Tangled Up in Blue Chapter 51: Blue & Yellow - Part 1, a vampire diaries fanfic

A/N: Wow, so it's been over a year since my last TUIB flash forward. Sorry for the delay – it's been quite the year for a number of reasons – but I hope the length of this flash forward makes up for the delay in updates. I have been slowly working on it over the last year. It's also a bit holiday-themed so I wanted to post now – a belated Christmas gift to my faithful readers and a positive way to close out 2020.

I decided to post this as part of TUIB since some who read TUIB may not follow me as an author, but I had always intended these little flash forwards to be separate from TUIB. So, you don't necessarily need to read them with TUIB, which is why this story is marked as "complete". I may end up posting the flash forwards as a separate "story," which is why I've distinguished them as part of Blue and Yellow.

As a warning, this flash forward deals with some difficult subject matter – fertility and miscarriages (which may be a sensitive topic for some of you who have real life experience) and there is some nsfw content as well (I figured I owed you some steamy scenes since I didn't give you a Klaroline wedding night with the last flash forward).

Also, for those of you on tumblr, I've been nominated in two categories for the KC Awards (best canon-ish fic and smut author) and today (December 31st) is the last day for voting. I'd encourage you to head over to and cast your votes (even if it's not for me).

This flash forward takes place approximately 5 years after the last main chapter of TUIB…Enjoy!

He had spent the morning vacillating over whether he was truly finished a painting he thought he had completed a few months ago – an intentionally blurry image of a reflection of city lights floating across the Hudson River. His team had posted it on his web portfolio which in turn attracted the attention of some famous former boy band bloke who Caroline had been rather fond of as a girl growing up, who inquired about purchasing it as a Christmas gift for his wife to put in their New York condo.

At the last minute, he decided to apply a few lighter details, and he'd spent the early afternoon waiting for his additions to dry. While he still didn't feel entirely satisfied with the work he'd done, the certified check with all those zeroes and the autographed CD for Caroline that he'd negotiated into the deal as a last-minute Christmas gift for Caroline convinced him to part with his work.

The last few years had been an exceptionally good one for both him and Caroline professionally. Thankfully, for the sake of Grayson's school tuition and the mortgage they had recently secured against the Brooklyn brownstone they'd always admired around the corner from their former apartment, their professional success had translated very well financially. And while the attention their work had garnered wasn't always welcomed by them – the pros outweighed the cons.

He, Thierry, and Diego had just finished securing the now-dry painting, along with several others, in a wooden crate for delivery within the city-limits, set to arrive at their destinations just in time for Christmas.

Brushing off his hands, he nodded his head towards the wooden crate of artwork. "See to it that these get to where they need to go and then you both can head home," he instructed Diego and Thierry.

Diego and Thierry nodded readily, eager to finish their work so that they could begin the holiday season with their own families – being as it was Christmas Eve.

"Dad!" a familiar voice interrupted as it echoed throughout the Midtown Manhattan studio space. He could hear small footsteps thump across the worn wooden floor of what had once been a large garment factory, now repurposed into offices, commercial space, studios and loft apartments on the upper floors.

As Diego and Thierry headed for the storage room for the trolley cart to load the delivery, Grayson nearly crashed into them while he zipped by them excitedly. They greeted Grayson as they exited, but Grayson was too preoccupied to notice, set upon finding him.

"Hey mate!" he said as Grayson charged towards him with his winter jacket swishing and his wet boots squeaking against the wooden floor.

He picked him up effortlessly though Grayson had become heavier thanks to the growth spurt he'd experienced over the summer.

Grayson hugged him tightly – a squeeze that he didn't think he'd ever tire of (except when Grayson would employ it to wake him and Caroline up tomorrow morning at the first light of dawn for Christmas morning).

"Remember what I said about running across this floor in wet boots?" he reminded Grayson, his voice turning stern, as the thought back to the summer when Grayson had face planted doing the exact same thing in sandals after getting caught with him in the rain.

Grayson ignored him intentionally (he and Caroline had grown used to this as of late), holding up a reindeer ornament made out of Popsicle sticks, felt, and pipe cleaners.

"What did I say?" he asked him, not wanting to let him off too easily.

Grayson flashed him a guilty look. "No running," he mumbled before trying to distract him once more with the ornament he had made.

He nodded at Grayson's response and inspected the ornament a little closer. "It looks exactly like Rudolph," he observed, noting the fuzzy red nose, which generated a proud grin from Grayson.

"I hope Santa will see it tonight when he comes," Grayson said excitedly. He had been talking about Santa's arrival nonstop since Halloween it seemed.

"Gray made it at the Winter Village," Rebekah informed him as she appeared in the doorway to his workspace, obviously having trailed behind Grayson on their way to the studio.

Rebekah was wrapped in a pink pea coat, knitted scarf and hat, and gloves to shield her from the mild but still wintery weather outside.

He smiled appreciatively at Rebekah, uncertain as to what he and Caroline would have done had Rebekah not relocated stateside to pursue her own artistic ambitions. In exchange for him and Caroline allowing Rebekah to become a tenant of the one-bedroom apartment in the garden-level of their townhome for below market rent, Rebekah gratefully went above and beyond in her role as Grayson's Aunt, becoming his part-time caregiver while he and Caroline were both occupied with their work. Rebekah's assistance had helped them a great deal and avoided the need for a nanny – something he and Caroline had been vehemently opposed to, despite how swamped they both were with their work and the traveling they had to do as a result. Their minds were more at ease with Rebekah, comforted by the fact that it enabled Grayson to build a closer bond with another one of his blood relatives in Elijah and Elena's absence.

"Have you heard from them?" he asked Rebekah discreetly, not wanting to talk too obviously in front of Grayson.

"Who?" Grayson interrupted curiously.

His questions were precisely why he had to be careful not to reveal too much. Not only was Grayson very observant (and often when you didn't realize), he loved to ask questions about everything.

Rebekah nodded. "They texted me earlier this morning before their departure," she revealed. "Their flight is on time. They should arrive just before dinner, as planned."

He had been so busy today that he hadn't had much of a chance to monitor the airport schedule.

"That's good," he acknowledged, anxious for his plan to unfold as intended.

"Who?" Grayson repeated his question, trying to capture his or Rebekah's attention so that one of them would answer.

"Just some friends of mine and Auntie Bekah's," he informed Grayson, hoping his vague reply would be enough to placate him but not enough for him to remember. .

He and Rebekah exchanged knowing glances with one another to which Grayson was oblivious.

As their mystery guests were a part of Caroline and Grayson's Christmas present, he had to keep things discreet while Grayson was present – because Grayson would spoil the surprise to Caroline. He was not yet at an age where he could appreciate the value of keeping a secret.

"I think this completes phase one of our plan," Rebekah commented.

"Onto phase two," he finished.

"You're headed to Caroline now?" Rebekah confirmed.

"Mommy!" Grayson said excitedly, kicking his feet against his legs. "She can see my reindeer!" he added, waving the ornament in his hands.

He nodded to both Rebekah and Grayson.

"Nik, you need to keep her busy. Do not bring her home until I've texted you!" Rebekah warned. "They'll need an opportunity to settle in before you get home."

"I know, I know the plan, Bekah," he said in his defence, growing annoyed by his sister's incessant reminders about each stage of their plan for the surprise as though he would forget.

She gave him her sisterly scowl before shrugging indifferently.

"Then I'm going to head home to ensure everything is ready and continue prepping for dinner," she explained.

"Did someone say dinner?" Marcel interrupted with a playful smirk as he entered the studio space, brushing by Rebekah who was flashing him a narrow expression.

Marcel had been previously occupied in his office with a photography client of his.

"Uncle Marcel!" Grayson announced happily, leaping down from his arms to charge towards Marcel.

"My man!" Marcel greeted him with a wide grin, scooping him up into his arms much in the same way he himself had done when Grayson first arrived with Rebekah.

Grayson took the opportunity to show Marcel his ornament creation to which Marcel complimented with enthusiasm.

"So, who's having dinner?" Marcel wondered with a smirk.

He noticed Rebekah shoot Marcel another perturbed glare. While Marcel had a bit of a personality and could come on a little strong, he could never understand Rebekah's apparent extreme distaste for him, which had only seemed to intensify in the last few months following her more permanent arrival to the city. Caroline had suspected it to be a front – that in reality, Rebekah actually fancied his too-old-for-her business partner – but he brushed that hypothesis off believing the suggestion to be one of the many ways Caroline liked to rile him up.

"We are – tonight," he said, mouthing to him a silent reminder about the surprise guests they had arriving while Grayson was distracted by the necklaces Marcel was wearing.

This triggered Marcel's memory and he gave him a knowing nod.

"Why don't you join us?" he offered to Marcel not only to test Rebekah's waters, but also as a genuine invitation, recalling that Marcel's kids would be with their mom this year for the Christmas holiday.

"Yeah!" Grayson agreed, as he overheard his dinner invitation.

Rebekah's eyes widened. If looks could kill, Rebekah's look would most certainly kill him. He had received that look many times as her big brother.

"Nik, there may not be enough food," Rebekah suggested, seeming to use the quantity of food as a more polite excuse to guard against her real feelings about Marcel attending dinner.

Marcel hesitated, glancing between him and Rebekah.

"It's cool. I don't want to impose," Marcel said, obviously sensing the tension between his invitation and Rebekah's resistance. "It's Christmas Eve."

"Aw! Come over!" Grayson pleaded in response to Marcel's reluctance. If anyone could convince Marcel to reconsider, it would be Grayson. "We can play videogames," Grayson tempted Marcel.

"But you always kick my a…butt, though, kid," Marcel teased Grayson who was grinning proudly, stopping himself from cursing in front of him.

"I'm sure there will be enough food for one extra person," he said to Rebekah, diminishing what he sensed, was her empty concern.

"You can have mine," Grayson offered sweetly, causing everyone else to chuckle. "Come over. Please!?" Grayson urged Marcel once more.

Again, Marcel exchanged a conflicted look between Rebekah and him.

"The more the merrier, mate," he emphasized with a smirk, much to Rebekah's chagrin.

Marcel relented. "Okay, okay, you've convinced me," he said. "What time should I be there and what can I bring?" he asked.

Rebekah sighed in defeat. "Dinner should be around seven, but wait for Nik to text you to confirm," she instructed strictly.

"Just bring yourself," he added. "And maybe some of that bourbon you were drinking the other week," he suggested, knowing that he wouldn't mind some of it himself even though it wouldn't do him any favours tomorrow morning when he would be up early.

"Done," Marcel said decidedly, smiling at Grayson who grew even more excited than a child could already be on Christmas Eve.

As the late afternoon light turned to dusk, he and Grayson walked up 5th Ave towards Central Park and the Upper East Side where Caroline's boutique and studio was located.

Fortunately, the twenty minute walk in the winter weather didn't faze Grayson who was used to walking longer distances having grown up in the City where traffic made driving impractical. They walked everywhere unless it was prohibitive, in which case, they would take some form of transit.

Grayson loved to walk with him to sightsee and people watch which were great ways to pass the time when they had no other place to be. However, it could be a bit frustrating when they were on a timeline – like today. And, with the lights and sounds of the holiday season, Grayson was particularly prone to distraction.

"Come on, mate," he tried to encourage Grayson calmly, though his patience was being tested. "Your mom's waiting for us," he reminded him, though if he knew Caroline at all, she was probably still working and he and Grayson would have to pry her away from whatever project had her attention. A white lie wouldn't hurt Grayson.

"I want to see the big tree…and Santa….and the toy store," Grayson listed as he dragged his heels purposely, referencing the Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Centre and FAO Schwarz. He had already been to the infamous toy store on several occasions this season.

"We have a big tree at home and Santa will be coming to see it tonight to deliver you your very own toy store in our living room provided that you've been a good boy this year," he mused, thinking about how he and Caroline had spoiled him. They always went overboard at Christmas, unable to resist the gratification they received from seeing the look of excitement on Grayson's face when he opened his gifts. What was once a bittersweet holiday for them both in the past had become something they both looked forward to now thanks to Grayson.

Surprisingly, this would only be their second true Christmas in New York, and their first Christmas in their new home. In their first year, they spent Christmas in Virginia after their permanent move to New York was delayed as the sale of Elijah and Elena's house was extended and Caroline had to tie up loose ends when it came to the closure of her store. In their second year, they spent Christmas in their cramped two-bedroom apartment that could barely fit a small Christmas tree. In their third year, they spent Christmas in the Caribbean for Bonnie and Kol's sunny destination wedding. In their fourth year, they had spent Christmas Eve in the hospital after Grayson had fallen ill with a fever to the point of convulsing. Grayson had been fine afterwards, but since, even the faintest hint of a fever in Grayson put them a bit on edge. The hospital bill was not welcome either. Last Christmas, they met each other in California. Caroline had been there personally delivering and overseeing a final wedding dress fitting for a restaurant-chain heiress's Christmas Eve wedding. He picked up Grayson in the City on his way back from an art exhibit in the UK, but they nearly missed Christmas thanks to a delayed flight out to California as a result of a northeastern winter storm.

He supposed they also spoiled Grayson at Christmas as a way of compensating for Elijah and Elena's absence, even though Grayson had no recollection of them beyond what he and Caroline told him.

"But…" Grayson protested. "I haven't seen Santa yet," he reminded him with a whine.

It was true, he acknowledged to himself, recalling that they had not seen Santa this year. Time had gotten away on them and each time they made an attempt, the line up was always outrageous.

"Perhaps on our way home," he suggested to Grayson, feeling guilty upon Grayson's reminder that they had not seen Santa yet. Though, if last year was any indication, Grayson would chicken out at the last minute, bursting into tears at the sight of the jolly old bearded man in the red cap and suit.

His compromise seemed to satisfy Grayson, who promptly fell quiet and began to keep pace with him up the sidewalk in his winter boots, now eager to reach Caroline so they could return to see Santa.

They reached the walk-up boutique and studio shortly thereafter. The boutique was by-appointment only which allowed Caroline to focus the majority of her time on her custom designs, which is what he suspected was occupying her time presently. The window front was decorated for Christmas, with a winter-themed dress on display for passersby to admire.

Entry to the space required a code, which he recited to Grayson who he lifted up to punch in the numbers on the keypad. While the small showroom space at the front was still brightly-lit, it was unoccupied, which motivated Grayson to run to the back, much the same as he had done when arriving at his studio with Rebekah earlier, following the sound of enthusiastic voices.

"What are you doing here, monkey?" he heard Caroline ask, the surprise apparent in her voice, as he made his way to the back in pursuit of Grayson.

"Aren't you the cutest?" he heard another feminine voice gush as he entered her studio space and fitting area.

In the space, he found Caroline shooing Grayson away from the white dress train splayed around the gown worn by her customer who stood on display in front of the wall of mirrors. Caroline was busy at work, observing the dress with her eyes and hands, a measuring tape draped over the shoulder of her white blouse and dangling past her black pants, her blonde waves tucked behind her ears.

He recognized Caroline's customer as Aurora Martel. He'd had a crush on her when she starred on a teenage sitcom he used to watch growing up. Now, her work was confined to supporting roles in b-rated rom-coms (movies he'd get suckered into watching with Caroline on Friday nights in before she'd fall asleep on him).

"He's okay," Aurora assured an anxious Caroline, as Grayson balanced dangerously close in his wet boots to the dress.

"We're here to get you. Auntie Bekah is making dinner," Grayson announced as Caroline caught him by his coat and picked him up before he could trample over the dress.

He bit his tongue, relieved that he'd not volunteered any more information to Grayson than that as he surely would have spilled the beans.

"Oh is she?" Caroline asked Grayson, flashing a questioning look in his direction.

Caroline was clearly suspicious as this was not part of their normal routine and Rebekah was not known for being the greatest cook or interested in preparing big meals. While Caroline loved planning surprises for others, her type-A personality didn't always enjoy surprises.

"For Christmas Eve – it was her idea," he explained quickly with a shrug. "We didn't mean to interrupt," he apologized, hoping to distract Grayson from giving away any more information about Caroline's surprise. "I didn't realize you had an appointment," he said, looking between Caroline and Aurora.

"Caroline is a busy woman, this was the only time she was here today to fit me in – this late on Christmas Eve," Aurora informed him.

He noticed Caroline's uneasy reaction to the information Aurora volunteered. As he understood, Caroline was to be here all day taking care of loose ends before the holidays. She had been up and gone earlier that morning before he had even pulled himself out of bed.

As if sensing the curious look he gave her, Caroline glanced away from him and toyed with the train of Aurora's dress, pretending to occupy herself with her inspection.

"And who are these two handsome boys?" Aurora queried with interest, seeming to have sensed the awkward tension that had suddenly developed.

Turning his attention back to Aurora, he felt his cheeks flush while Caroline gave a small smirk, knowing of his crush as a teenage boy. And while Aurora herself had aged since then, time had been generous with her appearance.

"This is Nik," Caroline motioned towards him as he extended his hand politely.

"Her husband?" Aurora asked him as she shook his hand.

"Perhaps one day, if she's lucky," he said teasingly as he shot Caroline a smile, which garnered him a scowl from her in response.

Aurora laughed. "Charming looks, accent, and sense of humour," she bemused suggestively to Caroline. "He certainly checks off all the boxes."

