Previously in "I'll Still Be Here", April reunites with her mother and Hayley and Elijah enjoy some alone time.

Chapter Twelve

Several Hours Later…

Elijah gently stroked Hayley's cheek as he watched her sleep. It had been several hours since their lovemaking session began, but it was the best several hours of his eternal life. He then brought his hand down to her belly, where Hope resided. Smiling, he gently kissed the bump. "Hello there, Hope, its Uncle Elijah. I love you and your mommy very much and can't wait to see you when you finally get here."

Hayley stirs from beneath his lips on her baby bump before she felt the soft, gentle jabs against her hand when she reached down to lovingly stroke her bump next to his lips. "Mm, she says hello," she says softly.

Elijah smiled at her. "And I love the way she's saying hello."

"She loves you already," Hayley said. "And I love you just as much."

"I love you just as much," he said, shifting to kiss her on the lips softly.

Hayley returned his kiss and nibbled on his bottom lip. "I don't know what I did to deserve you, but it was definitely worth it."

"Nor have I discovered what I did to deserve you," he replied as he used one hand to curl a lock of her brown hair around one of his fingers.

Hayley smiled. "I think I know it was you did to deserve me. You were sweet to me the night we met, which was the night I learned that I was pregnant with Hope. You were the first pleasant face I saw after those nasty witches, more importantly, that bitch, Sophie Devereaux, subjected me to all sorts of tests with their magic."

Elijah sighed. "I am glad that you thought that way, Miss Marshall, because I have an important question to ask of you," he said softly before quickly blurring out of bed, putting his boxers and pants on to head over to the dresser. He pulled out a small, paper wrapped jewelry box and turned around, carrying it back over to the bed with him, gently pulling Hayley to the end of the bed, where he knelt down in front of her and presented the box.

Hayley gasped when she saw the box. "Elijah, you don't have to ask me anything, because my answer is yes. I will marry you."

"Call me old-fashioned, but I think the question I want to ask is necessary in this situation," he said before unwrapping the box and opening it, presenting it to her with the ring for her to admire. "Hayley Bianca Marshall, I would be very happy if you would accept this ring as a token of my devotion to you and your unborn child, no matter if she is my niece or not. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, my lover and the angel in my one-thousand plus years?"

Hayley felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked at the ring. "Oh, Elijah, it's beautiful, I love it." She leaned forward and kissed him. "Yes, I would definitely do you the honor of becoming your wife. Nothing would make me happier. In fact, I don't care if you're a vampire and I'm a werewolf. The only thing I care about is the love I have for you."

Elijah smiled again then slipped the ring onto Hayley's ring finger on her left hand before bringing her hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles. "I love you, Hayley Bianca Marshall," he said in a soft murmur.

"And I love you, Elijah Soren Mikaelson," she said in an equally soft murmur, bringing him forward and locking her legs around his waist as she kissed him ardently.

Elijah returned her kiss without hesitation and ran his hands up and down her body. Hayley smiled against his lips and playfully nibbled on the bottom. "We should tell your brothers and the girls about this. They're going to want to know that we got engaged."

"Let's tell them in the morning," he said. "For sure in the morning…" He then eased her onto her back, crawling up over her and capturing her lips with his in another ardent, demanding kiss.

Hayley smiled against his lips before returning his kiss, moaning as she made it deeper than it was before; enjoying the feeling she was getting from it. She was finally happy for the first time in years, and she had Elijah to thank for it.

Elsewhere…

Sage smirked over at Caroline as the two of them sat on the couch. "I believe that you owe me a dinner," she said.

At first, Caroline didn't know what the redhead was referring to, but then she remembered the bet they had going on. "Oh, yeah, that's right, the bet." She sighed. "I really don't know why we did that. Besides, Hayley isn't going to be happy when she finds out, and neither is Elijah."

"I know, I know, it was a bit childish," Sage said. "But, it was fun, right?"

"Yeah, it was," Caroline replied with a smile.

Sage nodded. "Still, it's nice that Hayley and Elijah are together. Elijah hasn't exactly had the best luck in the romance department."

"Tell me about some of them. Please?" Caroline asked.

Sage nodded. "Well, okay. The very first one was Tatia, one of the Petrova doppelgangers. Both Elijah and Klaus loved her. They loved her so much that they were estranged for a time. Esther sacrificed her the night she turned her children into the vampires they are now."

