She heard the distant voices from the car's front seat, words indecipherable to her human ears.
"They're either loudly discussing the latest family reunion, or hurtling insults at each other." Elena unbuckled and twisted round, lifting upwards to shift half of her body into the back.
"Still out cold?" He frowned. "Is it normal to sleep so much?"
"I think so…" She gazed at Astrid nestled snugly in the carrier. Her arm, clothed in a hospital issued onesie peeked out as she stretched. "We'll have to look it up, but babies do sleep most of the day for the first bit."
"I'll purchase some books tomorrow," he nodded, turning off the cars ignition. "There's no need for us to learn everything in the moment as we would have back then."
She released a quiet laugh.
"We wouldn't be learning everything on the go."
"When's the last time you were around a baby for any length of time?" He arched an eyebrow.
"Tatia's daughter," she returned to the front seat. "And for you it was Henrik… I suppose it has been a little while."
"Precisely, my love, and I wish to be as prepared as I can possibly be."
"So you're gonna study baby books like a nerd?" She giggled, already seeing him flipping through every book he could get on the subject. "You're such a philomath."
He leaned caught her hand, raised it to his lips and left the lightest kiss on her wrist sparking a fire in her veins.
"You've known that since day one. And, as I recall," he brushed his mouth across her palm and the tip of her index finger, "you were always just as eager to learn as I was."
She watched him through lowered lashes, voice falling to a soft murmur. "I never said I wouldn't be right there beside you for every book."
"Excellent," his eyes glittered. "Now, darling, why don't you wrangle the carrier from the back seat while I go inside and tell them all to shut it?"
When she nodded he stepped from the vehicle and strode towards the house.
The door made no sound as he opened it, but his family perceived his presence all the same, bringing the argument to a screeching halt.
They stared at him and he stared back, blinking innocently.
"Is our sister to be the focal point of the entry, then?" Kol waved a hand to the black and white tile, partially obscured under dark wood.
A mass of noise assaulted his ears. Each word formed a question about Freya that he had neither the time nor inclination to answer, especially while they were all shouting.
Instead he loudly shushed them all, brows lowered in a stern expression that increased his resemblance to Elijah. His sudden shift in demeanour stunned them into a sputtering silence again.
"If you all keep shouting like that you'll wake the baby."
He could tell they hadn't quite grasped the weight of his words. With the noted exception of Finn, whose mind worked through thousand year old memories and a niggling suspicion that began the moment he laid eyes on his beloved older sister.
"I can see we're all quiet now," Elena came up behind him, quickly noting the lack of broken glass. She placed the carrier on the step. "I assume Freya caused quite the stir."
Klaus was the first to open his mouth.
"Shh!" Elena could tell by the tension in his body that any words would reach a decimal too harsh for little ears. "She's sleeping."
She fought to tamper her grin as the big bad hybrid's ears turned pink and his eyes bulged; he looked fit to burst with questions.
Elijah managed a more level tone.
"Would one, or both of you, care to explain the events of the afternoon?"
"Of course," Kol nodded slowly, casting a sly smirk towards Elena.
"It's all really simple," she agreed, clasping her hands behind her back and rocking on her heels. "And it boils down to this: your mother has a sister who fancies herself Rumpelstiltskin."
"Who is Rumpelstiltskin?" Finn frowned, turning his questioning gaze toward Sage.
"A firstborn stealing imp," her eyes flickered from the coffin to the baby.
"Ah, yes," he nodded, "that's a rather accurate description for Dahlia."
"Are we meant to believe that we've an aunt who abducted not only our sister, but our… our niece?" Klaus gestured toward the stairs.
"That's exactly what you're supposed to believe because it's exactly what happened," Elena lifted her chin, challenging him to interrupt her with her eyes. "We were in Norway when I gave birth, and by sheer misfortune the witch to assist in my delivery was Dahlia. The correct dose of herbs brought on a fever and when I woke I had only the haziest memories when she told me my child died."
"She started your illness?" Horror entered Rebekah's eyes.
"In hindsight, Bekah, I'm pretty sure I had severe postpartum depression." Elena chewed the inside of her cheek. "Though Dahlia's actions certainly progressed it."
"Anyway…" she blew out a breath. "Freya was there and tried to bring her home; it just took her a thousand years. A couple of curses delayed her."
"So…" Rebekah shifted on her feet. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip. "This is our niece?"
"Mmhmm," she nodded with a smile.
