Chapter 024

Any More Surprises?

Saturday, January 22, 2011, a little after 10 a.m.

Kol's Bedroom

I'm sitting in one of the leather chairs in the corner of Kol's bedroom while Bonnie comes fully awake because Kol runs his hand up and down her bare back. She's lying on her stomach, and she blushes when she recalls what all they did when we got home.

We all ate, of course, and chatted about New Orleans and further hypotheses regarding the spells they did the other night, but then I cleaned the entire downstairs while the two of them had multiple repeats of the afternoon's earlier activities. I do know that they discovered that Bonnie's maidenhead does, in fact, grow back once he pulls out and pretty quickly at that. She didn't even feel it happening, but she felt it when he broke through it yet again.

He thought she'd think it was weird that he knows Rebekah's body does the same thing. I can admit that at first, it did seem a little odd, but when he asked, "Who else would she have confided in? She was terribly upset about it and in tears, and frankly, Elijah is too prim and proper for that conversation. Nik would have hunted down whoever dared touch her and tear them limb from limb. Finn would have just given her his patented disapproving stare before trying to lock her up so she couldn't do that sort of thing ever again. That means I was the only one she could come to," Bonnie and I both had to admit that he was probably right about all three of their brothers' potential responses to that information.

Kol chuckles bringing Bonnie out of her thoughts before he asks, "Hmm, what could possibly be causing that delicious smelling blush to cover your body. Why don't you roll over and let me see how far down it goes?"

I just shake my head at him while my granddaughter giggles but buries her head into her pillow. With her face still shoved into the pillow, she tells him, "It's a lucky thing I love you, or I'd have to hex you for being so… so… oh, I don't even know the word."

He laughs and tells her, "Lusty, perhaps, but I don't think that's cause for a hexing. Still, I'm glad you love me so much, or I'd be in trouble."

She peeks out of the pillow and smiles before she tells him, "You totally would be."

Laughing again he grins when she leans over and kisses him good morning. She frowns a moment later when her hand and body encounter his clothes covered body. She pulls away and asks, "Why do you have clothes on?"

Kol, ever lascivious, laughs again before he asks, "Oh you want me naked, do you?"

Oh, she definitely does but she's not about to tell him that outright so instead she pouts and blushes while she tells him, "Maybe."

Smiling he tells her, "I'm afraid we don't have time for that."

She wonders, 'Wait, we don't?' Frowning she asks the obvious question, "Uh, why don't we have time?"

Leaning in and kissing her again he pulls away before he says, "Beks, Jer, Caroline and I are all done packing, so if you and the others agree we'll be heading out this morning."

My precious girl rolls over and pulls the sheet up to cover her chest before she sits up and frowning asks, "Really?"

He smiles wider and tells her, "No, I'm lying. Yes, really."

While she fully wakes up, her eyes travel around the room. All the shelves are empty. "How did you manage to pack everything so quickly?"

Still smiling, he says, "I woke up early and used vampire speed to get the job done. Beks, on the other hand, busied herself, Caroline, Jeremy, Finn, Sheila, and Henri last night by packing all her things and all Jer's family's books. Then they woke up early this morning and packed the things that Nik and Elijah asked her to pack for them and teleported them to New Orleans."

My granddaughter frowns and asks, "Why did you wake up so early? Is everything okay?"

Leaning in, he kisses her a moment before he pulls back and says, "Everything is perfect. I think I'm just excited about getting out of this God-forsaken town."

Giggling, she plays with the corner of the sheet she's clutching to her chest and tells him, "It's not God-forsaken."

Kol smiles again before saying, "Uh huh, if you say so. Either way, I'm happy to be getting the hell out of here. Because everyone who is here who is important to me is coming with me, there is nothing left for me here."

She thinks, 'Aw, what do you say to such sweet words?' She forgoes saying anything and instead leans in and kisses him. He smiles into the kiss and then pulls away telling her, "As much as I would love to continue that thought I'm afraid I let you sleep as long as I could get away with. I have it on good authority that you have 45 minutes to get your cute little arse downstairs and finish breakfast, so as loathe as I am to say this you need to go wash the scent of sex off of you."

She blushes deeper than before and closes her hazel eyes before she asks, "Beks and Caroline totally already know right?"

He nods but with a very satisfied smile on his face he says, "I believe Jeremy, Finn, and Henri also know because in case you've forgotten I've discovered you're a screamer when properly motivated."

I quietly chuckle while she covers her face and laughs silently thinking, 'Oh My God.' Without pulling her hands from her face, she asks, "How do I face them?"

Kol's smile leaves his face before he asks, "Why do you sound ashamed?"

My grandbaby thinks, 'Shit!'

I suppose her silent laughing looked like crying because she covered her face, too, and he doesn't have the advantage I have of being able to hear her thoughts, so she looks at him and tells him, "That's not what I meant. I just mean it's embarrassing."

His smile returns though not at full wattage before he says, "You do realize that The Linking Spell means you're stuck with me forever, don't you? Damon wasn't wrong when he said you're my mate. To put that in terms your modern perspective might understand you're essentially my wife for eternity."

My flabbergasted girl stops at that and turns wide eyes towards him while she thinks, 'I'm his what?' "Uh, really? I mean I knew when I agreed to the spell that it was for eternity, but I never thought of it in those terms."

