Ultimately, of course, Caroline's curiosity got the better of her. Two days after the ceremony, she dragged her husband out to the plantation house.

"How do I even do this?" She asked once they were there.

"Well, if I were you, I'd start by taking your clothes off," Kaus said helpfully. "That's a lovely dress; I wouldn't want you to ruin it."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at him. "When have you ever worried about ruining my clothes?"

Klaus smirked at her. "Well, it's up to you, love. Do you have a change of clothes with you?"

"No," Caroline muttered, pulling her dress over her head. "Now what?" She asked, once she was standing naked before him.

"Now imagine the wolf inside you," Klaus said. "Call her forth and allow her to take over."

It sounded ridiculous. How was she supposed to reach the wolf inside her when she'd never even had one?

Unsurprisingly, nothing happened.

"Maybe all I got was immunity to the venom," she suggested after thirty minutes. "It does seem ridiculous that I inherited a physical curse through a soul-binding."

"It does," Klaus agreed. "Then again, I've known magic to do stranger things. And I'm hardly complaining about the view."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "You're impossible." She closed her eyes, trying to find her 'inner wolf' (which sounded like some kind of strange narrative from a bad romance novel).

"Think about the day you killed Esther," Klaus suggested quietly. "About how you felt when Hope was screaming."

The vampire rose within her at the memory - but it wasn't just the vampire. Pain shot through her limbs and she screamed, collapsing to her knees as every part of her body seemed to twist unnaturally.

"Breathe through it, love," Klaus said, his mouth close to her ear. "Just breathe. It will get easier."

And then, all of a sudden, the pain stopped.

She opened her eyes, still on the ground. He was stood before her, but he looked different - the colour was off, as was her hearing.

"Quite remarkable," he commented. "Try to change back. Hope's perfectly safe, love. Come back to me."

Caroline closed her eyes once more. The journey back was far less painful, as though her bones found it easier to return to how they should be.

"How," she asked tiredly, "do you stay on your feet after that?"

"Practice," Klaus said, helping her to her feet. "How was it?"

"Horrible," Caroline said with a grimace. "Remind me again why you wanted to be able to do that?"

Klaus chuckled. "Well, it looks like you have inherited all of the abilities of a true hybrid, love."

"Lucky me," Caroline muttered. "I'm not doing that again."

"If Hope ever triggers the curse, we can both run with her," Klaus pointed out.

"I don't want Hope to trigger the curse," Caroline said. "Not because of the pain, but because I don't want her to be in a position where she kills someone. But you're right, I guess. If that happens, I'll make an exception. Now we need to get back to the Quarter."

Klaus caught her arm before she could retrieve her dress. "We're not expected back for another few hours, love. And it would be a shame to waste your current predicament."

Diplomacy in New Orleans was a delicate business. Thankfully, most of the relationships between the vampires, witches and werewolves were much better than they had been in years, but the situation was a delicate one, so regular meetings were held to ensure that everyone was happy.

June's meeting did not get off to a great start - Caroline was late, which she never was.

When she did arrive, she looked very frazzled.

"This is your fault," she told Klaus as soon as she walked in.

Klaus sighed. "Please excuse us," he said to their guests. "Caroline, what have I done?"

"Hope is having a meltdown," Caroline informed him. "I told you saying yes to whatever she wanted would have consequences when we had to say no."

"Then don't say no," Klaus said with a shrug. "Hope can have whatever she wants, Caroline; you know that. You know where the chequebook is. What does she want?"

"A sister," Caroline said flatly.

Klaus hesitated. "Okay, she can't have that."

"Josie and Lizzie both have a sister," Caroline said tiredly, taking the empty seat beside him. "She doesn't and it's not fair. She's stopped screaming but she's not happy."

"I'll go," Davina offered, getting to her feet. "You don't really need me here, and it's the least I can do, since you're planning my wedding for me."

"How many is that now?" Thierry asked with a grin. "At this rate, you should just start a wedding planning business and be done with it."

"I'm considering it," Caroline said with a wry smile. "Thank you, Davina. If you can calm her down, that would be amazing."

Davina made her way up to the nursery. Hope's crib had been swapped to a child's bed, and she was face down in her pillow, sobbing.

Davina's heart ached for her, and she could only imagine how Caroline had felt having to leave her daughter in that state. She sat down at the end of Hope's bed and rubbed her back. "You okay, baby girl?"

"Mommy's mean," Hope mumbled.

"Why is she mean?" Davina asked.

"Want a sister."

