Chapter 14: The Wild Card

a/n: As always, thank you all for staying with me on this journey. I so appreciate each new follow and favorite and I truly treasure every single review that you all take the time to leave! I hope you enjoy the chapter!

Cami ran the wash cloth gently over Hope's back, watching as the sweet-smelling baby soap grew into a frothy lather and slid downward, pooling on the water's surface. She took comfort in the familiarity of the task, having performed the same ritual, nightly, for the past three-and-a-half years. She didn't usually give it much thought, but, this time, as she prepared to wash her daughter's hair, she found herself pausing to memorize its exact shade and length, committing it to memory. Just in case...

Swallowing against the tightness in her throat, she reached for the small, pink cup that sat amongst the children's bath toys and sank it into the warm water, watching as it spluttered and sent air bubbles racing to the surface as it filled.

She felt her breath hitch, her lungs burn. She could empathize with that cup. She, too, felt like she was sinking, drowning, and she imagined oxygen-starved tissue turning pale and then black beneath her ribs.

She took a shallow breath.

Without prompting, Hope tilted her head back, waiting trustingly for the cascade of warm bathwater that she knew was coming.

Dutifully, Cami placed her palm gently on the girl's forehead, and began to pour, her fingers shielding the child's eyes from any stray drops of water.

If only it were as easy to shield her from all of life's hurts.

Hope had remained unusually quiet since she and Cami had spoken about Hayley. Cami knew her daughter though, and was familiar with her tendency to withdraw from and internalize things that frightened or confused her. Like Cami, Hope needed time to mull things over on her own before she felt comfortable sharing her thoughts and fears with anyone else. Cami was doing her best to give the girl time to formulate the questions that she needed answered. It was important, she knew, to allow the child to articulate her feelings in her own time. There were questions though…Cami knew there were, and she waited patiently for them.

Earlier in the day, after Cami had managed to pull herself together and relieve Freya and Rebekah from their babysitting duties, she had taken the children up to the nursery to rest for a while. Both children tended to balk at the mention of a "nap" but could usually be persuaded, without much effort, to lie down and rest whilst she read them an afternoon story. More often than not, this resulted in two sleeping children and, occasionally, a sleeping mommy. Without fail, though, Dominik always fell asleep well before Hope did, and Cami knew that would be her chance to talk to the girl about the changes that were about to occur in all of their lives.

And so, lying spooned together in a toddler bed, in a patch of warm afternoon sunlight, with Dominik sleeping soundly only two feet away on the other bed, Cami broke the news to Hope in the gentlest way that she could think of...

In whispered tones, with lips pressed close against her daughter's ear, Cami told Hope the story of a very special little girl, a magical princess, born to the King and Queen of two feuding families—a mother and father who had loved her so much, but had been forced by circumstance to send her away. Then she told her of the Fairy Godmother whom the King had chosen, especially, to raise the girl and love her and keep her safe until they could all be a family again. She told her how the King had finally come for the princess and reunited their family, and how they were now all living happily ever after, except for the Queen. She went on to explain that the Queen had loved the girl every bit as much as the King, but that she'd been caught in a spell and was only recently freed, and now she wanted nothing more than to meet her daughter, so that they could all live happily ever after together.

"And do you know what?" Cami whispered, shakily, praying that she was getting this moment right.

"What?" whispered Hope, completely entranced by the fairytale.

"That's a true story," Cami whispered, her hushed voice containing a forced sense of wonder, which belied her true wariness.

"It is?" Hope asked, surprised, rolling onto her back to stare up at Cami through large, blue-green eyes.

"Mmm hmm," Cami managed, brushing her fingers lovingly over Hope's brow and tucking a lock of honey-blonde hair behind her ear. "And that little princess? That's you," she revealed, quietly, tapping her finger gently against Hope's chest.

"Me?" Hope echoed Cami's words, incredulously.

"Yep…that's the incredible, true story of Hope Mikaelson," Cami said, wearing a smile she prayed the child couldn't tell was forced.

"I had a other mommy? B'for you?" the girl's voice quivered slightly with emotion, and, in response, Cami felt her heart fracturing in her chest.

Her next words felt thick and irregularly shaped, and she feared they might get stuck somewhere in her trachea and suffocate her. "Yes, you did," she was finally able to say, the words barely more than a whisper.

"And you know'd her?" Hope asked, cautiously. "Was she your friend?" she asked, plucking worriedly at the fabric of Cami's t-shirt.

"Yes, she was," Cami answered, honestly, thankful that she could, in good conscience, count Hayley as a friend—or at least as a friendly acquaintance.

"And my Daddy gived me to you?" the girl asked, still trying to piece it all together. "So, I'd be safe from bad guys?"