He nods and says, "I know, and when you're good and ready, I plan to actually put a ring on your finger and give you an actual wedding, but I figured I should give you a heads up because everyone including my siblings now see you as officially a part of this family. I will likely introduce you to certain people as my mate. Not everyone mind you because I don't want to put a target on your back any more than you already will have one, but certain people will need to know that to harm you will incite my wrath in ways they know they don't want to experience."

I smile because though she is still incredibly insecure, she is stuck on one thing, "You actually want to marry me?"

Kol grins widely, and with sparkling eyes, he says, "Absolutely, in fact, now that we did The Linking Spell and you can't be taken from me actually having you as my legal wife and not just my mystical wife is the only other thing I need to be completely happy and satisfied."

She thinks, 'Um, Wow,' before she smiles kind of shyly and while looking up at him through her lashes tells him, "Well I'm not completely opposed to the idea. Although, I do think we need to wait a little while or my dad will freak, not to mention Abby."

It's none of their business what my precious girl decides to do, but he ignores that part and leans in kissing her again before telling her, "I can wait as long as you need me to because you already did The Linking Spell with me. Now I believe you have about 40 minutes to shower, dress, and eat, so you better hurry."

She thinks, 'Crap!' Then she hesitates to get out of bed, though. Still blushing, she doesn't think she's confident enough to walk across his room buck naked, and she doesn't see her clothes anywhere nearby, though she does finally register that I'm in the room. Still, she's shy so she does what any embarrassed woman would do in this situation. She steals his bed sheet and wraps it around herself quickly before hopping out of bed and running to the bathroom, or she would have if she didn't trip on the end of the sheet and land with her face in his chest because, holy crap, he moves fast.

He chuckles and tells her, "I've already seen every inch of you now, so there's no need to steal my sheet, though it does look particularly fetching on you."

He leers at her and makes no move to let go of her though, so she laughs, too, and tells him, "Let me go, so I can shower and get dressed."

Chuckling that low chuckle that still sends shivers coursing down her spine, he says, "Walk instead of acting like you're running from me, and I think I could be convinced to let you go."

Looking at the ground and still furiously blushing she bites her lips and then tells him, "Sorry, I'm not running from you. I just, well, I'm naked, and you're not and well—"

Tipping her chin up so he can look into her eyes he tells her, "I know you're not actually running from me. As for the reason you were running, you have no reason to be embarrassed with me, but I think it will be some time before you'll get more used to being naked around me. All I'm objecting to is you actually running wearing a sheet that's twice as long as you are."

She giggles at that and nods telling him, "Okay, I'll walk."

He smiles and leans down kissing her. He tries to pull away, but he seems to have created a monster, so my grandbaby wraps her arm not holding the sheet to her around his neck and holds on tight forcing him to continue the kiss.

Laughing into the kiss, he doesn't try to pull away again. She's really getting into it and wishing they had more time, but before she can try to convince him to take her back to bed, Rebekah bangs on the door and says, "That's enough of that you two. Don't make me come in there and separate you. Sheila, I thought you were going to make sure they behave?"

I laugh and tell her, "If they actually got back into bed I would have intervened. As it stands, there's no harm letting them enjoy each other a little before she showers and gets dressed."

Bonnie groans and then laughs before the older girl huffs at my explanation and says, "I mean it, Bonnie, go shower, or I'm coming in there regardless of how little you're wearing."

My granddaughter pecks Kol on the lips and then turns towards the door and tells her friend, "That won't be necessary."

Kol laughs while I pick up a pile of clothes off the chair across from me and walk to the pair handing my grandbaby the stack of her clothes that I picked out for her from her overnight bag. She smiles while she holds her clothes and the sheet to her chest with one hand and uses her other hand to pick up the ends of the sheet off the floor and then walks at a moderate pace into the bathroom where she closes the door.

Bonnie giggles when she hears Kol open the bedroom door and ask his sister, "Was there something else you need Ms. Cock-blocker?"

Rebekah giggles and tells him, "No but it's a 15-hour car ride, and I don't want to have to sleep in the car because you couldn't keep your clothes on long enough for her to get ready to leave. Why don't you go downstairs and help Jeremy, Finn, and Henri make her breakfast?"

My granddaughter hears the door close, so she drops the sheet and turns on the shower before using the toilet, washing her hands, and then getting into the shower. She wets her hair and then frowns when there is a knock on the bathroom door. "I'm showering, Kol."

The door opens, and Rebekah laughs and says, "Well, I don't know about you, Care, but I've never been confused with my brother before."

Caroline giggles and says, "Can't say that it's ever happened to me before either."

Bonnie sticks her wet head out of the shower door and asks, "What do you want now, Rebekah? As you can see I'm doing what you told me to do."

Rebekah chuckles and says, "God, your pout is almost as sad as Kol's is. We're here for girl talk while you shower unless you want us asking you how last night was with Kol, Finn, Jeremy, and Henri in the room."

Bonnie blurts out, "God, no I don't want to talk about it with Finn, Jer, or Henri there. In fact, ignoring the fact that Henri is stuck in the body of an 11-year-old, I'd prefer not to talk about it at all because I know damn well Kol can hear every word we say, and his head is big enough without my adding to his ego."

Rebekah grins and holds up a bundle of herbs, "Which is why I brought Sage." A moment later she lights the herb and sets in into a marble bowl before she whispers The Silencing Spell then she says, "There, now he can't hear us either. So how was it?"

Even through the glass of the shower, we can see that Bonnie is blushing deeply while she washes her hair and thinks back over all the sex she's had in the last 18 hours. Still, she sighs and tells us, "Oh my God, your brother wasn't kidding when he told me he's so good at sex he should be paid to do it."

