A/N: Two chapters within an hour of each other (I'm on a roll!) This chapter has more action in it, and kind of leads into some stuff that's going to come in the following chapters. I hope you enjoy!
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
CAROLINE P.O.V.
I watched as their cars pulled out of the driveway, waving at them from my place in the front doorway. It was early in the afternoon and after spending the past three weeks preparing for this day, I didn't want any of them to be around to ruin the surprise.
The moment the final car drove out of site I retreated back inside of the house, slamming the door, and headed to the lounge room where all of the boxes were stacked. There weren't a whole lot of boxes, I had managed to keep my promise to Klaus and keep the baby shower small, but there were just the few that held decorations, games and food.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the first box and got to work. Using a ladder, I managed to strategically place pale pink and blue streamers all across the ceiling, with a banner across the room that read, with the insistence of Klaus (and eventually the approval of Hayley), 'Baby Mikaelson'. Rearranging the room, I moved the couch, chairs and coffee table to one side so that I could bring in a larger fold-out table and put that near the window, filling it with snacks and little baby decorations.
A couple of hours later the nerves and excitement started to kick into hyper-drive as I heard a car pull into the driveway. Looking out the window I spotted Katherine's black SUV. Her and Nadia got out and came to wait on the porch for the others, who arrived close behind them.
Hayley and Rebekah got out of one car, a mountain of shopping bags clutched in their hands as they made their way to the front stairs. Elijah and Klaus walked up behind them, Klaus sneering at his sister and all of the bags.
Opening the front door and stepping out, everyone stared at me as they waited to be let into the house. I smiled eagerly at Hayley as I led them into the front lounge room. Hayley almost burst into tears as she looked around the room and took in the decorations I had spread across the whole room. She stopped dead in the doorway, just letting her eyes scan everything while the others came up behind her.
"This is amazing Caroline. Thank you." Standing to the side, I smiled as she walked further into the room, heading straight to a chair I had labelled was just for her, the others following behind.
Nearly an hour later everyone found themselves seated in a chair, having already started eating the snacks I had placed out, and now Klaus and Katherine were arguing about the gender of the baby.
I laughed as Katherine adamantly argued that Hayley was having a girl 'because of the way that she's carrying the weight', whereas Klaus was sure that it was a boy because he felt the child would be a strong 'heir'. Hayley didn't seem all that fazed by any of it, she just seemed happy that everyone had gathered under the one roof and were somewhat civilly celebrating the baby.
She had confided in me a week earlier that she hadn't known any of her family, and that she had spent the early years of her life travelling from foster home to foster home until she triggered her curse and ran into some other werewolves in the Appalachian mountains. Before I had shown up she had been worried that her baby would experience the same feeling of being unwanted.
I poured myself a drink and then decided that it was time for the presents. Grabbing a handful of them, I started carting them over to the chair where Hayley was sitting. Nadia quickly jumped up to help me move all the presents across. The room grew quiet, Klaus and Katherine's argument coming to an abrupt stop as I handed Hayley the present I had bought her.
She unwrapped the gift in an almost supernatural speed, smiling down at the little custom-made grow suits I had bought that read "Original Cutie" and "Little Howler". Rebekah's present was next, and she was proud to show off the extravagant stroller that had bought that was decked out with a bottle holder and a bunch of other 'necessary' accessories.
Katherine and Nadia had gone for the 'basic' baby items, buying diapers and generic gender neutral clothes. Hayley had thanked them, and it was as if in that moment Hayley realised that she would need to stock up on A LOT of diapers and other basic things for the baby, but she quickly pushed their presents aside and reached for Elijah's, which as a small handmade wooden toy that he had made back in 1632.
The last present was from Klaus, and I could easily guess what was inside the rectangular package. Hayley tore through the plain brown paper and let out a sharp gasp at what she saw inside. She pulled the rest of the paper away and stared down at the canvas in awe.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled the canvas closer to her face, as if to take in all of the details it held. I leant in, curious as to what Klaus could paint that would make Hayley cry, and I almost cried myself at what I saw.
It was an oil painting that had been down in different tones of brown, making it appear like a sepia photo. She was curled up on one of the couches, her feet curled up beneath her, with a book in one hand and the other one cradling the bump she was sporting. It must have been from a day that she had worn a rare skin-tight shirt because the round of her stomach was on full display. A part of me wondered why Klaus had chosen to immortalise this moment onto the canvas, but I knew it was the right choice.
I pulled away as Hayley turned the painting around to show everyone else in the room. Klaus looked unfazed by everyone's appreciative reactions, he just looked down at his glass of pink lemonade (a drink that he had almost had a fit over when I placed it in his hand earlier). I looked across at him, watching as he avoiding their complements.
Hayley shoved the painting into my hands and shot up from the chair, launching herself into Klaus' unsuspecting arms and mumbling something unrecognisable. He wrapped his arms around her carefully, eyes wide as he slowly patted her back.
My heart clenched at the sight. Not out of something mean or vicious. But a sense of happiness at the affection between the two of them. After weeks of Klaus barely acknowledging Hayley, it was nice to see that he actually did care.
The nice moment was broken almost immediately by the shrill ringing of my phone. I scowled and placed the painting gently down on the coffee table, standing up and snatching my handbag from underneath the large table.
"Sorry, I'll be back in a moment." I said as I rushed from the room.
