A/N: Wow, another update! Thank you for all of your reviews on the last installments, I always love to hear your thoughts!
The day had been a busy one. She'd spent most of it in her office sorting through bills and paperwork to ensure she had everything on track for the end of the month. It was the most tedious part of operating her own business and she had to practically force Camille to lock her in her office so she would get it all done.
Her stomach was growling in protest as it was well past her usual lunch time and she hadn't eaten – too focused on the task at hand to stop and eat. She didn't want to distract herself for fear that she wouldn't complete the work she had set out to do today, or that she would make a mistake.
There was a knock at her office door, but she was too busy to look up from her computer screen to see who had interrupted her.
"I know, I need to take a break," she said, assuming it was Camille looking out for her wellbeing – April had been off that day.
"I was hoping that you might be able to spare me a few moments of your time Ms. Forbes. Your staff-member was attending to customers and so I took the liberty seeing myself back to your office," the familiar but unwelcome older man's voice said from the doorway.
She cringed with disgust and with anxiety.
"Mr. Mikaelson," she acknowledged regretfully, looking up to see him standing in the doorway to her office with a smug grin on his face.
He stepped into the room, which instantly made her even more uncomfortable, but she did her best to remain calm.
She went to stand, but he held out his hand.
"Please, call me Mikael, and no need to stand on my account, I won't be here long," he assured her as his eyes wandered around her office.
"What do you want?" she queried, a sick feeling pooling in her stomach as she mulled over the reasons as to why he had appeared at her place of business. "Surely we could have discussed whatever it is you have to say at the house with Klaus?" she suggested, curious as to why he had chosen to speak to her alone.
"I wanted to drop off I belated birthday gift for Grayson from Esther and me. We thought we would have more luck convincing you to accept the gift on Grayson's behalf than we would with our son, Niklaus," he explained, stepping aside so she could see the larger-sized box decorated in zoo-animal gift wrap topped with a giant red bow.
She hesitated. "You didn't have to…"
"Grayson is our grandson," Mikael reaffirmed. "We insist that you keep it for him."
He had interrupted her before she had an opportunity to outright refuse the gift. It made her feel uncomfortable. She didn't want to accept any gifts from Mikael or Esther – even if they were gifts meant for Grayson. The thought of accepting it made her sick to her stomach.
But, she also thought about the larger picture, inclusive of the court case. She did not want to appear to be unreasonable and have her refusal to accept the gift used against her.
"We would have given it to him at his first birthday party, but it seems our invitation was lost in the mail," Mikael mused, obviously aware of the fact that neither she nor Klaus had bothered to extend an invitation to either of them. "I hear it was quite the affair for a first birthday party," he noted, likely having obtained some details from the Lockwoods, though they had been unable to attend.
"It was a private celebration," she explained, emphasizing that she was not obligated to invite either of them merely because they were Grayson's paternal grandparents.
Mikael shrugged indifferently as his eyes continued to explore the confines of her office curiously.
"I suppose there's always next year," he commented, which she perceived as a thinly veiled threat, suggesting that next year he expected that Grayson would be with him and Esther. "Esther is a lot like you in that way, you know – she used to plan the most elaborate parties for our children, spoil them rotten, even Niklaus, believe it or not, and he was always so ungrateful for it."
She took his words with a grain of salt, knowing his interpretation of reality was severely flawed based on multiple accounts from Klaus himself, Rebekah, Kol, and Elijah when he was alive.
"You mean the birthday parties that neither of you could be bothered to attend? Or the ones where the two of you fought with one another in front of their friends?" she retorted bitingly, frustrated by his sudden appearance in her office and his willingness to distort the truth.
The scowl on his face suggested that she had struck a nerve with him.
"I'm sorry," she said flatly. "I do have work to continue, so I would appreciate it if you could get down to the real reason why you're here to speak to me alone?" she questioned bluntly, eager to have him leave, but also curious to know why he was standing in her office.
He traced his hands over some of the sample materials she had draped over the spare chair in front of her desk.
"I have seen some of your dress designs," Mikael began. "They are actually quite well done. You do have a talent in that regard," he acknowledged, his random compliment taking her by surprise.
