An: Hey there, readers! I want to thank you all for your reviews, follows and favs! I'm terribly sorry I did not get a chance to personally respond to my reviewers this time around. It's a busy time of year for me (as I would imagine for many of you too!). I cannot guarantee that I will be able to post another chapter (after this one) before the New Year. My oldest son is out of school for two weeks, and I will be occupied with play dates and holiday parties for the next two weeks! :) This will limit my time to write, but I promise I will try my best to get a chapter out by the first week of January, at the latest. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all!
Lizzie hopped into the backseat of Caroline's car, which was filled with snacks, juice boxes, games and toys to keep the seven year old occupied on the seven and a half hour drive. Caroline tossed all her and Lizzie's bags in the trunk. She looked over at Klaus and Hayley. "Since no one seems to know exactly what type of supernatural entity Lizzie is, we are driving the speed limit. Understand?"
Klaus chuckles and Hayley nods. "Sounds good. Oh and Caroline?"
Caroline looks up at Klaus. "Yeah?"
"Why don't you give me your phone number? Just in case we get separated."
Caroline shakes her head and relays her number to Klaus. She smiles and waves to the Original and sits in her car. "Ready, Liz?"
"Ready, mom!" Lizzie pulls out her iPad mini and set to work playing games and watching videos with her head phones on.
Caroline dials Stefan's number and puts the phone on speaker so she can drive. "Hey Care!"
"Hi Stef. How's Italy?"
"It's great. I met up with Elena a couple of days ago. We just hung out and got caught up. It was nice."
Caroline smiles. "That's great." Caroline pauses for a minute. "So, I have some news."
Stefan is curious. "Did you adopt another child?" Stefan jokes. He has been a witness to how natural Caroline has been as a mom. Caroline and Lizzie are by far his favorite people to visit and spend time with.
"No." Caroline looks to see Lizzie busy in the back seat. She lowers her voice, praying that Lizzie doesn't have supernatural hearing. "So, I met Lizzie's birth parents."
"I thought you didn't know who her parents were."
"I didn't."
Stefan waits, assuming there is more to this story. "What aren't you telling me?"
Caroline sighs and replies really quickly. "Lizzie's birth parents are Klaus and Hayley." There is a three minute long silence as Stefan tries to process. "Stef? Did you hear me? Are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm here." Stefan says softly. "So, you're telling me, that you randomly adopted a little girl and she happens to be the love child of Hayley, the werewolf and the almighty big bad hybrid. A child who, not to mention, we were under the impression was killed by witches."
"Yup."
"Hmm. Ok."
"Oh and Hayley is a hybrid now, too." Caroline adds.
"How did you find out they were her parents?"
"Well, they found us." Caroline says as she peeks at Lizzie again.
"And? I can't imagine that went well."
"Aside from a few death threats, and attempts to steal Lizzie away." Caroline can hear Stefan laughing in the back ground. "The point of all of this is to inform you that Lizzie and I are on our way to New Orleans to spend a little time with Klaus, Hayley and the rest of the Mikaelsons."
Stefan coughs. "You are allowing them to be around Lizzie? Are you crazy, Care?"
"I'm in a tough spot, Stef. She's their daughter, biologically. They have been looking for her for years. They want her back. But I don't want to let her go. I figured if she went there and decided she didn't like it, her and I would come back to Dallas and live happily."
"What if she likes it?" Stefan asks, cautiously.
"I don't know. I don't know if I can bare the hurt if she would rather live with Klaus and Hayley." Caroline holds back her tears, glancing again in the rear view mirror, positioned so she could clearly see her daughter. Lizzie looks up at the same time and smiles and waves at Caroline. Caroline blows Lizzie a kiss in the mirror and Lizzie reciprocates.
"Ok. I'll help you."
"How?"
"I'm coming to New Orleans. I will help you through this. Plus I haven't see you guys in a couple of weeks. We are well overdue!"
Caroline breathes a breath of relief. "No wonder you are my best friend. I would be lost without you."
"Send me Klaus' address and I will see you in a day or two."
"Thanks, bye Stef."
"Bye Care."