They laugh before Rebekah asks, "Wait, when did he say that?"

I laugh and tell her, "When they got coffee the morning after their truce."

Bonnie nods but asks, "You were there, Grams?"

Smiling I tell her, "I've been around for most things since I died but especially since you had your premonition."

The cheerleader nods again and says, "Oh," while the two blondes laugh, and Rebekah asks, "He actually told you that the first time you spent any amount of time together?"

Bonnie nods and says, "Uh huh."

Caroline asks, "Was the first time horrible when he, you know, broke through?"

Bonnie smiles and tells us, "None of what we did was horrible, though I am a little miffed that apparently, my hymen grows back every time he pulls out."

Caroline frowns and says, "God that sucks."

While Bonnie rinses her hair and then adds conditioner, Rebekah laughs and says, "She'll get used to it. At least she won't have to compel her partner to forget that it kept growing back like I've had to do anytime I slept with a human more than once."

Bonnie laughs and says, "That's true. And it didn't hurt that bad. I mean I cried the first time, but it was just a single tear, and he was so sweet when he wiped it away and told me that he wouldn't move until I told him I was ready. Actually, he said that every time, but it was particularly sweet the first time."

While Bonnie lets her conditioner sit in her hair for two minutes Caroline giggles and asks, "So, exactly how many times did you do it yesterday?"

My grandbaby smiles while she thinks back and tells us, "Hmm, four, no five times if you include the two times he woke me up to do it all over again."

They both laugh before Rebekah says, "No wonder you woke up after ten in the morning. My brother wore you out."

Bonnie giggles, too, while she rinses the conditioner out of her hair and tells us, "He totally did."

She pours body wash onto her loofah and then lathers up before Rebekah asks, "But it was good? You don't have any questions for the more experienced women in your life?"

Bonnie pauses and thinks about it for a minute then asks, "Well I wouldn't mind pointers on how to give a blow job before I do it. And I'm confused why I liked it when his pressed his thumb against my um… I don't know a non-crude word for it."

Rebekah's smile is visible when she asks, "You mean your rosebud or your asshole."

Bonnie is blushing hard while she rinses the soap suds off and then quickly shaves her legs and underarms, but she says, "Um yes, I never knew that would feel so good. I mean I know people have sex there, but I didn't realize it feels good for the girl. I figured it was just something the girl puts up with to make her man happy."

Caroline is smiling widely when she says, "I know a few girls on the Cheer team who don't enjoy it, hate it actually, but I've always enjoyed it."

I tell her, "I never minded it."

My oh-so-innocent grandbaby sticks her head out of the shower and looks at me with wide eyes before asking, "Seriously, Grams?"

I just laugh and tell her, "I had needs, too."

Everyone laughs before Rebekah adds, "I enjoy it too, though it was harder to get a guy to do it back when I first began having sex. It was far more taboo than it is now, and it's only been legal in most places, if it is yet, for under a century. In fact, it's probably only been the last thirty or forty years if my research was accurate."

We all laugh, and Bonnie tells her, "You would research something like that."

The blonde giggles and tells us, "I was actually looking to see what the legal age of consent is here in Virginia currently. I saw a link on the web page that talked about what types of sex are still illegal in certain places in the world. It was actually quite interesting."

While Bonnie steps out of the shower and grabs her towel, she tells the older girl, "You would think that."

Rebekah smiles when she says, "Well, I needed to know what laws I was breaking, so I'd know when to compel the knowledge out of people."

Caroline grins while my granddaughter towels off and brings the topic back to Kol by asking, "So is he big?"

Bonnie giggles when Rebekah slaps at Caroline's arm and says, "Eww, gross, that's my brother."

Bonnie decides to get a little payback and tells us all, "He is. I actually think he's bigger than Elijah and Nik too, although I never saw them hard."

Caroline is laughing, mostly at the face Rebekah is making before the original asks in a pained voice, "I'm probably going to regret asking this, but how do you know how big all three of my surviving older brothers are?"

I laugh and tell her, "Her premonition. We saw Elijah shower, and because he was in front of a bathroom mirror, we got an eye full. Then we saw Niklaus change into a new outfit and his room here has a full-length mirror on the inside of the door of his closet, and because none of your brothers wear underwear, we got an eye full of him, too."

Bonnie nods and adds, "Believe me the only Mikaelson I wish I had seen naked is Kol. Caroline will be pleased I think, though, when she finally spends some naked time with Nik."

The blonde in question laughs when Bonnie wiggles her eyebrows at her and Rebekah groans.

Caroline smiles widely and tells us, "That's not going to happen, too, soon. I need a commitment first. I'm tired of just being a piece of ass. I mean I loved Tyler, but I think he only saw me as a convenient piece of ass that he happened to be good friends with. It's why I finally broke up with him. Despite what he still thinks it had nothing to do with Klaus and everything to do with how he treated me when he wasn't fucking me. He's an okay friend, but he sucks at the dating thing."

We all nod. We already knew all of that. Bonnie smiles though when she says, "I think you should make Nik work for it. Make him prove he's worthy of you. Then again if Kol is right then Nik is already thinking long-term with you, so he shouldn't have a problem making the effort to cherish you the way you deserve to be."

