Heyy, it's been a hot minute, I know and I'm sorry. I got really busy with uni, turns out they actually do require you to do a lot of work, who knew? Anyway, this chapter is super Hope-centric, I really hope y'all enjoy it! For those who celebrate, merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah and merry crises! This is my winter present to all you lovelies!
Read, review and enjoy!
It was a dream. A beautiful, wonderful dream, but a dream. That was what Hope told herself as she woke, doing her best to hold on to the last vestiges of yesterday before she had to get up. But when she eventually forced herself to open her eyes, it wasn't to the ceiling of her dorm room in Mystic Falls, but to her own bedroom in New Orleans. Sitting up in bed, she allowed it all to sink in as she breathed deeply, the dark band of fear and loss that had remained coiled around her heart for as long as she could remember finally loosening with every exhale. New Orleans had never quite felt like home, not without both her parents. But now… now it felt whole, complete like it never had before. Of course, there was still a missing puzzle piece in the form of her aunt and uncle… but that was for another day. Right now, she was going to revel in the fact that she had over a week to spend with her parents. Both of them!
And God, her parents were so normal, Hope couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she remembered the drive home.
...
The radio was on low, her mother humming along to some old song Hope didn't recognise. She wasn't quite sure what to make of the fond smile on her father's face, or the occasional glances she caught him sending Hayley's way even as he loudly judged her mother for her music choices. It was becoming more and more obvious to the teen how much she didn't know about either of her parents, how much she wanted to know about who they were together, who they were apart, but in the meantime…
"So Italy, huh? Did you get me anything pretty?"
"You mean like maybe a brush for that bird's nest you're calling hair?" Hope shrieked loudly at Hayley's teasing, her hands immediately rising to her head to smoothen her curls.
"Excuse you, my hair is perfect!" She yelled indignantly as her mother laughed.
"Sweetheart, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but your dad's genes - they messed up my perfection and now you have to live with the consequences." The brunette grinned innocently as Klaus turned offended eyes to her. "What? It's true!"
"After everything we've been through," he demanded, "this is to be my fate? To have my hair insulted?"
"It's in the small print," the she wolf told him, turning in her seat to wink at Hope as her father grumbled some more.
"There's no accounting for taste," he informed Hope sadly. "Hopefully my genes are dominant in that respect at least." He grinned as Hayley squawked in protest and smacked him, loudly defending herself.
...
Voices filtered through the walls, breaking through the memory and her grin widened as she threw off her blanket and ran downstairs, excited, for the first time in a long time, to begin the day.
Klaus found Hayley in the kitchen, sleepily spooning several spoons of sugar into a mug of coffee. He couldn't quite stop his smirk at her pout when the fifth spoon glanced off the rim of the mug, spilling sugar granules all over the counter, not that he wanted to. "I can feel you being an asshole from all the way over here," the she wolf complained, turning around to glare at him.
"Oh good, I was concerned I was being too subtle." He crossed over to her, lightly pecking her on the lips as he stole the mug and took a sip of the hot liquid, making a face as he swallowed. "How on earth do you drink that?" he asked, disgustedly passing the mug back as Hayley made grabbing motions with her hands.
"Shut up, it's delicious," she retorted before taking a long sip. "I suppose you have yours 'black as your soul'?"
Klaus looked at her warily, "I'd say yes, but I'm afraid you'll make me something undrinkable out of spite."
Hayley squinted at him from over the rim of her mug before declaring that he was definitely 'a basic Starbucks bitch.' She took another sip to hide her grin at his protests, humming happily as the liquid warmed her system. "D'you think Hope's up yet?"
"Judging by the sound of those footsteps…" the hybrid trailed off, smiling as Hope burst into the kitchen, skidding to a stop just before she crashed into her parents, a brilliant grin spread across her face. The teenager threw her arms around her parents, pulling them both in for a quick hug before bouncing up to sit on top of the table, kicking her legs back and forth almost unconsciously.
"So what's on the agenda for today?"
"Breakfast, before anything else. Has that school even been feeding you?" Klaus asked.
"Only the best gruel Mystic Falls has to offer," the teenager sang with a grin, her parents rolling their eyes, Hayley muttering about the 'sass on that girl'. Before she could respond, however, she was cut off by an explosive sneeze, Hope looking more surprised than anyone else.
Her mother was the first to step forward, putting a hand to her forehead to feel Hope's temperature. "Baby are you sick?"
"I wasn't yesterday," Hope whined, coughing slightly.
Hayley hummed in slight annoyance, "uh huh. Wanna tell me what time you slept last night?"
"Late?" She tried, lips quirking in a pitiful attempt at a smile. Her mother was not appeased. Before she could continue though, Klaus stepped in, smoothly undercutting the impending lecture/argument.
"It's likely just a mix of exhaustion and excitement. Nothing some warm tea won't fix," he said, sending a smile Hope's way before turning around to boil some water. Hayley and Hope finding themselves staring in surprise as he quickly and efficiently made a cup of tea and spooned some honey inside before handing the cup over to the teenager.
"Wait, you know like, actual human remedies and all?" Hope blurted as she took the cup. She spluttered at the raised eyebrow her father aimed at her. "I mean - you're like a bajillion years old - and I'm going to shut up now." She squeaked, hiding her face in the cup as she took a small sip, softly humming happily as the liquid slid down her throat, soothing the irritation and warming her inside.
"Well I'm not going to," Hayley interjected. "You've been holding out on me!"
"You do realise I did actually raise Marcellus, correct? And that I did interact with humans on a somewhat regular basis," Klaus remarked, not without amusement. "Children and even adults seem to contract illnesses with alarming frequency."