She waited for him to continue, sensing that his compliment was not as random as she thought and that it would certainly come with a catch.
"Mystic Falls has to be somewhat limiting for a business such as yours, is it not?" he questioned. "Surely there are only so many weddings, proms and Miss Mystic pageants to assist with?" he clarified.
Her eyebrow arched critically, stunned that he would have the nerve to see himself into her office at her place of business and insult her in that way.
"I don't mean that offensively, Ms. Forbes," he held up his hands innocently. "I simply mean that from a business perspective in terms of growth and your bottom line," he explained.
"I'm happy here in Mystic Falls," she stated firmly, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of knowing that his words had affected her.
Mikael shrugged.
"But surely you could always be happier and more successful if you looked beyond Mystic Falls?" he wondered.
She shrugged, refusing to take the bait.
"You went to school in New York?" he confirmed. "I'm surprised that you and Niklaus haven't concocted some ill-conceived plan to relocate there."
His reference to New York made her visibly uncomfortable and she cursed herself for not being able to maintain her poker face in front of the elder Mikaelson.
"Ah…" Mikael realized, "You refused him."
She suspected he had already known that before he made his appearance in her office.
"I…" she started, but Mikael interrupted her once more.
"Can't say as I blame you, Ms. Forbes. You made a wise choice. My son is fickle and immature," Mikael assured her. "He would only drag you down. You are much better off without him," he concluded.
She cringed at the way Mikael spoke about Klaus, knowing that the way Mikael was speaking about Klaus is likely how he spoke to Klaus his entire life.
And while she doubted what Mikael was telling her, and despite that she and Klaus had really tried hard to get themselves back to a better place as friends and co-parents since Grayson's birthday party, based on how things had been between her and Klaus the last few months prior to that, a part of her worried that Mikael might be right.
"We both know if you are successful in obtaining custody of Grayson that you'll essentially be a single parent while Niklaus resumes his life in New York City," Mikael said, describing one of her foremost worries throughout this entire process of caring for Grayson and trying to obtain custody of him. "That will make things very difficult for you if you ever want to try and expand your profile as a designer. It's hard to take financial risks when you have a child to support," he advised her. "I'm sure Elijah and Elena had an insurance policy or two, some modest investments, but children are expensive," he cautioned.
She nodded.
"It won't be easy, I know," she agreed. "But, I'm not naïve. I've certainly had a taste of the sacrifices that are involved over the last six months. I'm willing to do it for Grayson. It's what Elijah and Elena wanted," she explained.
"Is it what you want, Ms. Forbes?" Mikael questioned, his attention focused upon some patterns she had traced out for a new design on some scrap material sitting on the corner of her desk.
His question struck a primal nerve within her.
"Of course it's what I want. Grayson means more than anything to me. I love him as if he were my own son," she said firmly and defensively, feeling fiercely protective over her relationship with Grayson at Mikael's perceived threat.
Mikael grinned, seemingly pleased with her response.
"That's what I was hoping you would say," Mikael confessed.
His response confused her. If anything, that is the last response he should hope for, she thought. That didn't make his as Esther's case for custody of Grayson any stronger.
"Maybe you can elaborate?" she suggested, feeling annoyed by his cryptic remarks.
Mikael inched closer to her desk, as if he had a secret to tell her that he wanted kept between the two of them. She instinctively moved backward in her office chair, uncomfortable by his approach.
"I have a proposal for you, Ms. Forbes, a bit of an Offer to Settle, if you will," Mikael began. "I want to offer you the opportunity to have it all – Grayson, a career to be proud of, financial stability," he listed.
"What's the catch?" she cut in, knowing anything Mikael had to offer to her would not come without strings that she would be bound by – probably even beyond the grave, she thought.
He shrugged, as though his proposal was simple.
"If Esther and I obtain custody of Grayson, we intend to start the process of bringing him back to London with us," he informed her bluntly.
Though she had anticipated Mikael and Esther would return to London with Grayson if they were successful in obtaining custody of him, she tried not to dwell on the thought too much. Mikael confronting her with the possibility felt like a blow to the gut. She didn't want to imagine her life without Grayson, let alone him being on an entirely different continent.
