Chapter 40: Makin' a Baby

"We're here. Now what?" Rebekah's voice rang through the hallway and Caroline forced herself out of bed. She wanted to sleep for a century, but necessity would not allow it.

Swinging the door open, Caroline took in Rebekah's eyes boring a hole into Caroline's and Rebekah's lips pursed in a familiar scowl of contempt. And all Caroline wanted to do was hug her. Caroline's hormones were already twisting her emotions into an uncontrollable, natural disaster.

"Bekah," Klaus' voice sounded from inside the room. Caroline glanced back at Klaus, who rubbed at his eyes. He'd slept on Rebekah's bed and did not look like he'd slept at all. His eyelids were purple and puffy. He blinked at them, several times, before he forced himself into a sitting position.

A cough sounded from the hallway and Caroline's eyes darted to take in Marcel, easing into view. He stood just around the corner. Caroline knew he was there. She could smell his aftershave.

"Good morning," Marcel greeted her, but the old ease with which he used to treat her was gone. It had been replaced with an unease that made Caroline feel a pang of regret. She'd help get him turned into a vampire, and he hadn't begun to treat her differently, until now. Looks like killing a guy's gal could cause a strain on a friendship.

"Hi," Caroline replied, quietly. She tucked her hair behind her ears and stepped aside. Looking into the hallway, she felt another pang. "So, Hayley's not with you?" She already knew the answer. She would know Hayley's scent and the sound of the other girl's movements anywhere.

"No," Rebekah retorted, waving for Klaus to get off of her bed, like he was a puppy.

Klaus smirked and walked over to Caroline's bed. Plopping down, he folded his arms behind his head. "Ready to become a mummy, sister?" he inquired with a rise of his eyebrows.

Marcel rolled his eyes. "That's not going to happen." Looking at Caroline, his expression darkened and he continued. "Do you have a plan B?"

"Not unless you want Bekah to die," Caroline snapped. "I mean, we could try killing Mr. I'm-Going-to-Kill-You-a-Hundred-and-Fifteen-Times. But I would prefer to deal with this problem, now."

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Marcel groaned. "Look, I can deal with her having another guy's kid. This isn't about that—this is about what Bekah wants—and she doesn't want that."

"How would you know?" Klaus snapped, sitting up.

Rebekah held up a hand. "Because I told him so. Last night. We had a very, long discussion about the matter. This is my body and my choice. And I will be the one dictating whose children I have, and whose I do not. Thank you, very much."

"Right. So you prefer to die. Horribly?" Klaus retorted, his gaze darkening. "As well as Caroline, my child. Hayley and her child. Rebekah, how can you be so selfish?"

"No one has to do anything they don't want to do," Caroline snapped at them.

"Oh, really? Now, you are the voice of reason?" Rebekah scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Caroline felt annoyed. "I didn't say that. It's just… You're right. A lot of people in our group had their choices taken away from them. Me. You. Marcel. Elena. Damon. Hayley. It has to stop at some point. And I say that that point is now. So, if you don't want to go to some stupid clinic and look for some stupid guy's sperm that he donated because he had like student loans to pay, or something stupid like that—"

"Wait a minute," Marcel stopped Caroline's rambling. His eyes were wide with shock as he looked at the others. "Caroline." He walked over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders, a smile beginning to form on his face. "You beautiful girl, I could kiss you right now."

"What?" Rebekah and Klaus demanded.

"Not like that," Marcel said, turning to face the Mikaelson siblings, placing one arm around Caroline's shoulders. "Our girl just came up with a solution to all of our problems."

"I did?" Caroline felt shocked and pleased. Her eyes moved from Rebekah to Klaus and back to Marcel.

"See, when I was in college, I was strapped for cash during my senior year and hemorrhaging under massive debt. So, this buddy of mine tells me to just go and donate some of my sperm and I could make some quick cash." Marcel explained to them.

"And you did it?" Rebekah demanded, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at her boyfriend.