He blushed some more, looking to Caroline with a smug expression at the compliments received from his boyhood crush.

Caroline let out a sarcastic snort to which he challenged with a raised eyebrow. "You forgot to add moody, impatient and messy to that list," she teased.

Leave it to Caroline to humiliate him in front of his teenage crush, he thought to himself, trying to maintain his relaxed composure.

"Aren't all men?" Aurora replied with a laugh. "No offence," she said to him quickly to which he shrugged in response. "Tristan can be unbearable some days, especially when stocks are down," she sighed.

"But you're still marrying him," Caroline mused.

Aurora nodded with a smile as she extended her left hand for them to see, revealing a large cushion-cut pink diamond surrounded by other smaller diamonds.

"Have you seen the ring he bought me? Of course, I am still marrying him!" she stated simply as though her decision required little thought on that basis.

He and Caroline exchanged glances, unsure if Aurora being serious as to her motivations for marrying her fiancé or whether she was joking. With celebrities, it was hard to say sometimes.

"I'm Grayson," Grayson interrupted them, nearly stepping on the dress train with his wet boots once more before he caught him by the hood of his coat and pulled him back.

Aurora kneeled down. "Nice to meet you, I'm Aurora and you are adorable," she commented. "Your son?" she asked curiously, looking up at the two of them.

"He is," Caroline confirmed proudly.

"I also have a mommy and daddy in heaven," Grayson volunteered happily. As he didn't fully comprehend the pain of their loss yet at his age, the idea of having two mommy's and daddy's had become somewhat of a novelty or badge of honour for Grayson and he enjoyed bragging about it to new people he met and friends at school. This was encouraging for him and Caroline, as they constantly worried about how Elijah and Elena's deaths would impact him as he grew older. There were times when it seemed difficult for him to understand why Elijah and Elena could not be here in person, but overall, Grayson seemed to be mostly unaffected in any negative way – for now.

"Wow!" Aurora tried to say enthusiastically though unsure of her response as she stood up and eyed them questioningly.

"It's a long story," Caroline informed her with a polite smile.

"My dads are brothers and my moms are friends…" Grayson volunteered freely as he picked him up.

"That does sound like a very long story," Aurora acknowledged curiously.

"It's a long story that we'll share another time, right mate?" he said to Grayson. "We need to let mommy finish up here if we want to stop and see Santa on the way home for dinner," he added as a reminder to Grayson to encourage his cooperation – others might call it a bribe.

Grayson's eyes lit up excitedly at his mention of Santa.

"Let's wait in mommy's office and maybe I'll let you play a game on my phone," he hinted (another bribe) to convince Grayson that the wait would be worth it.

Caroline bit her tongue. While she was stricter than he was when it came to limiting Grayson's screen time, she knew it could be a necessary evil at times – especially when they needed to keep Grayson occupied.

As they walked down the sidewalk with Grayson in between them holding each of their hands, Caroline's quietness was beginning to get to him. He could sense that her mind was elsewhere and he couldn't quite place it. That had been his general impression of her the last week or so.

"So, Aurora Martel thinks I'm handsome and I check off all the boxes," he stated to her proudly to capture her attention and gauge her reaction. This would certainly have been a story for Elijah, he thought, who had somewhat of a crush on her as well when they were younger.

Caroline scoffed disbelievingly before laughing out loud, seeming to perk up a little at his playful attempt to taunt her.

"Jealous, sweetheart?" he asked curiously.

She laughed harder as she shook her head in swift denial of his assertion. "Hardly," she said swiftly. "I can think of a few boxes that you don't check off," she scowled teasingly.

His eyebrows furrowed in her direction. "Like?" he challenged her.

She sighed. "I bet if I go upstairs when we get home that your laundry will still be scattered around the hamper in our closet rather than in it and the toilet seat in our bathroom will be up," she listed quickly with little thought.

He disregarded her comment with a shrug. "Well, I can think of one box that I intend to check off tonight, insults notwithstanding, miss perfect," he retorted lewdly to get a rise out of her, thinking back to the shower the previous morning.

Having Grayson meant that they had to take advantage of the opportunities they could get alone – this often meant later at night once Grayson was asleep or early in the morning before Grayson woke. His favourite opportunities though were those spontaneous ones they snuck in at their studios or the times they stole in the afternoons while Grayson was still at school.

Caroline's mouth went agape with her cheeks turning a shade of red not brought on by the cold weather as she shoved his shoulder.

"Niklaus Mikaelson you are disgusting!" she scowled, reaching around to punch his shoulder playfully with her gloved fist.

He snickered, revelling in the way he could rile her up.

"Why is daddy disgusting? What box?" Grayson asked curiously, obviously listening in on their conversation as they walked.

Caroline looked at him judgmentally, as if to say, 'You started it, now finish it,' with respect to Grayson's query. Grayson listened too well for his own good when he wanted to, he thought to himself.

"Because sometimes I'm dirty Grayson and you know mommy doesn't like that," he chuckled, flashing a wink in Caroline's direction as she narrowed her eyes at him. "And the only box you should be worried about, mate, is whether Santa is going to put you in the 'naughty' or 'nice' box," he told Grayson as they stopped and he nodded towards the park across the street filled with people eager to meet Santa who sat atop a red and gold throne, bookmarked by life-sized candy canes. Fortunately, the line did not appear to be as long as it had been in the past, being as it was Christmas Eve and many people were gathering with their families instead.

In an instant, Grayson had forgotten about their conversation and was completely enthralled by the sight of the Christmas lights and decorations set up around the main attraction – Santa Claus himself. Grayson pulled on the sleeves of their coats eagerly. "Can I go?" he pleaded, looking up at both of them. "Daddy said I could go before we went home!" Grayson added, reminding him, which caused Caroline to smile.

He dug in his pocket to look at his phone – still no text from Rebekah. "You better get in line, mate. Santa's going to be finishing up soon, tonight's the big night," he reminded Grayson.

The prospect of missing Santa before he set off on his reindeer caused Grayson panic, and before he himself could react, Caroline grabbed Grayson by his scarf, stopping him from dashing onto the street and into traffic to cross.

"Grayson James!" Caroline chastised him firmly, the fear laced in her words as she griped his arm. "You don't run into the street when there are cars!" she reminded him at eye-level.

Grayson frowned, his cheeks reddened from having been scolded. Caroline meant serious business when she started using full names – he himself was well aware of that fact. He tended to get Niklaus Mikaelson when she was particularly angry with him – or quite the opposite – he mused to himself. In either context, it meant that she was serious.

"Sorry!" Grayson uttered a muffled apology.

Caroline hugged him tightly before standing up, the look of panic evident on her face as she regained her composure, urging him to take over.

He placed his hand on Grayson's shoulder and extended his hand for him to take. "You have to look both ways before crossing the street and make sure that mommy or I are with you," he reminded Grayson.

Grayson nodded as he took their hands again and he gave Caroline a look of reassurance as they crossed the street together with Grayson when the way was clear.

They stood with Grayson in line, but Grayson was adamant that when his turn came that he wanted to meet Santa by himself and give him the reindeer that he had made earlier that day. When they asked him if he was sure, he told them confidently that he wasn't afraid and he wouldn't chicken out this time.

So, when his turn drew closer, he and Caroline stood off to the sidelines and watched with bated breath as Grayson stood behind two little girls and waited his turn.

"Do you think he'll do it?" Caroline asked him nervously.

"He seemed pretty confident," he pointed out. "Last year he wouldn't even get as close as he is now," he chucked to himself, recalling the tears that Grayson shed at the horror of encountering Santa last year.

"He's becoming too independent. He thinks he's a little adult," Caroline sighed wistfully. "He nearly crossed the street himself without a second thought," she mentioned, apparently still little shaken up by the tragic incident that nearly could have been.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he tried to soothe her, putting his arm around her waist. He was a little surprised by how the incident had impacted Caroline – they had many close calls in the past with Grayson – he got into trouble and did dangerous things without realizing like any other kid – he was a kid, after all. "He's fine, look," he said nodding towards Grayson who was waiving at them.

They both waved back, both with encouraging smiles so that Grayson would follow through.

As they stood there waiting for Grayson's big moment and Caroline readied her phone camera for a picture, he thought about what Aurora Martel had said at Caroline's studio about her schedule that day. He shrugged it off, but it made him feel unsettled, given Caroline's general uneasiness and how she had reacted when he had realized she had not been at her studio all day as she had lead him to believe she would be.

"Where were you today?" he queried, a knot tying in his stomach. He hated to be the suspicious boyfriend type – that had never been him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

She looked up from the camera settings on her phone and shrugged dismissively, clearly trying to downplay the situation while still appearing to be uncomfortable by his question. "I had to do some last minute shopping," she offered simply.

He looked at her searchingly, seeing only her black tote bag on her shoulder. If she had been shopping today, where were her purchases? His mind wondered. Scolding himself internally, he refrained from asking her the question. He was being too paranoid about this.

Sensing that he had noticed the lack of shopping bags she had in hand with them on their commute home, she offered a further explanation. "Sometimes the best gifts come in small packages. Also, I knew you and Grayson were coming to pick me up. I couldn't really carry your gifts home with us and risk you two seeing them," she scoffed innocently. "I had Davina drop them off at home earlier today," she clarified – Davina was Caroline's assistant.

Her words offered his troubled mind some reassurance, but he still sensed something wasn't exactly right by Caroline's tone. Regardless, if what she was saying was true, he hoped that Davina had not sabotaged the surprise he had planned for Caroline – surely, if she had, Rebekah would have said something to him. This only caused his mind to over think even more.

He tried to remind himself that she hadn't always been distant and melancholy over the last while. Most of the time, she seemed fine, but there were moments when he noticed that she didn't seem quite herself, which planted seeds of doubt. His approach had been to keep things lighthearted and not confront her, chalking up her mood to the anniversary of her mom's passing last week.

Grayson's turn with Santa proved to be a welcome distraction for both of them. This year there were no panicked screams or tears from the boy, only smiles of awe and laughter from what he could tell as he and Caroline watched a few feet away. It seemed that he listed everything off that he wanted for Christmas, likely in some organized fashion (Caroline and Elijah were a lot alike in that regard, and he supposed that's where Grayson got it from), and then ended the conversation by giving Santa the reindeer he had made earlier that day as a gift – perhaps his own bribe to secure himself a spot in the good box and score himself the best Christmas gifts, he mused. Caroline was even able to get a few photos on her phone, but ended up purchasing the overpriced professional photograph with the decorated cardboard frame from the organizers anyways. They had several from years past, all of which depicted Grayson in full blown devastation at the torturous encounter with the jolly old man in the red suit.

When the meeting was done, Grayson returned to them triumphantly with a candy cane in hand. If it was even possible, Grayson was more excited about Christmas than he was before he met Santa. This kid would never be able to sleep that night, he worried, anticipating how exhausted they would all be the next day.

He checked his phone again and finally noticed a text from Rebekah instructing him to return home, but to take the subway in order to give her some more time to work on dinner and for their guests, who had just arrived, to settle in. With Rebekah's signal, he texted Marcel a reminder to head over.

Grayson, satisfied by his meeting with Santa, was easily persuaded into leaving for the nearest subway station to head home.

On the subway, Grayson sat on Caroline's lap while he stood in front of them – the train was packed notwithstanding the date – people heading home from work or travelling to spend Christmas Eve with their families. Caroline was giving him side-eye as he had insisted upon taking the subway instead of hailing a cab or calling a car, which would have been more comfortable and direct.

Fortunately, Grayson was on his side with this as he loved to take the train and so Caroline was outnumbered.

"I want to show my picture to Lily," Grayson said proudly as he looked at his photo taken with Santa.

He and Caroline smirked at one another.

"I thought you two were on the outs?" he queried about Lily with a laugh, causing Caroline to grin.

They had last seen Lily, her parents – Stefan and Meredith – and Lily's new twin baby brother and sister, Lexi and Logan, when they spent a week in Mystic Falls that past summer. There was a kissing incident between Grayson and Lily that did not go over well with Grayson to say the least.

Grayson shook his head in denial. "She's okay," he said.

"When she's not trying to kiss you?" Caroline teased him, trying to twist her head to the side so she could kiss Grayson on the cheek.

Grayson's cheeks flushed as he turned away from Caroline and tried to snake out of her grasp, laughing as he did so.

When he settled, he affirmed his intention. "I want to show her my picture," he insisted, clearly wanting to show off for the younger girl who herself shared Grayson's former fear of Santa.

"I'll send one from my phone to Meredith," Caroline assured Grayson as she took out of her phone and appeared to send one of the pictures she took.

"Lily is going to think you're pretty brave," he told Grayson, musing at how his words seemed to inspire confidence in the young boy, who immediately began to smile wider.

"You were brave," Caroline confirmed. "What did you ask Santa for?" she wondered.

Grayson went quiet for a minute as he tried to recall his conversation with Santa.

"Video games…an ipad…lego and building stuff…art stuff …a dog," Grayson listed, naming the last item hesitantly because he knew that a dog was a big one.

"A dog!" Caroline said, pretending to be surprised. Grayson had been asking for a dog since they could remember and they both knew it would make a good companion for him, being an only child, but a dog was still a gift they were holding out on until Grayson was a bit older and was capable of taking on some more of the responsibility that came with a pet. They also needed to find a breed that was suited to life in the city.

"Or maybe just a baby brother or sister," Grayson shrugged.

He and Caroline exchanged glances and laughed at Grayson's comment. For some reason, Grayson believed that a baby brother or sister was less of an ask than a pet dog.

"Just a baby brother or sister, mate?" he commented. "That's quite the gift…not something you can buy at a store," he pointed out.

He noticed Caroline's smile fade slightly which made him frown. If only having a baby was as easy as that – buying one at a store.

Little did Grayson know that he and Caroline had already tried with difficulty to give him a sibling on a number of occasions without success and much heartbreak.

The decision to try for a baby was surprisingly one of the easiest decisions he and Caroline made together – probably easier than agreeing upon how to decorate their new townhome – something that had resulted in many spats between them. Eventually, they had reached a compromise – Caroline could choose the furniture, he would choose the paint colours and the artwork, and Grayson would decorate his own bedroom.

While his self from several years ago would have balked at the idea of having kids, content at being the cool uncle to Grayson, his perspective changed after Grayson became theirs. He loved being with Grayson and watching him grow. He wanted to have more kids and he wanted Grayson to have siblings like he did – his siblings being the only fond memories of his own childhood. Caroline shared his desire - one she probably had long before he did judging by the subtle comments and hints she would make here and there – and which hints were only amplified after Meredith gave birth to Lily.

Afterwards, and likely to Caroline's surprise and his own, he was the first to seriously broach the subject.

They set to work soon thereafter, if he could recall correctly, while they were away for Bonnie and Kol's wedding in Jamaica that December. And fun work it was – at least, initially.

After several months and no results, they began to grow discouraged. At first, they reasoned it was Caroline's birth control leaving lasting effects, but after a while they became more concerned.

They tried any test that was available to them – some covered by their medical insurance and others they paid for themselves, but nothing was ever conclusive which became unbearably frustrating.

And then, when they were about to explore options for further testing or treatment, Caroline discovered she was pregnant – a baby due in February and they were elated. He had never known the happiness he felt when Caroline took that test and then confirmed the news with their doctor. And, when Caroline miscarried two weeks later, he had not experienced such upset since Elijah and Elena's passing.

It was another loss for them and another loss for Grayson. Fortunately though, for Grayson, who was barely three at the time, it was another loss that hadn't really understood and so therefore, it didn't really affect him in the way that it had him and Caroline.

After the disappointment they had endured, they mutually decided to let fate run its course, content to have only Grayson as their own. From there, he and Caroline focused their hearts on Grayson, their careers, and one another, and though there were times when the absence of another child was more strongly felt than others, he felt that they were happy.

"Santa can do it," Grayson said confidently.

He and Caroline couldn't help but laugh at Grayson's comment despite the sadness they both felt at the prospect of not being able to give Grayson what he wanted.

"And how do you know that?" he and Caroline questioned in unison, waiting for whatever imaginative answer Grayson had in store for them.

"I'm so hungry," Grayson complained.

"Me too, Gray," Caroline agreed with Grayson as she shot him another subtle annoyed glare for having made them take the train home.

He sighed, disregarding her complaint with a small smirk, hoping the subway ride would be worth it when she discovered his Christmas surprise waiting for both her and Grayson.

Pulling out his phone, he texted Rebekah discreetly to warn her of their imminent arrival as they rounded the corner towards their brownstone.

Multi-coloured Christmas lights decorated the windows – Grayson's choice. Through one of the windows in the living room, above the garden level, their Christmas tree could be seen alight.

Rebekah responded to his message and told him they were ready as they reached the foot of the stairs.

Despite their warnings to be careful, Grayson rushed up the stairs in front of them, wanting to be first through the door.

He unlocked and opened the door to the vestibule for Grayson, also holding it open for Caroline who was eyeing him curiously.

"What?" he asked her.

Caroline shrugged. "You just seem off and I'm surprised that Rebekah wanted to cook dinner for Christmas Eve."

"Well, let's go in and see what she's made for us, shall we?" he said with an innocent smile, nodding towards the interior doors.

