Hayley laughed as Elijah placed a straw hat on his head, and made a face, in an action well out of character for her normally extremely put together husband.

"That looks terrible," She cried pulling the hat off his head and placing it on her own, "See this is cute."

"Yes you are," Elijah agreed pulling her into his body by her waist causing her to laugh again. She was in an exceptionally good mood today, for reasons she couldn't fathom, maybe it was because they were in New York, or maybe it was because she had somehow managed to drag Elijah out shopping, either way she was in an incredible mood.

Hayley smiled to herself through the kiss he pulled her into, and allowed him to take off the hat, and place it back on rack where they had taken it from.

"I believe this is the store you wanted to go to," Elijah said as they exited the hat store and made their way down the street to a cupcake shop tucked into the corner of the street, she had been here once years ago, and when she had heard Elijah was going to New York to find one of the last things they needed to cut off the witches ties to ancestral magic without leaving Davina without her magic, she had insisted on coming along so she could go to the shop.

Oh, and there was the possibility that she would miss Elijah while he was away, but mostly it was just about the cupcakes.

"The chocolate is that way," Elijah said pointing towards the left, "I assume that is all you are interested in."

In all her refined werewolf royalty glory, Hayley stuck her tongue out at her husband.

"How many do we want?" Hayley asked grabbing a box to being filling it with cupcakes.

"I don't eat cupcakes, Hayley."

"You should."

Whatever Elijah's response was lost as he stiffened, his hand that had been lightly placed against her back, moving to grab on to her wrist.

"What is it?" She asked looking at him furrowing her eyebrows.

"I think that's," Elijah trialed off but there was no need for him to continue the sentence, Hayley had already turned around, and she was already seeing what he was seeing.

She was stunning, with a head of long dark hair, and bright blue eyes, and set of dimples that were in full action as she threw her back laughing, a lazy, effortless smile forming on her lips. She looked like the little baby that haunted Hayley in her dreams, except she had become everything that that little baby wasn't.

She had grown up, she was seventeen now, she even had a boyfriend, or at least that's what it seemed from the way she was clutching onto the blonde boy's hand with both of her own, as he pulled her into cupcake shop.

There entrance wasn't noisy by any means, but it was like the whole world had stopped to look at them, to look at these two remarkably beautiful people, that had stumbled into the cupcake shop without a care in the world.

"The chocolate's that way," Hope said her eyes briefly glancing over where Hayley and Elijah were standing, before turning back to the boy, she nearly felt her heart give out, Hope had looked right through her, like she didn't exist.

And she supposed to Hope, she didn't.

"Babe," The boy's voice was accented like Hope's as he gave an exasperated sigh, "Would you just give it up? You don't like chocolate."

"Says who?" Hope challenged pulling away from him placing her hands on her hips.

She was even dressed perfectly in a grey shirt, a jean jacket, black leggings, a scarf, a brown bag, and the cutest pair of black ankle boots Hayley had ever seen.

Hayley frowned to herself lightly, where was Rebekah? She was supposed to be with her. She was supposed to be protecting her.

"Says you, says me, says the entire world. You hate chocolate, Sunny."

Hayley frowned again. Had he just called her Sunny? She was sure that was Hope – despite how different they looked, they bared way too many similarities – and she was a mother, she knew her daughter.

But did she really? It was nice to believe that a mother who had only seen her daughter once, on the day she was born, would always be able to recognize her daughter, but really would she? Hope was seventeen now, she wasn't a baby, and if this girl was her daughter, than she was absolutely positive her name wasn't Sunny.

"Come on, Jason," Maybe Hope laughed pulling him along, "It'll be fun."

"Baby, there is only so much chocolate that you buy and don't want that I can eat."

"It's not my fault your fat," She teased as they moved closer to Elijah and Hayley, neither which had moved, or breathed, or looked away since she had walked in.

The boy – Jason – was in fact the complete opposite of what Maybe Hope had said, he was taller than her, muscled in a lean manner, with a head of blonde hair, green eyes, and this dangerous air that surrounded him, even to Hayley, who was a hybrid, and he was no more than a human.