"Baby," Marcel removed his arm from Caroline and walked over to Rebekah. "Don't you see: This is how we make our baby?" he asked her, cupping her face between his hands and Rebekah's usual frost melted.

Caroline glanced at Klaus and grinned. He winked at her. Looks like things might work out after all.

"And where is this clinic?" Rebekah demanded.

"Down in New Orleans." Marcel told her.

"Road trip," Klaus announced with glee.

"Oh, goody," Rebekah snorted. "I will call Hayley, inform her of the good news, and I suppose we should be going." Rolling her eyes and flipping her hair over her shoulder, Rebekah glowered at them while she removed her phone from her purse.

Sucking in a deep breath, Caroline waited to see what Hayley had to say.

The sound of the phone ringing echoed through the room before Hayley picked up. "Yeah," she snapped.

"Caroline's come up with a solution to our problems," Rebekah snapped back. Her eyes pinned Caroline with a glare.

"I'm sure she did. Did it involve all of us dying?" Hayley's response made Caroline frown.

Caroline strode across the room and waved for Rebekah to give her the phone. Rebekah huffed but handed the phone over. She moved to stand beside Marcel, who placed his hand on her back, attempting to sooth her. Good luck with that, Caroline muttered, inwardly.

"Hayley. It's me," Caroline began when she heard Hayley let out a growl and then Damon's voice.

"Hey. I liked that vase!" the Salvatore brother shouted.

"Are you with Damon?" Caroline asked Hayley, her eyes darting to Klaus.

Klaus' eyebrows rose and he became way too interested in the conversation. Turning to Rebekah, Caroline's mouth opened and she mouthed: "What is going on?"

Shrugging, Rebekah's eyes moved to the carpet and Caroline drew in a frustrated breath.

"Why would she be at Damon's, sister?" Klaus inquired.

Rebekah's eyes moved to Klaus. "It is really none of your concern, Nik." She strode to the door. "If anyone needs me, I will be in the parking lot."

"Bekah!" Klaus snapped. Pushing off of Caroline's bed, he followed Rebekah and Marcel followed Klaus.

Now that she was alone, Caroline closed the door to her room and leaned against it. "Hayley, I'm sorry about outing you and Damon to Elijah. It wasn't fair. Okay?"

"Really?" Hayley shouted. Caroline winced at the sound that felt like someone was pressing a loudspeaker to her earlobe. "You think that saying 'I'm sorry' is going to fix this?" Letting out a harsh laugh, Hayley kept going. "Look. Just help Rebekah and then do us all a favor and go away. You're good at that."

"Hey!" Damon shouted again. "Stop breaking my shit. Break Stefan's."

"We need you, Hayley," Caroline said quietly. "We can't do this without you."

"Then maybe you should have thought of that before you blabbed all of my secrets to my boyfriend!" Hayley shouted.

"Hayley. Please," Caroline cried. "Just come with us to New Orleans. We'll talk and I will find a way to make this up to you."

"Are you going to build a time-traveling machine and take back what you said to Elijah?" Hayley retorted.

"Hayley…" Caroline groaned. "Please…"

"Fine. But I am going for Rebekah. Not for you." Hayley snapped and hung up.

Staring at the phone, Caroline tried to look at the bright side; at least Hayley agreed to come with them. That was a plus. Finding a way for Rebekah and Marcel to have a baby—also a plus—even if it wasn't really her idea. Now, if only all of her friends could not kill each other on the way to New Orleans; everything would be perfect.

Caroline moved to her closet and she packed a light bag. All she really needed were some dresses, a few pairs of heels and a pair of sunglasses. Anything else she needed, she could find in NOLA. In fact, she relished the opportunity to return to her temporary home-away-from-home. Maybe a change of venue would do them all some good.

ACBD

"I am not sleeping in a room with you," Hayley snapped at Caroline.

Rebekah stood in the entrance of the hotel room. She also did not look like she wanted to stay in the room and was making her feelings abundantly clear. It felt just like when they were first living in the dorm together.

