Hello, my lovely readers. This chapter is half drama, half humorous. On with the show…
Chapter 41: Makin' a Baby: Part II
Everyone seemed to sleep better with the knowledge that Rebekah would be pregnant soon. Or so they hoped. Caroline hoped that it would only take one try because she knew Rebekah's level of patience was low on a good day. If her friend did not become pregnant, the rest of their group would have to live through her temper tantrum and they had enough to deal with already.
Losing herself to the haze and peace of sleep, Caroline began to drift. Her thoughts moved from her current worries to her future. Klaus. Their baby. No. Babies. Hayley's baby would be there soon. A smile crossed Caroline's face in her sleep at the idea of the baby. She'd probably look like Hayley. Or Elijah. Or a Mikaelson.
Waking up to the sound of the door opening, Caroline forced herself into a sitting position. "Klaus?" she called, seeing his blurry outline. Her vision seemed to be dimmer. So much for hybrid senses, she grumbled internally, rubbing at her sore eyes.
"Come, Caroline," Klaus beckoned, one hand stretched outward.
"Okay," Caroline nodded. She followed him out of the room and into the hallway. He placed a finger to his lips and Caroline had to squint. The light in the hallway was as bad as the light in the dark room. She peered around herself. This did not make sense. The lights in the hallway burned bright just hours ago. "Come," Klaus said, taking her hand and she obeyed, allowing him to lead her down the stairs and out of the hotel.
On the streets of New Orleans, she heard the familiar music. "See?" Klaus asked, pointing at the moon. Its red glow made her shiver. "Do not be afraid. It will save you." His voice so close to her ear, made her body relax into his. "Follow the moon. It will keep you safe."
"Klaus," Caroline said, turning to look at him and she found he was gone.
"Klaus?" Caroline called. She lifted the bottom of the long, white dress she wore. She had not worn this to bed.
The music grew into a feverish pitch and Caroline placed her hands to her ears.
"Caroline!" Hayley screamed into the darkness. "Run!" she screamed and then let out a howl of pain.
"What?" Caroline cried out, turning on the street. People were dancing and singing. They pushed their way past her. The revelers did not even seem to notice that she was there.
"Hayley?" Caroline shouted, trying see Hayley but she could see nothing as the revelers moved around her. Even they were becoming blurry shapes to her left and right, front and back. Panic welled into her chest. Her breathing became erratic as she looked for someone familiar.
Suddenly she saw Stefan. He stood just outside the festivities. He watched them with a smile on his face. "Stefan?" Caroline called. Her vision darkened and she pushed herself forward. So many scents. None of them familiar.
Falling over something, Caroline let out a blood-curdling scream. Elijah lay on the ground, blood pooling out from his mouth, his chest torn open as if by an animal. Scrambling backward, Caroline ran into someone's boot clad foot.
Twisting around, Caroline looked up into Stefan's eyes. Blackness overtook her and Caroline cried out. She felt Stefan pulling her to her feet. "Caroline, don't be afraid. You do not ever have to fear me," Stefan said, his lips grazing hers and Caroline felt her body recoil.
"Stop, Stefan. Stop," Caroline said, pushing at him, trying to free herself but she could not. "Let me go. Let go of me!" she shouted, using all of her vampire strength against him but he held onto her.
"You are mine. You've always been mine," Stefan growled into her ear. "You owe me this, Caroline. You owe me."
"Stop!" Caroline screamed, pressing her hands to her face and falling to her knees.
~0~
Sleep well, Rebekah's voice made Caroline's head ache. "Not so loud," she moaned.
Rebekah's eyebrow rose. "I didn't know you could imbibe when you were with child." Her tone made Caroline want to extend her claws and cut her.
The sudden bout of uncontrollable rage made Caroline's stomach twist. "I'm sorry. I'll get some sleep on the plane, on our way home."
"Right," Rebekah retorted.
"Where's Hayley?" Caroline asked.
"She left earlier. Looks like Elijah wanted to talk but found she'd left town." Rebekah continued to fold a sweater. "And I am off to my appointment." Placing the sweater inside her suitcase, she strolled to the door. "I would invite you, but after last night, I do not feel like allowing my insemination to become another joke for the whole family." Nose wrinkling in disgust, Rebekah opened the door. "I will see you when I am done."
Caroline stood up and moved to the door. "Maybe I should come with you."
"Oh, Caroline, that is awfully sweet of you, but you are unnecessary for this," Rebekah's sarcasm made Caroline roll her eyes.
"Fine. Go by yourself," Caroline snapped.
Rebekah sighed. "You can walk me to the lobby."
