Chapter 16

The most perfect little girl in the world

Kol opened his eyes. He was in his room at the compound. At least he thought that the room was his, although it looked different. More…cozy. All the dark colors were gone; the whole room was practically bathing in light. Who had done this? He looked around and noticed couple of framed drawings on the wall. A child's drawings. What…

"Daddy?"

Kol turned around and saw a little girl. She had dark hair and bright blue eyes, she was smiling at him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm your daughter," she replied. "You're my daddy."

"What?"

The girl stepped in front of him and took his hand.

"I'm your daughter," she repeated. "You know I am."

He stared at her disbelievingly and noticed how familiar she looked like. She had Brie's eyes and his nose and mouth. Somehow he knew that she really was his daughter, he could feel it. It took a while before he managed to speak, he simply stared at her. She looked like the most perfect little girl in the world. His daughter…. He was a father.

"Is this a dream?" he finally murmured.

She shook her head.

"No. I found a way to talk to you now when you're so close to mommy. We both need your help."

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, for now. But they are coming."

"Who?"

"Bad people. They want to hurt mommy and me."

Kol pressed his lips together and got down on one knee.

"Listen to me, I won't let anyone hurt you," he assured firmly.

The girl smiled and touched his cheek with her tiny hand.

"I want to meet you, daddy. Please protect mommy and me."

"I will, I swear."

He startled when she wrapped her little arms around his neck.

"I love you, daddy. Please be kind to mommy, she has been so scared

"I will," Kol murmured. He was deeply ashamed of all the distress he had caused Brie and he was afraid that their daughter knew about that.

"Mommy's soul is kind and gentle," the girl hummed. "She needs you, daddy. We both need you."

"I'm right here," Kol assured. "And I'll make sure that you both are safe."

"I know you will. I love you, daddy…"

Kol gasped and quickly opened his eyes. He was in the bathtub; Brie's head was resting on his shoulder. She was asleep. Apparently he had fallen asleep as well. At least he thought so. Slowly he placed his hand on Brie's baby bump. No… It was impossible. The child couldn't have… Right? But then again, he didn't know what this child was and what she could do. She. Yes. The child was a girl, he was sure of it. He would have a daughter.

Slowly his lips curved into a smile and he kissed the top of Brie's head. She was going to give him a daughter. The thought filled his dead heart with feelings he had thought he had lost forever. Yet he also felt something he could no longer ignore. Guilt. As he was holding Brie now, he truly understood how pure and innocent she was. How broken she was.

After everything he had done to her, she trusted him now simply because he had acted like somewhat decent person. It would be so easy for anyone to take advantage of her. If he would hurt her now, she would most likely apologize for upsetting him. That was how she had been raised. Something like that would break anyone. She most certainly hadn't deserved any of it.

"She's a vessel… She was conceived by magic… Designed as a fertile vessel."

Kol gritted his teeth and wrapped his arm protectively around Brie. Those bastards would pay for everything they had done to her. She wasn't some damn vessel; she was the mother of his child. She deserved to be safe and happy. He was determined to look after her and hopefully fix at least some of the damage that had been done to her. But first things first, he needed to get her out of the bathtub.

"Brie?" he said gently and touched her hair. "Brie?"

She blinked her eyes sleepily.

"Hmm?"

"We need to get you to bed, darling; you can't sleep in the bathtub."

"I'm sorry…" she murmured sleepily.

"No need to be sorry. Can you wash yourself?"

She tried to lift her head, but she couldn't. He hadn't realized how exhausted she was.

"Alright…. May I wash you?"

"Hmm…"

Poor thing, she was struggling to keep her eyes open. Very gently he washed her and wrapped a huge towel around her and another one around his lower body before lifting her up into his arms. She was almost asleep already as he carried her to the bedroom and carefully placed her on the bed.

"Brie? May I stay here with you?"

She didn't reply, but he didn't think that she would mind. He only wanted to be close to her and their daughter. She sighed and snuggled against him as he lied down beside her. She truly trusted him. Only a monster would have misused that trust. Or mistreated her. Gently he ran his fingers over her warm cheek.

In that moment he felt something strange. Something he hadn't felt for a very long time. Magic. It was flowing through him, just like it had when he had still been a human. The feeling was intoxicating. He looked at the lamp on the nightstand and waved his hand. The lamp flew against the wall. He couldn't believe it, this was… Suddenly the feeling was gone. The magic was gone. What had happened? Slowly he looked at Brie.

"Was that you, darling?" he murmured. That was more than possible; she had been conceived by magic. He stared at her while processing the whole thing. This was very interesting.