"You could stay in our room," Damon told Hayley.

Hayley rolled her eyes, Rebekah shot him an icy look, and Caroline let out a laugh. "Sure. I don't think that would be a good idea."

Damon ignored Caroline in favor of talking to Hayley. "We still have some stuff to work through."

"Damon, I came to stay with you because Elijah and I need some space. Not because I believe we are destined to be together," Hayley snapped.

Damon opened his mouth to reply when Rebekah grabbed him by the jacket. "And that is a nice way of saying: Go stay with the boys!" she shoved Damon into the hallway and his back hit the door of the room opposite theirs.

The door opened and Marcel peered at Damon with a smirk. "Hey there. I thought you went to the hotel bar," Marcel said, shaking his head at Damon.

Klaus appeared behind Marcel. "I take it he did not."

"Keep him away from us, for now," Rebekah said before closing the door on the men.

Caroline stared at Rebekah who turned around to stare back at her. "I suppose this means I will be sharing a bed with Hayley tonight. Try not to kick me, I intend to be inseminated in the morning and I need my beauty sleep."

For a moment, there was quiet, just before Caroline and Hayley began to laugh at Rebekah. Rebekah's brow furrowed and she looked from Hayley to Caroline. "What is so funny?"

"You," Hayley replied with a giggle. "Only you could say that with a straight face." Falling on her back, Hayley stared at the ceiling while Caroline flopped down beside her. They glanced at each other and Hayley's mouth twisted upward, into a familiar half-smile. "Caroline, you're an idiot."

"I'm an idiot?" Caroline snapped. "Okay. So, says the girl with a soul mate from her past that she can't remember." Shoving Hayley's shoulder, Caroline smirked. "Are you looking forward to helping get Rebekah pregnant?"

"I am still here!" Rebekah yelled at them as she began to remove Hayley and Caroline's clothes from the closet, to make room for her own.

"Yeah. I can't wait to see how mean she can get when her hormones take over," Hayley replied with a roll of her eyes and a laugh.

Rebekah began to mutter about horrible friends and lousy roommates while she placed her clothes inside the closet.

"Are you excited, Bekah?" Caroline called to Rebekah, sitting up and crossing her legs.

Rebekah seemed to freeze up. Her back stiffening, but she did not turn to them. "About becoming a mother?" Rebekah inquired. Her voice rose several octaves on the last word. "Ummm… I had not put much thought into it, really."

"Seriously?" Caroline and Hayley exclaimed at the same time, looking at each other before looking at Rebekah.

"You never thought about being a mom?" Caroline added, her words coming out in a soft, soothing tone, but filled the already charged air.

"I don't know," Rebekah sighed, turning to face them, one of Caroline's shirts clutched in her hands. Caroline forced down a protest while Rebekah worked the fabric of her shirt into a mass of wrinkles. "I…I suppose I did think about it when we found out that Hayley would be adding to the family. It's hard not think about having a child when someone close to you is having one of their own, isn't it?"

Glancing at Hayley, Caroline contemplated motherhood. Hayley looked at them, her head cupped in her palm, propping herself up on one arm. The wolf was silent, but her silence felt like it spoke to them. Her free hand moved to the child inside her, resting over her middle. "You guys want to…" she nodded at her belly with a grin.

Caroline glanced at Rebekah whose eyes rounded. "Yes," Caroline blurted and placed her hand, lightly, on Hayley's bump. "Wow," she breathed with a laugh when the baby kicked her. "Yup, you're definitely part of the family."

"Let me," Rebekah said, coming to stand over them. Caroline scooted over, to make room for Rebekah. The other blonde hesitated to put her hand on Hayley's middle, her eyes wide.

Looking at each other, Caroline and Hayley took Rebekah's hand and placed it on the kicking baby. "Oh, dear." Rebekah let out a laugh. "My, she's feisty, just like her mother."

