Hello, my lovely readers. Three characters find themselves at a crossroads. On with the show…

Chapter 8: The Hardest Conversation

Hayley

Tucking her legs underneath her, Hayley Marshall glanced at her fiancé, Elijah Mikaelson's brooding face, and wished she could peer inside his mind and read his most guarded thoughts. Smiling, she lifted her fingers and brushed his brown locks out of his face. His eyes lifted to meet hers and they exchanged a long look and then a steamy kiss which Hayley hoped might lead to something more. But then Elijah returned to the medical journal in his lap and Hayley's eyes returned to that month's copy of Modern Bride which Caroline had made her promise she would read. Hayley interpreted read as: Flip through the pages and try to decide if she would be caught dead in any of the frou-frou dresses.

The next day, Hayley found Elijah before he was to go in and attempt to remove a tumor from a man's medulla oblongata. This surgery—given the tumor's growth at the base of the brain—and above the spinal cord—could end with Elijah's patient being paralyzed and Hayley did not want to upset him. However, she did want to talk. Soon.

"Hi, you," Hayley called as she popped her head inside the scrub room. "Got a minute?"

Elijah glanced up from his important work of washing his hands. Grinning, he nodded. "Of course."

Heading inside the room, Hayley moved to cross the space between them and leaned against the sink. "So, I was thinking of making us dinner tonight. Just a quiet night in."

"Yes?" Elijah nodded. "As soon as I get done removing Hermie from my friend, Mr. Watson, I'll pick up a bottle of wine and come home to enjoy whatever meal my lovely fiancée has prepared for the night."

Hayley laughed. She found Elijah's nicknaming the tumor to make it seem less frightening, endearing. "You'd better. Or I'll have to find something else to do with my spare time. And if Caroline does not stop blowing up my phone with questions about wedding cake, I'm going to book us a flight to Vegas."

"Wouldn't want to upset your bridesmaid before the wedding," Elijah quipped.

"Bridesmaid?" Hayley scoffed, folding her arms over her chest. "I swear, it's like she's decided that this is her wedding. I am going to kill Klaus for not giving her that fairy tale fest that would end with all of us drunk and puking in the bushes at the reception."

Laughing aloud, Elijah leaned down and pressed his lips to hers while keeping his hands away from her. "Sorry. I have to go now."

"I know. See you tonight," Hayley said. She turned to watch Elijah go into the OR with a light feeling.

~0~

At nine o'clock in the evening, Hayley uncorked a bottle of wine Elijah seemed to have forgotten he had or thought wasn't good enough for this evening. The food was growing cold on the dining room table.

By eleven, Hayley had finished her third glass of wine and gotten up and blew out the candles. So much for a romantic dinner for two. Stalking over to the cabinets, she removed containers and then turned to the table. She took her time putting the food up and then she went into the living room with the bottle of wine.

~0~

Around two o'clock in the morning, Hayley woke to someone climbing into bed with her. She rolled over to find it was Elijah, his familiar scent enveloping her senses as he slid in beside her. "How did the surgery go?" she asked him.

Elijah curled his arms around her and buried his nose in her neck. "The surgery was a success…"

Hayley closed her eyes. "Poor Mr. Watson…" She felt the hot prick of tears at the back of her lids. Mr. Watson had three grandchildren who had come to visit him every day and the youngest, a girl named Abigail, would read from the Wall Street Journal and concoct tales from whatever she was telling her grandfather. Giant buildings would turn into monsters and eat up the stocks and bonds. The child was eight. And she was a storyteller. She would be crushed. All of the children would be.

"Yes. Poor Mr. Watson," Elijah said, growing still.

Hayley rolled over. She wondered if he was seeking comfort and her hand went to his pants. "Not tonight," he muttered before rolling over and turning his back on her.

~0~

A week later, Hayley decided she couldn't wait anymore. "Elijah, do you want kids?" Hayley asked.

Elijah had a piece of toast half-way to his mouth when Hayley asked her question. By the look on his face, Hayley wondered if she should have waited until next year to ask.

Sitting his toast down, Elijah inhaled sharply. "Yes. Do you?"

"Yeah. I think I do." Hayley stopped herself from saying that Rebekah might offer them her off-spring. Rebekah seemed to be all over the place about her pregnancy but this was about them.

Elijah's mouth worked. It looked like he wanted to smile. "I lost a child, Hayley. I lost him in a terrible manner…and that makes it harder. Otherwise, I would have already picked you up and be half-way to making our first child as we speak." Finally, a small smile appeared on his face.

