"Caroline, stop pacing," Sophie said. "They'll get here when they get here."

Caroline didn't pause in her eighteenth lap around the kitchen. "You know, cooking relaxes me."

"Well, I got here first," Sophie said. "Not to mention, this is kind of what I do every day and it makes me feel normal, and today I resurrected an ancient psychopathic witch in order to murder another ancient psychopathic witch, and I came up with that plan like it was a completely normal thing to do. So right now, I need normal."

Caroline sighed. "I know. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help today, Sophie."

"They're my family too," Sophie said. "You don't need to thank me."

"How's Monique doing?" Caroline asked.

"She's okay," Sophie said. "I think she's happier with Cassie and her mother than here with me."

"With us," Caroline corrected. "I think we're the problem, not you."

"I'm not fit to be her mother," Sophie said. "I'm too young. I'm only ten years older than her."

"Elena and Jeremy's aunt was only ten years older than them," Caroline said quietly. "She managed. I just … I don't want us to be the reason your relationship goes down the drain."

"It hasn't," Sophie assured her. "She and I are brilliant. And if I was the only option, then I would manage, absolutely. But Maya Westwood was Jane-Anne's best friend, and she's offered to be Monique's guardian as long as she needs it."

"Okay," Caroline said. "I'm selfishly very glad you're here with us." She froze, a familiar engine rumbling in the street outside. "Oh thank God!"

She emerged into the street just in time to see Katherine step out of the car, with Hope in her arms.

Hope's face lit up and she reached out, almost bouncing out of Katherine's arms. "Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Caroline skidded to a halt in front of them, taking her daughter back into her arms, feeling her bury her face into her neck. "Hi sweetheart," she murmured. "Hi! I've missed you so much!" She finally looked at Katherine. "Thank you."

Katherine smiled at her. "You're very welcome. We brought you some presents."

"Aside from her, you mean?" Caroline asked.

"Oh yeah," Damon said, pulling a bag out of the trunk. "You owe us one, Barbie. Not for Hope," he added, before Katherine could argue.

"Well, come on in," Caroline said. "I'm intrigued." She led them back into the inner courtyard. "How was she?"
"For the most part, she's been an angel," Katherine said. "Although she is an exceptionally powerful witch."

"Oh dear, what did she do?" Caroline asked, rubbing Hope's back. "What did you do, baby girl?"

Hope lifted her head with a smile. "Went bang!"

Caroline blinked. "Two new words? It's only been three weeks."

"Oh, she's got more than that," Damon said. "I think you lot understood her too easily and then she got stuck with the two of us and just decided, 'Jesus Christ, these two idiots don't know anything; I'll have to spell it out for them.' What's under the sheet?"

"Oh, don't touch that please," Caroline said hastily. "It's Esther and Dahlia. They kind of froze into ash when they died and haven't blown away yet."

"It's either going in the basement or we might try selling it to an art gallery," Klaus said.

"Dada!" Hope cried, reaching out.

Klaus beamed, blurring to Caroline's side. She reluctantly handed their daughter over, slightly mollified when Hope still held on to her sleeve with one hand.

"Hang on," Caroline said. "What did she mean, went bang?!"

"When she wanted you, she was okay," Katherine said. "When she wanted Daddy on the other hand …"

"She had a screaming fit and broke a vase," Damon finished. "Not a particularly attractive vase, but it shattered. She was fine. Found it hilarious."

"That's my girl," Klaus said.

"Nik!" Caroline protested. "I'm sorry. She didn't hurt anyone, did she?"

"No, she was a good girl," Katherine said.

"Did you bring me the pieces of the vase?" Caroline asked. "Is that what the present is?"

"No, it's this," Damon said, pulling out a piece of plastic.

"Oh, you shouldn't have," Caroline said, taking it.

"It clips on to the toilet seat," Katherine said. "Stops her from falling in."

Caroline frowned. "You know, of all the baby gifts I've been given, this may be the weirdest."

"Well, someone convinced her she's a big girl so she won't use a potty," Katherine said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you asked me for help," Damon said.

"Yes, and what a bad idea that was," Katherine responded.

"Hang on," Caroline said. "Are you telling me that you potty-trained her?"

"Not intentionally," Damon said, sounding almost offended by the thought.