"It's a she?" Caroline looked at Hayley who nodded. "And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't tell Rebekah either," Hayley said.

Rebekah nodded. "It's one of my gifts. Do you want to know what yours will be?" she asked Caroline.

Caroline sucked in a deep breath. "I don't know. I mean. I guess," she inhaled sharply as Rebekah placed a hand on her middle.

The Mikaelson sister titled her head to the side and smiled. "Nik will be pleased."

"What is it?" Hayley asked them.

"A boy," Rebekah said with a smile. "And a girl."

"A what and a what?" Caroline cried, looking at her middle. "Wait a minute… You said a boy…and a girl?"

"Yes," Rebekah said with a smile. "You're having two for the price of one, darling. Now, I would prefer to get on with why exactly we're here." Getting to her feet, she walked toward the door. "Are you girls coming, or am I doing this with the useless men folk?"

Caroline was still trying to wrap her head around having two babies when Hayley grabbed her hand and tugged her to her feet. "Come on, Care. Let's go." Hayley dragged Caroline to the door while Rebekah headed over to the room across from theirs, knocking on it and showing just how impatient she had become.

"Open the blasted door," Rebekah snapped, banging on it with the flat of her hand.

"Bekah, what's up?" Marcel said, opening the door and pulling a shirt on.

Raising an eyebrow, Caroline peered around him to see Klaus in his boxers, and Damon, sans boots.

"What in the bloody hell are you lot doing in here?" Rebekah demanded, folding her arms over her chest.

"Playing strip poker—which is so much more fun with ladies included. What do you say, Bex, you up for it?" Damon called to her, wriggling his eyebrows.

"You are disgusting," Rebekah hissed before grabbing Marcel by the arm. "We are off to whichever bloody clinic my fool of a boyfriend made a donation at."

"Not without us, you're not," Damon said, grabbing his boots. "There is no way I am missing out on this drama."

"Nor shall I." Klaus used his enhanced speed to dress himself and be ready to leave, in mere seconds. He grinned at Caroline. "Shall we, love?"

"After you," Caroline gestured for him to walk ahead of her, with Rebekah. Her friend needed her brother, whether she knew it or not, and Caroline needed to come to terms with multiple babies growing inside her.

"Mind if I keep you company?" Damon asked Hayley.

"I'd like it if you'd back off," Hayley snapped at Damon who shrugged and decided to terrorize Rebekah and Marcel about lab-made babies.

"Are you okay?" Caroline asked Hayley.

Hayley shook her head. "I know that Elijah loves me. I love him. And he's my mate. I know that. But Damon and I have this weird and complicated history. And I do not know who I am supposed to be. Am I Hayley Marshall, the woman who fell in love with Elijah Mikaelson and who wants to marry him and have an amazing life? Or am I this reincarnation of a woman who kept falling with that same man, over and over again? Maybe I'm both. And if I'm both—how can I choose—because I would love them both."

"No one expects you to make up your mind tomorrow," Caroline said quietly.

Hayley sighed. "Damon might."

"Too bad. And he has Elena," Caroline pointed out.

"Does he?" Hayley said. "Because she seems to want a time-out, too."

They were interrupted by Rebekah. "Are we going to go on all night about Hayley's love life, or are going to get me pregnant?"

"Ha." Damon began to shake with laughter until Rebekah knocked his head into the side of the car. "That should shut you up for a bit."

Caroline got into the back of the car, taking a seat between Hayley and Klaus. Rebekah shoved Damon in next to Klaus before she took the wheel and Marcel took his place in the passenger seat. Even though she could not die, Caroline still buckled up because she suspected that Rebekah would floor the accelerator and she did.

ACBD

Rebekah drove for over an hour before Marcel finally remembered the name of the clinic he'd gone to. "It's in Algiers," he told her.

"Bloody brilliant! Could you not have remembered that an hour ago?" Rebekah griped.

"Can you keep the volume down, my head is killing me," Damon moaned.