They entered through the glass-paned interior doors into the foyer. The living room off of the hall was empty, and there was no sign of anyone down the hall towards the backroom.

"Auntie Bekah?" Grayson called as he helped him take off his coat and boots.

There was no response.

"Rebekah?" Caroline questioned.

"Help mommy with her things," he encouraged Grayson, if only to get him to stay in the hall a while longer.

Grayson huffed, obviously wanting to search for Rebekah instead, but he complied with his instruction, taking Caroline's bag and setting it on the bench in the hall for her.

He helped Caroline her remove her coat, again, garnering a glare from her, suspicious of his behaviour – though opening doors for her and helping her with her jacket was not necessarily out of the ordinary for him.

It was then that a tiny little figure with curly brown hair appeared at the end of the hall with the help of a red and blue baby walker.

Caroline's eyes widened with surprise at the sight of their nephew. "Ben?!" she gushed excitedly as Bonnie and Kol appeared behind their son.

He noticed her eyes became glassy as Caroline spotted baby Ben with Bonnie and Kol.

Grayson ran ahead of her excitedly, crashing against Kol's legs as Kol scooped him up effortlessly. "Uncle Kol!" he exclaimed, just as surprised as she was.

He breathed a sigh of relief at having been able to keep Kol, Bonnie, and Ben's visit a secret from both Caroline and Grayson.

"Hey squirt!" Kol greeted Grayson.

"Hey handsome," Bonnie followed suit, pecking Grayson on the cheek. "We missed you!"

"Oh my god!" Caroline squealed, looking at him briefly with a bright smile – the one he had been missing lately – before rushing down the hall towards Bonnie and Kol in family room off the kitchen, nearly trampling Bonnie down to the ground as she hugged her best friend.

"Are you surprised?!" Bonnie asked over Caroline's shoulder laughingly, smiling at him, as he took in the scene from a bit of a distance to get a few photos on his phone – knowing Caroline would want these for this year's scrapbook she would be finishing up as the year drew to a close.

He and Bonnie had been discussing this trip for a while and both had been on the same page almost immediately when they agreed to make it a surprise for Caroline.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Caroline wondered, a little bewildered, reaching down to pick up Ben as Rebekah appeared from the kitchen behind Kol and Bonnie.

Kol nodded toward him as Grayson leapt down from his arms. "You should be asking Niklaus that question," he said, leaning in to give her a hug from the side, impeded by her holding Ben.

He put his phone away as Caroline turned to look at him. "I thought you had been acting strangely!" Caroline said accusatorily, her mind appearing to put the pieces together.

"You said you wanted to have a proper family Christmas this year," He shrugged with an innocent smile as he approached her. It was something she had been saying since last Christmas, he thought. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart," he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek chastely in front of their guests, wiping away her surprised and happy tears with his thumb.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, seemingly thrilled by the unexpected surprise as she bounced Ben in her arms who was cooing and babbling excitedly.

He smiled at his nephew, mussing his hair playfully.

"He couldn't have done it without me," Rebekah chimed in with a proud grin.

Of course, Rebekah was never one to be left out in claiming the credit she felt she was owed. In truth, she was right; he couldn't have done it without his little sister.

Caroline smiled appreciatively at Rebekah, realizing that while Klaus was keeping her distracted, Rebekah had obviously been here to prepare dinner and welcome Kol, Bonnie, and Ben when they arrived.

"I can't believe you guys are here," Caroline beamed, "And for Ben's first Christmas no less!" she noted, looking at Ben excitedly.

"Yeah, we're really sad that we're missing Christmas with Finn and Sage back in London," Kol joked sarcastically.

Bonnie shuddered. "There was no way my son was spending his first Christmas with Mikael and Esther," she added.

He nodded knowingly as he exchanged an understanding look with Caroline. He and Caroline hadn't seen his parents or Finn and Sage since Kol and Bonnie's wedding three years ago and he was perfectly okay with that.

"Plus, I got one of you for Secret Santa and I needed to see your reaction to my gift in person," Kol snickered with a mischievous glint in his eye.

He exchanged a worried look with Caroline – Kol always had an inappropriate way with gifts.

"We need to get you guys settled in," Caroline realized, eager to change the subject from Kol's infamous gifts, turning her mind to what accommodations Rebekah had prepared for Kol, Bonnie, and Ben while she had been out of the loop.

"Don't worry, Caroline," Rebekah said with a sigh, which caused everyone to laugh, as though Caroline was that predictable. "I set them up in the guest room across from Grayson's room."

Kol snickered at him. "Yes, right underneath your bedroom, brother; so, keep it quiet."

He scowled at his brother. "I hope your Secret Santa gifted you earplugs," he retorted cheekily, shooting Caroline a pleased glance.

She blushed, though she didn't rebuke his suggestion. After the huge Christmas gift he had chosen to surprise her with, he didn't think a special thank you gift was entirely inappropriate and it seemed that she agreed with him.

"Why would Kol want earplugs for Christmas?" Grayson asked confusedly, his innocent mind still uncorrupted.

They all laughed and exchanged awkward looks as they contemplated how to answer Grayson's questions.

"Well, I believe dinner is ready!" Rebekah announced with her hands clasped together, distracting their attention away from Grayson's awkward and curious question.

From Rebekah, everyone looked towards the front door as it began to open. "I heard someone say dinner?" Marcel's voice questioned as he appeared in the doorway with a playful grin – grocery bag in hand.

The sound of Rebekah scowling and stomping off towards the kitchen turned everyone's attention back towards her, with Kol and Bonnie giving him and Caroline confused looks.

"Just one more, mom!" Grayson pleaded with Caroline as he navigated the old school racing videogame from his spot on the large grey sectional sofa in the open family room off the kitchen. Grayson was seated right next to Kol, who had the second controller in his hand.

While Kol would put time aside each week to play online games with his nephew, it made him happy to see Kol and Grayson getting to spend quality time together in person since they didn't often get the opportunity to do so with Kol and Bonnie in the UK. He knew it would have made Elijah happy to see as well – especially since Kol and Grayson were using Elijah's old Playstation videogame console from when they were kids.

He noticed Caroline smirk as she continued to hand wash the dishes in the sink at kitchen island, facing into the family room.

Caroline had seemed happy with her surprise and had appeared to enjoy herself over dinner. She hadn't drank, but she had insisted that it was because her stomach felt off, even though that hadn't stopped her from taking seconds at dinner.

He shrugged his thoughts off, telling himself that he was reading too much into things. Perhaps she was just stressed over work projects and planning for the Christmas holiday.

Regardless, while it had been a stressful secret to plan and keep from Caroline, seeing her smile and happiness made it worth it.

"That's what you said a half hour ago when Marcel was leaving," she reminded Grayson pointedly. "It's getting late. You should be getting ready for bed."

"But pleeeassee!" Grayson begged with a whine. His eyes never wavered from the screen.

Caroline glared at him from his spot on the couch, seated beside Kol on the chaise part with Ben in his lap, keeping him occupied while his father played video games.

"Mate, you heard your mother," he said to Grayson. "If you don't go to bed, Santa will skip our house," he warned, hoping to get a positive reaction from Grayson – it usually worked on most occasions. "Besides, I don't think Santa will much appreciate stale cookies and sour milk," he pointed out, referring to the plate of chocolate chip cookies and the tall glass of milk ready on the kitchen counter to be placed by the Christmas tree.

He had to hold back a laugh, knowing that he would end up reluctantly drinking the room temperature milk, worried that Grayson might somehow suspect if he and Caroline poured it down the drain. He and Caroline would both indulge in the cookies together.

Grayson was silent, pretending not to hear him or Caroline as he navigated through the game options – preferring to use his selective hearing when he was playing video games.

"Just a bit longer, mom and dad!" Kol sighed amusedly in a childish voice, trying to mimic Grayson.

Kol's juvenile response made Grayson giggle. Kol was just as into playing the video game as Grayson was, enjoying the nostalgic trip back to his own childhood.

He noticed Grayson select the next race in the game, testing the limits, hoping that he or Caroline wouldn't notice. He supposed they could let it slide on a special occasion, even though the earlier that Grayson went to bed, meant the earlier that the adults could start prepping for Santa's visit and get some sleep themselves before Grayson inevitably had them awake at some ungodly hour to open gifts – Ben being too young to care.

"Grayson James," Caroline cautioned, exchanging a further look with him, both of them relaying their displeasure to one another at Grayson's wilful efforts to ignore them.

"This is the last race and then you're going upstairs to get ready for bed," he stated to Grayson flatly, putting an end to their negotiations.

"You're a bad influence Kol," Bonnie piped up from the counter beside the fridge as she packaged the leftovers from dinner.

Kol snorted in response. "I'm the bad influence?" Kol wondered. "Nik is the one holding our son in one hand with a glass of bourbon in the other."

He looked down at the toddler to be nestled into the space between his arm and torso against the couch. Ben hadn't moved in the last twenty minutes, passed out and drooling on his favourite black Henley.

It reminded him of when he would do the same thing with Grayson when he was younger to settle him before bed after a long day.

"Can you remember when Grayson was this little?" He asked Caroline.

"I can," Bonnie chimed in, smiling at him and Caroline as she placed a few empty dishes on the kitchen island beside the sink.

His heart ached somewhat with the passage of time, wishing he could slow it down a bit more to stop Grayson from growing up as quickly as he was.

"He won't fit in your lap like that anymore," Caroline sighed with a bittersweet tone.

"Even if he could, he probably wouldn't want to. He's too cool for that," he said, poking fun at Grayson, who was oblivious to the fact that he was the topic of conversation, too caught up in the video game to notice.

The older Grayson got, he was becoming less inclined to show them public displays of affection – mainly in front of his school friends. While he was less vocal about it than Caroline, he savoured the hugs he still gave before bed and though he valued undisturbed sleep, he relished in the nightmares and thunderstorms, when Grayson would still climb into bed with them or plead with him to inspect under his bed or his closet.

"Not cool enough to beat his uncle Kol though in this race," Kol teased with a snicker, playfully shoving Grayson's shoulder as Grayson lost the race and scowled in defeat.

Grayson looked at Caroline tentatively from over the couch with a disappointed pout as if to plead with her once more to continue playing to prove that he could beat Kol.

Caroline shook her head and he stood up from the sofa with Ben.

"Bed time," he told Grayson, eliciting a dramatic sigh from Grayson in response. "Come on, mate, you can read me a Christmas story," he added with a yawn as he stood from the Sofa with Ben in his arms – Grayson was becoming quite good at reading words from the stories that they read before bed.

"I don't want to play anymore anyway," Grayson said bitterly, tossing the controller on the couch, clearly being a sore loser.

He patted Grayson on the head encouragingly.

"You can try and beat me tomorrow, squirt," Kol told Grayson reassuringly to lift his spirits.

The challenge seemed to work and Grayson grinned determinedly, punching Kol in his free arm, running around the couch towards Caroline and Bonnie before Kol could react and grab him.

As he stood beside Kol, watching Grayson amusedly, Ben reached out for Kol and so he handed his nephew back, still in awe that Grayson was ever that small.

Caroline dried off her hands at the sink before picking Grayson up and asking him for a hug. He obliged her as he made her promise to set the tray of cookies and milk out in the living room by the Christmas tree so that Santa would see them when he came.

"Merry Christmas, monkey," Caroline said to Grayson, kissing him on the cheek.

Bonnie snuck in a kiss to his cheek too while Caroline was still holding him.

Grayson blushed and cringed.

"Don't forget to put on your Christmas pyjamas for bed," Caroline reminded Grayson as he snaked his way out of Caroline's embrace and dashed towards him.

"I don't want to wear baby pyjamas," Grayson protested with a scowl garnering an unsympathetic shrug from Caroline.

Grayson attempted to flee upstairs in response, but he caught Grayson by the shirt and lifted him up over his shoulder, causing Grayson to shriek. Caroline hated when he carried Grayson around like this, but Grayson loved it.

"You should take Ben up to bed, too," Bonnie told Kol.

"Klaus," Caroline said, causing him to stop before reaching the hallway with Grayson. He turned to look at her. "Grayson's Christmas pyjamas are on top of his dresser and make sure he brushes his teeth well," Caroline instructed him. Grayson's last visit to the dentist had yielded two cavities and a lovely dental bill as a result.

"Come on, mate. Let's get you into your Christmas pyjamas so that daddy can see mommy's Christmas pyjamas," he mused, winking at Caroline, garnering dramatically disgusted looks from Kol and Bonnie.

"I wanna see!" Grayson replied, kicking his feet against his torso to try and get down, still oblivious as to what he was actually referring to, thinking he meant the juvenile adult-sized Christmas-themed pyjamas Caroline would make them wear on Christmas morning to complement Grayson's.

What he actually meant was the Christmas tradition Caroline had started a few years prior: surprising him with lingerie – usually on Christmas Eve. It was her way of bribing him to wear the juvenile pyjamas with her on Christmas morning.

Caroline was smirking subtly, suggesting that the tradition would continue tonight – perhaps she was okay after all and he had just been paranoid earlier about her melancholy mood.

"Bon, I'll change into my Christmas pyjamas too while I'm up there," Kol chimed in with a suggestive wink at both him and Caroline, garnering him eye rolls and laughs from both Caroline and Bonnie.

"Well, dinner tasted better than I expected," Bonnie teased, poking fun at Rebekah's cooking skills, as she packaged up the last of the leftovers and put them into the fridge for storage.

"She's better than me!" she mused, coming to Rebekah's defence as she finished scrubbing the roasting pan – the last dish to be cleaned. With her soapy hand, she pointed to the book resting on the edge of the far counter, the corners of the pages stained from having seen its fair share of use over the years. "Fortunately, it seems that Klaus was able to find Rebekah my grandma's recipe book," she noted. "I could follow the instructions in that book and still not get it right," she admitted at her own expense. While her cooking skills had improved somewhat since she and Klaus first lived together with Grayson in Mystic Falls, both Klaus and Rebekah were superior at cooking than she was.

"Kol and I worried that when we arrived we'd be walking into a cloud of smoke and the kitchen would be on fire. But, save for a bit of a mess and Rebekah needing our help at the end to get everything together, she actually managed to pull it off," Bonnie said impressed, beginning to tidy up the countertops.

"She did!" she exclaimed. Rebekah's high maintenance personality was a bit of a running joke in their house, but she was underestimated and was actually quite talented in the kitchen when she felt like cooking – more so than she would ever be.

"What was with Rebekah tonight. She bailed so early?" Bonnie questioned.

After they finished dinner and the evening began to wind down, Rebekah had dramatically announced that she was retiring to her apartment downstairs to soak in the bath to get the smell of turkey off of her skin.

It was quieter now that Klaus and Kol were upstairs putting Grayson and Ben to sleep.

This left her and Bonnie to finish cleaning up, not that she minded. It was the least that she could do considering what Rebekah and Klaus had done for her with the surprise. Moreover, she preferred to oversee cleanup duty, wanting to ensure that her kitchen was cleaned just the way she wanted it, knowing that Bonnie was familiar with her standards – to the point of making fun of her (as did Klaus and Rebekah).

Her standards explained, in part, why she had been hand washing most of the dishes instead of stacking them in the dishwasher. The other part of the explanation was that the dishwasher was already full and running with dishes from the days leading up to tonight. Klaus was on dishwasher duty this week and it had obviously slipped his mind even though he knew that he and Rebekah were planning this Christmas Eve dinner. She was lucky that he had a good excuse this time around. Other weeks he was not so lucky.

"Guess she didn't want to get stuck on cleaning duty after cooking all day," she shrugged as she set the roasting pan in the drying rack on top of the other smaller dishes. She couldn't entirely blame Rebekah, given how hard she likely worked and planned leading up to this evening.

"She never does though, even when she doesn't cook," Bonnie quipped, referring to how it was often Rebekah was quite averse when it came to cleaning.

"You're right," she acknowledged amusedly, pulling the drain in the sink as she recalled how Rebekah would make a point of busying herself with Grayson whenever they all shared a meal together.

"I see that she and Marcel still butt heads," Bonnie noted, referencing back to Rebekah's past encounters with Marcel Gerard that she had witnessed.

She laughed, thinking about how Marcel had teased Rebekah earlier that evening about the turkey being a bit dry as he asked her to pass the pitcher of water, to which Rebekah retorted by calling him dry and "accidentally" spilling a bit of water over the top of the pitcher into his lap before setting it down on the table in front of him. Marcel's surprised expression was still etched quite vividly in her mind.

"Klaus is convinced they are sleeping together," she snorted in disbelief as she wiped down the now empty sink.

Bonnie's mouth fall agape as her eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she stood beside her to wash her hands at the sink. "What? No way!"

She shrugged. "He's thought that ever since Marcel offered to help her with her portfolio – even though Rebekah stormed out less than half-way through over 'creative differences' and every time they are near one another they bicker. I think Klaus is just being overprotective," she reasoned, now opting to take a seat at the kitchen island. "I mean, Marcel is a bit of a flirt, but he's too old for Rebekah. And, they're clearly not compatible," she clarified, reaching for one of the chocolate chip cookies on the tray for Santa. As she bit into the cookie, she made herself another mental note to remember to ensure that the tray was put in the living room for Santa as Grayson had instructed so that he would see it in the morning.