The rest of the trip was uneventful. They only had to stop twice so Lizzie could go to the bathroom and grab some more substantial food. But Klaus and Hayley remained in their car, knowing that Lizzie was more comfortable with Caroline than either of them yet. They pull into the driveway for the Mikaelson mansion around 9:30 at night. Lizzie is fast asleep in Caroline's backseat. Caroline glances back there before she exits her car. Klaus and Hayley vamp speed over to her and Caroline stops them with her raised hand. "She is asleep. And though Lizzie is usually a heavy sleeper, she does not do well in places she is unfamiliar with." Hayley nods and goes to fetch Lizzie. Caroline stops her again. "I will need a room with a bed big enough for us to share and I will carry her in."
Hayley glares at Caroline. "How long do you intend to keep my daughter from me?"
"Do you want her to freak out on you again?" Caroline asks, while pulling Lizzie into her arms.
Hayley groans. "No."
"Ok. Klaus, could you grab our bags?"
"Sure thing, love." Klaus easily lifts all the bags into his arms and leads Caroline into the house. Hayley follows behind, sulking.
Upon hearing cars and Klaus' voice, Rebekah, Elijah, Kol and Marcel vamp speed into the foyer. They are stunned to see Caroline carrying the young girl, whom Rebekah and Elijah recognize as their niece. "What are you doing here?" Rebekah bites out. "Why do you have my niece?"
"Can I just get her to bed, please?" Caroline asks Klaus.
"Right. Please give me a minute to get Caroline and Lizzie settled. Then we will explain the situation to you." Caroline follows Klaus up the stairs, passing by a man and two women she doesn't recognize. Caroline tries to ignore Rebekah's rants. "This room." Klaus opens the door to reveal a room with a king size bed and an en suite bathroom. "My bed room is across the hall. If you would like to, you can put Lizzie to bed and join us downstairs."
"I think I am going to stay with Lizzie. Just try to convince your sister not to murder me in my sleep." Caroline smiles, exhausted from the past 24 hours.
"I can do that. Have a good night, Caroline." Klaus closes the door behind him and descends down the stairs to where he can hear his little sister yelling and ranting.
As soon as Klaus began up the stairs with Caroline and Lizzie, Rebekah turned to Hayley. "What happened? Why is she here and who is Lizzie?"
"Ugh, don't get me started." Hayley groans, grabbing a drink and plopping down on a couch. Rebekah sits down on the other side of the couch, watching Hayley intently.
"Was that her?" Davina skips into the living room, smiling.
"Who was that carrying her?" Finn asks, confused.
"That is her mom." Hayley says with attitude.
"WHAT?!" Rebekah shouts.
"Bekah, do keep your voice down. My child is sleeping." Klaus chastises as he enters the room.
"Niklaus, what is going on?" Elijah asks, exasperated since no one is giving a direct response.
"Caroline stole our daughter." Hayley accuses.
"She did what?" Rebekah gets angry again.
"That does not seem like typical behavior for Miss. Forbes." Elijah remarks.
Klaus shakes his head. "Sit down and just be quiet, Hayley." Hayley glares at Klaus, but obeys. "Caroline did not steal Hope. She adopted her, five years ago."
"And she renamed her." Hayley grumbles.
Klaus gives a small laugh. "She did. Our daughter is now known as Lizzie, and quite prefers it that way. She also refers to Caroline as 'mom' and would only consider visiting us if Caroline came along." Klaus watches as Elijah and Finn nod, understanding and not being as emotional as their sister.
"After all these years, do you still fancy Caroline?" Kol blurts out, causing Rebekah and Hayley to scowl, and Cami to look at Klaus with shock and a little hurt in her eyes, as she has a not-so-secret crush on Klaus.
"Kol." Klaus growls.
"What? I just wonder because if it were any other person, you would have ripped their heart out on the spot and taken Hope away."
"I know, right?" Hayley chimes in.
"Whereas that would be my usual method of obtaining something that belongs to me." Klaus sighs and takes a drink, all eyes on him. "But Caroline made a point that unless we want Lizzie to resent us for stealing her away from the only parent she has known, we need to develop a relationship with the girl." Klaus glances around the room and notices the nods of understanding. "So, you all must be on your best behavior. We must win her over, so she will stay." With that, Klaus walks out of the room.
"Is he serious?" Rebekah shrieks.
