AN: I'm trying to keep Hope's progression as natural as possible, so I do keep checking up on age and what she would be able to do. According to my timeline, she was born December 8th 2012, and we're currently late January 2013 so she's about two months old here. If she does appear to be a little advanced for her age, let's chalk it down to a) not all babies progress at the same age and b) magic.
Unable to relax until Davina returned, Caroline sat in the nursery window seat, Hope asleep in her arms.
She was drawn from her quiet musing when her daughter stretched, her eyes blinking open.
"Hi sweetheart," Caroline cooed. "Did you have a nice nap?"
Hope squirmed, her eyes falling on the birds swooping past the window. She made the little noise that she made whenever Sophie or Davina did magic where she could see them, so Caroline propped her up a little more so she could see out of the window.
"Is she back yet?"
Caroline glanced over her shoulder. "Not yet."
Klaus came to stand beside them. "What are you doing?"
"She's interested," Caroline said. "Listen to her."
Sure enough, Hope was making little babbling noises, her hands waving at the birds - whether she was doing it intentionally, Caroline wasn't sure, but she was certainly very enthusiastic.
"We have to do something, Nik," Caroline said softly. "We can't stay hidden away in here forever; it's not fair on her."
One of the birds landed on the railing outside the house.
"Ba," Hope said excitedly.
"One of the birds has come to say hello," Caroline said. "Can you say hi?"
"Ba," Hope said again.
Caroline smiled. "Close enough."
"She's too young to talk, right?" Klaus asked.
Caroline nodded. "All babies start making noises like that, it doesn't really mean anything. Or, rather, it means everything. She won't start using proper words for a few more months, and even then it won't necessarily be what she means. The thing is, we have no idea what Dahlia looks like, whether she's alive, or even what she wants. For all we know, she and Freya could turn up and just want to give her a teddy bear or something."
"With our luck?" Klaus asked incredulously.
"Hope's alive and healthy," Caroline said. "That's luck. I survived the birth. That's luck. We do have luck, Nik. It's not good to rely on it, I agree, but we do have it. The thing is, we cannot keep her locked away in this house until she's an adult - babies need the sun, and they need human interaction, and the need fresh air. So our options are send her away …"
"Absolutely not," Klaus said.
"I agree," Caroline said. "The second option is to trust the people around us and try to have a normal life."
Klaus didn't respond and Caroline didn't say anything more, lifting Hope up to see more of the street outside.
"I suppose we do have an army willing to protect her," Klaus said finally.
Caroline smiled. "We do. I'm not implying we drop our guard entirely, but we do need to get on with it. I know that several of the ladies in Jackson's pack have been wanting to come over and meet her, and I've been putting them off because of this. Likewise, most of the vampires know she exists but they've never even seen her. Aside from Hope's needs - which are obviously the most important thing - the more we stay hidden away, the more it looks like we're hiding something, which causes unrest and …"
"Caroline, I agreed with you," Klaus said.
Caroline rolled her eyes. "But I had a whole extra argument prepared for when you inevitably didn't and I didn't want to waste it."
Klaus finally cracked a smile, leaning down to kiss her. "I like surprising you every now and then. What are you thinking?"
"Same as we did with Marcel," Caroline said. "Let's have a party."
"We seem to be going from one extreme to the other," Klaus said.
"If we had never heard of Dahlia, we were going to do that," Caroline said. "Let's face it. Rebekah said that's what people used to do, right? There'd be a christening, and then a huge kind of 'welcome to the world' party."
"I don't think a christening is appropriate," Klaus said. "Assuming you mean the religious ceremony in which we promise before God to lead her into the Church."
Caroline hesitated. She had grown up in such a traditional small town that it was almost unheard of for a child not to be christened.
But Hope was a witch, and Caroline was a vampire, and Klaus was a hybrid.
She was sure Father O'Connell would do it, even knowing about them, but it just felt wrong.
"I agree," she said, "but I do want the party. I trust our security to keep out anyone that's not invited."
A soft tapping noise drew their gaze towards the door.
"How did it go?" Caroline asked.
"As well as it could," Davina said, coming to sit beside her. "She wanted to know how I was, if I was safe, if Hope was safe …"
Klaus bristled, but Caroline reached up to take his hand without looking.
"She's a witch that hates vampires," she said gently. "I can understand her concern."
"I told her the only thing Hope was in danger of was being spoilt rotten," Davina said with a smile, reaching out to touch the baby's hand.
With a smile and a gurgle, Hope reached towards Davina, and Caroline handed her over without hesitation.