"Yes, he did. And it was very hard for him and your…" she forced the words, "…your first mommy to do that, because they loved you so much." She tried to act like it was nothing, like having one mother and being raised by another happened all the time, and she supposed it did—albeit in totally different circumstances. "But your Daddy gave you to me to keep you safe…and I'm so happy he chose me, because he made you my baby, too."

Truer words had never been spoken-Cami had been overcome with emotion when Klaus had handed over his baby girl to her for safe keeping. She had opened her arms and her heart to Hope and never looked back.

"Did my Daddy give you Nik?" Hope wanted to know.

Cami had anticipated this question, and did her best to answer it simply and honestly.

"Yes, he did," she answered, pausing to wait for Hope to digest the information and propel the conversation forward at her own pace.

"But Nik growed in your tummy…" Hope remembered.

Oh boy.

Cami struggled for a moment, to find the words, but was able to recover fairly quickly.

"When your Daddy gave me Nik, he was so tiny that he wasn't ready to be born yet, so he had to grow in my tummy, but you…" Cami, pressed her lips to Hope's forehead, "Your first mommy had already grown you big and strong in her tummy, so when your Daddy brought you to me, you didn't need to be in my tummy."

"Does Nik have a first mommy, too?" Hope asked, her eyes serious.

"Well, I'm Nik's first mommy…he doesn't have another mommy though, no," Cami said, gently, knowing that's what the girl was really asking.

Hope looked concerned.

"Let's not tell him right away, though, okay?" Cami whispered, conspiratorially, to her. "He might be jealous, because you get to have two mommies and he only has one."

It felt manipulative to try to present the situation in such a positive light when she knew in her heart this could all go so badly, so quickly. She prayed, silently, for the millionth time, that Hayley was the person she thought her to be—a person who would put Hope's needs above all others, including her own. When this was all said and done, they all needed to be together, a family…no matter how untraditional. Hope couldn't be separated from any of them. Not again.

Just as she'd been about to ask Hope what she thought about the possibility of meeting her "first mommy", there was a faint knock on the open French door that led from Klaus's room into the nursery.

Cami glanced over her shoulder and spotted him standing in the open doorway.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, quietly, already making his way into the room, crossing the floor on near-silent feet.

"Of course not. Come on in," she offered, grateful for the brief distraction. To her surprise, he slid onto the tiny bed, directly behind her. It creaked under his added weight, and she shifted forward slightly to accommodate his presence. He wrapped himself around her body, effectively spooning both she and Hope, and rested his chin on her shoulder, peering down at the little girl.

"Am I mistaken or did I overhear the story of Hope Mikaelson?" he asked, as if it were the most famous story ever told.

"Am I really a princess, Daddy?" Hope asked, and Cami couldn't help but be thankful that was the aspect of the story the child had chosen to focus on. While Cami knew more questions about Hayley were bound to come, clearly she hadn't traumatized the child with her revelation.

"You are my princess," he acknowledged.

"But are you really a king?" she pressed.

"Of course, I am," he answered, smiling down at the girl. "Do you doubt it?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her, playfully.

Hope grinned and shook her head, and Cami was instantly charmed by Klaus's ability to elicit such a trusting response from their daughter.

Lifting Cami's head gently, Klaus tucked his bicep between the pillow and her cheek and tugged her closer until he could rest his chin against the warm skin in the crook of her neck. His five o' clock shadow scraped delectably against her tender flesh, and she shivered against him. She felt him smile against her skin, likely pleased by her involuntary reaction to him.

"Where is my first mommy now?" Hope asked, carefully, and Cami's heart began to race in her chest.

She felt Klaus's warm hand leave its perch on her left hip and slip up the front of her body, sliding over her flat abdomen, skimming between her breasts, and finally coming to rest against her chest, his thumb and index finger forming bookends along the straight line of her collarbones. And there it remained, his palm pressing comfortingly against her pounding heart.

I'm here, he seemed to say.

She took a deep, shaky breath and prepared to answer her daughter's question, but before she could, Klaus spoke, saving her from inadvertently revealing her distress.

"Your first mother," he answered, using Cami's description of Hayley, "Is here in New Orleans, but she wanted you to get settled a bit before she came to see you. Would that be alright with you…if she came here to visit us sometime?" He had been careful to say "us", letting Hope know that her current family unit was to remain intact, and that Hayley would be the outsider, coming in. It was a good bit of psychology and Cami was impressed with his ability to communicate with the girl so effectively on such a sensitive topic.

Hope's eyes moved to Cami's and, for her daughter's benefit, Cami put on a brave smile.

"Okay," Hope shrugged, seeming unconvinced, but not especially troubled.

