Chapter 10: Pancakes and Paternity

"Mama?" came a tiny whisper from somewhere in the dark room, followed quickly by the quietest of sniffles and the sound of small footsteps padding hesitantly across the wood floor. The footsteps stopped at the foot of the large bed that dominated one end of the room. Blankets shifted as the bed's sole occupant came awake, abruptly.

Klaus raised up on his elbows, his eyes searching the darkness and quickly finding the source of the sound that had awakened him. At the foot of his bed stood Dominik, looking small and frightened.

Klaus sat up in the bed.

"Mama?" whispered Nik, seeming even more hesitant than before.

"No such luck, I'm afraid," Klaus answered, quietly, apologetically. "It's Klaus, Nik…I think you've found your way into the wrong room. Never fear though, your mother is just down the hall." Klaus tried to sound reassuring, hoping not to terrify the child.

Another sniffle sounded at the foot of the bed, and Klaus reached out to the boy.

"Come here," he said, holding out his hand into the darkness. After a beat he heard footsteps and felt a small, warm hand slip into his. "Up you go," he said, tugging the child up onto the edge of the bed. "There's a good lad," he said, sitting the boy down next to him. "Now, what has you up prowling the grounds in the middle of the night?"

"The moon," came the small boy's sleepy reply.

In the pale light cast by said moon, Klaus could see the child's small finger pointing toward the open window. He felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. The full moon was coming. In a thousand years he'd grown used to its rhythm to the point that he now gave it little thought, but he remembered the strange pull he'd felt as a boy…the fascination, the drawing-near that he hadn't understood until much later. He squeezed Dominik's shoulder, unconsciously, and thought about what that could mean.

To his surprise, Klaus felt the boy settle in beside him. He felt the weight of the child's head as it pressed against his chest, trustingly.

Klaus felt a sudden warmth somewhere in the vicinity of his heart.

He stayed silent for several minutes, enjoying the unexpected trust the child had bestowed upon him. Finally, clearing his throat, he asked quietly, "Shall I take you to find your mother?"

But there was only silence. Dominik was once again fast asleep.

Deciding against moving him, Klaus reclined, slowly, back into his pillows. He lay there in the dark for countless minutes, feeling the weight of the boy's head on his chest and watching its tiny silhouette rise and fall with each of his breaths.

He thought about the boy and himself…and what the probable truth was. It danced around his consciousness, taunting him.

He thought about the moon.

Eventually, he slept.

"Mommy?"

Cami's eyes popped open and immediately slammed shut again against the onslaught of bright sunlight.

"Are you awake?" came Hope's sweet little-girl voice.

Cami smiled sleepily as she sat up in bed, forcing her eyes to open against the sun's brightness.

"Yep. I'm up," she said, yawning and stretching.

"I can't find Nik," Hope fretted.

"What?" Cami came fully awake at that.

"I waked up and he wasn't there."

Cami threw back the covers of the large, luxurious bed Klaus had procured for her and pressed her bare feet to the floor. Cold wood greeted her and she grimaced in response. Grabbing her robe, she wrapped it quickly around herself and headed toward the nursery. She'd left the French doors separating the two rooms open last night in case either of the children awakened in the night. She'd known they would be fearful, waking in the dark to a strange room.

Hope trailed behind her, looking expectantly into the empty nursery, as if her brother might have reappeared in her brief absence.

Cami's heart leapt into her throat at the sight of two empty beds. "Nik?" she called out, trying not to panic.

She opened the doors to both the bathroom and the closet and found them dark and empty. She swallowed down her fear and tried to keep a level head. Where would he go?

Wordlessly, she turned and reached her arms out to Hope. Automatically, the girl stepped forward and raised her arms in response. Cami lifted her easily and settled the girl against her hip. She patted the child's small thigh and said, "Don't worry, we'll find him." Cami was certain she was trying to reassure herself as much as she was Hope.

Moving quickly to the opposite side of the room, Cami all but flung open the door to Klaus's room, his name perched on her lips.

The sound never made it any further than the back of her throat, however. It wedged there, near the lump that formed at the sight before her. Her son lay fast asleep in Klaus's bed, his head resting on Klaus's chest, his cheek pressed firmly to the spot just over the sleeping man's heart.

Klaus's large hand rested against Nik's back, rising and falling with each of her son's slow, even breaths.

"There he is!" Hope whispered, excitedly. "We finded him! He sleeped with my Daddy!"

"Yep," Cami agreed, her eyes never leaving the sleeping pair before her.

"Are you okay, Mama?" Hope asked, concern coloring her words.