Smirking, Caroline stepped into the hallway. The two women walked to the elevator and Rebekah began to look nervous. "What if it doesn't work? What if Marcel's—you know—is too old?" Her eyes went wide as they stepped into the elevator. "What if I am too nervous? What if our…well, you know, is simply incompatible? What if—"
Slapping a hand over Rebekah's mouth, Caroline stared the other blonde in the eye. "You will be fine. This will work. You and Marcel are very compatible."
Rebekah's eyes lit up and a genuine smile made her look like a nice person, for once. Caroline grinned back. "Okay?"
"Alright," Rebekah continued to smile on their way off the elevator. "The only thing that could ruin this would be if Kol were here. Thankfully, he is a thousand miles away."
"Sister, I heard my name," Kol said, coming to stand right behind Rebekah.
"Kol!" Rebekah shrieked, her eyes widening before she turned around and punched him in the arm.
"Ow! What the bloody hell was that for?" Kol demanded.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" Rebekah shouted at him, drawing the attention of other people in the lobby.
Caroline reached out and placed her hand on Rebekah's arm. She was about to tell Rebekah to lower her voice when Kol decided to answer his sister's question. "It is not every day that my favorite sister has an embryo, created in a lab, placed inside her uterus. I came as moral support," Kol explained.
Letting out a growl, Rebekah grabbed Kol by the lapels, her eyes beginning to glow. "I will kill you and no one will ever find your body."
"Rebekah," Elijah's voice made Caroline jump. After her dream, she could only blink at a very much alive Elijah.
"Elijah!" Caroline cried, moving forward and throwing her arms around him.
"It's good to see you, too, Caroline," Elijah said, patting her back before removing her arms from around him.
"Does Hayley know that you are here?" Rebekah demanded, hand moving to her hip.
"Bekah, your brothers are here," Hayley deadpanned.
"Really? I had not noticed," Rebekah scoffed.
"And Bonnie and Elena came with us as well," Kol added. "They're in their room unpacking."
"Why didn't all of bloody Mystic Falls come? Are Mother and Father on their way?" Rebekah quipped while Elijah took her by the arm and guided her toward the hotel bar. "I need a drink."
"Of course Mother and Father are not here," Kol told Rebekah, holding up a finger to the bartender. "Five bourbons. Thank you," he said with a wink at the twenty-something girl behind the counter. "They'll be calling for updates during the procedure like any good parents would."
"Bloody hell," Rebekah said, reaching for one of the drinks.
Kol swatted her hand. "None for you," he snapped. "You do not want to damage the baby. Wait a few years." Lifting the shot glass in a salute, he knocked it back and then took another.
"Look who joined the party," Marcel called, entering the bar. He joined them, lacing his arms around Rebekah's waist. She relaxed into him and Caroline's attention was drawn to Klaus.
"Brothers, what are you doing here?" Klaus inquired, placing a hand on Caroline's hip and looking from Kol to Elijah.
"I came to see Hayley," Elijah replied, looking at Hayley.
"You could have used the phone," Damon's voice made Caroline tense up.
"And so could you," Elena's voice made Caroline spot the vampire by the door. Elena had her arms folded over her chest. "This was a bad idea, Bonnie."
"Yes. It was. Why don't all of you go home? We can continue our regularly scheduled drama, after I am pregnant," Rebekah snapped at the group. She pulled away from Marcel and headed for the door, moving past Elena and Bonnie.
"Baby," Marcel called after her.
Rebekah paused. "Marcel, I do love you, but I do not need you for this part." She turned her back on him and kept walking.
Marcel's shoulders slumped and Caroline placed a hand on his shoulder. "She did not mean that," she reassured him.
"I know," Marcel nodded. "I know her, pretty well. I know she just needs some space. I think I'll stay here. Maybe have a drink. Or twenty."
"Welcome to the family, Marcel," Kol cried, slapping Marcel on the back.
Caroline looked at Hayley. "We should go."
Hayley nodded. "Elijah, we'll talk later." She walked past him.
Caroline and Hayley walked out of the bar, leaving the rest of the group in the bar. Hopefully, they would not get drunk and kill each other. Walking out of the hotel, she found Rebekah standing by her car. She stared across the street, her arms wrapped around herself.
"You okay?" Hayley called to Rebekah.
Rebekah nodded, forcing a smile. "Of course, I am. Don't be silly." A tear ran down her cheek and Caroline moved to hug her. She felt Rebekah's body quake against her own. "I cannot do this, Caroline. I cannot. I can't."
"Why?" Caroline asked, cupping Rebekah's face and searching her eyes.