Hayley groans. "Unfortunately, yes. He gave me this hour long lecture on how I have to be nice to Caroline, even though my daughter calls her 'mom'. He told me that if we can't get Caroline to feel comfortable here, she won't leave Lizzie."
"Lizzie, why Lizzie" Davina asks.
Hayley shrugs, but Rebekah thinks for a moment. "Her mom. Elizabeth Forbes. She named Hope after her mom."
"I'm still a little confused over here." Marcel calls, Cami nodding along with him.
"Yeah, who is this Caroline and how do you all know her and her mother?" Cami adds.
"Ah, well this is a fun tale!" Kol remarks, jovially.
"Kol!" Rebekah shakes her head at her brother.
Cami, Marcel, Davina, Finn, Kol and Rebekah take seats around the fireplace as Elijah tells the story of Caroline Forbes and her influence on Klaus. The story gives Finn, Marcel and Davina hope for Klaus, in the form of the woman he would give up revenge for and his daughter. But it gives Cami sadness, as she knows Klaus does not feel the same way about her as he does about Caroline.
Morning comes quickly, and in retaliation, Caroline pulls the large comforter over her and Lizzie's heads. "Do we have to get up now?" Lizzie moans.
"It would be rude to sleep the day away." Caroline mumbles as she turns to her daughter.
Lizzie is looking around the room and taking in the décor and size. "Is this Klaus and Hayley's house?" Caroline nods. "They must have a lot of money." Lizzie remarks.
Caroline laughs at her daughter. "Remember, I told you Klaus was very old. He and his siblings have had many years to invest and make a lot of money." Lizzie nods and gets out of the bed, looking for her bag. "I need to take a quick shower. Do you want to go downstairs without me or wait here for me?"
Lizzie looks at her mom like she had four heads. "I think I will wait for you."
Caroline smiles and takes a quick shower, as Lizzie dresses herself for the day. When they are finally done, Lizzie grabs Caroline's hand as they exit the room. "Now, most of Klaus' family lives here, so you will get to meet them this morning." Lizzie looks around anxiously. "If it gets to be too much, you and I can stay in a hotel. Or we can just go out and explore New Orleans for a while."
Lizzie's anxiety begins to diminish. "Do you think they will like me?"
"They have all spent a lot of time looking for you. I think they will love you." Caroline tried to smile. She was trying to be as supportive as she could, though she was still terrified Lizzie would be won over by the rich and exciting life Klaus and Hayley could provide.
The first Mikaelson they come across is Elijah. He had just come in the front door as Lizzie and Caroline reached the bottom of the steps. "Miss. Forbes, it is a pleasure to see you again."
"Hi Elijah." Caroline turns to Lizzie. "Lizzie, this is Klaus' brother, Elijah."
Elijah crouches down to Lizzie's eye level. "It's wonderful to meet you, again, Elizabeth."
"Again?" Lizzie looks up at her mom, who shrugs.
"When you were just a baby. You lived in this home for a short period of time. It's wonderful to have you back."
Lizzie smiles at her uncle's explanation. "Then it's nice to meet you again, too, Elijah."
Elijah leads Caroline and Lizzie to the dining room, where Rebekah, Hayley, Davina and Marcel were eating breakfast. As soon as they were in view, Rebekah vamp speeds over to them shouting "Hope!"
Lizzie shrieks and hides behind Caroline. Caroline gives Rebekah a disapproving look. "Seriously? Did Hayley and Klaus relay nothing to you about the first time they met Lizzie?"
"Enough to know that you renamed my niece after you stole her!" Rebekah accuses.
Hayley moves to back up Rebekah, shouting about how Caroline stole Hope. Elijah begins to raise his voice trying to get the two women to calm down. Davina and Marcel keep quiet, watching all the adults yell, as the small child cowers further into her mother, shaking. Chaos breaks out as Klaus storms in yelling at everyone. All that could be heard in the dining room was voices yelling, until Caroline shouts. "Enough!" Caroline turns to Lizzie, who has buried her face in Caroline's side and is sobbing uncontrollably. Caroline easily picks up the young girl and holds her close. "Seriously? You want a relationship with this little girl? Stop scaring her. She has never been exposed to the supernatural and she has a tendency to be shy around people she doesn't know." Caroline sighs and whispers to Lizzie, knowing all other vampires and hybrids could hear her. "Do you want to stay here or go out for breakfast?" Lizzie's reply was so muffled by Caroline's shoulder and Lizzie's decreasing sobs, which only Caroline understood. "Ok, baby." Caroline turned back to Rebekah and Hayley "Good job, you two. You scared the daylights out of my poor daughter. Now you have lost a day of getting to know her, because she does not want to stay here a minute longer." Caroline shakes her head and carries Lizzie out of the house.