Rebekah nods while Bonnie pulls on her pants and the older girl tells us, "As big an arse as he can be I've never seen him interested in a woman the way he is with you Care. Well, there was one he thought he was in love with back when we'd only been vampires for a brief time. I accidentally turned her and then she abandoned him not too long afterward. He was not fun to be around after that, but I can tell he genuinely loves you in ways he never loved her. He's far more patient with you than he's ever been with anyone, me included, and you actually deserve to be loved the way he loves you, so this time should have a much happier ending if you let him win your heart the way he wants to."

Rebekah grins and says, "I can't tell you how pleased he is that you agreed to come with us. When I called to tell him, he asked what changed? I told him that your two human best friends were coming with us, so you had no reason not to follow your heart and live in New Orleans and see where this might go between the two of you. Needless to say, he was so happy I could practically hear him vibrating with excitement over the phone. I know he's been working on getting the house ready for us, and I think he had already started making up a room for you, so I'm sure it'll be spectacular."

Caroline smiles but says nothing about Niklaus and her future relationship with him. She does, however, ask, "So Bon, will you be having your own room, or will you be sharing with Kol?"

Bonnie pulls up short at that then says, "Um, we haven't discussed it. I have a lot of things so maybe keep my stuff in one room and keep my clothes in his closet and obviously share his bed. I'll have to ask to be sure, though."

Rebekah leans against the bathroom counter while Bonnie leans over the sink to put on her makeup before the blonde says, "I wager he'll want all of your stuff to be intermingled with his stuff. He seems like that type of person even though he's never lived with a woman before."

I frown and ask, "Not even with Chalina?"

The older girl's eyes widen before she tells my grandbaby, "I didn't realize you finally knew they were together, but no they didn't live together. Her father was an asshole and was making things difficult. They secretly got married because her father refused to give his blessing. I'm sure if Mikael hadn't also killed him that day he would have made sure his descendants thought very poorly of my brother, never mind that Felipe is the reason Mikael knew where to find us. When he discovered that Kol and Chalina had secretly wed, he was so furious that he sought out Mikael to try to keep Kol from his daughter so really her father brought about his and his daughter's deaths all on his own without any help from Kol. As it stands my brother still has a strong relationship with her sister's descendants. They know he loved her with all his heart and that he not only risked himself to try to save her but was despondent after she died."

Rebekah sighs and then says, "They also don't hold him responsible even though Mikael promised to let her live if Kol just helped him end Nik. Chalina's sister made sure everyone in her line knew that if she had been in the same situation, she would have chosen her sister over her lover or husband every time because the bonds of siblings do and should outweigh every other relationship. I mean a husband or a wife might get pretty close in terms of closeness and love, but it's a different kind of closeness and a quite different type of love."

She shrugs and says, "Kol is the youngest surviving boy, or he was until we did that spell making Henri visible. Anyway, Kol grew up with all our older brothers watching out for him, and we had been together for hundreds of years with only a few decades separation from him every now and then when he went out and explored the world on his own. Don't tell Kol I said this because he needs to hear it from Nik and Elijah, but they both regret that they felt they had no choice but to dagger him after she died. They knew Mikael would not hesitate to kill Kol if they left him behind like he begged them to, So, they daggered him and carted him off to the ship that took us back to the New World because when it came down to it they'd rather he be pissed off at them and alive than happy with them and permanently dead."

Bonnie nods and tells us, "I know, I figured it out on my own from conversations I've had with all three of them, but I agree he needs to hear it from them, though I'm not sure either of them will ever get around to actually talking to him about it. I'd try talking with them about it, but I realize it's not really my place to interfere in that way."

Rebekah shakes her head and says, "I heard him earlier, and he's right you're now officially a member of this family. You're younger than all of us for sure, but you and your opinions hold the same weight as ours. That doesn't mean we'll always listen to you and do what you want because I'm sure you realize by now that we're a family of stubborn bitches, but they'll take your opinion under advisement the same as they would for the rest of us. Honestly, I think they might actually give your opinion greater consideration because you're basically a new set of eyes regarding old issues or situations that have yet to be resolved."

She shrugs again, "Either way I'll support your decision on this matter, but after hearing you bitch Nik out after he tried to dagger Elijah this last time, I think he'd actually listen to what you have to say without blowing up all over you. He respects you, which I'm sure you know is rare, but the fact remains he's let you get away with things he's only let the rest of us get away with even before you did The Linking Spell with Kol. So, I'm sure he respects you in ways he hasn't respected anyone else who wasn't of blood relation to him."

Bonnie tilts her head, so Rebekah grins and says, "You proved yourself that first day at the beach when you told him you were glad that you were wrong, and the spell worked for him too. I know he was amazed when you said that you would have tried to help him get his wolf side back, too, if it wouldn't have involved Elena's death. Like he told you that day we could all tell because of our advanced senses that you were 100% truthful."

Bonnie nods slowly, so Rebekah says, "I don't think you realize just how incredible you are. You took four spoiled, overly privileged, thousand-years-old predators who haven't had to even entertain the opinions of others if we didn't want to and made us not only respect you but love you. Then you took it one step farther and made us all not only love you but consider you one of us. I can't be clear enough when I say that none of us have ever agreed on who that should happen with before. I mean obviously Kol wanted us to treat Chalina that way and I think given a little more time she would have won Nik over but all the other women and men we've been involved with not just romantically but platonically, too, never came close to getting us all to agree that they were one of us. And like I said before there is an incredibly special bond between siblings, and I don't think you realize that it now applies to you as well."