Bonnie smirked. "That's what everyone said about you and Klaus," she pointed out as she turned to the side counter and returned with two empty glasses and one of the many bottles of wine that had been procured for the festivities. "And now look, the two of you are living out your dreams together with Grayson in a pricey brownstone in New York and Klaus is planning grand romantic gestures for you for Christmas – like flying your would-be in laws over for the holidays. Now if only he would put a ring on it and we could be legal in-laws," Bonnie mused teasingly, giving her a half-hug from her standing position beside her at the kitchen island.

Another running joke in their family was how she and Klaus preferred to live in sin as opposed to wedded bliss. She was almost certain that Kol, Bonnie, and Rebekah were taking bets on the timing of Klaus's marriage proposal.

"Guaranteed on your trip to Paris this spring," Bonnie winked at her nudging her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes. While she and Klaus had planned a trip to Paris in the spring, she had no expectations of a marriage proposal from him.

While Klaus may have reformed his bachelor ways in the name of his love for her and his views on marriage had softened somewhat, he would still maintain that two people did not need a legal piece of paper to commit themselves to one another.

At first, his stance on marriage irritated her, having always dreamed of her perfect wedding growing up. However, over time, with each wedding dress she created for a marriage that eventually ended in divorce and for each year that she and Klaus stayed together, Klaus's perspective became more appealing to her.

In any case, she wasn't so sure Paris would be happening now with the news she had received today.

"I'm so glad you guys could come. We missed you," she said, changing the subject somewhat as she finished her cookie.

"It's been too long," Bonnie agreed. "Ben is nearly one already and we haven't seen you guys since he was born."

"I can't believe how big he's gotten," she commented.

"How big Ben has gotten? Let's talk about how I feel like Grayson has grown nearly a foot since Kol and I last saw him last!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"A good few inches," she affirmed, thinking about the measurements they took against the life-size ruler against Grayson's wall in his room. "I don't know where he'll get his height from – Elena and Elijah weren't that tall," she commented.

Bonnie shrugged. "He'll have Elijah's dimpled chin and jaw line, so he'll have nothing to worry about in the dating department when he's older, even if he isn't that tall," she laughed.

"That's true," she acknowledged with a grin. "Let's not talk about him dating," she said quickly. "Right now he's still so sweet and innocent – for the most part – and he still believes in Santa," she noted. "I'd like to keep him that way a little longer."

"Time flies," Bonnie agreed, nudging one of the wine glasses towards her as she unscrewed the cap.

She shook her head, waving her hand in between her and the glass Bonnie tried to give to her.

"No thanks. I really shouldn't after everything I've eaten tonight. I'm so full," she said innocently, though knowing the real reason for her refusal.

"What's going on?" Bonnie queried with a worried look, falling quiet briefly as she debated about prodding further while she poured herself a glass of wine. "Caroline, you seem off. You never say no to wine, even when you aren't feeling the greatest – you haven't even had a single glass – and you've been uncharacteristically quiet all night despite the big surprise."

"I'm fine," she said a bit too enthusiastically to be believable as she bit into a second cookie.

Bonnie's expression narrowed at her from over the top of her wine glass as she took a sip, telling her that Bonnie didn't believe her.

"Even Klaus mentioned that you seemed off when he and I were talking this week about the trip," Bonnie mentioned.

She gave Bonnie a curious look, surprised that Klaus had picked up on her mood when she thought she had done her best to conceal it.

"Is everything okay between you and Klaus?" Bonnie wondered immediately, putting her glass down, appearing to grow even more concerned. "I thought you said everything was going great, but you seem distant?"

Sure, their struggles with fertility and the miscarriage had taken its toll on their relationship initially, but they had worked through that – even went to therapy for a brief time – and moved past it together.

"I mean, I know how you and Klaus feel about marriage," Bonnie acknowledged, clearly starting to feel guilty for her earlier proposal foreshadowing. "And I know you and Klaus aren't fans of big displays of public affection, but if Kol had just flown you, Klaus, and Grayson to our place in the UK as a surprise, I probably would have jumped him right in front of you guys," Bonnie joked, underscoring her concern. "Your reaction towards Klaus was a little muted," Bonnie pointed out.

Guilt tugged inside her chest.

She faked a laugh. "Bonnie, we're fine," she assured her friend with her mouth full. "We're great," she said for emphasis.

Bonnie's suspicious look remained as she took another sip from her glass. "I know this time of year is tough because of your mom," she said, moving on from her hypothesis about Klaus to her theory that her mood had something to do with the anniversary of her mom's passing just before Christmas.

"It's tough," she nodded. "But, I'm okay. It's been nearly ten years," she reminded Bonnie.

Bonnie nodded, but she still did not seem satisfied with her response.

There was silence for a moment as Bonnie took a long sip from her wine glass, and she sensed more follow up questions were coming.

"Are you sure? Are you sure everything is okay with you and Klaus?" Bonnie pushed again.

The pressure from Bonnie's interrogation was too much and though she had tried her best to maintain her strong composure, cracks formed until she crumbled at the counter, like the half-eaten cookie she placed in front of her.

Her eyes watered as she caved to her best friend. "I'm pregnant," she confessed, some of the weight of the secret she had been keeping relieved as she shared the news with Bonnie.

Bonnie's eyes lit up as a shocked but pleased 'o' shape formed with her lips before turning into a wide smile.

She had wanted to break the news she had received from her doctor today to Klaus first, but she hadn't yet had a private opportunity and Bonnie seemed so genuinely concerned about her that she didn't want to make Bonnie worry for no reason.

"Oh my god, Caroline!" Bonnie exclaimed, setting down her glass and putting her arms around her shoulders. "I'm so happy for you!" she said shakily from her excitement as she tightened her embrace.

"Thank you," she said faintly, still trying to digest the news herself. Today had been quite the whirlwind of surprises.

"When is the big day?" Bonnie asked as she pulled away from their embrace.

She found Bonnie's excitement infectious and she herself was grinning as her eyes started to become watery as she thought about the due date.

"The doctor said the seventh of July," she informed Bonnie, thinking back to earlier that day when she had been in the doctor's office waiting for the news.

"Nearly three months already," Bonnie said surprised. "You're not even showing! I already felt like the size of a house by four months," she mused. "What was Klaus's reaction?"

Tears started to fall from her cheeks despite her smile. This was becoming a pattern for her as of late – emotional up and downs sometimes all at once. Her doctor said this was normal – hormones, but it was not something she thought she would get used to.

Bonnie's expression fell to one of concern again as she placed her hand over top of hers. "He doesn't know yet, does he?" she wondered.

She wiped her index fingers under her eyes to catch the tears pooling, shaking her head in response to Bonnie's question.

"The doctor just confirmed today and I haven't had a moment alone with him to tell him," she revealed. "I started to suspect last month when I missed my period, but I assumed it might be stress, some weight gain too. When I missed my period again this month I did a few tests – they were all positive – but I waited to go to the doctor," she admitted. "I didn't want to get my hopes up, Bonnie, in case it wasn't real…or in case I lost..."

"In case you lost the baby," Bonnie finished for her understandingly, having been through it once herself before she had even known she was pregnant.

She nodded and Bonnie put her arm around her, rubbing her back to comfort her.

"What did your doctor say?" Bonnie asked.

"Everything looks good…strong heartbeat…I heard it…saw the ultrasound," she confirmed, smiling as she recalled seeing the outline of the baby – similar to what she and Klaus had seen during their last pregnancy. "The doctor wants to do some tests in the next while to monitor things," she added.

The increased monitoring alarmed her and put her mind at ease all at the same time. If she was being honest with herself, the doctor likely wouldn't have even ordered the testing and closer monitoring if it hadn't been for her endless anxious questions and comments.

"That's good, Caroline. That's good news. You have to focus on that!" Bonnie said encouragingly, saying what she could to try and lift her spirits.

"I know," she agreed tentatively.

"I know it's hard, but you can't let the worry consume you, Care," Bonnie cautioned her. "You have to be strong for the baby and you deserve to be happy. This is what you and Klaus have wanted," Bonnie reminded her.

She sighed, feelings of hesitation still gnawing at her.

"You still want this, right?" Bonnie asked carefully, giving her a serious look.

"I do," she nodded eagerly. There was no question that she wanted another baby. She wanted to be a mom since as long as she could remember. She wanted to give Grayson a sibling and she wanted to give Klaus a child.

"And Klaus?" Bonnie wondered.

She was anxious about Klaus's reaction, having vacillated over the news all day and how she was going to tell him.

"I'm not sure how he will react," she admitted. "It's been a long time since we talked about it. He won't be expecting it. I wasn't expecting it. We didn't think we would be able to conceive naturally. We thought it would just be us and Grayson – and maybe Klaus is content with that now," she shrugged.

She really wasn't sure how Klaus would respond to the news. There was a part of her that believed he would be thrilled, knowing how excited he had been the first time they had gotten pregnant, but another part of her worried that maybe his feelings about having more kids had changed after their past difficulties and the miscarriage.

"You just have to tell him, Care," Bonnie suggested. "You're causing yourself more unnecessary worry thinking about all the ways he might react."

Bonnie was right, she knew, but it didn't make it any easier.

"I'm also afraid to tell him for the same reason that I put off going to the doctor until now," she explained to Bonnie.

"You want to protect him," Bonnie elaborated empathetically, suggesting that she had felt the same way when it came to Kol.

"When I miscarried, I hadn't seen him look that upset since he came to the hospital that night and I told him that Elijah had died," she recalled, remembering how dejected Klaus had looked in the doorway to Elijah's office that night and how similar he had looked when the doctor told them she couldn't find their baby's heartbeat. "I don't want to see him heartbroken like that again," she said, shaking her head.

Having to deal with her own heartbreak was bad enough. Having to shoulder Klaus's pain was worse. She would spare him the sadness if she could.

"You're not supposed to walk through those things alone though," Bonnie countered. She was always good at playing devil's advocate. "Klaus is your partner. You're supposed to share in the good and the bad."

She exhaled as she finished her second cookie, taking comfort in the treat, having baked them the other night with Grayson's help in anticipation of Santa's arrival.

"You need to tell him so that you can support one another," Bonnie added.

"I know," she acknowledged, though still nervous to share the news with Klaus, anxious about his reaction, afraid that any more loss may devastate him.

Bonnie gave her a reassuring smile. "Care, this is amazing news. When you tell him, I know Klaus will be so happy."

"Happy about what?" Klaus's voice vibrated with curiosity from behind her where he appeared in the family room from the hallway.

She turned in his direction from her seat at the kitchen island as she tried to think on her feet and come up with an explanation for Bonnie's words.

Her pregnancy hormones betrayed her as she found herself now admiring him discreetly having changed into his grey sweats and black t-shirt and sporting his black reading glasses whereas just moments ago she was anxiety-ridden with Bonnie about telling him of their pregnancy.

"Happy about your Christmas present," Bonnie cut in suggestively before she herself could think of a response, offering Klaus up a quick reply with a believable guilty grin to conceal the true nature of their previous conversation.

While their conversation wasn't entirely as innocent as Bonnie had led Klaus to believe with her answer, it wasn't entirely a lie either. She supposed her news could double as a Christmas present – her doctor had even framed it as such earlier today when she was provided with the ultrasound photos.

Klaus's expression perked up from one of concern to one of erotic intrigue – of course, suspecting that Bonnie's reference had something to do with the lingerie she surprised him with each Christmas.

She and Bonnie exchanged knowingly amused looks with one another. This was the sort of Christmas present that would give them plenty of sleepless nights, but not the fun sort of sleepless nights that led to said Christmas present in the first place.

Before she had time to drown in her own panicked and anxious thoughts about the future sleepless nights ahead of them, Bonnie interrupted with a feigned yawn.

"Well, I'm going to find my husband so we can put the gifts we brought over in our luggage under the tree and then finally go to sleep," Bonnie announced.

"I think he may have already skipped straight to the sleeping part," Klaus laughed. "He was passed out horizontally on top of the spare room bed, fully clothed, lights still on after I put Grayson to bed."

"Did he at least put our son to bed before he decided to fall asleep on me?" Bonnie asked, unimpressed by Kol's premature decision to call it a night.

Klaus nodded. "Ben was passed out too – but in his pyjamas and safely in Grayson's old travel crib," he assured her.

"It's been a long and busy day for you guys," she reminded Bonnie, given the time change, the flight, and then the dinner Rebekah had planned.

"I think Kol's state has more to do with the food and bourbon he's been fed since we arrived," Bonnie snorted with a chuckle, giving Klaus an accusatory but joking glare.

Klaus shrugged at Bonnie innocently as Bonnie turned to rub her upper arm and wish her a good night. Bonnie then thanked Klaus for coordinating the surprise.

"Don't stay up too late," Bonnie teased them, before disappearing down the hall and upstairs.

Bonnie's departure left her and Klaus alone for the first time that day. She wasn't about to count this morning as Klaus wasn't even truly awake when she left in the morning to head to her office and the appointment with the doctor.

"Is Gray asleep?" she asked.

They had to talk about her news eventually. She couldn't avoid the topic over the entire holiday – he would grow suspicious if she refused wine on more than one occasion. Even if she could manage to thwart his suspicions, her conscience wouldn't let her and very soon, she imagined her swelling stomach would give her away in any case and she would not be able to attribute that to holiday over indulgence.

She decided that she would tell Klaus tomorrow for Christmas. For tonight, she – and the raging hormones that made her want to jump Klaus at nearly every moment of the day it seemed – preferred to focus on their little tradition, distracting them both with her latest purchase from the lingerie boutique down the street from her shop and studio. Her body was aching for it all of the time it felt like (that was when she hadn't found herself crying over mundane tasks or every song on her music playlist which held some distant memory). The emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs was her first clue that something was off and what first prompted her to suspect that she might be pregnant. Her doctor had assured her that her "friendly" feelings towards Klaus were normal – a pleasant side effect of pregnancy that she hadn't experienced with the first – and to indulge them while she had them, as they may not last.

But, there were still more pressing matters to attend to first, like ensuring all of Grayson's gifts were under the Christmas tree, his stocking was filled, and the treats to Santa were consumed.

With that in mind, she helped herself to a third cookie – she was taking one for the team she reasoned, ensuring that Grayson's faith in Santa would endure. In truth, she had been craving sweets all week, even though she tended to prefer savoury foods. This baby was going to have a major sweet tooth, she suspected.

Klaus approached her from behind. "He fell asleep before I could even finish reading the Grinch. Don't worry, he is wearing his Christmas pyjamas for tomorrow morning," he added, his smile evident, even though she couldn't see him, by the tone in his voice.

She chuckled, imagining that Klaus bribed Grayson into putting on the Christmas pyjamas to ensure that he would get to see hers.

To her surprise, Klaus snatched the cookie from her hand playfully as she brought it towards her mouth for another bite.

"Hey!" she responded, twisting in her seat to glare at him as he took a significant bite out of her cookie.

Chewing with a guilty smirk, he handed her back what remained of her cookie.

"Thanks," she said sarcastically, trying her best to hide her own smile as she stuffed the rest of it in her mouth, turning back towards the island counter so the surface would catch her crumbs that would inevitably escape from her lips as she chewed.

Klaus's chaser for the cookie was the now room temperature glass of milk Grayson had instructed them to leave for Santa, reaching over her shoulder for the glass as he stood behind her.

"There are three other cookies left that you could have eaten instead of mine," she pointed out, as she heard him down the contents of the glass before setting the empty glass beside her, doing his part to keep up the Santa rouse for Grayson for another year.

He slid his hands up her back and over her shoulders. "I much prefer your cookie, sweetheart," he said suggestively, his thumbs pressing under her shoulder blades, sending tingles down her spine. She laughed half-heartedly at his comment, too caught up by the feeling of his hands to give him her normal sarcastic snort and eye roll whenever he said something immature or used sexual innuendos with her.

"These are my cookies!" she pointed out amusedly, referencing the fact that she had baked the cookies herself. While she wasn't much of a cook, she fared better with baking.

She was briefly distracted by the sound of Bonnie and Kol coming down the stairs and could see them from the kitchen through the open pocket doors that lead from the dining room into the living room, depositing their Christmas gifts under the tree for Christmas morning. Obviously, Bonnie had woken Kol from his beauty sleep, she mused, as she could hear Kol yawning out complaints of being tired.

Klaus brought her back to her reality with his hands digging into her back in the most delightful of ways and she murmured in satisfaction under her breath. His hands were magic and his massages were even better when he did it without her having to ask – even if she knew that he had come to learn it was nearly a sure way of her letting him use his hands in other ways.

"Did you enjoy your surprise tonight?" he asked her, seemingly genuinely curious to know.

With her eyes closed, she released an exhale of satisfaction and nodded. "Yes, I did very much – one of your best yet," she told him with a smile. While her Type A personality normally loathed surprises, she had grown fond of those that were from Klaus.

"So, I did good?" Klaus confirmed, pressing his lips to the back of her neck softly, causing her muscles to tense in anticipation, while his hands continued to massage her shoulders with just the right about of pressure.

"You did really good," she affirmed. "You spoil me too much," she admitted.