Davina placed a kiss on Hope's forehead, smiling as Hope patted her cheek with her little hand. "She's in agreement with the ancestors about Hope being a blessing - she really wants to meet her. She is not willing to have a vampire entering her home, however she understands the need to take precautions and she won't take offence if it can't happen."
"What's your opinion, Davina?" Klaus asked.
"I think she's an elderly lady who wants to meet the new baby," Davina answered. "I think that it would get you a lot of brownie points. Not all of the elders are happy and if you've got her onside, you've won half the battle."
"Then what do you suggest?" Caroline asked. "If she can't come to us, and she won't let us bring Hope to her …"
"Why don't I take her?" Davina asked. "You can send as many people with me as a guard as you like - she's fine for them to be loitering outside. I can assure you that she will be safe inside the house."
The two parents shared a silent look.
Davina gently bounced Hope in her arms as the child began to fidget, perhaps picking up on the increased tension in the room. When that didn't work, she freed one arm and murmured a spell, causing soft coloured lights to trail from her fingers.
Hope immediately settled, her eyes following the light trails.
"Very well," Klaus said eventually - Davina wasn't quite sure when he and Caroline had mastered the art of speaking without saying a word, but they seemed to have done so. "In the spirit of getting on with life, that may be our best option."
Hope's stroller (which Elijah insisted on calling a perambulator - Kol assured her it was an old English term, but she wasn't convinced) had not been used much, if at all, since it's purchase.
Rather than laying her down flat, it cradled her so she was tilted upwards, something Davina was grateful for now, as when Hope was awake, she did not like lying on her back, and did not hesitate to let everyone know that.
She could understand. It must be terribly frustrating to be wide awake, and hear people and things around you and not be able to see them.
In the carrier she was in now, she was able to look around, her eyes shining as she took in the sights and sounds of the French Quarter.
"This is good for her," Josh murmured beside her.
"It is," Davina agreed, tucking Hope's blanket around her a little more. "There's a whole world out here, isn't there, sweetheart?" She glanced over her shoulder. "Do they need to be so … ominous?"
Caroline and Klaus had opted to remain at the compound, both certain that if the meeting with Madame LaRue took longer than expected, they would not be able to contain their worry if right outside the house.
Instead, while Josh walked alongside Davina, there were six vampires and two hybrids trailing behind them, looking exactly like a team of bodyguards.
Which they were, technically, but it was very off-putting.
Josh grinned. "Guys, do you think you can back off a bit? The whole point is to be there just in case, not to draw attention to her."
Davina didn't look back, but she felt herself relax and guessed that they had drawn back into the crowds a little so they were less conspicuous. "Thank you."
The trip to the small cottage was uneventful. Unlike her last visit, Davina felt her worries subsiding the closer she got.
The magic wrapped around them, settling like a comforting blanket.
At least, that was how it felt to her - judging by the way Josh began to squirm beside her, she guessed it wasn't the same for her companions.
"It's protective," Davina said hastily. "It's not a threat. It just feels like it to you because your vampires and the magic assumes that you're the threat."
"Okay, if you really can't handle it, start falling back and setting up a perimeter," Josh said. "I doubt anything can happen to her inside this."
Josh was easily the youngest of the vampires accompanying her, and yet they all followed his instructions without complaint. Being part of the Mikaelsons' inner circle did wonders for one's credibility.
They reached the cottage just a few moments later, and Davina put the brakes on the stroller. "Okay, sweetheart, are you ready to meet a new person?"
Hope gurgled at her as Davina undid the straps, raising her arms to be picked up.
"Wait a second, honey," Davina said. "I need to get you undone, or the whole stroller's coming with us. There we go." She lifted Hope into her arms, just as the front door to the cottage opened.
Charlotte's face lit up. "Is this her?"
Davina nodded. "This is Hope. We do have company, but most of them are loitering at the edge of the protective spells. Josh is going to wait out here with the stroller, if that's okay."
"Not a problem." Charlotte gave Josh a piercing look, but when she spoke again, it was to Davina. "You trust him?"
"He's my best friend," Davina answered.
Charlotte gave a decisive nod and reached out, touching Josh's forehead and murmuring something under her breath. "I've just told the magic that you're not a threat," she added by way of explanation.
Josh had already relaxed. "Thank you." He unhooked the diaper bag from the stroller and helped Davina get it over her shoulder without dislodging Hope. "Take your time. Yell if you need anything."
Davina smiled. "Thanks Josh."
Charlotte stepped back to let Davina in, closing the door firmly behind her. "He doesn't act much like a vampire."
Davina shrugged. "He's not really used to it, I don't think. Caroline's the same. Their physical appearance still matches their age; I think that helps." She took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do this."