"Have you smelt her number twos?" Katherine asked. "They should come with an environmental warning - what are you feeding the poor child?"

Caroline giggled. "Sorry, I know I should be offended by that, but … did you just call them 'number twos'?"

"Oh, yeah," Damon said, with an air of sudden remembrance. "She's turned into a bit of a parrot. She will just start repeating random words."

"Parrot!" Hope cried, throwing her hands up.

Damon smiled at her. "That's right, Baby Barbie. That's what you are. We haven't taught her anything bad, but we have started a betting pool as to which one of you is going to teach her the first one."

"My money's on Kol," Katherine added.

"Not a bad guess," Klaus conceded.

"No one is teaching my baby curse words," Caroline said firmly. "How's Elijah?"

Klaus sighed. "It turns out," he said heavily, "that while I was triggering my curse, my brother also had a lapse in control. He was looking for me that day, not because he was concerned about my temper as I had believed, but because a lack of his own. And he has blamed himself for that all these years."

Caroline frowned. "But why … Oh," she whispered. "Tatia."

Klaus nodded. "Until Dahlia confronted Mother, he believed that he had been the one to kill her. I still don't think he's convinced otherwise."

Out of the corner of her eye, Caroline saw Katherine lean up to whisper something in Damon's ear. He didn't look happy, but nodded, whereupon she kissed him and stepped closer to them. "Where is he?"

Klaus looked as startled as Caroline felt. "He's in the library, but …"

"And where is that?" Katherine asked.

"Upstairs," Caroline answered blankly. "Fourth door on the right. Are you sure?"

Katherine nodded. "I'm probably the only person who can get through to him. With the exception of maybe Elena, but she's not here."

"Mama," Hope said. "Potty please."

Caroline took her back. "Katherine, can you show me how to attach this thing first?"

Katherine smiled weakly. "Not a problem."

Sure enough, Katherine found Elijah in the library, gazing out of the window with a glass of bourbon.

"You should be with your daughter, Caroline."

"And you should pay more attention to your surroundings," Katherine said.

Elijah turned, surprise clear on his face. "Katerina."

Katherine smiled tightly. "I assume there's a second glass and the rest of the bottle in here somewhere?"

"Of course," Elijah said. "Please - allow me."

"Thank you." Katherine watched him pour a second drink and took the offered glass. "I know my face is probably the last one you want to see."

Elijah's eyes hardened and he turned back to the window. "Niklaus told you."

"He told Caroline," Katherine said. "I happened to be in earshot. You didn't kill her, you know."

"That is what my brother tried to tell me," Elijah said, drowning his glass. "And I will say to you what I said to him. You were not there."

"I'm not disputing that you hurt her," Katherine said. "But you cannot have killed her."

Elijah's glass hit the wall, shattering into a thousand pieces, and Katherine flinched. A decade ago she might have run, but now she stood her ground.

"Do you feel better now?"

Elijah turned on her. "How can you say that, Katerina? I still remember my teeth sinking into her neck, her life ebbing away beneath my hands, the look my mother's face when I brought Tatia's lifeless body before her …"

"She was not dead," Katherine repeated. "And if you listen for five minutes, I'll tell you how I know that."

There was a beat of silence, while Elijah visibly composed himself.

"Very well," he said finally. "Please tell me how you can be so sure of events that happened five hundred years before you were even born."

"I'm standing here," Katherine said. "That's how I know. The Hybrid curse had to be broken with the death of the Petrova doppelgänger, because Tatia was sacrificed to place the curse. The laws of magic says she has to be sacrificed to break the curse too, but she can't die twice, so the doppelgänger curse was created on the family line. And she cannot have been sacrificed to curse Klaus if she was already dead. My guess is that your mother was healing her, or had just finished doing so, when Klaus was brought before her having triggered the curse, and she became a convenient starting point for the spell."

Elijah stared at her, slowly sinking on to the window seat. "How did I not realise that?"

"Guilt has a wonderful way of masking the truth from us," Katherine said, taking a sip of bourbon. "Not to mention the fact that your mother was dead and you didn't know half of what you know now. Why would you suspect your mother of murdering the woman you loved?"

"She still died in fear of me," Elijah whispered. "That was still likely her last conscious memory."