It was true. Despite what she may have thought of him at first, Klaus Mikaelson was all heart. Every special occasion he went out of his way to make it a memorable one for her (and for Grayson). She and Klaus were notorious when it came to competing with one another for the best gift, or best surprise. Klaus bringing Bonnie, Kol, and Ben over from the UK was definitely a surprise, and though it wasn't planned by her, fortunately, she had a last minute surprise that she suspected would outdo Klaus's surprise this year.

He kissed the base of her neck where it met her shoulder, his lips sucking lightly at her sensitive skin.

"Let me take you upstairs and I'll spoil you some more?" he proposed, his hands still kneading her tense muscles underneath her shoulders as his lips moved up her neck and towards her ear lobe. "Hmm?" he cajoled.

Oh god, she wanted to badly – and if she did, she would simply be following her doctor's recommendation, she reassured herself.

She rested her head back against his shoulder, reaching around and placing her hand on his neck to hold his lips in place, succumbing slowly to Klaus's convincing tactics.

Turning to the side, she was able to face him and he kissed her tentatively – languid kisses slowly deepening as they continued, his hands still on her back, though his movements became shallow as he grew more distracted.

"We have to put Grayson's presents under the tree and fill his stocking," she reminded him, forcing herself to turn away from his lips. "He won't be very happy if he comes downstairs tomorrow morning to no gifts and we have to tell him that Santa left his gifts in mommy and daddy's closet for some reason," she mused

"We can do it after?" he told her hopefully, his lips returning to her neck, knowing it to be a weak spot for her.

She smirked. "While that's a good suggestion in theory, I don't think it will work in practice," she replied, knowing that once they went upstairs, the last thing either of them would want to do is ready Grayson's Christmas gifts afterwards.

"You get the stocking and I'll get his gifts?" Klaus said, capitulating to responsibility with a defeated sigh against her skin.

"What you should be getting is a room," Kol interrupted with a disgusted but teasing tone as he appeared in the kitchen unexpectedly.

Thanks to Caroline, all of Grayson's gifts were already neatly wrapped and decorated in advance with the secret stash of wrapping paper she procured each year just for the gifts from Santa. It had merely been a matter of sneaking downstairs quietly past Grayson's room to deposit them strategically with the other gifts and fill Grayson's stocking.

It was all done in record time because they were both eager to indulge one another, even if it was getting late and they knew Grayson would have them up early in the morning.

After he shut off the TV in the family room and the kitchen lights, he brought in the empty plate of cookies and empty glass of milk into the living room to leave on the side table beside their Christmas tree for Grayson to inspect in the morning.

Caroline was finishing filling Grayson's stocking, which she hung on the mantel. Thankfully they had a heavy reindeer-themed weight to have it hang without falling down. It was a big stocking and each year they struggled to fit all his stocking stuffer items inside of it.

"Santa stopped by while you were in the kitchen," Caroline mused, her back still turned to him as she ensured Grayson's stocking was secured with the weight.

"Oh he did?" he asked, playing a long with her comment as he set down the empty plate and glass.

"He told me that you deserved a special gift for the surprise you gave me today," she chuckled.

He smirked. "I do share his namesake, so I suppose he should look out for me," he said jokingly as she turned around.

"He left this for you – straight from Mrs. Claus's special gift workshop for good adult boys and girls," she giggled.

She had a gift bag dangling on her index finger by its black ribbon handles. A small smirk tugged at his lips. He recognized the source of the inconspicuous white gift bag with black tissue paper – the lingerie boutique he and Caroline frequented on special occasions. He had a thing for Caroline in lingerie and Caroline took full advantage of his weakness.

He raised an intrigued eyebrow and approached her, eager to inspect the bag's contents. Of course, Caroline recoiled, keeping the bag from his reach. He knew that Caroline wouldn't let him see what was inside until it was on her, but he indulged her cat and mouse game in any case.

Caroline circled around the other side of the coffee table to put distance between them as she got a head start on him and dashed towards the stairs. "Don't forget to shut off all the lights before you come to bed!" she reminded him amusedly.

He shook his head as he watched her ascend the stairs briefly before he snapped out of it and made sure all of the lights were off and the door and alarm were secure before following her quickly in pursuit.

When he reached the second level, she was emerging from Grayson's room, no doubt to check on him and make sure that he was asleep before she shut his door.

She'd obviously not expected to encounter him there so soon and so she darted towards the stairs that led to their room on the third floor, laughing under her breath, trying to keep quiet for Grayson and Bonnie, Kol, and Ben who were in the spare bedroom across the open space on the second floor that Grayson used as his playroom.

He chased her, freezing in pain when he felt the sharp edges of a small object cut into the pad of his bare foot. "Bloody hell!" he blurted out in a loud whisper, unable to contain himself from the pain.

Caroline peered down from the stair banister with a concerned expression.

He plucked out the object embedded in his foot and held it up under the dim light of the small table lamp – a tiny red Lego block.

"I told him to pick these up this morning!" he hissed under his breath, referring to Grayson, while an amused Caroline put her finger over her lips, urging him to keep his voice down so that they wouldn't wake anyone.

Tossing the lone block on the side table, he briefly considered going back downstairs and removing all of the Lego gifts "Santa" had gotten Grayson for Christmas before his attention returned to Caroline who held up his present again, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and employed it as a thinly veiled bribe to stop him from doing anything he might regret as far as Grayson's gifts were concerned.

It worked, and he was following her up the second flight of stairs to their bedroom.

He welcomed the soft luxury of the king-sized bed he and Caroline shared together after the long and eventful day. Shifting to the left side (his side), he pulled his small sketchpad off the nightstand to occupy himself as he waited for Caroline to finish in their bathroom after she kicked him out to ready his surprise.

A small grin formed on his face as he thought about Caroline's serious expression as she shooed him out of the ensuite after he tried again unsuccessfully to peer into the white gift bag.

Sketching for a bit, he found it difficult to keep himself distracted until she was ready – at times, he thought that he could hear the jingle of bells. He sometimes thought she kept him in suspense like this on purpose to tease him. He didn't mind though, the thought actually excited him – the anticipation of it was half of the fun.

Admittedly, he could already feel his sweatpants growing a little tighter. Even after five years together, Caroline Forbes still somehow managed to turn him into a teenage boy without restraint. Though, in his defence, what he lacked in restraint around her, he definitely made up for in skill, knowing her body like he knew how to paint – memorizing the particular strokes on her exquisite canvass that would produce the most colourful reactions from her.

His breathing hitched when it sounded like she was finishing up. He tried to pretend as though he wasn't waiting for her by glancing down at his sketchpad until he heard the door to the bathroom open.

Bells jingling caught his attention and confirmed his earlier suspicion as she cleared her throat in an obvious manner for safe measure.

Unable to hide the smile tugging at the corners of his lips, he glanced up at her over his glasses as she leaned against the armchair next to their bedroom fireplace expectantly.

He had to make a conscious effort to keep his mouth from falling open so obviously while his eyes took in the sight of her dressed up for him with her golden blonde hair shining by the light of the fire.

Caroline had perfected the art of Christmas themed lingerie many times over the years – white fur-trimmed red bra and panty sets, plaid patterned thongs, candy-striped stockings – but this outfit was a little more subtle and definitely his favourite: a lacy black bustier with matching black underwear and stockings with smaller silk red bows and bells attached, strategically placed – two on the tops of her stockings, one in between the cups of the bra, and as she turned around to reveal the partially open back of her underwear, giving him a delicious preview of her bottom, he noticed a red bow and bell there too – very strategically placed, indeed.

"What do you think of your gift?" she laughed a little self-consciously, as she turned around a second time, modelling it for him.

He pretended to consider her question for a moment to tease her, as if there was any way that he could not like his gift. Truthfully, he was already fully hard for her, which was, thankfully, partially concealed by the cover of his sweatpants.

"How badly I want to unwrap it," he admitted bluntly with a devilish grin. That was only partially true, most times he preferred to leave her partially dressed in her outfits while they played, enjoying the sight of her like that. He motioned for her to come closer. "Come here sweetheart, and let me get a closer look," he instructed her.

She obliged him readily – obviously not in the mood to taunt him much more.

Casting his sketchbook and pencil to the side, he moved to sit on the edge of the bed as she stepped in front of him.

He went to take off his glasses, but she stopped him. "Keep them on so you can see me better," she said.

In truth, he didn't need his glasses to see her better – he used them mainly for reading after Caroline had convinced him to see an optometrist last year. His glasses were a weak prescription, but a sign of getting older nonetheless that he did not particularly like the idea of, until Caroline's reaction to them when he had them on for the first time. After that, they weren't so bad.

Taking his hand to help steady herself, she did another modelling twirl in front of him, the bells jingling with the twists of her legs and the purposeful jiggle of her behind.

"I think I was definitely a good boy this year, hmm?" he asked her with a smirk, his eyes taking her in and wandering up to look at her innocently.

Now it was Caroline's turn to pretend that she was considering his question for a moment to tease him, as though she was preparing him a long list of criticisms. To be sure, he could admit that he wasn't the perfect partner at times – they both had their flaws – but he worshipped the ground this woman walked on at the end of the day and she knew it.

She finished her thought with a nod of confirmation.

"If we are measuring that by number of orgasms you've given me over the last year, then yes, you were a very good boy," she snickered jokingly, running her fingertips along his palm as he removed the other from the mattress and ran it up her thigh.

While he knew that she was partially joking, there was a seriousness laced in her words that made him throb for her every time she talked to him that way.

She stepped closer, in between his thighs, and this left him faced with her torso – her delicious cleavage peeking out over the top of her bustier above his eye-level and the cleft between her legs below, concealed by black lace and silk. "There are plenty more where those came from," he assured her, placing both of his hands instinctively on her hips, his fingertips pressing themselves into the soft curve of her ass.

"Good," she said simply, as though those were the rules and he was meant to oblige her by following them.

He would do anything she asked him to do for her dressed like she was right now.

"So, what do you think of your gift?" she asked him again, waiting anticipatorily for his final answer now that she was in front of him while her hand combed through his unruly curls and swiped over the stubble on his cheeks as if to ensure the length was to her liking for when he no doubt had his face buried between her thighs later.

Bringing his hands back down the lengths of her thighs, he swallowed before speaking, "I think you already know the answer to that, love," he said sheepishly, looking down at the tent that had formed in the crotch of his sweatpants.

Her cheeks reddened with desire for him despite her efforts to maintain her nonchalant composure. He did not think he would ever grow tired of her reactions.

"Better than Aurora Martel?" she queried teasingly with a tinge of competitive jealousy in her tone.

He laughed lightly, unable to withhold his amusement at her lack of subtlety when it came to her feelings about his reaction to her latest client.

She cast an expectant glance down at him, waiting for him to express himself in words, wanting to hear his thoughts and his reassurance.

He took in the sight of her once more, being purposefully obvious about it as he contemplated his words, keeping her in brief suspense.

"You definitely check off all the boxes, sweetheart," he smirked, referencing Aurora's own comments about him earlier.

Caroline's reaction perked up, assuring him that he had won points with his answer.

"You look ravishing," he continued, tipping his head down to kiss the top of her thigh, letting his breath trace over her most sensitive spot as he kissed the top of her other thigh. He smiled when he felt her clutch the shoulders of his t-shirt to maintain her stance in front of him. "I'm thinking about the many ways I'd like to show you my appreciation," he taunted her, taking the opportunity to cup her ass once more.

He heard a sigh escape her lips and he gazed up at her hooded eyes, catching her falling victim to his tempting caresses.

"But I'm not finished showing you mine," she said assertively, clearly fighting against her desire to let him have his way with her.

Her words were a pleasant surprised that sparked his curiosity as she pushed his chest, causing him to break his fall backwards with his hands. Enjoying this, he leaned back with the palms of his hands pressed into the duvet and gave her a challenging expression as they stood off against one another – their push and pull being what kept things so alive between them.

"Well, have at it then, love," he grinned, legs spread his body reclined into submission for her. "Show this good boy of yours your appreciation."

He knew that she loved it when he referred to himself as hers during their intimate moments – she had a possessive streak in her that often outdid his during their lovemaking.

Stepping forwards towards him, she clutched his face in her hands, tilting his head upwards to look at her as she brought her lips forcefully down upon his. She kissed him hungry and deep – the way he liked it – her tongue sliding past his lips to meet his.

Her hands tugged at his shirt and he sat up slightly to allow her to pull the black t-shirt up over his head, carefully enough to spare his glasses and avoid his necklaces from getting caught, before she encouraged him to lean back once more, his hands focused on holding himself up, unable to exert any control over the situation.

He watched her eyes rake over his toned torso briefly with his shirt now on the floor before she dived back in once more, weaving her hands in his hair while her lips kissed his again before moving to his neck.

Inhaling deeply, he closed his eyes, taking in the sensation of Caroline's mouth on his neck and the sexy smell of her perfume mixed together with the innocent flowery scent of her hair, enjoying the contrast.

Her hands fanned over his shoulders and biceps while her lips descended, fluttering over his collarbone to his tattoo and onto his chest.

He tipped his head back as her lips moved down his torso, over each of his nipples and onto his stomach.

The jingle of her small bells heightened his attention as he felt her fingertips followed the trail her mouth and tongue had created, slipping down his front and settling on each of his thighs, which enabled her to lower herself slowly in between his legs until she was entirely on her knees in front of him.

Looking down at her was nearly his undoing right there and then when he found her looking back up at him with her gorgeous wide blue eyes, golden blonde hair cascading around her face, her mouth hovering over the strain in the crotch of his sweatpants while her hands massaged the insides of his upper thighs teasingly.

From his sitting position on the bed, he could see the curve of her back that lead his eyes invitingly towards her ass, again, partially exposed by the open back of the underwear she had on.

The heat from her breath through the material of his pants caused him to buck his hips upwards instinctively, desperate for pleasurable warmth her mouth could provide. "This is starting to feel less like appreciation and more like torture, love," he said jokingly through strained breaths as he watched as she practically demonstrate her oral sex techniques over his sweats.

She smirked up at him teasingly, sliding her hands up to his waistband, her fingernails scraping lightly against his abdomen as she dipped her fingers underneath under the material.

He sighed with tentative relief when he felt Caroline's hand brush against his cock. She bit her bottom lip, able to feel how hard he was for her but still unable to see it.

Using one hand to pull down his the waistband of his pants, she used the other to pull him free from the confines of his clothes, exposing him for them both to see.

He gripped the bedding, watching her intently. Her hands held him at the base while her lips moved upwards, her velvety tongue darting out to taste the soft skin of his tip.

She knew exactly how to tease him and he knew that's exactly what she was about to do with a small smirk tugging at each corner of her mouth. Kissing the underside of his cock, she repeated the sensation a few times, dragging her lips down his sensitive skin, towards his balls, caressing them with her warm hand, kissing them too, tempting him with his desire to feel her mouth consume him.

"You're driving me mad," he hissed lowly under his breath.

"I know," she mused, her hot breath kissing the tip of his cock as she worked her way back up. "But you like it."

He would be lying if he said that he didn't and they both knew it.

Finally, she closed her lips around him, taking his head into her warm wet mouth.

Slowly, her lips began to rise and fall and her tongue and hands followed in sync, teasing his length, her eyes setting upon his as she took him in almost entirely.

Exhaling sharply in response, he lifted a hand to brush her hair back, keeping it out of her face while also giving him a gorgeous view of her movements.

Unable to stop himself, he rocked his hips up and down slightly, mimicking her mouth and hands as they worked themselves up and down his shaft.

Caroline had a way with her mouth that was unlike anything else –rivaled only by being between her legs and sheathed inside of her heat. She drove him wild still with the way her tongue swirled around the sensitive underside of his shaft, or how she took every part of him into her mouth.

She sped up enthusiastically, shifting from the intent to tease to the intent to please – signalling to him that she wanted him to let go like this, to give into the urge.

They didn't always have opportunities for lengthier moments together like this – ones that enabled them to take their time with one another and allowed for multiple releases – especially his – and while there was something to be said for those stolen quickies in the mornings before they started their chaotic days or before they both fell asleep from exhaustion at the end of them, he much preferred when they could slow things down.

Admittedly, however, it was rather difficult to take it slow when Caroline's mouth and hands were working him so expertly and she was dressed like a devilish Christmas angel on her knees in front of him, moaning delightfully as though she wanted this more than he himself even did.

"Don't stop, sweetheart," he pleaded with her, warning her that he was close if she continued the swirling of her motion of her tongue and the firm twists of her hand around his cock.

Caroline's eyes looked up, meeting his in response to his words, as her mouth worshipped him, never faltering. He bit the inside of his cheek to stop him from succumbing to her and letting go, wanting to drag out the tortuous pleasure a little longer, edging himself closer to the euphoric release that he knew was imminent.

However, his efforts were no match for her doe eyes, the sound of her little pleading whimpers, the picture image of her wearing erotic lingerie and the sight of her saliva glistening down his shaft every time her mouth ascended before plunging back down once more. Though she was currently on her knees for him, he was forever at her mercy like this and she knew it very well.

He groaned deeply, tightening his grip on the bedding and Caroline's hair as the pressure built between his legs before exploding into the sweet release he had been chasing.