Cami shook herself out of her temporary daze. She blinked a couple of times to clear the telltale shine from her eyes. "I'm fine, baby. See, I told you we'd find him," she whispered. "Let's let the boys sleep for now though, okay?"

Hope nodded, conspiratorially.

Cami closed the door, quietly, and stepped back into the nursery. It was still early. She would take Hope downstairs for some breakfast. She trusted Klaus to come find her when he and Nik were awake.

She couldn't get the image of the two of them out of her mind. If she'd ever had any true doubts about Nik's paternity, she certainly didn't anymore.

In sleep, they shared the same countenance.

The similarities in their sleeping faces, when presented side by side, were impossible to deny. Not that she hadn't already known the truth, anyway.

She was still a bit confused on the how, as she'd thought the "loophole" in Klaus's ability to father Hope had been that he and Hayley were both werewolves, and that that facet of their beings had somehow allowed them to procreate; however, that clearly was not the case because Cami was painfully human. And Dominik was most certainly she and Klaus's son.

She really needed to get in touch with Davina.

But first, she needed to feed her daughter.

"Breakfast?" she asked Hope, eyebrows raised in question.

"Yes!" Hope proclaimed, definitively.

On the way downstairs Cami reflected on the night before.

Klaus had said he considered her his family. That meant a great deal to her. For the first time since he'd come back into her life, she felt like maybe there was hope for something good here. Maybe Klaus could let go of his demons enough to pursue something real with her, something of substance. She knew that hoping for a relationship with Klaus, one where he could love her and trust her, was likely to break her heart, but she couldn't help herself.

Last night they'd stood in the nursery, holding on to each other until that old familiar warmth began to spread throughout her body. She'd stood there in his arms reflecting back on the time they'd spent in this house together when Hope was a baby. They'd been on the verge of something then, she was sure of it…something great that had never quite gotten a chance. They'd grown so close during that time…close enough that, when faced with separation, they'd acted on those feelings, that closeness. They'd used physicality to convey the emotions they were not prepared to voice. She still didn't feel ready to say out loud exactly what she felt for Klaus, and she knew he was far from ready for that either, but she also didn't feel prepared to be physically intimate with him again. For her, at least where Klaus was concerned, there was just too much emotion wrapped up in the act of sex.

He understood that though. She knew he did. Because last night he'd said as much.

"I'm going to go to my room now…and there's nothing I'd like more than to take you with me," he'd whispered in her ear as he held her close, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. "But I know what happens in that room."

She'd shivvered then, feeling his warm breath wash over her neck.

"I know how maddeningly tender…how deliciously wicked…how gloriously powerful it is," he'd continued, softly. He'd pressed his cheek to hers then, his five o' clock shadow scraping delectably against her delicate skin. "And I know that neither one of us is ready for that again," he finished in a breathy half-whisper. "I don't think we ever were…"

He'd pressed his lips to her cheek then, before pulling back and looking her straight in the eye. She'd seen her emotions reflected back at her through his eyes. Desire. Uncertainty.

He was right. She knew he was. They were nowhere near ready to go there again…had never been ready to begin with.

He'd nodded and squeezed her upper arms affectionately before taking a large step back from her. He'd given one last long look at the sleeping children and left the nursery. He had walked out again, but this time was different. It didn't feel like he'd bolted away from her. There had been a discussion of sorts…a decision.

It felt like a small victory.

Unfortunately, not being emotionally ready for something did not mean you stopped wanting it.

She'd gone to her room alone, her body still thrumming from the time spent in Klaus's embrace.

She wasn't so naive as to mistake sex for love…but she knew that what she and Klaus shared physically was not the simple act of sex either. She'd had sex before, good sex, great sex even, but what she and Klaus had together went far beyond any other sexual or emotional experience she'd ever had. She hadn't known something like that existed, but as much as she craved it…it was terrifying at the same time. In any case, she was grateful Klaus had pulled away the night before, because she wasn't sure she'd have been able to…and that's what scared her the most. Because until she knew where things were going between the two of them, she had to protect her heart as best she could. Whether he knew it or not, Klaus had the power to decimate her, and she couldn't let that happen…

Cami rounded the corner into the kitchen and stopped short. There sat Rebekah and Freya, having coffee and bagels.

"Good morning, loves!" chirped Rebekah, cheerfully. Cami must have looked stricken, because Rebekah rose from her seat and came toward them, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's nice to see you, Cami," she said, sincerely. "And you," she said, enthusiastically, addressing Hope. "You are so big!"

Hope buried her face in Cami's neck and peeked up at Rebekah through the veil of her honey blonde hair. "Aww…don't be frightened, darling," Rebekah cooed, softly. "I'm your Aunty Beks," she said, smiling.