Rebekah grins and says, "I know you're an only child, but now you have five older brothers and at least one older sister in addition to Caroline and Jeremy. For all intents and purposes, you are a Mikaelson even without the wedding I know Caroline and I are both looking forward to helping you plan. So long story short, if you decide to broach the subject with either of our older brothers, I don't think anyone would get angry with you or at least not for any real length of time."

Rebekah pauses then smiles and says with conviction, "Always and Forever, Bonnie."

My grandbaby goes to ask her older friend the significance of that phrase because she hadn't realized it was a Mikaelson thing. She thought it was just a Kol thing. Now she knows she was wrong, but before she can ask there is a knock at the door.

Bonnie is done applying her makeup, so she turns to face the door while the two blondes both shrug at the question on my granddaughter's face before Rebekah tells her, "The Sage means we can't hear outside of this room any more than someone else can hear us. The only reason we heard the knock is because this side of the door is in the room we spelled."

Bonnie smiles and tells her, "I know that because I can't hear who it is either, but I was wondering if you have any guesses as to which boy it is."

Caroline giggles and says, "I smell Jer's aftershave, so my guess is it's Jer."

Rebekah takes a deep breath and then nods just before there is another knock. She looks at Bonnie and asks, "Are we done here?"

Both girls and I nod, so she extinguishes the sage and then opens the door to find Jeremy smiling on the other side.

He grins wider when he spots the sage in her hand and asks, "Was Kol right? Were you using Sage, so he couldn't hear you?" When we nod, he laughs and says, "You missed him pouting. I expect he'll give you all a hard time and point out that he was present for everything you four were probably chattering about."

Rebekah laughs and pats his shoulder while she walks past him and tells him, "We only briefly spoke about my brother's activities with Bonnie last night. The rest was about how she's now a Mikaelson in every way that counts."

Still grinning, Jeremy nods and follows her out into Kol's room while the rest of us follow him.

He smiles wider when he reaches the door and says, "Well, either way, Kol, Finn, Henri, and I finished Bonnie's breakfast, so if you want it to still be hot you should do less gossiping and hurry up and eat."

Bonnie laughs and asks him, "Ohh, what did you guys make me?"

While he walks down the hallway, he turns and walks backward so he can look at her and says, "Cinnamon and raisin French toast."

My baby girl smiles, "Oh Yum!"

When we walk into the kitchen, Kol is plating up the toast before he turns and holds the plate out towards Bonnie. When she grabs hold of the plate, he pulls it back towards himself and leans in and kisses her sweetly before letting go of the plate. He grins and says, "If it's horrible it's Jer's fault because he left Finn, Henri, and me, the vampire and two ghosts, with no modern cooking experience, down here by ourselves, so he could chit chat with you ladies."

When Bonnie sits down at the table, she smiles and with a slight blush still on her cheeks she flips over the first piece of toast and sees that it's perfectly browned. Grinning, she tells him, "Well, it appears you managed not to burn them so it should be awesome because it's pretty hard to mess up French toast if you follow the recipe and don't burn them."

Jeremy sits beside her while Kol sits in front of her with his own plate.

Jeremy smiles and tells her, "I used Klaus' printer in his office and three reams of paper to print off three copies of my mom and grandma's cookbooks. I also scanned Sheriff Forbes' family cookbook that Caroline says has recipes from both sides of her family in it."

Caroline nods and while the newly mated pair eat she tells the Mikaelsons, "My grandmothers teamed up before my parents got married and made a big cookbook with all their recipes. I guess they even went so far as to try out each other's recipes if they had them for the same thing and voted with help from my granddads and their friends on which one tasted better. It was their wedding present to my parents."

Jeremy nods before he smiles and says, "The thing is huge. I'm talking 500 pages easily, and the print is tiny. Care is helping me transcribe it because her grandmothers' writing is hard to read, so I'm typing it up with her help, and then we'll print it out. The only reason I scanned it instead of taking it with us is Sheriff Forbes was only willing to part with it for a day or two at a time, and it takes that long to decipher and then type out a single recipe."

Bonnie frowns and asks, "At a time? How long have you been working on this?"

He looks at Caroline for a minute then says, "About 5 months I guess. We'd already transcribed two-thirds of it when I lost my arms. I only scanned the last third last night and this morning because we can't take the book with us."

I'm smiling, but I still ask, "What prompted this project?"

Caroline jumps in and tells me, "You've seen the book Grams, it's literally falling apart. I mean it's 23 years old and has had food dropped all over it, so I asked Jer if we could scan it. When he got a look at it, he suggested we scan it to preserve my grandparents' handwriting but type it out so that people other than me can understand what's written, too, in case I want to share it with someone else. Beks says we can give the printed out copy to the cook that works at the new house, and she'll make whatever we want out of it. We plan to give the cook the printed versions of the Gilbert and Sommers' books, too. Fortunately, those were both typed out already, so just the scans are enough."

Bonnie nods and tells the siblings, "Grams, was the cook in my family. She had ten cookbooks worth of recipes dating from as far back as just after my ancestors arrived in Salem so like 1627 or 1628 ish I think. They're among the books we teleported to the new house yesterday because my dad is a frozen dinner kind of guy if I don't cook for him, so he really has no need for the books."

I nod and tell them, "They might actually be about a decade older than I originally thought if the ghost of one of our ancestors is to be believed."

Everyone nods and after that Kol and Bonnie focus on eating while the rest of us chit chat about nothing important. When we're done, Bonnie gets up and rinses the dishes before putting them in the dishwasher and then putting the soap in it to run it. We figure we can leave it full once they're clean, and we'll empty it the next time we visit.

