Hope sat at the desk in her aunt's office, a pile of grimores spread out in front of her.
Nyssa's head pressed right against her pelvis and she winced as pain rippled through her. She'd been cramping off and on the last few hours and she knew she really should be lying down, but this needed to be done.
She needed to help the other wolves. After what almost happened to Raf and what was happening to so many other wolves, she needed to help. She owed it to those whose lives she'd taken in the service of Triad, so save those Triad would have killed.
All wolves were bound by marriage and blood to the same line, and if they were all bound to the same family tree, she could use that to track all wolves that way. All she had to do was put together the right ingredients, symbols, and words. It would be easier for her since she was descended from the witch who created the wolves.
Opening another grimore, she found the last piece she needed. Hope wrote the needed ingredients and final words of the spell on the page and leaned back in her chair. As long as she performed the spell before the next full moon, they could keep any that had triggered their curse from hurting anyone.
Pulling out her phone, she sent Ryan a list of ingredients she'd need for the spell that Freya didn't have on hand.
Someone knocked on the open door and she looked up to find Landon standing in the doorway.
"Can I help you?" Hope asked.
"I don't know." Landon shoved his hands deeper into his pockets and shuffled back and forth. "It's my girlfriend. I think she's addicted to black magic. She's just found a way to hide it and I don't know what to do."
"No one lies like an addict, both to themselves and to the people around them."
"Yeah, I know. Not long after we got to school, she set her ex-girlfriend on fire and if Penelope wasn't as strong of a witch as she is, it would have been really bad."
Hope shifted in her seat to try to get into a more comfortable position. A dull ache in her lower back and pelvis made her wonder if she actually should lie down.
"Are you okay?" Landon asked
"Braxton Hix contractions. Don't worry about it." Hope waved off his concern.
"Are you sure? I can call Ryan or somebody, if you need me to."
Hope held her own cellphone up and smiled as she asked, "Josie's a siphon, isn't she?"
Landon nodded.
"From what I've read, siphons are especially vulnerable to the addictive properties of black magic since they don't have magic of their own," Hope sighed.
"Can you help? Or do you know someone who could?"
Hope pursed her lips, wondering if she should give him the name, since she hadn't asked if she could.
"Please. I'm afraid she could actually hurt someone next time. And if she does, she might never come back from that."
"Vincent Griffith. He was addicted to some very powerful, very dark magic, fueled by an even worse witch from beyond the grave. If anyone knows how to help her, it's him. I can give you his number if you want."
"Please. I want to help her. I just don't know how."
Hope unlocked her phone and then copied the number down on a piece of paper.
Handing it to him, she said, "Call him and tell him I sent you to him for help and that you're desperate."
"Thanks."
"I'd help her myself, but black magic and being pregnant don't mix well."
She wouldn't be pregnant for much longer, but the way Landon was talking, Josie didn't have time to wait.
"You gave me the name of someone who can help." He held up the piece of paper. "So, even though you can't help, you made sure I got someone who can."
"If there's anything else I can do, let me know."
"Sure."
Hope shifted again as another wave of discomfort hit her. Was really it just Braxton Hix? She wasn't so sure any longer because the pain had intensified beyond just discomfort and the waves were coming closer together.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you and Ryan met."
"I'm glad-" Hope cut off as a gush warmth hit her legs. Then she shrieked, "Keelin! Uncle Elijah!s"
Someone flashed into the room and then Elijah knelt down beside her.
"It's time, isn't it?" he asked.
"Yes. I want my mom. Where's my mom?"
Hope was so terrified. She wasn't ready for this. She couldn't do this without her mother. She needed Hayley.
"She's in the bayou with Rafael. Elena's calling her now." Elijah scooped her into his arms. "Let's get you to your room and get you ready, shall we? Keelin's probably already there, setting up."
"Do you need me to do anything?" Landon asked, catching Elijah's arm.
"Call Ryan. He'll want to be here for this," Elijah directed him.
"Where is he?" Landon fumbled with his phone.
"In the Quarter, getting me some spell supplies," Hope gasped out.
Elijah darted away then, carrying Hope towards her bedroom. Keelin and Elena met them at the door, Elena carrying a pile of towels and blankets in her arms, and Keeling with a bag of medical supplies.
" Elijah help Hope change into something a bit more comfortable. Elena, wash up. May as well get hands on practice with childbirth in a semi-emergency setting." Keelin headed towards the bathroom. "How long have you been in labor, Hope?"
"A few hours. I thought it was too soon, so I thought it was just Braxton Hixs."
Elijah set Hope down and stripped his jacket off, then rolled his sleeves up.
"May I?" he asked.
Hope nodded, then winced as another contraction rippled through her body.
Elijah ripped her soiled clothes off, then pulled one of Ryan's t-shirts over her head.