His groin constricted with his orgasm, his pleasure spurting into Caroline's mouth as she closed her lips around him eagerly, her consuming him causing him to see stars and murmur in satisfaction. She parted her lips seconds later so that he could see the final evidence of his release coat her tongue and her lips, knowing that he liked to see it on her – that she gave him the privilege of marking her in that way. The sight nearly drove him to a second release, his body continuing to spasm, and particularly so when he noticed Caroline's throat rise and fall when her mouth closed again, confirming she had swallowed every drop of him that he had to offer her - well, save for what wasn't currently glistening on her lips by the dim lighting of their bedroom.

She smiled up at him smugly – seemingly proud of the way she could make him come undone so readily. He grabbed her arm quickly, tugging her up onto her feet so that she was hovering over him from his sitting position on the bed. Reaching up, he clutched her face in his hands, bringing her down to his level to kiss her hungrily, aroused by the taste of his essence on her mouth.

"That was…you're amazing," he hummed in awe between their messy kisses, still coming down from his high.

"I was feeling appreciative," she mused with a shrug as she stood back upright before him, in between his legs as she had been earlier.

He grinned up at her before his eyes fell over her torso, taking in the sight of her ample cleavage protruding from the tight confines of the bustier and the outline of the cleft between her legs now poorly concealed by her damp panties.

"Perhaps now you will let me show you mine?" he suggested eagerly, desperate to taste her excitement.

She pretended to consider his offer as though she was prepared to give him any other answer but yes. As much as she might enjoy playing coy and indifferent with him, she was anything but and she could only resist him for so long, preferring to indulge in her wants and desires than deprive herself unless it was a part of their kinkier fun.

Turning around, she took him off guard. "Undress me," she instructed him, glancing down at him from over her shoulder as she pulled her hair to the side, referencing the fasteners of her bustier that lined the spine of the top.

He stood up behind her readily at her command, his fingers undoing the small clasps, one by one, from top to bottom, his lips marking the indents that the tight piece of lingerie had left imprinted in her skin in its wake. His hands traced the thin straps of the top, pulling them down over her shoulders, kissing her neck, enjoying the sight of the piece of material fall to the floor in front of her, revealing her soft breasts to him from over her shoulder. He cupped the outline of them, careful not to touch the hard buds at their centre, knowing that Caroline was waiting for him to do so expectantly. Instead, he continued to kiss and suck at the creamy skin above her collarbone while his hands gently fondled and caressed the swell of her breast.

She leaned back against him, the cool skin of her back contrasting with the heat of his chest. Without a word, she covered the tops of his hands with her palms, asserting his hands over her nipples, mewling contentedly at the contact, her hips bucking back against his.

Though still recovering from his last release, he could feel himself throb with her encouragement. He grasped her flesh in his hands, kneading her nipples with his fingertips, taking full advantage of her invitation to fondle her as hungrily as he wished when she provided it to him, being met with her sighs and grinds of encouragement, when he might otherwise be met with a playful but resistant swat of her hand – particularly if Grayson was in the room.

"You're not finished undressing me," she reminded him, lest he become too distracted from the task at hand with what was currently occupying them.

He rolled his eyes playfully out of her eyesight and kissed each side of her jaw below her earlobes before trailing his lips down the back of her neck and down her spine, his hands framing the sides of her ribcage as he sat back down on the bed, putting him in perfect position to remove her panties, the open back of which was at perfect height with his eyes, giving him a particularly salacious view of the cleavage of her ass.

Kissing the dimples of her lower back, he slid his fingers underneath the material on either side of her hips and pulled the skimpy piece of clothing down over her bottom, allowing Caroline the opportunity to step out from its confines when it pooled at her ankles.

Sitting back, he admired the narrow stem of her torso contrasted by the curved outline at the base of her back before planting his hands firmly on each of her bare cheeks, claiming them for himself before settling on her hips, his lips leaving kisses on the red marks the grasp of his hands left behind.

Caroline laughed lazily in response to the contrasting sensations. "You're such an ass kisser," she snorted, unable to resist the joke that he knew was coming because she had said it many times before.

He smirked, rolling his eyes once more before wrapping his arms around her lower half, causing her to shriek as he pulled her down eagerly, but gently, onto the bed beside him.

She struggled to regain her composure, laughing as he climbed on top of her.

"Funny, you had no complaints last weekend – and my mouth was doing much more than kissing that delicious ass of yours," he pointed out lewdly with a smug grin.

Caroline turned her head to the side bashfully, her face growing red, still a bit shy when it came to acknowledging her proclivity for their dirtier activities.

"Mikaelson," she glared up at him. "Stop talking and put those pretty lips of yours to work or you won't be getting this ass again!" she threatened teasingly, trying to maintain a serious expression though he could see her fighting a smile just beneath the surface.

He laughed in response to Caroline's feigned efforts, knowing that her threats were empty ones. His laughter chipped away at her own defences and soon she too was laughing.

"Hey!" he countered, his hand brushing her hair away from her face, his palm settling on her cheek, the mood shifting slightly as he looked down at her ocean blues staring at him intently.

"Hmm?" she queried curiously as their laughter subsided.

"I love you," he told her sincerely, unable to fathom a time when he was more reserved about his feelings and less inclined to wear his heart on his sleeve for her.

Caroline's expression softened as she inhaled deeply, a small appreciative smile forming on her lips in response to his confession.

"And I love you," she reaffirmed quickly as though her feelings required no second thoughts and came effortlessly to her, even though he didn't always make it easy for her to love him.

Hearing her words of affection stirred a warmth inside of him that filled him with familiar reassurance. It was difficult to describe how it made him feel, but content and safe were the adjectives that came to mind most often.

She reached up towards him and at first he thought she was going to pull him down for a kiss, but she went for his glasses instead.

"As much as I'd like you to keep these on, they need to come off for this next part," she smirked suggestively as she pulled the frames away from his face. "I need you to see what you're doing and if you keep these on it may get a little foggy," she laughed, handing him his glasses.

His eyebrows rose suggestively, pretending to be confused. "Oh? What's this next part?" he said to tease her, sitting up on his knees in between her legs and leaning back to discard his glasses on the nightstand, his attention never wavering from her.

She mimicked his facial expression, spreading her legs a little further apart, drawing his eyes towards her waiting centre, glistening with want.

He licked his lips instinctively as he settled back in between her legs, running his hands up her shins, over her knees and down her thighs. "Sweetheart, you know I could make you come with my eyes covered and my hands tied," he assured her with a confident grin, placing a kiss on the inside of her knee as he thought about the time Caroline had blindfolded him and tied his hands to the bed – she could be quite dominant when she wanted to be.

"True," Caroline acknowledged with a pleased sigh, as though reminiscing about the same occasion as he was. "I suppose I just want an unobstructed view of your face when I come on your tongue," she admitted, biting her lip shyly after such a lascivious confession.

"Who would I be to deny you that?" he mused, continuing to trail kisses along her thigh while his hand caressed the other one back and forth, his hand inching closer to her core each time, taunting her.

Her fingers settled in his hair and he murmured under his breath, loving the way she would run her hands in his curls, subtly directing him to where she wanted him most. While she was often assertive about her needs, he enjoyed when she played coy with him, too – her unspoken desire filling his imagination with dirty thoughts about what she might want.

She was wet for him and he revelled in the sight, his own arousal building once more in response. There was something about seeing evidence of Caroline's desire for him that drove him crazy.

He drew closer with his lips, building her anticipation, his hot breath fanning over her folds.

Her hand pushed his mouth closer to her swollen centre.

"Please," she gasped with bated breath. "Taste me," she urged.

When she begged without provocation, he knew she needed it and was not in the mood to be teased.

He slid his tongue lightly over her outer lips and in between, briefly fanning over her sensitive clit which was tucked neatly in between.

Caroline's hips jerked upwards in response and her hands tightened in his hair. "Mmm," Caroline hummed.

He smirked against her folds, dipping his tongue in between a little deeper, tasting the sweet and savory juices she had to offer him. She tasted delicious and sometimes he had to remind himself that his pleasure in this was secondary, lest he ravish her incoherently with his tongue purely to satisfy his own addiction to her body.

"Yes, please don't stop, Nik," she gasped.

She called him Nik only when she was aching for it, and like a Pavlovian dog conditioned to respond, it had a way of making him instantly hard for her, if he wasn't already.

He continued as she asked, her hips rolling in sync with the rhythmic waves of his tongue against her clit – just how she liked it.

There was no monotony in their familiarity, quite the contrary, it made their intimacy that much better – they strove to master the art of pleasing one another. It was not something he believed in before he met her.

Looking up at Caroline, he marvelled at the sight of her with her head tipped back, lips parted, and blonde hair splayed over her pillow. One of her arms was extended in front of her to hold his head in place while the other teased her nipple.

Offering some assistance in that regard, he slid his hands up over her stomach towards her breasts, causing Caroline to whimper at the sensation as he massaged her free breast, her nipple stiffening underneath the manipulation of his palm.

"Yes," she breathed, her affirmation sending a pleasurable tingle straight down to his cock. "Keep going," she urged him quietly.

He continued to roll his tongue against her swollen bud, bringing one of his hands back between her legs, tracing her opening with his index finger.

"Please," Caroline begged, bucking her hips towards his finger.

Pushing his finger inside, he watched her reactions intently, loving the satisfied smile that grew bigger on her lips as he went deeper.

With her soft moans of encouragement, he slipped his middle finger inside of her too, moving both fingers inside of her the way that he knew she liked.

Her hand tightened in his hair and he could feel the muscles in her thighs tense while her hips picked up their rocking pace against his mouth as he continued to lick her.

Caroline was biting her lip, trying hard to fight back the sounds that she wanted to make – obviously mindful of the fact that Grayson was asleep on the floor beneath them along with Bonnie, Kol, and Ben. While he would prefer to hear Caroline's sounds of pleasure, he did enjoy knowing that she was struggling to conceal her expressions of excitement.

He knew the signs that she was getting close – tense muscles, the uneven movements of her hips, her quick and shallow breathing, flushed skin, her stifled moans, and the way she was dripping on his lips and chin as he worked her up, teasing her clit and stroking her inside at the same time.

When she began to fall quiet and her legs tensed, he knew it was the calm that typically preceded her release as she concentrated on the sensations.

They locked eyes, hers pleading for him not to stop.

He kept going, his fingers and the bats of his tongue against her folds working in sync until she was pushing out a strained moan through closed lips. "I'm coming," she announced through her incoherent but erotic sounds.

Her back arched off the bed while body shook and her core throbbed around his fingers with her orgasm.

She cursed under her breath as she let herself be washed away with each wave of pleasure that hit her.

He would never tire of making her come – the sight, the sound, the taste, the smell, the feeling of her all made him want her even more and he could feel himself hard for her again.

Gazing up at her, he watched as her chest, glistening from sweat, rose and fell rapidly while she fought to catch her breath, her eyes closed, obviously lost in the feeling of it.

When her fingers loosened their grip on his hair, he eased his movements, slowly withdrawing his fingers and his tongue, smoothing his lips over her folds, having one last taste of her.

Caroline exhaled contentedly as he wrapped his hands around her legs, lifting his head to kiss the insides of each.

"Another, love?" he offered eagerly, knowing that one was never enough for her and after a brief moment of recovery from the first, she would be ready to chase after the second.

She purred under her breath and he took that as her tacit approval to resume where they had left off.

Knowing that she would be sensitive, he took his time to build her back up, kissing her thighs and then her lips, alternating between the two while he let his warm hands caress her naked torso, teasing her breasts gently. He would do this until he felt her body ease under his touch, still tense from her previous release. When he felt her relax, that was her body's invitation to be devoured once more.

Her muscles softened under his touch, but he found her unusually still – no soft moans of encouragement or hands in his hair inciting him to proceed.

He trailed his lips along the skin where her thigh and centre met in an effort to inspire an impatient reaction from her, to test the waters, but she was quiet.

Focusing on her, he noticed her eyes were open and she seemed to be staring up at the ceiling pensively.

He refrained, his lips retreating to the safer territory of her silky thighs.

"It's well after midnight," she said finally.

"It is," he acknowledged against her skin, but said nothing more. He suspected the late hour was giving her second thoughts, knowing that they would be up in a few short hours to open gifts, thanks to Grayson's excitement.

Disregarding her comment, he continued to kiss her skin, her scent begging for him to taste her. He cupped her bottom to bring her closer to his mouth.

Her hands brushed through his curls. Normally, her hands would be tugging his hair drawing him in impatiently, eager to have his mouth on her sweetest spot for a second round, however, this time, he could sense her hesitation.

He slowed the pace even further, letting his lips linger on her legs, waiting to see how she might respond.

"Would you like one of your Christmas presents since it's technically Christmas Day?" she asked him tentatively, a hint of apprehension in her voice.

When it came to dirty talk, Caroline was never usually shy.

"Is that not what I am currently receiving, sweetheart?" he mused as he continued to kiss her inner thighs, wanting to keep Caroline's focus, sensing that she was succumbing to whatever had been distracting her.

Caroline let out a small laugh before falling quiet again.

With his lips still pressed to her skin he looked up at her curiously, giving her his best puppy dog eyes in hopes that he could continue – eager to have her on his mouth again.

She was staring down at him with an anxious thoughtfulness, her eyes glassy with tears, her expression suggesting that whatever Christmas present she was referring to was not sexual in nature and she was worried about what his reaction would be.

"Caroline, what is it?" he asked her concerned by her sudden change in mood, cautiously curious about the nature of the gift that she had in store for him, his gut sensing this had something to do with the subtle shifts in her mood he had picked up on lately.

When a tear started to fall down her cheek, he promptly went to sit up, but her next words caused him to freeze in his tracks.

"I'm pregnant," she revealed, almost as an anxious whisper.

He lifted his head, his hands slipping out from underneath her and around her legs with his mouth agape in surprise as he tried to process the words that had just slipped from her lips.

"You're?" he breathed questioningly, stopping short, unsure he had heard her correctly.

She nodded. "Pregnant – we're pregnant," she repeated to confirm, as though she was still in as much disbelief as he was.

"Sweetheart…" he said, his eyes wandering towards her stomach which showed no obvious sign of a growing baby beneath the surface.

She nodded readily, her eyes continuing to water as a hesitant smile began to form on her lips.

"Almost three months," she told him. "I think we probably conceived on that weekend away for my birthday," she blurted out with anxious amusement, attempting to fill the silence.

He thought back to how they had spent most of their weekend confined to their hotel room, taking advantage of their child-free weekend.

Considering their activities and the lack of measures taken to avoid pregnancy, he supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised, but given their largely unexplained difficulties trying to conceive in the past, they had no reason to expect that pregnancy would result.

"We're having a baby?" he asked her in a whisper, letting the palm of his hand rest over her abdomen.

Beaming now, he felt as though he was in some sort of dream. Smiling, he kissed her hip and then her stomach.

His reaction seemed to encourage Caroline, whose smile had grown bigger with his.

She nodded again, placing her hand over his. "July seventh – a few weeks before your birthday; a Christmas gift and a birthday gift," she pointed out, reaffirming the news once more.

He was elated by the unexpected surprise news Caroline had given him, the muscles in his face sore from how widely he was grinning.

"I know this was an awkward time to tell you. I wanted to wait until morning," she admitted amusedly, both laughing and crying at the same time as she referenced his current compromising position between her legs. "But, I'm all over the place emotionally and lying here, everything just hit me again, and I needed to tell you."

He laughed with her, sitting up in between her legs, his eyes transfixed as he looked at her in awe. He extended his hand towards her, lifting her up and pulling her into his lap.

One of her arms curled loosely around his neck while the other hand played anxiously with his necklaces and her legs anchored themselves around his waist.

He brushed her hair away from her face before focusing on her stomach once more. "When did you find out?" he asked, noting that a due date in July seemed so soon.

"I've suspected for a few weeks, but I wanted to be sure," she told him, focusing her attention on the beads of his necklaces. "I was at the doctor today to confirm," she explained as she looked up at him, revealing where she had actually been today when she was supposed to have been at work. Caroline's peculiar behaviour in that regard finally made sense.

He wished he had been at the appointment with her, but given their past attempts to conceive and the miscarriage they experienced, he understood why she went alone to confirm the results.

"Does anyone else know?" he wondered.

"Bonnie knows because she confronted me tonight when you were upstairs with Grayson," Caroline revealed. "She found it too suspicious that I was refusing wine," she admitted with a half smile.

While he would have liked to have been the first to know the news, he couldn't fault Caroline for telling Bonnie tonight. Caroline refusing wine had caught his attention as well and Bonnie could be persistent – especially since she was already aware of his concerns about Caroline since he had confided in her for insight.

"Is everything…is the baby…" he started to ask her before he could stop himself, his worry briefly overtaking his happiness.

"The doctor says everything looks good," she reassured him, knowing exactly what he was about to ask. "They want to run some tests in the New Year, but so far, the baby looks healthy. I have the ultrasound photos, but I wrapped them for the morning. They're in my bag," she said, nodding towards their walk-in closet where she had obviously left her bag earlier.

He released a deep exhale, relieved by her words.

"I know you weren't expecting this…I wasn't either," Caroline trailed off, looking away self consciously, giving away her uncertainty. "I know that we had decided…I've been worried about telling you…"

It had been a while since they had stopped actively trying to conceive and it seemed as though Caroline was unsure of how he would react to a pregnancy now. This had obviously contributed to how distant she had seemed lately.

