"HOPE! Darling, you look so beautiful," Rebekah ran up to her niece and squeezed her tightly in a hug. "You've grown your hair out. It suits you!"
"Thanks Aunt Bex. Hi Marcel," Hope nodded at her aunt's fiancé over the blonde's shoulder.
"And how's the happy couple?" Rebekah continued as she released Hope and went further into the foyer to greet Caroline and Klaus.
"Always a pleasure, sister," Klaus chuckled, pulling Rebekah into an embrace. Marcel gave Hope a side hug as he caught up with Bekah.
"Nice to see you again, Caroline," Marcel greeted her, taking her hand in his.
"You as well, Marcel," Caroline replied, her eyes sparkling. She'd only briefly met Marcel once before but Caroline considered herself a great judge of character, and Marcel seemed like an exceptional person.
"Caroline, you're looking well! How are the kiddos?" Rebekah asked, only a slight strain in her manners. Caroline knew when they were younger, they didn't exactly get along, so it was only natural for their small talk to seem forced.
"Lizzie and Josie are doing well," Caroline started. "You know… teenagers."
"I can only imagine two," Rebekah laughed.
"Oh, you really can't imagine those two," Hope snickered under her breath. Caroline pretended she hadn't heard it.
"Well, come on in, get settled. I ordered dinner and it's getting cold!" Klaus proclaimed.
Once inside, Klaus was in his element, and it showed. He was simply gleaming. Caroline knew that he and Rebekah had a really good sibling relationship, but it was so obvious that he loved being surrounded by people he loved more than anything.
SO no the big bad wolf, Caroline thought to herself, mentally reprimanding her younger self for judging him so harshly.
"How's school going, Hope?" Marcel asked. "Oh, and Caroline, I forget you're there too," he added, smiling. Caroline raised and eyebrow at Hope, who was pushing her food around on her plate with her fork.
"It's going good," she said. "I've been getting really good grades."
"That, I can attest to," Caroline jumped in, causing the table to laugh. "She's really doing well in her defensive magic. She practically tutors the whole class."
"Well, it is in our blood, huh?" Rebekah shrugged.
"It doesn't hurt that I can just facetime Aunt Freya or Aunt Davina and Uncle Kol to help me with my homework," Hope looked up, a smile creeping on her face.
"How are things in New Orleans?" Klaus asked Marcel and Rebekah.
"They're going okay. After everything with…" Marcel trailed off, not wanting to name or mention any event that lead up to or happened after Hayley's death. "Well, the factions are recovering, but it'll be some time before everything's back to normal." Klaus automatically put a hand on Hope's back and began rubbing small circles to ease her obvious tension.
"Enough of that," Rebekah said to change the subject. "How's Mystic Falls? I haven't been here in ages!"
"Well, I'm so involved with the school, I rarely go into town anymore," Caroline said with a small laugh. It was true though, she spent most of her time at the boarding school or at the Mikaelson mansion.
"Don't you still hang out with your little friends?" Rebekah asked, seemingly unaware of how condescending it sounded.
"As much as we can," Caroline replied, giving a slight eyebrow raise. "Bonnie is mostly traveling so I only see her when she's home for holidays. Damon and Elena are busy with her new practice and the two little ones. Matt is sheriff so I see him from time to time. He helps us to keep the school under wraps with the town. Although, he's not exactly as much fun as he used to be…"
"Huh," Rebekah sighed, unsure of what to say to that information. Mystic Falls was a lot different than the last time she was here. "Oh! I nearly forgot!" she said at last, jumping to her feet. "I brought beignets!" Rebekah grabbed a large box from one of her bags.
"My favorite," Hope exclaimed, suddenly excited.
"You know us too well, sister," Klaus chuckled to himself.
Later that night, after Hope had gone to bed and Rebekah and Marcel were upstairs getting settled, Klaus and Caroline were sitting in front of the fireplace enjoying a wine glass full of B+ blood. Klaus pet Caroline's head as she leaned against him.