Katherine sighed. "Okay, move over."

Elijah obligingly shifted to one side so she could sit down.

"For a long time, I thought maybe I was going mad when I met you," Katherine said. "And then two things happened. First of all, I saw your mother for the first time, albeit from a distance, since we never actually met. And second of all, I talked to Elena. Let's start with your mother. Did it ever occur to you how strange it was that Elena, with all her compassion, didn't warn you about your mother's plan? That she willingly allowed you - someone she had a decent rapport with, if not a friendship - to put your life on the line for her own freedom?"

"I did," Elijah conceded. "Part of why I was so angry with her when I found out."

"As you had every right to be," Katherine agreed. "Do you know why she didn't warn you?"

Elijah hesitated. "I don't think she ever told me. Or, for that matter, if I ever asked."

"It's because she was scared," Katherine said quietly. "And I don't blame her. Because what she told me about the first time she saw Esther … I think she thought I'd laugh, but I felt it too. It felt like Tatia reached through a thousand years and whispered 'do as she says, or she'll kill you again'."

"Again?" Elijah repeated.

Katherine heaved a sigh. "Look, don't ask me to explain the doppelgänger thing - I am one, and I still don't understand how it works. It's one of the only times I've felt that, except then I knew what it was."

"What was the first?" Elijah asked.

"When I met you and your brother," Katherine said, "I was nineteen and naive. I was probably suffering from some kind of post-natal depression. I had no idea about vampires. And yet the morning after you offered me a roof over my head, when you two were eating the waitstaff and not bothering to hide it, I never once felt scared."

"We never compelled you," Elijah said. "We never needed to."

"I think Tatia was telling me I could trust you," Katherine admitted. "Elena said something similar. That when Rose and Trevor kidnapped her and she first met you, even though she was scared she wasn't as scared as she felt she should have been." She finally met his eyes. "You lost control. It wasn't your fault. And Tatia knew that."

There was a soft tap on the door before Elijah could respond, and Caroline poked her head round the door. "Sorry to interrupt, but apparently Hope needs a high five."

"And you're incapable of them?" Katherine asked, getting to her feet.

"I'm not enough," Caroline said with a grin. "Auntie Kat gives her a high five when she uses the big girl potty."

"Aun-ie Kat!" Hope said holding up her hand.

"Did you remember to wash your hands?" Katherine asked automatically, before shooting Caroline an apologetic look.

Hope nodded eagerly. "Uh-huh! Hi-Fi!"

"Awesome job, baby girl" Katherine said, giving her a gentle high five. "Mama's going to be doing the high fives now."

Hope pouted. "No."

Caroline sighed. "I'm going to have to face-time you every time she goes, aren't I?"

"Hey, it's a brilliant story to tell at her 21st," Katherine said.

"I suppose," Caroline said. "How are you, Elijah?"

"Fine thank you, Caroline," Elijah said. "Kater … Katherine was able to make several excellent points that Niklaus failed to make."

"Unca Lijah," Hope cried, holding out her arms.

Elijah's face lit up in the first smile Caroline had seen in weeks and she happily handed her daughter over to her uncle. "Welcome home, Hope. We've missed you so much."

Caroline convinced Katherine and Damon to stay for dinner and then the night, pointing out that Hope would handle their sudden departure from her life much better if there was some kind of transition.

(And, for all Damon's posturing, it was obvious that he would miss Hope as much as Katherine would).

Sophie quite happily added another two people to her catering list and Caroline took the opportunity to sit back with her daughter cuddled up on her lap, watching her family talk and laugh in a way she had been starting to think she would never see again.

Davina was still looking very pale, but she and Kol had pointed out that they had missed Christmas due to whole situation - something Caroline had been vaguely aware of, but hadn't really paid attention to.

Jeanette had gone out to the plantation house and returned with a Christmas tree, a box of decorations from the Christmas ball, and Josh and Aiden, who were greeted with great enthusiasm.

They were currently helping Jeanette, Adrian and Kol decorate the tree while Davina offered criticism from an armchair, since none of them would let her help.

Matt and Rebekah had finally emerged (to raucous hooting from Kol, which both ignored, much to his frustration) and were talking to Katherine and Damon, the three older vampires apparently having a good-natured debate about how best to learn blood control.

