Hi! Yes, it is me, I'm finally back with another chapter. It was SUCH a struggle writing this, y'all have no idea (sobs into pillow) I really hope y'all like it, especially Klaus's section which almost wasn't a thing because after weeks of NOTHING AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO FOR IT it basically wrote itself like half an hour before posting. I mean, CAN Y'ALL BELIEVE?

Yeah me neither. Anyway, I do hope y'all enjoy and please do leave a review on your way out. There's nothing more lovely than a review.

[Also it's almost my birthday so this is my present to y'all :)]

Freya giggled as she passed a grumpy Hayley on her way to the coffee pot. "What happened, got up on the wrong side of bed today?" Hayley grumbled something into her cup Freya wasn't able to catch. The witch grinned as she poured herself a mug of the heavenly liquid. "Sorry, I couldn't hear you over the sound of utter misery, what was that?"

A little more grumbling and then, still quietly but a little more coherent- "I didn't get my morning kisses." The she wolf glared as Freya burst into laughter. It probably wasn't as effective as it was meant to be given the childish pout still on her lips and the whine of "don't judge me!" that followed.

"Oh, I'm judging you," Freya assured her. "I'm judging you hard. But," and she sighed, putting her mug down and walking over to where the brunette was sitting, she wrapped her arms around Hayley's shoulders in a loose embrace, the other's hand rising to grip her arm. "I'm also amazing, so you get hugs."

"Thanks," Hayley replied, squinting up at the witch. "I'm still gonna punch you for laughing though."

"Sure you will."

Further teasing was put off as Keelin entered, the she wolf also making a beeline for the coffee pot. She downed half a cup of coffee before turning to the other two women in the kitchen, sending them a questioning glance. Freya spoke up before Hayley could, grinning as she gleefully informed Keelin how "Hayley's pissed because she's been deprived of her morning kisses."

Keelin sent Freya an unimpressed look. "You're one to talk. You literally go off in a huff if I don't provide cuddles on sight!" Hayley outright cackled, almost missing the wink the wolf shot her way as Freya spluttered indignantly, loudly defending herself.

It wasn't a perfect substitute for her morning kisses but, as Hayley reflected later, it definitely came in a close second.

Hope Mikaelson had a Problem. Well, if she was being honest, she had very many problems, but the most pressing one at the moment was walking towards her, bumping their hips together and asking if she had gotten started on their chemistry homework yet. Wait. Chemistry homework? Make that two pressing problems. Josie laughed as Hope rushed off to her locker to grab the relevant notebooks, calling out after her that she'd send her the questions "because we both know you don't have those either!" Hope flipped her the bird, but she couldn't quite keep away the grin that spread across her face. No, Josie Saltzman was one problem she didn't mind having.

Well, it was a problem she didn't mind having most of the time - and Hope was brutally reminded of that fact during a facetime with her mother that night. She had been distracted by a text from Josie, and when she turned her attention back to her mother, Hayley was grinning widely.

"Oh, I know that look. Who is he?"

"W-who?" The word caught in the teen's throat, coming out a nervous stutter.

"My baby girl has a crush!" Hayley all but squealed excitedly. "Come on, you can tell me. Is he cute?" And there it was. It wasn't that Hope thought her parents would take it badly if she told them, but… she hesitated and she didn't know why.

Her mother must have caught her hesitation though, because even if she didn't know why, she changed the subject with a quick wink and a teasing "keep your secrets, then." And somehow, that only made her feel worse. She wanted her mom to push, or, better yet, to simply understand without Hope having to tell her. Then they could all just move on and everything would be perfect.

Unfortunately, real life has a habit of disappointing and Hope cut the call sooner than she normally would have, claiming homework as an excuse. Flopping down on her bed, she sighed. "This sucks."

It wasn't that Klaus was having second thoughts about coming, he was simply… hesitant. The last time he had seen his younger brother in person was about eight years ago. He'd admit, their communication had definitely improved over the past few months, but… what if that improvement was limited to talking over the phone? It was, Klaus felt, a valid concern. Therefore, standing at Kol's front door, hesitation at ringing the doorbell seemed to be a rational emotion. Well, except for the voice in his head that sounded an awful lot like Hayley's telling him to stop being a coward and just ring the damn bell.

He did.

The door was answered promptly by a boy who looked about nine. "Hallo," he greeted Klaus, looking him up and down. "Who're you?"

The hybrid opened and closed his mouth several times before settling on "Klaus. I'm hoping you're David because otherwise I'm at the wrong house."

"No, I'm Da-David," the kid said easily. "Are you Kol's brother? He said you'd be coming today."

"That I am. May I come in?"

"I'll have to think about it," he said seriously. "Davina's very parti- particular about letting strangers in. They let me watch a lot of TV so I kind of get why."

"Maybe you could call one of them to prove who I am?" Klaus suggested, a hint of amusement in the words. The boy considered it, squinting suspiciously at the hybrid for a moment before shrugging.

"Davina's not home, so I'll get Kol," he decided. "But you'll have to stay outside till then, 'kay?" He didn't bother waiting for an answer, closing the door almost immediately, leaving Klaus waiting on the front step. "Kol! There's some guy outside sa-saying he's your brother! Should I let him in?"