"We want you to come with us," he said, much to her surprise. "I have many connections with Immigration, and I could push the process along for you."
"I'm sure you could have no trouble finding and affording a nanny there," she stated, angry by the prospect of Mikael and Esther taking Grayson from those who cared about him, notwithstanding Mikael's offer to have her relocate with Grayson.
"You wouldn't come with us as Grayson's nanny, Ms. Forbes," Mikael clarified. "You could stay at our residence temporarily – though I'm sure Rebekah would be more than willing to have you as her roommate. Esther and I would set you up in your own flat, and provide you with investment money so you can resume your design work there. We would agree to a generous access schedule for you and Grayson."
She scoffed in surprise. She felt completely stunned by the direction Mikael's unexpected visit had taken. Her mind was racing at Mikael's proposal.
"It would be quite an opportunity for you, Ms. Forbes, and a way to remain in Grayson's life," Mikael pointed out.
"Why? Why would you extend this offer to me?" she questioned, knowing there had to be a reason behind it.
"Contrary to what Niklaus has told you, Esther and I are not horrible people. We have Grayson's best interests at heart. We know that you care a great deal for Grayson and we don't want to have to separate you from him," Mikael explained.
"Your Motion materials could have fooled me," she retorted, referring to the Affidavit material that called her character into question.
Mikael turned the palms of his hands out indifferently.
"As Mr. Salvatore has probably explained to you, that is the nature of litigation, unfortunately," he sighed regretfully. "I have to say that your materials were no more flattering with respect to me and my wife. Surely, we could move past all of that if you were willing to accept our offer," he emphasized.
She frowned, unsatisfied by Mikael's excuse.
"What's the catch?" she inquired, knowing that any offer Mikael had to make would come with strings attached.
"It's quite simple," Mikael said. "You'll withdrawal your involvement in the Court case against us and cease contact with Niklaus."
Her eyes widened, taken aback by the lengths at which Mikael would go when it came to making Klaus's life miserable.
"Why do you hate him so much? What did he ever do to you?" she asked, so curious to know how an adult could come to hate an innocent child from the very start.
"His mere existence has been a thorn in my side for nearly three decades," Mikael scowled.
Her lips parted, unable to respond to such a cold reply.
"Even if I was going to entertain your offer, Klaus and I are both Trustees of Elijah and Elena's Estate," she reminded him.
"That's a minor inconvenience. We'll see to it that Niklaus renounces," Mikael said effortlessly, as if he could simply point his finger and it would be done.
She stared blankly down at her desk, her scattered thoughts inhibiting her from formulating a coherent response – utterly at a loss for words.
"Should I have something written up?" Mikael questioned.
Given Mikael's interruption earlier in the day, she ended up staying at the office later than usual – one of the benefits of having Klaus back in Mystic Falls was that she could rely upon him to be there for Grayson if she had to work late.
If she was lucky, he would have also made too much dinner for himself and there would be leftovers he would generously offer her – he was a better cook than her anyways.
Her mind was scattered, playing out the exchange that had occurred between her and Mikael that afternoon.
After he'd left, Camille came running in, apologizing profusely for the interruption, but Camille had been busy with a customer when Mikael took it upon himself to enter her office.
When she rounded the corner and approached the house, the sight of a black SUV with a rental plate on the back parked out front struck her as unusual, and she quickly recalled Camille informing her that Mikael had driven off in a black SUV when he left the store.
Her stomach sunk with fear and worry, thoughts racing about why, after Mikael had just spoken with her and made the offer he did, was he at the house, obviously speaking with Klaus.
Perhaps Mikael was telling Klaus of his earlier conversation with her, or maybe, he was giving Klaus a similar offer – divide and conquer, she thought.
She pulled into the driveway and collected her things from the front seat.
After debating about whether or not she wanted to insert herself into the situation inside, she climbed out of the car and headed for the backdoor into the kitchen. More than anything, she was concerned that things might become heated between Klaus and his father and she didn't want Grayson caught in the middle.
Inside, judging by the appearance of the kitchen, it looked like Klaus had been interrupted in the middle of cooking dinner.
She dropped her stuff by the backdoor and removed her heeled boots and light fall trench coat.
There were voices coming from the front room and she followed them down the front hall and into the living room.