"It'll be okay," Elena assured her.
"Thank god you're almost finished with medical school," Keelin said as they reentered the room. "Elena, Elijah, strip the bed and put a bunch of towels on the bed, make sure there are enough so she doesn't bleed through."
"Thank god, I managed to learn to control my blood lust so I could make it through medical school."
Working quickly, Elijah and Elena fixed the bed up as Keelin wanted it and then Elijah helped Hope to lie down.
"Breathe, Hope," Keelin directed. "Breathe."
"Where's my mom?" Hope looked up at Elijah, pleading.
"She's on her way. She'll be here before your baby is born," Elena assured her. "And Ryan and Klaus just arrived. They'll be up here soon."
No sooner had the words left her mouth, that someone knocked on the door. Elijah answered it and the father of her baby and her father burst into the room.
Ryan knelt down beside Hope's head, catching her hand in his.
"What can I do?" Klaus asked, desperate to be useful.
"Bring Freya here."
"Of course."
Klaus darted away, only to return moments later with Freya on his arm.
"Alright, Hope," Keelin moved to stand near Hope's ankles, pulling on a pair of medical gloves as she moved. "I'm going to need to check to see how dilated you are."
"Okay." Hope nodded.
Keelin pushed her fingers inside Hope and shook her head.
"What's wrong?" Ryan demanded.
"Hope, you've been in labor longer than a few hours. You're almost fully dilated."
"I swear I didn't feel the first pain until a few hours ago."
When the next wave hit, Hope gripped Ryan's hand so tightly, she was sure she heard a bone crack, but he didn't do more than wince.
"I'm sorry," Hope gasped out.
"Don't mind me. You're in a lot more pain than anything you can do to me." He pressed a kiss to the side of Hope's head.
"She's also part vampire so it's possible that her body is trying to expel the baby now that Nyssa is fully developed," Freya said as she set out ingredients for a spell.
"What's that?" Elena gestured with her head towards where Freya was working.
"It's a spell to make sure mother and baby get through the birth with no complications, and hopefully will speed the delivery up. Klaus, Elijah, let me channel you."
Klaus acquiesced without complaint, the fear in his eyes telling all who cared to look that he was thinking about Hope's birth and what nearly happened there.
There was a knock on the door and Hayley called, "I'm coming in."
Hayley opened the door and shut it behind herself.
"Mama, it hurts," Hope whimpered.
"I know, sweetheart." Hayley came around to the other side of the bed, and took Hope's free hand. Brushing Hope's hair back from her forehead, Hayley continued, "But you're strong. You can do this."
Hope nodded, taking strength from her mother's words, then cried out as another contraction hit.
"GODDAMN IT, RYAN! I HATE YOU!" Hope shouted.
To his credit, Ryan said nothing, simply let her abuse the hell out of his hand as she broke a few more bones. When she released her grip for the moment, he flexed, allowing the bones to reset.
"No, you don't." Hayley cupped Hope's cheek.
"Yes, I do! He did this to me! It's all his fault!" she hissed through gritted teeth.
"As soon as Nyssa is born, the first time you see her, it will all be worth it." Hayley's lips pulled up into a gentle smile. "Trust me."
"Alright, Hope, you need to push on the next contraction," Keelin directed.
As the contraction bore down on her, Hope pushed as hard as she could, screaming with the effort and the pain.
"I can see her head," Keelin informed them. "Elena, get a receiving blanket ready. Hope, you'll need to push as hard as you can. She's almost out."
After a few more contractions, Keelin reached down and pulled with a deft twist of her wrists as the strangest sense of relief flooded Hope.
Keelin handed a tiny, blood covered form to Elena, cutting the cord, then cleaned Nyssa's airways.
While they readied Nyssa to hand over to Hope, Freya finished with Hope, taking care of the afterbirth and taking it away. As Freya worked, Hope's body returned almost to her pre-pregnancy state.
"Give her to me," Hope pleaded, reaching for her.
Elena placed the squirming, crying bundle in Hope's arms and tears filled the young mother's eyes as she examined her baby's face. As soon as Nyssa's head rested against Hope's heart, her screaming quieted into whimpers.
"Hey, you." Hope traced her fingertips along Nyssa's nose. She lifted one of Nyssa's tiny hands in hers, then the other, counting her fingers. "You're perfect."
"Yes, she is." Ryan reverently, cupped the back of Nyssa's head, his long hand reaching easily from ear to ear.
"She has your nose," Hope whispered.
"It's too soon to tell."
"No. It's yours."
"Just go with it," Klaus admonished, a teasing smile on his face. "It's easier that way, especially since she's just given birth to your child."
"Let's let Elena clean her up," Hayley suggested. "You'll feel better after a shower too and can hold her while lying in clean sheets."