Perhaps he shouldn't have gained as much amusement as he did from the vague thumps and crashes he could make out from inside the house before a slightly dishevelled Kol yanked the door open but, well, Klaus never claimed to be perfect.

"You came." Kol's voice had a tint of incredulity to it and before he knew what he was doing, Klaus found himself pulling his younger brother into a hug.

"Of course I did, you idiot," he murmured into the vampire's shoulder.

"So I guess we can let him in?" A voice piped up from behind Kol and the two broke apart laughing.

"Yeah, David," Kol said, not looking away from Klaus. "We can let him in."

"Aunt Freya, I have a Problem."

Now, Freya hadn't been expecting a phone call from her niece, much less for that to be the opening line, but here they were. "You mean besides spending way too much time with your Uncle Kol?" She asked, holding back her sigh. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Sorry, hi." The teenager had the grace to sound sheepish at least, before launching into what was bothering her. "Okay, so you know how guys are really pretty and girls are really pretty too?" She paused long enough for Freya to respond with a confused hum of agreement. This was not the direction the older witch had expected this conversation to take. She did start making her way to the kitchen though, figuring a bag of chips would not be amiss in this situation.

"Well, yeah, so like, the last time I had a crush, it was on Roman and we both know that did not turn out well and like, it was obviously a complete waste of a first kiss." The teenager rambled on as her aunt decided to grab a tub of ice cream and a spoon instead, making herself comfortable before processing what she had heard and injecting-

"Wait, that was your first kiss? Any chance you get a do-over on these things?"

"I wish. But no, tragic right?" Freya hummed in indignant agreement around a mouthful of ice cream as Hope continued. "Anyway, that was my last crush and it totally crashed and burned. So I'd be iffy with a new crush anyway, right? Except, I kind of have a bigger problem than them being a hidden jerk and like," she took a deep breath, speaking in a rush, "it's a girl and she's amazing and I thought I'd ask you for advice because Mom keeps asking me who it is and I don't know what to do."

"Oh. Oh!" Freya swallowed the mouthful of ice cream she had just taken, straightening up and asked - "is she cute?"

"Aunt Freya!" Hope's voice bordered on whining and the older witch grinned.

"What? Believe me, no one is going to care if you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend - no wait," she cut herself off. "Your dad might. But only because you're his little princess and he's absolutely certain that no one is good enough for you."

Hope made a vague sound of consideration at that last bit before agreeing, "yeah, you're right, he would think that. But Aunt Freya, still!" That was definitely a whine and Freya grinned as she dug into her ice cream again. "How do I tell them?"

"I feel like I should say something along the lines of 'just come out and say it,' but honestly? I don't think there's ever an easy or obvious way to do that. Just… we all love you, no matter what, ok? Nothing is ever gonna change that fact, I promise."

"Yeah?" The teen's voice was soft and unsure and Freya felt a strong urge to reach through the phone and hug her niece as tight as she could.

"Yeah," she repeated firmly.

And if Hope found a container of homemade cookies on her table that night, she knew exactly who to thank.

Yo, so a couple things, 1) regarding Hope being paired up with Josie. I still do not watch Legacies and as of now I still have no intention of watching it. On AO3 I was corrected on my wrong understanding that the twins and Hope were the same age, however, for the purposes of this fic, we shall assume that they are the same age. This is as 1) the Hope of my fic is still 15, making the twins technically 13. Therefore, I feel uncomfortable with putting a 15 year old with a 13 year old. I would also feel uncomfortable putting an 18 year old (as Hope evidently is in Legacies) with a 16 year old. This is as teenagers are roaring hot messes of hormones and a two year age gap is a big thing at that point in time. If anyone has any issues with this, I don't particularly care. This is my stance and I am sticking to it :)

2) I don't think I mentioned Future Adopted Child's name before, but if anyone is still confused, it is indeed David. I really adore the idea of found family when it comes to Kol and Davina tbh. The former never really felt like he could fit in with his family and the latter was literally a lamb for slaughter and disowned by her community. Anyway, in an earlier chapter I mentioned the kid has a stutter. Stutters manifest in different ways, I'm basing his speech patterns on my own. I can often speak normally without any problems for a while and then randomly be tripped up with different words, sometimes in the middle of the word. It is a little difficult to show that in writing but I am doing my best and I do hope you will bear with me and offer suggestions if you are able.

3) My Hope is bi. For all y'all who say bisexual people aren't a thing or aren't part of the community, there's the door, please show yourself out. I know she can't get more loving parents than Klaus and Hayley but let's be real here, no matter what, coming out is a terrifying experience for very many people. And even if it isn't, it's hard. I'm not speaking from experience here, but as a person who's somewhat connected to the world at large, it makes sense to me that Hope would be hesitant. I chose Freya for her to talk to first not just because Freya is already in a committed relationship with another woman but because I headcannon them to be quite close. Afterall, in the show, Freya is the one to break the news about Hayley being killed. I figure that when she's not being so serious, she along with Kol are probably one of the most fun out of her aunts/uncles to hang with.