If Hayley wasn't sure how to feel about the boy just yet, and if she actually knew her daughter, she would have given her a well done. He was attractive, and he looked at her like without her the world didn't spin on its axis.

"Excuse me," Maybe Hope said politely, her smile still gracefully placed on her features, as Hayley realized that Elijah and she were both blocking the containers and the cupcakes.

"Sorry," Elijah said finding his voice first as he handed her a cardboard box smoothly, "We didn't mean to be in the way."

"No, don't be," Maybe Hope said sweetly as she looked away from them and turned to look at her boyfriend, "Do you want chocolate or am I just going to get enough for me?"

Jason glanced at the next row and nodded towards it, "I'll get the vanilla."

"You don't like vanilla, Jase," She said patiently.

"And you don't like chocolate," He countered.

"You're infuriating, did you know that?"

Jason laughed as leaned down to kiss Hayley's maybe daughter sweetly, and it didn't surprise her when Elijah's grip on her wrist tightened considerably at the action. Hayley was feeling that way herself, but more so at the fact that she knew nothing about this guy, than at the fact that Maybe Hope was dating someone to begin with.

"I'm also paying for your stupid cupcakes."

"Well if you let me pay for something for once, that wouldn't be a valid argument."

"Well I don't, and so it is."

Maybe Hope laughed as Jason turned to look at them with an odd expression, "Can we help you?"

It was bound to happen, Hayley wasn't surprised Maybe Hope or Jason hadn't called them out on their staring before – they had been doing it for the past five minutes.

"No," Hayley said quickly finally finding her voice, "We were just waiting, I was going to get chocolate cupcakes."

"Oh gosh," Maybe Hope blushed, "I'm so sorry, you two were just standing there, and for some stupid reason it didn't occur to me that you guys probably weren't standing there because you liked the view."

"Don't worry about it," She smiled, "I was actually just fighting with Elijah over here about how you can never have too many chocolate cupcakes."

"Tell me about it," Maybe Hope smiled back revealing those dimples – that seemed ever present, since Hayley hadn't seen her without the smallest of smiles on her face since they had walked in, "Jason here- Jason stop that!"

"He's staring at you," Jason said without removing the glare he had been directing towards Elijah – who was in fact still staring at Maybe Hope.

"Sorry," Elijah snapped out of it when Hayley subtly stepped on his foot – thanking anyone who was listening that she had put on wedges, "You just remind of someone I know."

"Oh I'm sorry," Maybe Hope joked easily – she was much more trusting than her boyfriend, and Hayley wasn't sure how she felt about that.

If this was really her Hope than of course Hayley wanted her to be happy, and undamaged, and trusting, but she also didn't want her to be naïve.

"I'm Elijah by the way, this is my wife Hayley."

"Jason," He interrupted as Hope opened her mouth, "And this is my girlfriend Sunny."

"Hope," She rolled her eyes, "My name is Hope. Jason you can't keep introducing me to people as Sunny."

"It's going to catch on, babe, you'll see."

"I don't look like a Sunny!"

"Yes you do!"

The teenagers began bickering amongst themselves oblivious to the fact that Hayley had turned around and began walking away, pulling Elijah with her, there was no way she was going to be able to hide the tears that were steadily building up in her eyes, and she couldn't very well tell Hope that she was crying in the middle of a cupcake shop because she was her daughter, and not her maybe daughter, because that wouldn't exactly go over very well.

"What is she doing here, Elijah?" Hayley demanded wiping at her tears as they stopped at the opposite end of the shop despite the fact that she could still see them, and if she put the effort in she would be able to hear them as well, "What is she doing in New York?"

"I don't know, Hayley," He said quietly his eyes never leaving them, "But I would like to find out. I would also like to know where my sister is."

"Well we can't very well go and ask her."

"Who says we can't?" Elijah raised his eyebrows.

"She doesn't know us," She said incredulously, "Let alone who we are to her, do you realize how creepy that would be for us to go up to her like that?"

"Well then tell her who you are."

Hayley gaped at the man who she had been married to for the past fourteen years, had Elijah gone absolutely insane in the past twenty minutes without her realizing it? Her first clue should have been when he agreed to take her shopping.