"Shut your trap or I'll give you a real headache," Rebekah said, taking one hand off the wheel.

"Hey, no witch-y whammies while you're driving!" Hayley shouted.

"Thanks, Hales," Damon said with a smile.

Hayley scoffed. "I did not do that for you."

"Right then." Rebekah rolled hereyes in the rear view mirror. "Shall we?" she called to the rest of the group who got out of the car.

Rebekah led the way to the clinic while Caroline followed behind the rest of them. She wanted to make sure they were not being followed. With Henri—or whatever his real name was—out there—somewhere—they could not be too careful.

"Caroline!" Rebekah shouted at her.

Startled, Caroline ran into Klaus. "Dead God!" she yelped.

"Are you alright, love?" Klaus asked her as she was tucking her hair behind her ears.

"Yeah. I was just… I'm fine. Let's go inside." Caroline forced herself to calm down and go into the clinic.

There was nothing special about the place. Just a small lobby, with the usual plastic chairs to wait in, front desk, pamphlets on the walls, absolutely nothing was out-of-place. So, Caroline decided to relax, momentarily.

"Hello, can I help you?" the nurse at the desk greeted Rebekah and Marcel.

"Yes. You see my boyfriend made a donation—many years ago—to your establishment, and we'd like it back. Promptly, if you can?" Rebekah's smile would make many people run in fear, or give her whatever she wanted, no questions asked.

However, it looked like they came across the wrong nurse this time. "Look. I don't know what you kids are up to, but I suggest you leave, before I call the cops."

The nurse picked up the phone to her left. Before she could hit a single button; Caroline appeared before her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she said, watching the woman's eyes bulge. A slow smile appeared on Caroline's face. "As my friend said: You have something we need. We intend on taking it. And then we will go. So, why don't you go take a nice, long break and we will serves ourselves. Thank you," Caroline looked at the woman's tag. "Tanya."

"I could have handled that," Rebekah grumbled.

"Now you don't have to. Who wants to find the 'donation?'" Caroline asked, using air quotes, and waiting for Damon to chime in but Rebekah's death glare seemed to make him keep his mouth shut.

"I'll do it," Rebekah snapped, rolling her eyes. "Might as well make good use of the money that my father is spending on my education," she grumbled on her way behind the counter. Caroline and Hayley joined her.

Tanya had disappeared into the back. When she returned, she held her purse, clutched to her chest, with a look like she thought they would attack her. On her way around the counter; Damon caught her by the elbow. "Tanya, don't worry. You are doing an excellent job and you deserve a treat. Why don't you go out to the French Quarter, get yourself a beignet and do a little shopping." Pulling out his wallet, he offered her a couple of hundred dollars in cash.

"I have been doing a good job. I deserve nice things." Tanya mumbled on her way out of the clinic.

"Wow," Caroline said. "Damon does something nice."

"It happens, sometimes," Damon said with a shrug.

"With my money," Marcel grumbled.

Damon grinned. "Hey. I warned you, I play with the best in Vegas, baby."

"Enough!" Rebekah snapped at them. She glared until everyone calmed down. Returning to her work, she began to groan as she looked at the screen. "This is ridiculous. I cannot find anything."

"Let me try," Hayley said.

Rebekah groaned but got up. "How would you be able to find anything?"

Hayley smirked at her. "I once worked for one of these places."

"Really?" Caroline piped in, leaning over the desk and peering at the screen.

"No. I'm kidding. I just have hidden gifts. Like being able to sift through boring data. And there we are. Marcellus Gerard donated. Whoa. Marcel, you donated ten times in one year. Were you unlucky in love that year?" Hayley teased Marcel who rolled his eyes.

"I was unlucky in cash," Marcel retorted. "Can we go get my...you know, and get the hell out of here."

"Sure," Caroline agreed, a wicked grin on her face. "On the bright side, if we can find a proper place to store you, you and Rebekah can have lots and lots of babies."