Mikael and Esther were seated on the sofa. Esther was holding Grayson in her lap as he babbled to himself, a stuffed dog in his hand and a bottle in the other.
She looked awkward, wearing an expensive-looking semi-formal knee length black dress with a fitted grey sweater over top, decorated with plenty of jewelry, trying to juggle a baby.
Instantly she felt herself tense, a burning desire to cross the room and remove Grayson from Esther's hold suddenly ate away at her, but she refrained.
Neither Mikael nor Esther looked pleased.
Klaus, who was leaning against the entranceway to the family room, and in the middle of speaking sternly to his parents with one of Elijah's journals in hand, stopped mid-sentence upon her appearance in the room.
"Caroline," Mikael greeted. "It's lovely to see you again," he added, referring to their earlier encounter, though it did not seem that Klaus picked up on it.
Esther nodded politely, though hesitantly, in her direction.
Grayson smiled at the sight of her and began to fuss in Esther's arms, likely in an effort to escape and crawl his way over to her.
"Am I interrupting something?" she asked reluctantly, nervous over what the nature of Klaus's conversation with them might be about.
Klaus shot her an almost stinging smirk, and she was uncertain about the intent behind it.
Mikael was about to answer her when Klaus cut him off.
"Actually, I was just getting to the good part," Klaus vaguely informed her. "You're welcome to join us and listen," he invited her.
The sarcasm and venom in Klaus's voice suggested that he was far from being in a good mood and she simply stood there quietly, waiting for Klaus to elaborate.
"I was home visiting from school for the weekend. It seems that nothing has changed. If anything, they've gotten worse and I feel awful that I've had to leave Niklaus behind to shoulder the burden of Mother and Father in order to protect Kol and Rebekah.
Father returned home from Chicago last night – no doubt visiting one of his many mistresses under the guise of business – Mother had been drinking over the weekend, leaving Niklaus and I to care for Kol and Rebekah. Father found the evidence, an empty decanter of liquor in the parlour. Father confronted her, their shouting from their bedroom startling all of us awake. Mother turned the blame on Niklaus and me. For some reason, Father believed her and chose to turn his anger onto us. Niklaus bore the brunt of it – being underage. That was Father's excuse, anyways; Niklaus was always a target for Father's wrath. After forcing us downstairs in the middle of the night and confronting us, he derived sick amusement from pouring a bottle of vodka over Niklaus and then shattering the glass bottle over the kitchen floor, leaving us to pick up the pieces.
I want so badly to remove my siblings from this situation, but I can't yet. If we go to the authorities (assuming they even believe us with Father's influence) it is likely that Niklaus would be separated from Kol and Rebekah – something he refuses to have happen.
Klaus was reading from one of Elijah's journal entries.
The atmosphere in the room was quite strained and she didn't feel that it was appropriate to be here as Klaus dredged up painful family memories from the past that he shared with Mikael and Esther. That said, she felt frozen, her feet unable to carry her elsewhere, thinking that would be even more awkward if she left the room, and feeling duty-bound to remain so long as Esther had Grayson – whom she had been watching over like a hawk.
"Or how about this one," Klaus began, flipping to a book marked page in a second journal.
"I'm not sure how Father can be so cruel, even to Henrik, when he is so young. I spent all of my Sunday helping Henrik with his school project. Mother had locked herself away in her room that day and Father had left early that morning so neither of them were able to help. Henrik is learning about medieval history in school and his project was to construct a castle. And we did, out of plasticine, Popsicle sticks, milk cartons and Lego. Henrik was so happy with it. He couldn't wait to take it to school tomorrow to show his classmates. Father arrived home in the middle of the mess we had made as we finished up. That set him off. Stepping on a Lego block on the floor made things worse, and before I could stop him, Father launched Henrik's project across the dining room table and onto the floor into broken pieces."
"This is nonsense," Mikael scoffed, interrupting Klaus, as he stood up from the sofa. "I'm not going to sit here and listen to this rubbish," clearly annoyed by the shift their visit had taken.
