"I have to say, I always pegged Kol as a blondes type of guy." Klaus didn't seem to know what to say, so he went with offhand remarks every once in a while. Rebekah had very aggressively warned him not to make Davina uncomfortable, and though he didn't often listen to his younger sister she was insistent on it.

The brunette who was the topic of conversation did not know how to respond. That wasn't really the type of thing you comment on. Maybe if they knew each other a bit better she could make some banterous comment, but Davina tried to reserve those sharp remarks for when she knew they would be well received.

Klaus' better half, Caroline Forbes, noticed her husband's comment was ill received. "I don't think one brunette makes that his type," she argued. When the words left her mouth she rethought them. "Not that you're just one brunette," she quickly added, giving Davina a big smile, "you're the brunette for Kol."

"Thank you?" Davina saw the compliment in her statement, but it wasn't exactly forthcoming. She hoped her reply didn't round too confused.

"Well Kol's no Elijah, hasn't earned that one yet," Klaus remarked, causing the eldest Mikaelson at the table to give his brother a pointed look. In Klaus' defense, and he didn't get that often, Elijah did have a track record when it came to women with dark hair.

"Well I personally don't think I have any type regarding hair color, but I thank all you for the input on the matter," Kol said, taking a sip of his drink. Rebekah had ended up switching to a brunch last minute, a late one, but still having the same connotations.

The whole environment felt like he was eleven again and had to attend Sunday brunch with his parent's business partners. Those were bad memories, mainly because of the stern speeches Esther would give him if he did something to act up.

Someone, or some book, must've told Esther that children acted out to get attention. In Kol's case that was entirely accurate, but the way to remedy that was not to ignore their outbursts in hope they would stop. He never stopped, he just got more creative in his antics with age. Sure it might've been a cry for attention from his family but it became a lifestyle at some point, expanding far beyond brunch.

"Are you a New York native, Davina?" Elijah politely inquired. He hadn't said much throughout the meal, but he seemed the most welcoming sibling. That was excluding Caroline, who held the title of in law. Rebekah had a bit of a hot and cold approach, and Klaus just wasn't sure how to approach the matter.

"Born and raised in New Orleans actually." She hoped the inquiry was merely a means to get the conversation away from awkward and empty comments. Spilling her past wasn't the ideal way to spend her afternoon.

"Garden District?"

"French Quarter," she specified. Her family had set roots in the area, though they lived closer to the business district. Because of her family's ties she tended to spent her time in tourist ridden part of the city.

"Well as I'm sure Kol has already told you we spent some time in New Orleans because of our parent's business." This was news to Davina, as her proximity to an old vacation spot was news to Kol. He hadn't pressed about her past.

She gave a knowing nod to Elijah though, as if to say she had heard all about it. The brother didn't seem too convinced, but an arrival of their food stalled the conversation.

A shrill ring erupted and Davina's face reddened. When she reached into her purse to see who was calling her the red faded into a sheet white.

"Do you need to take that?" Rebekah asked, and Davina hoped she didn't look to taken aback. Kol would later tell her that she looked like she had seen a ghost.

A ghost entailed they weren't still around though. That wasn't true for the caller. She could always count on badly timed reminders of that.

"I really do, I'm sorry." Her voice didn't seem too apologetic, and Kol kept a steady eye on her as she moved toward the door.

It wasn't until a comment from Caroline that he ripped her eyes away from his anxiety ridden fiancé. His sister in law was about to ask if it was work problems, but she changed the guess last minute. They had already gone over the newly engaged couples work dynamic. "Family stuff?" She tried.

Kol, who hadn't the slightest clue, gave a vague response. "Us Mikaelsons can't keep all the family drama to ourselves." To his knowledge Davina wasn't close enough to her family to have problems. It was clear from her expression that something had to have caused something.

"Davina's great," Caroline said, tearing everyone's eyes away from the brunette. She figured the girl didn't need anything in addition to whatever her phone call was about. "You said you've been dating for four years?"

"Just a little over," Kol confirmed, happy he'd gone over the specifics with Davina earlier. He tried to balance his focus between checking on Davina outside the window and keeping in the conversation. Doing math with made up numbers would've been too much to multi task.

"Why did you insist on keeping it a secret, brother?" Klaus asked. "From the family I mean. No need to go over the obvious reason."