Before they all go up to their rooms to put the few things not already in their bags into their luggage, Kol bites his wrist and feeds it to Jeremy after saying, "I apologize Jer for not giving you some last night."

He laughs and says, "No worries, I know you had more important things to worry about."

While Jeremy sucks his blood from his wrist, Kol smiles and says, "Don't doubt that you're important to everyone in this room right now. I honestly meant to go give you some, but I fell asleep before I could get up. When I woke up next, you were passed out. I knew we likely had a long day ahead of us, so I wanted to let you sleep for as long as possible because I was fairly certain you'd be safe in your bed for the night."

When the wound heals, Jeremy pulls away, and Kol bites his wrist a second time, and they repeat the process. They end up doing it three times total before Jeremy pulls away a final time and wipes his mouth with the napkin Rebekah hands him. He balls it up when he's done and tells Kol, "I know I'm important to you all. I just meant that I figured I was safe for the night, too."

Kol nods, and then everyone in our party who isn't a ghost goes up and finishes packing before we all meet in the foyer. Rebekah looks ready to jump out of her skin, so my grandbaby laughs and asks, "Is all this excess energy because you're so excited to return to your hometown?"

She beams when Bonnie calls New Orleans her hometown, but she shakes her head and tells the two mates, "No I did something this morning, and I'm excited for you both to find out what I did. I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but Care offered to let me do hers instead of yours and mine in case I destroyed it inadvertently."

My granddaughter is clueless about what she is talking about, but she's not done, so she says, "Once I did hers and realized I wasn't even tired, and Elijah assured me it arrived unscathed, I did yours and then mine too."

Okay, still clueless, so Bonnie asks, "Um, what exactly are you talking about?"

Rebekah laughs and opens the door before motioning for the pair to go outside. When Bonnie gets out there, she pulls up short when she realizes her car is nowhere in sight. Turning to look at Rebekah with wide eyes when she figures out what the vampire was talking about, she asks, "You managed to teleport not one but three cars from here to New Orleans all in one morning?"

Rebekah giggles again and nods before she tells us, "We figured it'd be more fun to all be in one car instead of us having to split up between four cars because Nik wants his SUV back. This way we all ride in the SUV, and we can talk and keep each other company, and we also don't have to worry about any of us getting lost or separated from the rest of us. Safety in numbers and all that rot."

Bonnie nods and then hugs her friend before telling her, "Thank you, Beks. You're right this will be much more fun this way."

Rebekah smiles big and then goes back into the house and starts carrying out bags and putting them in the back of the SUV under the seats. Kol helps and before we know it they're closing and locking the door of the house.

When Kol pulls my granddaughter into his arms, she feels something inside his coat pocket. Opening his jacket, she looks, and her eyes widen when she realizes what she's looking at.

She frowns and asks, "Why are you taking the White Oak Stake with you? Wouldn't it be safer hidden away?"

He nods but says, "My siblings and I all agree that leaving it unattended in the same town as Stefan Salvatore is a colossally stupid move even if my compulsions on him should prevent him from trying to act against us. If I temporarily die again, it could become an issue so even though I had it protected by multiple spells there is no guarantee that he wouldn't find a witch stupid enough to help him find it and get it out of the hiding place. So, I'm bringing it and keeping it on me at all times until we arrive. Then I'll hide it again and redo the protections I originally placed on it. Right now, only a Mikaelson can touch it. Due to The Linking Spell that should include you. Anyway, only we can touch it because none of us are likely to try to use it on any of the others."

She nods so he shrugs and says, "I'm leaving the daggers as a red herring of sorts because they won't hurt us anymore. Although there is a spell on the hiding place to let me know if anyone finds it or tries to access it."

Bonnie closes his jacket back up before leaning up and kissing him. Rebekah grumbles for a minute before she threatens, "If I have to go get a bucket of water and douse you two, I will."

Bonnie laughs, and after she pulls away from Kol's lips, she says, "That won't be necessary, Sister."

Rebekah beams and says, "Forgiven."

She pauses and then nods to herself once before telling all of us, "Okay, so I figure the two of us who are alive, and the shortest should sit in the third row with Henri. Then I'll sit in the second row with Finn and Sheila. Kol and Jer can sit up front where they'll have the most legroom. Then we can switch out who's driving, and the tall person not driving can sit in the second row either with me or in place of me if I'm driving. Because Henri is shorter than all of us, I figure he can go wherever the person who is driving was originally sitting."

That sounds like a plan, so we all nod and get in.

Bonnie feels like she might bounce out of her skin she's practically vibrating with excitement. When she looks over at Caroline sitting beside her, she can see that the blonde is trembling with excitement too. They grab each other's hand and squeeze when we pull out of the driveway. I have to admit I'm excited about this new chapter in all our lives, too.

I frown though when I hear in Bonnie's thoughts that she's texting her dad telling him, "We're leaving for New Orleans right now. I'll text you when we arrive safe and sound. Love you."

He texts back, "Okay, have fun and be safe. Love you, too."

That just causes my frown to deepen. Finn notices and leans closer to my ear and says, "Relax, Sheila, she's safe now, and he can never harm her again, at least not without this family making him pay a steep price."

I place my hand on his while it rests on his knee and tell him, "Thank you, Finn."

He smiles and nods, and I can admit, even if only to myself, that that smile does things to my insides. Oh, dear, I think I'm in a bit of trouble now.