Cami noticed that the smile didn't quite reach Rebekah's eyes, and she realized for the first time that Rebekah, more than anyone, would be able to understand her sense of loss at coming back here. After all, Rebekah had spent the first few months of the Hope's life caring for her before being summoned back here to hand the child over as if that time had never happened, as if it wouldn't break her heart.

Cami angled her face toward Hope's ear and stage whispered, "Did you know that your Aunty Beks makes the world's best chocolate chip pancakes?"

Hope gave Rebekah side-eyes. "She does?" the little girl asked, skeptically.

"She does," Cami confirmed. "In fact, I got my recipe from her." It was true. Ages ago, during the time that Cami had stayed out at the old plantation house, Rebekah had once helped her pass an afternoon by teaching her 'Rebekah Mikaelson's Secret To The Perfect Pancake'. The secret ended up being real butter and the perfect griddle temperature. It had been a fun day, and the art of pancake making had come in handy to Cami in the years since.

Hope raised her head up off of Cami's shoulder.

"Would you like to help me make some right now?" Rebekah asked, temptingly.

The little girl hesitated, clinging to Cami a little tighter.

"Your Mum and Aunty Freya can help us," Rebekah suggested, gesturing to the two women in turn.

Hope glanced at Freya, who grinned and gave a friendly wave. Then she looked back at Rebekah and said, "Okay, but I get to crack the eggs."

"Absolutely!" Rebekah agreed, laughing.

Cami sat Hope up on a barstool near the kitchen counter as Rebekah began pulling bowls and measuring utensils out of the cabinets. As she headed to the refrigerator to pull out the necessary ingredients, Rebekah caught her eye and smiled gratefully.

Thank you, she mouthed.

Cami nodded her acknowledgement.

Freya grabbed all of the necessary dry ingredients from the pantry and the four of them set about making a batch of the world's best chocolate chip pancakes.

When Klaus entered the kitchen, thirty minutes later, the scene had changed dramatically.

The open kitchen, which had been a tension-filled environment only half an hour before, was now filled with music and laughter and the delicious smell of perfectly grilled chocolate chip pancakes. Music was wafting from the stereo in the next room and all four of the females at the kitchen counter had either flour or pancake batter somewhere on their person. Hope and Freya sat at the breakfast bar chewing happily on golden pancakes, whilst Rebekah manned the griddle, adding even more of the fluffy discs to the ever-growing pile to her right. His eyes landed on Camille. She stood, leaning against the counter, enjoying a cup of coffee. The sun shined through the window behind her and bathed her in soft, morning light, causing her skin and hair to take on a golden glow. She was laughing at something Rebekah had said just before he'd rounded the corner, and she was beautiful.

She must have sensed him watching her because suddenly her eyes found his.

"Klaus," she said, surprise coloring her voice.

"Mama!" Nik exclaimed, beaming.

"Hi baby," Cami replied, moving toward the duo.

"Mama?" Rebekah echoed, eyes moving questioningly between the small boy and Cami.

"Yes," Cami smiled, nervously. "Rebekah, Freya…this is my son, Dominik."

"Really?" Rebekah replied, rhetorically, her eyes settling on her brother and the young boy in his arms.

A young boy who bore a striking resemblance to her brother at that age.

Klaus stood in the doorway, holding Nik against his chest with one strong arm. They were both still in their sleepwear, Nik in a pair of green and white super hero pajamas and Klaus in a pair of cream-colored, low-slung cotton pajama pants. They sported matching bedhead.

"Nik?" Rebekah asked, casually, preparing to launch into a series of questions regarding his whereabouts about nine months prior to the arrival of the child in his arms.

"What?" both man and child answered in unison.

Klaus and Nik looked at each other, equally baffled.

"I Nik, you Kaus," Nik pointed out to him, as though Klaus might have forgotten his own name.

Cami looked at the floor and bit the inside of her cheek, trying hard not to smile.

"Nevermind, Brother," Rebekah replied, eyes narrowing in thought. "You have things under control here, right?" she asked, pausing to remove the last of the pancakes from the griddle and switch it off. Turning her attention to Cami, she said, "Care to have a chat?"

"Rebekah," Klaus warned, in a low voice.

"Oh, bugger off, Nik—not you, sweetie," she caught her near-mistake, smiled at the toddler, and then waved a hand dismissively at her brother. "I only want to have a quick chat with the mother of my brother's child…" she trailed off cryptically, looking pointedly at said child.

Only she wasn't looking at Hope, she was looking directly at Dominik.