Hayley got up and moved to stand beside Elijah's chair. He pushed it back and she sat on his lap. "We can wait. There isn't a huge rush." She pressed a kiss to his ear. "And we can practice. We can practice a lot." Her lips moved to his neck. "I mean, you kind of put me in the mood with this talk of table sex." Her eyes flashed as Elijah's brows rose. "Yeah?"

Hands going around her waist, Elijah hoisted Hayley up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he cleared the table top and laid her down on top of it. His hands slid under her top and he threw it across the room as his hands slid under her knees. Her head arched backwards as they came together and she felt a hundred times better about how the last week had gone.

~0~

A week later, Hayley flipped through another bridal magazine which she felt bored with. Her boredom decreased when Elijah flipped her onto her stomach and pulled her underwear off. "Practice makes perfect," he muttered, running his open mouth down her spine as he pulled her hips upward. Hayley thought she might begin a much more entertaining check list for the wedding: Best sexual positions for the honeymoon.

Yes, Hayley felt a lot more excited about her up-coming "I dos" as she formulated the list until Elijah cupped her chin, his open mouth beckoning hers and made her forget everything, including her own name. By the time she and Elijah decided to start making babies, Hayley felt they would have practiced about a thousand times. And she looked forward to another thousand rounds.

~0~

Klaus

"Klaus!" Caroline hopped onto Klaus lap and Klaus felt startled because he was sitting at the nurse's station and everyone could see his wife startling him.

"Hello, love," Klaus replied. He glanced around to see if anyone was watching them—other than the security guards behind the cameras. It was past midnight and the hospital was usually fairly quiet at this time of night but you never knew when a patient or a family member might be wandering about. "Who do I thank for whatever has put you in this mood?" he asked, placing his hands on Caroline's sides, enjoying the feel of her breasts as she inhaled and exhaled.

"I just wanted to say: 'Hi,'" Caroline replied slowly. Her eyes moved over his face and then her lips moved downward to press to Klaus.' He inhaled, feeling his body responding as Caroline wiggled on top of him. "Is this about wanting another baby?" he gasped as Caroline's hand went down and she slid her hands into his pocket.

"Josh and I were checking out the cuties in the nursery," Caroline said. Her mouth had found the crook of Klaus' neck and she undid his tie, peeling back his shirt to lick and nip at his skin. "And I was thinking…"

"Caroline, I told you how I feel on the subject," Klaus began when Caroline pulled back and pulled the hair clip out of her hair. With a long, slow smile that could spell trouble, she slid off his lap and under the desk. Klaus felt his face flush as she undid his belt and unzipped his pants. "Caroline, I don't think –" Klaus stopped talking and his wife made his brain stop working. His hands slammed down on the desktop and he clawed at the wood. "Caroline," he groaned.

"Hey, Dr. Mikaelson," a voice startled Klaus who looked up to find that fool, Lucien Castle, grinning at him. The intern leaned against the counter.

"I thought you were up in the NICU; where I left you two hours ago! Who the bloody hell is keeping an eye on the preemie I just helped save the life of this morning!" Klaus growled, glaring at Lucien.

"Oh?" Lucien shrugged. "Called Vincent. He said he could help me by taking a few hours while I popped down to the on-call room and took a nap."

"Oh, how good of your little mate, Vincent," Klaus snapped. "If I have to escort you up there myself; I blasted well will." Forgetting for a second what he was in the middle of, Klaus began to stand up when he let out a cry of pain as teeth sunk into something. "Bloody hell!" he shouted.

"You alright, Dr. Mikaelson?" Lucien asked, brows rising. He started to come around the corner when Klaus held up a hand and fell back into the seat.

"I'm fine," Klaus snapped. He continued to glower at Lucien who offered him a quick grin. "Go back to the NICU and do not dare leave until I come to tell you've been relieved for the evening."

"Right." Lucien shrugged. For some reason, he seemed to be taking the news well. Too well. "Have a good night, Dr. Mikaelson… Both of you!" he raised his voice for the last part. A smirk played at the corners of his mouth as he left them alone.

"Bloody fool," Klaus grumbled as Caroline climbed out from under the desk. She grabbed tissue and wiped her mouth while Klaus checked for damage to his favorite appendage while trying to hide his activities from the all-seeing eye of Big Brother.

"When you're ready to return to the baby discussion; we'll continue that…" Caroline tapped the top of the desk and smirked at Klaus.