Surprisingly, even Klaus was easier to guilt into a shopping trip than the older Original, and that was saying something because Klaus Mikaelson only rarely knew the definition of the world guilt.

Though, when she did manage to rope Elijah into the excursion he was a much more enjoyable companion than Hayley's unlikely best friend who spent most of his time glaring at innocent bystanders as a means of entertainment.

"Are you crazy?"

"You know I was never for your plan of handing her off to Rebekah as it is, Hayley," Elijah said in that tone he had that made even the most insane of ideas sound completely logical.

"No," She said firmly, "Klaus would rip both our hearts out."

"I will deal with Niklaus."

"You can't always deal with your brother," Hayley snapped unable to contain her irritation her previous good mood disappearing as the toll of her grief at Hope's unexpected appearance finally truly hit her, "Sometimes he's right, Elijah."

"She's standing right there, Hayley. She has a boyfriend, she has a life, a life that we have not been a part of for the past eighteen years."

Hayley turned around with a huff to look at Hope, and frowned as whatever it was that she was going to say to Elijah became lost, just minutes ago Jason and Hope had looked like the happiest couple, and now they were both glaring at each other, the cupcakes long since forgotten.

She debated with herself before focusing her hearing on them, if she wasn't going to get to be Hope's mom yet, then there was nothing wrong with creeping on her. She wondered if it was more socially acceptable to creep on your daughter when she actually knew who you were.

"Damn it, Sunny, this is getting ridiculous."

"You think I don't know that Jason?" Hope crossed her arms over her chest, "We can't have this argument every single day. You need to get over this."

"Just go," Jason sighed, "I'll buy the stupid cupcakes, and wait for you."

Hope frowned slightly, though this time her features weren't angry, they were more resigned, like they really had been having the same argument every single day, and she couldn't do anything about it, "I'm sorry."

"I know."

Hope gave him one last look before she walked away and disappeared towards the back exit of the store.

"Stay here," She said quietly to Elijah and pulled out her cell phone dialing as she made her way towards the back of the store as well. It would be less creepy to follow her if she actually had a reason to.

"I told you I was a better shopping partner that Elijah," Klaus picked up with a smirk in his tone.

"Shut up, or I won't bring you back cupcakes," Hayley threatened.

"Oh the terror."

"It would be a disaster," She said informatively.

"Cupcakes don't solve everything, little wolf."

"Yes they do," Hayley said stubbornly as she waited a few seconds before pushing open the back exit that led to an empty parking lot that Hope was now walking in small circles around as she pulled out her own cell phone, "I have never met a problem that a cupcake couldn't fix."

"Then why haven't we applied your theory to the witches? If I had known I would have sent them a batch of poisoned cupcakes years ago."

"We aren't trying to fix the witches," Hayley said darkly, "We trying to annihilate them."

"That's a big word. So then, what's the real problem? I'm sure Elijah isn't too happy with me for stealing his wife."

"Maybe I just wanted to talk to my baby daddy," She said cryptically hoping he would understand the message, and she was sure he had because his end of the line became silent for a long moment.

"Hayley," He said slowly.

"She has a boyfriend," She said for a lack of something better to say, making sure to keep her voice down. It was easy to forget that Hope was a hybrid – one much more powerful than herself – when she was around her human boyfriend, but she wasn't, and she could definitely hear what Hayley was saying if she were too focus.

"She has a what?" Klaus growled.

"And you can't kill him," Hayley said quickly, "Because I think she actually likes him, maybe even loves him."

"Like that's ever stopped me before."

"That was Rebekah, this is your daughter." Hayley said obviously, "Fine, you can kill him if she likes him. But if it's too late and she's fallen in love with him, you're going to have to let the kid live."

"This is not a normal conversation." Klaus said carefully though she could tell through his tone of voice he was still aggravated and was simply trying to cover it up, only because he knew that Hope had to be close.

She didn't blame him, she had felt that way since Hope had walked into the cupcake shop holding onto Jason's arm. It wasn't Jason that aggravated her, or even the fact that Hope had a boyfriend, it was the situation itself that aggravated her.