"Are you guys going to kiss?" Hayley teased them. "'Cause I can give you a moment."
"Shut it, Hayley," Rebekah snapped but she began to smile. "I…" Falling against the side of the car, she wiped her cheeks with the palms of her hands. "I believe that I might make a dreadful mother."
"We all think that," Hayley said. Rebekah frowned. "Not about you. About ourselves. Like I think that I'll not remember that I have a baby and I'll leave it somewhere, like a laundromat and Elijah will kill me."
"And I think that I might lose my sight again and have no idea how to deal with a baby who can see." Caroline watched Rebekah and Hayley stare at her. "But I know that this this baby—these babies are going to have the most loving, dysfunctional family to take care of them and protect them from everything in the whole, wide world."
"You're such a sap," Rebekah said with an eye roll.
"You're smiling," Caroline retorted.
"Am not," Rebekah cried.
"Are too," Hayley argued with a laugh.
Rebekah shook her head. "Right then. Shall we go, before I miss my appointment and we have to wait for the next full moon?"
"Full moon?" Caroline looked upward and she noted that you could just barely glimpse the moon. To the average human, who would see it, but not the color which made her stomach turn. Pink. The moon looked pink. Caroline knew that the moon at its fullest would be a deep, blood red. Her heart plummeted and she looked at Rebekah but Rebekah had already sat down behind the steering wheel.
"Coming, Caroline?" Hayley called and Caroline looked at her friend. Hayley's eyebrows rose. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Caroline nodded. She forced herself to take a seat in the back.
~0~
Rebekah sat in the waiting room, flipping through a magazine. Hayley strode back and forth, blowing on a steaming cup of coffee. "You can have one a day," she told Caroline who nodded, her mind elsewhere.
"Sure," Caroline's voice sounded far away to her own ears. There was something about her dream. Something that was bugging her, but she could not put her finger on it.
"Rebekah Mikaelson?" a nurse called and Rebekah dropped her magazine on the floor.
Bending over, Caroline grabbed it while Rebekah stood up, her hands trembling at her sides. "Wish me luck?" she asked them.
"Good luck," Hayley said.
Caroline help up two thumbs with a wide grin.
Rebekah forced a smile and walked to the nurse who led her out of the waiting room.
"You think she'll be okay?" Hayley asked, picking up the magazine and turning a couple pages before setting it down.
"She'll be fine," Caroline said, taking Hayley's cup of coffee and taking a sip.
Three seconds later, Rebekah strode back into the room. "I can't do it. There has to be another way," she told them.
"Rebekah." Caroline got up and took Rebekah's arm, propelling her back toward the room where her friend needed to be. "Let's get you back there and comfy. Huh?" Hayley followed them and Caroline forced a protesting Rebekah onto the examining table.
"Let me go," Rebekah cried, trying to sit up when Caroline and Hayley pushed her back down. "I'm not ready," Rebekah shouted at them, trying to free herself.
"Who is!" Caroline shouted back at her.
A doctor walked in. "Hello, Ms… I'm sorry. You're not allowed to have friends in here."
Caroline sped over to him, placing a hand on his arm. "We're family. And she needs us. For moral support. So, you're going to do your job and get her knocked up and we're going to leave."
"Alright, Ms. Mikaelson," the doctor said with a smile as he went to sit down on his stool. "Let's see what we can do about getting you pregnant?"
Rebekah looked from Caroline to Hayley. "I am scared."
"Of course you are, honey," Caroline said, smoothing Rebekah's hair out and watching Hayley shove a cooler at the doctor who gave it a look.
A nurse came in, carrying a tray and Caroline moved toward her. "Just do your job. Okay?" The nurse nodded. "Here, doctor," she said, laying the tray down near the doctor.
Hayley looked at Caroline. "Good thing we got that sperm sent at the last minute," she said.
"I still have a few friends in town," Caroline said, her concentration on Rebekah who had begun to look panicky, again. "You'll be fine. Just breathe."
"I want Marcel," Rebekah cried, tears running down her cheeks. "I want this to be fun and exciting. I want to make love to my boyfriend, not have some doctor shove some instrument between my bloody legs. I want this to be beautiful, with candles and rose petals and 'I Love You-s." She began to sob, fat tears hitting the floor.
"Rebekah, close your eyes," Caroline ordered Rebekah who gave her a look.
"Why would I do that?" Rebekah grumbled, giving Caroline a long look.
"Just do it," Caroline snapped at her.
Rebekah sighed heavily and closed her eyes. Caroline placed her hands on Rebekah's temples and pushed her way into Rebekah's mind. "Relax…" she pushed forward before smiling. Yup. This would be much easier thanks to Rebekah's melting into the dream-like state.