"My goodness, I…never knew that. Who else was there?"

"I think the next one is familiar to you. In fact, she's the reason you're a vampire."

"Katherine? Elijah was in love with Katherine?"

"Yup, he was. And, if memory serves me correctly, they had a child. A daughter, the perfect mix of Petrova and Mikaelson," Sage said with another nod.

Caroline felt her eyes widen. "Does Hayley know about it?"

"No. Elijah doesn't even know, because Katherine never told him."

"I'm going to call her and get the story out of her," Caroline said before nodding and going into the other room to call the number she had for Katherine.

Katherine was just stepping out of the bathroom when she heard her phone ring. She looked at the ID screen and saw Caroline's number. Rolling her eyes, she answered it. "Yes, Caroline? What do you want?"

"Don't take that tone with me, Katherine," she replied. "I need to know something."

"And what might that be?"

"Why didn't you tell Elijah about his daughter? And don't lie, because I have zero patience for it."

"Because, he didn't need to know that I had to force her on the run. Sofia is out there somewhere, but I don't know where. Okay? Satisfied? Good bye, Caroline," Katherine said before hanging up and turning her phone off.

Caroline growled as she heard Katherine hang up on her. The nerve of her! She walked out of the room and returned to where Sage was. When she saw the redhead's curious look, she said, "Katherine gave me her answer."

"I know, I heard. You forget I'm a vampire too, so my hearing is just as advanced as yours."

"Oh. Right, yeah, I did forget. When you came over to the boardinghouse and tried to get back at Stefan and Elena for killing Finn," Caroline said with a nod as she plopped back down next to the older vampire.

"Yes," Sage said, also nodding. And then her attention was turned when she felt a hand reach out and capture hers, blurring her away from the baby blonde vampire, who smirked as she watched the newly engaged couple.

Finn easily managed to sneak him and his bride-to-be across the mansion's perimeter until he stopped her at a wall, gently crashing her against it and crushing his lips to hers. She returned his kiss, their tongues tangling in an ardent, passionate duel as her hands got lost among the strands of his hair, which felt like silk beneath her skin.

Finn growled as she ran her fingers through his hair. Sage giggled as she heard his growls and pulled away from his lips slightly, playfully nibbling on them. "So, how is our guest holding up?"

"Oh, as good as can be expected," he replied. "She's asleep, thank God, so I thought I'd come and find my beautiful Irish Rose and show her how much I appreciate her."

"Mm, she's doing fine. But, she misses her handsome British Prince," she said with a slight playful pout.

Finn leaned in and captured her lips again, pushing the pout away as he then began to guide his beloved into the nearest room, pushing her up against the door, causing it to close as he used his vamp speed to push her blouse up and over her head. This caused her hair to tousle a bit, but he didn't smooth it back down.

Sage moaned as they continued to kiss, bringing her hands up and tearing his shirt open, running her fingers across his chest. "Mine," she said in a possessive tone.

"Oh yes, my love," he replied, scooping her up and blurring them over to the bed where he pushed her against the duvet, lips capturing hers in the same ardent, passionate manner as before, ripping away the rest of their clothes and claiming her intimately, driving his throbbing member into her waiting core.

Sage rocked her hips against his thrusts, wrapping her legs around him and picking up speed. She was definitely enjoying this and she was letting him know that.

Two Hours Later…

Finn used the very tips of his fingers to stroke over the fair skin of Sage's back that was peeking out from beneath the sheets, and she smiled at him. Sage smiled as she felt his fingers on her back, enjoying the feeling. "This is nice. Spending the day with you, wrapped up in your arms," she said softly.

Finn nodded. "I agree, love. I thought I'd never get to feel this way again."

"You can. But, I also know that you have a duty to fulfill to get Belinda to listen to you," Sage said with a nod.

Finn sighed. "You're right, I do. If she didn't have that damn bracelet on her wrist, we could compel her to cooperate."

"We'll get her to talk. We just might have to try a different approach," she said.

Finn raised an eyebrow. "What do you propose we do?"

"Maybe I can get into her memories then remove the bracelet while she's sleeping before compelling her?" Sage suggested.

Finn nodded. "That does sound like a good idea. Though, you'll have to do it carefully. She's a tough one, that Belinda."

"I'm pretty tough myself, Finn," Sage said. "I beat up men tougher than her in the ring in 1912."