"The introduction is a millennium overdue," Kol's hand cupped Elena's elbow, "but better late than never." He bent, taking away the blanket she had used as a sunshield; her nose scrunched in protest. "Everyone, this is Astrid."
Rebekah flashed in front of them before he finished speaking and knelt, deftly working the buckles in seconds and making her brother feel slightly idiotic to have taken so long figuring out how to secure the buckles and straps.
"We just got Astrid back, Bekah." He watched his sister lift his daughter and coo as the infant opened her bleary eyes then turned to Elena.
"Face facts, Kol," Elena wrapped an arm around his back, smirked and leaned into his side, "we've lost her again."
Over the course of the following week they learned the bits and pieces of her personality. The sweet child adored her parents. She tolerated the extended family's fussing, extended snuggle sessions with auntie Bex and constant attention, but when she wanted mom and dad she wanted mom and dad.
She loved the fluffy fox plush that Rebekah managed to locate, and overnight to the mansion with everything Astrid could ever want and way more than she needed.
Her favourite activity remained sleep, specifically being lulled to sleep in her parents arms while they whispered mystical tales in the lyrical tongue of their youth.
She loved sleep, but she stayed awake a little longer each day.
She also screamed bloody murder if neither parent was there the moment she woke up.
They worried about self-soothing, but the thought that somehow she had developed a fear of abandonment meant neither were ever far from the nursery.
Elena even left school, formally. She tried going, but halfway to the car she had an epiphany that she kicked herself for not having sooner. One way or another eternity would stretch before her again; she had all of time to learn.
Astrid would only have one childhood.
That was how she came to be sprawled on her stomach next to Kol while their daughter wiggled on her belly and buried her face in fake fox fur.
That was also how Klaus found them.
He stepped into their bedroom with a long box in hand.
"What do you want, Nik?" Kol pulled Astrid into his arms and tickled her cheek, encouraging a smile.
"I've brought you a gift," he smirked.
"Not something for Astrid, I hope," Elena rolled her eyes. "Rebekah purchased so many things that she'll never likely get a chance to use."
"Actually, Elena, this is for you."
"For me?" She teased, accepting the box. "Whatever could it be?"
A few months ago her reaction to a seemingly severed hand would have been disgust, but when she saw the claw holding a black candle she squealed, jumped up and shocked him with a hug.
Kol watched her leave the room with a raised brow. "What was that?"
"A hand of glory."
Down in the basement she poured a mixture of volcanic ash, salt. and shaved iron in a sparkling circle on the dark floor; the prison glittered silver in the light from fancy sconces high on the wall.
Then she mounted the mummified hand atop a gilded table, cupped the candle wick, closed her eyes and opened the window.
Feet hit the floor as her palm warmed.
She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the frozen air on the Other Side. It tickled her senses, summoning vague memories of her time there - moments lost to the void, completely suppressed with the exception of her own time in a similar cage.
"Hello, Mikael," she exhaled and met his narrow gaze.
"What trickery is this?" He stepped forward, prevented from reaching her by the barrier. "Where are we?"
"Mystic Falls," she rocked back on her heels and crossed her arms.
His narrow eyes widened.
"You're alive?" Disbelief coloured his tone. "How?"
"Freya." A simple question deserved a simple answer. "Yeah, your little girl is alive too. She brought me back as a doppelganger to lure Klaus."
"Because where the Beast goes my children are certain to follow." He spoke with a calm assurance and his own patented brand of disgust.
Her blood boiled - thoughts flying backwards to who he had been in the beginning.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" She exploded, not even trying to stop. All she could think of was how he had once been the softest of the brothers, almost painfully in touch with his humanity. Mikael's brows rose.
"He was good; better than he should have been after the childhood YOU put him through."
She saw an image of five Originals, poking their faces around the door Three Stooges style.
"If he's a beast now it's because you made him one. Did you know the first time you struck him he wasn't yours? Is that why?" She read the answer in his eyes before he shook his head. "Why? All you had to do was love him."
"It was a harsher time, Elena. He needed to learn."
"Bull shit," she snorted. "My father never raised a hand to me and I learned just fine. Do you have any idea what you did, chasing us around the damn world."
Shame clouded his features and lowered his eyes.
"I was never chasing you. And I apologize for any stress that contributed to losing your daughter."
"She's not lost, Mikael. She was stolen just like Freya, but now she's upstairs with Kol, who - despite your example - is an amazing father."