Davina sighed. "Okay, come here." She lifted Hope on to her lap. "Hope, your Daddy is very good at making things happen. So your mommy and daddy can give you an awful lot of things that a lot of little girls can't have. But they can't give you a sister."

Hope sniffled. "Why?"

Davina grimaced, trying to figure out how best to explain it. She could go with the stork story, she supposed, but she had an aversion to lying to children if she could help it. "Well, to have a baby, Mommy and Daddy would need special ingredients, and because Mommy's a vampire and Daddy's a hybrid, they don't have those ingredients anymore."

"Uncle Kol a vampire too," Hope said.

Davina smiled sadly. "That's right, so he doesn't have those ingredients either - that's why Auntie Davina can't have a baby."

Hope patted her face. "Sad?"

Davina chuckled, pressing a kiss to her head. "Sometimes. But I've got you and you're just like having my own daughter. Your grandma was a very, very powerful witch and she did a spell on your Mommy so she could have you. But we don't know what spell she used, so we can't do it. And that makes Mommy sad sometimes as well, because I think she would love you to have a sister or a brother. So I'm sorry you're sad, sweetheart. But you have Josie and Lizzie, don't you? I'm sure they wouldn't mind being your sisters, would they?"

Hope sniffed. "Yeah."

"Let's see that smile," Davina said.

Hope hid her face, shaking her head, but Davina could tell she was recovering from her earlier sadness, so she poked her tummy gently.

"Let's see a smile," she said with a smile.

"No," Hope said, not quite managing to hide her smile.

"Well, you know what happens to little girls who won't let their aunties cheer them up," Davina said. "They meet the tickle monster!"

Hope shrieked with laughter, squirming away from her. "Auntie Vina!"

Davina grinned, stilling her fingers. "Feel better?"

Hope nodded, flinging her arms around her neck. "Love you Auntie Vina - you be a good mama."

Davina felt a lump form in her throat and she pressed a kiss to her niece's forehead. "Thank you, sweetheart. I love you so much. Now can you go and apologise to Mommy please?"

Hope nodded, slipping down from her lap and running out of the room.

Davina followed at a leisurely pace, not concerned in the slightest at Hope dealing with the stairs on her own, even if she was only two-and-a-half.

Firstly, Hope never tried to walk down the stairs, even if someone was at her side; she preferred sitting down and bumping down the stairs instead.

Secondly, within a few steps, James had appeared at her side to help her; and someone always did, no matter what.

Caroline once joked that she could let Hope wander the streets of the French Quarter by herself and she wouldn't get so much as a paper cut, because people were guaranteed to be looking out for her.

Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, Hope jumped to her feet, hugged James around the knees and dashed off the the meeting room.

"Knock first," Davina called after her.

Giving Hope any kind of instruction tended to be about fifty percent effective - you were never quite sure if she was going to listen, unless you were her father.

Davina had the feeling that was because Klaus was so lenient with her that when he was firm with her, she paid attention.

This time, however, Hope did as she was told, slowing to tap on the door before pushing it open.

Caroline was on her feet in a second. "Hope, are you okay, sweetheart?"

Hope nodded, lifting her arms. "Mama, hug please?"

Caroline glanced at Davina who had arrived behind her, but lifted her daughter and gave her a big hug.

"Sorry Mommy," Hope said, kissing her cheek. "Auntie Vina said you sad too."

"Did she?" Caroline asked, more to Davina.

Davina shrugged, aware of the curious eyes on her. "I explained in a very child-friendly way that she can't have a sister and that it probably upsets you as well, so it wasn't fair to be mad at you."

Hope nodded. "Sorry Mommy."

Caroline kissed her forehead. "Thank you, sweetheart. It was very kind of you to come and apologise; it was a very big-girl thing to do. Can you go and play with Auntie Davina while Mommy and Daddy have our meeting?"

Seeing Hope's lower lip wobble again, Davina hastily jumped in. "Hey, Hope - you want to bake cookies?"

"Cookies!" Hope cried, throwing her hands in the air.

Davina took her from her mother. "Works like a charm."

A few weeks later, Davina was not feeling quite so happy about cookies. In fact, she was concerned that something edible in the house had been out of date.

Once the latest bout of heaving finished, she felt a cool hand against her forehead.

"I don't think you've got a fever, darling," Kol murmured. "Then again I run cold."

"Well, that feels amazing," Davina muttered, "so maybe I do."

"Maybe you should go to the doctor," he said.