"Shut it," Rebekah snapped as they headed to the back of the clinic.

"Hey, what are you people doing?" an attendant dressed in a lab coat asked.

"Lunch?" Damon inquired, grabbing the guy and sinking his teeth into him.

"Damon!" Caroline yelled.

"Let me deal with this," Klaus said.

Caroline shook her head, but led the way back to the storage area. Stopping, she turned around. "Rebekah, maybe you should let me and Hayley do the honors. This way it won't take the romance out of the equation for you and Marcel."

"And like having my legs put in some bloody stirrups while a bloody doctor shoves this…this… Go. I'll be out here," Rebekah snapped, fuming. Marcel pulled her into his arms while Rebekah made sounds of displeasure.

Pushing a door open, Caroline looked around. "If I were sperm, where would I be?" Hayley asked the room, moving past Caroline. "Somewhere cold?" she asked Caroline, a grin on her face.

"You're enjoying this?" Caroline accused Hayley.

"A little bit," Hayley said. "When else can you say you were instrumental in getting your friend knocked up?"

Caroline chuckled as they went to stand in front of a cooling container. "So, how will we know which one is which?"

"Hopefully, they're labeled. Otherwise, we'll bring in Marcel, and play the: Is this your sperm game?" Hayley retorted, nudging Caroline's hip with her own.

"We can hear you," Marcel called to them.

"We know," Caroline called back with a laugh. She forced herself to open the container. She and Hayley peered at the different tubes. Yup. They were labeled. "Hey, Bekah, do you want the freshest of the batch, or all of it?"

"All of it!" Rebekah and Marcel shouted back.

Giggling, Caroline pulled out tubes and handed a few to Hayley. Closing the container with her elbow; she walked out of the room. "Who ordered ten tubes of sperm, to-go."

"Please, stop talking," Rebekah moaned, turning her back on them and moving toward the lobby.

Marcel peered at the tubes. "That does not look familiar."

"Maybe it will, when it thaws out," Hayley suggested.

"I am so glad Kol is not with us," Rebekah said, rubbing her temples.

They entered the lobby, where Damon sat, spinning in the receptionist's chair, and Klaus was looking at something on the screen. "I do believe that Kol has been here before."

"What makes you say that?" Rebekah demanded as Klaus pulled something out of the printer.

"Looks like he made a donation," Klaus said, folding the piece of paper.

"And what are planning on doing with that knowledge?" Rebekah continued on their way out of the lobby.

"Leverage." Klaus held open the door for Caroline.

"What did you and Damon do with the attendant," Caroline asked him.

Klaus looked at Damon. Damon grinned. "Lunch."

"Klaus!" Caroline yelled.

"We compelled him to go to lunch," Klaus told her.

Damon smirked and Caroline shook her head. "Seriously," she groaned as they got back into the car, to go back to the hotel.

"Get that stuff away from me!" Damon snapped when Hayley moved to hand some of the tubes to him.

"Help me hold these things, before I drop one of them, or you can walk back to the hotel," Hayley retorted.

Damon groaned and took two tubes. "This is as much as I am taking."

Caroline held out some tubes to Klaus. "Really, love?" he shook his head.

"Klaus," Caroline snapped. "This is the future of your family. Now, take the damned tubes."

"You two are going to make great parents," Damon said with a laugh.

"Shut up, Damon!" everyone shouted.

So, this chapter was getting a little long—chapter 41 will be a continuation of where we left off—here.

Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.

Answer to guest reviews:

I really, really wish I could answer your comment about the Elijah/Hayley/Damon twist, but I can not without giving away spoilers. I do not know if Elijah will break his curse in this story. There are some tentative plans for a sequel called "Shadow of the Wolf," which would explore that bit of mythology I threw out there, some chapters ago, and that could be when Elijah might break his curse.

Sensira: I know it is confusing, but things should begin to make sense as we move closer to the end, and you will see who Hayley choses to be with.

Peace,

Jessica