"Huh, somehow that never really registered, but yeah you did." Hayley agreed. "It's weird but it makes sense." She stopped as something occurred to her, laughter bubbling out of her at the image. "Now I'm imagining you forcing baby Marcel to drink chicken soup and wear like seven layers if it was just a little windy!"
"It was spinach soup and only about five layers, I'll have you know," he retorted with a put upon sniff. The hybrid was forced to grin when his daughter burst into surprised laughter.
"Oh my God, really?" She asked between giggles, laughing even harder at his resounding answer of 'yes, really'. "I can't believe I thought Mom was the crazy strict one!"
"So glad we could free you of that particular delusion," Klaus told her, a glint in his eyes. "Now finish your tea before it gets cold and go wear some socks or I won't make you some of the best ice cream you've ever tasted."
Hope gaped, her eyes wide as she asked, "you know how to make ice cream?"
"A lovely lady I met a few years ago gave me her personal recipe. Based on the ingredients and her assurances, it's excellent for one's health too, even in the middle of winter."
"But still, ice cream?" Hope had every intention of questioning her father further, but the hybrid's pointed look at her still mostly full cup had her focusing on downing the warm liquid as quickly as possible.
"Guess cooking is on the agenda now," Hayley mumbled, a little surprised at the way things were turning.
Klaus hummed, commenting with a straight face, "given that our daughter still requires three nutritional meals a day, I don't see why it was ever taken off in the first place." He winked at Hope when Hayley groaned, tutting disapprovingly as he narrowly caught the mug the brunette threw his way.
"Oh shit," Hayley interrupted before he could continue, "I have to tell Vincent we're back." Klaus wasn't listening, however, ignoring her in favour of stepping forward to cover Hope's ears.
"Language, Hayley!" He admonished. "There's a child present!"
"Dad!" Hope whined. "I'm fifteen, I've heard a lot worse!" She knew it was a lost cause when he arched his eyebrow instead of replying, but it didn't stop her from muttering, "if it was Marcel, you wouldn't have minded so much."
Klaus couldn't help the laugh that burst out of him at that. "Given that I distinctly remember thoroughly washing out Marcel's mouth with soap on the few occasions he swore, I sincerely doubt that. Words are weapons, don't sully them with swears." And although it would have been all too easy to respond with a sarcastic 'yes senpai' or some such similar response, something in the teenager stopped her from doing so. This wasn't some teacher, high on their own importance, this was her dad and it was much harder to dismiss his advice. Settling for a quick nod instead, she allowed the conversation to move ahead, Klaus registering Hayley's words and complaining that Vincent hated him. "I hardly think he'll take my return too well," he reminded her and Hayley's expression soured.
"Right. Maybe you should reconsider your method of dealing with things?"
"And allow my family to be killed in their stead?" Klaus scoffed. "I'd rather suffer the repercussions of Vincent's loathing."
Hayley sighed. "Why am I not surprised?" She snorted at the hybrid's innocent smile. "I will throw a shoe at you, don't think I won't," she threatened before he could say anything. "Fine, I'll keep him off you, but your on your own when it comes to reparations. Understand?"
"Perfectly. Now, if we're quite done here, Hope, I do believe you share my passion for painting…"
Perhaps it was a little ridiculous to be nervous showing her paintings to her father, but Hope couldn't help the butterflies that fluttered anxiously in her stomach as she presented Klaus with her artwork. What if he didn't like it? Or thought it was childish? Or -
"These are beautiful, Hope." His awe-filled praise burned through the butterflies, warming her far more than the cup of tea she had had earlier. A thrill ran through her as he traced the intricacies of her works, questioning her on her technique and inspirations, listening intently to her answers.
They somehow migrated to his studio without her realising until they were seated at a large table, Klaus rummaging around in the attached cabinet until he found several sheets of unused paper and a few pencils. Almost cautiously, he pointed out a few flaws in her work, showing her different techniques she could employ to improve. She didn't quite notice the brightness in his eyes when she asked him to elaborate, which he did patiently, nor the manner in which his lips quirked when she argued with him over whose technique was better in which situation. She did, however, notice that the warm feeling that had curled inside her ribs and made itself at home never faded for the entirety of the time they spent in her father's studio. Was this what it was like to have him back? God, she really hoped so. Because somehow… somehow everything that she had been through seemed worth it if she just got to keep this.
So I do have a couple things to note here, Hope's sick cos I'm sick and I just want hugs and cuddles.
So, my dad's a lawyer and as a result, he travels a lot. Like, a LOT. So, I've kinda gotten used to not having him around for long periods of time and that makes it more special when he IS around. I'm used to getting in trouble with my mom, it's par for the course now, but with my dad, it's like I've disappointed him when I mess up and that is a HUNDRED times worse than getting yelled at by my mom. I typically tend to take his advice more seriously and it's super important to me to make him proud. So I based Hope's interactions with Klaus on my interactions with my father because that made most sense to me. Most of my interests have in some way or form originated from or have been cultivated by my dad and I wanted to show that with how painting ties Hope and Klaus together with him helping her improve but also taking in and appreciating her interaction with art. (For the record, I know nothing about drawing or art in any way, shape or form and yes, we can blame my dad for that since he didn't inherit any of my grandmother's talent, so rude.)
Oh also, the ice cream part is based on my grandmother lol because yes, she does have a home made ice cream recipe that she is fiercely protective of and is actually healthy cos it's basically milk and sugar but hella delicious and hella useful cos we always make a lot and have a backup for dinner parties XD
Read, review and enjoy!