"It's probably food poisoning," Davina said. "Or a stomach bug. I am still susceptible to both of those things, even if you're not."

"Please humour me," Kol said. "If it's something more serious … We can cover the cost if that's what you're concerned about."

Davina sighed. "Tell you what; if I can get away from the toilet long enough to make an appointment, I'll go."

"Fair enough," Kol agreed, pulling her hair back out of her face as she started again.

Three hours later, Davina sat in a doctor's waiting room with a plastic bowl. The receptionist had taken one look at her face and produced it from under her desk.

"Miss Claire?"

Davina got to her feet, paused to swallow down another wave of nausea, and made her way shakily to the exam room.

"Oh dear," the doctor said with a sympathetic smile. "You really don't look too good."

"Well, I'm not here for fun," Davina said automatically. "Sorry - my fiance's a bad influence."

The doctor chuckled. "No, that's fine. I normally greet my patients with an automatic 'how are you' and I can never figure out why - they're here for a reason. Now, I'm Dr Carter - how can I help?"

"I'm fairly sure it's just a stomach bug or something," Davina said. "But I just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything more serious."

Dr Carter nodded, fetching her stethoscope. "So I guess from the bowl that nausea is a big symptom. Is there anything else?"

"Not really," Davina answered. "I'm getting a bit of dizziness, but I think that's from the vomiting."

"And when did the nausea start?" Dr Carter asked, listening to her chest.

"Mostly today," Davina said. "I did throw up yesterday, which I put down to something I ate, but it's so much worse today."

"And has there been anything else recently?" Dr Carter asked.

"I've been very tired," Davina answered. "Other than that, no."

"You said you have a fiancé?" Dr Carter asked. "Is there any chance you could be pregnant?"

Davina smiled sadly. "No. My fiancé had an … accident when he was younger. He can't have children."

"You'd be surprised how many people are told that and go on to conceive," Dr Carter said.

"Not in this case," Davina muttered.

"Okay, well, your chest sounds fine so nothing's in your lungs," Dr Carter concluded. "You don't have a fever, so I don't think it's a stomach bug; it normally goes together. So I think our best bet is to take some blood tests and then I'll give you some pills that should alleviate the nausea a little."

Davina breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you. You're going to test for pregnancy anyway, aren't you?"

"Occam's Razor," Dr Carter said cheerfully. "The simplest solution is most likely the right one."

"Even if my fiancé has no ability to conceive whatsoever?" Davina asked.

"Even then," Dr Carter said, readying the needle. "Miracles happen. In any case, in order to get some of the other tests authorised I have to prove I've covered all the more obvious bases."

"Fair enough," Davina said with a sigh, rolling up her sleeve. "As long as I don't have to watch. My own blood makes me queasy as it is."

Like Jo, Davina's guest list was seriously diminished by the fact that everyone on the bride's side was also on the groom's side.

"I do not want my mother to come to my wedding," Davina said flatly. "I doubt she even wants to come anyway."

"I wasn't going to ask about your mother," Caroline said. "I was going to ask about Cassie and her mother."

"Oh," Davina said quietly. "Yes, please."

Caroline smiled, adding them to the guest list. "I'm sorry, Davina. I know that Elena had a few moments in the lead-up to her wedding when she wished her mom could have been there, but Aunt Miranda was dead. I don't even know how to deal with this situation."

Davina smiled sadly. "You don't need to. You've done everything, Caroline. You've been everything I thought a sister would be."

Caroline gave her a hug. "It's a joy, Davina, I promise. How are you feeling now by the way? Kol said you were really bad for a few days, or was he being over-dramatic?"

Davina chuckled. "No, it was really bad. I couldn't move without throwing up. The doctor took some blood tests, but I feel fine now, so I'm fairly sure it was just a stomach bug. I should be getting the results …" Her phone rang.

"Okay, that's creepy," Caroline joked. "I'm going to pop along to check on Hope if you want to take the call in here?"

"Thanks, Caroline," Davina said, answering the call. "Hello?"

"Miss Claire, it's Dr Carter here. How are you?"

"Much better thank you," Davina said. "It's like I was never sick in the first place."

"Well, I'm glad you're feeling better. I've got your test results back; are you happy for me to deliver them over the phone?"

Davina relaxed. They weren't bad then - if they were, she would be insisting that she come in for an appointment. "Yes, that's fine. Just a stomach bug, right?"

Dr Carter's smile was evident over the phone. "Actually, Miss Claire, you've had that miracle I was talking about. You're pregnant."