"Are you sure you don't want to listen to entries about Kol and Rebekah? How Kol would wet himself until he was a teen because he was so fearful of you, or how Mother showed up to Rebekah's dance recital intoxicated and had to be escorted home by one of the other parents? How you were barely around when Henrik was so ill and how insensitive you were after he died? Or, how the two of you would argue with one another incessantly – the bruises each of you caused one another?" Klaus wondered, obviously sarcastic at this point.
"Niklaus, please stop," Esther pleaded with Klaus, seemingly affected by the memories Klaus was recounting, trying to calm Mikael by reaching up to place her hand on his forearm.
"A judge will never allow for this," Mikael said indifferently, brushing Esther's hand away. "The journals are meaningless – they could be fake for all anyone knows. Even if Elijah wrote these, he was an angry and hormonal teenager, he had no idea what he was talking about," Mikael pointed out.
Klaus laughed bitingly, seemingly amused my Mikael's attempts to discredit Elijah's journals.
"There are plenty more recent entries – particularly about how terrified Elijah was to become a father to Grayson because he was so scared that he would end up like you," Klaus informed him.
"Enough!" Mikael shouted, startling Grayson, causing him to begin to cry, prompting Esther to try to console him.
Her fists clenched tightly, eager to intervene. Esther was holding Grayson in the wrong position and she could tell Esther was growing more impatient with him, but she dared not cross the fictional barrier that Klaus and Mikael had created by the tension between them.
She relaxed somewhat when Esther tried placing Grayson on the area rug in front of her. He settled almost immediately, crawling around contentedly on the carpet, having apparently forgotten about why he was upset moments ago. How resilient babies could be, she thought.
Klaus shrugged. "If you insist," he conceded. "I will save the rest for the Judge," he said simply.
Mikael balked at his threat.
"We simply came here to see our grandson and deliver the birthday gift for him that Ms. Forbes had so boldly chosen to refuse earlier," Mikael explained innocently.
It was then that she noticed the birthday gift for Grayson she had declined to accept earlier sitting in the corner of the hall by the front door.
She sighed, frustrated by Mikael's unwillingness to take 'no' for an answer.
"No, you came here to gloat, believing yourselves to have the upper hand ahead of the Settlement Conference and the Motion," Klaus corrected Mikael. "But, instead, you were confronted by the possibility that your case may not be as strong as you think it is."
"Niklaus, surely we can resolve this amicably and come to some sort of agreement? You must know deep down that you're not capable of raising a child!" Esther piped up, standing up beside Mikael, attempting to talk some sense into her son – well, her perceived idea of 'sense'.
"I think Klaus has proven that he's more capable than either of you," she interrupted, no longer able to keep quiet on the sidelines.
"And I think it's time for you both to leave," Klaus concluded sternly, staring at his parents bitterly as he extended his hand to direct them towards the front door.
Mikael and Esther looked at both her and Klaus with disdainful expressions.
Esther went to kneel down for Grayson, extending her hand to brush it through his hair.
She winced at the sight, unable to withhold the urge to say something. "Don't touch him," she said flatly, catching Esther off guard.
Esther's hand recoiled from Grayson and she shot her an intimidating glare as she stood back up.
She kept her eyes on Esther unflinchingly, doing her best conceal any weakness, knowing that the senior Mikaelsons seemed to thrive off any indication of fear.
"You are in for a very rude awakening, boy," Mikael said threateningly as he paused in front of Klaus before moving towards her, Esther following behind obediently.
Mikael's eyes pierced hers, a smug grin spread on his lips.
"Ms. Forbes, you made a very grave mistake by not accepting my earlier offer, a mistake that you will come to regret for the rest of your life," Mikael warned her, referring to their earlier exchange in her office. "I will extend such a generous offer to you again."
She did her best to remain unaffected by Mikael's efforts to intimidate her. On the inside, however, she was terrified of the possibility of losing Grayson.
Mikael looked back at Klaus, who maintained a similar outward expression as her. She wondered if the same internal thoughts were rushing through Klaus's mind as well.
"You're lucky to have such a dedicated fool in Ms. Forbes, Niklaus. She's going down with a sinking ship," Mikael scowled.
"Get. Out. Now." Klaus said through his clenched jaw, clear that every fiber of his being was fighting the urge to physically throw his father out.
Mikael and Esther headed for the front door, collecting their things.