"Bekah?" Marcel called and Rebekah stood up. "Hey, I thought that maybe we could get away for tonight."
"Oh? And what did you have in mind?" Rebekah's eyes trailed over her boyfriend while he grinned at her.
"I thought we'd head over to my place and have a nice dinner, maybe light some candles, turn on some jazz. See, where the mood takes us," Marcel said.
Rebekah grinned and they walked out of the examining room. During the ride back to the hotel, Rebekah nestled into the crook of his arm, watching him closely. Caroline wished she could slip back out of Rebekah's mind while her friend's imagination tugged her along.
Entering their hotel, Marcel led Rebekah to the elevator and she cried out as he slid his hand under her skirt, touching her and making her cry out. Caroline averted her gaze but she could still hear them. Okay. This was too much information.
"Perhaps you could make a waiting room and go sit in it," Rebekah told Caroline.
"Yeah. If only I could," Caroline groaned. "Just go back to your thing there…and I'll be here. Waiting for the baby to make three."
Rolling her eyes at the ceiling, Caroline ignored the smell of vanilla sandalwood candles, the reds and pinks of the rose petals and the sounds coming from her friends and the clothes flying around the room. She squashed the idea of telling Rebekah to be a little less detailed in her fantasy and decided to just pretend she was not there.
"And you can just sit here for a little while," the doctor announced and Caroline dropped her hands, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God."
"Umm… That was nice," Rebekah moaned.
"For you maybe," Caroline groaned, "I feel dirty."
Rebekah smirked. "You would feel dirtier if you'd ever seen Kol's porn collection."
Hayley shook her head. "So, are we not telling Marcel that you two just had a threesome with him?" she asked them.
"If you want to live to see the child grow up," Rebekah sighed, looking a little too relaxed. "Thank you, Caroline. That was just what the doctor ordered."
"You can thank me with a fruit basket or your best pair of heels," Caroline snapped.
~0~
Back at the hotel, Rebekah laid down. Marcel came into the room and sat down beside her. "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"With any luck, nauseous in the next three months," Rebekah told him, pulling him down to kiss him on the lips.
"Hey, no sex until we know for sure this worked," Hayley called to them from the door. "Caroline had to go through a very traumatic experience so you two could have a baby. Don't ruin it for her."
"Shut it, Hayley," Rebekah cried, eyeing Hayley.
"Let's go," Caroline said, taking Hayley by the arm and pulling her out of the room.
They went down to the bar where they found the rest of the group. Kol sat on the bar top, a cigar between his teeth, singing about babies. "Ah, look who it is: Two out of three mummies-to-be. Where is my delightful sister? Are congratulations in order?"
"The tests don't work that fast," Elijah retorted, taking Kol's cigar. "These things will kill you."
"Yes. They will," Klaus said, lighting one and taking a puff. "And for those of us who do not fear death, let us celebrate the possible pregnancy of my beloved baby sister. To Rebekah."
"To Rebekah," Damon said, lifting a glass. "May her baby live. Along with the rest of us." He slammed the glass down and grabbed the bottle from behind the counter.
Something flicked through Caroline's mind and her vision blurred. The entire room became dark. "Stefan," she mumbled.
"What?" Klaus said and Caroline's vision cleared to take in Klaus.
"Damon," Caroline called, ignoring Klaus and moving past him. "Damon, when is the last time you talked to Stefan?"
"Yesterday, before I came here. Why?" Damon asked with a chuckle. "I thought you got that out of your system."
"I need to talk to him," Caroline said.
Turning, Caroline moved to leave when Klaus stopped her. "Caroline, what is the matter? Can't it wait until tomorrow when we go home?"
"Klaus, trust me," Caroline said and darted around him.
Caroline found herself on the streets of New Orleans. The moon stood above her, casting its light on her and she looked up at it. Not blood red yet but getting there. Soon. Very soon.
Pulling out her phone, Caroline hit Stefan's number. "Come on. Come on," Caroline whispered to the phone.
"Hey," Stefan's voice made Caroline relax. "You've reached Stefan Salvatore's phone. I'm not here right now. Leave your name and number and I'll get back to you."
Gritting her teeth, Caroline hung up and shoved her phone back into her pocket. She turned on her heel, ready to go back inside when she came face-to-face with Henri. "Caroline. I missed you," he said and she opened her mouth to scream when he waved a hand and she slumped into his arms.
We will learn the identity of the "Henri" soon.
Thank you for reading, faving, following and reviewing.
Peace,
Jessica