"This is so nice, being with your family. It makes me wish Ric would let the girls be around you guys. I shouldn't have to split my time between my love and my children," Caroline grimaced. The thought had been plaguing her all night. She missed her babies, but when she was home with them, she missed being with Klaus just as much. Not to mention, if the twins and Hope spent more time together, she knew they'd get along.
"I could talk to him, if you'd like," Klaus offered.
"I'm not sure what good that'd do," Caroline sighed.
"What else can I do? I've been on my best behavior since I've been here."
"I know, and trust me, I'm very proud of you. But Ric… he's very protective of those girls. You'd know about that, wouldn't you?" Caroline nudged him playfully.
"Trust me, I have to restrain the urge to pull the eyeballs out of any boy who even looks in Hope's direction," Klaus said, a twinge of drama in his voice. Caroline looked up at his twinkling eyes and laughed. Standing, Caroline put their empty glasses in the dishwasher. She felt arms tighten around her and leaned into the familiar scent of the man she loved.
"I tell you every time, you don't have to clean up," Klaus murmured into her ear.
"It's relaxing," Caroline giggled. Slowly she faced him. She'd never get used to this side of him. She knew for a long time that she was attracted to his darkness, something that she'd repressed with every bone in her body. But this light-hearted, sweet side had always been her weakness. His dimples were pronounced as he showed his light lipped smile and his arms tightened around her waist until she was pressed against him. "Klaus," Caroline breathed, a lump forming in her throat.
"Are you ready for bed, Love?" Klaus raised his eyebrows at her. She nodded, not looking away from his eyes. Suddenly, Klaus lifted her up, bridal style and sped her up the stairs to his bedroom.
Caroline loved how he was so focused on her, never looking away or denying her of any attention she could ever want. It was something she'd always loved about him. In her other relationships, she'd always been put to the side. Klaus would never do that. He wanted her. Grinning, he began kissing her intently as they laid down on the bed. One of the many other things she loved about Klaus, was how he could be so sweet and so sexy at the same time. As their kisses progressed, Caroline pulled at his shirt until he pulled it the rest of the way off, giving Caroline time to ditch her own shirt, revealing a lacy black bra underneath. At the sight, Klaus let out a moan that was so deep, it nearly sounded like a growl. Loving her effect on him, Caroline took his shoulders in both of her hands and rolled him over so that she was on top. Quickly unbuttoning his pants while kissing him, they broke apart take their pants off. She then resumed her position on top of him, and he kneaded her breasts in his hands before undoing her strap and discarding the lingerie. Klaus began kissing her neck, moving down slowly until he was giving her newly revealed chest some attention. Caroline let out a soft moan, and she looked down at Klaus, who looked up to her as he continued kissing her breasts. When she couldn't take it anymore, she pulled his face away.
"I need you," she moaned, greedily kissing him.
"I'll give you whatever you want, my Love. You just have to ask for it," Klaus murmured. Caroline became so slick, she almost couldn't take it. She loved when he played games like this.
"I need you inside of me right now," she muttered, exasperated. In response, Klaus tilted her chin up at him as he rolled her over so that she was looking up at him.
"How bad do you need it, darling?" he asked, pushing himself down on top of her. Her breath caught in her throat.
"So bad, please," she let out, unbelieving of the effect he had on her.
"Well, why didn't you say so?" Klaus teased, putting his fingers to work on her. She moaned, biting her lip. "You seem very ready," he began, as he slowly inserted himself into her. She gasped. "Come here," he said, pulling her impossibly close as he pumped into her.
"Klaus," she moaned, eyes closing in her pleasure.
"You're all mine, Caroline," he said, feeling her writhe beneath him.
"Damn, don't they know we have supernatural hearing?" Marcel complained, as he watched Rebekah got out of the shower from the guest bedroom.
"They definitely know, but obviously don't care," Rebekah said, rolling her eyes.
"Can't Hope hear them?" Marcel wondered.
"Freya put a spell on her room so it'd block out uh 'nighttime' sounds," Rebekah snickered.
"You Mikaelsons are something else."