Smiling, Bonnie asks everyone, "Uh did anyone let Damon know we're leaving like we promised, or should I text him now?"

Kol smiles at the rear-view mirror before he tells her, "To my knowledge, no one but those of us in this car and Elijah and Nik actually knows we're leaving today."

My baby girl smiles back at him and says, "I just texted my dad, so he knows. I'll text Damon now so he won't give us grief later over not telling him before we leave the city limits."

Everyone nods while she types out, "Damon, FYI, we're in the car leaving town now. We'll be in touch if we decide to come back for any reason to give you a heads up so you can do damage control."

I'm surprised when a second later he texts her back because I figured he'd be busy doing whatever it is he does all day long. His message reads, "Okay, drive safe. Stay safe and keep me informed of any issues so I can keep Elena abreast of how her brother is doing."

I sincerely doubt the selfish brat will care what's going on with any of us including Jeremy, but Bonnie types back, "Okay. C-ya around Damon. You stay safe, too!"

He sends back a winking smiley face, so she puts her phone back into her pocket about the same time Caroline puts her phone into her pocket and tells us all, "I just told my mom. Luckily, I had a chance to say goodbye in person last night after we boxed all my stuff because she wasn't there this morning when I went home briefly to return the cookbook after Jer and I finished scanning it."

I nod at her, and so does everyone else then I sit back while I listen to Kol and Jer discussing what CD's to put in the CD Changer. Surprisingly, they seem to agree on the artists but not which albums, so they both argue that one is better than another.

Rebekah gets fed up first and tells them, "The Changer holds ten CD's so choose five artists and then put the five CD's each of you thinks is the best into it and then leave it."

I laugh when Kol says, "Yes, Mother," at the same time Jeremy says, "Yes Mom."

Rebekah frowns and says with some bite in her voice, "You did not just compare me to Esther!"

It's Jeremy who puts out that fire when he tells her, "I never met the bitch, but I haven't heard a single good thing about her other than that she gave birth to some incredible children. You're pretty on par with how awesome my mom was though and because I doubt Kol is stupid enough or suicidal enough to compare you to the bitch that tried to kill all of you I suggest you take it as a comparison to my mom because she was everything a mom should be."

The smile on Rebekah's face is blinding when she tells the young man she thinks she's falling in love with, "Good save Jer. Kol you owe him one."

Kol just laughs while we drive by the sign stating, 'Thank you for visiting Mystic Falls. Please come again.'

We get onto I-66W, and at some point, Bonnie falls asleep. I just sit and listen while the others all converse about their favorite things from when they last lived in New Orleans or the things they hope to see or experience. I wish I could fall asleep, but alas ghosts don't sleep.

I can't say I'm surprised that my granddaughter is sleeping soundly despite all the conversation going on around her given what she spent all night doing. When she wakes up, she blushes at that same thought, which prompts Kol to say, "Little Bella, what has you blushing? Naughty thoughts of me perhaps?"

Her stomach flips when he says the word 'naughty' in his British accent. It has a certain bite to it that does all sorts of crazy things to what she calls her 'girlie parts.' She laughs though and tells him, "Maybe."

He strokes her cheek, so she opens her eyes surprised to see that we're parked at a gas pump. He smiles while he kneels on the seat in front of her and says, "We're about halfway there. You slept through the last pit stop. Do you want anything from the store before we head out?"

She smiles and shakes her head but tells him, "No, but I need to use the restroom."

He nods and says, "Okay, better hurry because Beks is driving, and she seems to be in a hurry."

She laughs while she slides out of her seat and tells him, "Leave her be, Kol. She's excited to be going home after all these years."

He pouts and says, "Take away all my fun, will you?"

Giggling, she gets out of the car. When Bonnie gets back to the car, we both laugh at Henri coming out of the convenience store with a mound of goodies piled up in his arms. He drops a bag of skittles and a bag of M & Ms, so Bonnie walks over to him and picks them up before taking a few things from his arms while she laughs and asks him, "Did you actually leave anything in the store, Henri?"

He chuckles and says, "Yes, Care was kind enough to point out the things I should avoid."

Giggling again, Bonnie looks at her blonde friend and asks, "Jerky?"

Caroline nods deeply, so Bonnie tells Henri, "She's a pretty good judge of that sort of thing." Turning to look at the others my grandbaby asks, "Do we know yet if ghosts can get sugar highs?"

Jeremy chuckles while he puts his own stash of goodies into the front seat and tells her, "He bought and ate even more junk food at the first stop, so my guess is we all lucked out, and he's not capable of getting the stereotypical sugar high. Honestly, I'm still amazed that he can eat it at all. I mean, if he's a ghost then where is it going because he's already told me that he doesn't need to use the bathroom despite how much soda he's drunk today."

Kol laughs and says, "Based on what I know of The Otherside and ghosts, in general, I'd guess that the food is ending up on The Otherside as though his mouth is a portal to The Otherside. The amazing part to me is that he can taste it and it actually tastes good to him. I would have figured that it would either be tasteless or taste like dirt, but the mere fact that he can't get enough of human food tells me that it tastes amazing just as it does for the rest of us."

We all nod and while Rebekah stretches, Caroline offers, "Beks, you've been driving for over three hours. Do you want me to take a turn?"

Rebekah stretches her back and then bends over at the waist before she says, "Sure, thanks."

When she gets into the middle row of seats in the SUV, I laugh when she tells Kol who is in the chair beside her, "Don't even think of bothering me or I'll stick you in the back with Bonnie and Henri and let you be all scrunched up for three or four hours."