The obvious reason had already been discussed at brunch. Klaus took it with little surprise, Caroline kept her smile steady, and Elijah was unreadable. They weren't too judgmental though, Kol was waiting on Mikael and Esther for that.

"Well neither of us wanted to rush things in the beginning," he started, wishing Davina was there to offer up an explanation. "I guess we- I just thought it would make things simpler if we kept it to ourselves, and it did."

"I'm honestly would've thought you would elope and never tell us so this is more than fine." Rebekah was trying to keep the mood light. It's effectiveness was arguable.

Their talk moved over to Caroline's recent columns, and Kol out his word in every once in a while. His focus kept drifting over to his assistant. She wasn't doing a lot of talking, but everything about her screamed that she was clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm gonna go see how Davina's doing," Kol announced, his words taking him aback. No one else at the table took much notice of it, which he realized should've been expected. They were engaged, and a couple generally wants to make sure their partner is doing okay.

Kol had surprised himself because he knew that whatever was going on wasn't related to their faux engagement and he was still taking interest.

The eyes flitting up from the wood terrace were filled with panic. His presence made her tenser, and she quickly muttered something into her phone and ended the call.

"Sorry, do I need to go back in?" She asked, her voice filled to the rim of false easiness.

"Just wanted to check up on you." He sounded a bit guilty. Unlike the rest of their table she faltered at the comment.

"I'm fine," she said firmly, though her shaky hand conflicted with that statement. "I just was not expecting a call from them," she added quickly, and it was clear she wasn't going to divulge who she meant by them.

"But you're good now?" Comforting wasn't really his strong suit, especially when he wasn't sure if should even be comforting her.

"Sure." A shrug wasn't the most convincing thing she could have done, but she did it.

Without much thought Kol closed the gap between the two of them, and placed his hand on her shaky arm. He didn't second guess the gesture until he saw Davina's alarmed expression.

"Do you think they suspect something's up?" She asked Kol, not breaking eye contact as she gestured her chin towards the restaurant. Her eyes shifted to where he had placed his hand.

He raised a brow, not quite understanding what she was getting at.

"You know, that's why you're trying to be convincing?" she added to her guess. That's when it clicked.

"Sure!" He held her gaze and shot her a smile. He was trying to be convincing, that's why he came out to see how she was doing. At least that's what he told himself as he leaned down and kissed on her cheek.

The whole scene was pretty convincing, but none of the Mikaelsons were paying attention to the two of them. Rebekah had actually ordered the table not to look at them so Davina wouldn't be uncomfortable.

The convincing was just for the two of them.

Davina kept her phone on close watch when they got back to the house. Esther was expected to be home at any moment, and Kol was clearly nervous. Davina's nerves on the other hand had calmed since earlier, and the rest of his family had put her at ease, but she was on edge.

"Ready for mother dearest?" He asked, though it was just something to fill the space in the air. Davina looked up from her charging phone, the only messages popping up mundane and work related, and gave him a terse nod.

"It might be good to get it over with," she admitted, pushing herself from her spot on the bed. "You can go on down," she told him "I'll be down in a minute" The cue was taken, and he started toward the door. He was nervous enough for the both of them. The fact that they were putting on the performance of fake couple worried him almost as much as the simple act of introducing a girl to Esther. He once remembered the disdain she had towards a girl he'd brought to a gala who never got a second date. A green card marriage entails a marriage taking place and Esther was a very effective woman when it came to getting what she wants.

The fear that had been festering in his mind was that Esther would take Davina as a sign that Kol would be married. Then she would set someone up that she found more agreeable. Agreeable took time though, and time wasn't exactly in the cards.

And why waste a perfectly good fake fiancé.

When the door shut after Kol's departure the perfectly good fake fiancé allowed herself to take a deep breath.

Her day was sure to have it's ups and downs as she was pretending to be engaged to her boss, who had an intimidating family. A down was the discomfort towards her job (unstandable given the situation, but still had a bite to it). An up was the fabulous food at brunch. A down was the unexpected phone call from a past she wanted to stay in the past, for her own sanity if for nothing else.

Then there was her encounter with Kol that she couldn't quite label.

Her deep breathing turning into sighs and made a move to go to the bathroom to run a brush through her hair. She had already done it a dozen times in the past hour but why shouldn't thirteen be a lucky number? It was discriminated enough as it was.

