AN: Thank you to HopeMikaelsonClarke for her suggestion of the baby's middle name. And I'm so sorry about the time between this update and the last. I'm trying to recover from breaking my back in three places, and writing becomes painful after a few minutes.

"Nyssa Raelynn Clarke." His lips formed the name slowly. "I like it."

"She might be your new beginning, but she's my beam of light in the darkness that was my life." Hope exhaled in a chuckle. "I guess it's become something of a tradition in my family,."

"What's that?"

"My parents named me after who I was to them and who my mother could have been. Now, we're giving our baby a name that is what she means to us."

Ryan went to his knees and framed her belly with his hands.

"Hello, Nyssa Raelynn." Ryan kissed her belly just above her pant line.

Seeing him like this, interacting with their daughter as best he could, had her emotions welling up. Nyssa kicked against him, almost as if she could hear him, and knew who he was. Hope choked back a sound that was a mix between a laugh and a cry as tears spilled down her cheeks.

Ryan stood and cupped her face with both his hands, then kissed her softly. As they kissed, Hope carded her hands through his hair, digging her fingers into the curls. He nibbled at her lower lip with his teeth and pulled her as close to his body as he could.

Hope pulled away and looked at Ryan. Her brows furrowed as she worked through the thoughts and emotions she was feeling.

"What's wrong?" he asked gently.

"I want to tell my mom about this." Hope bit her lower lip. "She's missed so much of my life. I don't want her to miss anything else."

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, sweetheart. She's your mother."

"Thank you."

Taking both her hands in his, he led her towards the bedroom door, then released her right hand so he could hold her left hand comfortably.

"It's got to be difficult for her, finding out she has a daughter, only that she forgot her because of black magic, and that the daughter she can't remember comes home pregnant by a golem who isn't supposed to even think let alone fall in love or even knock anyone up."

"I love you."

"I love you." Hope smiled widely.

"She's in the bayou right now, isn't she?"

"Yeah. It's the full moon tonight and there's always a picnic."

"Do you need a ride out there?"

"I can drive." Hope stood on her tiptoes and kissed him softly.

"I guess we really don't need to live in each other's pockets all the time and I don't think the wolves like me very much." He ran the knuckle of his forefinger down her nose, a slight smile playing around his lips. "Have fun with your mother."

"I'm sure Kol has something planned for you while I'm gone. He's been itching for us to be apart so he can take you out for a night on the town."

"I know," Ryan said dryly, wincing a little.

"He'll be nice. Or nice enough, and you'll have fun."

With that, Hope headed towards the door, waving as she went.

"I'll see you first thing tomorrow!" Ryan called after her and Hope blew him a kiss.

"Hope!" Hayley called when she saw her daughter climbing out of the car. The wide smile on her face brought a similar expression to Hope's.

It took more effort to get out of the car than she was used to, but after a moment, she managed to get to her feet.

"What brings you out here?" Hayley hugged her tightly.

"Well, I figured it was time to see my mom at her own home and to meet the pack, officially."

"You didn't bring Ryan along."

"He doesn't think the pack likes him very much, so he's trying not to antagonize them."

"They'll come around. They were probably just hoping that you would marry a wolf to make your loyalty clear."

They were walking beside the river near Hayley's cabin while the community of Crescents went about their daily lives around them. Children shrieked with laughter and Hope looked up, her hand going to her belly. One day, her daughter would be one of them.

"But I'm not just a wolf. If you think about it, he's the closest to being like me, formed from the blood of a witch, a werewolf, and a vampire. At least his creator was, and for all we know, I might not be able to have kids with anyone else because we're essentially our own species."

Hope glanced around to see several members of the pack listening in, including a boy that looked like he was close to her age.

"And he knows what it's like to be in the pit," Hayley mused aloud.

"Yeah. He understands that total isolation, to complete deprivation of the senses. Even though I wasn't in there for very long, I still have nightmares sometimes." Hope stopped and turned to her mother. "How am I supposed to make someone else understand that? I don't want anyone else to understand it. It would be horrible of me. I've lived a life that he would understand better than anyone else. I mean, what do I have in common with any of the people here, aside from being your daughter?"

"I know that. It's partially what kept me from allowing myself to love Jackson like he deserved, because as good as he was and as much as he tried, I never felt like he truly understood what it was like to live the life I had before coming here."

"And Uncle Elijah did?"

"He felt like what I needed at the time. Maybe if I hadn't fallen for him, I would have been able to open up to Jack more."

"Because you had a safety net waiting for you."

"Until you were taken and we forgot everything and he fell in love with someone else. But Jack was already dead by then."

"And now, it seems like you're punishing yourself by not letting yourself fall in love with anyone else."

"You're right. Maybe I am," Hayley mused.

"Jack would want you to be happy. He loved you and it would kill him all over again if he knew you were hurting yourself out of guilt." Hope didn't know Jack, aside from the stories she'd heard about him, but those stories told of a man who loved Hayley unselfishly, who would be happy as long as she was happy.

"How did you get so wise?"

Hope wasn't sure how to reply, so she simply linked their arms and rested her head against her mother's shoulder.