Klaus' rage is barely contained as he turns to his sister and Hayley. "What is your problem? Would you like to be daggered for the next century?" Klaus sneers at Rebekah. "And you," He says as he turns to Hayley. "Did you miss the way Lizzie reacted the last time you started yelling? Do you really think that she will want to stay here any longer than Caroline can convince her if all you do is yell around her?" Klaus storms out of the house, in hopes of trying to find Caroline and Lizzie to apologize.
"Can someone explain to me how Klaus is the only level headed one in this situation?" Davina asks, in a quiet voice.
A wide smile breaks out on Elijah's face. "Niklaus has more at stake than anyone else. If they leave and never come back, he will have not only lost his daughter, but the one woman he ever really loved."
Davina's eyes widen as she and Marcel exchange looks. Hayley grunts and leaves the dining room. Rebekah has the decency to look ashamed. "They are his redemption and his humanity." She murmurs as she slowly walks out of the house.
Elijah shakes his head and worries that his poor niece may never want anything to do with them.
Caroline has no idea where to go, but she needs to get Lizzie out of the house. Caroline continues to carry Lizzie as she wonders around the French Quarter. Caroline finally finds a small outdoor café. They sit down at a table and Lizzie's mood immediately picks up. They are enjoying their breakfast, when Klaus slowly approaches their table. "Good morning, Caroline. Lizzie." He tentatively sits down in an extra seat at the table.
Lizzie glances up at him and gives him a small smile. Caroline looks him right in the eyes, to see if she can gage his intentions. "Good morning, Klaus. What brings you here?"
Klaus' eyes dart downward, almost as if he is ashamed. "I wanted to apologize to both of you. The way my family and I acted this morning was inappropriate."
Caroline nods and looks over at Lizzie. A bigger smile stretches on Lizzie's face. "It's ok. It was just a little scary. Are they always like that?"
Klaus settles in his chair and picks a piece off of Caroline's plate of beignets. "Honestly, they can be quite frightening when they want to. But they are a loyal bunch." Klaus says in between bites.
"Who are they all? I mean I know you, Hayley and I met Elijah. Who were the rest of them?" Lizzie asks, as she continues to eat her muffin.
"The loud blonde woman is my little sister, Rebekah. She's an original vampire, as is Elijah. She spent your first few months with you, in hiding." Klaus admits.
"Who were the people sitting at the table?"
"Marcel. He's a vampire, and was like a son to me. The woman is Davina. She is a powerful witch."
Lizzie accepts his answers, as she understands that this is what her life would be like if she stayed with him and Hayley. "Do you have more siblings?"
Klaus chuckles at her inquisitiveness. "I do. I have two more brothers. Finn, who is older than Elijah, but is a witch. And Kol, who is younger than me, but older than Bekah. Kol is an original vampire too."
Lizzie looks to Caroline as she finishes her breakfast. "Can Klaus come with us as we explore the city today?"
Caroline beams at her daughter. "If he is free. You need to ask him."
Lizzie clears her throat. "Klaus, do you want to come with us?" Lizzie gives Klaus her best puppy dog eyes.
Klaus laughs heartily. He knows he would have said yes no matter, but the puppy dog eyes sold it. "I would love to."
Lizzie claps her hands. "Perfect. Can we go shopping? Or is there a beach? Or maybe a park? How about a museum?" Lizzie begins rattling off questions, causing Klaus and Caroline to chuckle.
"How about, we take a lovely walk and we can go into some shops and have lunch by the water?" Klaus offers.
"Ok!" Lizzie grabs Caroline's hand and Klaus' hand.
Klaus freezes for a moment and looks over at Caroline. Caroline winks at Klaus over Lizzie's head. "She's starting to trust you." Caroline whispers, knowing Klaus will hear it.