Hayley didn't even know who the first boy Hope had had a crush on, forget her first boyfriend, and now she was seventeen, and she looked like she was all loved up, in fact she looked settled, and she couldn't help the anger she felt towards the world that she couldn't be part of that experience.

"He's protective," Hayley added thinking that may help the case Jason didn't know he was fighting, "Very protective. I thought he was going to punch Elijah for staring at her."

"So he's violent."

"She's probably violent," Hayley rolled her eyes at the completely hypocritical statement, though if anything about Hope's actions today were to go off of, then Hope wasn't a violent person, especially in comparison to her family, in fact she was kind, and had a sweet disposition.

"This will be over soon," Klaus promised a promise that he and she had been promising each other for years, "And then we'll be able to give her the home she deserves."

"Did we ever stop to think she won't want to come to New Orleans?" Hayley asked quietly as she sat down on the stairs as Hope spun in a circle as she laughed at something whoever she was talking to on the phone said, "She's not a baby Klaus, she isn't even a kid. She's seventeen, eighteen in a month. She has a life in London, or wherever she is now. She has a boyfriend, she's probably already in college. Klaus, she probably has plans. Who are we to mess with that?"

"Who are we to deny her the right to know us?" Klaus countered, "You read that letter."

Hayley smiled to herself at the letter that had come a year and a half ago. It wasn't even a letter, a box had shown up at the front door of the compound – something Hayley hadn't even known they had as everyone seemed to enter from absolutely nowhere – with a history textbook inside.

On the textbook there was a yellow post-it note on the front with Rebekah's handwriting and three words, 'Just this once.' Flipping through the book, neither Hayley, nor Klaus, nor Elijah had been able to figure out why they had been sent the book, till they had gotten to the back cover.

There in meticulous, tiny, and neat handwriting was the beginning of a letter that Hayley had memorized before they had to toss the textbook into a fire. It was the first moment Hayley had truly felt like she was a mother since she had given Hope up.

It was the moment Hayley had fallen more in love with her baby than she already was. Seeing Hope today had confirmed what Hayley had concluded from her daughter's makeshift letter – she was sweet, and she was kind, and she was funny in an unconscious manner, but more than that she was happy, and she was wise beyond her years.

"I just don't want to ruin anything for her, not when we've spent so long fighting for her." Hayley admitted.

"It's her choice whether she wants to meet us or not," Klaus decided, "We will not force her into it, we will let her know when New Orleans is safe, and that will be that."

"I need to go," Hayley said quickly as Hope hung up the phone and beginning making her way towards Hayley. She hung up with a promise to call Klaus once this was all over.

"Do you mind?" Hope asked sheepishly.

Hayley shook her head immediately – maybe a little too fast – and moved over so Hope could sit next to her on the steps.

"Are you okay?" Hayley asked carefully, while she didn't know how to be a mom, least of all an uncreepy mom, she was very aware of how seriously uncreepy she needed to come off as.

"I'm fine," Hope smiled, "I was just talking to my Aunt Rebekah, and I need a minute before I go back inside."

"Your boyfriend doesn't like your aunt?" Hayley asked having the decency to look slightly contrite as Hope looked at her with an amused expression.

"No," Hope shook her head, "Jason likes my aunt – or at least has an appreciation for how protective she is of me – but by that same notion it drives him absolutely insane how protective she is over me."

"That's confusing."

"It's not," Hope cleared up, "Jason's a protective person by nature, he doesn't care about a lot of things, but when he does, he cares about it a lot. However, my Auntie Beks takes overprotection to a new extreme. I'm from London, if you can't tell."

"It hasn't escaped my attention," Hayley smiled.

"Jason's going to Columbia in the fall-"

"And you're following him out here?" Hayley interrupted hoping her anger didn't bleed out into her tone. Her daughter was seventeen years old, she had no business following a boy halfway across the world.

"No," Hope reassured, "I'm not, we're going to do the long distance thing, but we decided to come out here for the summer so he could get settled."

"And your Aunt Rebekah wasn't okay with that?" Hayley asked feeling much more calm now. It was one thing for her daughter to spend a summer in New York with her boyfriend that was much less terrifying to Hayley.