"I know, love, but this is the modern age," Finn told her.

Sage nodded. "I know that. I've had many adaptations over the years I've been sired to you," she told him.

Finn nodded. "In either case, I like your idea."

"Okay, good. I'll go in a little bit. Right now, though…" she said, trailing off as she shifted to mover on top of him, leaning down to kiss him. Softly at first, before he deepened it, rolling her onto her back and thrusting his throbbing member into her waiting core a second time.

Finn grabbed onto her hips and began to thrust hard and fast into her, growling playfully at her as he went. "You are mine. All mine," he murmured in a tone that spoke of no refusal.

"And you are mine, Finn," she replied.

Finn smirked. "Believe me, Sage, there's no one else for me but you."

"Nor me," she said.

Finn smiled and pulled her to him, kissing her passionately and thrusting harder and faster against her, feeling her pick up speed with her gyrations.

Down the hall, Belinda stirred when she heard the couple being intimate in their room and she rolled her eyes. Sometimes, she missed the days when she could cocoon herself up with Marcel and not have to worry about what the day brought. Speaking of which, she wondered what Marcel was doing at that particular moment.

Across Town…

Marcel glanced up from reading a book when Klaus walked into the room. "Klaus, what can I do for you today?" he asked curiously, standing after putting his book aside.

Klaus didn't bat so much as an eyelash and said, "I'm here to make you an offer, Marcellus. We have your precious little witch. Don't worry, she's unharmed, because we can't very well use a corpse as a bargaining chip, now can we?"

"What do you want me to say here, Klaus? That I'm willing to make a deal to give Rebekah back to you?" Marcel demanded in a low tone as he moved to stand nose to nose with his sire.

Klaus smirked at his words. "If you value the lives of your men, then you will cooperate with me. I know you more than fancied my sister, Marcellus, so I am not wrong in assuming that you hoped she still had feelings for you when you took her."

"You're right on that. I fancied her. I found someone else. I fell in LOVE with someone else," Marcel said.

Klaus nodded. "That is why it should make the exchange easy on you, since you obviously love Belinda."

"I do love her. A lot more than I did your sister," Marcel told him.

"Then, why don't you just give Rebekah back to us? Since what you felt for her in the past no longer exists, you won't regret doing it."

Marcel snapped his fingers and two of his vampires brought Rebekah out. "You want her? Here you go," he said before blurring off.

Rebekah ran to Klaus, hugging him as soon as they reunited. "Oh, Nik, thank God. I was hoping that you'd be the one to get me out of here."

Klaus returned her hug, kissing the top of her head as he ran his fingers through her hair. "Hush now, Bekah, you're safe, that's all that matters."

"Take me home. I want to see my other brothers," she said.

Klaus nodded. "All right, we can do that."

That being said, he blurred them out of the compound and back to the mansion. When he got there, he smirked upon sensing that Elijah and Finn were occupied with Hayley and Sage. "I think the reunion will have to wait. Elijah and Finn are…entertaining their loves."

Caroline then appeared in front of them. "Nik, you got Rebekah back! How did you convince Marcel to let het go?"

"It appears that he does not fancy my sister any longer. He loves the witch," Klaus replied.

Caroline nodded and then hugged Rebekah. "I was worried about you, Rebekah. I'm glad you're home safe."

The blonde Original smiled as she returned the hug. "I am too. The only thing I thought about was getting out of there."

"Rebekah," Hayley said from the doorway before Rebekah is bombarding the pregnant werewolf with a hug.

Rebekah then noticed the ring on Hayley's finger. "Hayley, where did you get that beautiful ring?"

Hayley smiled. "Elijah. He asked me to marry him. We were planning to tell you tomorrow, but since you asked, I thought I'd share."

"Yes! I knew it," Rebekah squealed.

Hayley raised an eyebrow at her. "You…knew he was going to propose?"

"Of course I did," she replied. "Elijah obviously loves you. You're the first one he's given his heart to since Katerina. I wish you both all the happiness in the world. The baby is going to have a real family around her!"

"We decided on a name for her," Klaus told his sister.

Rebekah looked at him. "You have? What name did you choose for her?"

"We're naming her Hope," Caroline said. "Hope Esther Mikaelson."

"I think it's perfect," Rebekah said with a nod.

Hayley smiled. "We think so too."

"We should start planning for Hope, like her nursery and everything," Rebekah said.