Sure, if he had been told he was about to be a father a decade ago, his immediate reaction would not have been one of excitement. Even with Grayson, tragic circumstances aside, doubts and second thoughts plagued him at first, but Grayson and Caroline very much changed how he felt about children and being a father. He had been ecstatic over Caroline's first pregnancy. And though he had come to accept that Grayson would likely be it for them, it didn't mean that he didn't want to be a father again if the opportunity presented itself to them.

He turned her chin to focus her attention back towards him.

"Caroline, this is more than anything I could have hoped for," he confessed.

He kissed her deeply as he cradled her face in his hands, wanting to revel in this moment with her, his lips lingering close to hers even once they parted.

"You're happy?" she asked, her breath ghosting over his lips.

"Beyond words," he reassured her. "Are you?" he asked, concerned by her subdued reaction, thinking about her somber and melancholy moods at times as of late.

Her eyes welled up with more tears and they began sliding down her cheeks as she nodded readily.

"I'm so happy," she admitted hesitantly as he brushed away her tears with his thumbs.

"Then why the tears, love?" he wondered, sensing sadness behind her words and her tears.

She sniffled with a shrug, looking upwards in an effort to stave off her emotions before she looked back at him.

"I've been thinking a lot about the baby we lost," she admitted, glancing down at her stomach, placing her hands over her abdomen protectively.

He frowned, instantly realizing the reason for her bittersweet mood. It made sense that another pregnancy would reopen old wounds.

They had shed many tears after losing the baby they had tried so hard to conceive. He didn't even want to think about the terrible evening that Caroline miscarried, but he couldn't help the memories that flooded his mind. Nothing had provoked the miscarriage – the doctor said it was spontaneous, likely the result of an unviable pregnancy from the start.

Bringing her close, he hugged her tightly, wrapping his arms around her.

"Sweetheart," he shook his head as he brushed his hands through her hair and kissed her forehead. "We have to focus on what we have, not what we've lost."

"I know, but…" she started as they pulled back from the embrace.

"It's hard not to," he finished with a slight nod, understanding where she was coming from; while he may have been able to suppress the pain of the loss for the most part and kept a brave outward appearance for Caroline, when he was alone with his thoughts – often while he was painting – it would hit him. "But, Caroline, this is good news. This is truly a gift," he tried to convince her. "We are allowed to be happy about this. If not for us, then for this little one and Grayson," he said in an effort to appeal to Caroline's maternal instinct, knowing that stress and anxiety would not be good for the baby or for Grayson.

She nodded slowly as he smiled at her and rubbed his hand over hers still resting over her stomach.

"I love you," he told her sincerely with his forehead flush against hers.

"I love you," she replied, a slow smile returning to her lips. "Merry Christmas," she added with a grin, knowing she had definitely topped any of the Christmas gifts he had procured for her this year – including Bonnie and Kol's surprise trip across the pond.

"It definitely is," he agreed. "Merry Christmas, sweetheart. Suffice it to say, I think you outdid me again this year," he replied, too happy in this moment to care that Caroline had outshone him yet again when it came to their gift exchange.

"I always do," she bragged triumphantly with a competitive spark in her eye.

He laughed before pulling her into him closer, capturing her lips in another kiss, and then a second, and then a third.

"Gray is going to be a big brother," he said, encouragingly, wanting her to focus on the positive. He noticed Caroline's smile growing bigger as she thought about Grayson.

She nodded enthusiastically. "He is going to be so excited. I wanted to tell him so badly earlier when he mentioned asking Santa for a sibling," she mused, thinking back to their earlier conversation with Grayson on their way home from his visit with Santa.

He chuckled, feeling thankful Caroline had decided to wait until tomorrow. "We would have been up all night – he wouldn't have been able to sleep," he said.

Caroline nodded and laughed, knowing that he was right about Grayson's anticipated reaction to the news.

"Hell, I won't be able to sleep now," he admitted, the excitement apparent in his voice.

"Sleep while you can," Caroline warned him. "There are plenty of sleepless nights on the horizon."

He smirked, knowing she had a point.

"I honestly can't wait," he acknowledged to Caroline's surprise. "I miss those nights with Grayson," he said sincerely, thinking back to how he would often be on nightshift duty with Grayson when he woke in the night so that Caroline could rest for work in the morning.

His words seemed to reassure Caroline, who was smiling sweetly at him.

Wrapping his arms around her waist, kissed her again deeply, unable to express his emotion and his affection for her in words at that particular moment. They continued to kiss as Caroline played with the curls of his hair, but even her lips couldn't conceal the grin on his.

He was still in awe of the fact that Caroline was carrying their child inside of her.

"How do you feel?" he wondered suddenly, his eyes scanning over her with concern, referring to Caroline's physical condition, reminding himself again that she had been carrying their baby unbeknownst to everyone for nearly three months; even she had not known at first.

Caroline shrugged. "I feel okay – a bit nauseous at times, emotional over everything, exhausted, always hungry. Similar to the last time, but this time I feel horny constantly," she listed

His ears perked up at the last two symptoms. "Oh?" he asked with a playful smirk as he began to put the puzzle pieces together in his mind, reflecting on her behaviour the last few weeks in hindsight. He supposed she had been tired over the last while – something he had chalked up to the stresses of the end of the year – falling asleep in the middle of some of her favourite television shows – leaving him to sit through the rest of an episode he had no particular interest in lest she wake up and lambast him for putting something else on to watch. Since Thanksgiving, he also noticed Caroline had developed a penchant for dessert, something they didn't really make a routine out of at dinner unless it was for a special occasion. Caroline's appetite had also increased in other ways – thinking about the run they had been on recently when it came to their bedroom activities; sure, he and Caroline had never really lacked in that department, though, there had been lulls from time to time, but recently, he found himself endeavouring to keep up with her.

She scoffed at him with a grin, shoving his shoulder.

"What did the doctor prescribe to help ease the latter symptom?" he asked her suggestively, feeling his body already responding to their flirty banter.

He knew that Caroline could feel him beneath her too, looking him over as she often did before she had her way with him, as she contemplated her reply.

She traced her fingertips along his collarbone and across the plane of his chest, her grin growing wider. "She prescribed a natural remedy…to release the sexual tension," she emphasized in daring amusement, causing him to throb underneath her.

"And did she say whether sex was an acceptable means to that end?" he asked cautiously, wanting to gauge whether it was okay to proceed in the manner he was aching to. These were concerns they hadn't even had the opportunity to consider with the first pregnancy.

Despite the dirty overtones of their discussion, Caroline smiled sweetly at him for a moment, understanding what he was asking – was it safe for the baby.

"The doctor cautioned against any vigorous sexual activity to be on the safe side," she warned sternly but playfully.

While he and Caroline both had a penchant for rough play at times, he preferred to draw it out anyways – he could make slow his specialty for the next few months for the sake of their baby on board.

"But, she said the benefits outweighed any risks, provided there are multiple orgasms for the expectant mother," she teased.

He knew that she was taunting him, but it didn't matter – he could get off to pleasing Caroline and he wouldn't have cared in the slightest. Caroline certainly wouldn't have minded either, he knew.

"Well, in that case," he said, his hands sliding from the small of her back to the undersides of her thighs and onto her ass, griping her flesh to quickly lift her up so that she was perfectly aligned with him.

She sucked in a sharp breath, surprised by his sudden response, griping his shoulders to hold herself up.

"Where were we?" he asked, looking up at her, finishing his thought.

Raising an eyebrow, a small devious smirk tugging at her lips, she began to lower himself onto his cock, the tip of him entering her slowly. Despite the fact that the mood had become more sentimental with Caroline's news of their pending arrival, she was still quite wet for him and he revelled at the feeling. "I think we were about to come to that end," she sighed, referencing his earlier words, her eyes closing in satisfaction, as she filled herself with him.

With the support of his hands to lift her, she began to rock her hips, grinding against him, digging her nails gently into the back of his neck while he leaned in to kiss hers. Their bodies were pressed firmly against each other and he delighted in how her nipples grazed against his chest.

Her arms wrapped around him desperately, her face nuzzled his hair, breathing him in, her soft moans vibrating into his ear, growing louder as she continued to move back and forth in his lap at a steady and pleasurably tortuous pace.

Lifting his head, he pulled back from her to meet her lips with his, kissing her deeply. Their tongues played together, reminding them of their earlier activities their tongues had engaged in.

As her hips continued their sway, the friction of their bodies slowly built a blissful pressure within his core. Maintaining a hand under her bottom, he used the other to touch her – first the curve of her back, then her golden hair, and then the swell of her breast, teasing her nipples with the pads of his fingers.

She moaned into his kiss and clawed his back in response as she quickened the pace, preparing for her second release.

Breaking the kiss, she gasped out a warning against his lips, "I'm close."

His stomach still knotted with excitement whenever he heard her utter those words, captivated by the pleasure her body could derive from his.

Her legs were shaking, locked in place around him, as she struggled to concentrate, becoming more frantic and unsteady as she began to lose herself in the feeling she craved.

Though he was beneath her and somewhat restricted, he continued to meet the rocking of her hips, both of his hands now clutching her ass aiding in her movements, his lips at perfect level with her breasts, taking the opportunity to have her nipples in his mouth, one after the other, eager to see and feel her unravel around him.

She held him tightly against her chest, and though it was, for a brief moment, difficult to breathe, the temporary loss of breath was worth it when she let out a low but unrestrained moan and he could feel her muscles began tighten and release around his cock, signalling that she had met her end.

While she rode out her orgasm, she collapsed against him, draping her head onto his shoulder, murmuring incoherent nothings and expletives into the crock of his neck.

"You feel so good," she sighed contentedly, her unexpected words nearly causing his own release. Lifting her head, her eyes met his, a satisfied but seductive smile on her lips.

"Do I?" he prodded before he kissed her.

With her lips still close to his she nodded assuredly.

Unable to restrain his second release any longer, he shifted their bodies, encouraging Caroline to fall back against the pile of pillows against their headboard. He followed with her, separating from her only briefly to switch their positions so that she was now beneath him.

She spread her legs and he readily climbed in between, setting himself above her, gazing down at her hungrily.

"I think you feel better," he groaned as he pressed his hips against hers, sheathing himself back inside her heat.

Sure, he didn't know what it felt like for Caroline, but he knew anything would have difficulty competing with the euphoric feeling of being buried inside of her – her soft wet folds enveloping him tightly.

Wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, she pulled him down for a kiss.

"Show me how good I feel," she whispered dirtily to him.

Sometimes Caroline said things that rendered him completely speechless in the most delightful of ways. Thankfully, his body intuitively knew how to respond to her words before his brain did and he began to thrust inside of her slowly, mindful of the doctor's recommendations and also trying to stave off his building release for a bit longer.

Caroline was smirking up at him and he looked at her curiously.

"I don't think the doctor meant that you had to go that slow old man," she teased, digging her heels into his back to encourage him to move faster.

He laughed, biting his lip to distract himself from the pleasure he felt being buried inside of her as he quickened his pace. "This old man is trying not to come prematurely like a pathetic teenage boy," he corrected her through gritted teeth.

She laughed before kissing his swollen bottom lip, humming hungrily into the kiss in response to his faster thrusts.

"I want you to come for me," she urged. "I think you've probably been tormented enough for one night," she noted, referring to her previous position on top of him that led to her own release.

"Never," he denied breathlessly, knowing that he could never get enough of the beautiful torture she was referring to.

Though, admittedly, he did quite enjoy his reward at the culmination of their lovemaking.

Her hands framed his face, pulling him down for another kiss, her tongue meeting his, pulling him away from his conscious thoughts as he lost himself in the feeling of her mouth on his and being inside of her.

With each thrust of his hips, he could feel his control slipping away further, the pleasure becoming too intense too ignore at this point.

The sound of her quiet murmurs and moans and the lingering sweet scent of her perfume did not help matters, but ultimately it was her fingernails on the back of his neck that did him in.

He kissed her again hurriedly to conceal the verbal expression of his release with her mouth as his second orgasm consumed him and he spilled inside of her. His body was shaking and he could feel his cock pulsing with each rhythmic convulsion. This one had been more intense than the first.

"I guess I feel pretty good, hmm?" Caroline smiled up at him as he broke the kiss, panting to catch his breath.

Nodding, he was unable to articulate himself in words, his head still spinning, intoxicated from lust.

He collapsed onto the bed beside Caroline, his arms no longer able to support himself. Shifting onto his side, he pressed himself tightly against her, revelling in her warmth as he rested his head on her chest and she wrapped her arm around him, his breathing slowing as he concentrated on the steady beats of her heart. If Kol knew of his preference for post-coital cuddling, especially when Caroline held him after he came, he would never live it down, and so he had sworn her to secrecy, even though she confessed to him in confidence that Bonnie revealed to her that Kol was the same way – he jokingly chalked it up to their lack of maternal affection as kids.

"I hope we didn't do any future emotional or psychological damage to the little one after that," he mused, causing Caroline to laugh. He rested the palm of his hand intentionally over her lower abdomen.

"They're probably floating around in there, high off hormones," she laughed, placing her hand on her own stomach next to his.

"Really?" he asked, suddenly concerned.

Caroline laughed harder, the vibration of her laughter in her chest buzzing against his ear.

"I think orgasms are good for the baby…increased blood flow and oxygen or something like that. I remember Elena or Bonnie mentioning something about it when they were pregnant," she shrugged. "And I know they're definitely good for me," Caroline emphasized with a contented smile.

While the prospect of their child being aware, in any way, of their adult activities while in the womb was slightly terrifying to him, those thoughts were easily outmatched by his lack of willpower when it came to Caroline and pleasing her.

"All the more reason to do it more often then," he pointed out suggestively, tilting his head upwards so he could look up at her – a smirk on his face.

She scowled with a laugh, rolling her eyes, nudging his shoulder. "I think if you had it your way, we would never see the outside of this room," she joked.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked with a shrug.

"Uh, we would never see Grayson and we have our work and bills to pay," she pointed out, humouring him.

He pouted up at her, pretending as though he was legitimately considering the prospect of removing themselves from the outside world to confine themselves to their bedroom to indulge in one another.

Shaking her head, she took advantage of the situation and kissed him before he rose from the bed.

"Make sure the toilet seat is down for me when you're finished!" Caroline chided him playfully, assuming he was headed for the bathroom, as she readily tucked herself under the blankets and sprawled out across the mattress comfortably, burying her face against her pillow.

He rolled his eyes discreetly. "Yes boss," he groaned jokingly.

"Shit! Can you go downstairs and hide Tinsel, too?" Caroline reminded him, lifting her head briefly.

Tinsel was the name of Grayson's Elf on the Shelf. They had put out a parting message from Tinsel in Grayson's stocking along a picture of Tinsel and Santa (hand drawn by Tinsel himself, of course), but they had forgotten to hide Tinsel away for next year.

"You're really going to take advantage of this pregnancy, aren't you?" he laughed.

"Love you," she murmured to him affectionately against her pillow as she stuck a foot out from under the blankets and nudged his behind – purposely ignoring his question.

Her eyes opened to daylight trickling in through the window curtains.

It was a sunny morning – Christmas morning, she recalled, and suddenly she grew suspicious as to why she was waking up on her own without any sort of wakeup call from Grayson.

Reaching for her phone on her nightstand, she noticed that it was after 7:00 a.m. – uncharacteristically late for Grayson to be waking up on Christmas morning. Perhaps he had been so tired from all the excitement of the night before that he had overslept.

Not wanting to over think it too much, she decided to take advantage of the opportunity to stay in bed a little longer. She stretched out her legs and rolled over to find Klaus lying on his back wide awake staring up at the ceiling pensively.

"Morning, love," he said quietly. "Merry Christmas."

She smiled at him, shuffling closer under the covers so that she could fit her body next to his. Resting her head on his chest, she draped her leg over his, warming her bare ones against his sweatpants. Mornings before Grayson woke and evenings after he went to bed were some of the only moments she and Klaus had alone together, so they had to take advantage.

"Merry Christmas," she replied, planting a small kiss on his skin as he curled his arm around her.

He smiled back at her, rubbing his hand over her stomach, now covered by his Henley that she had put on before bed.

As Klaus kissed her forehead, she laced her hand with his free one resting under his chest.

"You're awake?" she queried, also surprised to find him awake before Grayson inevitably stormed their room to announce the arrival of Christmas morning and to confirm that Santa had paid them a visit the night before.

"I told you I wouldn't be able to sleep," he confirmed, reminding her of their discussion last night after she revealed the news of their pregnancy. His contented expression suggested he was kept awake by his excitement over the revelation and it melted her heart.

"What are you thinking about?" she wondered.

His thumb grazed back and forth over her stomach.

"Thinking about the little one," he admitted to her, a small smile forming on his lips. "What they'll be like; will they be a boy or a girl? Will have your blonde hair?; My dimples?"

"Your temper?" she suggested teasingly.

"Your stubbornness?" he retorted with a smirk.

She punched his side playfully in retribution as he laughed at her.

"You know this means we will have to cancel our trip to Paris this June," she thought aloud, realizing the proximity of her due date to their planned trip to Paris would mean that she would not be able to travel as they had intended to. She had already planned their trip itinerary down to the minute.