Hope laughed sheepishly making a face, "No, my Aunt Rebekah followed us out here."

Hayley blinked for a second, she was well aware of how important both she and Klaus had stressed Hope's security to Rebekah, but even she couldn't help the overwhelming sympathy she felt for Hope, and even the sympathy she suddenly felt for Jason.

Hayley was an incredibly independent person by nature, and she couldn't think of anything worse than being seventeen – nearly eighteen years old – and still having a chaperone. It wasn't like Hope was completely defenseless – it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself.

"I am so sorry."

"I love her but it's a little much," Hope admitted, "Jason was surprisingly tolerant of her coming down with us, but she makes me call and check in every hour when I'm not with her, and I think that drives him insane more than anything else."

That poor kid probably never got laid, Hayley thought to herself, and then nodded, good, until Hayley figured out how she felt about him, Jason had no business sleeping with her daughter.

"Why is she so overprotective?" Hayley asked a dangerous question that she already knew the answer to.

"My parents aren't really in the picture, she's raised me herself," Hope explained in an almost rehearsed fashion.

"Is that what you told Jason?"

"He, like you, isn't an idiot," Hope said running a hand through her long hair, "And more and more lately that explanation isn't good enough for him, but I don't think the truth is something he can handle."

"Something he can't handle, or something you can't handle?" Hayley asked pointedly.

If there was one thing Hayley had gotten from Hope's letter, and this chance encounter, it was that her daughter didn't let people in. Besides Rebekah, her daughter didn't have anyone to truly confide in, and if that was something Hayley could change in the space of this conversation, then she would be content for the rest of her life.

"I love him."

"I don't think love is what is in question. I think the communication between you two is the problem."

"It always has been," Hope sighed, "And only I am to blame for that."

"Then do something about it," Hayley shrugged.

"Maybe I will," Hope smiled standing up, "I'm so sorry for dumping all my problems on you like that. You must think I'm insane."

"I think you're beautiful," Hayley blurted out before she could stop herself, but Hope didn't find the comment odd, she merely took it in stride, and blushed.

"I should go," Hope nodded towards the shop.

"Hope?" Hayley called after her, her daughter's name slipping off her tongue for the first time in either of their lives where she was actually addressing her daughter while saying it.

"Yeah?" She turned around.

"For what it's worth, Jason doesn't seem like the kind of guy who scares easy. If he truly doesn't care about a lot of things the way you say he does, then the few things that he does care about, he'll fight like hell for."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Hayley promised.

"I'm going to hug you," Hope declared, "And that could be super creepy, but I literally just dumped half of my life problems on you, so I think a hug is one of the least creepy things I've done here today."

And before Hayley truly had time to process that statement, Hope's arms were around her neck, her sweet scent that somehow still smelled exactly like she had when she was born – sweet with a hint of Klaus' indescribable but completely alluring smell – and Hayley couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms gently around Hope's waist.

Hayley closed her eyes to hold back the warm tears, as she tried her best to memorize this moment, to memorize how Hope felt in her arms, to memorize how gentle yet strong her embrace was, to memorize what it felt like to hold her daughter for the first time in seventeen years.

"Thank you, Hayley," Hope pulled away and made her way to the door again just as Elijah opened it, "For everything."

"Anytime," Hayley promised as she made another silent promise to herself that that was the first and only time Hope would address her as Hayley – the next time Hope talked to her, the next time Hope saw her, it would be as her mother.

"I'm going to tell him," Hope called over her shoulder as she moved ahead of them, "Everything."

Hayley smiled to herself as she took Elijah's hand in her own, as she watched Hope kiss her boyfriend – who Hayley decided she liked – and then watched the pair walk out of the cupcake shop much like they had entered – laughing.

And with that Hayley pulled out her phone, found Klaus' name, and sent him a text.

Too late. You can't kill him. She loves him. And he loves her. And I like him. He's hot – is that socially acceptable to say if he's my daughter's boyfriend? I feel like it is considering technically, I'm only twenty-two.

"What's she like?" Elijah asked quietly as they themselves exited the store minutes later.

Hayley thought back to the nickname Jason had given her daughter, "She's like sunshine."