calm Nik down, Elijah would just slow me down complaining about wrinkles and spit-up on his suit and I don't particularly feel like giving Kol an impromptu how-to-hold-a-baby lesson. So that leaves you."
Bonnie shrugs, the logic sound enough for her. So she heaves herself off the stairs and follows Rebekah out to her Range Rover.
"I'm not that vain, am I?" Elijah breaks the silence that had dawned on the room with a concerned expression.
Rebekah and Bonnie end up buying more than just formula milk, and stock up on a baby carrier, a stroller, a bassinet, more than a few dozen clothes, diapers, baby soap and lotion, and had a crib and rocking chair delivered. They both saw the logic in stocking up for the long run, because there was a good chance the baby was a supernatural and until they knew who left it at their doorstep and why, it was as good as theirs.
Caroline went into organizer-mode, delegating the task of assembling the crib and rocking chair to the boys for the sole purpose of having free arms that knew how to cradle a baby- which she'd googled immediately the girls left. If she was going to be a temporary mother, she might as well do it right. The baby had been successfully fed and burped and was residing on her left shoulder, head flat against her skin, softly drooling. Her senses picked up a foul smell and she reached for the shopping bags, heading upstairs to change the baby's diaper.
"So its a she," Rebekah repeated, swirling her wine around in her glass.
"Yup," Caroline confirmed. The baby was now nestled in a brand new bassinet, her cheeks rosy from the fuss she had put up when Caroline woke her to change her diaper. "And she's kind of the most adorable baby in the world, isn't she?" she mused, blue eyes roving over the sleeping child.
"She is quite charming." Elijah reluctantly offered. He had gotten a chance to hold her when Caroline was throwing away her dirty diaper and he had to admit, she had grown on him. Her tiny fists had grabbed his shirt with a strength he didn't know young ones possessed and blinked up at him miserably, eyes framed by lingering tears. He had dropped a kiss to her head, covered in faint little tufts of brown hair and rocked her, whispering a lullaby his mother sang to him when he was a boy.
"Not you too, Elijah." Klaus chastised. He downed his glass of scotch and uncapped the bottle for another fill.
"Oh hush Niklaus. You're on your own over there." Kol defended. He was sitting beside Caroline, so the baby was between them, and he had not gotten the chance to carry her yet, but he could not deny how sweet she looked, her little pink lips parted in her sleep and her tiny feet kicking at the air occasionally. It amazed him how tiny she was, how very... delicate.
"We still don't know where she came from. My spell didn't work. I don't know if she's human or not. It's like there's a sort of barrier around her. My magic can't get through and I don't know how it will affect her if I push." Bonnie sighed, flipping her grimoire closed.
"Then don't. She'll just stay with us until we figure this out. We'll call Marcel and ask if he knows anything, tell him to keep his ear on the ground and then we'll make a list of the people we even slightly suspect to be behind this. The note says 'present company included', which means whatever this is, its revenge for something that we all did." Caroline deducted, face twisted into a thoughtful frown.
To be continued