"I want you to be happy too," Hope said after a long moment of them walking in silence.

"I'll think about it." Hayley smiled.

"You do that."

They continued walking, making a loop through the small village in the trees to head back to the cabin.

"Have you come up with a name for her?" Hayley asked. "You only have a few more months until she's here."

"You didn't have a name for me until after I was born."

"I know, but I wish I'd been able to call you by name before you were born, instead of just calling you 'the baby.' So, what have you decided on?"

"Nyssa Raelynn" Hope replied.

Hayley tasted the name without sound, before she smiled widely.

"What do you think?"

Hope felt suddenly worried. What if her mother didn't like the name they'd picked? With the way her life was going, Nyssa might be the only grandchild Hayley would ever have.

"I think it's beautiful."

"We wanted her name to have meaning, what she is to me and Ryan, like my name has meaning for our family, making it something of a tradition."

"It's a lovely tradition to start."

"Ryan picked the first name, and I picked the second. I know, I know. It's one of those names that were trendy almost two decades ago, but the meaning struck a cord with me." Hope shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing.

"It's a pretty name, not one of those godawful misspellings of normal names to make them seem special."

"Please tell me that you didn't consider giving me one of those names."

"No. But I did mention Katherine as being a possibility." Hayley winced.

"Katherine? As in Katherine Pierce?"

"Yeah, Klaus shut that down really quick." Hayley laughed.

"Thank god. I don't think I could stand having the same name as that woman."

Hayley wrapped her arm around her daughter's shoulders and kissed the side of her head. "Thankfully, Elijah had this thing about calling you our hope, and when I saw you for the first time, that's all I could think of, to call you Hope."

By the time they got to the cabin, someone had lit a bonfire and people were setting up tables and chairs.

"Text your boyfriend. Tell him I said to get down here. It's time the pack accepted that you are home for good and starting a life with him." Hayley cast a hard eye on the people setting up for the full moon picnic, as if daring them to defy her.

Hope's heart rate picked up, but she pulled out her phone and did as her mother said.

Mom says come to the picnic.

She waited for a moment before a reply came through.

Is she sure she wants me there?

She says it's time the pack accepts that I'm with you.

I'll be there as soon as I can.

Tell Kol his night on the town can wait. This is about keeping the peace in the family and with the pack.

Yes, ma'am. LOL

"He's on his way." Hope put the phone back into her pocket.

After ambling slowly through the small village, they finally made it back to the cabin and Hayley started helping with the set up. When Hope tried to follow her mother's example, Hayley caught her arm and guided her over to a chair on the porch.

"Sit down, Hope. We can take care of this."

"She's right." Mary hobbled out of the cabin, leaning heavily on her cane.

Hope whimpered involuntarily when she saw the now frail woman. It had been so long since she'd seen Mary and now, she was reminded of how much she missed her.

"Grandma Mary."

"Hello, Hope. It's about time you came to visit us."

"I'm sorry it took so long." Hope walked over to her and hugged her as best she could.

The woman's brittle bones felt like they might snap under Hope's touch, so she softened her grip even more.

"Where's your young man?"

"He's on his way. He wasn't sure if he'd be welcome, since he is what he is."

"Because he's a golem? Pssh. As long as he's good to you, I say he's more than welcome."

"I thought this was a wolf only gathering," the boy Hope had seen earlier complained.

"He was created from a werewolf, so..." Hope shrugged.

"That's enough, Henry. Hope fell in love with a man who's not a part of this pack, but he's the one who brought her home. So we at least owe him for that. The last Labonair is with her pack and pregnant with the next generation, ensuring that the bloodline continues."

Henry fell silent, though his expression remained mutinous.

"Is it a good idea for Ryan to come here? I mean, if more people feel that way about him-"

"Stop, Hope. Some people are just worried about possibly weakening the bloodline, but as powerful as you are, even if his blood even remotely dilutes your baby's power, it won't be enough to make a difference. She'll still be stronger than any of us."

"Still-"

"Still, nothing, You're a powerful witch and eventually, that power will filter into the pack. It might take decades, or even centuries, but eventually, it will."

"We might have to consider binding the vampire side, somehow. Because, otherwise, it could lead to a whole lot of problems that no one needs."

"You and your mother will be around to deal with it when that time comes, but don't borrow tomorrow's troubles for today."

A car pulled in and Ryan climbed out of the passenger side.

"Tell my niece I said she's a spoil sport, ruining a perfectly good boys' night out," Kol called through the rolled down window.

"I can hear you," Hope laughed.

Ryan saluted Kol and then jogged over to where Hope sat on the porch.

"Ryan, this is Mary Dumas, my step-father, Jackson Kenner's, grandmother. Grandma Mary, this is Ryan Clarke."

"It's a pleasure to meet the man who brought our Hope home." Mary held one fragile hand out and Ryan took it, bowing slightly over it.

"Thank you for allowing me to be here tonight."

"You're with Hope. That makes you family and a part of the pack." She cast a superior glance over the wolves as if daring them to challenge her.

To Hope's relief, the body language of those gathered told Hope that they would obey Mary. Ryan would no longer have any trouble with the wolves.