Elena carefully scooped Nyssa up, cradling her carefully against her chest while Hayley pulled out some new clothes for Hope.
Nyssa started to cry, breaking Hope's heart. Her baby knew nothing but her since she gained any awareness, and now she was thrown into this strange, bright world, being held by people who were strangers to her.
"I know, I know, you want Mama," Elena soothed her. "But you'll be back with her soon. You both just need to take a bath first." To Hope, Elena said, "Elijah set up a bath for her in our room, so you can take a shower in this one."
"Thank you, Elena."
Ryan helped Hope to her feet and she kissed his cheek.
She took quickest shower she'd taken in her entire life while still scrubbing down and washing her hair, then dressed quickly, in a pair of pre-pregnancy leggings and a t-shirt. Before leaving the bathroom, she twisted her damp hair into a messy braid.
Hayley and Klaus had just finished remaking the bed when Hope returned to the bedroom and she realized just how tired she was. It didn't matter that she was a werewolf and was already healed, giving birth was exhausting.
She fought back a yawn and Ryan wrapped his hand gently around her arm.
"Are you okay?" Ryan asked softly.
"I'm fine. I just want to see Nyssa before taking a nap."
Almost as if on cue, Elena reentered the room, holding Nyssa, the baby wearing a soft nightie and a cap covering her head. Nyssa seemed to have fallen asleep in the middle of her bath, and Elena was doing her best to keep her movements smooth to not wake the baby up.
Ryan helped Hope to climb into bed, then sat down beside her.
"Here you are," Elena whispered as she handed Nyssa over to Hope.
Nyssa whimpered softly, but remained asleep. She wrapped her tiny fingers around some folds of Hope's shirt and Hope kissed the top of her head.
"You think she has my nose, but I see more of you in her than I see me." Ryan kissed the side of Hope's head.
"I guess we'll just have to wait and see."
Hope yawned again and her eyes started to drift closed.
"You're about to fall asleep. Give her to me."
Ryan took Nyssa from her, and Hope offered no resistance, even though she wanted nothing more than to keep holding Nyssa. But as tired as she was, Hope knew she was in danger of dropping the baby.
As Ryan settled Nyssa more carefully in his embrace, his throat bobbed and his eyes filled with tears.
"Is everything alright?" Freya asked, trying to keep her voice soft.
"I can feel her in my arms and see parts of myself in her face, but it's still hard to believe that fate saw fit let her be my child." Ryan pressed his forehead softly against Nyssa's
"Believe it, Ryan. It seems that we've entered the age of the impossible children."
"Yes, we have. Hope, Landon, now Nyssa. And that's just people under this roof."
"She'll wake up soon and want to eat, so let Hope sleep while she can," Freya whispered.
"I want to hold her for a while," Ryan replied, his gaze never leaving Nyssa's perfect face.
Hope settled back into the bed, watching her fiance and their baby and allowed herself to drift off.
Early the next morning, right after feeding Nyssa, Hope hurried to Freya's work room. She only had a limited amount of time to finish this spell before Nyssa would wake up and need to eat again.
"You should be resting," Freya said as she wrote in her grimore.
"I've got a spell I need to finish."
"Does this spell include the list of ingredients you sent Ryan after?"
"Yes."
"Fortunately, he went to Davina and she brought them over last night." Freya gestured to a bag on another table, next to a globe and the book Hope was using as her grimore. "She and Kol want to meet their great-niece. They did peek in on her last night, but didn't want to wake her up."
"They can come around whenever they want to.
Putting the ingredients together, Hope started to chant. For the final part of the spell, she sliced her palm.
Immediately, a series of little glowing golden and white dots appeared and Hope stepped back.
"What's this?"
"It's the spell to locate packless wolves. Gold means untriggered, white means triggered."
"Looks like we've got work to do. We, not you. You go back to bed and get some sleep. Your baby will be waking up soon."
"Thanks, Aunt Freya."
"I'll make some calls."
"Send Caroline and Klaus. They won't mind spending quality time together."
"Hope, you devious matchmaker."
"They're in love with each other. Why not do the equivalent of trapping them in a closet?" Hope shrugged. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I might be the reason they didn't get together before now, because my dad knew something was missing and was afraid to start something when he felt like that."
"You're probably right."
"I know I'm right."
"Okay. How long will the spell last?"
"The globe is spelled to stay lit up unless I cancel it."
"Good. We'll need something to monitor packless wolves when they trigger the curse."
Nyssa started crying then and Hope smiled ruefully at her aunt.
"Sorry about the mess."
"Go, take care of her. I'll clean it up." Freya shooed her away with a flick of her wrist. "Just try not to make a habit of it."
"Yes, ma'am."