Rummaging through the bag, I headed for the front door, scowling as I picked the phone up only for it to stop ringing. Reading over the missed call notification, I wondered what my mum could possibly be calling me about when I had already told her what I had planned on doing today. My mind instantly went to the worst case scenario.
It was Mystic Falls, nothing stayed quiet for long.
What if Silas had returned? What if someone had been bitten by a werewolf? What if it was a hunter? Looking back over at the lounge room where the conversation had picked up, I decided that I should call her back now, in case it was really bad.
Opening the front door, I stepped outside and headed across the front porch to a chair that sat near the end. Sitting down I unlocked it and scrolled through the contacts to find my mums name. I paused at the sound of gravel crunching.
We weren't expecting anyone else for the party.
My head shot up and I was surprised to see Andre strolling across the driveway, hands in his pockets. He looked me over, his nostrils flaring as he clearly realised that I was a human. His eyes travelled across my body, making me sit up straighter and meet his eye.
"Hello," he said, looking towards the front door and then back to me, "I'm just looking for Klaus. Is he inside?"
Looking back to the door, I wasn't sure if I should let him inside or not. But then I remember that there was an added up age of about 5000 in the room, and if he caused any trouble they'd be able to handle it.
"He's in the front lounge room. They're having a small party though, so I wouldn't just barge in."
He nodded his head and turned back around, not even knocking on the door as he left me sitting alone on the porch. Rude.
Looking back down at my phone, I clicked on my mums name and held the phone to my ear, listening as the phone started to ring. A few seconds passed before I head the tell-tale click of the phone being answered.
"Hey mum, what's up?" I said, trying to remain as calm as possible, not letting the worried tone seep back into my voice.
"Hey, Caroline."
KLAUS P.O.V.
Moving quickly, I ordered Hayley to sit back in her seat and stay there. Everyone else had noticed that Andre was outside on the porch at the same time I did. Listening carefully to see if Caroline was in any trouble, her voice echoing softly in my ears, I moved myself to the other side of the room. Trying to make it look like I was an unwilling participant in the party, I plastered an annoyed expression on my face. I did not want Andre knowing who the baby shower was for. Rebekah quickly removed the 'Baby Mikaelson' banner and shoved it in a box under the table.
A few seconds later the front door swung open and Andre came strolling into the room, hands placed firmly in his pockets as he looked around the room suspiciously. His eyes scanned over the room, one eyebrow raising at the decorations, before they landed on Katherine, who had moved closer to Elijah.
"This wasn't what I expected when the hot blonde said there was a party." He said, finally meeting my eyes.
Pushing away from the wall I had just placed myself against, I walked towards him slowly. "Neither did I when I got home today. It seems my sister decided to throw one of her 'projects' a baby shower. What can I do for you?" Stopping in front of him, I looked briefly at Katherine. "That is, if you're here looking for me?"
He followed where my eyes had stopped, staying on the curly-haired brunette who was distracting herself with showing Nadia something on her phone. "I came to see you, but it's clear that you're all busy. While I am here, Katerina, maybe you and I should talk?"
Katherine's posture didn't change as she glanced up at him nonchalantly. I watched her as she locked her phone and placed it back in her pocket, sitting up straighter and curling her lip up at him.
"First of all, it's Katherine. It has been for several centuries now. Second, I don't have anything else to say to you." Katherine gracefully uncurled herself from her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She stepped forward, seeming like she was about to leave the room, but came to a stop next to him. "However, there is someone here that you might want to explain a few things to."
With those words Nadia turned around, her emerald green eyes meeting the matching pair that was now staring at her in a panic. This was clearly an ambush he hadn't anticipated. If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want a fight to break out in the middle of the baby shower that Caroline had spent weeks preparing, I would have probably made a joke out of this whole situation.
Nadia stood up from her chair, just as graceful as her mother, and then held out her hand to the man in a kind gesture. Andre's face contorted from shock horror to uncertainty and then to fear. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Nadia."
He just continued to stare open-mouthed at her until she hesitantly let her hand drop. Her jaw clenched and I caught flicker of something in her face before she placed an indifferent mask in its place. I wondered what was going through his head at this moment, being confronted by the daughter he had abandoned. That thought led me to wonder what Katherine's reaction had of been. That would have been an event.
Andre closed his mouth before opening it a second later, a long choking breath forcing its way out before he swallowed nervously. Seconds passed before he finally spoke. "You should be dead."
As the words fell from his lips the rising tension in the room was pierced by the steel blade that was an agonised scream…coming from the front porch.
The sound sent a ripple of pain through my chest, and I ran as fast as I could out of the front door. I half expected someone to be attacking her, but instead I found Caroline kneeling on the ground, her phone lying next to her on the ground, her body shaking with the force of gut-wrenching sobs.
The pain still radiated through my chest as I knelt down beside her, wrapping my arms around her protectively. Holding her while her tears soaked my shirt. I continued to just hold her, losing track of how long we sat there with her sobbing.
What could have possibly happened to make her this distraught? Clearly something had gone wrong back in Mystic Falls. The idiots couldn't go a day without something happening. The question was, what had happened to make Caroline react this way?
I waited until her cries died down, her head resting gently in the crook between my shoulder and my neck, before I asked her what it was that had happened.
Pulling her closer, another round of sobs started to shake through her. I pressed a light kiss to the top of her head and stroked her hair until she was ready to pull back. She let out one final sob as she pulled back and looked me in the eyes. I had never seen her this upset, and it was killing me to watch her beautiful face contort in pain.
"Bonnie's dead."