Leaning her head back, Caroline closed her eyes, focusing on her daughter's heartbeat, even as Klaus sat on the arm of the chair beside her, sliding an arm around her shoulder.

There was someone missing.

Caroline opened her eyes, letting them wander across the room, before landing at the top of the stairs. "I'll be right back," she murmured, slipping out of Klaus's embrace.

Settling Hope on her hip, Caroline made her way up to Freya's room, pausing outside when she heard muffled sobs. "Freya?" She called, tapping on the door. "Can I come in?"

There was a soft rustling noise. "Yes."

Caroline pushed the door open to find Freya at the dressing table, mopping at her eyes with a tissue. "You okay?"

Freya gave a watery smile, but didn't look up. "It's just all a bit overwhelming. The clothes are beautiful, thank you."

"Thank Rebekah for that," Caroline said. "She's a designer snob. Don't get me wrong, I like designer, but I will quite happily wear anything if I like it and it fits. I know everyone all at once is going to be overwhelming, but a quiet family dinner seems to have evolved into a belated Christmas party. Blame Kol."

"Am I underdressed?" Freya asked, finally looking up, but her concerns seemed to fizzle out. "Oh …"

"See, there it is," Caroline said with a smile. "Hope, say hi to Auntie Freya."

"Hi," Hope said obediently.

"She's talking so much now," Caroline said, running her hand through her daughter's somewhat unruly blonde curls. "And her hair's so much longer. She's been away three weeks and I feel like I missed so much. So I can't imagine what it's like for you."

Freya nodded, getting to her feet. "Well, sitting in here isn't going to rewind time. Hi sweetheart."

"Any other day she'd probably be happy for a cuddle," Caroline said. "But she's being picky today and a bit clingy with me and Nik."

"Absolutely understandable," Freya said, with the first full smile Caroline had seen. "We've got time, haven't we?"

Hope didn't reach out the way she usually did, but she did extend one arm and looked back at Caroline. "Mama, hug?"

Caroline took a step towards Freya so Hope could rest her head on Freya's shoulder, hugging her new aunt without releasing her mother.

"Oh darling," Freya murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "You are perfect."

"Isn't she?" Caroline agreed, giving her a hug as well. "Now come on. You've waited this long. Let's not drag it out any further."

Arm in arm, Caroline and Freya made their way down the stairs.

Kol noticed them first, his face lighting up in a smile. As he left the others to their decorating, he caught his siblings' attention.

One by one, they rose, their eyes fixed on their oldest sister.

"Breathe," Caroline murmured. "They don't bite. Much."

Freya choked back a laugh. "Don't. I'm more likely to cry than laugh right now."

Kol met them at the bottom of the stairs. "Welcome home, Freya."

"You'll set me off," Freya warned.

"Well, we're all pretty emotional right now," Kol said, offering her his arm. "Shall we?"

Freya nodded, taking his arm with her free hand. "This is silly. I've met them before."

"Not as you, though," Kol said, as they approached the living room. "You're allowed to be nervous."

Rebekah reached them first. "I'm sorry we didn't come sooner."

"It's okay," Freya said. "It's easier when you don't know what you're losing."

Rebekah let out a choked sob and threw arms around her sister.

Caroline gently disentangled herself and returned to the armchair, where Klaus was still standing. "Go on," she said quietly. "She's nervous enough."

"Older siblings tend to be disappointed in me," Klaus murmured.

"She's just glad to be home," Caroline said, prodding him.

"Speaking of home," Klaus said, changing the subject. "What do you think about a vacation? Just the two of us?"

Caroline sighed. "That sounds lovely, but if you think I'm leaving Hope any time soon, you're mad. I can't switch gears that quickly."

"In a few months then?" Klaus suggested.

Caroline smiled. "That, I'll agree to. Now for the love of God, go and give your sister a hug."

AN: Sure I've said this before, but I'll say it again - I am borrowing parts of the mythology from the show, but not sticking to it religiously. I know the doppelganger curse in this chapter does not fit with the revelations in season 5.

On saying that, the part about Elena (and Katherine) getting an instinctive feeling about Esther from Tatia has been borrowed from another fic - but still, like dust, I'll rise by twocankeepasecret - so credit where credit is due.