A knock at the door ruled lucky number thirteen out, and she changed her course to the exit of her overly lavish bedroom.

"Oh, hello," she greeted, giving Elijah a friendly smile. She had been leaning against the doorframe before she realized it wasn't Kol, but she straightened herself. The whole family gave off a very formal vibe.

"Esther's car just pulled up," he informed, "so I thought I'd get you on my way down."

"Thank you." She made her way into the hallway and caught her reflection in a decorative mirror. Her hand brushed the hair from her face without pause.

"You look lovely," he assured her. It didn't sound like an effort to rush her so she took it to heart and tore herself away from the mirror.

"Thank you," she said again, though her tone was warmer. Genuine.

"Try not to worry too much about my mother, she can scary but she does want the best for us." The pair made their way down the hall. "That includes Kol," he added when she made no comment.

That meant it was more of matter of if Esther thought Davina was the best. She hoped her ego wouldn't be bruised after their encounter. Elijah gave no assurance on that front.

"I forgot to thank you for brunch earlier," she blurted as they descended down the stairs. "It was delicious and I very rudely didn't thank you earlier." The older Mikaelson had paid for their meal, and Davina couldn't have really argued with the prices. "I'm sorry about that."

It crossed her mind she was abusing the phrase 'thank you' but it kept the conversation going.

"No need for apologies." Davina glanced up and caught the curiosity in his eyes. No doubt he was wondering who could've called to shake her up so much.

"Davina Claire," an unfamiliar voice said. It was odd hearing her name said with such gusto when she hadn't met the person. Even though the woman and her hadn't been properly introduced, Davina knew exactly who the woman was.

"Mrs. Mikaelson," Davina said, with a little more enthusiasm than she gotten from the matriarch.

"Call me Esther." It sounded like more of a formality really, Davina didn't see herself referring to the woman by her first name anytime soon.

Noticing Kol's distance Davina moved herself away from Elijah's side and saddled herself next to Kol. He laced her fingers with hers, which happened out of a combination of his own worry and a make it look real. With Esther's obvious notice of the motion Davina took it as the latter.

"Aren't you a handsome couple." It was hard to tell what Esther was going for with that comment. Maybe it was the accent throwing Davina off.

Enough thank you's had been said for the day, so Davina hoped a smile would be enough. Esther wasn't perturbed by her lack of a response, and shrugged off her coat.

"How old are you Davina?" She abruptly asked. Though it wasn't the most ordinary question to start off with, the twenty-five year old took it with ease, giving her answer. All she got was a nod like Davina had just told her some big secret, which was unnerving. "You look younger than that."

Davina could've have she got that a lot, but she didn't, so she just continued her smile. It may or may not have begun to look a bit forced.

"Well come on and give me a hug, dear," Esther prompted. No one in the room expected that to be next. Davina untangled her hand from Kol's and stepped forward to give the woman a hug. The hug was proper, and as formal as a hug could be, but it was a good sign. "Welcome to the family," was all that was said during the incredibly long hug.

Neither Davina or Kol could figure out exactly what had just happened, but there hadn't been any thinly disguised condescending comments, so that had to be a good start.

"I'm afraid Mikael is tied up at work, so you'll have to settle for me just now," Esther announced as she pulled the brunette away. The news was welcome. Best to give Davina a slower emersion into the family she had been formally welcomed into.

Technically the invitation was presented and involuntarily accepted when Davina went into her boss' office just two days prior. The welcoming was nice though, and it certainly put Kol at ease.

"Shall we go sit down and get to know each other some more?"

"It would be my pleasure," Davina responded, looking back at Kol and giving him a look of triumph.

Mikael was not going to be quite as easy.

a/n - I'm back from vacation! I spent my spring break traveling around the deep(er) South and I actually stopped in New Orleans for a few days. It gave me a bit of inspiration so look out for in universe one shots, cause they may be popping up in the next few. I'm sorry the chapter was so short, especially since it's been several weeks since I last updated, but there wasn't much else to write. I can promise that Chapter Six will be pretty loaded though. It's Esther's birthday and her party will be eventful.

So leave your reviews, I love reading all of them, and I hope you liked the chapter despite it's length!

xo,

Luce