"Have you summoned me merely to yell?" His expression hardened.
"I summoned you so you would tell me where you stashed Esther's immortality spell. I'd prefer to have it before Dahlia shows up to try and take Astrid again."
"Dahlia?"
Elena nodded, wondering if she would have to torture the information out and how she even could.
He surprised her with an answer, but then again maybe at shouldn't have. Mikael never cared that his children were vampires.
"It's in a safety deposit box in Washington; you'll need a pen."
Her eyes darted to the table, scanned the myriad of spell ingredients and came to the sad conclusion that she had neglected a writing instrument. She berated herself silently because she should have known that Mikael would never hide something so important in a place a human could stumble across. His lack of magic would have made any place in Mystic Falls insecure.
"How long were you carrying it around?" She lifted her grimoire Kol had kept safe for centuries, searching beneath the supple leather for a pen or pencil.
"Until I was satisfied it would remain untouched where I left it."
"I'm surprised you refrained from destroying it." Kol stepped into the basement with Astrid in one arm and note taking supplies in the other.
Elena glanced over her shoulder, plucked the offered pen, spread the small slip of paper out and weighed it down with her hand.
"Why would I destroy it?" Mikael frowned, focus drifting to his granddaughter. "That spell was always meant for Elena. Had you stopped running I might have gotten it to her before you could turn her."
"Kol didn't turn me," she inhaled slowly, watching her husband from the corner of her eyes. "Finn did. Was everybody listening to me yell?"
"Rebekah and Finn are out, my love," his fingers touched the small of her back. "I do not know where Elijah is, but for the first time in a thousand years Nik has been rendered speechless."
Astrid cooed from her perch, blue eyes focused on the fox she held in her hands.
"It's been a thousand years… how is she still an infant?" Mikael moved to the edge of his prison.
Her eyes blinked, focusing on her grandfather.
"A sleeping curse." Kol moved his free arm up, protectively curling it around Astrid. "The information, father?"
One week after releasing Mikael's ghost Elena sat crosslegged on her childhood bed with Astrid on her back at her knees and the stuffed fox in her hands. While Kol was out and Klaus completed renovations she sought asylum in the old house.
"She really loves that thing, doesn't she?" Bonnie abandoned her grimoire to watch Astrid wave her arms and bat at the toy.
"She really does," Elena smiled, laughter in her voice. "I really want her first word to be 'mama', you know… so I can rub everybody's faces in it and be super smug until she says 'dada'."
"And Kol wants it the other way around?" Jeremy tickled Astrid's toes.
"Of course," her eyes flickered to Caroline, sitting upright beside her and attempting to capture Astrid's attention with another toy from the diaper bag. "I'm expecting a full blown competition once she starts making sounds, but with everyone else in the mix I wouldn't be surprised if her first word is rakki."
"Is that even a word?" Caroline tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Not in English," she shrugged, "but in the language I grew up with the first time around it means fox."
"Well, I for one am gonna be pushing for auntie Care." She picked Astrid up, supported her head and held her upright letting her brace her legs. "Because you love auntie Caroline, don't you Astrid?"
She cooed and gurgled in response, giving Caroline a gummy smile.
"Not as much as she loves her mama," Elena swooped over, kissing across Astrid's cheek.
"You want to make this interesting?" Caroline lifted an eyebrow, mischief turning her expression.
"What did you have in mind?" Elena grinned, sensing a wager coming on.
"If I win, and her first word is 'Care' then I get to choose what you wear for a day."
"Why am I getting sudden Halloween flashbacks?" She raised her brows. "You know that Charlie's Angel's costume doesn't fit anymore, right?"
"We were seven at the time, so I figured it wouldn't," she snickered. "I've got something else in mind. And you didn't let me finish… you've got to wear what I pick out and declare your undying love for Damon and to Damon."
"Are you trying to get Damon killed?" Elena rolled her eyes at the mention of the vampire recently returned to town. "Because Kol will do it."
"Maybe," Caroline smirked, "but I'm sure you can pull him off before he does any permanent damage. Do we have a deal?"
"Alright," Elena nodded, tilting her head, "but if I win and she say's 'mama' first then you have to dye your hair blue, teal and purple."
"And what if I win and she says 'dada' first?"
Elena turned enough to see Kol leaning in the doorway.
"You and I already have terms in place," she smirked, matching his expression. "And I'm looking forward to winning."