He laughs and slides out of his seat to join Bonnie anyway. He smiles at me and asks, "Sheila, do you mind sitting with my sister for this leg of the trip?"

I nod and get up while Henri giggles when I move into Kol's abandoned seat, and Kol sits in the middle of the bench despite his long legs. Bonnie leans against him and quickly falls back to sleep listening to his heart slowly beat beneath her ear.

I close my eyes and just let my mind wander for most of this leg. When my granddaughter wakes many hours later, she's still curled up against Kol's chest with his arm wrapped around her shoulder and his hand rubbing up and down her arm rhythmically.

She almost wants to go back to sleep because she's surprisingly so wonderfully comfortable, but she hears him talking on the phone, "We're about 20 minutes away according to the GPS, so we should be there soon. Okay, see you then."

He turns off his phone then pecks the side of her head with his lips before he asks her, "Do you feel okay, Bonnie? It's not like you to sleep so much."

She nods and tells him, "I didn't feel sick, only tired. I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight, though."

Kol smiles and wiggles his eyebrows before he says, "Ooooh, something to look forward to then."

That reminds her, so she cautiously asks, "Um, am I sharing a room with you? Like are our things going to be mixed together or will I have my own room and just sleep in your room?"

He looks down at her and asks, "I was planning to share a room and have our things all mixed, but if you want your own space, there is a spare room with your name on it, if you want it. Which would you prefer, Bonnie?"

He's tense, and he used her first name, so we both know this is important to him, so my grandbaby smiles and tells him, "I prefer to share a room with you. I mean if we're practically married then we should be in the same room."

His muscles relax, and he smiles before leaning down and kissing his mate sweetly. They don't come up for air again until the car slows and turns into a long driveway. I turn to look out the dark window and watch the trees that line the driveway until the big white house that's lit up like a Christmas tree comes into view, and my jaw falls to my chest. It's even bigger and grander than the home in Mystic Falls, and I didn't think that was possible.

Bonnie didn't think so either. She knows from conversations with Elijah on the phone that it's an honest to God Plantation House that was once owned by the Governor of New Orleans. Now it belongs to Elijah, and, Oh My God, it's gorgeous.

While Rebekah pulls up in front of the house and parks beside Bonnie's car, Elijah comes out onto the porch. We get out slowly, and I stretch my muscles a bit which who knew ghosts could get crampy muscles?

Bonnie does the same before walking up to Elijah and hugging him and then telling him, "It's good to see you, Elijah."

He awkwardly hugs her back, and she laughs when she pulls away and tells him, "Eventually, Care and I will have you loose and relaxed every time we hug you guys."

He chuckles and says, "If you say so, Bonnie."

He turns and hugs his sister while he asks her, "How was the trip?"

She giggles and says, "Except for the arguing about which CD is better it was good."

They pull apart, and Kol moves to shake his older brother's hand, and they give each other that manly half-hug I've seen other men do with each other. When they pull apart, Elijah faces the rest of us and then his eyes widen, and his hand goes and covers his chest over where his heart slowly beats, "Henrik? Finn? Sheila? How? What? Am I hallucinating?"

Henri smiles and says, "Yes, a spell, we're still ghosts, and no you are not hallucinating," then he runs and leaps at Elijah whose arms automatically come up to catch him. While they hug, Henri whispers, "I've missed you so much 'Lijah."

The usually over composed original's eyes are suspiciously moist when he whispers into his brother's neck, "I've missed you as well." Two minutes later they finally pull apart, and while Elijah straightens his tie and his jacket back into proper place he gives another manly half hug/half handshake to Finn, and then he asks, "How did this come about?"

Henri giggles and says, "Still so proper even more than a thousand years later. God, I love you, Elijah."

His eyes are big and round at his brother's proclamation, so Rebekah puts her arm around Elijah and tells him, "Did you know that before becoming a hunter Jer was actually a ghost whisperer?"

Elijah shakes his head, so she continues, "Well, he was, but then he became a hunter, and he lost the ability to see ghosts. However, when Kol and Bonnie gave him back his arms he lost his 'hunter-ness,' and a short time after we finished the spell he began seeing ghosts again or more specifically four ghosts, our sister and two brothers and Bonnie's Grams. Long story short, Henri remembered seeing two non-dark spells in one of Kol's grimoires that would make them not only visible to those of us included in the spell but also make them corporeal. Anyway, we included Bonnie, Kol, Caroline, Jer, me, you, and Nik in the spell so we can see all three of them. Now somehow, possibly because we did a Waxing or Waning Moon Spell on a Full Moon everyone can see all three ghosts. Kol's planning to ask some of his witch friends here if they have any insight as to why the spell seems to include everyone instead of just those individuals who contributed hair to the spell."

She shrugs and says, "So, although it apparently didn't work quite as planned everyone in our family can actually see them. Now all the ghosts can touch anything they want as though they're alive, and FYI they can eat human food, too, and it tastes good so the cook will need to take that into account because Henri still eats as though he's a growing boy."

Elijah nods and then says, "Well the rooms are all soundproofed, so you'll probably have to explain all of this again to Niklaus after he's been reunited with Henrik and Finn."

We all nod so He looks at all of us and asks, "Any more surprises I need to be aware of?"

We all look at each other then slowly we all shake our heads, so he smiles and nods at us and then he says, "Well then, welcome to New Orleans and your new home."

The End

(Until the Sequel)