She and Klaus both followed them, as if to create a barrier to push them out and prevent them from re-entering.
"Keep the gift. We expect it will find its way back to us in due course," Mikael said confidently, as he held the front door open for Esther.
It would no doubt make a generous donation to a charity toy drive with the Christmas season coming up in a few months, she thought to herself.
The door slammed behind Klaus's parents, causing both her and Klaus to shudder simultaneously.
Not taking any chances, Klaus turned the lock on the door.
She sat down on the stairwell leading to the second floor.
Both she and Klaus released a sigh of relief that they were both gone.
"I'm sorry. I should have warned you that your parents were in Mystic Falls. I didn't think they would come here after the exchange I had with your father," she apologized as she combed her hands though her hair.
Klaus was quiet for a moment, leaning against the door pensively. She couldn't be sure if he was upset with her.
"Thank you," he said. "I'm sure whatever offer my father tried to entice you with today to try and turn you against me was more than I could ever offer you."
She shook her head.
"Don't thank me," she urged him. "We're in this together for Grayson, right?" she reaffirmed, despite everything that had happened between them.
He gave her a nod and a bittersweet half-smile, one that she knew too well, one that said, 'yes, we're still in this together, but not in the way I wanted.' It was not the way she'd wanted either - but it felt like it was the way it had to be for them.
"I think I got to my parents with Elijah's journals," Klaus concluded. "They weren't expecting it. My father was cracking tonight. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his voice."
Klaus knew better than she did when it came to reading his parents, and so she trusted his observation.
"Will we be able to use the journal entries in Court?" she wondered.
"Stefan said to expect some push back, but he thinks we have a good case to have them admitted considering their content," Klaus told her.
Elijah's journal entries could mean the difference between them winning or losing the case to keep Grayson.
"I think you were meant to read those journals," she said. "I'd like to think there was a higher power at play, that maybe someone is rooting for us," she clarified, hoping this was a sign that they had Elijah and Elena's full support in their efforts fighting Klaus's parents.
"Perhaps," Klaus agreed, still reluctant to become too enthusiastic.
They were pleasantly interrupted by Grayson who was shrieking at them playfully at the entryway to the living room.
"Hey Gray!" Klaus greeted him.
She smiled at Grayson through the stairwell spindles. "Hey Monkey!" she exclaimed.
Grayson stepped towards Klaus, a wobble in his step, guiding himself with the help of the wall, his little hand running alongside it.
It was then that she realized the significance of what was happening.
Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with surprise.
"Oh my God!" She gasped. "Klaus! He's walking! He's walking!" She squealed excitedly jumping off of the stairs. "Call him towards you! I need to get my phone to take a video!"
"Gray, come here mate!" Klaus said enthusiastically, holding out his hands. "I can't believe it! He's really walking!" he added in shocked excitement.
As she rounded the stairwell banister to dash for her phone in her purse that she had left in the kitchen, Grayson tumbled backwards on his bottom.
She and Klaus held their breaths, waiting for Grayson's negative reaction.
Fortunately, Grayson erupted into laughter at the fall he took.
They both laughed with him, though she was disappointed that she missed the opportunity to take a video of Grayson's first steps.
"He just took his first steps," she repeated, still in disbelief.
Klaus picked Grayson up. "Good job, mate!" he said encouragingly.
"Did you just walk?" she cooed to Grayson, brushing his cheek with her index finger.
"He looked like a drunken old man," Klaus chuckled.
She smiled, quickly wiping away a hot tear that escaped the corner of her eye.
When she glanced at Klaus, she noticed that his eyes were watery too.
A/N: Hope the cute part at the end made up for Mikael and Esther. What did you think?
It's hard to believe that there are only about 4 – 6 chapters left! I will do my best to update again soon, but I will be taking some time to plan out the details of the final installments!
Next Chapter: Klaus and Caroline head to Court…dun dun dun.
If you're disappointed in the lack of smut between Klaus and Caroline in TUIB as of late (like I am) please check out my other recent fics – Finders Keepers and Waking Up In Vegas (a third part to Room Service). I will also be posting a delicious Klaroline threesome fic this week at some point! ;)
Thanks for reading!