Klaus let out a growl as his wife left him, swinging her hips to and fro. She would drive him nuts.

~0~

The next afternoon, Klaus found himself hands deep in a young woman who was barely out of her teens. She'd gone into early labor. Her baby was eight months along but did not want to come out any other way but with her shoulder coming out first.

Between Klaus and Sage, they decided an emergency C-section would be the best route to take because the mother had a heart condition and the longer it took them to deliver the baby, the more stress her heart was under.

Marcel came into the room. "What do you have for me?" he'd asked them. His eyes were on the mother; Klaus' were on the child.

"She's trying to go into cardiac arrest," Sage informed Marcel.

"Great. I need to get in there," Marcel told them.

"After I get done getting this baby out; you may do whatever you wish." Klaus removed the perfectly formed baby from her mother's womb. "Right. I've got her." He hurried to place her on her back. The child had not let out so much as a whimper. Massaging her chest, Klaus watched her closely. "Breathe for me, little one," he whispered.

After what felt like a lifetime, a tiny whimper sprang from the child and then her eyes opened, revealing wide blue eyes and she let out a wail. "Oh, there. There," Klaus murmured. "Let's get you a nice little bath. A diaper. Then we'll make sure you're healthy before you can go and make your first friends? Shall we?" He refused to allow a nurse to clean the baby, doing it himself as the little girl squirmed and grabbed at his fingers. Klaus found himself smiling.

~0~

"Is the girl alright? The mother?" Klaus asked, as casually as possible during lunch.

"She didn't make it. No one told you yet?" Sage said, playing with her salad and looking unhappy.

"No. They didn't. Does the child have family?" Klaus inquired.

"Don't know." Sage shrugged. "She was so young." She looked up when Klaus pushed himself to his feet. "Where are you going?"

"I've got some research to attend to," Klaus replied. His mind on one priority.

~0~

"Where are we going?" Caroline cried as Klaus tugged her toward the NICU. "Klaus?" she groaned. "Are you making me pull another all-nighter?"

"Stop talking." Klaus saw Caroline's cheeks flush. She was about to lose her temper before he placed his arms around her waist and eased her in front of the glass. He placed his chin on her shoulder. Taking her hand, he placed it over the glass where the baby he'd rescued that morning lay. "She's an innocent, Caroline. She doesn't have any living family. I want to bring her home. If we're allowed, I want to adopt her."

"Oh?" Caroline glanced at him. "What do we call her?"

"I was thinking Hope. If you don't mind?" Klaus said, pressing his cheek to Caroline's.

"Oh. Okay." Caroline stared through the glass partition. "Hello, Hope."

Kol

Staring at the weight that should be going up further as he straightened his calves and thigh muscles, working the blasted machine and watching in horror as the weights moved a mere inch more than they did last week; Kol let out a cry of anger. "This isn't right!" he snarled.

"Hey, mate, you can only do what your body allows you to do," Kaleb Westphall, his overly-enthusiastic physical therapist from hell. "It's one step at a time in recovery."

Kol cursed, for the forty-fifth time, his younger sister's hormones, which pushed her to hire the idiot who was helping Kol "Get back on his feet." "Thanks." Kol snapped, easing his feet out and around. He could walk, but not well. Not yet. He'd spent too much bloody time in a hospital bed. According to Kaleb, it could take Kol another four to six weeks to fully recover. And that is if there is nothing else wrong with him.

"Be a good lad and hand me a towel," Kol said.

"Get it yourself," Kaleb replied.

For a moment, Kol thought the boy had decided this whole thing was funny. It was a very good thing that Kol was not at his full strength. Otherwise this boy would be headed to the dentist's and asking for some new teeth.

Opening his mouth, Kol was about to say: "You're out of a job, mate. Good luck with the next one," when Kaleb let out a quiet laugh.

"I'm just messing with you, Kol. Don't let this experience take away your humor. Half the battle is learning how to maintain it while you're losing your mind with impatience." Tossing Kol a towel, Kaleb turned his back.

Kol sat down and spotted a water bottle. Picking it up, he took aim and moved to throw it at the back of the lighter-haired man when someone knocked on the door. "Hey, guys!" Davina. She came in wearing a mini-dress and had a huge smile on her face.

"How is my favorite guy doing today?" Davina inquired.

"Fine," Kaleb said, straightening up. Then Kaleb glanced over his shoulder at Kol. "Oh, you mean him. Sorry. Ladies tell me I'm their favorite guy from time to time." His comments ended with a wide grin in Davina's direction.