"You mean you're dreaming of winning," he chuckled, eyes darkening as they roved over her body. "And you can keep dreaming, love, because her first word will be dada."
"You two are betting on your baby's first word?" Jeremy shared a look with Bonnie. Neither batted an eye when Elena took up Caroline, but both girls had always been competitive.
"Friendly competition is healthy in any marriage." Kol folded himself behind Elena, wrapped his arms around her from behind and propped his chin on her shoulder. "She'll enjoy losing though."
"Not as much as I'll enjoy winning," she murmured in a saucy tone, low enough that only he and Caroline were able to hear the words.
"Do I want to know?" She raised an eyebrow, voice strong despite the flush on her cheeks.
"Just know that I now have two very good reasons to make sure her first word is mama." Elena reclaimed her daughter.
Astrid's eyes settled on Kol.
"There's daddy's littlest witch," he smiled. "Can you say dada?"
Astrid cooed.
"No, she's gonna say mama," she grinned. "Can you say mama, baby, mama?"
"How about witch?" Bonnie twirled a lock of hair around her finger.
"I think she might be a little young for all of them." Jeremy rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. Homework beckoned him back to his own room, but he paused at the door to look back. "Just so you know I'll never stop laughing if her first word is 'hi'."
Kol waited until Jeremy's door shut, distracted by his daughter's smile.
"Did you run into any trouble at the bank?" Bonnie moved from the window seat and folded her legs to sit on the edge of the bed.
"I simply told the manager my father was recently deceased and I was in the process of closing out accounts." He shook his head, reached into his pocket and lifted a glass vial. "Minimal compulsion necessary."
"That's the spell?" Caroline shifted, giving the couple a little more space.
"That's it." Elena examined the dark liquid inside, steeped with magic. She had never seen the actual spell, too busy struggling with Mikael to really look.
"When are you going to use it?" Caroline stared at the potion that would turn her friend into one of the deadliest vampires on the planet.
She turned her head, met Kol's eyes and chewed on her bottom lip.
"Now?"
"You wanna transition now?" Bonnie's mouth popped open. "Shouldn't you plan this out a little more. New vampire's don't exactly have control, and you've got a new baby."
"I already know how to be a vampire, Bon. I know the bloodlust, and I know how to control it."
"And she won't feel her lost magic urging her to satiate the loss with more and more blood this time. Not that she ever gave in to bloodlust the first time around." Kol's hand flattened over her belly. "If you want to do this now, and your friend's don't mind babysitting for a bit, then we can do this now."
Elena gave them a questioning look.
"Are… are you sure?" Caroline's fingers twisted in the duvet.
"I'm sure." She kissed Astrid's cheek. "You wanna go play with auntie Care and auntie Bonnie, baby?"
She handed her off after another kiss and smiled as her friends left them alone. She waved her hand to gently close the door and took the vial, uncorking it and raising it to her lips. The wine that had been a favourite a thousand years ago tasted slightly off, but she didn't know if it was down to age or the spell using it is a vehicle.
Kol took the empty vial, laid it on the nightstand and turned her in his arms. Her legs fell on either side of his lap, arms draping casually across his shoulders.
"Is there anything else you wish to experience as a human?" His hands cradled her face.
"No; I just want to start our eternity." She kissed him softly.
He returned her kiss and flipped her over, laying her out gently on her back. She breathed his name against his lips.
"Relax, my darling," he murmured, dipping down to kiss her fluttering pulse. "Take a deep breath. This will hurt only a moment."
"I'm no stranger to pain," she sighed, eyes drifting shut.
"I do not now, or ever, wish to bring you pain." His mouth dragged over her throat, igniting a fire beneath her skin. His left hand stole under her shirt, resting hot and heavy on her hip.
She shivered.
"Only love…" he breathed, disturbing the hair by her ear.
"You have," she sighed, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Her voice took on a teasing tone as she brought him up to look in his eyes. "Do I have to call Finn again?"
"No," he chuckled, pressing his forehead to hers.
"It's okay," she murmured, tilting her head enough to nudge his nose.
He sat up and she nodded, closing her eyes when his hand touched her jaw.
She felt the swift turn of her head, and then nothing at all.
There is one more chapter planned after this.
Then there are the prologue chapters that I wrote first which I think I'll post as separate stories connected to this one. They just need edits, but they cover the time from Elena leaving Mystic Falls with her family in the tenth century to when she became a vampire. It would be two stories; one set in Norway and the other in France.