Klaus went quiet with her comment, obviously not having thought of it until she mentioned it – too focused on the excitement of the pregnancy.

"I'm sorry, love," he apologized regretfully. "I know that it was your dream to go," he sighed, having been the one to surprise her with the trip for her birthday.

Admittedly, though she had so desperately wanted a child, she was disappointed that their trip to Paris would have to be put on hold.

He took one of her hands in his and kissed the back. "I promise I'll take you after the baby is born," he assured her, encouraging a smile from her. "Perhaps the following spring?" he suggested.

She nodded, suspecting they would be in need of a break by then – a seven year old and a one year old would be a handful. "If I'm going to be giving birth to your baby, it's the last you can do to show your appreciation," she mused.

"My baby?" he questioned. "It takes two," he pointed out.

Propping herself up on his chest to look down at him, she nodded. "You seduced me!" she protested, unable to maintain her composure as she erupted into a laugh.

He looked at her in disbelief. "It didn't take much effort, love," he snorted.

Her lips parted, feigning offence. "Ass!"

Klaus's hands griped her bottom and he smiled childishly. "How much longer do you think we have until Grayson wakes up?" he wondered, eyeing her suggestively.

"I'm honestly surprised that he hasn't already come to wake us up," she thought.

"Let's make the most of it?" he proposed, his eyebrows wiggling up at her suggestively.

"Okay," she grinned, lying back down on her side, resting her head against her soft feathery pillow, pulling the blankets up over her shoulder with her back towards him, pretending to sleep.

He laughed readily, curling himself against her from behind, wrapping an arm around her torso and resting his head against her shoulder.

"This is not exactly what I had in mind," he said, kissing the curve of her neck. "But, I have to admit that your idea may be the superior one," he conceded with an extended yawn.

"That happens when you think above the waist," she replied with a snort.

Now it was Klaus's turn to feign offence as she heard him gasp from behind her. "Bitch," he called her.

She smiled proudly, doing her best to hold back a laugh. "Shhhh, let's sleep," she whispered softly, closing her eyes.

Before Klaus could even respond, they heard the juvenile giggling of two voices outside of their bedroom door before it swung open dramatically, ricocheting loudly off of the door stopper on the wall.

She and Klaus both pretended to be asleep. "Here we go," Klaus whispered under his breath.

"I hope you guys are decent!" Kol announced warningly as they both listened to Grayson giggling with bare feet thudding across the wood floor before he hit the large area rug around their bed.

"WAKE UP! WAKE UP!" Grayson shouted excitedly as he climbed up onto the bed from the upholstered bench at the foot and began jumping on the mattress in between their legs concealed by the blankets.

She peeked through her partially closed eyes, happy to see that Grayson was still dressed in the reindeer pyjamas that she purchased for him, mindful that she and Klaus still needed to change into theirs.

"SANTA'S BEEN HERE!" Kol broadcasted boisterously alongside Grayson. His announcement was quickly followed by a heavy bounce of the mattress on the open side of the bed beside her and she felt a warm body next to her.

She felt Klaus shoot up in bed immediately and she opened her eyes to find Kol lying on his back and his hands behind his head on top of the blankets next to her with a smug grin on his face – fortunately, fully clothed in a grey t-shirt and red plaid pyjama pants for the occasion.

"Good morning, you two, Merry Christmas!" Kol cooed in a sing-song voice. "So, this is where the magic happens, hmm?" he mused, patting the bed as he glanced around the room.

"Kol, bugger off!" Klaus groaned, pulling out his pillow and tossing it over top of her in Kol's direction much to Grayson's delight who was laughing amusedly from the foot of the bed.

Thankfully, Kol caught the pillow and she took advantage of the brief moment in between to sit herself up against the headboard, pulling the sheet up with her to remove herself from the line of fire.

Kol chuckled giddily as Klaus tried to reach across the bed for the pillow he had surrendered to him.

"This was Grayson's idea, I swear!" Kol said, holding up the pillow in front of his face as he climbed off the bed. Klaus grabbed for another pillow, this time holding onto it as he flung it roughly towards Kol.

"No it wasn't!" Grayson protested, joining in with Klaus to swat Kol with one of the accent pillows from the bench.

Her warnings about her pillows being destroyed fell on deaf ears as Klaus dove over the bed in pursuit of his little brother, another pillow in hand.

"Retreat! Retreat!" Kol cried, falling backwards on the floor.

Klaus swatted him roughly with the pillow, laughing mischievously while Kol yelped and cried dramatically, rolling into his stomach to shield himself from Klaus's attack.

Grayson leaped off the bed, laughing maniacally, with a pillow in hand ready to mimic Klaus's attack.

She rolled her eyes at the three children in a pile on her bedroom floor.

"I surrender!" Kol groaned as Klaus pulled back and Grayson took over, climbing on Kol's back and hitting him on the head with the accent pillow he had grabbed.

Despite the unimpressed glare she was shooting in his direction, Klaus was smiling proudly at Grayson who was single-handedly keeping his uncle pinned down on the floor, whining like a baby.

"I said I surrender, squirt! You were supposed to be on my team!" Kol muttered, his voice muffled from covering his face.

"He knows who feeds and clothes him – he's smart," Klaus pointed out to Kol while Grayson continued carry out Klaus's dirty work.

As Grayson continued, she started to feel a bit bad for Kol even though he deserved every second of what he got for all his persistent efforts to tease and annoy them. "Okay, Grayson, let Kol up," she said, giving into her sympathies for the younger Mikaelson brother.

Still laughing, Grayson climbed off of Kol with Klaus's help. Grayson then hopped back onto the bed beside her, both he and Klaus giving Kol the same triumphant smirk as Kol, slowly and carefully, began to lift himself from the floor, ensuring that he wouldn't find himself under attack yet again.

"Did Santa come?" she asked Grayson, distracting him from any further mischief.

However, when he turned to nod at her, she realized he had already been into some trouble before carrying out the bedroom break-in with Kol. "I see you've already been into your stocking," she said disapprovingly, thumbing the chocolate stains in the corners of his mouth. If the excitement of Christmas wasn't enough to have Grayson bouncing off of the walls, chocolate before 8:00 a.m. would ensure it.

Grayson shook his head in denial, which made her turn her accusatory look in Kol's direction who put his hands up innocently.

"Don't look at me! When I went downstairs to fix Ben a bottle this morning, Grayson's stocking was very much intact," Kol said in his defence.

She looked back to Grayson for an explanation.

"Where did you get the chocolate, mate?" Klaus asked Grayson.

Kol covered the side of his face so that Grayson wouldn't see him mouth 'Rebekah' to her and Klaus as he pointed downstairs at the same time. She was surprised by Kol's revelation, knowing that Rebekah would not normally give Grayson chocolate so early in the morning.

"Grayson James, did Auntie Bekah give you the chocolate?" she asked Grayson, whose cheeks reddened guiltily as soon as she mentioned Rebekah – a tell tale sign that they were on to the right answer.

"Yes," he answered honestly, knowing they had caught him and that telling a lie would get him into trouble – a lesson he had finally learned after several incidents – the most recent involving a nerf gun and broken vase in the living room.

"Why?" she asked him.

Grayson shook his head. "Auntie Bekah told me that I couldn't say," he said, obviously conflicted about whether to betray his aunt or keep whatever secret she had bribed him to keep.

"He wouldn't tell me either," Kol chimed in. "I asked him when he came upstairs from Rebekah's."

Klaus sighed as he pulled the window curtain back, clearly distracted by something that caught his attention outside the window. "Marcel."

She slid off the bed curiously and peered out the window over Klaus's shoulder as Kol did the same from Klaus's other side. Outside, she could see Marcel climbing into the back of a vehicle with an uber sticker in its rear windshield.

"I knew it," Klaus muttered. "I knew it, and everyone told me I was crazy!"

Kol chuckled deviously. "Oh, this Christmas just got even better!" he mused, obviously referring to the drama that would inevitably ensue today as Klaus confronted Rebekah all while Kol teased her relentlessly and played her and Klaus off of one another for his own entertainment.

She glanced back at Grayson who was standing on the bed in an effort to also see out the window from behind them. "I want to see!" he complained.

Klaus and Kol turned from the window alongside her to look at Grayson.

"I have a feeling that you've probably already seen enough for one day," Kol snickered, garnering disapproving looks from both her and Klaus.

Grayson shrugged, seemingly unfazed by whatever he had walked in on when he went down to Rebekah's apartment earlier in the morning, which gave her hope that he hadn't been scarred for life by the incident. "Uncle Marcel was sleeping with Auntie Bekah in her bed when I woke her up this morning. She told me not to tell you. Why isn't Auntie Bekah allowed to have sleepovers?" Grayson wondered innocently, though angry by the apparent injustice of it as though they had prohibited it in the way they had with Grayson – still believing him to be a bit too young to follow through with a sleepover with his school friends.

"Yeah, Niklaus, why isn't our sister allowed to have sleepovers with her friends?" Kol pressed Klaus, amusement laced in his voice.

"Who's not allowed to have sleepovers?" Bonnie asked, as she emerged in the room with Ben in her arms.

She wasn't sure what it was – whether it was how quickly she stood up from the bed to look out the window, the sudden commotion first thing in the morning and everyone in her bedroom, the close call with Grayson walking in on Marcel and Rebekah, or the prospect of Klaus and Kol confronting their sister about her secret tryst with Marcel – but suddenly she felt overwhelmingly dizzy and nauseous. Cutting between the two elder Mikaelson's and Grayson, she gave Bonnie and Ben a small strained smile before darting towards the bathroom. With no time to spare to shut the bathroom door, she emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilet. Morning sickness – something she had mostly been spared of up to this point in her pregnancy though she had experienced recurring bouts of nausea.

From her position draped over the toilet, she could hear Grayson ask Klaus if she was sick, but Klaus's response to Grayson was muffled by the second round of contents she emptied into the toilet.

Almost instantly, she felt better, which was reassuring, but she remained on the floor next to the toilet briefly to regain her composure. As she recovered, she heard Kol joke to Klaus: "I guess we know how Caroline feels about Rebekah's extracurricular activities taking place under your roof."

"I heard that," she said disapprovingly as she stood up from the bathroom floor to wash herself up at the bathroom sink.

"What about my extracurricular activities?" she overheard Rebekah ask pointedly, obviously having followed the sound of their commotion upstairs.

Kol could be heard snickering. "It rhymes with Bex with Darcel," he mused.

"Pardon me?" Rebekah shot back.

She groaned, not interested in hearing Kol, Klaus, and Rebekah get into a row in her bedroom about Rebekah's tryst with Marcel in front of Grayson while she was getting sick in the adjoining bathroom on Christmas morning.

Before Kol and Klaus could confront Rebekah about Marcel, Bonnie thankfully swooped in to redirect things, "can I get you anything, Care?" Bonnie asked, concerned, obviously aware of her condition.

"No," she replied, readying a warm cloth under the tap.

She heard Rebekah ask everyone what was wrong.

Klaus appeared in the doorway and she could see his sympathetic expression through the reflection in the mirror as she wiped the cloth over her face. "Are you sure I can't get you anything, sweetheart?"

She shook her head, gradually becoming more overwhelmed with embarrassment and annoyed with everyone's hovering presence and questions.

"Everyone please just leave!" she sighed, her temper getting the better of her as she stared daggers at Klaus through the mirror, promptly encouraging him to close the bathroom door partially to give her more privacy before he retreated back into the bedroom and urged Grayson to take him downstairs to show him the evidence of Santa's visit the night before.

"This almost reminds me of the time at my wedding when Caroline…" she heard Kol start, referencing a time when she had a bit too much to drink at Bonnie and Kol's wedding reception.

Her stomach turned at the thought of the tequila shots she had consumed that night. "Stop!" she demanded from the bathroom, not wanting to be sick again.

"Kol!" she heard Bonnie say warningly, their voices growing more distant as they all – hopefully – started to file out of the bedroom to leave her alone as she had requested.

"You know, the last time Bonnie was sick like that she was…" Kol began to continue.

Kol had gotten on her last nerve. Twisting the bathroom faucet off aggressively, she flung open the bathroom door.

"Pregnant?" she queried with a snap to Kol from the bathroom doorway, hoping he caught the annoyed tone in her voice and would take the hint.

"Yeah," Kol said, a bit unsteadily, seemingly confused by her reaction as he glanced between Klaus, Bonnie, and Rebekah a bit bewilderedly.

"That would make sense," she said to Kol casually, though not without a hint of sarcasm.

"Yeah, if you were…" Kol started, stopping short as he made eye contact with Klaus who was giving him an obvious glare and clear of his throat to confirm what he was about to say.

"BECAUSE I AM PREGNANT!" she confirmed with a firm and angry tone that you would not necessarily expect with a pregnancy announcement.

Both Klaus and Bonnie were trying their best to hold back their amused reactions to the manner in which she confirmed the news to Kol (and inadvertently Rebekah) as their reactions turned to ones of surprise.

She had also indirectly broke the news to Grayson, who she had thought already disappeared downstairs ahead of Klaus, but who quickly came running back into the room when he heard her shout the news to Kol.

Grayson's eyes were wide with surprise and excitement and she couldn't help but smile at his reaction notwithstanding the imperfect circumstances of the announcement.

"You're going to have a baby!?" Grayson exclaimed, a wide grin emerging on his face as he approached her.

She nodded. Her expression relaxed as she focused on Grayson and his response to the news – this was not how she and Klaus had planned to tell him. "Yes monkey," she confirmed as she sat down on the chair beside the fireplace and helped Grayson up to sit on her lap. She looked up at Klaus, Bonnie, Kol, and Rebekah who were watching them with interest and amusement.

"I'm going to have a baby brother?" Grayson wondered, looking up at her as he sat with her.

"Or sister," Klaus added, reminding Grayson that a sister was a definite possibility.

Grayson looked briefly disappointed at the prospect. She knew that he would prefer a brother to a sister, though he quickly recovered his composure and excited reaction, obviously unaware that the probability of having a brother or sister was roughly equal.

The muscles in her face hurt from her smile, knowing she had to maintain her happy demeanour or she would start crying otherwise, overcome by the mixed emotions of the moment – thinking about how badly she and Klaus had wanted to give Grayson a sibling, how desperately she wished that Elena and Elijah were here at the same time, and how she would have liked to have seen her mother become a grandmother before she passed away. However, she knew that she couldn't let the sadness of those thoughts get the better of her – she had to live in the moment and focus on what they had – right down to the little things, like Grayson's beaming smile at the prospect of finally getting to become a big brother.

"When will the baby come?" Grayson asked curiously.

"July," she replied, running her hands through his hair affectionately, wanting to reassure him – in case he was at all worried – that he was still very much their baby as well (his age notwithstanding). "About seven months from now," she clarified, giving Grayson a moment to process that time in his head.

"The summer?" he confirmed.

She nodded in affirmation, "just after you're done school for the summer break."

Though this time reference point seemed to make more sense to him in his world, Grayson appeared unsatisfied by how long he would have to wait to meet his new sibling.

"What do you think, Gray?" Klaus asked, wanting to know what Grayson's final verdict to the news would be. He approached them tentatively while Bonnie, Kol, and Rebekah awaited Grayson's answer with bated breath.

Grayson smiled enthusiastically. "Santa got me the best gift and I still have more to open downstairs!" he said excitedly.

They all smiled back at Grayson in relief.

She was amused that Grayson believed that a sibling was a gift that Santa was capable of giving. At the same time, her heart was warmed by the fact that Grayson was so sure that a new sibling was the best gift Santa could bring without having opened the rest of his presents.

"Don't speak too soon, mate. You may not be saying that if your baby brother or sister turns out to be like Uncle Kol or Auntie Bekah," Klaus joked with a sneer, glaring directly at Kol and Rebekah.

A/N: Hope you're still with me after that beast of a flash forward. If it's not too much to ask, I'd very much appreciate a review. I'm so curious to know your thoughts and feelings!

I do plan on writing more flash forwards and am always open to suggestions for things you would like to see included. I will be focusing a flash forward that explores a bit more Klaus and Caroline's struggles to conceive, Caroline's pregnancy with Elise, and Grayson's evolving feelings about it all. Many of you have asked for a flash forward that focuses a bit more on Klaus and Caroline's relationship and that eventual marriage proposal in Paris. Others have asked for a flash forward about Elise's coming out and Grayson's mental health struggles as a teenager.

Interestingly, I've also been toying with the idea of doing a flashback. The flashback would take place over various points following Elijah/Elena's wedding but before their deaths including the post-wedding fallout (as far as Klaus/Caroline are concerned), Elijah calling Klaus out a bit, Elena and Caroline having some girl talk, Grayson's birth, Klaus returning to Mystic Falls to meet his nephew for the first time, etc. I've also toyed with the idea of doing it from Elijah/Elena's POV and injecting a little bit of Elejah into TUIB since they play such a huge role in the story, even though they die so early on and I have a soft spot for them.

Let me know what you would like to see!

Merry Christmas and I hope everyone has a much better 2021!

p.s. I'll let you use your imaginations as to whom Kol picked for his Secret Santa and the gift he purchased for them ;)