Davina's eyes rounded and she let out a laugh. Walking past Kaleb, she swatted his arm. "You are so funny," she told him, her hand lingering just a tad bit too long for Kol's taste. It made his jaw set.

Miming Kaleb's words, Kol wordlessly grumbled to himself as he tied his shoelaces. "Bye," Davina called.

Kol's eyes lifted to watch Kaleb stop in the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow. Same time," Kaleb called. "And don't worry about the setback. Happens to plenty of men your age." He waved good-bye to Davina and then left them alone.

Blowing out a breath, Kol shook his head. "Davina, love, will you do me the honor of being my new physical therapist?" he proposed, holding out a hand to her.

Smiling, Davina came over to take his hand. "I would. If I were trained to do physical therapy." She ran her hands through his hair. "Hm. Someone needs a shower."

"Why don't you take it with me?" Kol replied. "Help me with the hard to reach spots?" He tugged her forward and onto his lap.

"I would love to do that. But I'm going to be scrubbing in with Marcel. He's got this patient who has two hearts. Can you believe that?"

"Yes. I can." Kol replied as he ran his hands over her shoulder. Nuzzling his nose under the sleeve of her dress, he pressed his lips to her bare skin. "Isn't there some way I can entice you to stay a bit longer?" His eyes moved to Davina's legs, his fingertips grazed the hem of her dress, stroking her upper thigh.

"I'm sorry. I really do need to go." Davina eased off his lap. Going to the door, she paused. "But maybe we could go out to breakfast tomorrow morning?"

"It's a date," Kol called back.

~0~

In the morning, Kol went through four different shirts before settling on a black button down and pulled out a clean pair of jeans. It was only breakfast at a local place. No sense in getting too dressed up, was there? He didn't want to send Davina running what with all the engagements and babies appearing.

As if on cue, a knock sounded at Kol's door. He groaned and went to open it. "Rebekah? What are you doing here?" he asked.

Rebekah pushed past Kol and moved to sit down on his couch. "What if I said I didn't want to have a baby?"

"Is this a: I'm exploring termination? Or: I'd like to give the baby up for adoption?" Kol inquired, folding his arms over his chest and trying not to dig out his phone to figure out what time it was.

"This is a: Look at Nik and Caroline. They just brought a baby home and they're all Mumsie and Daddy of the Bloody Year!" Rebekah burst into tears. "And look at me!" she shouted at him. "The bloody father tore off his scrub top just last week and walked out of the hospital! And Marcel wants this baby and it feels like he's all in and I'm not sure! I'm not sure what kind of bloody mother I'll be! I don't want to be a mother! I don't want to stay at home with a baby on each hip and one gnawing at my ankle while another tries to chew the cord to the iron!" Her hands flew up in the air as she shook her head. "What is that look on your face!" she demanded.

"What look? I don't have a look on my face!" Kol retorted.

"Yes, you do!" Rebekah accused him. Getting to her feet, she poked a finger in his face. "Same bloody look you have on your face every time you have a girl in your closet, or under your bed when you were a teenage monster. Where is she!" she began to stalk through the house, opening doors and peering around furniture.

"Rebekah, there is no one here!" Kol shouted as she made her way up the stairs. "Davina and I are planning on having breakfast together."

"Oh?" Rebekah's bottom lip poked out. "Can I come?"

"I… I suppose so…" Kol wanted to plunge his head through the wall to his right.

"Good. You're buying," Rebekah told him. "I could eat a cow."

~0~

Davina offered Kol a tight smile as Rebekah downed another Belgian waffle. "So blasted good. Why is it all so good?" she demanded. "Are you going to eat that?" she asked Davina who glanced at the bacon on her plate before shaking her head. Rebekah took Davina's plate and dumped the bacon onto it. "Davina, what would you do if you were pregnant and had a good man who wanted to make a family with you but you didn't know what you wanted?" Rebekah demanded in between bites.

Kol opened his mouth, thought better of it, leaned back and hoped Davina did not hate him after this. Davina looked at Kol and Rebekah held up a fork, shaking it at Davina. "Don't look at him! He's the enemy! He's the type to put one of these in you!" she pointed at her still-flat middle and then at Kol. "Then he'll run off to bloody Manhattan or something to work on socialites' rhinoplasty cases." At that point, Kol would be more than happy to volunteer to help with whatever they needed as long as he could get away from this disaster of a date.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Peace,

-J