Cami let out a small sigh of relief. Maybe they could get through this after all.

"Can you tell me a story, Daddy?" Hope requested, yawning.

Cami felt Klaus's chest swell, his warmth, momentarily, pressing more firmly against her back.

"I would be happy to tell you a story, love," he said, quietly, his breath whispering along Cami's jawline, causing a few errant strands of blonde hair to tickle the soft skin of her throat.

"I believe all the best ones begin…Once upon a time," he started, obligingly.

Cami closed her eyes and relaxed for what felt like the first time in weeks. His deep voice rumbled through his chest, and she felt the soothing vibration of it against her back. She drew her knees up a little higher, shifting her sock-covered feet on the bed until they bumped against his shins. Without missing a beat in his story, Klaus dropped a quick, tender kiss to the skin just below her ear, and tucked his knees firmly into the bend behind her own.

Within minutes, she had fallen asleep.

"Will you be with me when she comes?" Hope asked, causing Cami to drop the pink cup she'd been holding for God-only-knows how long. Giving herself a mental shake, she dipped her fingers into the tub, and retrieved the now sunken receptacle.

The bathwater had grown tepid.

To anyone watching it might seem as though the girl's question had come out of nowhere, but Cami knew her daughter had been stewing over this all evening.

"Of course, I will," she assured the child, placing a gentle hand on her forehead, urging her to tilt her head back. "Let's rinse one more time and make sure Mommy got all the soap, okay?"

Hope tilted her head back, obligingly, waiting patiently as Cami poured water over her scalp and ran gentle fingers through her wet locks a couple of more times. Satisfied, Cami reached forward and pulled the plug from the drain. The old claw foot tub made sucking noises as the water rushed down the drain and Hope giggled in delight against prune-y fingers.

Without prompting, Hope struggled to her feet, clinging tightly to tub's curved porcelain edge.

"Careful," Cami cautioned, placing a steadying hand under Hope's arm, making sure the child didn't slip. Once she was certain the girl was steady on her feet, Cami let go of her to reach for a bath towel.

"Mama?" Hope asked, as Cami wrapped her in the fluffy, pale yellow cotton and lifted her from the tub.

"Hmm?" Cami hummed, as she set the girl on the bath mat, knelt before her, and began lightly rubbing the towel over her daughter's skin.

"She won't take me away…will she?" Hope asked, seriously, one hand clutching Cami's shoulder for support, the other twisting nervously in the ends of her long, blonde hair.

Cami's hands stilled.

Looking into Hope's large, solemn eyes she felt torn. She didn't want to lie to her daughter, but she didn't want the girl to be scared of meeting Hayley, either. She tried to imagine herself in Hayley's situation. As much as she would want to see her daughter, she couldn't fathom that she would ever rip her out of the only home, the only family, she'd ever known. She had to believe that Hayley wouldn't do that to Hope either.

She had to believe that.

Cami wrapped the towel around Hope once again and pulled the girl close against her chest, wrapping her arms around her tightly and pressing her lips against her wet hair.

"No," she said, firmly. "She won't."

She had to believe that they could make this work somehow, that they could all come together out of a shared love for this little girl.

Klaus was Klaus, but he loved his daughter, and Cami knew that he respected the role he'd given her in his daughter's life and that he would never do anything to jeopardize the bond they shared as mother and daughter. And, obviously, she herself loved Hope unconditionally, without limit, and would do whatever it took to ensure her happiness.

Hayley was the wild card.

Especially, given what they'd learned earlier this evening.

Despite whatever plans she'd had to see and possibly reclaim Hope today, it seemed that Hayley now had an arguably more pressing matter to attend to. The only witch Hayley and Jackson had managed to find who was powerful enough to undo the curse, had been unwilling to do so. Backs against a wall, they had forced her hand by blackmailing her with some information she feared getting back to her coven. Eventually, she had been able to complete the reversal spell by calling upon The Ancestors for help. Unfortunately, she'd promised them something in return, something she hadn't yet procured—the daughter of the Crescent Queen. When Hayley and Jackson had learned of the deal that had been made, they'd gone after her, not knowing that she'd managed to cast a failsafe spell for her own protection. In the battle that ensued, Jackson had inflicted a mortal wound on the witch, and the failsafe spell had worked its dark magic.

The moment her heart had ceased to beat, so had his.

Jackson was dead, and now it was anyone's guess what Hayley's state of mind was.

With Jackson gone and the person responsible already dead by his own hand, Hayley had fled, and no one knew where she'd gone.

So, in this terrifying game, the outcome of which would most likely determine her daughter's fate, Hayley was the wild card.

And wild cards were called just that, for a reason.