Hayley nodded. "I'd love that, and I definitely want Elijah to be involved in that, since I know he's going to want to be part of it."

"Before we do that, we should probably give Belinda back to Marcel," Caroline said. "He's expecting us to deliver on our promise to return her, especially now that we've got Rebekah back."

"I'll do that," Sage said from the doorway.

Caroline nodded at the redhead. "Okay. That's one less thing we have to do."

Sage nodded in response then headed back upstairs to the room where Belinda was being kept. Belinda gave the redheaded vampire a scowl when she walked in. "Well? What do you want?"

"I came to tell you that you're no longer our prisoner," she replied. "I'm going to take you back to Marcel. He's surrendered Rebekah to us, so we're going to return the favor."

Belinda nodded. "Thank you," was all that she said before getting out of bed and following the redhead out of the room to go back to the compound.

When they got there, Marcel was waiting, flanked by two of his guys. Belinda ignored them as she ran into Marcel's outstretched arms. Sage smiled at this and left the compound, blurring back to the mansion. Marcel strokes his beloved's hair gently as she sobbed quietly into his neck. "It's all right now, Lin," he said. "You're safe. I'm here."

She nodded, still holding tightly to him. "Don't ever let me go," she whispered.

Marcel nodded. "Never, my love; I promise you, I will never let you go again."

She smiled through her tears. "I love you, Marcellus Gerard," she said softly.

Marcel smiled. "I love you too, Belinda La Fleur."

He waved his guys away and they left the couple alone. Once they had, Marcel captured his beloved's lips with his, ardency and passion taking over as they stumbled toward his stairs before he is blurring them up to his room. The moment they arrived at his room, Belinda jumped out of his arms and pushed him down on the bed, crawling on top of him and kissing him madly as she ripped his shirt open, not caring whether the buttons were flying all over the place. The only thing she cared about was being with the vampire she loved. "Mine," she said hoarsely as she then attacked the zipper and button on his jeans.

"Always," he replied, holding her waist as he watched her.

Back in Mystic Falls…

Katherine was reading in the living room when she heard a knock at the door. Scowling curiously, she went to the door and when she opened it, she came face to face with a young woman. She looked strangely familiar, and yet, she didn't recognize her. "May I help you?"

"I'm looking for Katerina Petrova."

"You're looking at her, though I haven't gone by that name in some time," Katherine said. "Who are you? And why are you looking for me?"

"I'm Sofia Petrova, and you're my mother."

Katherine began to laugh, but Sofia didn't. "Y-you're lying! I know you have to be!" the vampire accused the woman standing in front of her.

Sofia remained stoic. "I am not lying. I am your daughter. I have been searching for you for over five hundred years. I did some research and I found out that you had an affair with Elijah Mikaelson, my father."

"Let's move on!" Katherine said. "Like, how the hell did you manage to find me? I've been trying to be elusive for five hundred years."

"You are not an easy woman to track down, no; that is for sure. But, I have had some help. I believe that you know her as Hayley Marshall?" Sofia said, holding out her phone to show Katherine a picture of Hayley.

Katherine growled. "That bitch! I'll rip her to shreds!" She closed her eyes, struggling to calm herself. "And why would you ask her to help you?"

Sofia smirked. "Why not ask her that yourself?"

"Believe me, I will," Katherine said. "I want to know what Miss Marshall expected to gain from helping you find me."

Sofia shrugged then pulled out the newspaper she'd found on her way into Mystic Falls. "Perhaps it had something to do with this?" she asked.

Katherine took the newspaper from the young girl and opened it, gasping. "Damn it! He's getting married!?" she growled.

Sofia nodded. "Yes, and Miss Marshall is the lucky bride-to-be."

"I never told him about you," Katherine said. "I told Caroline that he didn't need to know. Do you realize that his brother, your dear Uncle Klaus, wanted to sacrifice me because my blood so he could make more like him? That was why I killed myself the night I was turned."

"Oh, bloody hell! Why would he do that?" Sofia demanded angrily.

"Because, he's known to be somewhat of an evil hybrid," Katherine replied with a shrug.

Sofia shook her head. "I can't believe I'm related to a man like that."

"Yeah, well, we don't choose our family, Sofia," Katherine said. "It's a cold fact of life that I learned a long time ago."

Author's Note: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will focus more on Sofia and what her life has been like for the last 500+ years.